Scrapbooking Blog

Archive for July, 2010

With the extent of the Internet and the large number of materials it now provides, online scrapbooking has reached a new level of development. Maybe scrapbooks used to be albums with photographs, names, quotes and poems, but things have changed a lot in recent years, and scrapbook has turned into an artistic form of expression. In the digital age, the number of possibilities overwhelms and thrills any creative mind. There are lots of software tools that can assist you with online scrapbooking without any need for software installation on the personal computer.

The only difficulty here is that the user often knows too little of online scrapbooking and does not have a clue about what programs to choose and where to really start. Here are a few recommendations that could make your scrapbook activities a lot easier and more rewarding than ever.

1. Keep everything simple. Scrapbook software has to be user-friendly. Try more models before you may decide for one in particular.

2. Online scrapbooking programs need to be really flexible in order to let you create great templates on which to experiment at will. By flexibility I mean that you can design your page layouts and change colors as you see most appropriate. Some scrap-book programs only give you access to a limited number of pre-designed templates while others will offer you thousands to choose from.

3. Photo importing features are incredibly important for any online scrapbooking hobbyist. Once you select the photos to include in the digital scrapbook, they have to be imported into the editing software. Check the options and the settings that programs through internet allow for, because you may have to deal with some serious software limitations otherwise.

4. Photo editing tools are essential for online scrapbooking. You need to be able to adjust photos, reduce some of the visual flaws, create special effects, enhance the page look and crop images. None of these is possible without good tools.

5. Embellishments are another part that deserves all of your attention, and in online scrapbooking they include clipart, fonts and frames. These allow for different modifications of the patterns and the inclusion of various visual effects in the background.

There are other elements that you may have to check in order to complete online scrapbooking successfully, but it should not be too difficult as the conditions we have mentioned above are at least partly met. The number of programs that allow for scrapbook is quite high and therefore, choices are not limited at all.

Once you have decided on the theme of the scrapbook, you can start looking into scrapbooking layout ideas a bit more closely. The sketching of the arrangement is one of the first steps that you need to take in order to create great individual albums. Yet, the options are pretty numerous, and people may have a hard time deciding which is the best choice for one case or another. Differences exist between traditional and digital scrapbook formats, and scrapbooking layout ideas vary according to the material processing choice.

Thus, you should choose those scrapbooking layout ideas that best correspond to the theme, to your general view and to the nature of the album as such. Thus, for both the standard and the digital approach, you should first arrange the photos into the pages according to their importance and the message you want to give. Let’s consider for instance that you need opinions of scrapbook placement for a wedding photo album. When laying the photos, you have to follow the succession of the moments so that they can really tell the story.

Then, the journaling part will depend on the way you have put the scrapbooking layout ideas into practice particularly since the embellishments of the pages will actually enhance everything. All the comments, quotes, poems and other journaling stuff that you add to the album have to be well positioned, supporting and referring to a special photo. Do not get too wordy, because this could ruin original scrapbooking layout ideas. Instead focus on concise messages that truly reflect the general purpose of a certain scrapbook.

The placement is complete once you add the embellishments. It is important to leave room for modifications. Do not glue anything until you have made the placement and you are pleased with the result. In case you consider rubber stamping or stickers, you should follow the same considerations. Scrapbooking layout ideas vary a lot, but the need for modifications remains a priority in all cases. Even when you decide for digital scrapbooking, you depend on the very same issues. A digital format gets you room for plenty of adjustments and with very little effort.

Some people are very found of their scrapbooking layout ideas, and they don’t want to give any of them up even if the patterns or the background used overpower the photos. Be flexible and keep the focus on the photographs. If you forget how essential this is, chances are that you may ruin the effect and achieve too little with the scrapbook.

I thought I would share some ideas on how to make eco-friendly scrapbook layouts. You can use eco-friendly craft products, such as post-consumer recycled paper, to make your scrapbook layouts. You can also reuse household waste in your green scrapbook layouts and save money on materials.

Of course, one of the greenest ways to engage in scrapbooking these days is with digital scrapbooking. We were very impressed with Serif’s Digital Scrapbook Artist.  With digital scrapbooking, you eliminate product packaging and transportation, even if you do eventually print your scrapbook pages. (I would highly recommend sharing scrapbook pages with family and friends online!)

