WHO......?

[Jill]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper

WHO....scraps both paper and digi

WHO...does hybrid

Tell me your story.

I am totally digi. I have never paper scrapped.

My How I Became a DigiScrapper Story: When I got my first computer, I was trying to create a family memory book of our farm of 100 years which had (back then) recently been sold. I used Microsoft Publisher and learned how to insert photos into my text, how to manipulate, resize, brighten, fade etc etc. Some months later I completed the book but found myself at a loose end and wanted something to do on the computer other than play games and send emails. I went trawling the internet to see what else I could do using photos....I started finding stuff about computer scrapbooking and in my travels I landed at DigitalScrapbook Place (closed now)which was my sole scrapping site for probably 10 years......and now I am HERE :multistars:

 

[Pachimac]

I tried to paper scrap and I couldn't cut paper or glue things to make what I saw in my head, but I could do it with a computer. So digi I stayed!

 

[craftytam]

Thanks for sharing your story, Jill!

I was a paper scrapper for about 18 years before switching to digi. I started with Creative Memories & became a consultant. I held crops every couple of weeks at my home and absolutely loved having people over. I think there's a link to my craft room somewhere in the forum...it was EPIC!

I was introduced to digi in 2005 at a scrapbook expo. I really wanted to start doing hybrid, but several family things happened in 2005/2006 (My uncle & my mom's husband passed away in 2005, my Grandma & Aunt passed away in 2006) that left me with no brain power to learn something new.

I started collecting digi supplies in about 2009, but didn't do much with them. (LOL! Another couple of really bad years left me with no RAM in my brain). I continued to collect supplies until we downsized in 2012 and I no longer had the room for a craft room and all of the paper supplies.

I made the complete leap to digital in 2012 and haven't looked back. I sold (almost) all of my supplies, tools, etc!

I LOVE digi! I love that I can resize my pictures without having to have them reprinted. I love that I can add TONS of embellishments and not weigh down the page! I love ctrl-Z!!!

 

[Jill]

CtrlZ is great isn't it??? I love the lack of space this hobby takes up! I was a cake decorator before digi and ran a wedding and all occasions cake decorating business from home...got to the stage that you had to make sure the chair didn't have a cake on it if you wanted to sit down

 

[craftytam]

LOL! Jill, I would imagine a cake decorating business from home would definitely encroach on your living space!

 

[deasue]

I was introduced to paper scrapping about 20 years ago - Creative Memories like our friend above. I started gathering lots of scrap supplies and at one point became a consultant to get the discount. Unfortunately, not very albums were completed ... and the pages never looked the way I imagined.
I started attending some scrapbook weekends and made a bit of a dent in my photo stash, yet cutting and taping took so long and made such a mess. It was difficult to find a good place to set up at home and leave it up to use.
At one memorable weekend, I was introduced to CTMH StudioJ software and for the first time saw digital scrapbooking that wasn't a flat small book. I couldn't resist touching the "ribbon" as it looked so real!! From that day I became an avid digital scrapper, completing so many albums it was awesome!! Soon I scanned all my paper photos and left paper scrapping behind.
After a flood in our basement, where I was storing my scrap supplies, took out a grand case of embellishments, I felt so free. Over the next few years I gave away or sold all of my paper scrapping supplies. My dear friend has a good deal of them and my stamping supplies.
Now I need laptop (and when I want, larger monitor) and can do everything I need!
This year, StudioJ is no longer ... I quickly starting googling for other options and tried a couple of products that left me frustrated. Then I found PSE. Wow!! It's been an awesome couple of months. I did a couple of really great tutorials and then found GingerScraps. Taking on the monthly challenges has given me the opportunity to find new designers (yes, now my digital collection rivals my former paper collection) and to practice my skills.
Never turning back!

