Christy Sheffield

Penscrappers Layout: 10 Things

If you are a digital scrapbooker, then you must check out Wacom's Penscrappers website. A definite must if you own a pen tablet;  however, you can still participate in the monthly challenges without one. Each month you can download a new (and FREE!!!) kit that you use to create a layout.

This month's theme was 10 Things. Here's my layout:

Kit by Anna Aspens; Template by Cathy Zieskle (from the Help Haiti collaborative kit)

Click on the image below to vote for my layout. Voting ends February 28th.

Playing with the Pen Tablet + a freebie

I've mentioned before that I got a Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet. Love this little thing. It allows me to do things with digital scrapbooking and graphics design that I would never accomplish with a mouse. To help myself learn this little baby a bit more, I'm taking a class on Jessica Sprague's website, "Pen Tablet Basics for Scrapbookers." Here's my week one projects:

I'm trying to use my pen tablet instead of mouse to do anything in Photoshop. But, some specific things done with the pen tablet were: the handwriting, the scalloped border on the two orange papers, and the orange dotted line from one destination to the other.

We also had to practice some doodling mid-week with the theme of love. I'm no where near finished, but I thought I'd post a sample of the work I'm doing. I'll post the finished project when I completed. I think this would end up being a neat patterned paper.

And, finally, we had to create some sort of layout or embellishment using dotted lines. I made a journaling tag. I wanted it to have a free form look, so I didn't worry about lining the dotted lines up exactly or spacing them perfectly. I made a tag for my husband.

And, here's a blank one that you can download for your own personal use. You can right-click and "save link as" or click on the link to open the image in a new window.

PinkJournaling-JPEG
PinkJournaling-PNG

New Digital Layout

 

Supplies used: Holiday Dazzle Kit by Katie Teague; Jane Austen font; Century New Gothic font

The Studio and More

I am super excited about the latest project at my house. Not that I have finished any of the other projects I've started in my house, but this one really excites me. I'm working on my office. Doesn't sound like much, but I want to give it the feel of a studio. I was totally inspired by Donna Downey's studio. There's so much I do in the office. Sure, we pay the bills and check e-mail there. But I also create art there. I do my traditional scrapbooking, hybrid scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking, graphic design, etc. in this space. So, I want it reflect my personality yet still inspire me to be creative every day. I'm not through yet, so I don't have any pictures. Right now my "studio" is scattered throughout my living and dining room. I'll post a pic as soon as I finish organizing everything.

Here's something more. I promised I wouldn't post about you-know-who for a while, so I'm just leaving you with a layout I created last night:

Layout materials: "Wonderful" digital kit downloaded from ShabbyPrincess.com; Donna Downey font downloaded from DonnaDowney.com

Journaling reads: We are so incredibly proud of you! When we first brought you home you weren't too keen on living with the Sheffields. You whimpered a lot, wouldn't come to us, and stayed on your little towel. Leaving in the morning was the hardest! You howled so much, we just wanted to stay home with you. But just five days later you are exploring the house, playing with your toys, not whimpering when we leave the room... Today we had our biggest moment. You made it all night without having to potty. We're so proud of you, Pedro.

Hooked on Digi

I'm hooked. I've started playing around with digital scrapbooking. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, digital scrapbooking is taking traditional scrapbooking to a whole new level. In the scrapbooking world there are a lot of people who turn their nose up to digital scrapbooking. Here's the difference: Traditional scrapbooking is completely hands-on, real products. You purchase cardstock, patterned paper, scissors, glue, embellishments, etc. and put together a page. The books in my photo album are all traditional albums. They are "real" 3-D pages that you can actually touch.

Digital scrapbooking is similar in that you have papers and embellishments, but they are all digital. They are .png, .jpeg, or abr brushes that you use in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (also could be used in some lesser design software). You still have "patterned paper" except that it's not actually paper. It's a file on your computer. You open the file in Photoshop and "move" your embellishemts to create a "page." You can then print the page and put in a traditional album, share online (via websites, online galleries, or e-mail), or just leave on your computer.

Here's an example of something I made for our company's annual 4th of July party using digital scrapbooking supplies:

Layout supplies: Digital Kit by Theresa Kavouras for Scrap Girls, LLC. Kit can be downloaded by clicking here.

Something that has sprung up recently is "hybrid" scrapbooking; a combination of digital and traditional scrapbooking. Ali Edwards, for example, does quite a lot of hybrid scrapbooking. You use some digital elements, but you still do a traditional page. You might put text on your photo then print it out and use it on your page. Or you might print out a scrapbook accent, then use it on your page. I'm playing around with both.

In order to do digital or hybrid scrapbooking you will need: a computer (duh!), internet, Photoshop Elements (or something equivalent), and a printer (if you plan to print these out). Here's a few links if you are interested in beginning digital scrapbooking:

• JessicaSprague.com - An editor for Creating Keepsakes, Jessica does a "Photoshop Tutorial" every Friday. Great tips for new and old users of Photoshop. Jessica's tips are directly related to digital scrapbooking. Tips are found on her blog. She also offers courses in Photoshop for Scrapbooking as well as individual lessons that you can download and complete at your own pace.
• ShabbyPrincess.com - A great resource for newbies to digital scrapbooking. They offer FREE digital kits. Plus there are some tutorials on the site as well. I also greatly enjoy the blog (each month she puts a desktop that you can customize with your pictures).
• Scrap Girls - This was my first intro to digital scrapbooking. They have an enormous store (the above layout was made using their products). You can also sign up for their daily newsletter which features layouts, new products, freebies, and instructions for digital scrapbooking. They also offer a intro e-book that can be downloaded for free.

There are many more sites devoted to digital scrapbooking...these are just a few of my faves. You'll notice to the right are some of my favorite places to shop for supplies. I've listed some more digi-stores there.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Layout supplies: FREE Digital Kit "Festival" by Shabby Princess. Kit can be downloaded by clicking here.