End of February 2015

When you
become a member you get ALL of these kits for just $7.50 TOTAL (not each)! AMAZING DEAL!!

This is what our
members said at the end of last month:

Yay! Tomorrow is Daily Digi Day! And Sunday (even though it’s Super Bowl Sunday). I so enjoyed working with this month’s kits and can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow! ~Sharon S

The quality is superb on all of the kits we receive – every month there is never a disappointment. I thought I’d go through the kits this month and list my favorite…can’t even do that because I like them all. Thanks Daily Digi. Keep up the AWESOME work. ~ Karyn Allen

What a great variety this month….not only in styles but colors as well, pastels, bolds, brights. Definitely something for everyone. Can’t wait to see what’s coming for February! ~ Wahoo Lady

Here’s a closer look at everything that is included this month:

Erica Zane

ForeverJoy

Southern Serenity Designs

Sugary Fancy

River-Rose

Courtney Designs

Amanda Fraijo-Tobin

Did you know that every four months you are subscribed to The Digi Game
level (annual OR monthly) you get an exclusive collaboration from past
contributors to
THE DIGI FILES? They are AMAZING:

“Story of Everyday Life” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to those who subscribe to THE DIGI GAME level of membership (available immediately).

TDD_GoodLife_Preview

“The Good Life” is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their fourth payment, (or fourth month for annual members).

“My Journey My Life” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their eighth payment, (or eighth month for annual members).

“My Life At Play” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 12th payment (or 12th month for annual members).

“My Life In Print” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 16th payment (or 16th month for annual members).

“My Life At Home” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 20th payment (or 20th month for annual members).

“My Life of Adventure” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 24th payment (or 24th month for annual members).

“My Life of Celebration” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 28th payment (or 28th month for annual members).

“My Life of Change” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 32nd payment (or 32nd month for annual members).

“My Life of Happiness” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 36th payment (or 36th month for annual members).

“My Life of Daring” is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 40th payment (or 40th month for annual members).

My Life of Wonderful”
is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to
subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 44th payment (or 44th month for
annual members).

My Life of Learning”
is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to
subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 48th payment (or 48th month for
annual members).

My Life Online”
is an EXCLUSIVE collection to THE DAILY DIGI that is FREE to
subscribers of THE DIGI GAME after their 52nd payment (or 52th month for
annual members).

We
will randomly select FOURTEEN people from Rafflecopter to win $10 in
product from one of this month’s contributors. Winners names will
automatically be added to the widget here after they are selected. The
contest closes at 11pm ET.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

February 27, 2015February 26, 2015

Snowed In? A Great Time to Shop & Scrap!

Snow days are great days to sneak in some extra scrapping. Here are some new goodies to help you get inspired!

Cottage No9 brings you a bold mix with a shabby feel, perfect for those everyday photos and is a fun way to add a feminine touch to your “Magical” vacation memories! Buy the kit before 2/27 and get the Porch Blends Paper Pack free!

We are celebrating 4 years of daily photography inspiration with a day long, FREE Webinar. Learn how to move your camera to manual, look for location, photograph celebrations, and more!

Pink Reptile Designs has this awesome new pack of vellums! Layer them over your background papers, cut them to matte your photos, clip them to masks or alphas or try blending them. The sky is the limit in adding amazing effects and interest to your pages!

New from Studio Rosey Posey: Create Pak! Just add your creativity!

Chelle has a FABULOUS new action that will take your favorite paper and make one of 3 accordion flowers with it. COOL!

EZ Albums v.8 by Erica Zane will make your scrapping quick and EZ! This set has plenty of options to fill your album with variety while keeping a consistent look. This set of 25 templates (12×12) are saved as .PSD, .TIFF and .PNG files. The templates with circles also have an optional block to use instead of the circle for more versatility.

Record Your World is a long range project related to creating a gorgeous keepsake that shows YOUR perspective and YOUR life. Project 6 is all about Resolutions. Dive deep into this soul searching workshop and enjoy your life’s journey thru art.

Check out Studio Wendy’s new series of digital scrapbooking process
videos. Get episode 1 free with a $10 purchase from her store!

Scrapping with Liz has 2 new sets of templates that will help you scrap a lot of photo! Grab them both right now at 20% OFF!

Die Cut Templates Volumes 4 and 5 have fun, intricate patterns to add flair and dynamic layers to your layout! Save 30% when you purchase through Sunday, March 1. Save 40% when you purchase them together! No coupon needed, discount applied at check out!