 

[Jill]

Thanks for sharing your stories ladies. Dea-Sue, your digital collection might resemble the quantity of your paper collection but isn't it great how little space it takes up by comparison. In my cake dec years, there were so many bits of equipment and so many supplies that one needed a special room to hold it all...my special room for holding my digi scrap supplies is my computer (and an external hard drive or two)

 

[~*Kiana*~]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper

WHO....scraps both paper and digi

WHO...does hybrid

Tell me your story.

I am totally digi. I have never paper scrapped.

My How I Became a DigiScrapper Story: When I got my first computer, I was trying to create a family memory book of our farm of 100 years which had (back then) recently been sold. I used Microsoft Publisher and learned how to insert photos into my text, how to manipulate, resize, brighten, fade etc etc. Some months later I completed the book but found myself at a loose end and wanted something to do on the computer other than play games and send emails. I went trawling the internet to see what else I could do using photos....I started finding stuff about computer scrapbooking and in my travels I landed at DigitalScrapbook Place (closed now)which was my sole scrapping site for probably 10 years......and now I am HERE :multistars:

I miss good ole' DSP Jill. *waving HI*

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper - I was making siggies on a mommy forum with PSP and I happened upon digital scrapbooking by chance and loved everything about it. DSP was also my home until it closed!!

WHO....scraps both paper and digi - never was a paper scrapper at all

WHO...does hybrid - if you count the few cards I make then I guess I dabble in hybrid sometimes. lol

 

[Jill]

:hiHi Kiana...I was looking through an EHD only a week ago and found where I had stored some DSP memorabilia (thought they had gone in a computer crash I had shortly after the site closed)...all my HoFs and the comments, lots of my favourite Granny thread snippets, CueBeeHoo (the limerick thread...hilarious)...I had a lovely and nostalgic walk down memory lane...but now I have found a lovely new home here and am very happy.

 

[Pachimac]

:hiHi Kiana...I was looking through an EHD only a week ago and found where I had stored some DSP memorabilia (thought they had gone in a computer crash I had shortly after the site closed)...all my HoFs and the comments, lots of my favourite Granny thread snippets, CueBeeHoo (the limerick thread...hilarious)...I had a lovely and nostalgic walk down memory lane...but now I have found a lovely new home here and am very happy.

I entered the HOF as a digi gal...none of us got any recognition back in the day! LOL

 

[Jill]

I entered the HOF as a digi gal...none of us got any recognition back in the day! LOL

Which Hall of Fame did you enter Susan? My HofF LOs were at DSP.... the Hall of Fame there was a special gallery to where the designers moved LOs they deemed worthy of the honour. It was such a wonderful moment for me each time when I found one of my pages had been moved to that gallery.

 

[Pachimac]

Which Hall of Fame did you enter Susan? My HofF LOs were at DSP.... the Hall of Fame there was a special gallery to where the designers moved LOs they deemed worthy of the honour. It was such a wonderful moment for me each time when I found one of my pages had been moved to that gallery.

Oh, I thought you were talking about Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame.

 

[Jill]

I entered the HOF as a digi gal...none of us got any recognition back in the day! LOL

It took a while before the scrapbook magazines you could buy in the newsagents would include digital LOs. I used to buy them at the beginning (of my digi scrapping interest) and gradually more digi LOs would be included amongst the paper scrapped ones then sometimes there would be a digi section. Yay!

Oh, I thought you were talking about Creative Memories Hall of Fame.

Did they have a contest Susan? And you entered a digi LO amongst the paper scrapped ones? Good on YOU!:36_1_11:

 

[~*Kiana*~]

:hiHi Kiana...I was looking through an EHD only a week ago and found where I had stored some DSP memorabilia (thought they had gone in a computer crash I had shortly after the site closed)...all my HoFs and the comments, lots of my favourite Granny thread snippets, CueBeeHoo (the limerick thread...hilarious)...I had a lovely and nostalgic walk down memory lane...but now I have found a lovely new home here and am very happy.

Yes I love GS. I spend a lot of time here and now that I'm guest designer this month, I've been here even more. Have you seen my store??

