Melissa Hill is an extremely talented digital scrapbooker who not only has a great eye for color, but also is great at strong layout designs, with the photos and elements all tied together in a pleasing arrangement. I’ve chosen one of her layouts as this week’s Saturday Scraplift inspiration, as I was drawn by the way she created a block from her three photos then creatively embellished it with brushwork, stitching and elements:

Isn’t it great? I love that strong design. But you might also be inspired by the sweeping circular embellishment (in this case Anna’s LoopdaLoop Flowers) paired with the phrase tags. It was lots of fun to lift, as Merr, Julie and I discovered. Hope you can play along too.

Credits: layout by Lynn, Steam Friends kit and Malabar kit by Lynn Grieveson, LoopdaLoop flowers and stitching by Anna Aspnes, Stamped Stitched Frame and Spot Dot Alpha (coming soon) by Katie Pertiet.

Credits: layout by Merrilee, Scrap Express 66, and Frieda kit (alpha) by Lynn Grieveson, Nora solids and Aaron paperpack by Michelle Martin, Taped Dotty Polkas, Stitched LoopdaLoops, ArtPlay ExLibris Add on brushset and ArtPlay mini-kit No.04y Anna Aspnes, Word Strip Labels, Simple Spots No.04 and Zipper Pulls: Dates by Katie Pertiet.

Credits: layout by Julie, Naturally Krafty No.09 (coming soon), Deckled Edge Journal Spots No.01, Going Away element pack, Spots Dots paperpacks No.15 and No.13, Simple Classics No.06, Cut Ups Summertime, and Cut Ups Baby by Katie Pertiet, Stitched by Anna White No.04, Stitched by Anna White No.05 Complete Stitched Alpha Collection No.01 and LoopdaLoop Flowers by Anna Aspnes.

Okay I confess, this summer I have mostly forgotten the day, date and time of day… which is how come I am missing from the FFF posts! I am so sorry for thinking it was thursday/sunday/tuesday when… er.. it wasn’t!
Its friday today tho I’m fairly sure of it…

Drawing your attention to the DD flickr poll is my entire aim here… I do pick and point out pictures I like, but that doesnt mean I don’t like at least 900 others as much. Go check out our group and you’ll see what I mean! CLEVER CREATIVE PEOPLE! Thats you guys
First picture today is this one from Myra… I just love repetition in photos, and thats what drew me in. Finding out it was a chocolate favourite didnt hurt either

And then this one from Esther A. Oh heavens… critters are a soft spot of mine, critters from another country? even more so. We call the children ‘possum’ as a term of endearment too This is a lovely shot of something so cute!

How about a simple *useful* instruction? Thats what Susie has captured here and captured so beautifully too!

Maria has got a great shot of rainy bokeh here Its sums up sudden rain and late evenings to me.

So whats your latest favourite or two from the flickr group? Join in over at DD and let me know

Welcome to the Just Finish It Challenge!

I hear all the time from friends that they have a bunch of scrapbook layouts that are almost done - ready to go except for the journaling. For me, journaling is the easy part - I write just like I talk - a lot!!! But, for a lot of people, journaling is the hardest part.

So, I wanted to share some quick tips and products to help with journaling.

Blog
If you have a blog, don’t journal twice! Use your blog entries as journaling on layouts. Simply cut and paste the journaling from your blog onto your layout and the journaling is done.

Pen and Paper
Just because you’re scrapping digitally doesn’t mean that you can’t journal by hand. Often, when I’m going through my photos on my laptop, I choose my favorites to scrapbook. I star them, put them in my scrapping file online and then I grab a pen and paper that sits by my computer and make notes about the photos or layout ideas I have. Why not jot down some quick journaling at the same time?!

Journaling Tags
There are way too many journaling tags in the DesignerDigitals store to even count. Put them to use! If you have some ideas for journaling but don’t have time to do an entire layout, open up a journaling tag, move it onto a blank layout, and write. Save the layout and you’ve got a great start. If nothing else, you’ve got the idea started.

I love these tags because they give journaling prompts:

Week in the Life Journal Cards

The Monthly Journal Card Value Pack

Weekly Journalers Brushes and Stamps No. 1

Digital Journals

If you want to journal a lot and you have a big story to tell, try making the journaling the main part of your layout. DesignerDigitals has numerous digital journals. Add a photo (or not) to the journal with your text and the layout is done.

Vintage Journals

Ali even has a set of journaling cards that you can print out and keep on your desk for daily thoughts and journaling.

Reflections Journal Cards

Whatever you do, I hope you take steps today to Just Finish It!

~Steph

I can’t believe it’s back to school time already! This year I have great plans to help my kids stay organized or at least get ready for school, and of course I used my digital supplies to do it. Inspired by an article in the Disney Family Fun magazine I made a place mat checklist, which is like a chore chart.

I created 6x12 documents for each side with the Do At Home and Bring to School lists. I used some scrapbook paper for the middle section. Ticketed No 2 by Katie Pertiet had a great checklist that I used for my list.

We’re going to test this out next week but I have high hopes! Have you used your supplies to make a chore chart or checklist? Post it in the hybrid scrapbooking gallery - I’d love to see what you made.

It’s Thrifty Thursday at DesignerDigitals where we have a brand new item priced at just $ 99 cents and 397 items marked down 30%. These specials only last until 6am EST on Friday morning so don’t miss out.