How many of us have looked at scrapbooks from the past and wondered who was in the photo and what were they doing? Why was Aunt Sally at Cape Cod in 1952?  Did she know someone there? How long did she visit? Was there a wedding or event, that may have had printed invitations? When we scrapbook we need to answer the who, what, where, & why’s of the future.

Who will end up with your scrapbooks in the future? You are preserving memories not only for your immediate family, but for your posterity as well.  By being descriptive in your journaling you are creating a history that will endear you to future generations.

• Tell the story behind the pictures. Where are you and why are you there? Why is Uncle Bob laughing so hard? Even if the story doesn’t seem interesting, it tells who you are. I cherish my grandmothers journal even though there is only one sentence per page. It tells of her everyday life and brings a human element that I can relate to now that I am a wife and mother.
• Journaling doesn’t need photos. Did a funny thing happen on your vacation that you don’t have photos for? Included that story in your journaling! You will remember the fun when you read it. There doesn’t need to be a photo for everything. Take a photo of grandpa and then journal stories about his childhood.
• Be creative! Don’t just put dates and names in a line under the photo. Journal around the photo or in a creative shape! Just make sure your writing is easy to read.
• Use fun fonts – but sparingly! There are a lot of fun fonts available and they are great for titles and some captions. But make sure your journaling is in an easy to read font. We want people to be able to enjoy the story – not be frustrated because they can’t read it!

Did you know you can have your own handwriting made into a font? You can do your journaling on the computer but still in your own handwriting! Many online digital scrapbook stores offer this service so check it out.

Scrapbooking is a great way to preserve our family memories and stories for our posterity. By journaling we let them know what kind of people we were and what we enjoyed. Don’t sugar coat it – show who you really are. Your future family will love you no matter what. Now get journaling!

We have heard of hybrid cars, hybrid plants, even hybrid animals. But what the heck is Hybrid Scrapbooking? Well you have traditional paper scrapping and digital scrapping – hybrid scrapbooking is a combination of the two!

If you paper scrap, you might already be doing some hybrid scrapbooking without even realizing it!  When you use your computer to create any part of your layout – journaling, photo resizing, etc., you are making your layout hybrid.  You are using technology and traditional scrapping together.  Don’t you love the results?

In a hybrid layout pick what you want to create digitally and what you will create with paper.  You could make a great photo collage in a photo editing program, print it on photo paper and put it on your paper layout. Add fun elements and journaling for a complete page that comes together easily!

You can create an entire digital layout, print it and add real ribbon for dimension. Add ticket stubs or maps from vacations and events.  Reprint a digital page and cut out certain elements, the adhere them to the first page using pop dots for added interest!

Both traditional scrapbook stores and digital stores are starting to cater more to the hybrid scrapbooker.  Many online digital stores carry templates that are special made for the fun chipboard albums that are on the market.  You know the ones, they are shaped like words, brackets, etc.  Polka Dot Potato carries quite a few that are made to fit the SEI Word Books.

Chipboard albums are a fun way to use hybrid scrapbooking. You can create the entire layout online using a template or quick page. Then add ribbons and other fibers to tie it all together. Add a few traditional elements to your pages and you have an awesome book to give as a gift or keep for yourself!

Hybrid scrapbooking embraces the best of traditional and digital scrapbooking.  So, if you just can’t give up playing with paper give hybrid scrapping a try.  Have fun and get creating!