Digital scrapbooking & photo books. They're still scrapbooking!

When I started scrapbooking, almost everyone I knew used traditional film cameras. We took our handfuls of film rolls to Costco and got "double prints" for sharing with family and friends. We always had a stack of photos ready to be scrapbooked.

Then digital cameras edged their way into the mainstream. People expressed fear that scrapbooking production would slump because "nobody develops their photos anymore. They just keep them on their hard drives." That turned out not to be true. Yes, we have drives full of photos, but getting them OFF the computer and into our hands turned out to be easier and cheaper than ever, with easy to use in-store and online developing programs. (the problem with digital is the sheer volume of photos to choose from. Indecisiveness is the productivity killer -- not accessiblity)

And THEN digital scrapbooking started to emerge. Digital elements and kits were FREE! and CHEAP! and you could use them over and over again. Who would ever buy paper and stickers when they could digi scrap for practically FREE??? Turns out that dire prediction wasn't accurate either. Guess what...some of us don't want to use the same digi elements over and over. Some of us like to play with paper and stickers and glue. Some of us are very "hands on" and need to see it in all its layers and dimensions. And then there's the perpetual "undo button"...again with the indecisiveness. It's those unlimited options that are killing productivity.

Funny thing about digital scrapbooking...a certain cross-section of digital scrapbookers pooh-poohs the old fashioned paper scrapbooking, yet have you noticed that digital scrapbook elements are designed to look like virtual elements. Alot of effort goes into making digi scrapbooking look "realistic." Paper scrapbooking won't go away because if it did, digi scrapbooking lose it's source of inspiration.

Digital scrapbooking isn't FREE either. Those FREE digi elements of yore were just teasers...any digi designers worth their salt don't give their work away for free anymore. And if you want to hold that finished layout in your hands, you're going to need to print it. Printing traditional 12x12 isn't cheap. Neither are photo books. And you really do need to invest in a speedy laptop with lots of memory.

Ahh, yes. Photobooks. Promoted by some as the non-scrapbooker's scrapbook. Call it what you want, but if you're preserving and sharing your memories and photos in a book...it's a scrapbook. Doomsayers predicted that photo books would spell the end of traditional scrapbooking. And they were wrong...again. Photobooks are an ideal way for scrapookers to share their traditional layouts with more people! Upload copies of your paper layouts and use them as the pages of a photo book. I think photo books are a great way to make scrapbooks as gifts for friends and family who wouldn't appreciate the creative effort that goes into a scrapbook layout. And if you've checked out some photobook programs, you've noticed that many design options are made to look like traditional scrapbook pages.

People who love scrapbooking in the traditional sense will continue to scrapbook that way. Some of us can't get enough of paper and stickers and ribbon and glue. Those that have made the transiton to digital have done it for whatever reason(s) that they didn't like paper scrapbooking. And that's ok! If it weren't for digital, they might have stopped scrapbooking altogether. And that would be sad.

I'm not against digital scrapbooking. I'm not against photo books. What I am FOR is anything that promotes the preserving and sharing of photos and memories. You can call it something other than "scrapbooking" if that word is to quaint or kitschy.

Lain Ehmann at Layout A Day has more to say about this!

Scrapbooking Tip - 2010/4/22

I have too many photos to fit on this layout!

This is for everyone who has a hard time "whittling down" the number of photos on a layout. I think we all take too many photos, and then have to decide which ones to scrapbook and which ones to 'scrap.'

Think about the theme and topic of your layout. Think about the story you want it to tell. Before you do anything else, write a rough draft of the journaling. It is about your cousin's wedding, or is it about what happened at your cousin's wedding? Now look through that stack of photos and choose the ones that BEST illustrate the story you want to tell. Use only the best photos and leave the rest.

But what about the rest of the photos?

Use them on a different layout. Yes, you can do another layout of that wedding. There is no rule about "one layout per event". Who were the guests at the wedding? Who was in the wedding party and what did they wear? What did the decorations look like? What did you kids do at or like about the wedding? Were there any 'bloopers?'

Sometimes an event is more than just a short story. There may be several chapters, or a subplot that needs exploring.

Layout Inspiration - crazy food

Somehow I got redirected to this entry on a blog I don't think I've ever visited before.
Don't Knock it Til You Try It.

Which got me to thinking....

What is your secret glorious/disgusting food combo? What horror do you put on a sandwich? Do you have a favourite nasty popcorn topping?

Display the skeletons of your culinary closet in a layout!


For the record, peanut butter & pickle sandwiches aren't that bad. Pickles & cheddar are pretty good too. And Elvis really had something with pb & banana sandwiches, though I have yet to try them with bacon.

Have you ever sprinkled sugar on tomato slices? How about a butter (not margarine) and sugar sandwich? Strawberry yogurt is pretty good on corn flakes.

Happy Scrapping!
Sandra

Your personal style.

Once again, Stacy Julian hits the nail on the head. In this video she talks about exploring, defining and embracing your personal style. Don't think you have a style? Think again!




I love introducing people to scrapbooking, and I'm always happy to help with colour and product selection, and pass on a few tips and tricks. I advocate scraplifting when you're feeling creatively timid. But after that I really encourage you to jump in and not be afraid to put your own finishing touches on it. It's what makes your layout uniquely yours.

And please. Avoid perfection at all costs. There's not enough time in this life to make perfect layouts every time. Instead, focus on making entertaining layouts, satisfying layouts, and finished layouts.

Can you name 3 or 4 elements that define your personal style? Feel free to post in the comments section!

Hello Sketch Lovers!!

Came across these sketches today and wanted to share them with you.

Nine Free Scrapbook Page Sketches

I know so many of you like

a) double page layouts
b) putting lots of photos on a page
c) me to give you a creative nudge once in a while.

So here's your nudge!! Enjoy!

Been thinking about...

...the whole "being caught up" thing.

And let me just say, this week of all weeks I have NO business spending time blogging, but this seemed like the time and place to empty my brain of these thoughts.

I gave up "being caught up" ages ago. And I'm really alright with it. I scrap what inspires, not "what's next" on the calendar. Its much more fun to match up the photos with my current favourite products, than to be forced to dig thru my stash to come up with stuff to go with photos that just ain't movin' me at the moment.

So is the "caught up" trend over? I see so many people doing extremely time consuming one-photo layouts (not that there's anything wrong with that!) and creating altered items, home decor, mini albums, cards...none of these are getting photos into albums anytime soon.

And let me tell one one reason why "being caught up" isn't so daunting for me anymore. I TAKE WAYYYY LESS PHOTOS THAN I USED TO. Less photos = fewer pages. If you ever want to be caught up, try this. You'll be up to date in no time.

I still scrap what is meaningful -- just with less photos on fewer pages. Last summer I gave some thought what matters, and enjoying the moments while they happen seemed more important than trying to photograph the moments without me in them.

From Donna's Desk - "just scrap something"

I sit down this afternoon to "just scrap something", flip through some photos of my kids and voila find some great ones of them on the boat. Great, okay pick out some paper and some embellishments, okay done. Now I need a layout, peruse Canadian Scrapbooker (summer 2007) and VOILA I come across this article " You know you are addicted to scrapbooking when..." I laugh out loud as I am reading and a lightbulb comes on in my head. Hey maybe I can scrapbook that article and I have the perfect paper to do it. Well as you can see I made a PDQ layout in oh about 5 minutes. I love it when an idea comes together so quickly and produces something really cool. Now I am going to put it in a frame and put it in my office. If you can't read it from the photo check out the article.

Have fun and remember to Just scrap something

Scrappin4fun