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! 🙂

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.

New Jessica Sprague Idea/Inspiration Book

I am new to the world of Jessica Sprague. But I have very quickly become an avid follower. She has very well put-together classes, great content on her website and is always coming out with nifty things to inspire, help, encourage the scrapbooker in me.

Her newest nifty thing she announced today: Inspiration in Hand, a quarterly (FREE) book which will include ideas for “layouts, stories and projects to spark your creativity.”

I am downloading my copy now – you should too!

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…

Journal Your Christmas… Day 1

I’m taking a new class this year – it’s called Journal Your Christmas and it’s about capturing memories of Christmases past and present and your dreams for future holidays.

The thing I like is that it’s focused on words – on writing – as well as photos. I can’t always remember to take a picture a day (as is evidenced by my sadly unfinished Project 365 album) but I can take a few minutes to write some thoughts down and maybe even find old photos from Christmases past if I don’t have a current one.

To begin with, you are to write your “manifesto” – or what your intentions are for the album. At this point, I don’t know what my intentions are. I am simply going to take this day-by-day and see where the creative process leads me. What I do hope to accomplish, though, is a record of why Christmas is special to me – memories of traditions, Christmases from my youth, and thoughts about the Chrismases I’ve spent thus far with my own family. I am hoping to create something that will record a little snapshot of life today and how we choose to celebrate our holiday.

I’m also hoping this class will help me step out of the commercially-induced frenzy that captures so many of us this time of year – and helps me to refocus on what the season is really all about.

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!

I won! I can’t believe it!

I never win anything. Never. My brother is the winner in the family. He was the sort of kid who wouldn't find a penny on the sidewalk, he'd find $20. I have never been the one with that kind of luck. And it's ok with me, it's just how the world works.

HOWEVER, today I got a very pleasant surprise in my inbox. I won a spot in one of Big Picture Scrapbooking's classes! How cool is that?

I'll be taking "Reclaiming Your Time" and I can't wait to get started!

Want to join me in the class? Sign up today. It's half price, and at $15, I'm sure it will be WELL worth the money. If you're planning to take the class, let me know so we can keep up with our projects together!

Thank you, BPS! What a nice Thanksgiving present! 🙂

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atelier_tee/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Sunday Scrappin’

Happy Sunday!

I hope that you are having a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by and please check out my Sunday Scrapping post on The Lady at Home.

I'll post another update tomorrow.

See ya!

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