Photobook

(See above post)
Photobook printed with Shutterfly (50% off).
There are a couple of things I'll do differently next time, but overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
100 pages but still thin and sleek!

**For you digiscrappers out there, I've also included some of the digital pages so you can compare and see what you think of Shutterfly's print quality...**

(The first pic is a father's day card I made for Steven.
We're thinking about splattering a bit of spaghetti sauce on it to make it more realistic :)
Click photos to enlarge.

This page seemed a little washed out. The yellow just isn't as rich and warm as the original.
It also lost some detail and contrast.

















This layout in print was a little disappointing. Way different from the digital image.
The blues are completely different and the faces are desaturated.











The green background is too cool, and not in a good way.




The reds could have been a little darker/richer.

Overall, despite a few color and resolution issues, I was pretty happy with the album. If I were rich, I would print the same album with 5 different companies, but unfortunately, that aint happenin' any time soon so, for now, I think I'll stick with Shutterfly. At least until someone convinces me otherwise.

Fun with silhouettes...

Can you tell who it is? It's hard to mistake that nose. Here's a fun little PS tutorial for you...

The wee ones look much cuter! Oh, someone else did the bottom 2 by the way - Unfortunately, those cuties are not mine. Now that I'm previewing this post, it almost looks like a family tree...but nope.

Reminded of why I do DIGITAL scrapbooking...

A homemade calendar? Yes, that's it; that will be my "affordable" gift to Mom.

Many hours and many dollars later, I realized that "homemade" doesn't always mean affordable. A digitally scrapped calendar would have been $20 and much less time-consuming. BUT, of anyone, my mom is certainly worth the time, money and effort.

This project made me grateful too - for the fact that I don't do traditional scrapbooking anymore. Let me break down the expenses (and I was trying to be conservative!)

$2.00: Spiral Binding
$3.00 : PS Calendar Brushes
$4.80: Poster board (x6, for twelve black 14 x 14" mats)
$10.00 (approx.): 12 x 12" Scrapbook Paper (x14, ea. sheet ranging from .50 - $2.00)
$10.00 (approx.): 5 x 7" Photo Printing (x12 + a few extras)
$10.00 (approx.): Adhesives (double-sided tape, glue, etc.)
$15.00: Embellishments (month-specific)

So, for those of you asking if digital scrapbooking is cheaper, here's the proof that it is! $20 v. $55.

Although, I will confess that this calendar probably does look better than what I could create digitally...more "crafty" anyway.

Fun text effect in PS

I was working on a new logo for a client, and somehow came up with this a couple of hours later. Obviously doesn't work as a logo, but I thought it was neat regardless. (And it only requires a mere 100 steps...)

How to use a quick page (+ a freebie)

Ok, so it's not my tutorial (and not my freebie), but it's still good to know - esp. for those of you who are just starting digital scrapbooking.

The "quick page" is really simple to do. It's just a pre-designed digital srapbook page that you can plop your photos in.

Paislee Press has put together a detailed tutorial on how it's done. Click the image to see the easy peezy instructions:

Simple white border

After doing a bit of research, I'm happy to say I'm not the only one who has been frustrated by Photoshop's strange lack of options when it comes to creating a simple white border on your elements. I've tried stroke, expand, and even "border", but all of them are either rounded or feathered, and it makes me crazy! Finally, I found something that works (other than layering a disproportionate white rectangle underneathe). Here's the step by step on how to get a simple square border (at least in PS3). Activate the layer. (Click the thumbnail in the layers palette while holding the Ctrl key) Hold down the Shift key and the letter "Q" From the top menu, select Filter> Other> Maximum Choose the width of your border Shift-Q again Now you'll see an empty marquee around your picture, fill that marquee with whatever color you want for your border. Now hit Ctrl-D on your keyboard to get rid of the marching ants and there ya go!
It may seem like a lot of steps, but after you've done it a couple of times, it's really quick and easy.

Fonts

These are 2 sites I recommend for fonts:
1. dafont.com (100s of free fonts!) Just about everything you could possibly want.		2. fontgarden.com This site has some cute handwritten fonts - great for scrapbooking. Not free but affordable.