General Tips for Eco-Friendly Scrapbook Layouts

Purchase durable scrapbooking tools and products. Repair broken tools instead of buying new.
Buy local whenever possible. You’ll support your community and reduce fuel consumption in transportation. Attend local craft fairs to find scrapbook products.
When purchasing any new products for scrapbook layouts, separate the recycles and non-recyclables. See if you can use the non-recyclables, such as plastic sheets, for creative projects. Whenever possible, try to purchase products with eco-friendly packaging.
Save every scrap of paper for future scrapbook layouts. You can turn paper scraps into homemade sheets of paper or use for a variety of other uses in scrapbooking.
Use freecycle to find scrapbooking products and tools that others don’t want anymore. You can also use craigslist barter to swap scrapbooking materials.
Instead of tossing, donate unwanted scrapbooking materials to local schools, senior centers or scout troops.

Eco-Friendly Paper for Scrapbook Layouts

Paper Bags- You can use plain, brown grocery bags as the base for a number of scrapbook layouts. Cut out shapes, paint, stamp or even burn the brown bags for a variety of effects.
Cereal Boxes- Cereal boxes are a perfect weight for heavy cardstock or to make chipboard shapes. Paint the background or let the fun shapes and bright colors show in your scrapbook layouts.
Corrugated Cardboard- You can use corrugated cardboard for the covers of scrapbook albums or sturdy scrapbook paper. Paint or color the indentations for a fun, striped look.
Junk Mail- You can make your own paper at home with junk mail. You will need fine screening and a few other materials, but the process is pretty easy.
Paper Trunk- This scrapbook company offers recycled cardstock and packaging.
Jillibean Soup- This scrapbook company prints on kraft paper, made from 100% recycled stock.
K &Company Lotus Collection/ReMake Collection- These two scrapbook collections are printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper. The packaging is made with recycled and reusable materials.

Eco-Friendly Embellishments for Scrapbook Layouts

Plastic packaging- Use the plastic packaging from scrapbook materials or kitchen goods to make clear windows in your scrapbook layouts.
Puzzle Pieces- When you lose a few pieces from a puzzle, use the remaining pieces for your scrapbook layouts.
Soda Cans- Colorful aluminum soda cans are a great material for scrapbook layouts. You will need sharp scissors and a piece of sandpaper to remove any burrs. You can also emboss the metal with a pointed tool.
Stamps- Try making your own rubber stamps at home or make simple stamps with recycled materials such as old sponges or foam plates.
Creatively Green- This craft company offers a variety of green materials for scrapbook layouts, including 100% recycled cardstock, eco-friendly felt flowers, wood embellishments and ribbon made from junk mail.
Die Cuts with a View (DCWV)- This company offers chipboard shapes and letters made from 70% post-consumer recycled paper.

There are plenty of free scrapbooking ideas you can find on the Internet; much of our scrapbooking efforts become easier because of the creative ideas you get exposed to. This makes it possible to be innovative and tell the story of a special event or moment in your life in a very sensitive and unique way. Patterns, layouts, embellishments, methods and even step-by-step guidance will be your aid and alternative to gluing, paper cutting and photo mounting. It all depends on whether you want to create a traditional or a digital album, because tips and free scrapbooking ideas are available for both.

You can get some free scrapbooking ideas from sketches and all sorts of galleries with existing albums. Sketches do inspire one and if you didn’t know where to start, then, that is about to change. While for some scrapbookers this will be enough, for others guidance is necessary all along the way. Free scrapbooking ideas find application not only with beginners but with experienced scrapbookers too; while beginners need assistance with the basics, more experienced scrapbookers want to get ideas for unique designs.

People are most often in search of some theme to put into practice. The most common examples here are baby birth, weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries, Christmas celebrations and lots of others. Yet, free scrapbooking ideas are about a bit more than that. Sometimes, people need help with suggestions for supplies and materials necessary for scrapbooking. The kit of basic accessories represents the subject of most queries and questions you’ll come across online.

Digital projects could also try your imagination very hard. Most people have large collections of digital photos that they use to design their pages. Scrapbooking on the PC could prove easier than you have ever expected. Paper piecing, cropping, dying cuts and so much more can be replaced by digital scrapbooking methods that facilitate the process a lot.

