Make-It Monday - Digital Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a hobby that has been all the rage for years now, but digital scrapbooking is a form of it that is just beginning to come into its own. As the name implies, digital scrapbooking is scrapbooking done digitally, on the computer. With a computer, some software, a digital "page kit", and a little playing you can achieve a page that ends up looking just like a photograph of a paper scrapped page. Take this one at the right (click on it, or any of the others here, to go to the full sized page). Pages with similar looks can be found in scrapbooking magazines, samples at scrapbooking stores, and in albums in homes across the world. The difference with my page, however, is that no glue, scissors, pieces of paper, ribbons, and all that other stuff was needed, and I didn't have to figure out how to store and organize that stuff either. I love that I can get that great look, without all the mess and hassle. Besides, digital page kits are much more economical. With traditional scrapbooking you use a paper once, and if you want to use it again you have to buy it again. With digital scrapbooking I can use the same "paper" a hundred times over, if I so desire, and it's never used up.

But the benefits of digital scrapbooking over traditional scrapbooking don't stop with less mess and less cost. With digital scrapbooking you can create looks that paper scrappers can't even imagine. This is where it shines, in my opinion. Trimming close to a person or subject in a photo is commonly done even in paper scrapping, but in digital you can take it to an entire new level. See this page to the left. I was able to extract the baby from the photo (the original shot is of him laying on a quilt) and "put" him in those clouds and it really looks like he is sleeping there. Then there is the "graphic" style of digital scrapbook page that doesn't even have a tradition equivalent, such as the page to the right. The blending of the photo, "paper", and word art done here is unique to digital scrapbooking.

Anyway, I have been doing digital scrapbooking for over four years now, and I find myself getting more into this hobby as time has gone on instead of less. However, it does have a learning curve, as there usually is with any hobby. The specific details such as software choice, technical how-to, where and how to print pages, and much more are too broad to go into here in this introduction to digital scrapbooking blog post. My digi scrapping home online is Digital Scrapbook Place, and if you want to find out more I suggest you start there. Look me up if you decide to check it out. My user name there is "Robin E." Feel free to ask me questions here too, if you are interested. I am happy to go on and on about this subject and have helped more than one person get started in it.