Paintbox by Cinnamon Designs (crafty madness). Howser font
I know some scrappers (*cough *cough – Steph!) won’t use an item on a page if it isn’t something they could have used in real life (IRL). Those who love to digi scrap with a paper-looking style, might feel uncomfortable putting branches, wheelbarrows, chairs,and other unusual embellishments on their pages. I can totally understand that, but I also love that in digi you can do anything you want to! There is a reason why these items would not work in real life… that’s because they would be too bulky! Can you imagine putting real paintbrushes on a page? To me, that’s the appeal of using these types of items on a digital layout – because I can! There really are NO limits to what can be put on a digital layout, and it will always remain just as thin as a piece of paper.
I love to use realistic embellishments to help me illustrate the story of my layout. I took photos of my kids painting for their art class, but I found that adding some brushes and a box of paints really accentuated the message I wanted to convey.
Layout by Katie. Cinnamon Designs Crafty Madness kit Template by Janet Phillips fonts are Calibri and Fontologie Messy Bessy
Some digi scrappers think that only fantasy-style scrappers can use items that “wouldn’t work in real life” but I love to add them for an extra pop on any type of page!
Layout by Katie, supplies: What’s for Dinner? by Cinnamon Designs, Template by Hilary Heidelberg. Traveling Typewriter font.
One of my favorite layouts from the Play it Again series we do here at The Daily Digi is this one that has a real fork as an embellishment. That would never work in a paper scrapbook, but I love it on this digital page because it tells the story of the formal dinner we were getting ready to attend.
Layout by Britanee Walker. Credits: Coastal Holiday by Tracie Stroud, Bon Appetit by SuzyQ Scraps and Brittish Designs. Foundations {Round} by DeCrow Designs.
Something I avoided as a paper scrapper was adding extra bulk to my pages. I loved the look of even simple ribbons and flowers, but felt like they took up too much room in my album. Team member Lauren Reid expressed the same thing and said she loves to add “anything chunky… When I only paper scrapped, I LOOVED the look of chunky items (buttons, but flowers, keys, book plates), but hated how they trashed my albums and pages… I definitely love that anything is usable in digi!” Melissa Lewis on our team agrees: “This is me, too! I never used much of anything besides paper when I paper scrapped because I couldn’t stand how thick and unwieldy the books would become. But I LOVE using ribbons and buttons especially on my digital pages.”
Layout by Jenn Lindsey. Credits: TempBlends Vol. 1 by Jenn Lindsey Sea O Sea by Jofia Devoe
Team member Jenn Lindsey shares: “When I first started in digi in 2006, I wouldn’t use anything on my layouts that you wouldn’t normally find in paper scrapping, and I also had to make sure that most items were “attached” to my page in some way – as if I thought they would actually fall off of my layout? I’m not sure why I imposed those restrictions on myself since I’d never been a paper scrapper, but I guess I was looking to mimic the paper look in my layouts the best that I could. As the digi products evolved and expanded over the years I began to let go of my self-imposed “rules” and now just scrap with whatever makes me happy. I now have a hard time not using some sort of foliage or other “live” greenery on my pages. I love the dimension and texture that they can add to a page, and honestly leaves just make me happy. I don’t care anymore if I feel like I’m breaking any “rules”, I just scrap the way I like to, using whatever products I find along the way that appeal to me.
