Becca's Digi Designs

Chance to Win

2011-06-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

Another Free Ride Friday :D For a chance to win, head to the blogs of these two awesome designers.

Free Ride Friday

2011-06-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

I love it when designers offer a chance to win their new releases! Such a fun way to try and get a free kit! I rarely win, but it sure doesn't hurt to try, right?

Today I entered a couple different drawings - one for Meg Mullins new Disney kit coming out and also for Penny Springman's kit. Here is a preview to hers:

Doesn't it look so cute!! I hope I win! :D

Babypalooza!

2011-02-11T01:44:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs Babypalooza Blog Hop!! Both Krista and Britt have come out with some gorgeous goodies and all of the ct have had fun creating some freebies for you with their new products.

I created some frame clusters for you using Krista's gorgeous new kit, "i'll love you forever." *sigh* Isn't it beautiful! Everyone needs this kit, because I'm sure we all have some unscrapped baby photos! This collection of gorgeous goodies will not disappoint!

Ok - so on to the freebie. One in a girly version and one in a boy version!

Here is the boy frame

and here is the girl frame

Of course feel free to download them both! I just decided to separate them in case someone only wanted one or the other. So I hope you enjoy!!

Well, it is time to head to your next stop. You should have just come from Krista's (norton94) blog and your next stop on the blog train will be at Brenda Smith's blog!

Happy Hopping!!

Recent Layouts

2010-08-21T00:27:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted any layouts in quite some time and I have been scrapping like crazy this week. Sahlin Studios (who I CT for) and Jenn Barrette (Who I love! :D ) came out with this amazing collab called Vintage Carnival. The colors are just so yummy! I could eat it!! Take a look!

Isn't it amazing! So much fun to play with and I haven't even exhausted all the goodness with the kit. WM[squared] designs came out with a wonderful school bundle. I can't get enough of school kits. I love to scrap school memories and I like unique kits. I love the colors in Wendy's. Here is the page I scrapped with it. Last week Jenn Barrette came out with this adorable kit called Adventures in my backyard. I had to get it because it is full of outdoor adventure...creepy crawly critters...flowers and dirt. Everything my kids love to do outside on a daily basis! This page was just something I wanted to do for fun. Like a good wall art for a boys room! It also showcases all the great elements in the kit.

Krista Sahlin (Sahlin Studios) also contacted me this past week to tell me she had taken part in a HUGE collab. 45 designers came together and each created pieces of an enormous kit that had over 100 elements, 200 papers, 20 templates, 2 full alphas and a set of photo actions by Sarah Cornish. She said that she had 2 free passes to give to her CT members and she thought I would represent the kit beautifully and would I be willing to scrap a page with the kit to post in all the galleries. I was SO honored! I can't even begin to tell you how honored. I feel so intimidated CTing for her. She has some amazing CT members...a big chunk of them are designers that I love and also buy from! haha! So, I was beyond excited and honored and said Yes!! I still haven't downloaded that entire kit...it is HUGE! I got most of it and need to work on more of it today, but it is amazing. All the proceeds go to cleaning the oil spill, so the kit, Hands Across the Gulf, is an ocean theme. You can get it at After Five Designs for $10 and let me tell you...you won't be disappointed! Here are a couple pages I did with the kit.

......and I haven't even scratched the surface of all the amazing elements.

Here are another couple of layouts that I did with Krista's amazing-ness. I love her school kit Explore.Learn.Grow. She came out with that kit last year and it is still one of my all time favorite school kits. She put some journaled note cards in the shop last week, so I created a page highlighting those.She also came out with this stapled alpha. I thought the grey colors would go perfectly with her story of friendship kit. And I love all the pink against these gorgeous photos of Faith Ann.

For credits and links to the individual kits that I highlighted, head on over to my gallery at ScrapMatters. There is also a link in the sidebar.

And...for patiently reading my post...here is a little freebie for you. A fun little alpha I created a while back. You can download it HERE. Hope you enjoy and always feel free to leave some love or link me up to some of your layouts done with any of my freebies! If you scroll down I have some other freebies available. (I don't expire any of my personal freebies unless it is associated with a blog train.)

Until Next Time....Happy Scrapping!

ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Train!!

2010-08-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the next stop on ScrapMatter's Birthday Blog Train. You just came from Krista Sahlin's blog Here and your next stop will be at Lawteeda Designs blog Here (also a Christa :D ) Should you ever get derailed, just head on over to ScrapMatter's blog.

ScrapMatters is having a HUGE birthday bash this weekend so be sure to head on over there and shop! Everything in the store is 30% off for regular items and 20% for CU items (sale does exclude sweet deals and cannot be combined with any other coupon or offer.) After you finish shopping, be sure and head to the forum for all sorts of fun games and prizes! There are also several speed scraps this weekend and all the info about it is in the forum here.

