Digital Scrapbooking Goodies for the Holidays

Merry Christmas to all of you! This may be my last post this week – I have company on the way (arriving any minute) and then a week full of festivities planned. I am sure you are not going to have any more time to sit still and surf the web than I am, so we will just plan to see each other again after the 25th, okay?

Before I leave you, here are some links to some of the digital goodness I have stumbled across this holiday season. Even if you are not a digital scrapbooker, you can download and print these out to use in your traditional scrapbooking.

Enjoy!

Digital Doodles from Scrappy Fairy (I love these)
Be Merry mini kit from Digital Freebies
This beautiful Winter Wonderland from Jenallyson. She is opening a new shop Design House Digital and has a freebie on that webite, too, if you sign up for her mailing list.
Kolette Hall always has beautiful downloads. There are several on her site that are holiday-themed. I printed a few out last week and added them to my last-minute decorating. I just printed them at 5×7 and stuck them in some black frames. Very classy, very nice.
Here is a beautiful 2010 Calendar you can print out and gussy up to give as a last minute gift (or keep for yourself!)
The Shabby Princess has some gorgeous downloads. She has a shop, too, with a sale going on right now. I love her designs.

Oh, and if you are a Creative Memories digital user, you can still use these. Just import them into your program as your own digital content.

Ok, hope that gets you started.

I have to go make final preparations…

Merry Christmas to all, and to all Good Night! 🙂

Christmas Traditions, New and Old

I have decided that the only way I am going to finish this Journal Your Christmas album is to do it digitally. I can't seem to find the time to journal, scheme the page design and then actually sit down and do it. Especially since the kids will be home from school after today – once they are home "real" scrapbooking ends for me. Too many little fingers in the stash!

I am working on documenting our Christmas Traditions. I think I am going to end up with four (!) pages about this because we have a few new ones to capture as well as a few old ones I want to record. This book is going to be HUGE when I finish, but with the digital pages, at least it won't be bulky or heavy.

Here is my Traditions (new) page. I'll add the "old" one later when I get it done. I am waiting to take a photo on Christmas Eve for that page.

Pages are done with Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator Plus and their Frost kit.

MB has been asking for an Elf on the Shelf this year. I think a lot of the kids in her class must have them and she has been hearing stories about the antics of the elves.

So, one Saturday while I was out with Ang, we got one. MB was so very excited and read the story to Ang right away. Now, our Elf, Jingle, makes a nightly journey to Santa's to report on the girls' behavior. Then he picks a spot to perch for the day and keep an eye on things. You never know where Jingle will turn up. The lights, the wreath, the bookcase. He is a crafty elf.

Let there be light(s)

Every year, we tweak our outdoor decorations just a little. This year, we did something totally different. Colored lights (for the girls) on the shrubs and SuperMan added lights to the Tulip Tree. I love it. It looks like an outdoor Christmas tree.

We also have little bitty trees on the front porch. I have seen that for years and loved it so I splurged last Christmas and added them to the decor. I think next year I will add some decorations to them (when the puppy isn't such a puppy and hopefully won't eat them all!)

Pages are done with Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator Plus and their Frost kit.

SuperMan also got all of my garlands and wreath lights working this year so we have a lot of lights in the house, too. It makes things very festive and I am keeping them on pretty much all the time. I like the glow!

The stockings on the mantle are from one of my trips to the UK with work (years ago) and every time I pull them out I remember shopping in Harrod's with Mom and getting them.

I hope your holidays are filled with light, love and good memories, too!

I think I’m getting this down (somewhat)

I have been working more in Photoshop Elements this weekend. Not much, just a little, but I have completed a few more calendar pages.

I haven’t yet tried it in Creative Memories’ StoryBook Creator software. Just Photoshop. In PSE it is a breeze to edit.

Here are some samples:

Note: the calendar template is from ScrapGirls if you are interested in making your own. There is a separate file for each month. All I did was drop in my photos and papers.