a tiny bit of “live” greenery was just what I felt this layout needed to really bring the photo to life”
Layout by Jenn Lindsey. credits: Where I Stand by Litabells Designs, Traveling Typewriter font
The spotlight in this layout certainly isn’t something you’d find in a paper supply store – but it added just the perfect whimsical touch to my layout:
Layout by Jenn Lindsey. Credits: Bonus Temp #1 by Jenn Lindsey (available exclusively to subscribers of TDD), You Rock by Kristin Aagard, Photography Frames by Janet Brisbois, Jailbird Jenna font
Boxes and balloons added just the perfect amount of dimension and festivity to this layout:
Layout by Jenn Lindsey. Year’s Worth Template Set by Jenn Lindsey, Mischief Maker by Micheline Martin, Birthday Love by HGD by Laurie Ann, sf Jubilee font
Sometimes I like to totally exaggerate an element by playing with the shadows to make them appear as if they’re coming straight out of the page. These weren’t necessarily non-traditional items, but when used in this way, they appear more bulky and realistic:
Layout by Jenn Lindsey. Credits: Psycho Magnet Reloaded & Crazy Stitches 1 by Flergs, In Bloom alpha (recolored), shadows from Flergs blog freebie (modified in places), glitter sparkle from In Bloom glitters. Jacki’s Hand font
Even if you aren’t comfortable using bulkier items on your digital layouts, you might want to consider using them in some of the following creative ways:
Digital scrapbooking is an art form that allows all types of creativity. There is no “wrong” or “right” way to express yourself, so let go and have fun!
P.S. The random winner from yesterday’s post was Amber Olson. Congrats Amber!
Over the years I’ve had several readers email me and ask what PU and CU stand for. I always answer the emails, but had never done a post on it. I’m going to change that today. Why would a regular scrapbooker like you and me want to use CU products?
Definitions
PU – stands for ‘personal use’ and typically means you can’t use a product in any way commercially. That doesn’t just mean making money off the actual product, it also means using it on or by something that makes money. For example, if you use some personal use products to design a web graphics for a friends business, but they don’t pay you for it, it’s not personal use. Since the graphics will be used on a site that generates (or is trying to generate) money, it is considered commercial use.
CU – stands for ‘commercial use’ and typically means it a product can be used to create products for commercial use. Designers will often put CU4PU meaning that the product can be used to create other products for personal use. The designer cannot use a CU4PU product to create products that can be used for commercial use.
S4H – stands for scrap for hire and typically means you can use that product to scrap layouts for someone that pays you to do that. This post won’t really go into S4H.
Confusing?? It can be. The best rule of thumb is to always read the designers TOU’s, especially if you plan to do anything other than use the products on your own layouts.
Why would I want to use CU products?
Products from Close To My Heart by Zoe Pearn (no longer available), stitching is by me, kraft paper by me.
Several years ago, I started buying a few CU products to use on my layouts. It started because I wanted a specific item that I could picture in my head, but it didn’t exist. A lot of products, I could recolor and they would look fine, but one of my favorite elements; stitching, is really hard to change the hue/saturation on and not lose the details. The above layout has some zigzag stitching and kraft paper created by me using CU products. I made some kraft paper a long time ago and it has become my go-to kraft.
Since then, there are more stores and designers selling CU products. I often fall in love with the CU products just like I do the regular completed kits and collections by my favorite designers.
NO! It doesn’t mean *I* (meaning me, personally) can design! First, I don’t love it. Once in a while, I enjoy creating a few things, which I have done for exclusive gifts and collections for members. But, once I do a few things, I’m good for a long time. I would just rather scrap with my time. Making an item here or there for one of my own layouts, is something I really enjoy as part of my scrapping process.
A lot of CU products come with tutorials and instructions in them, especially if uncommon steps are needed to get the desired look.
Many digital scrapbooking stores around the community sale CU products., look for a “Commercial Use” link in the store categories. Sometimes they are also listed as “designer resources or tool”.
One of my favorite places to fall in love with (and buy) CU supplies is Sugarhill Co. Sugarhill is a completely CU store and I have found their quality to be top notch! I emailed Miss Tiina, the owner over there and asked if they would like to share a coupon with our readers (I know our readers LOVE coupons)! And they were delighted to indulge us!
Have you used CU products in your personal use scrapping? Tell us how in the comments! If you’ve been wanting to try adding some CU products to your layouts, now is the time! Head on over to Sugarhill and grab a couple of goodies and give it a go! You might start adding a new tool to your scrapping process as well.
The “big picture” background is a digital scrapbooking technique that I just love. A scenic photo can set the mood for the whole page and a big portrait puts the focus of the page squarely on the photo subject.
