How to Start Digital Scrapbooking

I wrote this up for a friend of mine, and to have a place to show my friends who want to learn how to digital scrapbook. This post was updated most recently November 4, 2014.

How to start digital scrapbooking

By Jaime Bohler Smith

Start by downloading the Digital Scrapbooking Manual by The Daily Digi. 

It is a good read, but a lot of the links are broken, so I’m putting some new ones here. 

Here’s a great post on terms and such in the digiscrap world, if you already use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements they will be familiar to you. 

http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/scrapbooking-with-your-computer-digital-product-definitions-suggestions

And here is a video that does something similar, but in video form by Lain Ehmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3RCFpAA8Q

Here is a great ‘getting started’ blog series:

http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/scrapbooking-with-your-computer-day-one

If you would feel better taking a quick class here are some options.

Free 15-minute Jessica Sprague class:

http://www.jessicasprague.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=606&catid=35:general-class-information

Paid ‘Watch Me Scrap’ class (I’ve heard it’s fantastic):

https://thedailydigi.com/classes/watch-me-scrap-learn-digital-scrapbooking

Things to Scrap With

In addition to the how to you will need to things to scrap with. There are a few main stores in digiland that I frequent. They are:
Sweet Shoppe Designs

The Lilypad

Scrap Orchard

Pixels and Company

At Sweet Shoppe they have a free category. I’d recommend creating an account and downloading some of the free kits in this section so you have a few papers and elements to work with as you learn. There is also a free section at The Lilypad (free) and Pixels and Company (free). Take a look around and see which styles appeal to you – they are all different!

I’m partial to Sweet Shoppe at the moment for all things digi, but Scrap Orchard used to be my home until they made a big change in the gallery. I love the stuff at the Lilypad – I just bought the memory pockets subscription. I go back and forth A LOT between the stores and styles.

How To

For the How To in tutorials, Sweet Shoppe has a GREAT tutorial section here. Some highlights are below.

What is Digiscrapping? http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-what-is-digiscrapping/

Getting Started: Making Your First Layout http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-making-your-first-layout/

Getting Started: Using Templates http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/using-templates/

Common mistakes of new scrappers http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/2011/12/getting-started-common-mistakes-of-new-scrappers/

What makes it different?

The number one way to make digital scrapbooking look like ‘real’ pages is with drop shadows. There are hundreds of articles on it, free styles, expensive styles and make your own shadows. Here are some resources specific to shadowing in photoshop.

Start Here! Free shadow set and tutorial by Megan Turnidge

http://www.designsbymeganturnidge.com/blog/?p=1437

Sweet Shoppe Tutorials on Shadowing: http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/tutorials/index.php/category/shadowing/

Tips on Great Shadows: https://thedailydigi.com/drop-shadows-tutorials

Paid shadow styles I use:

Rock the Shadows by Tracie Stroud (scrap orchard)

Toolbox: Shadows V1 by Gennifer Bursett (pixels and company)

Get Real Drop Shadows by Jenn Barrette (Sweet Shoppe)

Next steps

Go make a page! I scrap square 12x12 and print either 12x12 (for my pocket pages) or 8x8 for everything else. For 2015 I’m going to do a photobook of all my layouts 10x10 at the end of the year in a hard cover book. As you can see it can be anything you want it to be! I love it, I’m a computer nerd, and I love being on the computer so it works for me.

I do share a lot of my layouts online at the stores (they all have rules) but one I need to visit more is Get It Scrapped. They gallery there is ‘open’ which means you can post any pages. I also post to pinterest and a pinterest like place just for digital scrapbooking called ScrapStacks. You don’t have to share, but it’s nice to get people’s comments on your pages but I also know some people freak out about putting pictures on the internet. I try not to upload anything with my address or city, but I’m also not too worried about it.

For printing individual layouts and pocket scrapbooking cards I use Persnickity Prints. They specialize in printing digital scrapbook layouts and all kinds of Project Life stuff.

Speaking of Project Life, pocket style scrapbooking is a new favorite of mine. Here’s a quick overview on Project Life, it similar to regular digiscrapping but in a grid format. I do it digitally using the stuff from the stores mentioned above and items from Digital Project Life. They also have an app and I’ve posted a few pages from that on my Instagram. 