Also, If you haven’t viewed these tutorials by Cathy Zielske (and you are learning about Photoshop like me) I would strongly suggest you take a few minutes to watch them. They are very well done.

She has one on using templates and one for creating rounded corners (or just one or two rounded corners) which I think is a really cool effect.

I’m ready, I think, to start doing more things in PSE. I have signed up for Jessica Sprague’s beginner’s PSE class. That’s my next project. 🙂 (’cause I don’t have anything else going on right now! ha!)

I think I’m getting this down (somewhat)

I have been working more in Photoshop Elements this weekend. Not much, just a little, but I have completed a few more calendar pages.

I haven’t yet tried it in Creative Memories’ StoryBook Creator software. Just Photoshop. In PSE it is a breeze to edit.

Here are some samples:

Note: the calendar template is from ScrapGirls if you are interested in making your own. There is a separate file for each month. All I did was drop in my photos and papers.

Also, If you haven’t viewed these tutorials by Cathy Zielske (and you are learning about Photoshop like me) I would strongly suggest you take a few minutes to watch them. They are very well done.

She has one on using templates and one for creating rounded corners (or just one or two rounded corners) which I think is a really cool effect.

Season’s Greetings?

It’s that time of year again, folks… time to get out your mass-assembly-line technology, your address book and a million stamps. Yes, it’s Christmas card time.

Before kids, I used to have all my cards addressed and ready to go on the Friday after Thanksgiving. (that was before Black Friday was called Black Friday). They had a cutesy little “newsletter” inside telling about all the things we’d done that year and wishing everyone peace, love and happiness.

Now?

I’m lucky if I get them addressed and mailed before the 20th!

This year, I decided to create a photo card. I did a nifty 4×6 sized card and ordered prints. I really like how it turned out.

Then came the dilemma. What do I mail them in?

My husband chuckled at me as I anguished for weeks about how I was going to mail them. They were too big for a regular small envelope. Too tall for a business one. Didn’t really fit in a card-sized envelope. Sigh. That is what I get for going my own way.

So, yesterday we were in Hobby Lobby (dangerous place to go) and I saw they had all of their Christmas cards on sale for 50% off. Hello!

I picked out a really adorable card:

and will just put the pictures inside! Problem solved.

I love how this has the handmade look, but that I didn’t have to hand-make it. I made Christmas cards one year (maybe two) when Ang was a baby. That was enough for me. The whole thing was just not a fun experience for me. First, I agonized on what to create. Then, I had to figure out what materials I would need and then how much it would cost. Those adorably detailed cards can get pretty pricey when you are doing 20-30 of them. (and most of my recipients are not crafty people and do not appreciate the effort, time and creativity it takes to make them)

So, after trying that out, I gave myself permission to go back to store-bought cards. Why make life difficult?

Last year, I did a photo card as well, but I used one of those templates online where you get the envelopes with the cards – and didn’t have the dilemma I have had this year.

Now, this year’s set up doesn’t equate to the uber-low-cost plan I originally had, but oh well. At least I have cards, and a plan. Heck, most are even addressed at this point!

Now, if I can just talk SuperMan into going to the post office for the stamps…

I think I’m in love…

I have been very, very resistant to Photoshop for years… It just seemed too complex, too "big" and too hard to learn. I have been quite happy with traditional scrapbooking, thankyouverymuch!

Then, this summer, I got the new version of Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator Plus software. I loved it. (I still do.) I loved all the things I could do with it. I got hooked on digital scrapbooking and started scouring the internet looking for ideas, downloads, templates, papers, embellishments; you name it, I was looking at/for it.

I started taking some online classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Over there, everyone (and I mean everyone) uses Photoshop Elements. (at a minimum, it seems!) Classes come with downloadable templates, files to make your life easier, etc. <grrr… I don't use Photoshop!>

So, there I was re-creating the templates, re-doing all the work that had been done for me to save me time to do what I really love, which is scrapbooking!

What's a girl to do?

