July 22, 2008

Create Your Scrapbooks on Your Computer to Save Money and the Environment

By Kara Hiltz

PrinTale: Inspired by a Digital Scrapbooking Guru, Susanna Boyd of Card of the Week Has Become a Star in Her Own Right

Susanna Boyd fell in love with all things paper three years ago when a Stampin' Up demonstration introduced her to rubber stamp projects. Since then, her infatuation with paper projects expanded to include scrapbooking, card making, and any other crafts involving paper.

She launched her blog, Card of the Week, because she wanted to create a must-read resource for showcasing handmade cards, scrapbooks, and other paper projects. Card of the Week offers several recurring features throughout the week. "On Fridays we feature our namesake — a card of the week — and also showcase a best project," Susanna told us. "On Saturdays we feature the best scrapbook pages. Tuesday is a day for tutorials. I take inspiration from the hundreds of blogs that I read and fill in on the off days with projects of my own."

Susanna frequently uses her Canon i860 inkjet printer. In particular, she credits Jessica Sprague and her book Computer Tricks for Scrapbookers for opening her eyes to the world of digital scrapbooking. Now, instead of hording supplies for every occasion, she can use her computer and printer to customize projects in a flash.

Recreate Susanna's Scrapbook With a Little Help From Jessica Sprague

Pictured above is a scrapbook that Susanna created. She has graciously shared her secrets below so that you can give it a try.

1. Download or purchase a digital scrapbooking kit. Essentially, these kits enable you to arrange your scrapbook pages onscreen, complete with digital images and text. "I used a digital scrapbooking kit by Jessica Sprague," reveals Susanna.
2. Select photos for the project and edit them if necessary using your favorite image-editing program. Susanna uses Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0.
3. Import your photos into the digital scrapbooking kit.
4. Create your titles and captions.
5. Print the project on your printer.
6. Cut out the finished scrapbook pages and paste them into a scrapbook album.

Creating scrapbooks on your computer saves money, notes Susanna. "With only the cost of my printer paper and ink, I can make this album over and over again –- changing pictures, theme, and even papers at no additional fee." Plus you can arrange it perfectly before you use any paper.

About PrinTales
If every picture tells a story, then every printer must contain several bookshelves' worth. In PrinTales, we bring these stories to you by profiling people who use their printers in a creative manner. Think of it as "once upon a time" for the digital generation.

• September 05, 2008 Learn How To Scrapbook with Office 2007

  Using your computer to your advantage for scrapbooking is genius.

  Thanks for the tips.