There’s a brand new Memory Pockets Monthly at The Lilypad, which means some fantastic new add-ons! They’re all 20% off thru Sunday.

Join me and some of my paper and digital scrapbooking friends for 26 days of inspiration, ideas, sample projects and even resources delivered right to your inbox.

Flergs & Amber have another magical collection coming this week. #believeinmagic: GLASS SLIPPER is perfect for page about your favourite princess. And just in time for the movie coming in March! Save 44% on the collection through Saturday!

Check out this gorgeous new paper pack from Jennifer Labre Designs! Perfect for art journaling and all sorts of layouts!

Yin has new double page templates for up to 23 photos each in her store. The bundled set of 4 templates are 20% off through this weekend!

Whether you are a professional photographer or just selfie obsessed, Snap Happy is the kit for you!

Fuss Free: Perfect Days templates are made for wondrous days ~ the stretches of time filled with glowing sunshine and temperate weather, laughter and closeness, all things bright and happy. Now through March 6th, if you purchase Set 1, you’ll receive Set 2 FREE! The templates are Fresh Fruit priced at 20% off for the first week of release. Combine the sale with my FWP, and you can get both of these sets for less than $4!

Checkout the 2 new AnnaSamplers (10 digital elements from many of her signature lines), a great way to test-drive Anna’s products with minimal investment. The components have been carefully coordinated to enable you to create an Artsy digital scrapbook page in minutes. Includes Instructions for Use e-booklet free download for Photoshop and Elements users. In addition, we’re going a little nuts over camera!

Brand new from River~Rose Designs! You Can Fly is on Sale February 27-March 1st.

February 26, 2015February 17, 2015

Wait for the Moment

Patience isn’t something that comes naturally for me, but I am improving.

Waiting for anything is hard, whether in be in parenting, in life, or in memory keeping.

When I have my camera out, I often see something in front of me that I want to capture. But it’s more than just a scene I want to capture, it’s a feeling in my heart. My photos aren’t just to record what I see, but also what I feel.

It’s easy for me to get frustrated when the vision in my head and heart don’t match what I see on the back of my camera. However, I am learning that often the missing ingredient is simply waiting.

If I calm down and just wait (with camera ready), the moment usually comes. I snap a lot of photos I will eventually throw away, but as I watch with my eyes and heart ready, I wait for the moment and I click.

Take, for example, the photo above. I was standing in the kitchen watching my one-year-old eat my his oatmeal with a spoon far too big for him. I was looking at him thinking how big he looked and how small he looked at the same time. He’s a big boy now — feeding himself and insisting on doing things without help. On the other hand, he’s still a little boy and his large bowl and spoon (which he took from me) made me realize how small he still is.

I wanted so desperately to capture the feeling on my camera. So, I waited. I took a lot of photos, but because I waited and kept snapping, I finally got the image I saw in my heart.

And I got a few others in the process 🙂

I encourage you to slow down with your photos. Ask yourself, “What is it that I want to remember? What do I feel in my heart? Have I captured it? If not, what could I do to get it? Do I need to wait? Do I need to change my angle?”

Capturing photos you love often takes patience, but the results are worth it!

Supplies: Beary Much by Erica Zame, alpha from Little Boy by Sugary Fancy (both products part of February’s Digi Files). Brush alpha (you love) is Markerific by CD Muckosky.

February 25, 2015February 24, 2015

Let’s Start With the Paint

Let's Start With the Paint

One of the things that I love about digital scrapbooking is that you don’t have to build pages by starting with the background paper and then building up from there.

In digital, we have the ability to start anywhere we want and build the page upwards and downwards and then step back, look at it critically and rearrange everything! No paper or element or paint or text is “stuck” in place and it’s all easy to move around within the layers of the page.

So, now that I’ve said how much I love the freedom of digital – I’m going to flip-flop and say that sometimes giving myself a constraint actually makes me more creative. Not being able to do something means that I have to come up with a new way of approaching the page design.

So I made some pages by starting with the paint and building the design around the paint. In effect, pretending that I had actually painted the background paper and it was immovable.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

It was a fun challenge and I’m happy with how the pages turned out! Do you ever start with the paint and work up? Or maybe, have you given yourself different challenges to spark your own creativity?