There are so many ways to use this trend:
Turn the photo into black and white and then layer colour photos on top of it
Use a mask to give the large photo some shape
Use blending modes to give the photo the texture of the background paper
Use brushes to add flourishes or paint strokes to the photo
Stack on some coordinating word art
Stitch the photo down onto the page
Journal on the negative space of the photo. You could even use your dodge and burn tools to make areas lighter or darker to make it easier to journal in those areas
Here are some examples of this technique that are inspiring me to scrap!
Negative Space
Gateausoso used the negative space on her image to layer papers and smaller frames.
Layout by gateausoso. Supplies: Hooray Add-on by Sabrina’s Creations and Say It! Template Set 02 by Che Yang Designs
Desaturated Image
Pom desaturated her image and layered coloured, framed photos on top. The green background paper and the addition of the green lined frame force the eye onto the centre cluster.
Layout by pom. Supplies: Created with Designs by Anita’s Secret Garden kit and Quick and Simple template set 4
Horizontal Focus
TanteEni’s large photo is framed by paper on the top and bottom which nicely highlights the beautiful photo.
Layout by TanteEni. Supplies: Nature Calls by Designs by Anita
Masks and Brushes
JustJen used a photo mask and brushes to accent her photo and fastened everything down with messy stitches.
Layout by justjen. Supplies: Joyce Paul Summer grab bag, stitches from awakening, staple
Double-Page
Yin kept the left side of her two-side spread entirely focused on her winter-scene photo.
Layout by Yin. Supplies: Yin Template 221
Image Toning
Morgane used a colour-toned image to be the background of this art page. The coffee-stain brush is the perfect, slightly messy touch.
Layout by morgane. Supplies: Travel Notebook Collab – The Bundle by t for me designs and Val C. Designs, and with some elements from the two freebies offered by T for Me designs and Val C, WA “fall” free (modified) from Anna Aspnes
A Bold Portrait
Ella_75 made the portrait the star of the page by journaling and title work in all the available negative space.
Layout by Ella_75. Supplies: Kit Fly High, by Val C. Designs
I hope you feel inspired to try something new!
P.S. Laurel was the random winner selected from yesterday’s feature on Roadside Designs. She received $10 in product from Roadside Designs
Getting organized is ALWAYS a hot topic in digital scrapbooking. As digi scrappers, we are continually looking for fast and efficient ways to organize our supplies and photos. Throughout the past three years that we’ve been here, we’ve done several posts on this subject. Someone requested that we do a repost of some of those oldies, but goodies.
Instead of just reposting them one at a time, over a period of months, I thought I would link up to the originals and help everyone find a system that will work for them in the New Year.
We have covered many different methods and a few different programs here on The Daily Digi. I will say that for the first time in my digital career (since 2003), I have a system in place that I actually look forward to maintaining each time I download. It is a fun and enjoyable part of my scrapping process. Things are extremely easy to find and it doesn’t take me very long. This is a huge improvement over dreading to download because I didn’t want to organize. Be sure to check out Kayla’s free Lightroom class (also linked in my process post).
You can read about the system that Katie is using right now, the system that Ali Edwards is using, and the system I used for many years in “Scrapbook Organization Three Ways”.
Katie also talks about her “Favorites Folder” and it helps her find things quickly.
Organizing fonts is a whole different ball game. Since my post on font organization, I have tried a couple of other organizers, but came back to Font Xplorer. Like my mom always said: “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
One question we get asked quite often is “How do you keep track of the supplies you used?” I was very excited to discover an automated way to do that and shared it in my “Keeping Track of Supplies Used” post.
ACDSee is another program that digital scrapbookers sometimes use for organzing. One thing to note though, when I tried to import my tags into Lightroom, it didn’t work. It seems in order for the tags to really be exported into your metadata, they need to be done in a very specific way; mine were not.
Our team shared their own processes for downloading and organizing in “Digi Downloading Tips”.
No matter what software program you are using, we recommend Kayla Lamereaux’s Finding Photo Flow class. She covers all of the programs in the class (including a folder based system). Kayla truly is the “Queen of Digital Scrapbook Organization”.
