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Anything that catches your eye on the Internet can be saved and added to your online scrapbook, just as you would once cut out scraps from magazines and newspapers to thumbtack to your corkboard.
Image courtesy of Will Fuller taken from Flickr
Why Not Stick With the Cork Board?
Thumbtacking photos and scraps to a pin board has a certain nostalgic feel. However, with the ever-expanding level of content on the Internet, there are literally millions of photos, images and other inspiring works available for your perusal. Not being confined to last month’s issue of Cosmopolitan for fashion ideas or this week’s cookery section of the local newspaper for recipe ideas means a whole world of inspiration has been opened to you.
Some of the better known scrapbook websites include pinterest.com, scrapbook.channel4.com and polyvore.com.
- Pinterest
This is one of the most popular of the online scrapbook websites. As of August 2012, it is the third most popular social network in the world after Facebook and Twitter.
It works by finding and ‘pinning’ things on the internet. The ‘mission’, as such, of Pinterest is ‘to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.’ This can be as simple as fashion or room designs or as diverse as finding a glut of recipes or planning a wedding… anything that catches your interest.
Though the site’s etiquette rules require users to credit their images, experts have had to look into the liability of the website as often those images which are pinned are copyrighted.
Pinterest has been a fantastic development for interior designers such as Emma Stinson, the owner of Studio Em design. With an easy search tool and an enormous variety of images on offer, she finds it the ideal place to search for inspiration for all her projects – from designing cinemas to outfitting car-testing centres.
- Channel 4 Scrapbook
Channel 4 has a ‘cut out and keep’ online scrapbooking service which allows users to flick through all the Channel 4 content, finding their favourite pieces and sticking them into their virtual scrapbook.
Users can also look through the scrapbooks kept by some of Channel 4’s best known names: from Jamie Oliver to Kevin McCloud.
With the amount of information available on Channel 4’s website – from tasty recipes to the best stockists – a scrapbook is a good place to keep your favourites. Rather than lazily clicking through the dishes, saying ‘I must remember that’ and then drifting off and forgetting all about it, the Channel 4 Scrapbook gives you a place to store your favourite ideas, to be perused at a later date – and without having to remember where you saw that mouth-watering recipe for Spaghetti Vongole.
- Polyvore
Polyvore is different to the two previous sites as it is strictly about fashion. The site allows users to gather images of their favourite clothing items from across the Internet and then mix them into ‘sets’ showing their unique style and – perhaps – setting a new worldwide trend!
These sets can be shared on the various social networking sites, from Facebook and Twitter to blogs.
Polyvore has a huge following with thousands of different trends to browse through, and a dedicated ‘ask’ section where users can pose their fashion-related question and get feedback from users just like themselves. It has, at times, guest fashion editors who give advice and choose their favourite sets from the site.
One of the best things about Polyvore is that every item you see in the sets is available for purchase, making it a catalogue of user-designed fashion.
Also the wide range of items that people pin mean that you can get inspiration for a new look clothes-wise or pick up some interior design ideas for your living rooms new look. Scrapbook websites are now part of the buying cycle for most people and can help you research important buying decisions like where to buy your next sofa or what color paint scheme to go for in the bedroom.
This article was written on behalf of sofa.com who produce traditional and contemporary sofas.
