Hi Friends! I love all of the options for memory keeping and scrapbooking there are right now. People are sharing pictures and updates on social media, digital scrapping, journaling, using pocket pages and even day-planners to record their memories. I am a traditional scrapbooker. I tried the pocket pages but found them more useful for organizing my pictures and for putting pics in my scrapbook that I don’t feel I want to do a page on. I love social media for being able to have access to photos that people have tagged me in or shared with me (I download them and print them small in photo collages due to their size) but I have never been comfortable posting personal info on Facebook or other networks. I have been scrapbooking long enough that I can look at a new system and pretty quickly know if it will work for me or not.
I had the advantage of starting scrapbooking when it was a fairly new trendy hobby and there was not much choice and quite frankly it made it easy. You got a stack of photos from the developer, you had cardstock, stickers, adhesive and an album. Maybe you local store had a rack of patterned paper to choose from if you were lucky. We borrowed ribbon and buttons from our craft stash but that was about it. Now there is an overwhelming amount of choice. Choice can be paralyzing. Do I try digital? Do I try Project Life? What if I buy supplies and don’t know what to do with them? How do I get those darn photos off my phone anyway? And everyday there are more options for memory keeping from apps, to cloud storage, to planners and other crafty goodies (last weekends CHA show unveiled a staggering amount of new memory keeping and scrapbooking gadgets) so where do we start if you are a beginner? I had the chance to take the Memory Keeping 101 class taught by Studio Scrapping at Curious.com a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to see if it could really demystify the memory keeping options out there today:
I made a layout and altered a journal prompted by the course. They talked a lot about memory keeping apps that you could use with your smart phone, it was interesting to know what was available. I don’t use a smart phone and quite frankly I spend so much time on my computer for work I want to be tech free when I enjoy the hobby of scrapbooking. I edit photos and print them on the computer but that’s it for me. Still, for a modern memory keeper it could be perfect.
I think this course is best for a beginner (hence the name Memory Keeping 101) or a traditional scrapper who wants to know about the techie options for memory keeping. I can see how journaling apps can make things easier. This is not a “How to scrapbook” course. It is an overview of memory keeping options.
The teacher is well-organized and you can even download the class syllabus before enrolling to see if the topics she covers will be up your ally. You can access that during the free preview by clicking the attachment icon on the screen.
This is typically not a class I would take but, then again, I am not the target audience. I have a scrapboking style that I enjoy and works for me. This is more for the folks that are not happy with what they are currently doing and want to try something new or who need a starting point. If you are interested in the class you can check it out here and watch the free intro video and see if it is for you. If you end up buying the course you can get a $5 credit towards your next class at Curious by emailing support@curious.com with the words: thefrugalcrafter. Don’t forget to sign up for curious so you won’t miss any special deals or daily free classes! I don’t think it matters whether you use a pad of paper, an app, a planner or a good ol’ scrapbook as long as you record your story before you forget! If your new years resolution was to start memory keeping give it a try! This blog post was a partnership with Curious.com and I was compensated for my time to take the course. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
