Scrapbook Look #6 - April 2026

 "Scrapbooking isn't just re-living memories.  It's re-loving them."  ~Janna W.

Welcome back to Scrapbook Look, our monthly series of quick glances at a few of my recent digitally-created scrapbook pages!  However you like to do it, we can all enjoy the relaxing and therapeutic benefits of scrapbooking, including a quick pre-designed yearbook that doesn't require extra software.

Here's a look at some of the scrapbook pages from my 2025 yearbook. 

This family reunion in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in June was the perfect time to use a feature I've used before but not for a while:  Use a favorite scenery photo as your background paper!  It makes for a very simple layout with little to no embellishments like ribbons or hearts, but it seems so classic that I really like it.  Because I can use any font from my computer with this scrapbooking software, I had a lot of fun choosing just the right thing. 

Lately, I've been preserving random photos from a given month that don't fit nicely into one event on a month page.  I've been using individual pages from pre-designed templates (see Credits below), and I think they work so great for this!  The page is pre-designed, but I can adjust it however I want to add more pictures or whatever I need to.  

I really enjoyed playing with a new feature on these RMNP pages that I just learned how to do, which is creating a shape and then putting text in it (which I made a video tutorial about here).  I'm always looking for something new and creative (which is so easy with Artisan--it's full of incredible possibilities) for my pages, and this one was fun to play with.

You might remember my Mesa Verde pages from Scrapbook Look #3 in January--this digital art collection for Rocky Mountain is from the same designer, and the 3 or 4 pages of this trip showed different parts of the background map paper based on where I put my photos and text, which I thought was fun.

CREDITS

• Scrapbook pages made using Artisan software by Forever.  (information | subscription | digital art store)
• Digital art credit:  Escape to Colorado Collection by Seatrout Scraps, Family Yearbook 2 by Forever Digital Art, National Park Project - Rocky Mountain (CO) by Designs by Mandy King, All Things June Mixology by Forever Digital Art
• Digital book printed here (in gorgeous, high-quality pages I fall in love with every time), with the digital version PDF also kept forever there in my private account.  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.  If you're new to Forever and open your free account here to give it a try, you'll get a $20 welcome coupon towards anything mentioned in this post.

FAQ

Why digital?

First, there's no "right way" to scrapbook, except for two things:  1- quality so your book will last for many, many years to come, and 2- something you will love and therefore do.  

I personally choose digital because it's faster and easier, taking up less space in my house than the papers and scissors and stickers (and table space) I needed when I was a paper scrapbooker.  I like that instead of having to crop (cut) a photo to make it fit, I can easily resize, zoom in, etc.

I also love the ability to print multiple copies with just the click of a button, and for safety reasons I like that my scrapbooks exist both digitally and in print.  (I have scanned my old paper scrapbooks for the same reason.)  

Why digital just to print it?

Aside from what I mentioned above:  Accessibility!  Yes, I print my digitally-created scrapbooks because print is an easily-accessible form of seeing and also sharing (and gifting!) photos and memories.  Print doesn't need a full battery in an expensive gadget.  Plus, photo experts still recommend print as an important way to store photos and memories, in addition to digital forms.

Thanks for stopping in.  See you at next month's Scrapbook Look!  (Or, first click the Scrapbook Look tag at the bottom of this post to see more scrapbook pages.)  

To save and share this post, Pin this image.

Follow Photo & Story Treasures on social media here:

How to Find a Photo Fast

Do you have a lot of photos?  If you're like most people, the answer is yes!  

A lot of anything is hard to keep track of, don't you think?  

I think physical things are a little easier (it's on the top shelf, or it's in the kitchen), but digital files all look the same, so to speak, from the outside.  So how can you find a photo quickly? 

The Prep Work

Before we get to my secret of finding photos fast, let me first show you the easiest, most convenient way I know of to organize your photos.  

Organizing is the first step to finding photos, and this fantastic method can be accessed on a computer, tablet, and especially your phone with a convenient app. 

Having all your photos in one place is a really important way to find your photos fast, so this organizational method does just that.  (If your photos are in multiple locations, you'll want to use this brilliant idea along with the tutorial video there.) 

This organizational method is great, yes, but it also provides you with premier, unparalleled cloud photo/video storage as well!  It's actually a big deal.