February 24, 2015January 24, 2015

Restore a Photo Easily in Photoshop Elements

Do you have some old photos in need of a bit of tender love and care? With Photoshop Elements 13 you can restore an old photo in a matter of minutes.

People often say that Photoshop CC has everything that Photoshop Elements has and more. Though PSCC does have a lot of features that aren’t in Photoshop Elements (yet!), there’s one place the PSE shines through; Guided Edits.

In this video, I demonstrate one of the newer features of Photoshop Elements – the Old Photo Guided edit.

For those of you who prefer a written tutorial, here’s the step by step:

Restore an Old Photo

Begin by opening Photoshop Elements 13 and clicking on Guided edit mode.

In the right hand toolbar select Touchups.

Click Open and navigate to the photo you would like to restore.

Once your photo has opened select Restore Old Photo in the right hand toolbar. Follow the Guided Editing steps in the order given.

The first thing you will do is crop your photo.

Next you will use the Spot Healing Tool to fix any tears, creases or spots on the photo.

Click and drag over the area you are trying to fix. The tool will sample the color around your spot to fix the image.

Click on the Blur Tool to fix the dust and scratches on your image. It suggests a blur level by default, but you can adjust it as needed. Click and hold the mouse to see the before and then release to see the after.

The next step is to do a few auto adjustments to the coloring of your photo. First click Auto Levels. You can see how this brightens the photo.

Next click Auto Contrast. This brings a bit of contrast back into your image.

Now it’s time to click Auto Color Correction. Notice how this cools down the photo quite a bit.

You can even convert the photo to black and white with the Convert to B&W button.

If you make an adjustment that you don’t like you can use the large Undo button at the bottom, or click Ctrl/Cmd Z.

You can even go back to the beginning by clicking the Reset Image button in the top right corner.

The final step is to Sharpen your image.

And click Done.

I like to make a few additional edits in Expert mode.

For example, I’m going to adjust Hue/Saturation.

Click on Channel and then select Reds.

Use the Saturation slider to tone down the reds in the photo.

With Photoshop Elements 13 you can take your old photos from this…

Learn how to restore an old photo in Photoshop Elements 13. Click for full video tutorial! #digiscrap #digital #scrapbooking

…to this!

In less than 10 minutes!

Have you restored an old photo? I’d love to see it!

Link me up in the comments.

February 23, 2015February 18, 2015

Everyday Love

DesignerLogo

Rich designs, beautiful artistry, gorgeous colors and more. We’re so excited to have Amanda Fraijo-Tobin with us at The Daily Digi this month. Her designs are sure to inspire you. Let’s look closer at her beautiful kit, Everyday Love, that is part of this month’s Digi Files.

Everyday Love

This is ONE of SEVEN collections you get when you become a member of
The Digi Game this month. You also get an interactive Playbook (in PDF and iBooks formats) that has lots of ideas for using the supplies including techniques, tips, and tricks! All of that, including access to exclusive collaborations every four months you are a member, for only $7.50 total per month! Here are some layouts created using Amanda Fraijo-Tobin’s contribution:

LO1

Layout by Vicki. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin.

LO2

Layout by Steph. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin.

LO3

Layout by Wendy. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin; Affirmations (staple) by Courtney Designs, Little Boy (tag) by Sugary Fancy, Stitching styles by Lara Payton; Font: Carlotta.

You can see more layouts created with this kit on our ”
Team Inspiration” page.

Name

My name is Amanda Fraijo-Tobin I’m a 30-something graphic designer and healthy living blogger. I have a crazy busy household filled with 3 kids, 2 chihuahuas and 1 husband often referred to as “lehubs”.

I love music, working out, and reading (when I can find the time!). I grew up Marine Corps brat and currently call Louisville, KY my home.

STORE • BLOG • TWITTER • PINTEREST • INSTAGRAM

layout

This little project was kind of blend of my background in traditional scrapbooking, the love of mini albums, and digital scrapbooking all in one.

I used to love making mini paper bag albums when I was paper scrapping, so I created mini layouts and used them to fill an album made from paper bags. I also printed things to tuck into the pockets. These are great for gifts because people can add their own memories to the pockets in additions to any that you may have already tucked away for them.

started

Before my foray into digital scrapbooking, I was a traditional scrapbooker as well as a graphic designer with a background in web design. While poking around online I found a call for a creative team for the print Magazine “Digital Scrapbooking”. I had never actually combined my traditional scrapbooking with my graphic background, but I figured – why the heck not?!

