** This is a sponsored post. Compensation of free digital content was provided by Pixel Scrapper; however, please know I only recommend products or companies that I personally use and love. You may read my full disclosure here. **

Memory Keeping through Digital Scrapbooking

One of the things I love about memory keeping is that there are so many ways to document the pictures and stories of our lives. While I love traditional scrapbooking, I have also found that digital scrapbooking has a lot of advantages.

With digital, once you buy a kit or element you can use it as many times as you would like and it will never run out.
You can make a quick project without pulling out all of your physical supplies.
You can make a “messy” layout without actually making a mess.
Use as many layers as you want without adding bulk to your pages or albums.
Print your pages individually or make a photobook.
Start with templates and just add photos or make a page completely from scratch.

I have dabbled in digital scrapbooking for years and enjoy the process as it is very different from starting with paper supplies. Here are a couple of examples of pages I have made for my scrapbooks:

I have just recently realized all of the other projects digital supplies allow you to do as well. Now I use my software program & supplies constantly for graphics for this website and my social media pages. If you are like me & have trouble with Photoshop, there are several user friendly options for digital software specific to scrapbooking. The one I use is FOREVER Artisan.

In addition to the software, you will need supplies to work with. Just like with traditional scrapbooking, there are unlimited options for papers & embellishments; ribbons, flowers & buttons. The list is endless. One of the best places I have found to get these supplies is a website called Pixel Scrapper. They have several designers and SO many digital scrapbooking kits to choose from. The best part is you can sign up for a monthly subscription and get unlimited downloads per month or you can get a free account and still be able to download up to 5 single elements per day.

Pixel Scrapper Mini Kit - Today; Digital scrapbooking papers and elements

Pixel Scrapper Digital Element; yellow and white striped ribbon folded over and stapled

Pixel Scrapper Digital Element; light blue & peach paper flower

Pixel Scrapper also has a wonderful community board with chats, challenges and freebies. There is a gallery filled with inspiration as well as a section full of tutorials on how to use the supplies or even make your own.

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments or send me an email on the Contact Us page. I would love to know what you think if you go check them out & if you are a digital scrapper post a project in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by!

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Digital Scrapbooking

October 30, 2019

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Scrapbooking Family Traditions

by Machelle Willing

How many of your family traditions are tied to food, the holidays or both? For me, the one that stands out is Pumpkin Bread. My grandmother made pumpkin bread every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now, I understand that usually when you make bread it is in loaf pans. But not my grandmother, she made it in those small tin coffee cans that they don’t sell anymore.

As an adult I started out making mine in the coffee cans as well, but when they stopped selling coffee that way I had to find an alternative. We tried the loaf pans but, as with a lot of things, it never seemed quite right. Luckily, Pampered Chef started making baking crocks that are about the same size so we bought four of them and now it finally looks right again.

My grandmother was an excellent cook of simple, country food. There are many things that I try to make that just never taste the same as hers, just a little off. The pumpkin bread is an exception and turns out well almost every time.

I recently made a digital scrapbook page for my family album with this recipe. My digital pages are usually a clean and simple design with lots of layers. I like using embellishments that I normally wouldn’t use, like staples, on these pages. Digital is a great way to experiment with different styles because you can always delete it if you don’t like something and you are not wasting any of your physical products.

Scrapbooking family traditions is a great way to pass down recipes, stories and holiday activities to younger generations so they understand why we do the same things year after year.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

What are your favorite family traditions or recipes? Please leave me a comment or send me a message and let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Machelle

Family Scrapbooking

July 8, 2019

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Making changes

by Machelle Willing

So this first picture is the reason why I have been MIA lately. This small town girl didn’t last long in the big city. After so many years of living in my hometown, Scott got used to wide open spaces as well. Scott’s job is not living up to expectations and neither one of us is happy here, so we are selling our house and looking to move back to the Central Texas area.

We have been busy trying to keep the house clean with two shedding huskies and two long haired cats. It’s a full-time job!

Change of any kind is hard for me, whether it is moving or trying to re-do almost 20 years of scrapbooks. Trying to wrap my head around a new way of doing something takes some time. Below is the process I decided on regarding my current scrapbooks.

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** With everything being digital these days, it is always important to have a backup of your pictures. Taking pictures of the current layouts serves two purposes; to remember what the original looked like and also to have an additional copy of the pictures and documents. We also back up the entire contents of the photo organization program about once per year. We keep a copy and also take one to a relative’s house as extra precaution.