I have a confession to make: I don’t own a cell phone. Apparently, I am in the minority now. According to a Wikipedia article, in 2010 there were more than 5 billion cell phones in existence and just under 7 billion people in the world. In some countries there were even more cell phones than people!
So, the odds are fairly good that many tech-savvy digital scrappers have cell phones, probably with digital cameras on-board.
Now, I hear that cell phone cameras are getting better, such as having higher resolution. There are even some nifty accessories like the iPhone’s lens attachments for things like macro and fisheye shots.
Tiny Pictures
This article is going to focus on those not-so great cell phone cameras though. What is a scrapper to do with low-res, tiny images? Get creative in scrapping!
The digital designer community has many awesome products, aimed at helping you to scrap those little pictures:
Some Inspiration
The pages below all feature small photos. I can’t say for sure if they were taken with cell phones, but they are a good source of inspiration.
Click the images to view their credits.
But I Don’t Have a Cell Phone With a Camera!
Personally, I carry a small point-and-shoot camera with me wherever I go. How else would I get funny pictures of my baby boy nodding off in the grocery cart? These are the pictures we mommies love!
There are plenty of ways to “fake” that casual cell-phone photo look:
Crop bad photos small. This keeps the spirit of the shot, but minimizes its visual impact on your scrapbook page.
Add actions to give them retro or cross-processed looks.
So, if you’re a pro with your cell phone pics, just received your first cell phone for Christmas, or if you’re like me and you don’t even have a cell phone, I hope you find some useful information here that helps you scrap some memories!
Supplies: tag from “Fa la la la la” by Dani Mogstad at Sweet Shoppe. Font is Whirligig (no longer available); I added a border with the paint bucket doing a color match from the gift.
One thing that I love to do when my kids get gifts, is to take a photo of them with the gift (and sometimes the gift-giver) to put in a Thank You card. This tradition started because we don’t live near family and I knew the grandparents would enjoy seeing the kids with the gifts they received from them.
When I make a card like this, I create a shape layer where the photo will go:
Then, I just replace the photo for each different gift and save it as a jpeg. It’s super fast to whip out several cards this way and email to grandparents. I could also do a quick collage with all of the cards and have an easy layout with gifts documented as well! Fun, easy, peronalized thank you notes for everyone!
If you have been a Daily Digi reader or a Digi Show listener for very long, chances are you have heard me express my dislike for scrapping events. There are certain events, like vacations, that I LOVE scrapping, but most events go unnoticed in my albums. I told Katie awhile ago that I am not sure I’ve ever actually scrapped a Christmas since going digital (that doesn’t stop me from collecting Christmas kits though). Katie’s response was, “Well, you don’t like scrapping events, so that makes sense to me!”
When I started digital scrapbooking, I let go of the idea that I had to scrap everything. I also let go of the desire to scrap chronologically. Along with those two things went the guilt I had previously experienced as part of my hobby. Even though I scrap what I want, when I want; there are some things that my FAMILY wants me to scrap that I would prefer not to.
I have always longed for a way to scrap those events that I find uninspiring. A method that is simple, fast, doesn’t require me to make too many choices, but also allows for customization where I want it. Until recently, this method didn’t really exist; everything I tried fell short.
What Project Life Is (and is not)
I didn’t really ‘get’ Project Life until I watched the following video on Becky Higgin’s site:
I had the misperception that Project Life was about creating a layout for every single day of a year. I also thought that I needed to take photos everyday in order to ‘do’ Project Life. After watching the video, it clicked for me and I was excited.
What Project Life is:
a way to spend less time designing layouts
you deciding your own pace (however many layouts per week, month, or year that works for YOU)
being able to feel good about what you’ve done, no matter how much or how little that is
bringing together your photos, your memories, and the people you love to tell your story
not elaborate
simple
no guilt
satisfaction
Getting Project Life to Go Digital
Instantly, I wanted a completely digital version that I could manipulate however I wanted. I thought about the different ways I would use the products (I LOVE divided page protectors and have had an affinity for them for years) and how I could incorporate them into my memory keeping. On January 3, 2010, I sent my first email to Becky Higgins, owner of the Project Life products, asking about a digital Project Life. This past summer I sent another email sharing my vision and asking (begging) for a digital version of Project Life.