Paring down photos helps you find a photo faster as well, so if you need a little downsizing advice, try this.

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.  If you're new to Forever and open your free account here to give it a try, you'll get a $20 welcome coupon towards anything mentioned in this post.

The Secret Weapon(s) for Finding a Photo Fast

OK.  Now it's time to tell you my secret!  Once you have your photos all in one place and organized, you can use a quick trick to help you find a photo fast:  tags and descriptions.  Here's how it works.   

Although my examples are very simple in this short tutorial video, I definitely suggest being specific with your tags.  "Christmas" will show you all the photos you've tagged "Christmas," but "Christmas93" will help you find only photos from Christmas 1993.  "Bob" will show you all his photos but "BobGraduation" will show you only those.  

Think through the tag system that will work best for you.

Or, simply write descriptions next to your photos in your Forever Cloud Storage.

If you don't want to set up a whole tagging system, you can simply add descriptions to each photo like "Bob and Sue went to Windandsea Beach after dinner at La Valencia in La Jolla" because descriptions are searchable, too! 

This 15-minute video shows how to actually do the search, both in your Gallery (Library) and in your Albums, and what the difference is.

One of the many reasons I recommend Forever to backup, save, and share photos and videos is that the metadata you add (the description, tags, dates, etc.) stays with the photo even if you move it to another platform, such as downloading it to a flash drive or computer.

Get Started

And that's it!  These tools will help you get your photos organized and tagged so you can find a photo fast.  Get started here.  When you can access your photos quickly and easily, you can enjoy them, share them, love them, and use them.  And that's the whole purpose of a photo!

Share this tip by Pinning this image to Pinterest or using the social 
media share buttons at the left.

Follow Photo & Story Treasures on social media here:

 

Scrapbook Look #5 - March 2026

"Scrapbooking isn't just re-living memories.  It's re-loving them."  ~Janna W.

Welcome back to Scrapbook Look!  However you like to do it, we can all enjoy the relaxing and therapeutic benefits of scrapbooking!

Here's what I'm excited to share with you this month.  😁  One of my favorite things--and there are many--about scrapbooking is the whole "roses in December" idea.  When I'm waiting for spring to come, it's lovely to remember some beautiful things in the world!

I had a lot of fun with this layout, trying both the cutting papers digitally feature and the alphaset for making titles.

I saw a layout similar to this next one online, and it was a little hard for me to overcome my innate desire for symmetry to actually do it, but I think it turned out pretty cute.  And aside from the creativity which I find so relaxing and enjoyable, the whole purpose of scrapbooking is to remember moments, so:  mission accomplished.

And speaking of remembering good times, I just loved putting pages together for this trip!  I'm a Washington girl at heart.  I grew up going to the Pacific Northwest to visit my grandparents, and then I lived in WA for 11 years as a newlywed and young mom, so we always enjoy going back and soaking in the beauty.  

I've used this state shape/name digital art collection (credited below) several times now for different trips, and I think it makes a fun title page where I can showcase a favorite photo.

I just have to show you what some of my Washington pages look like printed.  I am--yet again!--blown away at the quality I get with Forever Print.  The pages feel like velvet, and looking at them made me truly feel like I could reach out and touch the water and the leaves.

CREDITS

• Scrapbook pages made using Artisan software by Forever.  (information | subscription | digital art store)
• Digital art credit:  Jelly Alphabet No. 10 by Katie Pertiet Designs, Coordinated Classics - Sugar and Spice by Forever Digital Art, Key to My Heart by Forever Digital Art, Modern Life by Designs by Laura Burger, Travel Tidbits USA State Overlay Templates by Designs by Mandy King, Downhill Bundle by Forever Digital Art, Travel Tidbits USA State Flag Stamps by Designs by Mandy King, Travel Tidbits USA 2 Pennants by Designs by Mandy King, Escape to Ireland by Seatrout Scraps, National Park Project - Olympic by Designs by Mandy King
• Digital book printed here (in gorgeous, high-quality pages I fall in love with every time), with the digital version PDF also kept forever there in my private account.  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.  If you're new to Forever and open your free account here to give it a try, you'll get a $20 welcome coupon towards anything mentioned in this post.

FAQ

Why digital?

