I’m super excited to welcome Tracie Stroud to THE DIGI FILES this month!  Tracie has a very versatile design style with a definite FUN side!  I LOVE her contribution this month as it really does typify her style!  Let’s take a closer look at what you will find in THE DIGI FILES from Tracie:

Our team had a lot of fun with this collection too:

Layout by Katie, additional supplies: Template No. 16 by Ali Edwards. Font is Ali’s Hand.

Layout by Melissa L., additional supplies: Ali Edwards Hello Summer word art (day), Font is DJB How Cute Am I

Layout by Amy Wolff, additional supplies: font-Pea Donna

Layout by Tara, additional supplies: – sissy lynn by NeeNee designs

Layout by Trina, additional supplies: Calliope Template – Tracie Stroud, Font – Century Gothic

You can see many more inspirational layouts using this collection on the Team Inspiration page.

I’m Tracie Stroud, I live in Shreveport, Louisiana.  I share life with my husband of 10 years, 2 beautiful kiddos, and 1 on the way.

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Digital Layout (Sunshine in Your Smile) credits: Pocketful of Sunshine by Tracie Stroud
template: Sidekicks Pack No. 3 by Fizzy Pop Designs
stitching: All Stitched Up no. 5 by Tracie Stroud
alpha: A Bit Sketchy Alpha by Tracie Stroud
date stamp: It’s A Date no. 4 by Tracie Stroud

Because of the way digital cameras capture an image, even the best cameras put a slight “fog” on the photos. To help with this and give your photos a slight ‘pop’, you should run a ‘defog’ on each image. There are a few ways to do this, but I apply the following settings to each photo before I do any other editing:
Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask
Amount = 20%
Radius = 60 pixels
Threshold: 0

You’ll be amazed at the difference this very simple step can make! I created an action for it in Photoshop, and I batch run it on all photos as soon as I upload them to my computer.

I started traditional (paper) scrapping about 8 years ago. After my daughter was born, I didn’t have the space or time for all the supplies anymore. I didn’t know about digital at that time, so I just gave up scrapping altogether, which made me really sad. When I was pregnant with my son, about 4 years ago, I spent some time on the pregnancy boards, and everyone was raving about digital scrapping. I decided to try it, and I’ve never looked back! After scrapping for a couple of years, I really wanted to try designing. I had lots of ideas that I wanted to try out, and with some great constructive criticism from a couple of designer friends, I made my first kit. I started selling in January of 2009.

My kiddos. They’re so active and vibrant. Things they say, their energy, and just being around them are so inspiring.

I currently use a Toshiba laptop with Windows Vista and 3GB of RAM. I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, both CS4. Right now I’m using a Pentax digital SLR, but I’d like to get a point and shoot soon, just for the convenience of carrying it with me while I’m trying to juggle 3 kiddos and all their gear. I use a Bamboo Fun graphics tablet for everything. I literally haven’t touched a mouse in 9 months!

Here are some of my favorite products by Tracie

Here’s some inspirational layouts using Tracie’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.

Go have a look in Tracie’s Store. We will randomly select a person from the comments to win $10 in product from her store! (Comments must be posted before midnight EST)!

As a thank you to our readers, Tracie has created this coupon to share with all of us!