Speaking of making changes, this weekend I had four days off and finally got around to working on the 12×12 heritage albums. My plan for these albums is to take pictures of the current layouts, scan any pictures or memorabilia not already in my photo organization software and then re-do them into 8×8 photobooks. I will print a copy for myself but that way they will also be available for my family to print if they want their own copy.

I currently use Historian & Artisan for my photo management and digital software programs. They are from the same company, Forever, and very user friendly. I am able to upload my own digital content as well as purchase from their website. This will be the first time I have made a complete photobook as opposed to a single page or project. Stay tuned and I will be back with another update on my progress.

As always, thanks for visiting and stop by anytime! You can also follow me on Facebook or Instagram, too!

Machelle

Scrapbooking Small Town

Albums Digital Scrapbooking

April 1, 2019

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Contemplating Scrapbook Album Sizes

by Machelle Willing

Several scrapbook albums in various sizes — Examples of Different Scrapbook Album Sizes

There are quite a few album sizes, but the main one most scrapbookers start with is 12×12. I also started scrapbooking almost 20 years ago with Creative Memories and there weren’t as many choices.

So that is how I ended up with my scrapbooks in a state of confusion. Why confusion? Well, mainly because I have recently moved. If you have ever moved you know the tedious task of packing box after box of all your possessions. For me, this meant several boxes of very heavy 12×12 albums that were transported in my vehicle because I did not want the on the moving van.

This made me start thinking about what I want out of my scrapbooks and why I make them.

Think about your why:

Why do you scrapbook? For some people it is for telling everyday family stories or documenting your children’s milestone moments. Sometimes it is just for a creative outlet or some “me” time. Taking time to decide if you are leaving a legacy or simply making pretty pages might help you decide what size works for you or a particular project.

My husband and I do not have children, so my books are just for me or any extended family that might want them someday. Since moving, I have concluded that I do not want as many 12×12 albums because they are so big & bulky we do not look at them very often and I definitely do not want to move them again. This has led me to look at other options for scrapbook album sizes and what I want my scrapbooks to look like for me. They need to be smaller & possibly just less of them.

I have also decided that I like “projects”. Books that have a specific beginning and end, which sometimes means smaller and faster to complete. I have previously made graduation albums and wedding albums for family members and I really enjoy these types of books.

Starting Over:

Over the years, I have scrapbooked many pages of extended family events; school activities, sports and birthdays. All of this has made me realize that I need to “let go” of some pages of other family members and events specific to them, so I will divide those pages into new albums to give as gifts.

I have already started re-doing some of the older 12×12 albums into theme specific 8×8’s that will be more story focused. I also like the 6×8 size and am thinking of transferring some of the 12×12 pages into a digital format to make photobooks as well. Of course this will be a time consuming process since I have over 15 full size albums to redo.

Here is an example of what that looks like for me. I went from two 12×12 pages (top) to four 8×8 pages, but I like them much better.

12 x 12 Scrapbook page about the Oklahoma City Memorial created by Small Town Scrap

8x8 Scrapbook page of the "Last Trail" statue in theNational Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City made by Small Town Scrap

8x8 Travel Scrapbook layout of Oklahoma City Memorial Chairs

One Size Does Not Fit All:

Don’t be afraid to just start over or change your format. That does NOT mean you have to take everything apart like I am doing. For you, it could mean just starting now. There are times and seasons for different projects, so if you are feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated try changing things up. Do a mini-book or make a photobook online. Try digital scrapbooking. If you try something & don’t like it, you can always go back to the way you were doing it before.

Also, different scrapbook album sizes work better for different projects. Maybe you want to document a special vacation or event that doesn’t need a 12×12 book. Or maybe you just want to make a little book with some Instagram photos. There are 4×4 albums or you could even make your own. There are just so many options!

Stay Tuned:

I will definitely be sharing this transition and my thoughts about different scrapbook album sizes for certain projects. Please leave a comment and let me know if you have any questions or you can always message me on the Contact Page.

Until next time,

Machelle

Edit: Go check out this post for the 2nd half of my Scrapbook Overhaul.

Scrapbooking

Albums Digital Traditional

Digital Scrapbooking

Memory Keeping through Digital Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking Family Traditions

Making changes

Contemplating Scrapbook Album Sizes

Think about your why:

Starting Over:

One Size Does Not Fit All:

Stay Tuned:

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