And one more awesome thing to tell you about is that with a $20 dollar purchase in the store you can get this amazing kit absolutely FREE from August 6th-12th!

Isn't it awesome!? Birthday kits are just one thing I can never get enough of, especially with 4 kids. There are a lot of birthdays to scrap and I'm always looking for unique kits! I've also made a freebie for you from some of the pieces of this kit...a stacked paper layer in 12x12 jpeg format for you to download and play with.

Download HERE (Link is Disabled)

I hope you enjoy and be sure to leave some love. Chugga, Chugga, Choo, Choo....you are off to the next stop!

More Layouts and a Freebie!

2010-05-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pages I scrapped this week. I actually scrapped like a crazy woman! Stolen Moments put these new templates in the shop and I scrapped with all four of them! They were such gorgeous templates...I couldn't resist. And Jennifer Barrette and Tracie Stroud came out with a beautiful collab this week, Walking on Sunshine, that just called my name. Definitely a must for anyone's digi stash. This first layout I'm posting is for a Sat. special challenge tomorrow and I'm so pleased with how it came out. Sweet, chubby cheeked Emma at 1 year! She has the prettiest blue eyes! I did this page with another of Jennifer Barrette's older kits, Dandelion Wishes. I don't have the credits yet, as I haven't posted the page. The challenge goes live tomorrow, so I'll have the credits then. I love how this page turned out so much, that I made it into a template! I even made my own little scalloped edge! I am so proud of myself! The more I scrap, the more I learn about photoshop. So...here is the layout:

And here is the template that I made from the layout!Download HERE

Now here are some of the other layouts I did this week. Click the credits link below each one to find out what products I used. You can also click each picture if you want a larger view. {Credits}

{Credits}

{Credits}

{Credits}

I hope you enjoy the template. If you download be sure and leave some love and I'd also LOVE to see any layouts created with it! Just drop a link in the comment box! Have a great day!

Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters!!

2010-05-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

If you love Speed Scraps as much as I do you are NOT going to want to miss out on this one. Check out this amazing PP from Chelle's Creations!

I'm gonna be there! and I hope you will too!!

Some Layouts

2010-05-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post some of my recent layouts...The designers at ScrapMatters keep popping some amazing kits into the shop, and I just can't resist playing!

Here is a page I did for a Roadmap To Scrap challenge. You are given 7 instructions and create a layout by them. I absolutely love how this layout turned out. I think it is now officially my favorite layout to date. The photo is of course the best part, but the amazing, soft colors of the kit set the picture off so well! This is created with Jennifer Barrette's new collab (with Micheline Martin) "A Shabby Kind of Love." Isn't it pretty??

One of our guest designers this month, SuzyQ Scraps, put this awesome kit, The Mad Scientist: The Sequel, into the shop. I've had these pictures of my trip to Museum of Science and Industry just waiting to be scrapped. This kit was perfect for it! I started dissecting a cows eyeball! I was super interested in the exhibit b/c of our eye history with Drew, and was pretty bummed that I couldn't finish the whole class. Faith was sick that day and the kids were just ready to get home. But, Ben did get several great shots before I had to leave and the time I was able to stay in there was very interesting!

I hosted a speed scrap this past Thursday and had a blast doing it! It was so much fun. This is the layout that I created for it using Britt-ish designs "Fish are Friends" kit.Chelle's Creations came out with this cool kit entitled, Dragons. I had the best time with Kate and Drew coming up with a page idea for it. We have been reading the Terrestria Chronicles as a family and it is full of knights, and dragons and swords etc... As soon as I thought of this kit, I thought of that, so basically I showed the kit to the kids and they kept feeding me ideas while I put them to life on the computer screen. We spent most of the morning taking pictures of the kids pretending to fend off fire breathing dragons. Drew was the one who came up with the idea of creating the scenes inside the thought bubbles. I thought that was really clever of him! I still need to work on the shadows...but so far I like how the page has come out!
Here is a page I did for a Saturday Special Challenge at ScrapMatters. It is actually a lift (copy) of one of my old paper scrapbook pages. I used Golden Girls digital designs' kit "Boys and their Toys" and the pictures are of my adorable nephews!
Ok, here is one last page. We have a new designer at ScrapMatters, Creations by Rachael. I absolutely LOVE her stuff...her style. I've been having so much fun scrapping with her kits. Her elements and papers...all of it is just gorgeous! Here is a page I did of our vaction in DC. I used her kit "Road Trip." The kit is so shabby...and grungy. I love it!
I also used a couple of great Must-Have alphas on this page. Britt-ish Designs "Alphabetical" and Chelle's Creations "Wet Paint Alpha." So head on over to www.scrapmatters.com and check out all these amazing kits!

