A Digital Scrapbooking Journal - Part Nine

More Digital Scrapbooking Ideas and Techniques

Wednesday, July 18, 2007: Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed

Actually, I'm just the opposite of "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" right now. That would be "bleary-eyed and fanny-fatigued".

I've been sitting in front of this computer screen non-stop for over ten hours working on a digital scrapbooking page for my brother and sister-in-law's surprise "30th" anniversary party this Saturday.

Thirtieth is in quotes because it's actually their 31st.

I know because - pack-rat that I am - I saved their wedding invitation (which will be used in this layout). Shhh. Their kids are throwing this surprise and, somewhere over the years, a year got lost.

I guess Patrick and Pat just got a year younger. Cool!

I live too far away and can't be at the party, so I plan to zip up my scrapbook page and e-mail it as a very unique anniversary gift.

Right now there is a big white space right in the middle of it. All that's missing is a recent photo of the whole "Patrick Clan" which my niece, Erin, has promised to e-mail.

I wait with bated breath, sore bum and red irritated eyes.

Thursday, July 19, 2007: Boring in Beige

My niece, Erin (the graduate in the large photo), came through with the family photo so I could finish the scrapbook page for my brother and sister-in-law's "30th" anniversary celebration Saturday.

I think this is my best layout yet and can't wait to load it up to My Gallery at Scrap Girls.

The layout uses the following Scrap Girls' products:

• MRE_Fireside_Special_Paper_CreamFancy (background paper)
• SNU_WaltzToRemember_EmbSpecial-Frame (film strip)
• VRA_AWishfulStar_Special_JournalMat (scalloped paper)
• BHA_PersianBreeze_12x12_GreenWash (background strip)
• CBA_AntiqueCharm_Alpha2 ("the Patrick")
• DMI_Bridal_ScalEnv set (vellum envelope)
• ASO_Charisma_Frame_Spcl-Digi (picture frame)

My hubby's only comment was, "It's nice but you really ought to think about using a color other than beige on your next layout." You know - he's right.

I went and looked at My Gallery and found that every digital scrapbooking page I've put up (i.e. my favorites) has a beige background with the exception of an orange one (which is not too far from beige).

If you browse around The Artful Crafter, you'll find plenty of color in my layouts. So I can work in colors.

I guess beige is just more me. I have a lot of beige in my closet too. My hubby calls it boring. OK, challenge taken. My next personal layout will have lots of color!

Friday, July 20, 2007: Digital Versatility

Digital scrapbooking products are amazingly versatile. As an example, look at the "Bergen Clan" layout.

See the filmstrip with the pastel flowers in one corner and the same flowers on the corner of the large photo frame? All these elements were created from Syndee Nuckles' SNU_WaltzToRemember_EmbSpecial-Frame.

Syndee's original is a single film frame with the flowers on one corner. Since I wanted a strip to hold two photos, I duplicated the original.

Using the Square Marquee tool, I deleted the flowers from the duplicate. Then using the same tool, I outlined a square of the upper left corner, copied and pasted it to a new layer.

I flipped the piece vertically and moved it into place to fill the hole where the flowers had been. I merged these two layers and moved the new frame into place beside the original.

I wanted to tie my layout together by placing a copy of Syndee's flowers on Amanda Sok‘s ASO_Charisma_Frame_Spcl-Digi photo frame.

To do this I again outlined the flowers with the Rectangular Marquee tool. Then I copied, opened a new file and pasted from the clipboard.

I duplicated the locked background layer and deleted the background in order to create a PNG file which allows you to create embellishments on a transparent field (rather than a white background).

With the Magic Wand tool I selected and deleted all the non-flower pixels, zooming in close to make sure I got them all.

Finally, I copied and pasted the new embellishment into my layout, used the Transform tool to stretch the flowers to fit the large frame and moved them into place.

Saturday, July 21, 2007: The Mind is a Wonderful Thing

I am one of the most non-techy people you will ever meet. We've had satellite TV for over ten years and the most I can do is turn it on and off and adjust the volume.

Really. 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 astounds 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 digital-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.

Visit our Digital Scrapbooking Index Page for more tips and techniques.