I've joined a new scrapbook meetup

Tonight I'm meeting with a group of scrappers I found on Meetup. If you haven't been to Meetup yet, give it a try. There are groups for almost every interest. You can find like minded people in your area just by going to Meetup on the net and putting in your interest. They'll match you. You can even start your own meetup group for a very low fee.

I am a member of Altered Arts Meetup led by Cathy Johnson. We do altered books, art trading cards, cards, and anything else that needs a little bling.

My Meetup group I have named North Irving Scrapbook Therapy Club. No, it's not for real therapy, but since scrapbooking has helped me in so many ways, I chose that name. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than paying a shrink! :)

I want to really expand my contact base and meet many more scrappers. I'll try to blog about what I learn at these meetups and maybe add a few pictures of featured projects along the way. Keep watching my blog. You never know what you will learn.

Digital photo stats

I want to share some statistics about digital photos.

79% of digital photos taken are not printed.
8% of consumers order photo gifts, including photo books, each year.
39% of consumers have lost some (30%) or all (9%) of their digital images due to a hard disk crash, virus, or accidental deletion.
Facebook has over 14 billion photos, with 2 billion photos uploaded each month.
70% of Facebook users don't know that Facebook saves only low-resolution photos!
The average digital camera user takes 116 photos in 3 months.
The difference between professional and amateur photographers is that the pros only show you the good ones.

DESIGN AND DELIVER

I had to get Deliver in there somewhere. For 30 years I delivered babies, and now I deliver Digital Storybooks. In addition to being a scrapbook consultant, I also help those who don't have the time or inclination to do their own projects. Weddings, senior books, baby books, heritage books, cookbooks can be designed easily with Creative Memories software. The quality of the printed project is wonderful and is guaranteed to last.

I'm taking pictures this weekend for an engagement brunch. These pictures will be turned into a professional looking digital hard covered book. I'll try to share a page or two from the finished project if I get their permission.

You can contact me if you are interested in having a digital book or other project done for you. Also contact me, if you'd like to have the software to do your own projects. I'll teach you to use your software for free.

www.mycmsite.com/momdoc

Putting my toe into the water

My big toe is in the blog water and I'm feeling very uncertain. Sink or swim...here goes.

I'm a Mom Doc, an obstetrician/gynecologist, who has retired from practice, and found a passion for photography and saving memories. After I retired I was pretty depressed. Most of my friends still worked and my identity had been tied up with medicine for as long as I can remember. I always thought I'd return to music after retirement, but arthritis and a fractured finger finished that dream.

I put the violin back into the closet and sulked.

My dear husband told me about a patient who loved to scrapbook, and he insisted I go with her to a scrapbook retreat. The rest is history. Now, I turn my digital pictures into digital Storybooks and help others do the same. It's great fun to discover your creativity and do something useful at the same time.

I took a long trip a few years ago and took tons of pictures. They became my first traditional scrapbook album. I still love paper and scissors and cutters and embellishments, but then I discovered the wonderful, easy to use Creative Memories Storybook software that literally turns pictures into treasures. Now, not only do I make traditional scrapbooks, but I also make digital Storybooks, mugs, tee shirts, mousepads, calendars, photo panels, cards, postcards, and a big variety of other thing. Now I am a scrapbook consultant and designer, M.D.