Tutorial - Shadows

2010-05-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I did a post on your basic photoshop instructions and today I want to go a little further and delve into shadows and CtrlJ. These two things will enhance your digital scrapbooking and turn it from that flat digital image into that page popping layout. People will be wondering, "Is that digital or paper??"

Here is my first screen shot. This is a layout I did recently and I went back through and got rid of all my shadows. I will explain in detail about how to add shadows to your layouts to give them the realistic look you want. This is a flat layout with no shadows added
To add a shadow to a layer you will select that layer in your layers palette and then you will click the little fx - I'm going to add a shadow to my photo. (You can click on any of these pictures from here on down, to enlarge and get a better view.) When you click the fx a little fly-out box will open. The fx is the code for your layer styles. There are a ton of different things to do in the fx (have fun and play around with it sometime), but you will click the drop shadow option, which is the second selection from the top, right underneath blending options. When you select drop shadow, this is what you will see. You have several different ways you can change the look of your drop shadow. Shadows bug me, so when I see a layout that has amazing shadows...I ask questions. I messaged Krista Sahlin of Sahlin Studios b/c her shadows always stood out to me. She said that she always uses an angle of 45. The distance and size will change depending on the element you are shadowing, but the spread will always be 0. What you see is almost always how I shadow my pictures and paper - I learned from Brittish Designs that selecting "linear burn" as your blending mode gives a more realistic shadow. So I normally select linear burn. You will have to play around with the blending mode though, b/c sometimes linear burn is too dark, so you can either change the opacity of your shadow or sometimes you just have to leave it at the default blend mode of multiply. Just remember that you want it to look realistic. You can already see by looking at my photo that the shadow has been added. Now lets focus on those flowers and leaves. We really want those to pop off the page. They are going to need a much deeper shadow. So, I'm going to select one of the leaves in my layer pallette and click on that fx again and select drop shadow. Look how that leaf just pops off the page now. I'm going to put in a little advertisement plug right now :D After messaging yet another great scrapper about her shadowing skills I learned about a designer that sells "shadow styles." Basically you load them into your photoshop program and at the click of a button it shadows your element for you. I use them as a start...but it is very time saving. Check out this link to see what I mean (shadow styles.) After applying the shadow style I usually go in there and change the blend mode to linear burn, or sometimes add a little bit of depth, but it is a good starting point and for a few bucks a great saver of time when scrapping. The styles are all labeled (paper, string, ribbon, flower) so you know which one to select to shadow which types of elements. Such a help!

Ok...I hope I've given you the basic idea of shadows. You will want to go in and shadow all of your layers. Play with them until you get the look you want. Now on to the fun part of scrapping...ctrl J! Take a look at this ribbon and this stitching on my layoutRight now I have the stitches sitting on top of my ribbon. Using ctrl J, I'm going to make that ribbon appear as if it is twirling around the stitching. First you want to select your ribbon in your layers pallette and you also want to select your lasso tool.You can see the arrow pointing to the lasso tool. If you right click on that lasso icon a fly-out box will give you three options for a lasso tool. You will have just the regular lasso tool (with this you will draw by holding down your left mouse button. Once you let up on the mouse it will automatically make a selection that you can see by the marching ants), you have the polygonal lasso (with this you click in one spot and keep clicking in different places to form straight lines around your selection.) Then you have the magnetic lasso tool (this tool will sense your elements and try to find it's own selection around them.) I generally use the polygonal lasso tool when trying to select an element. If I want to just draw a rough circle around an element then the regular lasso tool is quick and easy. But for the ctrl J...I will have the polygonal selected.

Starting at the very top of my ribbon I'm going to zoom way in. Here is a shot of your zoom tool

When you select that, just click on your layout to zoom in...when you want to zoom back out, hold down your alt key and click on your layout to zoom out.

Ok, so here is my ribbon zoomed in. Using my polygonal lasso tool, I've made a selection of my ribbon. Once you have it selected you will see the marching ants. You can see it in my screen shot, though there is no movement. There will be movement on your screen. Once you see those marching ants you will press your ctrl and j button on your keyboard at the same time. This will make a duplicate copy of your selection. The goal is to copy that small piece of ribbon and bring it above the stitches in the layers palette.

Once you hit ctrl/j, you will see a new layer appear right above your ribbon layer. That is the little piece that you just created. You will select it in your layers palette and drag it above your stitch layer.

It will now look like this

How cool is that? I will now copy several pieces of my ribbon and bring them above the stitches. Here is how it looks when I'm done. I've highlighted all my new layers (all the little pieces of ribbon that I've copied and brought above the stitch) so you can see them. As you can see I've also shadowed it so it looks very realistic. Here is my finished layout Hopefully I've given you a better understanding of photoshop and how to make digital scrapping look like paper scrapping. Feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have!

