July 12, 2011

scrapbooking with kids and what do I do with all this stuff?

July 12, 2011/ molly balint

It just so happens that my cousin happens to be the emperor of digital scrapbooking--and the brains and beauty (sorry, Randy!) behind Designer Digitals. Spend a few moments on the Designer Digitals site and you'll be fighting the urge to start filling your cart with amazing bits of digital supplies from designers like Katie herself, Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielske and other talented designers.

As much as I love the idea of digital scrapbooking, (no mess! no storage!) I'm finding that my daughters aren't quite at the point where they can scrap independently, without my help.

Months and months ago, Katie gave my girls a few of her scrapbooking kits--which include an album, papers and all kinds of bits and bobs and supplies to make their own pages.

Armed with my favorite little compact photo printer, a (rare) cleared-off kitchen table and complete and utter free-reign to cut, paste, write, draw, glue and (make a giant mess) my girls have fallen in love with scrapbooking.

When we get out the scrapbooking supplies, I try to make myself pretty scarce. The more mothering years I have under my belt, the more I realize that it's often good to step back and out of the way of my girls' creative process. I'll come through every now and then just to be sure supplies are being properly shared and caps are being put back on glue sticks, but otherwise, I find that it is in that independence and freedom where the magic really happens.

And I know myself well enough to know that if I didn't leave the room, I'd be directing the placement of every button and paper color combinations.

For Emma, my oldest, I'm seeing lots of emotion (and passion:) come out on the page. I'm getting glimpses of what parts of her day spark her interest. She is also quickly becoming my journalling child. She keeps her commonplace, and this summer she's been keeping an almost daily record of her mornings at the barn. And she's slowly transfering some of that journaling into her scrapbook.

Mary, just a few years behind Emma is trying to keep up with her older sister--writing, journaling and scrapping things that are important to her.

And for Elizabeth, it's all about play and color and layering and deciding which colored brad goes with which puffy sticker.

Meanwhile, my homeschooling wheels are starting to smoke as I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate this medium of creativity into our school days without making it feel forced. For now, at the very least, I think I'll encourage a weekly scrapbooking session as a journalling element to our curriculum. Maybe even let them earn the purchase of new supplies! But I'd love to see how I could make this stretch into some academic areas, as well.

I'm still working on that.

In the meantime, if you're a scrapbooking pro and you have any suggestions for STORAGE, I'd love to hear. My current system--throw it all back in the lid of the box it came in--isn't quite working out. There must be a better way.

And I'd love to hear if you're a scrapbooker, or if your kids have caught the bug just like mine. Do tell!

August 01, 2009

Digital Scrapbooking 101 : Layered Templates

August 01, 2009/ molly balint

The first bit of business is our winner of the Shutterfly Photobook from yesterday!!

Congratulations goes to... lucky number 12... Leslie!
Please email me at katie at designerdigitals dot com and I will send you your code for your free Shutterfly 8x8 photobook! enjoy!

One of the quickest and easiest ways to get started scrapbooking with digital is by using layered templates and Adobe Photoshop Elements [Please note these templates only work with Adobe Photoshop Elements]. There is a large assortment of styles, themes and even complete albums that give you a jumpstart on your page and leave the personalizing up to you in the store at DesignerDigitals!

You can do very little personalizing like I did taking Children Layered Template

and simply adding my pictures and journaling

or you can take it further and add in more elements to personalize the page further

for example, I took Hugs & Kisses Layered Template 5

and added in paper strips and a cut heart too! making it more unique!

All of the templates come with simple instructions that explain how you can easily 'clip' your photos to the placeholders in the templates using the 'group with previous' option. And if you get stuck, there's nearly always some around to help you out if you just post on the boards at DesignerDigitals!

So if you're wanting to get started in digital and don't know where to begin, I suggest starting with templates and as your comfort level grows so will your understanding of digital!

If you'd like to win a copy of the Hugs & Kisses Layered Template Collection [a $29.99 value], simply leave a comment about what part of digital scrapbooking is drawing you in by 6pm EST Sunday, August 2nd for your chance to win!

