Tag Archives: digital elements

A Bit of Spring Cleaning

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I would love to share that I’ve been hard at work making lovely things, but I haven’t.  Unfortunately, if you want to make a little  something off of your craft, no matter how little it is, you must sometimes make room to work on the business side of things a bit.  While I don’t always think very much of my designing skills, I wanted to see if I could dabble a little into the logo-design world.  Technology can be an amazing thing, can’t it?  A nine minute YouTube video and a couple of blog opinions on what works and what doesn’t and voila…you’ve actually started to learn what Adobe PE can really do.

This isn’t to say that my design won’t change down the road. As a matter of fact, if I could afford to not be my own marketing department, I would hire someone to do all of the dirty work for me.  But until then, I’ll continue to grow and hopefully, brush some dirt off in the process.

Santa’s Gettin’ Digi

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As you know, I’ve been working as hard as one of Santa’s elves in the workshop to finish my son’s latest scrapbook.  While I’ve just done some online ordering of photos, I also print pictures at home.  This is especially easy when using digital templates like this collage grid that I downloaded from Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine.  I usually open the template using Adobe Photoshop Elements and just drop and crop my photos digitally.  While I don’t consider myself a savvy digital scrapbooker, I do find this technique quick and easy.  And the more I do it, the more I learn.

However, I know that many “traditional” scrappers sometimes shy away from using digital elements on their pages, but the truth is that even if you’ve ever downloaded something as simple as a new font, you are using digital elements.  Call it hybrid or call it digi, it can definitely make things simple, quick and easy.  How much harder would this have been if I had attempted to create this by hand?  Who needs the pressure of creating all of those intricate grid marks and perfect alignment? Not me, even if I had the time, which I don’t.

If you are new to using digital elements in your scrapbooking, there are a great many free things out there to try.  Click HERE for help from Scrapbooks, Etc  If nothing else, remember that you can often use digital elements right in MS Word.  Or, download a template similar to the one that I used, print it out on regular paper, and use it as a guide for creating your layout.  Once you try it, I’m sure you’ll like it.

By the way, it’s always a good time to scrap those holiday pictures! :)

Alice, I’m Late

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It’s almost over.  My son’s third year on this earth. 

While there is definitely a part of me that wonders how time flew so fast, my body and brain agree that these last few years have absolutely taken a toll on me.  In a good way, of course.  Like a badge of honor. I think.

About a week ago I went into high gear finishing my son’s year-long scrapbook, ages 1 to 2.  (Did I mention that I really only started a few months back?)  Although I gladly admit my true-to-form procrastination modus operandi, it’s often when I do my best work.  To keep plowing through, I have little time to consider, reconsider and reconsider yet again. 

The benefit for me has definitely been seeing how far I’ve really stretched myself creatively.  I’m growing up fast, just like my son.  I’ve been driving myself towards clarity.  Whatever my vision is for a project, I like to make sure I get across what I’m really trying to get across, whatever that may be–an image, a color, a mood, a feeling, a theme, a concept.  What is the message and have I been successful? 

What do you think?