Your album could include quotes, poems and sayings, and you may also need free scrapbooking ideas for such cases too. When telling a photo story, a bit of text keeps the narrative together and the message striking to the viewer. If you don’t have photos available for a certain event, then all sorts of family documents, greeting cards and memorabilia could add up color and tell your story in a unique way. The best way of preserving happy memories is to tell the story from the heart and reach the other’s heart.

You may have bundles of digital photos and do not know how to display them besides saving on your hard disk? Making scrapbook, especially making digital Scrapbook sounds a good idea to refresh your photos and what you need is just easy operation photo edit software.  iCollage for Mac can give you a perfect solution. With various scrapbook templates from holiday, party, and graduation to birthday, wedding and anniversary, you can become an expert for creating digital scrapbook.

Step 1. Launch the iCollagefor Mac

You can Free Download the Program

Then choose “Create a New Collage” to make our scrapbook.

Step 2: Choose your favorite scrapbook template
As we need to make scrapbook, we can choose template from Scrapbook Template category and there are suitable templates. If we want to make a digital scrapbook for Father’s Day, now there is also a template for you.

Step 3:  Add photos to the template and start editing
Editing Function ( Resize, Rotate, mask, effect, layers, Zoom, Adjust, Decorate, Text, etc.), Now here we give you a sample to use the “Resize, rotate and Mask” function.
Resize and rotate photos
Add your family photos and some of your father’s photos to the template. Use the Zoom and Rotation function to adjust the photo and frame size and position together according to your need.

You can also just adjust the photo size and rotate display angle by click the photo only and drag or rotate the photo in the suitable display position. And you can also resize the photo only by adjusting the outline without changing the frame size.

Add mask to photos

Click “Mask” button and add the mask to the photos. What would be best to use our heart to love our fathers? So mask the photos into heart sharp would be a great idea. Choose Heart and the photo become heart sharp.

Step 4: Output your Father’s Day scrapbook
After editing, now we can output our scrapbook as image. Choose the suitable format, resolution and quality or just leave the setting as Default.

Now we have finished to make the Digital scrapbook on Mac. we can send this special gift to our fathers. It must be the best Father’s day gift he ever had. And think about making another scrapbook? Just do it yourself this time with Wondershare iCollage for Mac, it is easy and convenient!

Free scrapbooking ideas are plentiful on the Internet; they are easy to access and implement, facilitating scrapbook efforts a lot. If you want to create some special album to preserve unique memories or surprise someone dear with an unexpected gift, you can use these free opinions to power your creativity. Patterns, layouts, embellishments, methods and even instructions will be your aid and alternative to gluing, paper cutting and photo mounting. It all depends on whether you want to create a traditional or a digital album, because tips and these kinds of views are available for both.

You can get some free scrapbooking ideas from sketches and all sorts of galleries with existing albums. Sketches are inspirational and if you did not know where to start, then, that is about to change. Sometimes, you just need a bit of stimulation and you will know what to do and where to start. Both beginners and more experienced scrapbookers are in search of free scrapbooking ideas; the former because they want to learn the basics and the latter because they want to achieve something special.

People are most often in search of some theme to put into practice. The most common examples here are baby birth, weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries, Christmas celebrations and lots of others. Keen scrapers will always find some free scrapbooking ideas on the Internet. Sometimes, people need help with suggestions for supplies and materials necessary for scrapbook. The kit of basic accessories represents the subject of most queries and questions you will come across online.

Sometimes you may need free scrapbooking ideas to deal with digital projects. Most people have large collections of digital photos that they use to design their pages. The material for digital albums is right there in your personal computer, and you just need to find some methods to put your creativity into practice. Paper piecing, cropping, dying cuts and so much more can be substituted with digital scrapbook techniques that make the process a lot easier.

You may also need free scrapbooking ideas for poems, sayings and quotes to include in the album. These are usually necessary when you try to say a story with your pictures, giving more depth to the narrative. If you don’t have photos available for a certain event, then memorabilia, greeting cards, family papers and other documents could add up color and create real magic for your individual story. When searching for free scrapbooking ideas, you are in fact looking for the best ways to preserve your happiest memories.

