If I don’t like what’s on the current channel and my hubby’s not around, I just don’t watch TV. It’s not worth the effort to learn how to use all those little buttons. Plus I’m afraid I’ll screw something up.

That’s why it amazes me to think of all I’ve learned to do with the computer since I got hooked on digital scrapbooking eight short months ago.

In addition to playing with my Scrap Girls toys, I’m really pushing the envelope of Photoshop – creating my own papers, styles, letters and embellishments.

I’ve become a downloading pro and have reorganized my hard disk so I can easily find my digital toys.

I’ve learned how to zip and unzip files, as well as the pluses and minuses of different file types: JPG vs. PNG vs. PSD.

It just astonishes me that I have been able to master all this. Isn’t the human mind an amazing thing? I guess the key is motivation.

I wanted to learn digi-scrapping so badly that I conquered my fear of screwing up. I didn’t crash the computer once (though I did have to call on my dear hubby’s technical expertise a few times).

If you would like to see what’s going on at The Artful Crafter more frequently than this monthly newsletter allows, please visit The Artful Crafter blog and mark it as one of your favorites.

Thank you for subscribing to “The Artful Crafter Digest”. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.

For Ease of Reading

If your copy of this newsletter is difficult to read, please go to the the archived version to see it in its original (intended) format.

Eileen

New on The Artful Crafter This Month

Skirt-in-a-Jiffy – Make up this pattern-less skirt in a jiffy.

Open Door Card – How to make a card with welcoming doors that open, perfect for an open house or many other occasions.

Peek-a-Boo Card – How to make a peek-a-boo action card to delight the little ones.

Painting on Fabric for Beginners – how-to and design ideas.

Topiary – How to make a Potted Topiary.

Eileen’s Digital Scrapbooking Journal: Part 9 – more fun with digi-scrapping.

Reader Tip: Compile a Craft Idea Book

When we lived in the States, I used to receive 10-15 catalogs every week. All it took was ordering one thing and all sorts of them started showing up.

So I started going through them to see what I could make using ideas from the catalogs. I figure as long as I wasn't making the exact same thing and mass producing them, I could have fun with this.

I started a book of ideas with a picture from the catalog. This has been helpful when I wanted to do something special for a friend and had no idea what to make. Catalogs are loaded with ideas.

Shaaron

In addition to catalog pictures, I include designs from craft magazines and sketch any brainstorms of my own, as well as ask other crafters if I can take photos of something clever they have done.

As Shaaron mentions, just be careful about copyrights and harming other crafters who sell their work for a living. They own the designs.

Like Shaaron, I take care not to copy anything from a catalog. The contents of my idea book are just for inspiration and as a starting point or even just a reminder to do something I’ve been meaning to try.

Reader Problem: Help, My Laser Printer Curls My Cardstock!

I have started to print my own invitations on a laser jet printer using card stock however the cards come out rounded and not flat.

Do you have a solution?

Thank you, Don

Curling of card stock is a much-reported problem with laser printers. Laser printers use heat to transfer toner to the paper. Curling occurs with lightweight paper too, but the paper relaxes back to normal as it cools.

As card stock curls around the printer head, it is literally ironed into a curled form. I’m sure you’ve already tried some of the following suggestions, but I’ll run through the whole list since I don’t know how far you’ve gotten. [Plus they might help another reader.]

1. In the printer features panel, be sure to select “card stock”.
2. Weight the card stock after printing until it cools.
3. If your printer has a manual feed tray that allows the paper to feed straight through without curling around the printer head, use that.
4. Purchase card stock expressly designed for laser printers.
5. Reverse the curl by “printing” a blank page on the other side of the printed card stock.
6. Contact the manufacturer for suggestions specific to the printer you own.

That's all for this month. Happy crafting!