Longview resident Maggie Morgan could never get on board the scrapbooking craze. She didn't feel like diving in and getting her hands dirty, so to speak.
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Longview resident Maggie Morgan enjoys making digital scrapbooks for friends and loved ones.
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"My life just really wasn't conducive to that hobby," said Maggie, mother of three. "I started feeling guilty, though, because I had all these pictures on my computer, and I just didn?t have the time to do anything with them."
But when her brother paid her a visit a year ago and showed her a scrapbook he put together on his computer of a hiking trip he and his son took on the Appalachian Trail, her interest was piqued.
"I thought it was so cool that my brother created such a great-looking book, and I just thought, 'If he can do it, so can I!? " she said.
Scrapping away
Last May, Maggie surprised her husband with a romantic anniversary trip to Hawaii. When they returned, she had nearly 600 digital photos from all of the islands. She knew it was time to start scrapbooking.
She was a bit hesitant at first, but with the program her brother recommended, Creative Memories, she soon realized that the process was a real snap!
"It was such an easy click-and-drag system that I was able to make a beautiful book that included 120 of my favorite photos in just three hours," Maggie said. "Literally, the hardest part was writing the captions! Within one week it was printed, bound and in my hands to enjoy. I was hooked!"
Since the first scrapbook, Maggie has made books for new brides, her in-laws' 50th anniversary, her graduating son's school activities and one that captured an entire year of her family's life and times.
"These are valuable tools for preserving family history," she said. "It's such a fun and creative way to use pictures that no one was ever getting to view because they were stuck on my computer."
For Maggie, the best thing about the process is being able to send a copy or a link of her digital scrapbooks to family and friends who can very easily create their own scrapbooks to put on their shelves.
"A lot of people who make digital scrapbooks like to make it a family project. What you can do is have family members add their own personal touches to certain pages," she said. "This is not only a lot of fun to do, but it keeps the family in touch with one another. Then when you print it out you have a nice collection of designs, pictures and ideas from everyone in the group. Digital scrapbooking should come with a warning label, though. It's highly addictive!"
Maggie's tips for digital scrapbooking
>> Get organized. It doesn't matter if you have 10,000 photos if you can't locate the ones you want when you want them.
>> Don't forget the words. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but sometimes they don't communicate all you want to leave behind. Remember to include names of people, places and dates in your captions.
>> Take notes. A small spiral notebook on your trips will help you record the route you have traveled and describe favorite stops, emotions, tastes and even smells.
>> Don't use every photo you take. Think "quality" instead of "quantity" because sometimes less really is more.
>> Photograph the little things. Don't forget to snap pictures of road maps, signs, foliage, a beautiful sunset or shells on the beach. All these can become the background for a page in your next scrapbook.
>> Protect your digital images. Don't store your photos in your camera or unprotected on your PC. Download pictures as soon as possible to a secure location. Always back up!
>> Share your creations. When you turn your photos from the family reunion into a book, go ahead and share the memories with your relatives online by sending them links to your online scrapbook.
