Paper or Pixels?

Or BOTH! As much as I've taken to digital scrapbooking, I did start out with paper scrapbooking in 2003. At that time there wasn't nearly as much fun paper-scrapping supplies as there is now. It is amazing how much the scrapbooking industry has changed in just a few short years. Back to 2003... I (or *we*) made 11 paper scrapped books to give away to family and friends as Christmas gifts that year. Each book had at least 10 pages, and they were all made by hand with paper supplies. Todd and I started around Thanksgiving time, and were still finishing up the last books at New Year's Eve. I would design a page, and if it applied to another family member or friends' books, Todd would copy the design and glue the appropriate photos down. We had so much fun making the pages together for the books. I remember making several runs to Costco or Walmart to pick up MORE photos that we had processed. I remember digging through old film negatives and getting reprints for some of the pages. We would sit down together for hours and make the pages, journal and date them, while watching our favorite shows on TV. In the end, our friends and family LOVED their gifts. I think my MIL might have even cried. My mom was still alive back then, and she would proudly show the book when guests went to visit her house. But the worst part about the books we made? We didn't make one for ourselves. So I just have photographed pages to look at, like this one: Why am I bringing paper scrapping up now? Because today I received something really neat in the US Mail from Audrey Neal. She had a giveaway on her blog a few weeks ago, and I was the lucky random draw recipient of the May Label Tulip kit, AND a copy of Audrey Neal's book, "Paper + Pixels"! As you can see, the kit is gorgeous and has may elements that I love: beautiful patterned papers, owls, tree branches, stamps, rub-on's, etc. I've also browsed through the book and there are so many ideas and inspiration that I want to try out. The kit and the book bring my two loves together: paper and digital scrapbooking. I want to thank Audrey for the generous giveaway. For those that are not familiar, Audrey is a designer at {we are} storytellers. She is a great writer, teacher, and storyteller. She has several self-paced classes at WST that combine journaling prompts, templates, and printable handouts. I purchased her Listmania class and Defining You class, and I can't wait to find some time to slowly work through them! And her blog is so full of inspiration about reading, writing, and scrapbooking. I feel a kinship with her because of her love of books and the written word. If you haven't checked out her store yet, you should! In other scrapping news... the June issue of Flourish, the newsletter of My Scrapbook Art, is available for download. I have a layout in there all about Todd. :) You can subscribe to the free newsletter here. Each month they send out a 40ish page PDF newsletter full of inspiration, and sometimes free goodies too!