I am not a tech kind of girl.  I will never be the kind of person who knows what is new and exciting in technology. That said, I appreciate and enjoy the technology and tools that I do choose to use. This summer I argued against the switch to the iPhone, but eventually my husband’s arguments (and my dying old phone) won me over, and I found myself thrust into a whole new-to-me world of technology.

How am I doing? I adjusted fairly quickly, and while I will probably never be the typical iPhone user, I am finding it exceptionally useful as a scrapbooking and crafting tool. I’m not alone in looking at mobile phones as potential tools in crafting either. Pink Paislee has posted free mobile phone wallpapers based on their Hocus Pocus halloween line. {One shown on my iPhone below} I would love to see more companies do this sort of thing, and I’d love to have scrapbook product-inspired wallpapers on my phone all the time! That is just one way that traditional scrapbooking is joining with my mobile phone. In August, I joined the iPhone nation. Since then, because it has a camera capable of print-quality photos, I’ve been evaluating how I have (and can in the future) use this camera feature to the best of my ability.

The ways I utilize it so far are:

• Take photos where I wouldn’t normally have a camera (at school, restaurant, store, random locations)
• Grab photos of inspiration for my crafting
• Snap photos for my blog, Twitter, and Facebook to aid in my memory keeping
• Create videos for blogging and short tutorials

Recently I printed out my first batch of photos from my iPhone, and while I could clearly tell the difference between those taken with the phone and those taken with my Nikon D60 DSLR camera, I was still pleased with the results from the phone. The images are, for the most part, better than any photos my parents took of us as children. The quality is there in the technology, and if used in the right circumstances it can create photos to cherish. Now, none of mine are going to win photography prizes anytime soon, but that’s ok! I love the moments and details I can now scrapbook. I love that in the grocery store my phone became my camera and I caught some cuteness, and that when I had a dinner date with my husband I wasn’t hauling out my big camera to take photos. Instead I slipped my iPhone out of my tiny purse.

I do have some suggestions for those of you looking to scrapbook more mobile phone photos.

• Remember to assist the camera. My iPhone4 lets me click the screen and ‘focus’ on my subject. I also make sure to get the best possible lighting when I can, and not try to take tough shots and expect the camera to get it perfectly.
• Set it down. Whenever possible I set the bottom of my phone down on a shelf, desk, ledge… anything. The more stable the phone, the better chance of a clear image.
• Check the settings! Make sure the camera is set to take large enough images, and that you’re not going to wind up with web quality only photos.
• Don’t try to replace your regular camera with a mobile one. While I will be using (and loving) this feature on my phone, it can not compete with my Nikon D60. If your mobile phone is actually a better camera than your real camera – that’s a different situation. For me, I have a nice camera that I dearly love and it will still be coming along on all big events, family celebrations, vacations, and any time where I would normally use it.

I am just getting started with this, and I know there’s a whole world of possibility spread in front of me. Having a print quality camera with me almost all of the time hidden inside my phone is a wonderful thing, and I’m making the most of it. From craft store antics with my girls to sharing photos of my current works in progress on my twitter account – and even the short videos I’ve been posting to my blog – this phone is a tool I see improving my paper crafting life.

If you have tips or ways you use your phone to assist you in crafting please do share!  As a high tech phone newbie, I’d love to hear about it.

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