Scrapbooking freebies help people get started with scrapbook. They are available on various Internet websites dedicated to scrapbook and craft supplies and they are often organized in archives and galleries. You can get any of them or all, without any fee-payment, on the one condition: that you register. Scrapbooking freebies are designed by real artists, and they provide a much easier alternative to covering everything on your own.

The major advantage with scrapbooking freebies is that they do not involve any of the expenses necessary for conventional scrap-book supplies. Yet, we must mention the fact that they are mainly designed for digital applications although lots of them work with software programs that enable printable versions of any digital album. Scrap-book freebie includes embellishments and any form of decorations used for scrap-book, as well as pre-designed templates and layouts. You just have to know where to find them.

There are quite many websites that offer scrapbooking freebies, but before downloading any, it is a good idea to get a look over their offer. By offer, I refer not only to the gallery with freebie, but also to the possibility of creating an album directly on such a website by means of scrapbook software tools. Some websites provide this option, while others don’t. And it is always useful to look carefully into it. Moreover, when you consider the practical side of scrapbook supplies you certainly must envisage the advantages of digital scrapbooks.

A digital album is not prone to deterioration. It allows for as many adjustments as you need. It gives you total flexibility for the choice of colors, shapes and sizes; not to mention that a wide collection of scrapbooking freebies provides you with extensive creative embellishments. Moreover, with scrapbooking freebies you have instant gratification because results speak for themselves. Albums are much easier to make, and they look really great. You will sheerly enjoy it!

Get a look online and create your own supply of these ones from great sources. They are artistic, advantageous and very quick to implement for any digital or conventional scrapbook project. If you are not pleased with what you find in one part, you should look further on until you are happy with the freebie. One other solution is to get scrapbooking freebies from different sources. This provides you with diversity and plenty of unique ideas to adapt to your own creativity. Try them and you will see for yourself!

Digital scrapbook has seen a major increase in popularity particularly with the creation of all the scrapbooking software programs that are now available on Internet for free download or onsite use. The Internet has also become a very rich source of supplies for digital scrap-book too, therefore, we should not wonder that people are now looking for technological solutions to there memory keeping needs. This one provides fonts, layouts, embellishments and huge usage flexibility.

With a scrapbooking software you can import digital pics and arrange them in the layout that best corresponds to your needs. You can here include digital borders, crop photos and expand the text options extensively. As for the journaling part, some people prefer the handwritten version while others would rather print everything on the scrapbook pages. Mention must be made that really good scrapbook one will usually enable the user to print the album or keep it in digital version only.

Online scrapbooking software that you do not have to download on your personal computer is much more rewarding because it saves you the trouble of installation. Check with scrapbook websites and see whether they allow you to create the albums online. Also pay attention to how it will let you import photos. In addition to the scrapbooking software you should also look into the number of pre-designed layouts and backgrounds because the artistic part of digital scrap-book matters a lot.

Then, the scrapbooking software is compatible with a large number of multimedia elements, and it works with images, sound clips and videos. Sometimes you may even want to include music or some narrated fragments. These features are available with some of the most advanced scrapbooking software programs, but they cannot be transferred into a conventional scrapbook form because a lot of the special effects will be lost. As long as you operate digitally, you will have a virtually unlimited potential of creative expression here.

With the scrapbooking software you can also alter the photos you include in the scrapbook by eliminating the flaws, adding shadows, and matting images. You can also add your backgrounds and personalize the album in such a way that it gets customized with all the finishes. Artistic effects can be achieved by brightening or darkening the photos, sketching, embossing and mirroring them. The use of this one will certainly change the way you feel about the special memories. You will certainly like it!

Like many people, Jason Alford is rarely seen without his digital camera in hand.

“You just never know when you’re going to need it,” said Alford, a graphic designer from Atlanta, Georgia. “The technology has really made taking pictures easier and more convenient than ever.”

Alford uses the HP Photosmart M437 – an inexpensive digital camera he said is ideal for his casual, everyday use. Running as little as $75, the price tag on these devices has decreased while their popularity has increased, making the informal practice of digital photography commonplace in today’s society. Besides their affordability and high-quality imaging, digital cameras require no film purchase, and users always have the option of deleting “unflattering” snapshots – just some of the attributes that have added to the appeal of this technology.

