The Blog

We’re pleased to profile Kaeli, also known as Meetkatiebrown.

1. Give us a little bit more info about yourself (where are you from, work, school, family, hobbies etc…)

I live just outside of Portland, Oregon with my husband Jeff, my 2 year old son Maddox and our dog Katie Brown. Until about 5 weeks ago, I was a stay at home mom so my world has turned upside down the past few weeks as I am trying to get used to the transition.
I enjoy cooking , traveling and I am somewhat of a computer nerd. But the one thing I am passionate about is photography, and of course my favorite subject is Maddox. I am sure you will see he is the star of most of my Scrapblogs!

2. How did you find out about Scrapblog?

I belong to a parenting forum and someone there posted the link. As soon as I got the mechanics down, I was hooked!

3. Are you involved in any other creative activities (online & off)?

I love to take photographs, which is why I started using Scrapblog in the first place. I am trying to get a little more creative with my picture taking and I love looking at other peoples works for inspiration. I used to work for a home interiors store which was another creative outlet for me.

4. Which one of your Scrapblogs describes you best?

I am not sure that just one would describe me, but all of them revolve around the most important things to me in life, which are friends and family.

5. Who is your favorite Scrapblogger & why?

I think it is hard to just pick out one, there are so many creative people in the Scrapblog community! But I would have to say that Karen (Little-M - featured here) has been one of the most inspirational people I have met on here. She is amazing with her techniques, in fact it was because of looking through some of her Scrapblogs that made me start to experiment with the different features.

6. What’s the one Scrapblog feature that makes you happy?

Oh gosh, I think one of my favorite features is the maintain proportions check box. I love that I can uncheck that and stretch a sticker to make it work how I need it. A good example would be in my “Moon” Scrapblog, I used a lot of layering of the cloud stickers, but I changed the proportions and rotated them so it wouldn’t look like I used the same sticker over and over again.
I do have to say the opacity slider comes in a close second on my favorite features! Oh and the color picker too! How can you ask me to just pick one feature!? =)

7. What is the most creative technique you’ve used in Scrapblog?

I would say using the shapes to create my own stickers, like in my “Winter” Scrapblog I made a family of snow people using shapes. I also did a Christmas tree from shapes in my “Christmas Tree Farm” Scrapblog. There is so much you can do with a little imagination. Be sure to check out “Did someone say icecream?” I made a cute little ice cream cone.

8. What keeps you coming back to Scrapblog?

Firstly it’s the community! Everyone is so supportive of one another, it’s very refreshing! And secondly, the fact that it is so easy to do! You guys have made being creative easy for any level user.

9. What would you like to see next for Scrapblog?

I would love a few more features like a magic wand cropping tool, or more shapes to crop with. Also, some more background art that can be dropped into the shapes. I think that is a fun feature that gets overlooked a lot. Also more coordinating backgrounds for themed Scrapblogs, like for a beach theme some palm trees, then maybe an ocean shot, things like that.

10. Can you share one tip for new Scrapbloggers?

I actually have two tips! First, don’t be afraid to experiment with the tools. They are so easy to use and if you mess up, then just hit the undo button! Secondly, is to utilize the forum! There is so much information there and if you get stuck there will be people there that can answer your questions. It’s also a place to get your voice heard on what new features you would like to see!

Cynthia, also known as MrsPeel, is a cherished community member and a wonderfully prolific scrapblogger. She’s created more than 70 scrapblogs and over hundred a scrapblog pages! Cynthia is multilingual and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Portuguese. It is touching to read of the many hardships she has overcome; the rest of her interesting story follows below:

1. Give us a little bit more info about yourself (where are you from, work, school, family, hobbies etc…)

Hi, well, my story is a bit long, as I’m approaching my 50th :)) but will try to be brief:

I was born in Argentina, grew up between Buenos Aires, Cordoba and many cities in Brasil, mainly Rio and the region South of Bahia (Trancoso, Porto Seguro, these Brazilian paradises the Portuguese discovered in the 1500’s!!!)