Recent Layouts

2010-05-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd pop up some layouts I've done recently...I've been scrapping a lot more now that school is out! :D
Designs by Tater was my designer for the month of April. She came out with a kit called Boy's Rule. When I first looked at the kit I thought, "What in the world am I gonna do with this?" But as I began playing I had so much fun putting this layout together! That pic of Luke with his spikey hair was perfect for my page! I couldn't resist snapping pictures of Priscilla when she came to visit and I couldn't resist scrapping them either! The collab A Day Like Today by Jennifer Barrette and Lauren Grier had the perfect colors for those pictures! Here is another Jennifer Barrette kit, Growth Spurt. I journaled about how much our kids have changed since we saw the Bachman family last - about 2 years ago. I scrapped my attempt at making raviolis. Obviously this was a while ago as Faith Ann is little here, but this was the perfect kit to scrap it. It is actually a Ratatouille inspired kit called Bon Appetit and is a collaboration by Britt-ish Designs and Suzy Q Scraps. I think that fork and knife are my favorite elements in the whole kit! haha! I really like how this layout turned out, Africa by Air. The challenge at SM is to journal on your pictures and this was a perfect page to do it. These are some of the shots that Ben got from Tom Needham's airplane during his survey trip last month. Pretty cool, huh? I used Sahlin Studios and Britt-ish Designs collab, Around the World. That kit is the perfect kit to have for anyone that has ever taken a trip of any kind! I love it! Sahlin Studios also made some add on element packs that are must haves Travel:Snippettes, and also Travel: Mixed MediaAnd then lastly, I did this layout for a Word Up challenge at ScrapMatters. I love the picture of my Mom and the 3 of my kids. Faith Ann keeps asking where she is. I keep explaining that she wasn't even thought of at that point lol! I love Emma's rosy cheeked smile in this shot, and Kate's genuine laughter. It is just a great picture of all of them. Such a sweet memory. That was the first time my Mom came over her to visit us in Cameroon. Such fun times. I used Plum Dumpling Designs Family Fun kit. Ok, this is my last one, I promise. :D We have a new designer at ScrapMatters, Creations by Rachel. I'm totally in love with her style. I've decided I have to scrap with all of her kits!! They are beautiful. I did this page with her kit Happiness. I love this shot of Emma. This was while we were on our way up to the Needham's house for our annual family conference. We took our church van and she was just looking out the window...lovin' life.

All these kits are available at http://www.scrapmatters.com/

Chance to Win!!

2010-05-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am a missionary in Cameroon, but when I'm stateside I live in Chattanooga, TN and LOVE IT! Chattanooga is just the best city! Well, it has gotten even better since a good friend of mine, Pleasant Vonnoh started a photography business! We grew up together, went to church together, and were in youth group together. How I wish some of her photography skills had rubbed off on me during that time!! She is so amazing! Check out her website here to see how amazing she is! Here is just one photo example:Pleasant recently gave me permission to scrap some photos of my cousins little girl. How fun was that! I put her name in my credits along with a link to her website so other people could find her. Here is one of the pages I did recently of little Meredith:

*credits: Sahlin Studios Rejuvinate, frosted acrylic alpha, embossed frames - all at ScrapMatters.com*

It is so much fun to scrap professional photos. Maybe one day my photos will look something like that...*sigh*

Well, here is the good part. Pleasant is offering the chance to win a FREE mini session. If you live in or near Chattanooga Tennessee...or are willing to travel there, then you need to enter. Check out this blog http://shane-natalie.blogspot.com/2010/05/sending-some-local-love-pleasant-vonnoh.html for all the details. You can enter your name several times if you are willing to blog and facebook about it (thus my post today! lol). Of course my secret wish is that you forget ... or something ... b/c I really want to win!! haha!

Template Freebie

2010-05-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting the Tuesday Template Challenge over at ScrapMatters this week. You can check out the thread for it HERE in their forum. You can earn points that will give you discounts in the SM store, or gift certificates as well. It is a fun system to be a part of! Here is the template I made:

Download the template HERE

And here is the layout that the template was created from:

I used products from "By Becca" -- her kit Wistful and her Retro Gold and Paper alphas. All of this was a part of her grab bag, but is now broken down into individual products in her shop. Her designs are beautiful! I never feel like I do them justice! You can check out her shop here.

ScrapMatters extended iNSD Sale!

2010-05-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

iNSD blog train!!

2010-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to your next stop on the ScrapMatters iNSD blog train. You just came from Christine's blog and now you have traveled all the way across the ocean to Cameroon, West Africa!! :D (hopefully you will avoid the jet-lag that usually comes with a trip that long!) I am sure you have enjoyed all the goodies so far, as well as reading about everyone's memorable moments. So, now to share my own memorable moment!