First, there's no "right way" to scrapbook, except for two things:  1- quality so your book will last for many, many years to come, and 2- something you will love and therefore do.  

I personally choose digital because it's faster and easier, taking up less space in my house than the papers and scissors and stickers (and table space) I needed when I was a paper scrapbooker.  I like that instead of having to crop (cut) a photo to make it fit, I can easily resize, zoom in, etc.

I also love the ability to print multiple copies with just the click of a button, and for safety reasons I like that my scrapbooks exist both digitally and in print.  (I have scanned my old paper scrapbooks for the same reason.)  

Why digital just to print it?

Aside from what I mentioned above:  Accessibility!  Yes, I print my digitally-created scrapbooks because print is an easily-accessible form of seeing and also sharing (and gifting!) photos and memories.  Print doesn't need a full battery in an expensive gadget.  Plus, photo experts still recommend print as an important way to store photos and memories, in addition to digital forms.

Thanks for stopping in.  See you at next month's Scrapbook Look!  (Or, first click the Scrapbook Look tag at the bottom of this post to see more scrapbook pages.)  

To save and share this post, Pin this image.

Follow Photo & Story Treasures on social media here:

Hooray!  This blog post was a featured favorite at:

Creating a Digital Vault to Back Up Important Documents

One of the things I love about talking to people about how Forever Cloud Storage can help them is that other people have more ideas than I do!  Nina asked me:

"Can you store documents in Forever Storage, too? Like a will?"

Yes! Yes, you can. And, come to think about it--we SHOULD. *I* should.

Yes, FOREVER is an incredible, secure, private place for your photos and videos, but did you know you can also store documents there?

Where is your:

• will/living will
• birth certificate
• passport
• driver's license
• health records
• certification/degree/transcript
• other legal documents
• phone numbers--anywhere else besides your phone?

FOREVER for Emergencies: A Digital Vault

If you're like most people, all those items are in a file cabinet. So, if something happens to that file cabinet... 😬 Or if your computer crashes?

What we really need is a digital vault!

Based on Nina's questions and our resulting conversation, I created this demo of a digital vault for important documents.  Head over there to see the possibilities, and read the description I've included there to find out how you can even download the Album Covers like the ones you see just above and just below here.

I combined Nina's idea with another one I heard after the latest fires in California:  take videos of your home and belongings for insurance purposes and store them in your FOREVER Permanent Cloud Storage, too!  

Yes, these are actual photos from the person who lost her home in the fires but had taken 
videos of the contents and saved in her private FOREVER Storage prior to the destruction.

I've shared an example for you here under Home & Property to give you an idea of what this would look like.

Why FOREVER? Couldn't I Just Do This in Google Photos or Dropbox or iCloud?

Actually, no.  None of them are intended to be forever, and (important!) privacy rights aside, none are even guaranteed to be there tomorrow, let alone in 100 years.

This is actually one of the things Nina brought up with me.  Sadly, her brother passed away last year, and she confirmed from experience what I had learned about Apple Photos.  

Apple Photos dies with you.  You can't have access to another person's Apple Photos with a death certificate, or even a court order!  It's just GONE.

This is why it REALLY matters how and where we do this!

It's not a secret that Google mines your data and whatever you put in Google isn't private.  So, it's obviously not the place to put a scanned passport or drivers license.

I'd already preserved several things--passport scans, immunization records, etc.--in my personal FOREVER Permanent Cloud Storage account, but I loved taking Nina's idea to expand it to the fullest and flesh out the real possibilities of a Digital Vault.  Now I also have titles and deeds to our home and cars in my personal Digital Vault, and the videos for insurance purposes, too!

Similar to other cloud services, you access FOREVER Cloud Storage through wifi or an internet connection.  The app adds an extra convenience, too, so check out information about the (free) FOREVER app here.

Here's How to Create a Private Digital Vault of Your Own

So to make sure all your important documents are backed up, just create an Album in your Forever Storage and set it to a Private visibility. You can even use the cute album covers I've designed, if you want! Click around here and read the descriptions for more information--and to copy my album covers to use for yourself. 🤩

And I've outlined it step by step for all of us:

I never know how Blogger does with the quality of the images I'm including here, so for a crisp look at the flyer above, read it here if you prefer.

