Scrapbookers Inner Circle

If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that I don't do much digital scrapbooking. The main reason being that as a graphic artist I spend most of my day on the computer - working. So when I want to relax and craft and really enjoy stepping away from my computer and touching my supplies. That said, I will use the computer to prepare something to cut out or print using my Pazzle, but mostly I just use my hands.
 

This past month has found me starting on a journey that I really thought I would never be on. Weight loss was never in my vocabulary. In fact I was someone who could use a little more weight. Now in my thirties and after some serious health issues, I find myself on the other end of the scale (yes the pun was intended Hee! Hee!). This month I have been inspired by Amanda's story and my focus is to get back to the basics.
 

So what does that have to do with scrapbooking?

Have you ever felt like you've spent too much time on a particular scrapbook album?  I have.  Now don't get me wrong - I love the album I made and enjoyed doing it.  What happened was this . . .

My family and I went to Disney World for a week's vacation a few years back.  I found a wonderful leather Disney album and Disney scrapbooking supplies right in the stores at Disney World.  I was excited!! 

I got started on my album soon after returning home and promptly took another 2 years to complete it!!!  You heard me right - 2 years!  Now I've admitted in the past that I'm a slow scrapper and the other problem I had was that I didn't feel like working on any other pages until this album was done. I was very focused. So for 2 years, as life went on, I wasn't scrapbooking the other daily happenings in mine or my kids' lives.  This made me sad.

I can tell you that I was very excited when my album was completed.  Not only did I love it, but also I was more than ready to move on to random layouts that I wanted to do.  I decided right then and there that never again would I spend so much time on one week of our lives.  My solution - make a digital album for those special vacations and save my paper scrapbooking (which is more time consuming for me) for everyday stuff. 

I'd love to hear from anyone who has experienced the same thing and what you did to solve it.

As with most things, there’s more than one way to go about scrapbooking, and going digital is right at the top.

 

Now if you don’t own a computer, or if you are just not into technology, then this is not the way to go.  

 

However, if you’ve ever thought of yourself as a bit of computer junkie, then doing digital scrapbooking might just become your next favorite gig.  

 

There are many advantages to going digital, which include but are not limited to: 

• The greater likelihood of journaling on your pages because all you have to do is copy and paste.
• The ability to “undo” with the touch of a button, just about any element or feature. 
• The opportunity to scrapbook in small spurts by sitting down at the computer for a few minutes a day, without having to pull out a bunch of supplies.
• The lack of need to “print” digital photos.  You can print the finished pages, which might have several photos on each page, thereby saving dollars for ink and paper.
• The access to absolutely any color you might need for your projects.  And also the ability to “recolor” any digital paper or element should you change your mind. 
• The freedom from clutter and excess materials.  Digital elements don’t take up space in your closet, or on your dining table.  Elements and products can also be re-used so that you don’t have to feel bad when using a particularly loved item.  

Now, of course, going digital has its drawbacks too.  First of all, the camaraderie among scrappers who sit face to face at a class, a crop, or at a retreat is unbeatable.  When it’s just you and your computer screen, you are bound to feel a bit isolated.  Secondly, there is a sensory element to scrapbooking where much enjoyment comes from the feel of the paper, the smell of adhesives, the sound of hole-punches, and the sight of real texture and dimension.  And lastly, much patience is required.  Some people we know have been doing digital for over a year, and they still feel like they are at the beginner stage.  You have to be willing to try things, re-do things, and just play around.  

 

That said if you use a program like Jen's you will have all the support you need, great digital elements and I have found that if you are a totally “get-it-done’ kind of person, then this might just be for you.

 

Let Jen help you take the leap to digital. Listen to the interview I did with her and then collect your free gift.

 

 

 

PS. I have almost completed my first 12x12 album of our vacation to Trinidad and Tobago. I will post it when I am finished 

Here is an idea you may want to try - digital posters!  I wanted to try digital scrapbooking but didn't want the time commitment or cost of making a whole album.  A digital poster was the perfect way for me to complete a project quickly and to still get a good idea of what digital scrapbooking was like.

