Scrapbooking has gone digital, and so have all those little, decorative bits and pieces.
Although paper scrapbooking is still thriving, the digital option has attracted a new range of crafters, from men -- many of whom think paper scrapbooking is too precious for them -- to women who can't commit to the paper process.
Erin Clayton, of Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H., falls into the latter group. She bought paper scrapbooking supplies for years but "I just couldn't do the paper thing,'' she says. "I collected the stuff and never ever did a page.''
Then this mother of a 15-month-old found digital scrapbooking.
"I honestly love it,'' she says. "It's such a creative release.''
Clayton has been digital scrapbooking since April and already has printed a 22-page scrapbook, "Something About Maisie,'' which is posted in the "community gallery'' at Shutterfly.com. She recently completed her 100th digital page.
Each page takes a few hours to complete, starting as she does from a blank screen, but Clayton is in no hurry to print them all. Instead, she saves them on the website to share with family and friends.
She is focused on documenting her daughter Mairead's growing-up years, addressing her digital pages directly to the little girl she nicknamed "Maisie.''
"I write to her, which makes me feel good,'' says Clayton. "This is for her.''
Jeffrey Housenbold, the chief executive of Shutterfly, a leading online source for printing and sharing digital photos, says he has ventured into the digital scrapbooking realm himself using his company's photo books.
The pre-made formats allow customers to drag and drop their pictures, then print them in a scrapbook format. Other companies, such as Snapfish and Creative Memories, offer similar services.
An avid photographer who documents his family's outings, Housenbold says the photo books are a creative outlet.
"It's part of my hobby of self-expressing through images,'' says Housenbold. "As a dad now, there's a lot of satisfaction in passing along memories to the kids.''
A smaller web company, Smilebox, offers scrapbooking and e-cards with a multimedia twist: customers can animate their web-based scrapbook pages with music and video clips.
Smilebox customers can e-mail their scrapbook pages or post them to any blog site, says Yannis Dosios, Smilebox's marketing director. They also can download or print them. And Smilebox is free, although more features are available at its premium and club rates.
"It's really easy,'' says Dosios. "Everything is supposed to happen in a couple of clicks.''
That's the key to digital scrapbooking for those who've fallen for it: It's flexible, portable, potentially inexpensive -- and clutter-free.
Savannah Brentnall is a Los Angeles "digi-scrapper'' who began as a paper scrapper. Today, she may hybridize her digital work with ribbon or some other simple embellishment after a page is printed, but she primarily works in the digital format.
"It's good to get rid of the clutter,'' says Brentnall, who scrapbooks professionally on her website.
She clicks off another reason why digital scrapbooking beats paper: you can scrapbook any time, anywhere a computer can go.
"I can scrap while I'm on the road if I want to,'' she says.
Digital scrapbooking allows enthusiasts to save their work on a website, which provides a little insurance: another book can be printed if the original is lost or damaged. Also, extra copies can be printed for family and friends.
"These are not irreplaceable things anymore,'' says Brentnall.
Digital scrapbooking can be as addictive and time-consuming as paperscrapping. Kits full of formats, typefaces and embellishments can be bought and downloaded.
"You can get carried away in either method,'' says Ali Edwards, a graphic designer who creates scrapbooking artwork for DesignerDigitals.com. "That whole hording mentality, which happens in paper, is going to happen in digital scrapbooking as well.''
On the Net:
Shutterfly: www.shutterfly.com
Snapfish: www.snapfish.com
Creative Memories: www.creativememories.com
Smilebox: www.smilebox.com
Savannah Custom Scrapbook Design: www.savannahscrapbooks.com
DesignerDigitals: www.designerdigitals.com