I was born with a double hip dislocation, didn’t walk until aged 5, had operations (9 of them!) by the time I turned 8. Then, I went against all medical predictions and had a brilliant life as performer and traveled the world singing. I have done many other jobs to be able to keep doing music and lived in many countries until settling down here in the UK, where I now live with my daughter Sarita (ladypink) who is 12. In this country I did a lot of interpreting work, but in 2001 my mobility started to decrease and I was offered a hip replacement in 2003. This went horribly wrong, 4 operations in the same leg to try to fix me also failed, leaving me in constant pain …

2. How did you find out about Scrapblog?

I blog in Vox.com, and one of my friends there showed us the link: she did a post with a scrapblog, I came to have a look and … now I’m hooked!!!!!

3. Are you involved in any other creative activities (online & off)?

Yes, well, apart from blogging in Vox, I love photography, have a Flickr page. I’m also taking a course in journalism.

4. Which one of your Scrapblogs describes you best?

Probably 2004 (seen above) and the Wedding edited (below), as they show both of us, Sarita and I, but talking about me especifically…I’m not sure…I like each and everyone of them!!!

5. Who is your favorite Scrapblogger & why?

Mmmmm….difficult to choose. I dont have a huge list of friends, but the ones who are listed are all equally brilliant….I’m not one to go clicking on friends easily, so if I have them listed it means they touched my heart , I love their work…when you live 24 hs in pain and your time at the computer is limited, the time you give to people is precious, so I couldn’t really choose…

6. What’s the one Scrapblog feature that makes you happy?

The opacity setting, which I recently discovered….

7. What is the most creative technique you’ve used in Scrapblog?

I rarely use the themes, so every new page is a creative challenge….the whole thing is brilliant and a huge incentive to creativity….

8. What keeps you coming back to Scrapblog?

Well, I just finished wallpapering a piece of my living room mostly with Scrapblogs….I find it not only relaxing and extremely therapeutic, but also the general vibe is fabulous…..the people here are (unlike many places I have found online) great, everyone will help, the encouragement I have received is priceless….. and here I have to mention Alex who patiently guided me in the beginning (and left me speechless with his photographs!!!) and Rebbeca, who was one of my very first *friends* here!!!

9. What would you like to see next for Scrapblog?

Ohhhh I’m greedy ;)) I would like more backgrounds, more stickers, LOL more everything, but I reckon having to choose one, I would say more options in music (or tell me how to put my own music, I can never find the way! lol)

Also, a REPLY button. That way we wouldn’t need to go back every time someone just commented somewhere we did….we could reply to the person….I m sure it wouldn’t stop the conversation or other people entering it, but sure would make our lives easier!!!

10. Can you share one tip for new Scrapbloggers?

I personally like the text combining the pictures….I have found that in doing so, I don’t need to keep so much of a written blog, and it will be a treasure for my daughter in the future to have a *diary* of Scrapblogs….. my next task is to start printing and bind them in a book!

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Thank you, Cynthia, for sharing your story and scrapblogs with us, you have been inspirational. We’ll keep on adding more backgrounds and stickers regularly and are working on providing more options for music and making printing available. We look forward to your next scrapblog!

We’re pleased to profile sthilari, who is an accomplished scrapblogger from Catalunya, Spain. We’ve been following his work with interest and are learning from his innovation and creativity. Sthilari is an avid traveller and as you’ll see from the examples below, creates beautiful and original journals which combine his travel photography with personal and cultural anecdotes.

1. Give us a little bit more info about yourself (where are you from, work, school, family, hobbies etc…)

I’m from Barcelona, a magnificent Catalan city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. I live in a small town at the periphery, with my wife and our two children, our 19 year old son and 16 year old daughter. At parties and anniversaries, I like to cook for friends and family, and try to awaken their palates with new combinations of tasts and textures. However, without a doubt, our great passion is to travel and to discover landscapes, place and beliefs beyond our frontiers.

2. How did you find out about Scrapblog?

I found out by chance, through a comment about photography online in a computer magazine I was flipping through while I waited my turn in the dentist’s waiting room. The article seemed interesting and when I got home, I tried Scrapblog for the first time.

3. Are you involved in any other creative activities (online & off)?

Currently, my parallel and complementary passion to Scrapblog is creating photoalbums online for printing and framing on paper. Scrapblog provides me with a new tool with a large collection of stickers for embellishment. So my first album, “Iceland” is presented as a photoalbum with chapters in which not only are photographs displayed, but also a small personal journal that highlights anectodes and incidents that occurred during our family trip in that amazing country. By mistake I published the album publicly, yet upon my return a couple of days later and to my great satisfaction, it had been selected among the “Friday Five” featured scrapblogs, had received over 300 visits and had even congratulatory comments! Thank you Alex, Dossantos, Jordan, Scrapblogger123 and most of all, Little_m. This is how I made my first (happy) “mistake” as a scrapblogger and posted my first blog online.