Thanks for playing along! I've enjoyed sharing my passion with you! :)

July 30, 2009

Photobooks : A Great Place To Start

July 30, 2009/ molly balint

Thanks for the warm welcome yesterday and I loved hearing about all the ways you preserve your memories... even if it is in a rubber tub... a project for a rainy day [or two], right?!

Our random winner for the $20 gift certificate is Shawn Janelle

Congratulations! Please email katie at designerdigitals dot com with your email address!

Today I wanted to introduce you to Shutterfly Photobooks and one of my favorite projects!

I, like a lot of you, have photos scattered in boxes and tubs all over the place. I have 4 large, traditionally scrapped albums for my daughter but hundreds of photos [okay maybe thousands now that we have digital] that have not been scrapped and I wanted a simple compilation to see her growing into a teenager!

The answer was a photobook!

I created a year-by-year memories album to show how much she has grown and changed over the past years!

You can view the entire book in Shutterfly's Gallery

I used a layered template book and worked with just one kit, Alandia, from DesignerDigitals to help create a unified look throughout the book.

I also converted all but one of the photos on each page to a sepia so there would be less distraction. When laying out your pages you want it to be obvious what the focus image is on the page and make sure your journaling is easily read and converting the photos was a great, easy way to do that!

I absolutely love this book and think I'll be adding to it over the next few years and having it reprinted! And it will be a theme I will also be using for books for our granddaughters and my nephews! I figure if I get them going now, won't they make the most amazing presents for them when they are teenagers?!

I hope this inspires you to get started with some digital scrapbooking and photobooks!

And I have ONE 8x8 20-page Shutterfly Photobook to give away. Simply leave a comment about an album you would like to create! Leave comments by 12 noon EST July 31st for your chance to win!

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And now on to tackle a few of your questions!

deborah said...
Hi,
I am currently a traditional scrapbooker, but I'm interested in getting into the digital realm. My question or Katie is, what do I need to get started? (What programs, etc. do you suggest?)
Thanks for the chance to win!

How to get started? It can be easily accomplished with Photoshop Elements or any image editing program. Some are even so comfortable with Microsoft word that they simply scrap their memories in that program. But for the most versatility in your creative process I recommend working with Adobe Photoshop Elements which can be found for under $75. And then download a few freebies to get a feel for things before you pick put the products for your projects!

susan said...
I am looking forward to your posts on digital scrapbooking and learning more about the craft. I have a number of scrapbook "projects" that I have started, but need to complete (our wedding six years ago, Christmas memories, and my two year old's first year). I was thinking of preserving some memories by creating books on picaboo and other similar sites. Are these sites considered digital scrapbooking? It seems like the choices might be limited.

I would think you could refer to creating the books on-line for print is a form of digital scrapbooking. What we encourage at DesignerDigitals is more of the creative process in capturing the memories and displaying them. With the right products and software you can bring your memories to life in your pages so the way you were feeling about that moment can be felt by looking at your pages!

Sarah said...
Hi Katie,
I have tried to start paper scrapbooking a little but have so many boxes of photos I have mostly just gotten overwhelmed and stopped. I would love to learn about digital scrapbooking as I am much handier at a computer than with a scissors but don't really know where to start.

The best way to start is to select your photo[s] and select a background paper and start by arranging them on the page and adding your journaling. The more you do the more comfortable you'll feel. The you can add digital stamping [just like rubber stamping only more forgiving ;)], digital ribbons, digital page pebbles etc etc, whatever strikes your fancy to create a creative work of art! The great thing about digital... there's an undo key! And as long as you save your page layout into a new file and don't overwrite your photo file you can always go back and re-scrap the photo or change things around!

July 29, 2009

Digital Scrapbooking 101

July 29, 2009/ molly balint

Hi Everyone!

Katie Pertiet here happy to be guest blogging for Molly this week! When Molly mentioned taking a break with a possible guest blogger I was happy to hop on and share my passions of digital scrapbooking and photography with you!