I think that everyone would agree that having children is very memorable. Each pregnancy and delivery and recovery is unique and holds special memories. I have been through the process 4 times and I can say that there are certain things that stand out among each of them. I want to share my first experience though, as that event has certainly mattered in my life. The events surrounding my first baby, my son, definitely had a part in shaping and changing me into who I am today.

My pregnancy was simple and normal. No morning sickness (I was blessed), every checkup and ultrasound perfect. I went into labor all on my own and everything progressed quickly and normally. It wasn't until I delivered my precious baby that everything changed. Our son, Drew, was born with a rare liver disease called neonatal hemochromatosis. As soon as he was born doctors struggled for 10 minutes to get him to breathe. I remember that faint little cry...and as soon as I heard it he was whisked out of the room. I didn't see him until hours later. They wheeled him into my room in an incubator and I was able to get a brief glimpse. They then loaded him onto an ambulance and rushed him to our local Children's Hospital. I remember waking up in the night in the birthing center listening to other newborn babies cry and weeping b/c of my empty arms.

For 7 days we saw Drew during visitors hours while doctors assured us that he would improve. The doctors rotation changed that 7th day and his new doctor was puzzled and quickly diagnosed him with neonatal hemachromatosis. We were called into the hospital on a Wed. night, 10 days after Drew was born and were told that he was being flown by helicopter to Atlanta. There at Emory Children's hospital, he would be examined and hopefully approved for a liver transplant....his only hope of survival.

The next day we drove to Atlanta and checked into a Ronald McDonald house. We stayed there at night, but spent our days at the hospital waiting for each visiting hour. Drew was there a week being treated and examined. Our life was a roller coaster of ups and downs. Finally after a week, the doctor called us in and told us that Drew was not elligible for a liver transplant. If they operated on him he would bleed out and die and they couldn't risk losing a liver to a baby that wouldn't make it. We were told that he might live 2 months, but would most likely die of renal failure.

At that moment in life, I was supposed to weep and wail. I think the doctor was surprised at our unbelievable calm. He asked if we understood what he was telling us. All I could think during those minutes were this...the doctors can't do a thing...now God can step in and receive all the credit for what happens in Drew's little body.

And that is exctly what happened. The only thing the doctors gave Drew, was what they called "comfort care." Only God can receive the credit for what was done in Drew's body. We were discharged from Emory Children's Hospital and we followed the ambulance back to Chattanooga. From that point on, every single day Drew got better and better. His numbers went the right direction, he was weaned from the ventilator to the cpap and eventually to breathing on his own. And finally, 2 months and 1 day from the moment Drew was born, he came home from the hospital. The doctors had given him 2 months to live...but God gave us our baby back in those two months. All the glory and credit goes to God alone for Drew's healing.

Today, Drew is a bright and funny 9 year old. He has vision problems as a result of his whole ordeal, but aside from that, is one of the healthiest of my 4 kids. He is a blessing and a constant reminder that God still does perform miracles! Here are some before and after pictures of our miracle...

So, I hope my "moment that matters" brightened your day...sorry I wrote so much! I tend to be a bit verbose! I did summarize though, b/c there is SO much more I could have shared! Anyway...on to the freebie!

Here is a stacked paper created with ScrapMatters iNSD collab, "Moments That Matter."

Download HERE

*link is now expired*

It is a beautiful kit and can be yours for free with a $20 purchase during iNSD.

Well, it is time to get back on board the train. Now you are headed to Christa's (LawTeeDa Designs) Blog. If you ever get lost you can always start at the beginning by heading over to ScrapMatters blog.
I'm so glad you stopped in! And make sure you head over to ScrapMatters for all the fun and games. You won't want to miss it!

Finished page

2010-04-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ok...so after making my tut I just started playing around with that page I'd started and I just had to share my finished product. I used Jennifer Barrette's collab (with Meg Mullins) Press Play. You can pick it up at ScrapMatters.com if you like it. So, here's my page:

I'm really happy with it...that kit matches Emma's dress perfectly! I picked that kit up with a specific layout in mind, but I need to get the picture from my mom and get it scanned as it is an old one. But, we need to use the kits we pick up for our CT work within a month. So, I came up with this page, and am so happy with it...it is definitely a keepr.

