People have kept diaries, family Bibles, all kinds of scrapbooks from the beginning of recorded time, just so they would have a chronological progression of memories that they could look back on and savor again the wonderful times and thoughts those saved tidbits provided. Many folks find great comfort in perusing an old scrapbook and looking at the old photos of loved ones that are now gone, or looking at snaps of the old homestead that is miles away, or just the dried flowers from that first corsage on that very first date.

Everything you need to create a scrapbook using a digital scrap booking method can be found on all kinds of sites on the Internet devoted to scrap booking—–all you have to do is browse up the subject and then drool. You won’t believe your eyes when you see all the stuff that is available to you, not only on how to create a scrapbook, but what to use, what kind of glue, what colors, how to arrange pages, how to make your photos stand out from the page, and on and on.

Digital scrap booking has become art in itself and there are so many sites out there in competition with each other, that to attract traffic and members, a lot of them are offering free downloads that you can use whenever you like and as often as you like, as long as you don’t reprint them in something and try to sell them as your own artwork, which is a violation of copyright laws. When you think of it, it’s a good promotional move on their part because a lot of the free stuff is a harbinger of bigger things on the site and they get you to come in and browse and possibly buy, whereas the free material will save you a lot of money in the craft stores.

Then we have a new term on the block called digital scrap booking hybridization, which is simply the merging of two art forms: the stock photo snaps and paper materials that you have in your hand to go into the book, and the digital artwork that can be downloaded from one of the computer sites. Your saved materials will go into the scrapbook and then be accented and embellished with the artwork you get from the online site; which usually is really neat choices of page borders, cartoon characters, stars and celestial forms, whimsical flowers and objects, and the coolest choices in lettering and script—–stuff you could never do yourself in a million years.

That thought brings up another point. You don’t have to be an artist to do digital scrap booking—-in fact the very opposite is true. You can be the proverbial person who cannot draw a straight line, and have little or no color sense; and yet, with the help of the ideas on the computer and all the guides that are included on how to arrange a scrapbook page or how to choose colors; you can produce the most fantastic array of pages you have ever seen. Your friends will be in awe for days.

I have lots of friends who do digital scrap booking, and they floor me with the designs they come up with and how gorgeous the pages look that they put together. Most of them start with pictures of something the kids did or are doing, like a ball game, or a birthday party, or Halloween; and then expand the idea with materials they found on the Internet that they could download and use for free, and I’m telling you—-these books look like a pro did them. Amazing.

Well, no doubt about it—-digital scrap booking is the new kid on the block and is here to stay—-and only growing more fabulous by the minute. How did we ever live without computers and all the wonderful things they can do and all the entertainment they provide. If you know where the ON button is on your computer and how to browse up digital scrap booking, you are good to go, and on your way to creating one of the most fun and fabulous projects you have ever done in your life. Go for it.

Fay Grant creates and produces works written about Addicted To Scrap Booking. For more information on Beginner Scrap Booking visit our site.