4. Which one of your Scrapblogs describes you best?

Each and everyone reflect a small part of oneself. As an individual, in your passions and most personal beliefs; as a member of the community, with history and traditions; and, why not, as a citizen of our small-big world. From my works, I feel tenderness for the citizens of Burma, in my language, Catalan, “Gent de Myanmar” (People of Myanmar). I was profoundly impressed by the people of this country during my short stay there last summer. The album is but a small tip of the hat to them and to those among them that defend their ideals of peace and coexistence.

5. Who is your favorite Scrapblogger & why?

My favorite scrapblogger would be an ingenious combination of all of the ones that are in my friends list. Some are fantastic because of their excellent photographs, others by their creative sensibility, others by their innovative capacity and others through their untiring comments of support. It would be unjust to think of “the best” since each one of them is different in their own respects (and sometimes in many ways), and in all of them it is possible to recognize their qualities.

6. What’s the one Scrapblog feature that makes you happy?

All of the features are gratifying if the end result is satisfactory; if there is a single tool that has been very useful to me, it’s the possibility to export the images in JPEG format so as to include them in printed photoalbums. It would only be possible to ask for a better quality of export, which surely will be improved soon when printing options become available.

7. What is the most creative technique you’ve used in Scrapblog?

Perhaps it would be the mini-cartoon “Post Halloween”. It has been entirely created with a combination and modification of the stickers available in the software. There is also the use of the link function, which when clicked takes you to the new “Halloween Beatles Party” abum, created the same way. The album has been an unusual way to think about Halloween, which only makes sense since in Catalunya Halloween is not celebrated very much and I admit to never have participated in one.

8. What keeps you coming back to Scrapblog?

The community of scrapbloggers. It is a parallel world that also requires dedication, sensibility and skill, just for the creation of scrapblogs. Language is a small limitation for those whose English is not their second or even third language. But I admit that reviewing whether one has received new visits, messages or comments is a small addicition, and these messages are always welcome and well received and almost, almost, eagerly awaited.

9. What would you like to see next for Scrapblog?

A big part of the success of Scrapblog is based in the ease of getting spectacular results through the intuitive use of even just a few features. A simple tool to retouch photographs (to correct for luminosity and warmth) would be a perfect complement. Additional compatibility with other formats and with other software (photo retouching, image treatment and even word processors) would infinitely increase options for those who wish, without losing the simplicity and ease of use for those who do not require this. The possibility of exporting to different media would greatly increase utility, for instance by being reproduced on conventional DVDs or even in frames for digital photos.

10. Can you share one tip for new Scrapbloggers?

I have only used Scrapblog for about three months, so I consider myself a beginner. In my experience, I try to start with an idea and then let it develop according to the inspiration and materials that are available to me. The result is sometimes unexpected. In “Sharm El Sheikh”, the initial idea came from “Scrapblog Tip: Change Eye Color;” it was entertaining for me to modify the color of the iris using different techniques (in this case, with Photoshop) in something that was already showy because of the colors. In my materials I found photographs of colorful fish, taken with a disposable aquatic camera, in Sharm El Sheikh. The initial idea, once fully developed, is but a small anecdote of the completed creation.

Thank you, sthilari, we are humbled by your insights, innovation and creativity!

If you would like to read sthilari’s profile in Spanish, Read More

Karen, also known as little_m, recently joined Scrapblog and has become a very active community member. She has made lots of beautiful scrapblogs that we’ll feature in this story, has connected to many other scrapbloggers and has given us some great ideas for themes, features and “Scrapblog Challenges”. Married for over twenty years, she creates scrapblogs about her two children, Kirsten and Kyle, and the family pet, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Blaze.

