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There is no shortage of ways to remember all the cute little things your precious darling child does in the first years of life. You can scrapbook, buy memory books, keep a first year journal (Ha! If mine were to be believed my daughter dropped off the face of the earth at 2 months old only to reappear once at 9 months and then was never heard from again. So once more, I say Ha!). But what about the GeekMom remembering all those precious little Geek Moments?
Personally, I have instant gratification issues. Once I decide I want something, I want it then. Cable modems, iPhones, and Chinese food delivery services do nothing to help this. I remember the days when six hours to download a song seemed perfectly reasonable. Now if a dialog box pops up and asks me to wait a moment I get what my daughter calls mad-face.
So when it came to paying my due diligence to doing something cute and intriguing with my daughter's photos, I was at a loss. As with most forms of paper craft I have no patience for scrap-booking (see instant gratification issues above). I have a picture in my head of how I believe my drawing, painting, or, in this case, scrap-book page should look. And when it doesn't look like that, I get mad-face again and am prone to giving up.
I also have a dangerous thrifty streak in me and the sheer cost of scrap-booking stings a bit. Not that it isn't a worthy investment but a friend of mine who is pretty into scrap-booking claims that the most expensive page she has ever created cost $45USD. I'm sure that's a rarity all things considered. However even wandering down the prolific scrap-booking aisle at my local craft stores, I've observed some crazy cute, insanely expensive accessories. Given my penchant to stainless steel, vintage lace, and pretty press paper, I can only assume I'd make some scrap book company very rich in very short order.
That's when I discovered digital scrap-booking. There are no shortage of sites that provide all manner of services for anywhere from free to "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." I use Picaboo for no other reason then I landed on it first and liked it, but there is also Shutterfly, Smilebooks, & Scrapblog.
The most advanced users (I'm NOT advanced) can use Photoshop, Corel, and Illustrator to create fantastic displays that can be printed and arranged to your satisfaction. But that is far beyond me at the moment. I'm a relative newbie to the scene and have learned quite a bit from Googling various sites.
Back to Picaboo. It is really simple to use. The service does require a program install of Picaboo X which is available for PC and Mac. Then you can choose from cards, books, or calendars with a host of various layouts, themes, materials, and price ranges. Picaboo X uses pictures from your hard drive so if you'd like a background of snow covered mountains and none of your pics are working out, Google it, or better yet use Creative Commons to find photos not under license. However the program offers thousands of backgrounds to choose from. The freedom given to you by creating your own layouts is absolutely fantastic but doesn't hurt my head to try to muddle through. It is simple enough to be fun and involved enough not to be insulting. After you finish creating your project you can order your creation directly from the program. It will be printed and sent to you. The final product is very professional looking and suitable for gifting, display, or obsessive compulsive book collecting. Books are available for as little as $29.99 USD.
And Picaboo takes up WAY less space then any assortment of scrap-booking goo. More power to you if you have the patience to do it "the old-fashioned" way, but I'll stick with digital, thanks.
