Digital Scrap Booking

I'm sure like many of you out there, I love to scrapbook. I've been scrap booking since I was a senior in high school, when we were given a year-long assignment to compile a scrapbook of all the significant things we experienced during our last year in grade school. Though it was my fist scrapbook, I can honestly say it is the best one I've ever made and I still have it. In that book are 9/11 newspaper clippings, my college acceptance letters, concert ticket stubs, and a whole slew of other mementos.

Though I love scrap booking and could spend days at a time doing it, the one huge downside is that it is SO expensive. When you're in the midst of creating a book, you never realize how much every little trip to Hobby Lobby for paper, and special scissors, and adornments, and stamps, and stickers, and pens costs. And don't forget the price of printing your pictures. By the time I'm finished, I could have easily spent $150 to $200 dollars.

So, given that I was in school and money was tight, I took a hiatus from scrap booking. That was the case, until I found.....Shutterfly!

Shutterfly is an on-line photo management sight that allows you to create tons of neat things with your pictures. You can create cards, magnets, mouse pads, calendars, coffee mugs, Christmas ornaments, and best of all....Digital Scrapbooks!

The digital scrap booking feature is awesome! It allows you to choose your photos, choose your layouts, choose your backgrounds, choose your fonts, and add all sorts of embellishments. The best thing is that once you create your book on-line, you can have it printed and delivered. A typical 8x8 book (the ones I always make) will run you anywhere from $25 to $80 bucks, depending on the number of pages you have. Now, that may seem kind of expensive, but considering that includes all of your photo processing, professional printing and binding, and delivery, it's a deal you can't beat. Plus, Shutterfly sends out TONS of coupons!

I've made four books so far from trips Jon and I have taken. I'm working on my 5th book, which is a favorite family recipe book. Surprisingly, Jon likes to help design the books too, so we've resolved to create a book after every trip we take.

For anyone interested, here is the latest coupon: Simply choose 20 photos to create your photo book and enjoy 20% off. Offer ends March 10, 2009. Promo code: BOOKSANDPRINTS