 

[BoomersGirl]

I did paper scrapbooking for MANY years. I took the plunge several years ago when I found a digital program I liked - I can't even remember what it was called now. The main reasons I switched were because paper scrapbooking was getting too expensive and taking up too much room - and then I'd be afraid to use something because I was sure that as soon as I did use it, I would NEED it for something else - LOL. Now I can reuse papers and elements forever! And it takes up no space. And it's soooo much cheaper! I only have to pay to have my pages printed and for new scrapbooks when I run out of room. I also love using templates and I love being able to quickly swap elements / papers / photos to make unique pages in just a few minutes.

 

[familyhistoryscrapper]

I started as a paper scrapper....bought tons and tons of supplies. I never really accomplished much with my paper scrapping except one album for a vacation. It was always such a hassle to have to take all my supplies out and then clean them up again within a short time as I didn't have enough space to just leave things out.

Then back in 2007, my sister-in-law introduced my to digital scrapping. I fell in love. Not only did I not need to dig out supplies anymore, I could crop and cut and not worry about ruining anything. Back then I used Paint Shop Pro. I took a break from scrapping for a few years and then returned to it again in 2011 when I got engaged. I've been active here at Gingerscraps ever since.

I don't do paper scrapping anymore or hybrid projects though I still have all my paper supplies in case I want them for art projects and things in the future.

 

[Jill]

Yes I love GS. I spend a lot of time here and now that I'm guest designer this month, I've been here even more. Have you seen my store??

Sure have Kiana :clap:. You are very talented and have created some lovely kits.

 

[JustTrace]

Susan, did you mean Creating KEEPSAKES Hof contest??? I entered too as a paper scrapper back in the day. Of few of my paper scrapping friends that I cropped with were honorable mentions and then won the contest!

I started paper scrapping in 1998 with Creative Memories. I wanted to make a keepsake album for our engagement and my wedding showers. My friend was a CM consultant and she asked me to one of her parties and I was hooked. I think I spent 300 dollars that first night! LOL. In 2000, when I got my first computer, I went to the Creating Keepsakes website (I had been buying the magazines for awhile then!) and I found that CM wasn't the "only way to go" and I branched out on my own. After awhile, I was asked to join a few design teams for brick and mortar stores and online stores too. I was on 3 teams when I was convinced by a friend to enter HOF. I spent about 2 months preparing my layouts and sent it off.

I was heavily into the paper world for a long time. In 2005, I went to CHA with a bunch of girls from the online team I was on. We all met in person for the first time there in Atlanta and rented a house for five days. We had a blast and it was so fun to go and meet all the designers like Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz and all the awesome companies that I loved like Chatterbox, KI memories etc. The one thing that I noticed though was that some of the popular scrappers (in mags etc all the time) were SO RUDE and talked to us like we were beneath them. It was so disheartening to see and I was kind of taken aback.
.

The one thing I couldn't believe though was the "rock star" status that some of these women were elevated to. Lisa Bearenson for one. People were screaming their heads off like she was the Beatles or something, when she walked into the CK booth! It was crazy!!! I was never really a big follower of the "scrap celebs" and found it to be a little weird...after all, it was just a fun hobby!

When the HOF scandal erupted in 2007/2008 I think, that really did me in. To think that the magazine encouraged people to enter only to have preselected the winners and also posted winners who clearly had cheated the rules, really made me upset. I left my teams and decided to stop submitting publications all together. I had quite a few layouts published in magazines and books but I just couldn't fathom why such a fun thing would turn sour. It was out of control.

In 2009, when we were approved as foster parents, as part of our contract, we had to keep scrapbooks of all the foster kids we hosted in our homes so that when they returned home or were moved (for whatever reasons), they had a book of what happened to them. When we got Isis, I knew right away she was going to be with us forever and I started doing a small paper book for her. I found it daunting and not really what I wanted to do...I struggled with it and DH decided to buy me a digi program for Christmas in 2011. I tried it and LOVED it and off I went. I found kits online and used them and then found that I liked using my own designs rather than the programs. (it was so limited anyway!)