I love that Becky doesn’t limit herself, her scrapping, or her products based on what she is most familiar with or what scrappers perceive she should do. I knew if anyone could quickly bring a ‘paper’ product to the digital market, it would be Becky. After a few more emails that included some gentle arm twisting and phone call with Becky, she was convinced. I encouraged Becky to contact Jessica and was thrilled to hear that she had signed on with JessicaSprague.com to distribute the digital version of Project Life.
How Project Life Would Work For Me
I got busy ordering my Project Life page protectors and other supplies that I wanted to try and waited for the digital launch of Project Life. I spent the following weeks thinking through all of the ways that I could use the Project Life products and how it would work. This is what I knew early on:
Project Life for ME, would become a way to document events and bits of my life that I don’t get excited about scrapbooking, but still want to record.
Project Life for me, would minimize my choices for these events (both in layout design and product) making it quick and simple.
Project Life for me, would be digital except the memorabilia I wanted to include and anything else the rest of my family might include (they don’t get as excited about Photoshop as I do).
I also knew that I wanted it to be FAST. I knew that templates would not be enough for what I was looking for. I thought about layered quick pages, but even those wouldn’t work that well for me. I wanted to have the flexibility to select which products from which Project Life collection I was using, but I wanted it to be quick and simple. I decided to contact Wendyzine about creating some actions for me. Wendy did just that and more!
I told Wendy what I wanted and how I wanted things to look and she worked her magic! She is amazing!
All I do is click PLAY and the action scraps the layout for me, letting me choose the photos, journaling cards, papers, and embellishments. I was able to scrap 7 (SEVEN) layouts in just 1.5 hours!
These seven layouts are also layouts that I would not have enjoyed making without the Pocket Actions and Project Life digital products. These are layouts that never would have been created before these products entered my life! These are layouts that my kids looked at and sighed and smiled and reminisced about as they went through them.
My Workflow
These actions allow you to bounce around your harddrive opening different files to include on the layout, but it’s faster if everything for one layout, is in one folder. I used a method similar to Katie’s “Power Scrapping” method and created folders for a bunch of photos I wanted to scrap.
In Lightroom, I selected a few photos that I knew I wanted on one layout and exported them (you can see in the settings below, I’m sending them to my “In Progress” folder:
I did this for eight different layouts (the eighth layout was inspiring to me and I decided I wanted to spend more time on it, so I didn’t scrap it using this method):
Then, I went through Wendy’s page designs and selected which layout design I would use for each layout. I copied the preview of that design into the folder so I would remember when it came time to run the action. I also selected the digital Project Life products I wanted to use on the layouts and copied/pasted them into the folders:
Scrap It Actions: Pocket Pages
Then, it was time to push Play and let the actions work their magic! Actions can be intimidating to use, but they are super easy. If you want to learn more about installing them and running them, see our action category in our tutorials section of the site. You can see how these Pocket Pages actions work below:
These actions have been uploaded to The Digi Game Monthly and Annual members download area as a free bonus. There are seven different layouts styles in the action set and a video tutorial:
The actions are super fast, super easy, and give me the options of using whatever supplies I want (you can use Project Life, like I did or other supplies).
Putting It In An Album
One of the big things I wanted to be able to do with Project Life was to add the papers, programs, and other bits of life that I don’t usually keep. I hate scanning more than I hate cleaning toilets, so real ephemera from our lives rarely goes digital.
You can see below, I have a 12×12 completely digital layout that I created using the Pocket Pages actions and Project Life Clementine (digital version). I slipped that in a 12×12 page protector. On the opposite page, I used a Design A divided page protector and put some of my daughters cards from cast members, a program, etc in them.