1. Give us a little bit more info about yourself (where are you from, work, school, family, hobbies etc…)

I’m originally from St. Paul, Minnesota. I’ve lived in the Orlando, Florida area most of my adult life. I’ve been married for 26 years to a wonderful man! We have one teenage daughter, and a son who is in the United States Air Force. We have one pet, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, who is even the star of his very own Scrapblogs! I currently work in the Customer Service department at major supermarket. I enjoy interior decorating, gardening, creating online photo albums, researching and documenting family ancestry online (my family tree contains over 10,000 ancestors), and most of all… Scrapblogging!

2. How did you find out about Scrapblog?

A friend of mine suggested that I look into creating an online scrapbook for my son, who is in the Air Force. The thought of creating a scrapbook online appealed to me, because of the fact that I could easily share it with all of my friends and family. I came across Scrapblog by doing a general search for online scrapbooks… I was able to just jump right in and use Scrapblog like I’ve used it all my life! It’s extremely user friendly!

3. Are you involved in any other creative activities (online & off)?

Yes! I’ve been busy building our family tree on a popular ancestry website. Our family tree includes close to 10,000 individuals, 500 photos, and 50 stories! I also use another website to upload photos into online albums, which I can then share with friends and family… I currently have 50 albums online and some albums contain more than 200 photos!

4. Which one of your Scrapblogs describes you best?

Each one of my scrapblogs represents a little piece of me… I’m very visual and I pay close attention to detail… I guess you could say I’m a “more is more” kind of person; not a “less is more” person… my Scrapblogs are visually loaded. However, I did try the “less is more” route in creating my daughter’s ‘In Living Color’ scrapblog. And then there is my son’s ‘Dreamin’ of the Beach’ Scrapblog, which was my first attempt at telling a story… maybe this is where you see me best.

5. Who is your favorite Scrapblogger & why?

Ninamor is my favorite scrapblogger! Why? She is brilliant, she has a vision I admire and she’s a huge inspiration to me! When you see one of her Scrapblogs, you’ll know what I mean… they are striking and beautiful! She’s also very kind and considerate… She’s from Norway, so most of her storytelling is in Norwegian, and when I can’t understand exactly what I’m seeing, she will send me the translation via email. We’ve become great friends since finding each other on Scrapblog… Nina if you’re reading this: “Klem fra Karen!”

6. What’s the one Scrapblog feature that makes you happy?

I love the stickers, and finding new ways to use them. I love my scary looking ghoul faces in ‘Blaze’s Halloween Adventures’. I used hair stickers and the smoke from the pipe sticker (in the Props category) to create the ghoulish heads. When it comes to stickers… think outside of the box!

7. What is the most creative technique you’ve used in Scrapblog?

I think I took my Scrapblogging to a new level while creating ‘Blaze’s Halloween Adventures’. I extensively used the crop tool while making each page in that album. When you view it, you may think you’re looking at just one photo with lots of stickers on top, but what you may not realize is I cropped tiny pieces of the original photo to build a larger background area around the original photo. You’re probably wondering why I just didn’t expand my photo to fill the screen… I could have done that, but then I wouldn’t have room to add all of the stickers I wanted to include!

8. What keeps you coming back to Scrapblog?

The blogging aspect of Scrapblog brings me back each day! I always check my Scrapblogs to see if anyone has left me a message, and promptly type up a response. I’ll also check on my friends to see if they’ve created anything new, or if they’ve responded to one of the comments I left on their Scrapblogs… I’ve made friends in Norway, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, and the all over the United States by using Scrapblog!

9. What would you like to see next for Scrapblog?

A free-form cropping tool… It would be nice to crop irregular shapes!

10. Can you share one tip for new Scrapbloggers?

The crop tool is the most versatile tool you’ll use! I’ve used this tool to crop postage stamps, pumpkins, post cards, photos of the moon, credit cards, labels, surf boards, beach balls, soccer balls, just to name a few… You could also use it to crop baseballs, basketballs, tomatoes, cantaloupes, onions, round or square mirrors, plates, gumballs, M&M’s, round clocks, round door knobs, bowling balls, golf balls, etc… Did I just give you a few ideas for your next Scrapblog?

Thanks for the tips, Karen! The more you experiment, the more you discover what’s possible. Soon we will be offering some of the features you would like to see.

Lisa Gallego-Zuniga, also known as Lis311, is one of our earliest Scrapbloggers. I believe she started with us on the day of our launch this year, in April. She keeps very busy, with full-time studies, work and taking care of her adorable daughter, Kayleigh. Besides creating lovely scraplogs, she has a knack for getting wide viewership. Together, her scrapblogs have collected over 88,000 views!

