Vida. Risa. Amor.

Back in the 90's, when my girls were little, I was obsessed with scrapbooking. Well, maybe not as much as my Mom was.  My Dad designed an entire room in their house for her to "display" her scrapbooking supplies....and we even called it the "scrapbook store room" since there was an entire wall of shelves for 1000's of papers and stickers.  Needless to say, I pretty much invited myself over there every other day to work on our scrapbooks together.  And though I loved  hanging out with my Mom and wouldn't take back a single minute of that time, I do have a little regret in over-cropping some of my kids precious photos with funky scissors and glue when I didn't really know what I was doing.  Luckily times have changed, and there maybe hope for fixing loser pages like this one from Thanksgiving in 1998.  I just need to figure out where I stored the negatives.  What bugs me more is that I can't believe I actually thought I'd win a prize for that turkey page!

I finally had a wake-up call in 2008 when I realized I didn't have any shelf space left to store my scrapbooks.  I have 3 scrapbooks just for the year 2000.   Why.  Just...why.

And I also noticed my family rarely brings out these books to look at any of them anymore either....(one big reason might be that it's because they are so crammed in the shelf it takes two people to slide one out).  yikes.

But there is hope to undo this dilemma.  It's called digital scrapbooking, and I'll admit I'm quite addicted.

Gone are the days of hunting through folders for that one sticker you vaguely remember buying 2 years ago, running out of alphabet letters, or having to make several trips back and forth to the craft store just to finish off the perfect birthday page. Or glue sticks,  paper, or scissors.  Or pictures that fall out because you've had to rip them out for one reason or another...and sloppy handwriting for journaling.  Because now I have an "entire scrapbookstore" right at my fingertips.  Literally.  And when you add everything up, it's actually cheaper.  The best part is that in case my house ever burns down with all these thousands of pounds of photos, all my photos will be safely stored away in my account with Heritage Makers.  Like forever I guess.

So if I am not blogging, or checking everyone's facebook statuses, or running my kids to practices,  I am usually on a mad mission to finish my 2010 scrapbook before 2011 arrives.  And I can do it all online...which also means that I can "scrap" on my laptop anywhere!!  (I just now thought of a new name for it...we could call it lap-scrap)...maybe I'll get a prize just for that.  Or not.

I also just finished a sassy calendar, (for my husbands eyes only), of the shots my sister took of me last month of just me.  In a dress.  And boots.  Sorry, I'm too shy to share that one....and it's for a gift from me to him for our anniversary next month.   He-he.

But how much fun it is to make stuff like that!  My Mom is now a consultant for Heritage Makers, and since she is always 10 steps ahead of me in the creative department, she has made my family several books for each of my kids birthdays, soccer team gifts, and one for my own birthday that I just love to look back at when I'm feeling like a doofus Debby Downer and see how much I am loved and thought of.

So though I don't hang out in my Mom's house anymore scrapping away the days...instead, we get to meet at a coffee shop or Paradise Bakery and digi-crop together....(kid/distraction-free is kind of a bonus for me too).  (You can check her facebook fanpage or reach her at http://www.sosinbooks.com/.)

Digital Scrapbooking is smart, and has changed the way I preserve my family's memories forever. 

Good-bye gluesticks.  I'm pretty sure you weren't acid free anyway.