I made two 12X18 posters to start with and loved the results so much that I quickly made two more.  I made them using Heritage Makers who printed and delivered the posters right to my door.  They have a huge variety of embellishments to choose from.  The only problem I had was finding frames the right size.  To solve this I added paper to the empty spots.  You have to be quite close up to notice that they are not part of the digital poster. 

I put all four posters in my scrapbook room.  They give me inspiration, remind me of some great memories, and provide stylish and interesting decoration for the room. 

If you have made a digital poster I would love to see it in the photo gallery.  I'm always looking for new ideas.  You can catch a glimpse of my posters in the 3rd video Tammy and I made about my scrapbook room remodel.

Cheers!
Tracy Epp

What could be better than an Oprah endorsement? (And we’re not talking $300 socks this time!) Oprah has picked Heritage Maker Digital Scrapbooks as one of her favorite gifts of the year.  The December issue of “O” Magazine tells how a fan personally created a digital scrapbook about Oprah’s recently passed pet pooch.  That little book won Oprah’s heart, and for good reason.  It was personal, beautiful, full of memories, and probably a touch of sentimentality – the best kind of gift.  When you jump online and see how unique and charming these digitally created and printed books are, I guarantee you will think of some appreciative gift recipients on your own Christmas list.  

The holidays are the perfect time to tell someone a great story – and “storybooking” with Heritage Makers is truly the next big thing.  I wish I could say I was ahead of this curve, but I’ve only recently discovered digital scrapbooking myself.  I hope my story inspires you to check it out.

You see, like so many crafty people, I love gifting things I make.  About four years ago, I created a handmade photo calendar for my parents, complete with pictures of their grandchildren, and the fun times we had together over the previous year.  The blank calendar kit included papers, cutouts for each month, and of course the grid on which to hand write your own dates.  I further personalized each calendar by adding everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries – even extended family, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and godchildren.  To say that the calendar was a hit is an understatement.  In fact, what began as a labor of love has become the one gift they expect each Christmas.  That’s the good news.  

Now for the not-so-good news:  somehow my life is moving at top speed nowadays.  Still crafty, still somewhat organized – hey, I was thinking Christmas gifts and it wasn’t even Halloween yet! – I give myself credit for even continuing this (dare I say it) tradition.  About a week ago, determined to get started on the calendar, I poured myself a cup of coffee and went online to look for a cardstock blank to embellish again this year.  

Finding Treasure on the Internet

As so often happens on the wonderful worldwide web, somehow I found myself at a most enchanting website, FutureOfScrapbooking.com devoted to digital scrapbooks.  Within minutes, I was clicking on gorgeous pastel papers to go with a breezy Easter picture I have of my kids, and searching the Christmas templates for a gingerbread theme. Before I’d even taken a sip of coffee, I knew I’d found my calendar.  And maybe even a new hobby!

Before I go any further, let me say that I simply cannot wait to give my folks their calendar this year.  I just received them in the mail yesterday and they are exquisite!  The fact that they took far less time, and are so much higher in quality than anything I’ve ever made, is just incredible to me.  And I didn’t even have to bury the dining room table in paper scraps for weeks on end!  

Yes, call me a recent convert to digital scrapbooking, thanks to Jen Friesen.  Actually, her website renewed my interest in making not only calendars, but true scrapbooks, too.  My family has quite a few memories in the queue for documentation, but I thought I would have to wait for my kids to grow up and leave home before I finally got around to making any more scrapbooks.   

Now, with my serendipitous introduction to digital scrapbooking, I’m certain I can crank out a few more books in the coming year, and maybe even catch up on my family memory books. Correction – I’ll be making Storybooks, as Friesen likes to say.  And if I get started soon (sometime before the kids go off to college) I may even have some brain cells left to remember the details!