Before reading the interview, check out her fun submission for the Scrapblog Spooktacular Halloween Challenge:

1. Give us a little bit more info about yourself (where are you from, work, school, family, hobbies etc…).

I am from Laredo, TX. I currently live here while my husband is deployed to Iraq with the Army. He has been away for over a year now and should be home very soon! I am currently a full-time (full-time ++++) student anticipating my Bachelors of Science degree in Biology. I should be graduating shortly after my husband’s return home. After that, my daughter and I will be moving back to Fort Hood with him to finally live together as a family again. My hobbies include photography (mostly of my daughter), computers (hardware, software, you name it), web design (html, css), among others.

2. How did you find out about Scrapblog?

If I remember correctly, I found out about Scrapblog through a Tumblr article from Taylor McKnight (an old friend of mine). At the time, SB was still in beta. I created an account and a few scrapblogs, and soon became friends with Alex de Carvalho, one of the main dudes at SB. Since then, we’ve been in constant contact. He has featured several of my scrapblogs on Friday Five blog days and has even recommended me to help promote SB by featuring one of my scrapblogs in Digital Scrapbooking Magazine.

3. Are you involved in any other creative activities (online & off)?

I enjoy sharing my photography on Flickr. I use Twitter and Facebook to alert my friends of updates to my Flickr as well as Scrapblog.

4. Which one of your Scrapblogs describes you best?

Most of my scrapblogs revolve around my family. I’ve found that ever since the birth of my daughter, I have diverted all of the attention I used to give myself onto her. She is the center of my universe, and I believe my scrapblogs reflect that fact. My personal favorite scrapblog of her is the Corpus Christi scrapblog — not only because it has been so well-received by the SB community, but because it is a comprehensive scrapblog from the beginning of our day trip to the very end.

5. Who is your favorite Scrapblogger & why?

My favorite scrapblogger has to be my sister, Yvonne G. She really is incredibly under appreciated for the great work she has put forth on SB. I would love to see her get more recognition and hopefully that will motivate her to design more wonderful creations.

6. What’s the one Scrapblog feature that makes you happy?

I completely love SB’s easy integration with other web apps such as Flickr and Facebook. They make it seamless to import and export information. Manual importing and exporting can be tedious, especially if you have a lot of data to transfer. I would love to see integration with Photoshop brushes (as SB stickers) and patterns (as SB backgrounds) in the future.

7. What is the most creative technique you’ve used in Scrapblog?

I think the most creative techniques in Scrapblog are just using existing techniques in innovative ways. Many of these techniques I have seen in themes and a few I have seen used in other scrapblogs. For example, I occasionally use a rectangle shape at a lower opacity, rotate it about 45 degrees from the plane of the photo, and position it at a corner of the photograph to create a “taped to the background” effect. Also, I use double-layered text by simply creating one set of text in the background color I’d like and then copy/pasting that text on top of itself (and slightly askew) and changing the color to the desired foreground color.

8. What keeps you coming back to Scrapblog?

The community is really great.. You can’t find such an encouraging community anywhere else. I’ve received only the sweetest comments (in MANY languages!) on my scrapblogs, and I am always so grateful for each one. Occasionally, though, I wish someone would give me some constructive criticism! :-))

9. What would you like to see next for Scrapblog?

Like I said in a previous answer, I would love to see integration with Photoshop brushes (as SB stickers) and patterns (as SB backgrounds). With this simple integration, the possibilities would literally be endless, as there are constantly new photoshop brushes available from an unlimited number of websites.

10. Can you share one tip for new Scrapbloggers?

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to change up a template and make it your own. It’s okay to use a template and add your own pictures in place of template pictures, but remember that it’s the personalization that really makes all the difference. Also, share your artwork with the world! There are ways to share on any blog site, as well as facebook and myspace. Link to your scrapblog creation on twitter. Or do it “the old-fashioned way” by emailing everyone you know using the dedicated form in the Scrapblog Builder. There’s also always word of mouth :-))

We agree, that’s great advice. We have also noticed the more you experiment with Scrapblog, the more familiar you become with techniques and with time you’ll see dramatic improvement in composition and storytelling. Thank you, Lisa!