Welcome to my world of the practical scrapbooker

Here is ten years of scrapbooking my photos and memorabilia onto actual paper .....without major art projects or (too) complicated techniques.

I blend traditional paper and "new" digital techniques to tell the stories of my family's fun, travels, and history.

Here are my thoughts as I sort, shop, crop, organize, arrange, journal, and decorate my scrapbook pages.

6/08/2009

Photobucket and Shutterfly and Flickr and Picassa Oh My !

"Of course" everyone remembers to backup their digital photos to an external device in case of a hideous PC crash. But what if the house burns down ?? Will the external device melt too ?? And all the paper scrapbooks will turn to ash...... A traditional paper and photo scrapbooker can find relief from these pessimistic worries in the internet.

I scan (not enough) of my favorite scans into my free http://photobucket.com/ account. It can also be used to share with others, but I use my blog for sharing...........My daughters tell me that photobucket is no longer "cool," but I understand the uploading and organizing steps, so I stick with it rather than switching to the "cool" and artistic http://www.flicker.com.

Many sites have photo products, but I love Shutterfly's. So far I have made calendars, photo announcements, photocards, and one photobook (yes, rather than a scrapbook) of my step-dad's WW2 B25 Mitchell bomber photos. My product purchases (great presents) can earn free photos by mail. I have two "share" sites. My http://vintageb25.shutterfly.com/ features all my WW2 restored photo work and my "Beloved B25 Bombers" photobook. My http://prettypicturespeggy.shutterfly.com/ features my family event photos. Of course Shutterfly is more than happy to sell my photo creations to visitors: profit for them and convenience for me.

I use Picassa to organize my photos on my PC. Picassa has a web album feature that I don't use. I do use Picassa to format sets of photos to send to http://www.walgreens.com/ for one hour printing. I like Walgreen's quality, and there's one down the road. Plus I can send photos to my mom's nearby Walgreens.

I use a "Click Free" Back-up system for my photos in case of another crash.

I try an alternate internet and real paper projects.