Why I (Still) Love Traditional Scrapbooks

A little personal history:  Like many enthusiastic and crafty new mothers, I finished all my babies’ scrapbooks while my children were still small and sticky; and trust me, they are three of my favorite treasures – the scrapbooks, that is. (It goes without saying, doesn’t it, that my kids are my real treasures!) Yet now that the kiddos are coherent, somewhat predictable, and even in school, I can’t imagine finding the time and space I’d need to document the rest of their delicious childhoods.  I’ve been a little sad about this trend.  I have thousands of digital pictures on my computer, but such slim hopes of ever scrapbooking again.

I had always thought I might pick it up again someday, though…and why not?

They’re fun to make:  the tactile pleasure of cutting and pasting, designing layouts, and composing meaningful journalistic memories.  It’s just that, well, traditional scrapbooking is a “lifestyle,” for lack of a better word.  I still enjoy browsing the scrapbook aisles and purchasing gorgeous papers occasionally. And while I delight in the creative process, the paper hobby seems to take on a life of its own, incongruous to my hectic life right now. 

For one thing, who has the time?  It takes months, even years sometimes, to make a book by hand. Being budget-minded, I always feel that I spend more money than I should on supplies.  And then there’s that whole “dining room table” conundrum – after all, my creativity can’t properly flourish unless it looks like a small cyclone hit my entire craft paper collection.  Obsessive? Maybe, but everything else in life gets pushed to the back burner when I’m making a scrapbook. Not great for family life.

I adore poring over all the loving details of my traditional scrapbooks and those of others. But it is the cost, the time, the space issue, and the level of necessary organization required that presents insurmountable challenges to an otherwise great hobby.  

The Largest, Most Organized Scrapbook Studio in the World 

Now we come to the era of digital scrapbooking, a new concept for me.  Apparently, I’m catching this train at just the right moment, because the level of beauty, flexibility, and ease-of-use exceeds everything I’ve seen before.  I love my computer, but I’ve just never been very impressed with online photo books.  Until now. 

Enter Jen Friesen and her Heritage Maker products and services.  As an online representative, she espouses “storybooking,” the act of telling stories with pictures, memories, and colorful design.  Her take on digital scrapbooking stems from a belief that anyone with the most basic computer skills can make a beautiful book.  And it’s true!  I’ve tried my hand at some pretty tricky software programs and have never come close to making anything as rich and layered as these pages I made in just a couple of hours.  Now I can’t wait to put together my first book.  If the quality even comes close to my calendar project, then I’m a believer for life.  

 

Toss Your Glue Stick!

I was blown away by how EASY it is to use Friesen’s Heritage Maker website:

• 30 thousand amazing design elements you simply drag and drop onto your page.
• Streamlined online organization makes it easy to find the style you seek and compare fonts, colors, and graphic elements.  No messy table – ever!  
• A gallery of over 2000 quotes, along with open space for journaling and storytelling.  There are even tips on getting your words down just right!  
• Hundreds of well-matched collections which you can use to pull your book into a cohesive format, with new collections by top designers released every month.  Seriously, the variety is dizzying, and it just keeps growing.
• All at your fingertips.  You can save and retrieve projects to work on at your leisure.  What scrapbook store do you know that’s regularly open at 2:00am?

But the fun really starts when you mix and match elements to your own pictures.  There’s even a way to design/paint your own “paper” using colors you grab directly from your pictures.  Just playing around with my unique palette was so much more fun than using a selection I chose in a store.  And far less expensive!

Imagine having all your pictures downloaded to a site where you can swap them in and out of pre-made templates.  The online backup is practically worth the cost of a monthly subscription alone, for you never have to worry about losing precious pictures to a computer crash.  A basic subscription is free, but doesn’t offer as many pretty options, and only (only!) two Gigabytes of storage (in other words, about 2000 pictures).  I personally believe more is more, but regardless of which you choose, it’s all hosted offsite and available to you at any time, from any computer.  With such a safe, easy, neat, and organized way to scrapbook…it will definitely be a part of my future. 

