Not only has the beautiful, warm weather kept me away from blogging land this week, so has the many trips to my little brother and sister’s school for various reasons. Lunch with one, lunch with the other, watching talent show try outs, or simply picking them up after school. I can’t imagine how many school visits there will be once Savannah is that age!

But really, the main reason of my absence: a new hobby. Gasp! I know, and I’m in love. With digital scrapbooking! I dove in it one afternoon earlier this week and it’s been my nightly craft every night since (carrying me way too late into the night…). I realized I had so many pictures I wanted to do stuff with (ya know, besides sit in my flickr account or, the few that I actually print out get stuck on a shelf hidden away) and the computer seems to be the only way I get things done (I think if laundry were virtual I’d be on top of things!). I had grand plans of making scrapbooks for Kaylee and I to give me something to do after her birth and capture memories for us way back in 2004. Family and friends were extremely generous and bought me very nice supplies. From albums to pens, papers, cutters, organizing folders and even a scrap booking book bag! I had everything I needed, I still do. I made a grand total of 3 pages. And those pages? Nothing to do with Kaylee. And all that stuff now sits in a big box in the garage. So, I thought that maybe going digital was the way to go for me.  Here’s why I love it:

1) Saves time. Don’t have to mess with cutting pictures and decoration papers by hand. Just point and click and it’s always a straight line!

2) Saves money. The graphics you buy online you can keep using over and over, mixing and matching, unlike paper and “real” decorations. Once you use it, it’s stuck.

3) No printing individual pictures! I just don’t have time for that. It’s easier to get one page created within just a few minutes and send it off to be printed and mailed to me already in a book.

4) No MESS! Especially with a 1 year old running around, I’ve got enough mess on my hands. And, I’d rather not have my nice pages and hard work destroyed. Plus, with our living situation, there just isn’t room for me to spread all my things out! With digital everything is held nice and organized on the computer, away from small hands and where I’ll actually use it.

Get this though, everything I’ve done so far has been FREE! I downloaded a free 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and all the backgrounds and elements I’ve worked with have been found at various digital scrap booking sites for free. I couldn’t afford the newest Adobe Elements, so I bought an older version at a much cheaper price (it’s being mailed to me as a type). This program really makes scrapbooking easy! Everything is pretty much open the picture/graphic and drag to where you want it. I’ve learned a lot through tutorials to help get me started.

And now, a taste of my joy:

1) The BEST place for awesome freebies (where most of the above is from):  Digital Scrapbook Place

2) Tutorial- How I learned to use the program: Free Digital Scrapbooking 

3) Tutorial- How I learned to colorize photos: Photoshop Momma on YouTube 

4) More great free stuff: Computer Scrapbook 

*sigh* I wish I could just scrapbook and write all day. I’d be in heaven.