Here’s the opposite side of that divided page protector and accompanying 12×12:
Summing It Up
I have only been working with Project Life this month so far (December), so I still have some things that I am undecided on that I will work out as I spend more time on it. Right now all of these layouts are in their own binder, but I think I might incorporate them into my regular albums. There are a few other questions I’ve been asked about how I will do things and I can’t answer all of them yet. I am the type of person that plans things as much as I can then jumps in and figures the rest out as I go. I had originally thought I would wait and post about my system when I got everything worked out and knew what exactly would or would not work for me. After talking about it on The Digi Show though, we had several listeners comment that they wanted to know before the new year started. I will be doing a follow-up post in a month or two to share more details of what worked and what didn’t.
So far, I really like that have I a way to scrap these layouts that is simple, quick, and doesn’t require too much thinking or decision making on my part. I also am really enjoying saving the bits of our lives that I can add to the divided page protectors. My kids have had fun looking at the album as well.
Will This Work For YOU?
I am passionate about memory keeping! It is my belief that everyone should have a way that they enjoy documenting their lives. Am I saying that you need to jump in on Project Life, no. If this is something that you think you will enjoy and will help you accomplish some of your memory keeping goals, then, go for it! If the thought of it stresses you out, then don’t feel like you need to do it! If your heart doesn’t sing when you are scrapping then maybe it’s time to find a different melody. If Project Life is a song that sounds like something your heart would enjoy, then give it a go! It has solved some issues for me and made it so my heart sings when I am scrapping events!
I (Katie) am so excited to bring you another round of “Play it Again” and share with you many different ways to digi scrap the same memory. This is a great way to illustrate some of the many possibilities that exist when it comes to digital scrapbooking! Here at The Daily Digi we really want to emphasize that there is not a “right way” or a “wrong way” to put together a layout. It’s more about capturing the memory, finding your own style(s), and PLAYING! Yes, it’s ok to play and have fun!
THE INSTRUCTIONS:
This time, I asked a few of the best scrappers in the digi community to scrap a memory from Daily Digi team member Kimberly. The only rule they had to follow was to include her journaling and photo. Everything else (including the title) was up to them!
THE JOURNALING:
This summer, like every summer, I spent some time in Idaho. It’s hands down one of my favorite places in the world. It’s a place I can relax. It’s a place I feel safe. And it’s a place my children find great joy, which in turn brings me great joy.
??This summer our trip to Idaho coincided with visits from my sister Amy, as well as my brother Brad and all their families. With eight cousins running around, it was bliss for the children; and heart-warming for us big kids watching our children form the most precious bonds they’ll ever have.
One morning on the trip we decided to load up all the kids and head to a museum in Idaho Falls. Last year, we all saw the Titanic exhibit there. This year we’d be seeing “Bodies in Motion.” As we hustled to get everyone ready, my sister asked me, “You’re not going to wash your hair, are you?” I smiled, said no and smiled to myself knowing just how well my sister knows me.
I don’t wash my hair every day. Heck, I only wash it every three days. I have crazy dry hair and over washing it just makes it worse. Not many people know this: in fact, I can think of three who do — my husband, my best friend Jennie and my sister. When I do wash my hair, it’s a chore: it takes forever to wash, dry and straighten (possibly another reason I don’t tackle it every single day).
My sister making such an innocent, random, but knowing comment has stuck with me for months. There is such comfort in knowing there is another soul in this world who really knows me. She knows some of my deepest (and darkest secrets). She knows what I want for my children if Mike and I were to die at the same time. She knows what type of soda to buy for me at the store. And she knows I don’t wash my hair every day and that I did on that morning in Idaho would have never made it to the museum before noon.
Even on the days I feel most alone: I’m not. I have a band of siblings who love me, know me and make me feel like I belong. Our little tribe has sustained me through so much bad and so much good. Funny how a comment about my dry, frizzy hair is what lead me to this thought. Who knew?
Without a doubt, I am blessed. And for that, I am grateful.
Journaling: October 2011
Photo: Late ‘70s or maybe 1980.
THE RESULTS:
I just love the folded frame that Beth used on this layout! Using 2 parts of the same photo is also a clever way to focus on different parts of the memory. It feels like I’ve stumbled onto a nostalgic moment displayed on a table and I love the feeling of that! The scatters add a nice touch of interest to the script journaling. Beautiful!