I'd be remiss not to share a few favorite designers!

Libby Pritchett

Dream Big Designs

Amber Shaw

Tickled Pink Studio

Erica Zane

Kristin Cronin-Barrow

Little Butterfly Wings

Stolen Moments Design

Forever Joy Designs 

For templates (single photo, clustery types): Two Tiny Turtles

For templates (collage style): Scrapping with Liz and Traci Reed's 365 Unscripted Stitched Grids

What else can I tell you? J

It's a Double Birthday Bash!

I've been so fortunate to work with some of the best designers in digi-land and I'm thrilled to be a new member of the Dream Big Designs team! I met Cheri back at Digiscrapapalooza 2012 and I love her designs which are perfect for my style of scrapbooking, and she has tons of kits that work great for little boys and for Disney.

This week we are celebrating her birthday and her design birthday! You came here from Kayla's blog, Keepscrappin' Designs. I've put together a fun portrait 4x6 birthday card using the kit Hawaii Honu. I've had this kit for awhile, and wanted to wish Cheri Hau`oli la Hanau - Happy Birthday in Hawaiian.

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Your next stop is Kassie Scraps. If you get lost along the way head back to Dream Big Designs - and be sure to look around the new site!

Hmmm...Ready to try again?

WOW I haven't been over here in awhile. I just loved looking back over my posts from over a year ago. What changes we've had since then. I really should blog more, or do something to keep track of my memories but alas, life gets in the way. I have my photos, I have my scrapbook pages, and randomly I have this blog, my family blog, and random memos on my hard drive. I tried (am trying?) to get in the habit of using Oh Life to record a snippet of every day but it's been a few days since I've done that. So I will refrain from apologizing and just carry on.

So in my life since April 29th 2012 A LOT has changed. We did get moved out of Bob's and into our brand new custom built home in August 2012. They dug the big hole on May 22nd, so between that time our little family visited our home site nearly every day to see it getting built. We loved the whole process!

We also got older - Scott turned 40, I turned 36 and the doctors said either have a baby or be done. In July we finally got back to the RE, and decided we would just do three rounds of infertility treatments which would take us through the end of the year. I was sure there was no way it would work, and we did the first round of treatments in July 2012. I saw the first positive pregnancy test on July 25th at 11 dpo. Amazingly, our daughter was born just three weeks ago today! More on that later.

I still digiscrap, and hang out at Scrap Orchard most of the time. I also get to do some fun creative team work for four AWESOME scrapbook designers - Cheri of Dream Big Designs, SuzyQ Scraps, Tracie Stroud Designs and Melissa of Cluster Queen Creations. You'll be seeing some more of that soon.

We did go to Disney again, this time in November 2012 and got to be there during the holiday time frame. It was our first all Disney, only Disney trip and I can honestly say that it was my favorite visit so far. Seeing how different Connor is on each trip is so fascinating and he was truly entertaining on this visit. I still share my Disney memories over at MouseScrappers.

So if anyone reads this, enjoy a big wave hello from me! I hope I can keep on this for some time, and at least through April 22nd when I'll have a really cool digital scrapbooking freebie for you! Stay tuned.

49-Day Whirlwind

I have so much news to get through so I'll briefly hit the highlights. Decided to build a new home, listed our house, took a family vacation to Cincinnati, sold our house in just 20 days, left for Vegas for Digiscrapapalooza, had a mini-getaway with DH, DH changed job responsibilities, packed, moved to Grandpa Bob's and two storage units. :) Phew!

Before Bob passed we decided to build a new home, back in January. We signed an agreement on a lot, but hadn't moved on picking house stuff like cabinets, carpet and door handles yet. The second stroke happened and it took us until after Bob passed to get our current home listed. In the meantime, we learned Bob had left his home to us. So, what seemed so overwhelming fell into place and someone fell in love with our current starter home and bought it (the first couple who even came through the house!) and we had a place to live while our new one was being built. It's been a wonderful mix of grief, elation, bewilderment and joy.