Well, you know how the old saying goes… If you can't beat 'em…

So, I decided to download an evaluation copy of Photoshop Elements from Adobe's website. It has a 30 day trial period and I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a whirl. However, the last time I downloaded a copy, I think I only opened it once. Not a very effective way to evaluate a tool, I guess. So, this time I was determined to really prove to myself once and for all that Photoshop was not for me.

Let me restate that… I was going to prove that I did not need Photoshop.

Boy, was I wrong!

You know all those beautiful pictures you see on the web? Photoshop-enhanced. (I guarantee you) All those beautiful scrapbook layouts? Ditto.

I have taken a few free tutorials online – there's one on Jessica Sprague's website, another three over on Nan Scott's website.

And then, tonight, I started playing. and playing. and playing. (thank goodness the kids went to bed early!)

Oh.my.goodness.

Once you get the hang of the basics, it is soooo cool!

Now I am dying to take some more classes and learn some more techniques. (Do you have any to share? If so, point me in the right direction, please!!)

Here's my first "real" page created in PSE…

The template came from Scrap Girls, and the papers and embellishments were from Michelle Coleman (it was a freebie download)

I have to say it… I think I'm hooked. I think I'm in love…

It was so much easier to just open the template, drop in the paper, pictures and embellishments! Wowee!

I'll share more of the calendar pages as I get them created… I'm sure there are going to be more!

This looks fun…

Jessica Sprague has a design challenge posted on her blog. I'm thinking about giving it a whirl.

How cool is that design? I guess Apple has become so mainstream with their nifty toys and bright colors that they are literally everywhere nowadays – even in our scrapbooks!

Want to try the challenge with me?

I'll post my layout on the blog when I get it done… Post yours, too! This will be fun!

Creative Memories Tip: Saving Page Template in StoryBook Creator Plus

I am so excited. Creative Memories posted on their blog today about how to save individual .page files as templates so that you can share page templates with people. If you have downloaded any of my recent template posts, you know it was not just a single file to download.

With this new information, it should mean easier creation of template files. Which is good for me, but even better for you! That means I'll be posting more templates here in the future for you to use with StoryBook Creator Plus! (yay!)

Here's a template for you – just because I'm so happy about the new process! (just click on the link to download)

And, here is a page I made with the template:

Note: The text boxes are in the template, they just don't show up on the JPG of the template for some reason.

Also, if you want the top right photo to have a rounded corner like mine does, you will need to flatten the image once you drop your photo in the frame. Then you can round the corners.

I must give credit for the inspiration, though, to Cathy Zielske's template on Designer Digitals. I love the clean lines she has in her designs! So, if you are not a StoryBook Creator Plus user, but you like this design, go get her template!

Oh, and if you like the paper and embellishments, it's all from DigiChick – Brown Eyed Girl.

Puppy Love

I’m finding more and more inspiration for scrapbook pages in reading online blogs and looking at websites selling pre-made digital templates.

Because I’m not using PhotoShop, most of those templates are not much use to me. It is easier to make my own in StoryBook Creator than to figure out how to re-layer the many files that are sent with a downloaded template. (I’ve tried it on a few freebies and decided it was way more trouble than it’s worth)

What I have been doing, though, is much like what we do when we’re scrapbooking traditionally. (and I use this technique for both digital and traditional pages) I simply “eyeball” the page and make my own version using rough estimates on what sizes the pictures are and where the embellishments are placed. This challenge has been fun and I have been enjoying seeing if I can reproduce what I see online with some relative semblance of accuracy. Here’s an example:

I saw this layout from Designer Digitals:

And decided to create this layout:

You will notice I took some creative license with my design. I didn’t add the dotted/stitched border. I added an additional embellishment. I had planned to put a background in there once I was finished, but then I decided I liked the clean look of the white page, so I left it.

I’ve been thinking about doing a page on Sydney for a while, and have been waiting for the right inspiration to hit. Well, one look at that layout and I was ready to go.

Inspiration can come from many places. You can be inspired by a picture, by an advertisement, by colors, fabrics, sunrises, etc. The trick is to be open to the muse and either act on it right away or write your ideas down so that you can act later.

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