Scrapbooking the Virtual Way

I love taking photos--lots of photos--of my kids. I never really get a chance to show off my photos, because they are all stored on the computer in iPhoto. When my son was born, I, like a lot of new moms, got sucked in to the world of scrapbooking… Hundreds of dollars and two years later I was still trying to put my son’s first-year book together. My closet had become a veritable scrapbooking arsenal, full of paper of every color and pattern, ribbons, embellishments such as labels and metal tags, stamps, ink, and  cutting devices. I felt a little overwhelmed with the whole process. My husband, web designer that he is, suggested that I put together a digital scrapbook. A friend of mine also had shown me a digital scrapbook she put together online at Shutterfly, and I have to say that I was really impressed. You don’t have to have that arsenal of supplies, not to mention the storage space, to put one together.

I put my son’s first year book together in about a week. I was so excited when I got it and was very happy with it. When my daughter was born, I put together a 5x7 soft-cover scrapbook of her first three months, using Apple’s iPhoto printing service this time. It turned out great and she loves to look at it and reminisce about back when she was a baby. Both Apple and Shutterfly offer a variety of photo book themes.

Some of Shutterfly’s themes include “Baby’s First Year,” “The ABCs of You,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Kids” and “Sweet Baby.” The photo books come in 12x12, 8x8, 8.5x11, 5x7, or a 4x4 “Brag Book.” For some of the styles, you can choose a photo, leather or padded cover. The process of transferring photos and personalizing each photo in your own words is fun and quick. For more info, go to www.shutterfly.com.

Mac users out there can just open up iPhoto, which comes installed on your computer for free. They don’t have as many themes, but their designs, as one expects from Apple, are really slick and professional, and the printing quality is excellent.

I noticed in yesterday’s paper that Wolf Camera (with stores in Novato and Mill Valley), offers photo books that you can design online and then pick up on-site in about an hour. I haven’t seen one in person, but their photo printing has always been pretty good, so I might check it out in the near future.

Another popular online digital scrapbooking store is How Fast They Grow, the home of the seven-minute scrapbook page. Pick from 324 page designs and then edit and share your 12x12 creations. For $7.50, they print a traditional 12x12 scrapbook page on heavy color cardstock. They also sell albums, refill packs, and gift sets, which are perfect baby shower presents. For more info check out www.howfasttheygrow.com.