I've been working as a graphic designer for nearly 25 years now and have been involved with the scrapbooking industry for the past 5 years. I started as a traditional, paper scrapper taking pictures of every outing and event with my daughter as well as all the everyday moments too! But working on my computer everyday led me over to explore digital scrapbooking and it didn't take long before I had shelved my paper supplies, no longer had daily messes to clean up and was completely hooked on digital scrapbooking and opened DesignerDigitals as an outlet to sell my digital scrapbooking products! Now I scrap more than ever before and am on a mission to document not only my daughter's childhood, but also my past and my ancestors. I want to have a record of where we have come form to pass down to future generations and to share with my cousins.

Getting started with Digital Scrapbooking is not as intimidating as you may think! We have some great tips to get you started with Digital Scrapbooking, Your First Digital Layout using Photoshop or Elements.

I have a $20 gift certificate to DesignerDigitals.com to give away today to help you get started with digital scrapbooking. To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment about how you preserve your families memories!

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Hi Friends. Just popping in to say be sure to leave any questions you have for Katie about design, digital scrapbooking, photo editing, etc. in the comments and she'll do her best to answer them in her posts this week!

And thank you katie for a great giveaway! I'm telling you, all the elements with digital scrapbooking are about as addictive as fabric and yarn shopping!

March 19, 2009

a new day

March 19, 2009/ molly balint

I'm not sure how it got to be Thursday already. Between a trip to the aquarium and fighting colds all around, the days have seemed to tumble by. People say that February is a tough month, but this March, with all its gray skies and cold rains sure sucks the energy out of me.

Now, how's that for a depressing start to a blog post? Yikes.

But today, I'm feeling the clouds lift and things are finally making the move back to normal. I set one goal for myself today: to get the dining room table cleaned off. It may sound like a small task, but if you saw the piles of books and spilled markers and "stuff" brought in from a car clean out, and mail and fabric and....you'd be impressed.

Emma and Mary went riding all morning, which was a much needed gift. Elizabeth toddled around half naked and happy, making messes in other rooms, while I focused on getting the dining room done.

Isn't it funny how having a mess like that can not only clutter up your house, but also clutter up your mind (and attitude) as well? I'm feeling much better, tons better now that the job is done.

I've been finding it really relaxing in the evenings, once the house is quiet, to continue dipping my toes in the world of digital scrapbooking. Or at least my take on digital scrapbooking. Though they are mostly paper scrappers, I've been finding a lot of inspiration digging around on the blogs of Molly Irwin and Ali Edwards.

There is something really intriguing about it for me--it satisfies some of my creative longings, it keeps with my love of capturing and taking note of every day life, and I can easily work something from start to finish in a (fairly) short period of time.

I am also really intrigued by the idea of using it as a tool for projects and journaling with the girls, where they are doing the designing and creating and storytelling.

So these are the last two projects I've been working on. The first is a page with my pictures from Sunday's naps--because I just loved them too much to only have them on my blog.

The second is a recipe that Emma created, that I've been wanting to share with all of you. It's really good. So pass it on to your children and let them whip you up a batch.

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Sunday Naps: details here

In The Kitchen:

Background : Andrea Victoria Pina Kit

Frames : Katie Pertiet Basic Bare Frames

Recipe Card : Katie Pertiet File Cards No. 2

"Mom's Notes" : Lynn Grieveson Journaling Spots and Strips

Doilie: Jesse Edwards Doilie Paper Pack

Button: Katie Pertiet Alandia Meadow Kit

Font: Report School

Mom's Note text: "She's starting to dream up recipes, sneaking into the kitchen to try new things. This experiment is actually pretty tasty. She came up with it one Saturday afternoon while I was away. She gave it to Dan as a snack. He loved it. She was proud of herself. She's been copying the recipe, giving it to friends, encouraging them to try it. And she makes it a few times a week. What's a little peanut butter and butterscotch in exchange for creativity and independence? "