A few years ago a good friend of mine sent me some info about digital scrapbooking. I had tried to replicate this using some publishing software that my husband had that was not user friendly.
Now that I have a little better software I use two methods of digital scrapbooking. One is using my own publishing software that has lots of nice frames and details. When I finish all my pages, I simply send them to a place like Costco or Walmart to have them printed out and I slide them in my own scrapbook with protective pages.
The second way I do digital scrapbooking is through online services like Shutterfly. If you don’t have access to great publishing software, Shutterfly is a way to digitally design scrapbooks using your digital pictures online. At first I thought that $20-$25 was a little expensive. But then I started tabulating how much money I was spending on paper, stickers, do-dads, pens and the actual scrapbooks at the store. With or without a craft store coupon, the cost was about the same.
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- On the other hand, I regularly get free offers from Shutterfly.
- For example, at Target, the registers print out bonus coupons with receipts and I have gotten probably 5 free 8X8 scrapbook deals (as seen in picture above).
- You can also find free digital prints, free invitation and photo card offers. I have gotten free mugs, magnets and even mouse pads.
- Look for these deals in mom magazines, Target, Shutterfly emails & Pampers “Enjoy the Ride” emails.
- I have also picked up “Shutterfly” pre-paid project cards at Target and gotten like $5 off because the prepaid cards were on sale from $29.99, down to $24.99 + free shipping (as seen in picture above).
The Benefits of Digital Scrapbooks:
Now, lets get real. If your like me, and you are seriously crafty it can take you up to 2 hours to make only 2 pages by hand. Then by the time I get that sucker going, it’s bed time and I hate to leave a mess so then I’ve got to pack up all my scrapbook stuff. Honestly, I really hate pulling it all out again.
- The benefits of doing digital scrapbooks is that you can leave a mess.
- When you are done working with your project, you just save it and come back later.
- I’ve been slowly working on my wedding scrapbook for 2 years now. Okay, so I should hurry up since I got married 8 years ago, but that’s the best part of digital scrapbooking. Every time I get a few moments to work on it, I just hop online and add a page or two.
Busy Moms
I understand that if you are reading this as a true scrapbooker, that this whole post is probably blasphemous. The fact is, I’m a new-ish mom and I need all the help I can get.
- Do Something with your memories: If your a busy woman like me, these kind of publishing programs & websites make it easy to take those great pictures out of your miles of computer files and actually do something with them.
- Impress the Grandmas: Imagine grabbing the best pictures of your kids first year and quickly putting them in a cute book and sending them off to the grandma’s as gifts for Christmas or Mothers Day. You don’t have to hand create 3 identical books! You make one fantastic digital version and you order three!
- For the crafty impaired: In fact, if there isn’t a crafty or creative bone in your body, these sites will literally load the pictures on the pages for you with a design and all.
- When they are professionally printed and bound you look like mom of the year!
- All the features of Regular Scrapbooks:They allow you to add words, designs, “stickers”, frames & all kinds of nice design elements if you want. They may not be 3-D but you can be sure they won’t fade, fall out or discolor over time.
So as a mom, I find that this is a much better way for me to get creative with my pictures. I can get my memories out of my computer and onto my coffee table (placed nicely somewhere between the etch a sketch and the Little People Airport).
Online Scrapbooking Sites:
These are the only sites I am familiar with. If you have any online scrapbooking sites you have used and have enjoyed please share them in the comments section.
I absolutely love the professional quality of BLURB.com books! All my Shutterfly books have pages that fall out after light handling. I make a 200+ page 11×13 book on heavy paper with a hard image wrapped cover every year for about $100 but Blurb constantly has coupons that will bring book prices well below $70. I use Light Room to edit my photos and Photoshop Elements 7 to create my layouts. There are newer versions out but I personally feel this version is most scrapbook user friendly.
I save my layouts as JPG files. Then on Blurb I select full bleed layout and just drag and drop. Easy!
Thanks for letting us know about this NAtalee. I’ve not heard of them before.
I have used Mixbook as well as Shutterfly and had very nice results.
Thanks for the feedback about your experience!
Persnickety Prints is the website I use to print my scrapbook pages. They are fast and very “persnickety” about quality. I have actually had personal phone calls about a picture I was printing because they had questions!
Loretta, thanks for sharing resources you have found helpful! I’ve never tried that company before.
“Very ‘pin’teresting” & sales