We're settled into Bob's "mid-century modern bungalow" which means it's small and old. The baby loves it, the dog loves it, the cats love it, and I'm becoming more okay with it. The hubs loves that it's free and we have no house payment for a few months! Here's a LO that I did, redid and redid about our new home. This was journaled just two days after we sold our house:

CREDITS: My Girl by Laura Banasiak, Template by Cluster Queen Creations, Fuss Free Fancy Borders by Fiddle-dee-dee Designs. Font is 28 days later. {ScrapOrchard Gallery link}

Stick with me, I'm working on some fun posts! In the coming month I'll have a few recaps of Digiscrapapalooza including some software tips that have changed my scrapping life, details on the changes at Mousescrappers (go check them out!), fave layouts from April, review of SuzyQ Scraps new e-book Terrific Title Tricks and some thoughts on gallery comments and leaving love.

So, tell me about your last 49 days? Whirlwind, Tilt-A-Whirl or Calm, Cool, Collected?

Slowly but Surely

I'm starting to come out of that haze, you know the one. The 'What the heck happened over the last four months of my life?' feeling when you're a caretaker. I guess I should be grateful it was ONLY four months, but with a little one who grows by leaps and bounds daily, four months seems like an eternity.

I'm glad to be part of SuzyQ Scraps Project Love, Me 2012. It's been very interesting how one of the prompts speaks to me each time she releases the new details of each month. For March it's believe, and I put this together:

CREDITS: Sunshine by SuzyQ Scraps, Template by Fiddle-dee-dee Designs, Fuss Free: Tell-A-Tale

I'm surprised how I've been led on this journey, I miss Bob and I miss helping him. I still wish I could have done more, but I will make peace with that soon.

Spring is almost here in Indiana, and I'm anxious to get out and about and feel that sunshine for myself. I'm sure that will be the trick to snapping me back into reality.

That or the upcoming, most epic Vegas trip ever!!! And a little mini-vaca with the Hubs. What are you looking forward to? Are you down in the dumps waiting for better weather?

Someday was Tuesday

My Facebook status from Tuesday February 21st, 2012:

"That day is finally here, the call came that Grandpa Bob made his final journey home this morning. Scott and I are grateful for the time we got with him, and that his suffering is no more. The last thing he said to me was 'Thanks, Babe!' and I hope he knows how thankful we all were to have known him."


Ironic how I just posted on Monday, thinking the whirlwind was over and that Grandpa was 'settled' for a while. No doubt God has a sense of humor, since now Bob is at such peace. It happened so fast (again I acknowledge the irony of that statement given his illness), and just like that he was gone. With one phone call to us, that part of our journey was over.

I'm sad. Not upset, not angry, not confused, just plain sad. I'm sad that his last days were in a nursing home, not because they didn't take good care of him. It was a great place, he was very well taken care of. I'm sad because there wasn't a better way to help him. The comments I could make about Medicare and Medicaid and http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthe hoops you have to jump through just to get the RIGHT care - let's just say they are best kept to myself right now. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I met some great people along the way. Amy at the 4th Frog kept me hopeful with her forwards about Aging Care. Lorraine at Horizon Hospice - who we never got to use - talked me off the ledge and told me more about the health care system than any doctor or nurse did over the last four months. The ladies at the Cancer Center in Avon, who are the most caring and loving group of people you could ever wish to be a part of your grandpa's life. The nurses at Hendricks Regional Health, the doctors at IU West Hospital, and the doctors/staff at Westview Hospital did the right things at the right time to help us along our way.

Services are today, we're heading out in a few hours. I'm most proud of the flowers we picked out for him, I think he'd really like him. He was very generous man - sending Scott and I to Hawaii for a wedding gift so his flowers are built around a tropical theme. We're taking Connor - it's hard to explain it all to a two and a half year old.

God Bless you Bob - three bells for you dear sailor.

Scraplift Challenge #54 now open

I just posted the details of Scraplift Challenge #54 over at Mousescrappers, I'd love to have you play along! I've put together this mini kit for anyone who participates between now and March 4th.


I'm finishing up some bonus elements to give away here on the blog, as I've been practicing so I can participate in the first ever Design Challenge at Mousescrappers. Here's the swatch we've been given to work with:


So, what do you think? Any elements or kit items you think I should do? I'd love to hear your suggestions - feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email to meejay33 (at) gmail (dot) com.