Preserving Memories

I've discovered a new hobby that may just be "it" for me! Digital Scrapbooking. I discovered it about 2 months ago and I am completely hooked. Of course, it helps that I've been artsy craftsy all my life and that leads to all sorts of creative experimentation and art forms, but this is just too cool. Finally a way to use all sort of beautiful papers and things without using them up. Of course, you loose the sensory satisfaction of fuzzy fibers and linen finish papers but you gain the total freedom of not ever using something up in a project that turns out to have been a mistake. If you don't like something, just use the undo key and start over.

Another huge plus is that you don't have to have tons of space to create in or to store tons of supplies. I've been selling off my rubberstamping collection and realted materials since last summer and it is truly amazing how much space crafts like these can consume!

I am fortunate enough to have lots of photos of family going back to the 1800's. It's been great fun to create beautiful pages in celebration of their lives. You can see some of my work at ScrapArtist.com, which also includes a couple of fun digital ATC ( artist trading cards). Learning about digi scrapping has also allowed me to play with digital imagery in other fun ways. I've always loved collage with paper ephemera, now it's digital.

I've gotten all of my famly photos sorted now into chronological order. Now the scanning begins. Having seen first hand the devastation an unplanned disaster, like a house fire, can wreck on family momentos, I'm all in favor of digital preservation. When I get a collection of work I just love, I'll get it printed or bound into a book. For now, I'm happy with the digital medium and sharing my work online.