I went online and found this place (but didn't register until way later) and lurked around and found that most people used PS and I got a copy and tried it. I joined a community and I started using PS...and was hooked from the get go.

The rest is history! LOL...I love digi scrapping so much more than I ever loved paper scrapping and I find it so much more freeing and creative. I wish I had have found it sooner!!

 

[kelseyll]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping - (*raises hand*) ME!! I started as a kid long before there were scrapbooking stores or supplies readily available in larger art stores. I made my own stickers and used stamps I had to decorate colored papers and made my own scrapbooks. Too bad I didn't pursue sharing it, opening my own store and SELLING what I created...I might have been rich!! LOL!

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper While teaching I created all kinds of powerpoints to jazz lessons up. I was working for a brand new school with state of the art computers and software and stumbled onto programs I couldn't afford to buy myself but fell in love with getting to play with them at school. It was just a matter of time before digital pics/graphics met my high quality expectations and I could afford to have something of my own at home.

WHO....scraps both paper and digi I am primarily digital, but still have a TON of my paper scrapping supplies since I worked for my friend that owned a scrapbook store for years. So, I feel like I need to use those supplies. I have several paper scrapped books, but am really switching it all to digital. I do use the supplies for my daughter's school projects and to make albums as gifts for others.

WHO...does hybrid Hmm...occasionally. Not really my favorite though. =) I will do it to create gifts for others.

Tell me your story. After discovering digital I could see that it would be WAY easier, less mess, less to store, less expensive and take up less room on my shelf when I had books printed! I was still teaching when I did paper scrapping and I don't even want to know how much I spent! When we adopted our daughter I stepped out of my classroom which changed our budget drastically! I found that there were a ton of freebies in digital scrapping online both from individuals on their blogs and in stores to entice sales. This is where I started until I discovered the concept of being a CT member....AWESOME! Now I was meeting friends online, which was great since I really was stuck at home and not interacting much with anyone I knew from work anymore. I was learning how to post, how to credit, and being exposed to more designers and more techniques...oh the ADDICTION begins!! I became very loyal to certain designers and sites and worked up to admin. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and those digi-homes closed. Now, I still to CT work for a few and began designing a few years ago. I love it! I never imagined the doors that discovering digi-scrapping would open for me. I do my daughter's elementary school's yearbook every year, I created her preschool's yearbook as well, and I meet the most amazing people through this business and hobby!

 

[wendeeds]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping:

I started a scrap book with mostly stickers, memorabilia and journaling in 1997. Once I attended a Creative Memories party in 1998, I was hooked. I quickly discovered you could buy product at AC Moore and I got really into it. I did a bunch of books for me & my husband, and some for family members. Things slowed down after I had my kids in the early 2000s. In the last few years, I've sporadically attended a group that meets only 4 times a year, and I never scrap at home.

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper:

Last fall (2015) my friend DianeinOz told me how much fun she was having with digiscrap. She and I used to go to paper scrap together. I didn't want to invest in PSE so I started with Gimp. It was a tough learning curve because there weren't many Gimp tutorials that I could find. I got PSE for Christmas and really took off since then. Diane introduced me to Gingerscraps and gave me tips on how to find freebies on the internet. Since I started, I've finished books for 2013, 2014 and 2015 and I'm almost done with 2012. Some of the books will have both digitial and paper pages, depending on what was done before.:

WHO....scraps both paper and digi:

I can honestly say I will not go back to paper now. Digi is way less expensive and the elements, papers and photos are way more customizable. Plus I can use a kit unlimited times instead of just once.

WHO...does hybrid:

It's possible I might embellish some of my digital pages...but I doubt it!

 

[Jill]

Those are really great stories ladies and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Thank you for sharing........now if only someone would share where to find egg #8 in the Easter Egg Hunt

I love the look of a good paper scrapped page, can ooh and aah over it for ages, love the textures, the layers, the papers, everything, and if I were 30 years younger I would embrace it fully I think, but, as I said before in this thread (I think) I don't want another messy hobby (like cake decorating), and I love the computer and Photoshop, and I love the fact that this lovely digi hobby only takes up the space of my computer, and I love that one piece of paper can be cut into a hundred different shapes a hundred times if you like.....I think (know) I'll be sticking with digi.