Creating your very first page

2010-04-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

I know that I have several friends who are interested in digital scrapbooking, but have no idea where to start. When I first started I was lost. I opened my photoshop program and was completely stumped as to what to do. I wanted to give you this basic tutorial on the first steps to learning your photoshop program in order to create your first digital layout. If you don't have photoshop...download a free trial just to give it a whirl and see if you like it. You will also need some papers and embellishments, so head on over to shabby princess and download one of her free kits...or all of them if you want to. They are beautiful! and a great way to get started without having to spend money on digital products. Ok...here we go! :)

When you download your kit, I'd create a folder on your desktop entitled scrapbook kits and save it there. That way you know where to access it at all times. I have one such folder on my desktop and it is a VERY big file lol. Go ahead and open your photoshop program. It will look something like this. (**You can click on any of these pictures to enlarge**)

Now, you will go to the top left hand corner of your screen and click file and then open. A browser window will open and you can navigate to your scrapbook kits folder that you created on your desktop. Go in there and choose a paper and click open. Here is what I chose: Now, you will want to make sure this tool is selected - so click on itThis is your "Move Tool" and one of the most used tools on here. Now, go back to file/open and open up some embellishments from the kit that you selected your paper from. Choose some flowers, ribbons, whatever...just open them up so we can play with them. Here is what I opened up:(*Hint* When you go into your folder to open up your embellishments, hold down the ctrl key and click on all the ones you want to use, then click open. This will open them up all at one time, so you don't have to keep going in and opening each item individually.)
Since we already selected the move tool, we can begin to drag any item straight to our background paper that we just opened up. Just left click, and while holding down the left mouse button, pull it over to the paper. I'm going to move that blue ribbon to my paper. It now looks like this: When your move tool is selected, you can click on that ribbon and move it anywhere on the page. Let's go ahead and drag several embellishments onto our paper. Once you have done that, go back to file/open and find a picture that you want to scrap. Open it and drag it onto your background paper as well. Here is mine:As you can see I have a bit of a problem. My picture covers most of my paper b/c of its large file size. Here is how you can reduce it. First you need to make sure that the "Show Transform Controls" is checked in your top toolbar here: You will notice a box appears around your photo...to make the pic smaller, hold down the shift key. Then with your mouse, left click and hold one of the corners of the picture and drag it in to reduce the size. When it is the size you want, let up on the mouse first, then the shift key and hit enter on your keyboard, or you can click the black check mark on the top right hand bar of your screen. Holding the shift key down insures that your picture stays within proper proportions and doesn't get distorted. (this works for your embellishments too.)If you forget to hold down the shift key, and the picture gets all wacky...just hit the escape key and it will put it back at full size. If you ever need to undo something that you did, just go up to the top bar and click edit/undo, or step backward.

Now that I have my picture and several embellishments on my paper, I need to know how to move them around. I might want one flower under my picture and one on top. Or my ribbon on top and some flowers under it and some above it etc...This is where your "layers palette" comes into play. It is located on the right hand side of your screen here: Everything that you have on your paper, you can see in your layers palette. Right now my picture is my top layer, then a leaf, an orange flower next and so on and so forth. My ribbon is at the very bottom of my layers palette, but I want it brought to the top so that it is laying on top of my photo. I will click the ribbon in the layers palette, and while holding the left mouse button, I will drag it up to the top of my layers and then let go of the mouse. Now as you can see my ribbon is at the top: That is all you have to do to move your layer order around. Now to move the embellishments on my paper - say I want the pink flower to be in the bottom corner of my paper, I would click on the pink flower in my layers palette, then making sure my move tool is selected I will go over to my paper and I can click and move that flower anywhere I want. Just make sure that the embellishment or picture that you want to move around, is highlighted in your layers palette. In the picture above, you can see that the ribbon is highlighted blue...so when I click my mouse on my paper and move it around, my ribbon will be the element that moves. If I want to move my picture...I'd highlight my picture in my layers palette, then come over to the paper and click and move it around. I hope that makes sense :)

Once you get everything in place, you will want to add shadows to make it look realistic. Shadows are a big deal, and in my opinion what makes a digital layout look like a paper layout, but it is a lot of info and I'll save it for my next tutorial. For now you will want to save the layout that you have started. So, go to file and click save. Give it a name and it will save it as a PSD file (photoshop document). You will be able to open it again at any time and tweak it in photoshop. When you are finished you can save as into a jpeg. I always keep one copy in a psd file in case I find mistakes down the road and they need to be fixed.

I hope this tut has been helpful. If it has...please leave me a comment and let me know! Or if you have any questions...feel free to leave those as well!!

Toot Toot!

2010-04-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna toot my own horn for just a second...hope you don't mind.