From there, you can access your private Forever Cloud Storage from any computer with internet access or through the app:

• on WiFi
• with an internet connection
• through cellular service if WiFi isn't available 

I'm so excited to share this idea!  A huge thanks to Nina for asking this question and inspiring me to outline the possibilities of what we can really do here.  

After you see my outline at this demo of a digital vault, tell me in the comments if you think we're missing anything.  What else would you add?

Love this idea?  Share it!  Pin this image to Pinterest, or share this post
using the social media share buttons at the left.

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.  If you're new to Forever and open your free account here to give it a try, you'll get a $20 welcome coupon towards anything mentioned in this post.

Follow Photo & Story Treasures on social media here:

Hooray!  This blog post was a featured favorite here:

Scrapbook Look #4 - February 2026

Welcome back to Scrapbook Look!  However you like to do it, scrapbooking has a host of relaxing and therapeutic benefits!

"Scrapbooking isn't just re-living memories.  It's re-loving them."  ~Janna W.

Here's a look at my scrapbook.  😁  

The layout for these pages came from some searching online.  I seem to only have about 3 ideas for scrapbook layouts on my own, but I really enjoy mixing it up for each "topic" (event, page, whatever it happens to be), so love getting ideas from other people.  

One of the things I really love about the particular digital scrapbooking program I use (see Credits below) is that I can use any font that I've installed on my computer, which is so fun.  I like to switch up the fonts a lot!  (It's easy to install new fonts on your computer--I love the free ones.)

my digital scrapbook printed

And you may have noticed in both the Colorado and the Austria pages here, I've included QR codes.  That's one of my other favorite things to do in a digital scrap page so that I can also see the videos that go with the photos.  

I store my photo files digitally in a cloud space that's private and permanent (unlike Google, or anything else out there, for that matter), and I love that I can store my videos there, too!  I've added on a streaming service in that cloud space so that when I scan those QR codes, I can play the video right from there!!  

I used to use YouTube for that, but they removed one of my videos once (without my permission--I was so mad, and there was nothing I could do about it), so I stopped counting on them (and using them).  Anyway, you're welcome to scan the QR codes here to see my fun videos, too, if you like (if the quality here on Blogger is good enough for you to do that).  It's SUCH a cool thing to be able to do.  😎

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate called an Ambassador (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post. I earn a commission from anything purchased at my website, and being your Ambassador means I'm here to help you with questions, too.  If you're new to Forever and open your free account here to give it a try, you'll get a $20 welcome coupon towards anything mentioned in this post.

CREDITS

• Scrapbook pages made using Artisan software by Forever.  (information | subscription | digital art store)
• Digital art credit: Felicity Mixed Media Sampler by Art Party, Perfect Palates - Dove White by Forever Digital Art, All Things November Mixology by Forever Digital Art, Readymade Layers Fall Clusters 05 by Katie Pertiet Designs, Europe Mapped - Central Europe by Template & Co, European Christmas Village Kit by Lucky Girl Creative
• Digital book printed here (in gorgeous, high-quality pages I fall in love with every time), with the digital version PDF also kept forever there in my private account.  

FAQ

Why digital?

First, there's no "right way" to scrapbook, except for two things:  1- quality so your book will last for many, many years to come, and 2- something you will love and therefore do.  

I personally choose digital because it's faster and easier, taking up less space in my house than the papers and scissors and stickers (and table space) I needed when I was a paper scrapbooker.  I like that instead of having to crop (cut) a photo to make it fit, I can easily resize, zoom in, etc.

I also love the ability to print multiple copies with just the click of a button, and for safety reasons I like that my scrapbooks exist both digitally and in print.  (I have scanned my old paper scrapbooks for the same reason.)  

Why digital just to print it?

Aside from what I mentioned above:  Accessibility!  Yes, I print my digitally-created scrapbooks because print is an easily-accessible form of seeing and also sharing (and gifting!) photos and memories.  Print doesn't need a full battery in an expensive gadget.  Plus, photo experts still recommend print as an important way to store photos and memories, in addition to digital forms.

Thanks for stopping in.  See you at next month's Scrapbook Look!  (Or, first click the Scrapbook Look tag at the bottom of this post to see more scrapbook pages.)  

To save and share this post, Pin this image.

Follow Photo & Story Treasures on social media here: