How to Start Digital Scrapbooking

Feeling like there's got to be a better solution for photos than keeping them by the hundreds on your phone?

You're right.  There is.  

Digital scrapbooking is my favorite way to preserve photos and memories because it's fast, convenient, and cost-effective.  I recommend it to everyone I know (and everyone I don't), so if your photos need a home where they can be loved, you're in the right place.

Did you know that scrapbooks are older than photography itself?  Families often kept scraps and mementos in books for safekeeping, and the first “scrapbooks” were often the family Bible.  As early as the mid-1400s, people recorded births and deaths in the front covers of their Bibles, and according to “The Fascinating History of Scrapbooking,” publishers in the 1800s started including extra pages in the fronts of Bibles for this very purpose.  This made family Bibles into heirlooms because they preserved and housed the history of a family.

If you’re old enough that the term “scrapbooking” seems like a burdensome, time-consuming chore, I have some great news.

If you’re young enough that “scrapbooking” is old-fashioned and outdated, I have some great news.

The Great News

Whether you’re a former scrapbooker or a never-scrapbooker, this is the great news for you:

Digital scrapbooking is easier, more efficient, and often less expensive than traditional scrapbooking.  And it’s 1,000 times more meaningful than keeping your photos on your phone or computer.

If you’ve never done any sort of scrapbooking before (maybe you’re a young-un who lives in a digital world and doesn’t see a need), keep in mind the heirloom qualities of the first “scrapbooks,” where families would keep their own history, in essence, and pass it down to a new generation to help them know who they are and where they come from.  Preserving pictures in hand-held pages today serves exactly the same purpose.  As you know, phones aren’t exactly heirlooms.  (Check out these five reasons your photos don’t belong on your phone!)

 

If you are a traditional scrapbooker looking to make the switch, I highly recommend the article I wrote based on a class I taught on this subject, “How to Transition from Paper to Digital Scrapbooking.”  I answer 5 common questions about switching to digital, including what digital offers that paper doesn’t and what to do if you already have scrapbooking supplies you don’t want to waste.  And then, of course, I show examples of digital scrapbooking right in front of your eyes via video.  Those who attended live LOVED it!

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find several affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.

STEP 1:  Choose from Digital Scrapbooking Options

In over 15 years as a digital scrapbooker, I have become acquainted with several digital photobook and digital scrapbooking options.  There are a lot of variables in publishing companies.  The two big things to look for are quality and longevity.  Your pages have to be top-quality, otherwise all the work (and money) you're putting into them will have to be done all over again in 10 or 20 years (sometimes less).  You also want digital backups of your books or pages to be around for a while.  Some companies are fine deleting your projects and your photos after a while (Walmart and Shutterfly, to name two). 

Here’s my choice for the best digital scrapbooking available.  There are actually three options here, so there's something for everyone.

After quality and longevity, I think the best digital scrapbooking advice I can give is to choose something you will love.  If you love doing it, you're much more likely to do it.

So if Design & Print's software and free, easy templates look like your style, DO THAT.

If you like the creativity and flexibility of pages in Artisan look amazing, DO THAT.

Here's a little more about Artisan if that looks like your digital scrapbooking preference.  It's definitely mine!

There is so much that you can do with Artisan software that I have created two additional resources to help!

1. Artisan Cheat Sheet - I put this together when I first started using Artisan to help me remember how to do something I just learned.  I update it periodically, so I suggest you bookmark it!
2. Artisan Quick Tips with Jennifer - This is basically the video version of the Artisan Cheat Sheet, which is nice, I think so you can see how 

There's also an online digital scrapbooking group for Artisan users!  They have TONS of videos and fun resources (including blueprints, which are like templates) for free, too.  It's called Pixels2Pages and has a monthly or yearly membership fee.  The ladies who run it are called Pixies, which is kind of adorable, and you can learn more about the Pixels2Pages online scrapbooking group here.

Note:  Artisan runs on a PC, but MAC users can use it with a partitioning program.

a screenshot of me creating my digital scrapbook using Artisan

Please also consider photo privacy when choosing a digital scrapbooking option.  The company you use should not reserve rights to our photos to sell your data or photos.  I didn't think that was a thing until I did a little research and wrote this article which will most likely blow your mind:  What You’re Really Signing Up For with Digital Photo Storage.  So, please:  know what you’re signing up for when you choose a publishing (or photo storage) company!

All the options you see recommended here at Photo and Story Treasures will always meet the highest quality, longevity, and privacy standards!  It matters. 

STEP 2:  Get Ready – Photo Organization

Most people I know stop right here.  The idea of photo organization is so overwhelming (and understandably so) that the idea of leaving your pictures to die on your phone sounds preferable to creating a family heirloom book with photo and story treasures inside.

But you’re better than that!  You can do this!

I first recommend that you choose your topic.  Do you want to make a photo-storybook about your summer adventures, baby’s first year, the Hawaii trip, or a family yearbook of 2017 or 2020 photos?  Just focus on one thing, not all the pictures you own.  Some people like to start with the most recent (pictures from this summer), but some people like to start at the beginning (the wedding, baby’s first year, or wherever you left off).  Go with what sounds easiest and most doable to you.   

Next, organize and choose photos from just that topic. You may have a lot more photos than that.  That’s ok.  They’ll wait.  Do one thing first, start to finish, and the momentum will propel you forward.  (Because it’s fun, super exciting, and so rewarding.)

I’ve created several resources to help with photo organization.  Find many of them here, including video tutorials.

STEP 3:  Make an Appointment with Yourself

Just like going to the grocery store or the dentist or the gym, nothing happens without making time for it.  So make a digital scrapbooking appointment with yourself and then be a friend (to yourself) and keep it. 

Alternatively, you may want to recruit a friend you can work with.  All you need for digital scrapbooking is a laptop, so getting together is pretty easy.  I used to do this all the time—we’d take turns at each other’s houses and our kids would play together.  Or you can always do Girls Night at any local restaurant or shop with good wifi.  Or you can even get together with friends long-distance thanks to Zoom and such.

And you are invited to do your digital scrapbooking with me!!  I host an online digital scrapbooking work time (sometimes daytime, sometimes evenings) once every season.  It’s free for anyone using my fave, Forever, and is lots of fun!  You can find details of the next event and a link to join it right here—just scroll down until you find “Photo Rodeo – Rein in Your Photos.”

I have one last idea for you to help you make sure your good intentions get done.  Have you ever thought about working with your kids/grandkids to put together your photo and story treasures?  Based on some experiences I’ve heard from people who do it, I wrote Preserving Your Pictures as a Family Tradition.  If you like the idea, read that article and see what suggestions are helpful.

STEP 4:  Just Do It  ~  Enjoy!

Now’s the fun part.  Just do it.  Take those precious photos and preserve them as family heirlooms that tell your story.  It will mean the world to your family, plus it’s so good for your heart and soul!

I love what happens when you preserve your photos and tell their stories—both for the person doing it and the person receiving it—so if you need help or have questions, let me help you on the road.

Create yourown heirloom-quality photo-storybooks by following the steps here.

Then share this post with someone who wants to put their photos into their hands, too!  No experience necessary.

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Perfect Gifts with a Budget-Friendly Plan: Christmas in September

This post was updated in 2022.

You’ve probably heard of Christmas in July, but if you’ve never heard of Christmas in September, today’s your lucky day.  

Get ready for a mind-blowing, life-changing approach to completely annihilate the stress and expense of gift-giving in December while giving impressive and amazing gifts which I promise you will be the best gifts ever.

I’ll give you a month-by-month guide (use it as a checklist, if you like) along with memorable, personal, and unique gift options to choose from.  You’ll have everything completed by Thanksgiving, your expenses will be spread out, you won’t be scrambling for gift ideas, and you will have very happy recipients.  

Christmas in September is basically the best thing ever.

All these gifts are created digitally (sort of like canva.com or Photoshop) and then submitted for professional publishing.  You'll just need a (free) Forever account, which I'll give details on later.  You get a $20 coupon just for opening your account, too!  It's only good for 60 days, though, so I'm going to help you plan accordingly.  

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find several affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.

If you'd like a video version of this post, I walk you through Christmas in September with a few more ideas here:

Something to keep in mind is that although print products are fantastic gifts and I'll show several of them here, we're using Forever products and services for this Christmas in September Plan, which means you could also gift digitization!  You can get old home movies digitized, old photos digitized, etc. with the Forever Box!

Find more details on the Forever Box here or email me at photoandstorytreasures@gmail.com with your questions.  (The Forever Box is almost always on sale, too.)  It's a priceless gift!

All right!  It's time for the Christmas in September Plan!  It's unforgettable gifts with a budget-friendly plan, and as a bonus you don't have to go to the mall in December!

SEPTEMBER

The first steps happen in September.  This gives you time to choose the gifts and budget for them.  These particular gifts will be personal (and delightful, I happen to know from experience), and I’ll include a lot of details here to help you make them that way, such as video tutorials.  The links will have more pictures, too.  This month, you’ll only need to set aside a portion of the cost.

In September, you’ll just need to do these 6 things: 

1.      First, learn about the three platforms for creating impressive, personalized, high-quality gifts here, and then we'll jump right into the Plan.

 

2. Make your recipient gift list:  Grandparents, parents, friends, siblings, spouse, children, neighbors, grandchildren, everyone.

3.      Explore personal and unique gift ideas that are also high-quality which can fit a variety of ages and interests (and price ranges for you).  Make a budget first if you like, then explore gift ideas and options here.  Don’t worry about not knowing yet how to actually get/create these items—that’s another step later.  This part is just having fun and picking gifts for loved ones.  Books are always meaningful, but calendars and ornaments are popular this time of year, and steel water bottles, mousepads, and wall decor are other great ideas.

4.      Make a price list of how much these sweet items cost, but keep in mind that by following this Christmas in September approach, you’ll hit some sales as well as have a chance to get some freebies.  Tally up the total number of dollars, but take into consideration that sales are 20-50% off.  This "save up over time" Christmas in September approach will save you an additional 5% as well, so include that in your tally.  

5.      Once you’ve determined how much your amazing gifts will cost, now it's time to learn about Forever Club.  It's free to join, and you're essentially just putting money into your Forever account a little at a time to save up for your upcoming purchase.  You can read about Forever Club here, or watch either one of the videos below.  Club Dollars don't expire, so it's a great way to save up during the fall for your Christmas purchase--and save 5%, too.

6.      You will need to order your chosen gifts at the end of November, so chances are, you'll want to join Forever Club near the end of September in order to use your $20 coupon within 60 days.  If you want Forever Storage or Artisan digital scrapbooking software, you can use the $20 there instead of later for your gifts.  It's up to you!  Join Forever Club at this link.

OCTOBER:

In October, you get to start creating!  Woo hoo! (Certainly, you can start on this earlier if you want).  This is the fun part.  If there aren’t specific videos for the items you want to gift—or if you just have questions—you can contact me here.  

In October, you’ll need to do these 2 things: 

1.      This one is easy!  If you joined Forever Club in September, let it auto-renew this month, putting the same number of Club Dollars in your account as you did last month.  (Or change it if you prefer--you can do that right in your account.)  If you didn't join in September, check your tally and see how many Club Dollars you'd like to save up by the end of November--you'll probably want to join Forever Club now.      

2.      Instead of going shopping for hours in November or December, you’ll use that time now to create your special gifts.  In October, you should make most (if not all) of the gifts you’ll be ordering.  Again, contact me if you have any questions!  If you're using AutoPrint or Design & Print to create your personal gifts, they are both fairly straightforward platforms that take only minutes to learn how to use.  If you're using Artisan, you have a lot more flexibility but there's a lot more to learn.  Either way, you can find some video tutorials about each here.

NOVEMBER:

You have 3 things to do in November.

1.     If you’re on Forever Club, let it auto-renew this month so you keep accruing Club Dollars.  If you're not yet, definitely join this month so you can save an extra 5% when you place your order at the end of this month.  You'll need to be a current Forever Club member when you place the order to be able to get that 5% savings, so time things right as needed. 

2.      Check the current and upcoming sales ("Deals") at this link on November 1!  Sales are based on when you submit something for publishing.  You’ll get the sale price when you submit something for publishing during the specified day(s).  If you haven’t finished creating (digitally) some of your gift items, the Deals will help you determine what you need to finish first.  I post updated specials here, and I send them out in my monthly newsletter also.

cork-backed coasters; set of 4

3.    Last of all, place your order!  Place your order by Thanksgiving for delivery by Christmas.  If you're new to Forever and opened a new account here, you also got a $20 coupon, so don't forget to use it! All these gift ideas are professionally published and shipped to your door.  

ENJOY DECEMBER!

I love being *done* with Christmas gifts before Thanksgiving, steering clear of malls and big box stores at that time of year, and spreading out my gift-giving budget over a few months.  

More than that, though, I love giving high-quality, unique, and personal gifts that are always loved.  I feel like Forever makeS me the best gift-giver in the family/neighborhood.  Christmas in September has so many perks, SO I hope you enjoy this plan as much as I do.

As a bonus way to enjoy December, you’re welcome to join the yearly online event I host called the Enjoy December Card Party.  It’s the most fun you’ll ever have getting Christmas greetings done.  It’s normally the first Friday of November, but you can find details (including date & times) at this link for the upcoming year.

We “meet” online and work individually to create our digital cards (or newsletters, or any number of other creative greetings), then submit them for publishing!  Again, you’ll get them back before Thanksgiving, so you can enjoy December.  You can see how fast it is to make impressive cards here:

And then you get to just enjoy December!  Sip hot chocolate in front of twinkling lights.  Give service to those in need.  Go to some parties.  You might even have enough energy now to host one!  

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Why Your Photos Shouldn't Be on Your Phone

Update 2024:  One more reason your photos shouldn't be on your phone:  "The Heartbreaking Consequences of the iOS 18 Update"

If you weren’t born before the internet (like me), you might be suspicious about the title of this post.  “What do you mean my pictures don’t belong on my phone?  That’s how I take pictures—of course they belong there!”  

The truth is that your phone is actually a fickle (and kinda scary) place for your pictures.  Phones are an increasingly amazing, convenient way to take photos, they just aren’t a great place to keep photos.  Here’s why.

1. Phones Are Awesome

In fact, phones are so awesome that 1 in 10 smartphone owners are victims of theft.  Unfortunately, thieves don’t care if photos of bringing your baby home from the hospital or photos of your last time with your grandma are on your phone.  

We'll talk more about this as we go, but phones are definitely a convenient and great place to access photos--in fact, I absolutely love this method of being able to access every photo I own using my phone, without taking up storage space--it's just dangerous to for a phone to be the only place you have a photo.

2. Phones Are Easy to Lose

Did you know that $30 billion worth of cell phones are lost in the United States every year?!  Sure, you might be able to be extra careful and not become part of that statistic, but it seems like something so easily and commonly lost wouldn’t be the best place to keep this:

3. Pictures Don’t Really Get Seen on Phones

It’s true.  Sure, you might hand your phone to a kiddo in a shopping cart who needs a distraction, but the accessibility kids have to their own life stories (as shown through pictures and memories) is limited when they are dependent on your phone.  And the fact is that we don’t just sit down at a family gathering and pass around the phone like we did with scrapbooks back in the day. 

photo credit: Denise Pehrson

Imagine that your wedding photos are only on your phone.  How will your grandkids look at them?  I know we tend to think we’re going to have digital photos forever that we can text to each other, but the truth is we just don’t know.  (Once upon a time there was a floppy disk…  If your pictures were all on a floppy disk, you’d have to just throw it away in 2021--unless you send it here for digitizing.)

If you have family members who live far away, consider how those pictures on your phone right now might help create connections if they weren’t just on your phone.  In fact, because little ones are still developing the brain capacity to store long-term memories, photos shared in tactile (hand-held) ways can make a difference in helping them develop their memories and recognition of family faces.   You’ll enjoy the sweet, gorgeous, meaningful ideas here:  Helping Toddlers Connect with Family Across the Miles.

4. Pictures on Phones Don’t Have Stories

You’ve probably taken a picture during an amazing trip or a special occasion.  If you were to show the picture to your best friend the next day, you would probably have a lot to say about the picture and the event.  Here’s what we did, here’s the best part, here’s who was there, here’s how I felt, here’s what I loved the most, here’s a funny thing someone said.

The picture itself is really just a representation of the actual event—a literal snapshot of the event as a whole.  And so, the picture by itself doesn’t actually tell the whole story, old adages about thousand word-worth notwithstanding.  In order to really remember, to really capture the moments you enjoyed during the event, and be able to really remember them later, your photos need their stories.

Because our memories fade.  Faster than we want them to.  If you wait three months to tell your best friend about the event, you’ve already forgotten a lot of the details.

What’s more, when you tell the stories of your photos, you’re telling the story of your life.  Research has shown that writing your story fosters a stronger sense of self, increases gratitude and a sense of purpose, helps you makes sense of your thoughts and experiences, and can even make you happier!  (I personally love the research on that!)

5. Pictures and Stories in Kids’ Hands Changes Everything

Believe me, I spent lots of time when my kids were little worrying about if they were getting enough vegetables and listening to classical music every day and learning social skills at play group.  

As I’ve spent so much time the last two decades preserving their photos and experiences and stories in digital scrapbook pages and digital photo-storybooks, I have also done a lot of research for blogging that has taught me something both fascinating and hopeful:  The best thing I can do for my kids is give them their own stories.  

Family stories, personal stories, ancestor stories—they all (have been shown in studies!) to build self-esteem, a sense of connection, and even foster resilience!  

These days we take lots of photos, so most stories and memories already have a photo to go with them. The idea of combining the two is pretty straightforward:  publish or print the photo and write the memories that go with it. 

That’s a child’s story, a family story, and your own story.  Stories and photos are what connect us, but photos on phones and stories floating around in our heads aren’t enough.  We need to see them, touch them, hold them, and pass them on.  

We need to use them--as bedtime stories and gifts for grandparents and something to sit with on our bed and open up when the day gets really hard.

That’s what they’re for.

Create yours here.

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