I am excited to welcome Audrey of Audacious Designs back to THE DIGI FILES this month!! Audrey was one of the very first contributing designers in THE DIGI FILES #1! I absolutely love Audreys use of color in her kits and can’t wait to show you what our team did with her contribution this month! Here’s a closer look at what she contributed to THE DIGI FILES this month:
Here’s what our team created using this kit:
Layout by Karen, additional supplies: Janet Phillips Collection 49 template; Font is Steinem
Layout by Katie, additional supplies: Template No. 39 by Ali Edwards, Krafty bare paper by Katie Pertiet, DJB Tracy Script font.
Hybrid layout by Sunghee
Layout by SharonS (a reader), additional supplies: brush: R. Young, font: SF Katie. Sharon made this layout to go inside her purse that displays layouts. She decided it was ‘perfectly find to scrap my boys in pink when it’s for my purse’. I love it!
Layout by Sharongrey8 (a reader)
Hi! My name is Audrey Neal. I currently design digital scrapbooking products under the name Audacious Designs at Design House Digital. Over the past six years, my articles and designs have been featured in numerous idea books and magazines, such as Scrapbook Trends, BH&G Scrapbooks Etc., Memory Makers, and Scrapbook Answers. As a writer, my work includes monthly columns with Memory Makers, Scrapbook Dimensions, and Scrapbook and Cards Today, as well as editorial positions with Digital Artist Magazine and Scrapbook Dimensions. Along with co-author May Flaum, I wrote a book about hybrid scrapbooking called Paper + Pixels, which features step-by-step techniques for beginning, intermediate, and advanced scrapbookers. I’ve also released two paper lines with Dream Street Papers and two stamp sets with Inque Boutique.
I live in western Kentucky with my husband, Chris, and two daughters, Cassidy and Cami. A former middle and high school English teacher, I currently work fulltime for a federal education grant at a local state university. When I’m not designing or scrapbooking, I love to read, take photos, travel, camp, scour flea markets and thrift stores, and attend concerts.
Credits: everything from Audacious Designs: Winterberry (patterned and solid papers, elements, word art); Sketchy Stamped Alpha; TTV Frames; Pieces of Me (elements: notebook paper and messy stitches)
I started off as a paper scrapper. After I had my oldest daughter, I decided to create a small scrapbook album for her grandparents; we lived 6 hours from them and there were lots of everyday things that they never got a chance to see. So I gathered up some of my favorite photos of her and browsed the scrapbooking aisle at Wal-mart. This was back in 1997, so my options were fairly limited: brightly colored patterned papers, stickers, and a spiral-bound 6×6 album. It was nothing fancy, but it achieved my purpose. After completing that project, I didn’t scrap again until 2000 or so. I picked up a copy of Becky Higgins’ Scrapbooking Secrets book and decided to scrap our wedding photos. From that point on, I was hooked. I paper scrapped up until 2006. At that point, I was working with Scrapbook Answers magazine and had gotten a number of hybrid assignments, so I started playing around with some of the options that using my computer gave me. I co-authored a book on hybrid scrapbooking with May Flaum, titled Paper + Pixels, which really made me curious about moving further into the digital realm. Not long after that, I attempted my first digital layout. Slowly but surely (after once claiming that I’d never go digital), I started making the transition from paper to hybrid to fully digital.
Designing just seemed to grow naturally from that point, after I started really learning my program. I was just so excited about all the things I could do, and these ideas started forming in my mind. I started off making templates and handwritten word art, and then progressed to papers and elements.
I love color and pattern and the way that those two things can combine to tell their own little story. A lot of my kit ideas come from little words or phrases that I hear, that spark an idea. Then it’s a matter of finding the right mix between colors, patterns, elements, and those words or phrases. Honestly, I’m not nearly as talented, artistic or program-proficient as a lot of other designers out there. But I work hard to put together kits that take a common theme and add a little bit of humor or whimsy, feature a great color scheme, and keep things simple so that your words and pictures can be the main focus.
I scrap on an HP Pavilion dv2000 laptop with 3 GB of RAM. I also have a 500 GB EHD that we use for backup, and I have a Western Digital Passport EHD with 360 GB of storage that I use for storing my scrapbooking and design files – it’s perfect for the traveling I have to do because it is so small.
I use Photoshop CS (the original version) and PSE 5.0 for designing, as well as CorelDRAW. I know that I should upgrade at some point, but to be honest, there are so many other things that I’d rather spend the money on.
I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, which is essentially a hybrid – it’s more than a point and shoot, but it’s not quite a dSLR. It does give me the option to shoot in RAW, and I can change lenses on it. It has been a great transitional camera for me, but I would love to upgrade to a true dSLR.
I have a Wacom Bamboo tablet, but my oldest daughter uses it much more than I do. I’m very much a creature of habit when it comes to the way I work, so even though I have some fancier tools and programs available to me, I stick to what I’m most comfortable with.
My favorite product is probably my Chemistry collection (papers, flair, elements, word art, and grids).
It’s one of those instances where a color scheme and a phrase came together perfectly and melded into a really fun take on a love-themed kit.