There is a website called Gallerystandouts.com. It is run by some digital designers and they comb through all of the digital scrapbooking galleries once a day and pick out the layouts that stand out among all the rest. Of course it is just one person's opinion, as there a ton of amazing layouts in the gallery on a daily basis, but it is an honor to be picked nonetheless. Well, today...I got chosen!!! For this layout!

wheeeeeeee! I was so excited!! I did this page for the inspiration challenge at ScrapMatters and used Sahlin Studio's and Sugarplum Paperie's kit "So Grateful." I just love the colors and it matched the inspiration piece for the challenge perfectly! I took the girls outside on Sunday afternoon to get pictures of them, with this challenge in mind actually. In reality they looked atrocious...dirty and hair a wreck from driving in the car to church. But once I ran a photo action on them...they looked quite a bit better. haha :)

I'm in love with photo actions. They just add an extra touch to photos that make them look SO much better. I'm sure you've heard of the Pioneer Woman. She is especially known for her new cookbook and amazing recipes. But she also gives away some amazing photo actions too. She has one called "boost" that I use on nearly every photo. It just sharpens it and pops the color a bit. Absolutely amazing! Rita of Coffeeshop photography has another blog that offers free photo actions. And then one of my new favorites is My4hens photography by Sarah Cornish. She offers freebies from time to time (always good to check her blog from time to time) and then she sells actions too. In fact the action that I used on the pictures in my layout above is one of hers. They are just fun and a bit artsy. I usually sit and play with my pictures for the first 10-20 min. or so when I scrap. I fun different actions on them to see what they look like. I definitely recommend downloading some freebies and giving it a try.

In order to run actions you need a software program. I'm assuming this is what you were asking, Ann, when you said s/w?? There are a lot of different programs to scrap with, but I love photoshop. A cheaper and simpler program is photoshop elements that I would say a majority of scrappers use. My big thing in scrapping is shadowing. When people look at my digital pages, I want them to wonder if they are paper. I'm not sure if I'm really accomplishing that, but that is my goal. The capabilities in photoshop allow me to really customize the shadows and that is important to me. So, that is definitely the program I recommend - either photoshop creative suite (I have CS3) or photoshop elements (or adobe elements). If you google photoshop trial download you can find free trials online. This will give you an opportunity to play around with it. I recommend searching youtube for digital scrapbooking tutorials first, so you have an idea of how to work with photoshop a little bit. It can be a very confusing program, and I promise you will be using it for years and still be learning new stuff! But at least get an idea of how to open a document and begin layering your pictures and elements.

Becky you asked if digital scrapbooking took less time and the answer is a definite YES! I can scrap a page from start to finish in less than an hour. I'd say my average is an hour. You can scrap while sitting in front of the TV...You can scrap on the road while traveling. Wherever your laptop goes...you can scrap! I love it! No paper, pens, glue, scissors, stickers, mess. I do not regret making the switch from paper to computer. I recommend it for every scrapper!

So...everyone...go download a trial and give it a whirl!

Some Freebies!

2010-03-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

This is a landmark moment in my digi-scrapping life...I created a freebie!! Could I venture to say that I designed something??? I always envy designers. I wish I knew how they created the amazing things they do. Wouldn't it be so much fun to just be able to create everything you needed for all your scrapping needs! :) Of course that might take all the fun out of shopping for digital products! haha!

Anyway, I'm hosting a challenge over at ScrapMatters (check it out HERE). It is a project 365 challenge. It is a great challenge that tries to keep all of us 365ers on track. It has really helped me. So, for the challenge I offered two freebies. First a template:*click here to download*

And here is the layout that the template was made from:

(*Credits*)

Then here is a great addition to your Project 365 stash, some Gel Date Dots:

*click here to download*

If you are a digital scrapbooker, pro or amateur, you should check out ScrapMatters. Their challenge system is wonderful. Just by creating and posting scrapbook pages for their challenges you can earn points, and in turn earn discounts to their store, and even up to a gift certificate for $5.50! I have grown as a digital scrapper since being on that site and have excelled in my photoshop program, which not only helps me preserve family memories, but also helps me in ministry by creating visuals and prayer letterheads etc...

Well...enjoy the freebies, and I'd love to see what you create using them. Feel free to leave me a link in a reply to my post! I'd really appreciate it! I hope to be back tomorrow to share some new products and pages that I've done recently!

2010-03-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd pop some pages up that I've done recently. I've been scrapping a lot more than normal, but really enjoying it b/c I can go into the shop and choose whatever kits I need to scrap my pages. It is so fun and I'm still so thankful that I got the CT position at ScrapMatters.

Here is a layout I did of our Disney trip. I used Britt-ish Designs Alice kit. Britt has some amazing kits and her specialty is to design kits inspired by her trips to Disney. She has everything you could possibly need to scrap Alice, Nemo, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Sword in the Stone, Animal Kingdom, Epcot...the list can keep going. Check out her store and you will be amazed! This is a layout I did with her animal kingdom kit. It has so many African elements. I used Rosemary Craven's pictures of her recent trip up north. My goal is to have an album to put on our display table when we go home on furlough, highlighting different parts of Cameroon.Here is a layout I did with Erica Zanes Got Green? kit and the Most Awesome Templates Ever by Denise Beatty Originals. This was our trip to Foumban over Thanksgiving. Drew really enjoyed the day at the water park! Can't you tell by the smile on his face?I have quite a few more pages, but I'll post them another time. You can always follow the link to my gallery to see my pages, or anyones pages for that matter at ScrapMatters. I love the inspiration I find there! I'm constantly saving images to my favorites for fresh ideas for my layouts!

