Still fighting the crud....

I have had this nasty cold now for over a week and it just keeps hanging on, so please excuse my lack of blogging over the last few days. Also, some exciting news, I threw my hat in the ring for the Spellbinders Design Team last week. So, I had to get johnny on the spot to get my projects done. Crossing my fingers and waiting now, it's all I can do. Once I know something I will post pictures of what I submitted, but I'm really really really excited. =)

So, I promised last week that I would give you all a glimpse into my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. I can see how this little corner of the scrapbooking arena could become quite addictive. The good news, for all of those on a budget, is that I did this entire page for free. I found this great website called Shabby Princess. It is a store (I will be giving them my business for sure!) but they upload a free digital kit every month. The kits have a few repeat items, but the items in each kit all coordinate together making it very easy to assemble your page. There are some great things on this site...including tutorials and loads of ideas. Check them out when you have a minute. I also found lots of sites where you can download free brushes and fonts for your digital scrapbooking habit, I mean hobby! I used Adobe Photoshop Elements for my page. It has a little bit of a learning curve, but there are a lot of online tutorials on how to use your software so it is easy to pick it up. I might even think about doing a tutorial if there is some interest. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. =)

One of the first questions I had, and I am sure all of you have is well, is once you have your page done...then what? My answer is that you then get it printed somewhere that will print 12x12 pages. I know for certain Costco does, but I would bet other places that do large amounts of photo finishing also will as well. Might try snapfish too. From what I understand is you electronically send your page over, select 12x12 or larger size, and then print it. I haven't tried it yet because I wanted to get this up for you to peruse, but I'll let you know what I find out if you want. I also understand that you can have entire albums printed and bound but I haven't researched the process that far, it isn't likely something I will pursue in the near future because as a brick and mortar scrapbooker, I have lots of albums already. What I liked about this process is it was easy, you didn't have to preprint your pictures and you can slip the page in between your other scrapbook pages and it won't stand out like a soar thumb. Also, you could venture into what is called hybrid scrapbooking where you combine both artforms together. Print you page and then add to it as you want after it's printed. I could see this being a fun new way to scrapbook, I hope you will give it a try too.

Without further adieu...here's my page....recipe of the kits I used follows. Until later this week, hope you are enjoying yourselves and Happy Stamping!

Recipe:
Shabby Princess 2006 Season Sampler Red Tree, Green Brad, Green Bow, Blue Swirls Paper, Green Paper; Shabby Princess Dinner Party Red Paper for mat; and Shabby Princess Holiday Magic Photo Corner Anchor, Christmas Swirls Paper, Red Scallop, Alpha Circle 1, Red Brad. Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (I think 8.0 is now out, but I'm waiting to buy it until Costco has their coupon for it. When I see the coupon I will let you know.)