Here are some of my favorite products by Audrey
Here’s some inspirational layouts using Audrey’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.
Go have a look in Audrey’s Store and come back and tell her what you like, we will randomly select a winner from those comments to win $10 in product from her store! (Comments must be posted before midnight EST)!
As a thank you to our readers, Audrey has created this coupon to share with all of us!
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I love Everyday Celebrations!!
I really like the Maybell papers and element pack. I shop at DHD often and have quite a bit of Audrey Neals designs. I also enjoy having her book. Paper and Pixels.
There is too many to choose!!!! If I had to pick one, I would have to say Rainy Day Love.
Love the organic kit…it’s gorgeous!!
I loved the kit Road Trip.
Lots of great stuff! Let’s see…if I had to pick, the Organic papers and the Faith word art and the Defining You self paced journaling kit.
Winterberry is my favorite!
Audrey Neal is a new designer to me. Her store is full of great products! The first product that jumped right out at me was her Rockabilly Digital Kit. I love it!
I love her style and are always checking out her blog! The kits I especially like are the Organic, Pieces of Me, Everyday Celebrations, Scrap & Snap Mini, and the Pencil Thin Mustache is a fun kit!
Her word art is really awesome, too! I can relate to the Geek Chic one. I have her Defining You Self-Paced Journaling Kit, Quirky Tags Template, Organic Elements, 123 Template and Game Night Papers.
Holy WOW I can’t choose just one: In fact I can’t choose just three so: Organic, Just Be You, Family Tree, Butterfly Fancy, Just My Type, Pencil Thin Moustache, Authentic and Orange Crush. You know the digi files are great- great price great product- but the enabling is down right dangerous!!!
I like Expectantly Your collection. Thanks for introducing me to another designer that I have not met before
I really like the look of the Expectantly Yours line. And Everyday Celebrations is probably my most used kit.
Thanks for introducing Audrey´s designs, I just love it!
The “Organic kit” is so modern and elegant! I love “Just my type” too. And “Rainy day love” is so cute! I want them all!
Oh wow. I was not prepared for this post. Ouch. I…choose? Huh? Can’t compute the idea of choosing. My wallet’s blank spaces are all that keep me from buying…uh…everything. I love her creativity! If I’ve got to choose, my head keeps going back to ‘Just My Type’ because I love typography….I’m also pretty fond of ‘Geek Chic’ though…and…I’ll stop before I continue naming other stuff off.
I’m a big fan of Audrey’s and largely for her writing and journaling. Although I like many of her papers and elements what I’d really like to have is her “Defining You Self-Paced Journaling Kit.”
I love Audrey’s kits – already have quite a few! LOL Just picked up the Pencil Thin elements and papers this morning. Rainy Day is one of my go-to kits.
I LOVE this graphic style! My favs were Snips and Snails, Just My Type, and TTV Frames. Fun stuff!
I hadn’t seen the faith word art, that’s really cute!
Such a fan of Audreys work and designs!!!
I LOVE the “Just my Type” collection! As an English major myself it fits me perfectly!
Well, I’m a total geek, so I really NEED her Geek Chic word art! And I just love her TDD kit, so glad I got it!
I like her fresh stitches papers and the mudpie alpha.
I love her daily birdie font!
I love Audrey’s designs! After seeing her the first time in the Digi Files, I made some purchases that I still love and use. In fact, I did my entire 2009 album using her goods!
I like Madeleine Elements, Rainy Day Love, and Butterfly Fancy. Thanks!
Oooh, I’m really diggin’ her designs! So fresh and clean. Just My Type and Lovestruck are a couple of my faves.
Thanks so much for helping us get better acquainted with Audrey and her work. It is hard to choose a favorite, but I do really like Road Trip. We are getting ready to take one, so it would be a fun kit to have. Thanks so much.
I love Game Night & Winterberry. Audrey’s kits are great and easy to fit in with the pictures I take.
Mod Flowers Mini Kit and Expectantly Yours rock! You are one talented designer, Audrey! Thanks for the chance TDD!
I’m so excited that Audrey is part of this month’s files. I follow her blog and love the “open book challenges”!
I love the faith word art, everyday celebrations, Just my type, Road trip, Travelogue Word art, Geek Chic Word Art, etc… I love the fact that her kits can come together or separately (papers and elements). This allows me to choose why I really like the kit, is it the papers, the word art, or the elements? I don’t have to buy the collection if I only like one part. I’ll be spending more of my monthly budget here.
Love love love the Gulf Shores papers!! I live near Galveston so those would be perfect for my beach pics!
I love Audrey’s bright colors and fun elements! Some of my favorites from her shop are Good Dog (although Rocco isn’t winning any awards this morning), Make it Count, and Everyday Celebrations.
I love ALL of her stuff!!! The Pencil Tin Mustache makes me laugh, and I love the Just Be You kit!
I love her designs, especially the Madeline and Rockabilly kits.
I just totally fell in love with Geek Chic. ha!
And I see that “original” with the crown on my daughter’s wall
I like the colours from Mod Flowers Mini Kit (: