This page by Trace [aka Tracermajig] really caught my eye. I love how the larger photo frames were simulating a filmstrip coming in from the top left. It made you feel like you were reeling it in with the tied fastener. And then the journaler in the bottom right helped to balance it all out. The mix of colors gave it great energy and the three little epoxies on the top image led your eye from the title to the photo and then down to the final epoxy on the journaler. Perfection!

Jen, Lori and Linda all took a spin on this page with wonderful lifts!

From LoriS
credits: Artistry DAmour Kit [COMING SOON], Artistry DAmour Add On Papers [COMING SOON], Haunted Woodlands Solids Paper Pack (for the stripe), Watery Wings Brushes and Stamps, Whimsy Wings Element Pack, Winter Plaids Paper Pack No. 01, Little Bits Alphabet, Basic Paper Alphabet: Orange, All Hung Up, Metal Clip Assortment No. 03, Assorted Messy Stitches: White No. 02, Assorted Messy Stitches: White No. 03, Bead Scatterings No. 04, Kotteder Kit, Layer Works No. 053

from Linda [aka earlofoxford]
credits: Classic Cardstock: Details Paper Pack, Haunted Woodlands Add-On Paper Pack, Classic Cardstock: Finest Paper Pack, Festival Paper Pack, Basic Bare Chipboard Alphabet No. 02, Rounded Corner Clipping Masks Brushes, Clock Parts No. 08, Tied Fasteners No. 03(recolored), Clean Stitched Rounded Corners: White No. 01, Clean Stitched Borders: White No. 01, Basic Twills: Words No. 01, Haunted Woodlands Element Pack(green eyelet lace recolored), Metal Scrolls No. 02, Bookshelf Clusters No. 01 {coming soon}, Twilled Dates No. 02, Drop Shadow Styles Collection, Subtle Plum Paper Pack, Everyday Sentiment Strips Brushes and Stamps, Awanui Kit, Staple Its!, How’d They Do That? No. 13: Bending Shadows, How’d They Do That? No. 19: Recoloring Essentials

From Jen D
credits: Fine Line Twists [coming soon], Game Day Paper Pack, Football Paper Pack, Gator Crossing Paper Pack, Dotted and Dashed Brushes and Stamps, Messy Slab Alphas Brushes and Stamps, All Laced Up No. 03, Alphabet Ribbons No. 01, Banner Strips No. 01, Hinge Pack, Inky Numbers and Dates, Cut Ups: Football, Little Enamel Accents: Sports, Banner Safety Tags No. 01, Tin Frames

I hope you’ll take inspiration too and we’ll look to see your lifts in the Saturday Scraplift Gallery at DesignerDigitals!

This week’s Adobe Photoshop or Elements tip of the week is now available on video. This weeks tip is on Using Brushes to Embellish Text in Photoshop and PSE.

Merrilee (digigrandma) had this great idea for mini notebooks.  We loved them and knew you would love them too.


Here is what Merrilee said about them.
“I saw this idea on a blog found because of Pinterest. I made these for my daughter-in-laws as a little Valentine present. I made them up very quickly.  Directions:  Buy some inexpensive memo note pads like you can buy at Target or Walmart. The little memo pads I used are about 2 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches. Create covers using digital designs, personalize with initials or names, print out on card stock paper and adhere to the cover of the memo notebook with double face tape. I created 4 to a page to print on home printer.”
This is how Merrilee set them up in Photoshop.


Merr used:
Loves Park Kit
Simple Heart Paper Pack
I have been wanting to make a gratitude journal for one of my daughters so I decided to make one like Merr’s.  I added tabs for each month of the year. 

The products I used:
Be Loved Mini Kit
Autumnal Artistry Element Pack
Be Labeled: Love
I want to thank Merr for this fun idea and hope it inspires you to try a hybrid project. If you do, be sure to post it in the Hybrid Scrapbooking and More Gallery.

Welcome to the first Template Challenge of 2012! If you’ve never participated in a Template Challenge, I hope doing that is on your list of goals for this year. And if you’ve played before, stick around because we have some new ideas we’re tossing around to ramp up the fun-o-meter. This week, the Creative Team played with Pattie Knox’s Speed Byte No. 149, but none of us used it exactly the way Pattie designed it. That’s your challenge, too: use Pattie’s cool template, but change something about it. Let’s look at how the Creative Team members changed it.

Lynn (grandma lynnie) used Pattie’s template to showcase her fun photos from a recent trip to Maine where she and her husband enjoyed some lobster. Lynn rotated the template 90 degrees to accommodate her great landscape-oriented food shot, and she added a third small detail photo. That still left plenty of room for her journaling and for the cool red accents that draw the eye through her page. Great work, Lynn!

Credits: Speed Byte No. 149, Staple Its, Jelly Alphabet No. 06, Marina Paper Pack, Watery Brushes and Stamps No. 02, Red Word Bits No. 01

Jodi (justmp) documented Christmas Eve at her house with some terrific pictures of her children in front of the Christmas tree. Instead of one large photo on the right, Jodi divided the space to make room for her focal photo and some seasonal patterned paper. She also added candy cane frames to the two small photos and used a blended image under her journaling. I love the way Jodi’s page says, “Merry Christmas!”

Credits: Speed Byte No. 149, Santa Land Kit, Little Snips Alphabet, Santa Land Solids and Stripes Paper Pack

I reduced the size of the template and had fun creating a background behind my photos. I found the word color in Katie’s Assorted Advice No. 01, lowered the opacity, and used it to “stamp” the top of my background paper. I also shifted the position of the two small photos slightly to the left to create a “shelf” for my title. The white space to the left of my journaling looked a little blank to me, but Katie’s new Star Glows solved that problem.

Credits: Speed Byte No. 149, Victory Garden Kit, Fasten Its, Little Folded Ribbon Bits, Just Linens Paper Pack No. 30, Kesia Kit, Orange Crush Kit, Clean Stitched Borders: White No. 01Alphabet Ribbons No. 01, Assorted Advice No. 01 Brushes and Stamps, Aged Stripes Alphabet Brushes No. 02, Pinned Tabs No. 01, Pinned Tabs No. 02, Pinned Tabs No. 03, Be Buttoned: Harvest, Zipper Pulls: Dates, Star Glows Brushes and Stamps No. 02, Drop Shadow Styles Collection, How’d They Do That? No. 13: Bending Shadows

Change a little or change a lot, but make a change. Pattie’s versatile template is on sale today for 30% off in the store. I can’t wait to see what sort of changes you make for your page. Post your layout in the Template Challenge Gallery so we can leave you some love.

It’s Thrifty Thursday at DesignerDigitals where we have a brand new item priced at just $ 99 cents and 463 items marked down 30%. These specials only last until 6am EST on Friday morning so don’t miss out.