“I honestly don’t know how I ever lived without my camera,” Alford said. “Although I’m not a professional photographer, the ease of use with digital cameras makes you feel like you are.”

While his digital camera was inexpensive, Alford said it also lacks a large enough memory to hold the multitude of pictures he takes. With 16 megabytes of space, no sooner does an image catch his eye than he has to find a method of preserving it, resulting in a mess of compact discs and files hogging up his hard drive.

“I don’t want to lose these images forever,” Alford said. “I’ve got some uploaded online, but that’s really hard to keep up with. I realize I’m not a professional photographer, but I took these pictures for a reason, and preserving them in some way is really important to me.”

For Alford, what used to be a challenge is now easier than ever after he discovered photo books. Ranging in sizes from 4×6 to 8 1/2×11, the professional appeal of the black-linen hardcover books makes a perfect display for his digital printouts.

“I like the PhotoBook Creator by Unibind, which is a binding machine that actually lets me make my own photo albums at home,” Alford said. “I use Kodak Photo Paper to print out the images I want to bind, although the machine works with any kind of paper, and the pages are literally bound in 90 seconds! It’s so easy, and it makes for an amazing catalogue of some of my favorite images.”

What was traditionally thought of as an expense is, according to Alford, quite a reasonable value. With an average cost of $10 per photo book, he said he now has an amazing collection of catalogues for the various trips, family gatherings and amazing sights he’s caught on camera. Besides personal fulfillment, the photo books he makes often go to loved ones as gifts or memoirs.

“Most people have a nice book on their coffee table, but I’ve got a portfolio of some of the best images I’ve ever taken,” Alford said. “Anytime someone comes to visit, it’s always a conversation starter. The ability to make high-quality photo books at home has ended up making me even more passionate about my hobby.”

Tara Baker is a freelance journalist and enjoys digital scrapbooking and making digital photo books.

Digital storytelling is a huge area in education and is emerging strongly in the home and community sectors and more slowly in affiliate marketing. It has even evolved into digital scrapbooking.

Many of the videos on YouTube are presented as digital stories. My Squidoo lens has a two-fold focus – (1) to help people to turn digital photos into digital stories or digi-stories and (2) to promote resources that enable people to make money from their digital photos.

The catalyst for creating the digital-storytelling lens was my work over 5 years helping vocational education institutes in Australia to develop their online learning capacity.

So the original target was teachers but as the lens evolved, I came to understand that there was a much broader market involved, including community educators and affiliate marketers.

My digital-storytelling lens provides modules that offer:

* examples of digital stories from YouTube

* links on digital storytelling in education

* examples of digital stories in education

* digital storytelling in primary education

* digital stories dedicated to themes, e.g. community

* links to free software to create digi-stories

* links to free tools to use in making a digital story

* digital story mapping

* digital scrapbooking

When I last checked there were 3,180 Goggle searches per month on the term “digital storytelling” and the competition is very tough – 2,200 sites with the keyword in the URL, 24,700 with the keyword in a title, 17,800 sites with the term as anchor text (hyperlinked to another URL).

My digital-storytelling Squidoo lens broke into the top 100 Google results for the keyword “digital storytelling” when I was updating it regularly and pinging the directories.

Many people find the lens by using a variety of long tail keywords (50 different keywords at last count), as I have set up the lens in a way that encourages deep indexing in the search engines. So people find my lens by searching on Yahoo, Google or MSN for terms such as “earning income from digital photography”, “free software to turn my pictures into movie” or “examples of online storytelling videos kids”.

My major affiliate promotions on this lens relate to two products – a digital storytelling starter kit and a resource package that helps people sell their digital photos online. The former product was developed by one of the people in my teacher network focused on online learning. I have also created a separate lens to promote the second product that offers resources to enable people to turn their digital photos into income.

So Squidoo enables me to create lenses focused on relevant affiliate products that target specific niche markets – people who want to use their digital photos to create digital stories for education, community or marketing and/or to sell their digital photos online. The multimedia nature of Squidoo enables me to create an attractive, interactive and informative platform for this affiliate marketing.