Now, I love a regular homemade scrapbook as much as the next crafty gal. There’s something lovely about flipping through pages of compiled memories — pictures, ticket stubs, greeting cards and so on. I used to scrapbook on my spares in high school, because I was terrified that I’d go away to Windsor (my alma mater) where no one knew me, with nothing to show for the nineteen years I’d already been on the earth. Yes, a tad dramatic, I know, but it turned out to be so good to have show n’ tell instead of just tell.
That said, there is one fatal flaw with my scrapbook: It’s one of a kind*. I know what you’re thinking: “What? How is that bad?” And it’s not really, except that I can’t replicate it. If anything happened to it, that’d be it. If I wanted to make one (or something similar) for Blaine or my mom or whoever, I couldn’t. Sometimes this is okay — sometimes you want the originals — and other times you want to share. I’ll give you an example: In ‘06, I backpacked Europe with my friend Leigh-Anne. I later made a photo album documenting the trip. It would have been great to make one for Leigh-Anne, too (but, much as I love her, it was a lot of work the first time around). The digital scrapbook trend would have come in really handy.
So, what’s a digital scrapbook? It’s an electronically created book full of pictures and captions that you could order again and again. The page layouts are provided and you choose the images you’d like to use. There are often text boxes or headline boxes so you can really personalize each page. Think of the possibilities! Family cookbooks, wedding albums for friends and family, baby books…just don’t blame me if you get addicted.
Here’s where you go to get started:
Blurb.com — I made my brother a portfolio of his graphic design work for Christmas last year. It came in hardcover with a dust jacket and was shockingly inexpensive!
Snapfish.com — I’ve heard good things about Snapfish but haven’t used it myself. Any recommendations out there?
Shutterfly — A friend of mine made her boyfriend a photo album of their trip to New York. It was great — looked like a children’s picture book. And on this site you could have it leather-bound!
There are a number of other sites out there, I know. Have you used one that gave you a great product? Let me know. Homemade books are great ideas for the holidays, and if you start now, you’ll avoid the rush. Think about it…a family cookbook, with scans of hand-written, splattered recipes and old pictures, and you can order as many copies as you like. Mom, Grandma, aunts and uncles…cross them off your list in one foul swoop!
*Disclaimer: I love that my scrapbook is one of a kind. I think homemade scrapbooks are wonderful and wish I had time to make dozens of them. So, die-hard scrappers out there, I come in peace! This is just a new idea for sharing your memories, not a replacement for your beautifully-crafted family heirlooms, I promise.
