Scrapbooking today is gaining momentum. Be it paper or digital, there seem to be just as many sites on the web as there are brick and mortar stores to go to and choose which papers and elements will best compliment your page ideas.
While some prefer to do their pages entirely on the computer or on paper, there are others that pick and choose which pieces they want to use, be it in hand or digital. This is type of project is referred to as hybrid scrapping. Where you use something that you have found on the internet or created yourself and it is printed to use on traditional paper scrapbook pages. It truly is the best of both worlds!
There are many creative people now that are putting their imaginations to work and using any one of the many image editing programs to make their own papers and elements. They offer their creations for free, or for sale and can be downloaded instantly to your own computer.
Either way, each one is unique and has been “hand crafted” so to speak, using a computer and their software of choice. From bows to buttons, ribbons and more, it can all be found online.
It is also a great way to get ideas for your own scrapbook pages. Many internet sites that offer digital elements and papers, have links to their users galleries where you can see how others have used them for their own photo layouts.
Adding glitter to an already digitized glitter page is another great way to make your printed paper stand out. Using a digital element that you have printed out and adding a pop up glue dot behind it is a quick and easy way to make it stand out on the page. If you enjoy making your own birthday or special occasion cards on your computer, make them truly eye catching after printing by adding a gem or bow from your local scrapbook or craft store.
Even digital quick page templates are easy to use in paper scrapping. Just print out each layer of the template individually and organize them back again to have the perfect layout in minutes!
You may not have much experience with image editing software, but think about it. Haven’t you always wanted to learn something new that will add creativity and beauty to your scrapbooks? We all have the potential to learn, so why not give something like hybrid scrapping a try? It is definitely fun and what a better stress reducer than having some fun! The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
If you don’t want to start out with hybrid scrapping by buying one of the major image editing programs, there are a few that are available for free. Corel’s Paint Shop Pro is available for a free 30 day trial. If you find that you like it after the trial period, it is easy to purchase to continue full and unrestricted use. There are a lot of tutorials online that will teach you everything, from the very basics to more advanced image editing and creation.
It really warms my heart to see the newer digital and traditional paper scrapbooking worlds come together in such a beautiful way.