Layout by Beth aka kewl_jive. Gallery Link. Credit: Everything from Give thanks, November Collab from After Five Designers. Folded frame from Gunhild Storeide
Jamie’s clustered title work brings a wonderful focal point to the sweet photo of the two sisters. I love the colors she chose to use, they are just perfect for the picture! This layout has a nice balance to it with another piece of artwork at the bottom of the page. Perfect!
Layout by Jaime Grove. Gallery Link. Credits: Season of Thankfulness Boutique Collaborative Kit from The Digi Chick.
Tracy’s layout has a charming retro feel to it and the playful girl stamp reminds us that this memory is about a bond between sisters that began at an early age. The design features in the corners of the page frame it nicely and keep us reigned in to focus on the story and photo. Adorable layout!
Layout by Tracy Ducar (aka Tracyfish). Gallery Link. Credits: Natural Beauty by Krystal Hartley, Love Me Some Andrea 1 alpha by Darcy Baldwin, DJB Emilie Script font by Darcy Baldwin, all available at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Courier New font.
I like to play along also and I thought it would be fun to use some clean and modern looking supplies with this vintage type of photo. I used a warm photo action from Pioneer Woman to make the picture look more it’s age and then combined it with some fun graphic style designs to add a touch of quirkiness to the page. I love the simple lines and the focus on the story.
Layout by Katie. Gallery Link. Credits: Epic Collab by Biograffit, Paislee Press, and One Little Bird at O Scraps. Template by Ali Edwards. Font is Traveling Typewriter.
I love each and every one of these layouts! Thanks so much to the talented digi scrappers who helped us see all the different ways to PLAY!
Look through each layout again and think about which one you prefer. Think about why that one stands out to you and what you like about it. It’s a great exercise to help you learn about yourself as a scrapper and your own preferred style. It also might help you explore some new styles that you haven’t tried before. Its perfectly OK to use several different styles and methods in your own scrapbooking – I do it all the time! When you get ready to work on your next layout, take some time to think about all the ways you could play with that memory and have some fun!
P.S. The random winners from the Funtastic Friday giveaway for Kim Lund’s new class are: Judy, Jane S, Tammy Cromar
P.S.S. dillona7 was the random winner from Lauren Reid’s feature yesterday and won $10 in product from Lauren.
Custom Christmas cards and calendars are one thing that often bring people to explore digital scrapbooking. There are a lot of different ways a Christmas card can be created and customized using Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. In this post, you will find information for:
creating a card using a drop-in quick page card (including a tutorial for the beginner)
creating an infographic Christmas card (for the intermediate to advanced digi scrapper)
creating a card using a layered template (including a tutorial for the beginner)
product suggestions
inspiration and ideas
printing ideas (including a tutorial for uploading custom designs to Costco)
I love creating Christmas cards! I love looking at all of the GREAT designs available. I’ve recently found though, that sending Christmas cards with a family photo on them is mostly a U.S. tradition. Here’s an infographic showing some of the history behind Christmas Cards (click to see larger image):
Layered Quick Cards and Templates
First off, we have some layered template cards. I created a tutorial for making a card using a layered template similar to the ones below to help those that are new (I use One Little Bird’s templates in my tutorial). The tutorial also shows how to adapt the card to fit Costco’s Custom Card size for printing:
Quick Cards
Next up are some super cute drop-in quick cards. I created a tutorial showing how to use cards similar to these. The tutorial also shows how to adapt these cards for printing as a Custom Card at Costco :
Our team member Kim Lund (a.k.a. Miss Kim) contributed a card to this collection of free cards on Becky Higgins’ site. They come in 4×6, 5×7, and Costco’s 6×7.5
If you really don’t want to do them yourself, CD Muckosky has an option of having her customize them for you to print at home:
Infographic
I have seen a couple of infographic cards around and I love them! Here are some examples:
Something like this could be adapted to a Christmas card:
The Daily Digi has a Christmas card board on Pinterest where we’ve assembled some ideas and inspiration for the intermediate to advanced digital scrapbooker that might want to make their own card from scratch.
