Digital Scrapbooking For the Ages

For most kids who have grown up with the internet, mastering the art of the digital scrapbook can be easily accomplished with a little assistance. That idea can be a difficult idea to fathom for adults, considering some of us are still learning how to properly save a JPEG.

For kids, working on computers and with the internet is nothing new - in fact, it's practically ingrained within their DNA. Helping them create fun digital scrapbooks on the computer is an excellent way for your child to continue to master the internet and to create some fun art projects to boot.

Get Focused

Help your child understand why he is creating a digital scrapbook in the first place to help him want to see the project through. Create a list of questions for your child such as Who, Where and Why? These questions can help the child start thinking about the purpose behind the digital scrapbook.

Who? Who is going in the scrapbook? Grandma? Daddy? Friends from school?

Where? Where should the scrapbook be located in time and space? Is it in a magical forest? New York City? At the North Pole? These ideas can help your child start categorizing to create the...

Why? Why are you making the digital scrapbook? Is it to show to friends, bring to show and tell? Give as a present to Daddy? Once your child understands the why, it will be easier for him to focus and not get overwhelmed by the hundreds of digital scrapbooking ideas and colorful digital scrapbooking layouts.

Shop Around

Once you know your child's theme, go through the paid and free scrapbooking sites on your own and pick out the scrapbook pages that match up with the theme your child has picked. Bookmark several of these pages and let your child pick out one to three choices, depending on the aptitude of your child.

Searching for these types of pieces ahead of time solves many common problems. Typically, when confronted with the hundreds of websites and pieces to choose from, a child will get overwhelmed or too excited, wanting to download and purchase everything. Then the project becomes about fighting over downloads rather than making the project you were planning on.

Find Tutorials

Depending on the age of your child, pull up some of the easy to understand tutorials found on many of the digital scrapbooking sites. These can help guide your child through simple to understand activities, such as cropping a photo to fit into a layout.

However, use your teaching wisely. Boring your child to tears will defeat the fun. Sometimes, the best way to teach is to talk your child through where to click on the keyboard and let him pick it up as he goes.

As with anything, patience is key. When you work on a digital scrapbook with your child, start small and be encouraging. Don't be surprised if he has a knack for it and ultimately, ends up teaching you new tricks.

Marie Perrow is a scrapbooking queen extraordinaire. She has been scrapbooking since she was 5. Her scrapbooking are gaining immense Find out more about her scrapbook layout, scrapbooking tools and scrapbook here.

Cropping and Matting Your Scrapbook Photos

There are many different aspects of making a scrapbook. These different things are what make a scrapbook unique and what make it different from an ordinary photo album. When it comes to these things, cropping and matting are important steps that help make your photos look great in your scrapbook for many years to come.

Cropping refers to removing unneeded background from your photos so that they look better or the photo only focuses on the most important part of the scene. Matting refers to putting a border around the photo, similar to a picture frame. This is usually done with paper, cardstock or matting materials.

Both of these techniques can help your scrapbook photos look their absolute best. The images will pop from your scrapbook and it can even add to the theme and the overall appeal of the book.

Cropping can be simple such as the type of digital cropping that is often used to edit a photo or it can be done with fancy shapes and styles to make the photo more interesting for a scrapbook. There are even scrapbooking tools to help you do this.

If you want to crop your photo, you need to first select the photo that you want to use. Then you want to choose a shape that's going to flatter the photograph that you have chosen. When cropping, you want to be sure you don't remove anything important from the background. Things like cars, houses or the background of where you';re at can be just as important as the subject on the photo in many cases.

You can also find scrapbooking templates around to help you with cropping your photos. To use these templates, you just place them over your photo kind of like a stencil. 'Then you trace it lightly with a pencil and all you have to do is cut along the line you've traced.

Another way to crop is to trim around the edge of the photo to make the photo smaller but without losing the original shape of the photo. You can also use a ruler to help keep your edges straight when you crop.

When it comes to matting, you can use cardstock to make a border for your photos. This gives your scrapbook photos a border like a picture frame. You can use mats in one color, in assorted colors and in other designs and themes to match the theme of your scrapbook. You can also use different types of scissors to cut your mats to make more designs.

Win a free cricut cartridge.

How to Make a Disney Scrapbook Album

Coming home from a Disney vacation doesn't have to be the end of your trip. Vacation memories can last forever in a Disney scrapbook album.

You have to preserve your vacation memories in order for them to live on. You'll always want to remember hugging Mickey Mouse and eating ice cream on Main Street USA. Your Disney scrapbooking album will be your guide to your own memories. Making an album requires taking many pictures while on vacation.

Be sure to snap shots of all of your fun activities. Try taking more candid shots than posed shots as that's where the true magic lies. Upon returning home, get all your pictures together by printing them out or having your film developed. You can then choose a theme for your Disney scrapbook album or do a random layout.

Spend time focusing on what each page should look like, and then go for it. It's totally your call, so have fun. One important thing to note here is that your Disney scrapbook album won't design itself.

You have to set aside time to work on your album, and the sooner you sit down to scrap after returning from vacation, the better as your memories will still be fresh. Once you have the designs and layout ideas you want to use, then start putting the pieces together.

Be sure to journal, or write a bit, about each picture so that youll remember exactly what was happening when the picture was taken. Soon, you'll have a finished Disney scrapbook album. What a perfect souvenir! Your finished album will delight your family and friends as they re-live your vacation. Your Disney scrapbook album will allow your memories to live forever.

Learn more about making a Disney scrapbook album.