I applied and as picked to be part of the creative team. Those were actually the very first digital layouts I ever created! That lead into my coming across Scrap Girls and on a whim submitting to become part of their Product Design Team. 8 years later, and a whole lot of designing and creating … here I am.

inspired

Color, memories, my kids, everyday life. That may sound odd but a little bit of everything inspires me. Although I have my rough days when I feel totally un creative, and others where I’m bursting at the seams. Somewhere between all that madness I find inspiration to create.

tools

Computer: I use an Acer with an Intel Core i7-4770 procssor, 7Tb of hard drive space, with 16gig of RAM, running Windows 8.

I always work on 2 monitors (one and HP one and Acer), can’t live without dual monitors!

Program: I use Adobe Creative Suite 5.5

Camera: Nikon D90, and of course my phone I use my camera a lot on my Samsung Note 3 as well.

Anything Else: Kindle Fire! Although it is pretty much used just for reading when I can find the time.

tipstricks

I love treating backgrounds like an embellishment. Because I like to create blended style backgrounds a lot, I like to grab my wand tool and click on a random bit within the paper. I will fill that selection on the layer above with a color, then I may use this cool new shape as a mask, or just apply a style.

It doesn’t always workout, but sometimes it creates a cool unexpected effect that may inspire you to create a cool new twist with your layout that you hand’t planned on.

My favorite product is what I like to call my “layout masks”. They work essentially like a large photo mask, but they are so detailed and cover most of a 12×12 page, that I began calling them “layout masks”. I love that you can use a product like this over and over again with a different result every time!

They were inspired by the coordinating papers that I designed for a collection of the same name.

popular

One of my more popular products this year has been my “A Mother’s Love” Collection. It was just inspired by love all around, love between a Mom and Daughter, or between sisters, etc. I think it’s popular just because it’s a soft a feminine kit that can work in many different projects.

Here are some of my favorite products by Amanda:

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

Go have a look in Amanda’s store! We will randomly select TWO winners to win $10 in product! All winners will be selected through the Rafflecopter widget below. There are several ways to enter and you can do ALL of them to gain more entries for yourself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

February 23, 2015February 18, 2015

Inspired by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin

The following layouts were created using “Everyday Love” by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin and included in The Digi Files during February, 2015:

LO1

Layout by SharonS. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin, Template by Jenn Lindsey; Font: Century Gothic.

Layout by Vicki. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin.

Layout by Steph. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin.

Layout
by Wendy. Supplies: Everyday Love by Amanda Fraijo-Tobin; Affirmations
(staple) by Courtney Designs, Little Boy (tag) by Sugary Fancy,
Stitching styles by Lara Payton; Font: Carlotta.

February 22, 2015February 18, 2015

Tech Talk: 26 Products

To finish up this month’s Tech Talk series, I want to share with some of the coolest (not yet available) products. I came across this Buzzfeed article and I spent far too long going through each of the items trying to figure out which one was my favorite and most needed! It was hard!

The best I could do was narrow it down to my top five:

26 Products You Can’t Believe Don’t Exist Yet

What about you? What are your favs?

February 21, 2015February 1, 2015

Altering Stamped Titles

Stamped titles are one of my favorite scrapbooking techniques. I love the handmade look they give my pages and I love the variety of styles that are available. I probably have at least ten different title stamp sets and I have used all of them…a lot!

When I was finishing this layout, I knew I wanted to use a stamped title. However, once I added it, it just seemed too small and the page didn’t feel balanced.

However, if I enlarged the the title, it would be laying over the paper strips. If this were a paper layout, I wouldn’t stamp over my paper.

And yet, I really liked the bigger title and felt that it balanced my page. And so, I decided to add a paper backing, which would look very natural laying over the paper strips.

In order to do this, I first merged my four stamped letters into one layer (with each layer selected, hit command/control E). Then, holding down the command key (I am on a Mac, use control for PC), I clicked on the thumbnail image in my layers palette. This selected all of the pixels of the layer.

Next, I went to select > modify > expand, and chose 25 pixels.

As you can see, my selected area is now 25 pixels larger than the title itself.

Next, with my area still selected, I created a new layer UNDER my stamped title layer (holding the command/control key while you press the new layer icon in the layers palette will automatically place the new layer underneath).

Then, I went to edit > fill selection and chose white as my color.

I added a shadow and…DONE!

Now doesn’t this look much better?

February 20, 2015February 19, 2015