 

[~*Kiana*~]

Yup #8 had me stumped the longest. I finally found it ... good luck

 

[wendeeds]

.......now if only someone would share where to find egg #8 in the Easter Egg Hunt

You really do need to click on some links that you probably never clicked on before, and really read the page to see if you can click any further links. #8 is a toughy!

 

[jencrook]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping: YES!

HOW....did you become a digiscrapper: see below

WHO....scraps both paper and digi: Only Digi now

WHO...does hybrid : nope

Tell me your story:

I was paper scrapping as a little girl in the late 70's. I always took those double photo prints (remember those?) and used construction paper to make my own memory books. In High School I got more creative with magazine cut-out letters and collage type of books. In College I reallly amped up my scrapping because I took so many photos. I got my first camera at the age of about 7, for some reason my dad really thought I should have one. I got a pretty nice point-and-shoot for HS graduation in 1991. When my first baby was born I learned all about the whole "acid-free" supplies and got hooked on die-cuts and cutesie stickers. I am horrified at those early books now but I love seeing my creativity evolve over the years. I remained an avid paper scrapper until 2005 when I was pregnant with my 4th/last baby. I was asked to use InDesign and Photoshop to create a yearbook for our elementary school. At that point digital photos were making a strong entrance so I just started digi scrapping. In 2006 I had a friend who had a 12x12 printer in her photo studio and she offered to print my pages for me. I don't know that there were many supplies available but it was certainly growing by 2007 when I bought my first macbook. I've been digi ever since and I will never go back to paper. I loved paper but I love only needing to haul around my laptop everywhere I go. I used to lug that huge cropper hopper everywhere with every imaginable supply I "might" need at crops and now I just pack the laptop in the car. It's so convenient and not messy.

 

[deasue]

Thanks for sharing your stories ladies. Dea-Sue, your digital collection might resemble the quantity of your paper collection but isn't it great how little space it takes up by comparison. In my cake dec years, there were so many bits of equipment and so many supplies that one needed a special room to hold it all...my special room for holding my digi scrap supplies is my computer (and an external hard drive or two)

Jill, You are so right! I also did cake decorating as a hobby for a while when I was younger and I had a cabinet or two full of supplies. Now I quilt, do pottery, and scrap. We just renovated a carriage house (large shed) and it's full of quilting and pottery things. I grab my laptop and sit at my quilting table when I want to scrap. Glad all my scrapping supplies travel with me wherever I go!

 

[Pachimac]

It took a while before the scrapbook magazines you could buy in the newsagents would include digital LOs. I used to buy them at the beginning (of my digi scrapping interest) and gradually more digi LOs would be included amongst the paper scrapped ones then sometimes there would be a digi section. Yay!


Did they have a contest Susan? And you entered a digi LO amongst the paper scrapped ones? Good on YOU!:36_1_11:

Yeah, I did. Creative Keepsakes used to have a HUGE contest called "Hall of Fame" and they would give you 10 layouts / themes that you had to do and then they chose winners in many different categories.

I finally got published in CK in one of their Top 10 Issues - I was so thrilled to be digi amongst all the paper!!!

 

[Pachimac]

Yes, Creating KEEPSAKES...I'll go change it. And Oh my...I remember the whole scandal. I was so upset because I spent so much time and effort on my Hof Entry only to realize I NEVER had the chance. I never did get the Tim Holtz craze, but I really really REALLY adored Cathy Zielske!!!

Susan, did you mean Creating KEEPSAKES Hof contest??? I entered too as a paper scrapper back in the day. Of few of my paper scrapping friends that I cropped with were honorable mentions and then won the contest!

