Why I Scrapbook for Others

This is Tito and Febee. Their photo showed up in my email inbox over the weekend. This is why I love digital scrapbooking for others. I receive photos from all over the country -- awesome photos -- of kids, pets, weddings, birthdays, holidays, and vacations. Every photo represents a precious family member, friend, pet or event in the life of one of my customers.

I am privileged to be entrusted with these memories. So, thank you, Shelley, for sharing Tito and Febee's photo with me. It's always nice to be reminded of why I scrapbook for others.

For David -- Just Because

Sometimes I run across a photo that immediately draws me in, tells me a story, and leaves an impression on me. I saw the above photo of David on Lisa Leonard's blog. David is her son and he has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. Any mother knows that when a child is born with health issues there are additional challenges to be faced every single day. Lisa lovingly & openly chronicles David's story on her blog, along with her other son, Mattie. Recently, she posted a series of short sentences describing the ways she "hears" David tell her he loves her. I was so inspired by this devoted mother that I asked her if I could create a digital scrapbook layout using the photo and words of her post and, can you believe it, she graciously agreed.

Above is the result. To me, it doesn't do either David or Lisa justice, but I hope she likes it. I'll be sending her a printed copy that she can frame and hang, if she is so inclined.

In case you can't read the text in the layout, here are Lisa's words:

"i hear you...

when you giggle with delight because you love being tickled

when you bang on the screen door because you want to play in the backyard

when you arch and scream in the bathtub

when you snuggle up a little closer because you are still waking up

when you fuss while i help you get dressed

when you tug on my hand and tell me to pick you up

when you knock matty's toys over with mischief in your eyes

when you smile your big smile as we drop you off at school

when you go to your chair to let me know its time to eat

when you wrap your arms around my neck and hug me tight.

You might not say it like other almost-six-year-olds, but i hear you."

Isn't it true - the seemingly ordinary moments in Life are often the most precious.

It's "Wedding Season!"

Love is in the air . . . and 'tis the season for weddings. I love weddings - of course, who doesn't? The only thing better than a wedding is scrapbooking the photos from the wedding! Here is another page from the wedding album I recently created for one of my clients.

The subject of weddings hit close to home for me this year. My oldest son, Rodrigo, married his sweetheart, Dianna, on June 14th, just over a week ago. It was a magical day and I can't even express how much I enjoyed it, and how happy I am to welcome Dianna into our family. I am so honored that they have asked me to do their wedding album! You can bet you'll see many layouts posted here on my blog as I create the album.

Jeff of Fassett Photography took the photos and will be providing them in digital form. More and more photographers are doing this so be sure to ask about this option if you are interviewing potential photographers for your own wedding. Receiving the photos in digital format saves scanning them later and also provides you the opportunity to print (or have printed) as many copies as you like, in whatever size you like, not to mention slipping them straight into digital photo album pages.

Even better -- let me do that for you! I can create one layout of your special day suitable for framing, or an entire album to preserve every detail and memory of the day. Or both! My style is clean and classy; perfect for wedding photos. Or, if you prefer, I can add all the embellishments and fancy journaling your heart desires, it's totally up to you.

Contact me now at deborah@webajeb.com for a special offer on wedding layouts!

Scrapbooking in China

At the moment I am in Luoyang City, China, visiting my son, who teaches English at a university here. I'm having a marvelous trip -- this country is really unbelievable. Opulence and poverty side by side with poverty, of course, winning out in sheer numbers. If you are interested in seeing some of my photos and reading a bit of my travels here, please visit my personal blog; www.debztalkin.blogspot.com.

As far as I can tell, no one here has heard about traditional scrapbooking, let alone digital, so it's really hard to explain to people what I do for a living! I been a special guest in my son's classroom on several occasions and we have been showing photos of him as a little boy, places of interest in America, and even one or two of my digital scrapbook pages. They especially love this one of my two cats.

In spite of the title of this posting, I'm not actually doing any scrapbooking here in China. I didn't want to bring my laptop so I don't have my Photoshop program. I am going to go home with TONS of photos, however! If I scrapbooked my China photos full-time 'til the end of the year I wouldn't be able to do them all, so I'm going to have to be very picky about which pictures to use. My son and I are both shutterbugs so, between the two of us, we will have literally thousands of photos!

I can't wait to get started on a travel album but will need lots of tips and ideas. If any of you have done travel pages I'd love to see them. Please leave a comment and a url where I can view them. THX!!!

Creating Digital Wedding Albums for Others

I'm currently working on a digital wedding album for one of my customers. This is a photo of the bride in her exquisite gown, veil, and holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers, in a beautiful, natural setting, on one of the most important days of her life.

When I create layouts using very formal photos like these I like to keep the pages very simple. The first thing I want a viewer's eye drawn to is the all-important subject of the photo, in this case the bride. To do that I use a bold, textured background that appears striking only in contrast, and as a complement, to the photo. I like a double- or triple-matte with colors that bring out the subject of the photo. A simple embossed embellishment (the bouquet of flowers) and perhaps a word or two that expresses the emotion of the photo, and that's it. In my mind nothing more is needed.

The subject of the photo speaks for herself.

Simply beautiful.