I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on something that has been weighing on my mind recently. Is it..
My wonderful marriage to Jenn – well, that’s good but not what I’m thinking of…
Our wonderful kids – could be the topic of yet another post but not this one…
Our ever growing 401(k) plan? (Oh. Right. Not Growing.)
No it’s…
Digital Scrapbooking!
I wanted to put down in words a man and husband’s perspective. Jenn wrote an article at ThriftyMommy but I wanted to expand on it.
Digital Scrapbooking is Frugal – most paper scrappers we know have invested hundreds (if not thousands) of (insert your currency of choice) in paper, embellishments, pens, punches. brads. etc., etc., etc. Jenn is the first to admit she has literally a whole room of scrapbooking and crafting supplies costing us…. don’t wanna know. Digital Scrapbooking is different. The basic materials are inexpensive or even free (do I hear freebies anyone?) and most importantly are reusable. How great is it that the physical paper you used to buy and use once is now in a digital form to be used again and again – or be recolored into a completely new paper.
Digital Scrapbooking is Efficient – Jenn would often spend half an hour assembling her ‘stuff” she needed to just get started scrapping – and then constantly be getting up to go get something that wasn’t immediately at hand. I think that’s why when stores sponsor crops they do so well – everyone is constantly getting up to get a little something they forgot. While scrapbooking digitally you power up the computer and you are working – literally within a minute. All of your materials are right at hand – stored on a hard drive or instantly available for download.
Digital Scrapbooking is Social – the new social buzz words are about sharing, “community”, emailing and IM’ing and Tweeting. You can’t do that with a paper based album – kind of hard to post it at my blog. I know some people scan or photograph paper layouts, but there’s a whole ‘nother step to deal with. Working digitally you can instantly share a great layout of the kids with Grandma in NY, scrapping friends in Italy and Australia, and anywhere in the world. And for free (or really low cost – ever try to mail an album to Grandma in NY? The shipping will make your hair curl).
Digital Scrapping is Organized – Where else can I have powerful search tools to instantly find a picture or kit that I need? Using the power of tagging and tools like Photoshop Elements Organizer, ACDSee or Picasa, you can categorize and order your pictures and electronic scrapbooking supplies quickly and easily. And you can just as easily find them – a day, week, year or decade later.
and last – Digital Scrapping is accessible. Lots of people feel they are not “crafty” or creative enough. But once they see digital scrapbooking using a quick page and a little training or a tutorial, they are hooked. Sit down and 10 minutes later you have something you created and is beautiful and stylish. And kids! Jenn and I have the best time teaching kids because computers and digital imaging are second nature to them. Digital scrapping frees them to be creative and artistic quickly and easily.
I’ll close with this. Some of the happiest I’ve seen my DW Jenn is when she’s “digiscrapping.” She’s preserving memories of our family, expressing herself artistically (sometimes hard for full-time mommies to do) and making the world just a little bit better place.
And I like that.
Thanks for reading. Why do you like Digital Scrapbooking? Leave a comment!
Other posts you will enjoy:
- How to simplify your digital scrapbook pages We’re thrilled to have our friend Jennifer Wilson as a guest blogger today! From a million clustered flowers to images extracted with precision from their backgrounds, the pressure is on within digital scrapbooking to do more...
- Foto Friday – Need digital camera info? Look here What’s digiscrapping without pictures? Pictures, and the memories they hold, are one of the prime reasons we are inspired to capture our memories through scrapbooking. As the scrapbooking world has transitioned to hybrid or digital, everybody...
May 24, 2009
, I can reuse everything and so much more, the possibilities are endless!
Jenn
Awwww that’s sweet. I know you mostly don’t miss the mess! Now to clean out that room full of paper scrap stuff… well, y’know… I MIGHT need that tote bag full of foam stamps for something… and the Sizzix machine gets used about 2x a year for something… and the Xyron machine is good for making CD albums… ok so I’ll clean out HALF the room! Yard Sale anyone?