My History in Digital Scrapbooking

2010-03-05T00:26:00.001-08:00

Well, this is going to be fun! I'm so excited about my new blog. I love preserving family memories through scrapbooking, but also, it is something I can do to relax. My stress reliever. :) So to jumpstart my blog, I thought I'd give you a little bit of my scrapping history!

When Drew was born and I couldn't be near him all the time while he was in ICU, I needed an outlet. Something to make me feel near him, so I started to scrapbook. I had cheap paper products and started on white paper in an 8 1/2 by 11 album. My hobby grew as I found all the amazing products at Michael's Craft Store and then Hobby Lobby. I finally upgraded to a 12x12 album and Ben got me one of those big scrapping suitcases that houses all your punches and cutters and stickers and embellishments. I transported it all out here to Cameroon, and while I had less time to scrap, I would still get in these modes. My Auntie Marcia had given me a computer program one year. It was a Creating Keepsakes program that had digital scrapbooking capabilities, but I used it for all the great fonts that were on there and would use it to write my journaling and titles for my paper scrapbook pages. I had actually heard of scrapbooking digitally, but said, "I'll never do that! It takes all the creativity out of it!" haha! Well, one day I just happened to play around with that program, and I'm telling you I was hooked immediately. It was the oddest thing! I had an old copy of photoshop my brother had given us, I loaded it on my computer, b/c that creating keepsakes disk was too limiting when it came to shadows. Photoshop was frustrating and I spent the first week on youtube downloading tutorials and pulling my hair out. I finally started getting somewhere. And I must say that I'm still learning. I'm not sure I'll ever master photoshop completely, but I've definitely improved. Ben bought me the upgrade, CS3, for Christmas 2 years ago, and I love it! Since then I've gotten involved in scrapbooking forums. It is like a digital scrapbooking community where we all have the same thing in common. I am most active at ScrapMatters, but have posted some at sweetshoppedesigns as well. I've met fellow believers there even and have enjoyed getting to know some of these ladies! Susan met a lady whose church she'd been in on deputation. And another lady who attended our rival school of Maranatha. Recently I applied to be on the creative team of ScrapMatters. What that means is I get to create pages for ALL the designers there. It is SO fun!! I have full access to the store for FREE and I create layouts highlighting the designers there and basically advertise for them so their products sell. It is SO much fun and Ben is so happy b/c it saves on the paypal too! :) (goodness, have I mentioned how fun all this is! lol)

Well, I knew this first post would be verbose ... but before I close I just have to highlight some of the new products at ScrapMatters this week. This first one I'm so pumped about, b/c it is a set of templates that were inspired by my layouts! Wow...I was SO honored when Wendy asked to turn some of my layouts into templates. Here is a peak at the original layouts and the templates that she made from them I love how they turned out! I've even scrapped a page with them myself.

Then another great kit that came to the store is Happy Go Lucky by Jennifer Barrette. I actually used her kit to design my blog. It is so bright and fun. I made a layout with this one as well (we have access to all the new kits before they hit the shop too!!)

here is my layout

There are so many more kits to share, but head on over to ScrapMatters shop and check them out. They are amazing. And check back from time to time for more digi scrapping inspiration. I'd like to offer some tutorials on here too. Tutorials are what helped me so much! If you are even slightly curious or interested in digital scrapbooking, you should try to download a trial of photoshop and give it a whirl. I guarantee you will be hooked!

Under Construction

2010-02-26T17:10:00.001-08:00

My first post is just to say Hello! I have a lot of work to do on this blog, but it is late and I will do it tomorrow. I want this to be a place to share my digital scrapbook pages and also to enable the digital designers that I create for...SO be sure to check back!! If you want to learn more about me in the mean time, check out my 365 blog...www.journeythru2010.blogspot.com

Becca's Digi Designs

Chance to Win

Free Ride Friday

Babypalooza!

Recent Layouts

ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Train!!

More Layouts and a Freebie!

Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters!!

Some Layouts

Tutorial - Shadows

Recent Layouts

Chance to Win!!

Template Freebie

ScrapMatters extended iNSD Sale!

iNSD blog train!!

Finished page

Creating your very first page

Toot Toot!

Some Freebies!

More Pages

My History in Digital Scrapbooking

Under Construction