I started paper scrapping in 1998 with Creative Memories. I wanted to make a keepsake album for our engagement and my wedding showers. My friend was a CM consultant and she asked me to one of her parties and I was hooked. I think I spent 300 dollars that first night! LOL. In 2000, when I got my first computer, I went to the Creating Keepsakes website (I had been buying the magazines for awhile then!) and I found that CM wasn't the "only way to go" and I branched out on my own. After awhile, I was asked to join a few design teams for brick and mortar stores and online stores too. I was on 3 teams when I was convinced by a friend to enter HOF. I spent about 2 months preparing my layouts and sent it off.

I was heavily into the paper world for a long time. In 2005, I went to CHA with a bunch of girls from the online team I was on. We all met in person for the first time there in Atlanta and rented a house for five days. We had a blast and it was so fun to go and meet all the designers like Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz and all the awesome companies that I loved like Chatterbox, KI memories etc. The one thing that I noticed though was that some of the popular scrappers (in mags etc all the time) were SO RUDE and talked to us like we were beneath them. It was so disheartening to see and I was kind of taken aback.
.

The one thing I couldn't believe though was the "rock star" status that some of these women were elevated to. Lisa Bearenson for one. People were screaming their heads off like she was the Beatles or something, when she walked into the CK booth! It was crazy!!! I was never really a big follower of the "scrap celebs" and found it to be a little weird...after all, it was just a fun hobby!

When the HOF scandal erupted in 2007/2008 I think, that really did me in. To think that the magazine encouraged people to enter only to have preselected the winners and also posted winners who clearly had cheated the rules, really made me upset. I left my teams and decided to stop submitting publications all together. I had quite a few layouts published in magazines and books but I just couldn't fathom why such a fun thing would turn sour. It was out of control.

In 2009, when we were approved as foster parents, as part of our contract, we had to keep scrapbooks of all the foster kids we hosted in our homes so that when they returned home or were moved (for whatever reasons), they had a book of what happened to them. When we got Isis, I knew right away she was going to be with us forever and I started doing a small paper book for her. I found it daunting and not really what I wanted to do...I struggled with it and DH decided to buy me a digi program for Christmas in 2011. I tried it and LOVED it and off I went. I found kits online and used them and then found that I liked using my own designs rather than the programs. (it was so limited anyway!)

I went online and found this place (but didn't register until way later) and lurked around and found that most people used PS and I got a copy and tried it. I joined a community and I started using PS...and was hooked from the get go.

The rest is history! LOL...I love digi scrapping so much more than I ever loved paper scrapping and I find it so much more freeing and creative. I wish I had have found it sooner!!

 

[Pachimac]

If you want the long version of my digi-journey... LOL

https://ilovepixelpushing.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/i-love-pixel-pushing/

 

[violethare]

WHO.....was a paper scrapper before digiscrapping
I was, started way back before high school, so early 80's....gosh that sounds so long ago. Just putting pics and cute stickers and decorations into those awful magnetic albums, then discovered Creative Memories, and just my overall love of a craft/ art supply store.
HOW....did you become a digiscrapper --- Was getting tired of packing and unpacking supplies for crops, not having what I needed, the amount of space etc,,,and think I really just wanted another creative outlet to play with. Have to admit I still have most all of my paper supplies though, and still use them to make handmade cards and other small projects or creative gifts. Not sure if going to scan all the old pics I still have yet to use, we were late to the digital camera game so all of my kids baby and toddler pics are printed out. to still be completed, and I have yet to complete an actual digital album but just have alot of pages to piece together from creative team work and different site challenges that are still deeply personal as well.

WHO....scraps both paper and digi-- There is still on paper crop I go to, to visit with friends-- usually I make cards and don't really scrap.

WHO...does hybrid --would like to do more, like the way some projects look.

 

[weaselwatchr]

I paper scrapped. Actually to clarify I bought a lot of scrapping supplies. I never really scrapped. It's sad I need to sell my stuff but I get overwhelmed. I started digi scrapping when I wanted a faster way to showcase my P365. I didn't do that either, but at least I do scrap now. If only I would print though, lol.