Expert Digital Support

The best thing about www.futureofscrapbooking.com is the online support Friesen gives you as you work on your pages.  According to the podcast interview with her here onwww.scrapbookersinnercircle.com, Friesen spent 8 years crafting painstakingly beautiful traditional scrapbooks for her family and friends.  She was looking for an easier way to share her hobby and to help others create keepsakes of their own when she discovered Heritage Makers.

Immediately recognizing the simplicity and value in digital scrapbooks, she made a complete switch in one day, sold all her traditional paper supplies, and became a rep.  I can see why. The products are gorgeous. The program is ridiculously user-friendly.  You’ll feel like a pro, and an artist, and a seasoned graphics designer, all within your first hour creating online. And if you get stuck, a quick email to Friesen and you’re covered.  Her website also offers monthly newsletters, special offers, and useful tips.  

I’m thinking there’s plenty of time to make a couple more small books before the Christmas deadline.  But now that I’m hooked, there’s always next year. 

Endorsed by Oprah in O Magazine, Heritage Makers offers an easy Digital Scrapbooking solution to personalized gifts, and an online source for creating books that tell your unique story.

Digital “storybooking” is quickly gaining in popularity; how Heritage Makers gained a special place in Oprah's heart.
 

Many of you have already heard (or read) about Heritage Makers, a digital scrapbooking company that is turning heads like no other. Their unique online program is beginning to convert even the most dedicated hands-on scrapbookers. What you may not know is that Oprah's “O” Magazine will be featuring Heritage Makers in an upcoming issue; exciting news for the scrapbooking community!
 

This was brought about by the determination of one woman, Brenda Kruse, who is a personal publishing consultant with Heritage Makers. A hard-working single mother of two, Brenda was moved to tears when she accidentally came across an editorial in “O” Magazine. In it, Oprah told about the tragic loss of Gracie, the smallest of her three golden retriever puppies, and the hardship she suffered in trying to come to terms with Gracie's death. Oprah also shared the lesson she learned from Gracie's too-short presence in her life: slow down, allow yourself to enjoy the simple pleasures within each and every moment as if it is your last.
 

Brenda was inspired by Oprah's story to create a storybook dedicated to Gracie; to the powerful impact one sweet, loving and curious puppy had on one of the most influential women of our time. The beautiful storybook she created, using the Heritage Makers program, found its way into Oprah's hands just before the first anniversary of Gracie's death. Brenda got the surprise of a lifetime when she heard the famous voice on her answering machine, thanking her for the “lovely, lovely book” that was “such a treasure.”
 

Heritage Makers is unlike any other digital scrapbooking program. Because it is based on the internet and allows you to upload your photo files directly onto their server (providing valuable backup of precious photos) you are able to access your creations from any computer.
 

The basic program is free and very simple to get started, with a wide selection of graphics, fonts and templates. They also offer a premier package that gives you access to hundreds of thousands of items to use in your layouts. When your digital scrapbook is complete, Heritage Makers will send you the hardbound storybook you've designed.
 

Scrapbookers are raving about Heritage Makers. The program they offer is a perfect fit for the needs of scrappers, who love how easy it is to use and the seemingly unlimited options it provides. With a minimal learning curve, wonderful customer service and flexible shipping options, I highly recommend it. You can read about my experience using Heritage Makers at here, as well as listen to my podcast with Jen Friesen of FutureOfScrapbooking.com.
 

Don't forget to watch for Heritage Makers in an upcoming issue of “O” Magazine!

For many, scrapbooking can seem a daunting task, especially for someone new to the craft. Between all the supplies, coming up with new layout ideas and finding the time it is a wonder any of us continue.

Digital scrapbooking, although less messy, can also seem overwhelming. Many scrapbookers, like myself, enjoy the tactile experience of traditional scrapbooking and for others the thought of creating a layout on a computer sends them into a panic!

A perfect solution for creating quick and beautiful layouts ~ without the mess!