Printing
Most years, I have just printed my cards as 5×7’s and bought some 5×7 envelopes at the office supply store. You just can’t beat the 27 cents that Costco charges for their 5×7’s. Last year, I figured out how to upload my own design to the Costco Custom Cards that are 6×7.5 and include envelopes (I think non Costco members can order and have them shipped. See my tutorial for uploading a custom design here). I haven’t decided for sure what I will do this year…it might be a photo card along with an infographic. I love the shaped cards that I found at Black River Imaging, but haven’t decided if that’s the direction I will go or not.
There are, of course, lots and lots of places to get cards printed. Persnickety is my go-to printer for layouts and they do cards as well at reasonable prices.
We’ve talked about different methods of organizing digital supplies quite a bit here on The Daily Digi. I’m sure this post won’t be the last. One thing I have learned is that, just as digital srapbooking evolves as technology advances, so does my organizing. I’ve mostly used a folder based system for most of the time I’ve been a digi scrapper. I also tried (but did not stick with) the PSE organizer, Adobe Bridge, and ACDSee. I liked ACDSee pretty well, but tagging still took me longer than I wanted. I yearned for something more automated and less time consuming.
A few months ago, we had Kayla Lamoreaux on The Digi Show and she talked about organizing supplies in Lightroom and why it’s a good idea. No, Lightroom is not meant to organize digital scrapbooking supplies, but it does. Lightroom is a good program for organizing digi supplies because:
it automatically writes information to the metadata (see Kayla and my post on what metadata is and why it’s important).
the metadata goes with the file anywhere it goes and metadata is supported and not stripped.
I can select one of my previews and choose “Show In Explorer” and a window opens where the supplies are located and I can start dragging and dropping stuff into Photoshop.
The search functions and smart collections save me a ton of time.
Since I started using Lightroom to organize my product previews, I have had a harddrive failure. I did a data restore from Crashplan and all of my tags and keywords I had entered in Lightroom were still in the files in the metadata. After I finished my restore, I pointed my Lightroom catalog to the new drive and everything showed up in the smart collections, and the keyword/tagging structure I had set up before the crash!! (Please take time to go through Kayla’s free Lightroom class to get Lightroom set up the correct way from the beginning so you are sure to have a similar experience).
Because of the smart collections that Lightroom has, I was able to get all my previews (2300 I think at the time) tagged as previews and then sub-tagged as a supply or template in about 6 hours. I started to add thematic tags during that time as well. Since then, I have gone through and spent a couple more hours adding more thematic tags as well as the number of photo spots on a template. In preparation for this post, I spent another hour or so, just because it reminded me how much I like it . I talked about my process and how happy I was after my first organization session at the beginning of episode 6 of The Digi Show.
Does this mean you have to start using Lightroom to organize? NO! If you have a system that is working for you, GREAT! If you are using a tagging program, make sure you can actually write the data to the files. ACDSee says you can. I followed the directions I found online for doing it (not easy to find either). I tried to import that database into Lightroom and was disappointed when only 26 tags imported. I did a bit more research to find out that the tagging structure in ACDSee needs to be set up a specific way in order for it to work. Just be careful.
Lightroom works for me because it’s fast. I can also sort things how my brain works: by designer through text searches, by things that might be in the filename, or through my tags I set up. I keep my tagging to a minimal because I would rather scrap
You can use my Smart Collection list, just copy from here:
PREV, LRG, 500, 600, wc, prev, _prev, preview, _preview, folder,pre, pvw, bp_LRG, _folder, yin_template
![clip_image001[4]](http://thedailydigi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/clip_image0014.gif "clip_image001[4]"){kind=small}
![clip_image001[1]](http://thedailydigi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/clip_image00111.gif "clip_image001[1]"){kind=small}
![clip_image001[3]](http://thedailydigi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/clip_image0013.gif "clip_image001[3]"){kind=small}
![clip_image001[5]](http://thedailydigi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/clip_image0015.gif "clip_image001[5]"){kind=small}
. I talked about my process and how happy I was after my first organization session at the beginning of 
