Textures

I found this link for some great textures and they are FREE! They are a “Piece of Cake” to use with blending modes.

Templates

Here is a great link for some freebies I found linked through Shabby Miss Jenn’s blog. There are several freebie templates on the site.

Making Textures

I have been scanning some fabrics to make some unique textures. Using blending mode with the textures work great. Other great textures are concrete & other things around your house.

First Layout in Photoshop Elements

I was asked about doing a “first layout” in Photoshop Elements. I use 4.0 for Mac and I know there is the recent 6.0, but I am deciding if I want to upgrade or if 4.0 does what I want it to do. Here is a link that I used when I wanted to learn to do my first layout and I thought it was very helpful. I liked it because it was a video tutorial and I could watch it and actually see someone show me what to do. It is from the Shabby Princess site. There is also the text tutorial if you prefer. I started here….just so I could learn how to do a basic layout and then when I was comfortable with that, I searched online for tutorials to learn to do something else until I understood how to do many things.

One thing I like about Shabby Princess and Shabby Miss Jenn’s Designs for getting my digital kits is that you do not have to worry about “brushes” (or abr files). They create their stuff in either png files or jpg files and their stuff is very easy and very cute to use. I like to get some of my frames from Designer Digitals and I think that when I have bought their frames, they have been easier to re-color and looked great when I did that. Another site that has great templates when you are feeling lazy, not feeling creative, or have little time is Scrap Girls. Scrap Artist is another good site I have come across through Shabby Miss Jenn - she introduced me a few weeks back. Pink Ink Studios is also great for storyboards, frames, masks, and textures. Two Peas in a bucket offers some free stuff and I think their message board is a lot of help when you need it.

I know there are a ton of sites out there for digital scrapbooking, but these are my favorites for different reasons.

Flap Card

I thought this was a very cute card from Split Coast Stampers. While, I really love all the digital scrap booking stuff, I started with paper and sometimes love to sit and create stuff right in front of me on my mat with my paper supplies (paper, ribbons, stamps, watercoloring pencils, etc). I even thought the stamp set used in this card was cute, too. Click here for the cute card.

More scrap

I have come across another great digital scrapbook site. I was introduced by Shabby Miss Jenn herself of Shabby Miss Jenn Designs. I like it….lots of cute stuff. Just thought I would share!

A Dog-gone Good Cause

For a Dog-gone Good Cause…Here is a great “Pet-Themed” digital kit I found through Shabby Miss Jenn that supports the ASPCA! It has very cute Doggy & Kitty stuff in it. You can either buy the kit and make up your own pages or you can buy the pre-made pages with the alphabet set and add photos and make pages quickly. I understand that what you pay for the kit is considered a donation to the ASPCA and that means it should be tax deductible…so while the ASPCA gets a donation, you get a really cute “Pet-Themed” digital kit or pre-made pages to use. On the site, there is a link to see what others have done with their pages for ideas. The kit was created by several people, but two are designers I have met through Pink Ink Studios (Holly McCaig) and Shabby Miss Jenn’s Designs (Shabby Miss Jenn). I think it is cute and a “Dog-gone” good cause!

Link to me…

I was asked today how to join my scrap blog. Just link to the Piece of Cake Scrap Blog so you can come back and figure out how to do something I have posted here. The things I post on the blog are things to do in Digital Scrapbooking (that I don’t think I will remember myself), cute paper ideas I find, and things I have made. Thanks for reading my blog!

Peek-a-boo Easter Treat Holder

This is a cute little Easter Treat Holder for your Easter treats to peek through. It is from Split Coast Stampers.

Cute Easter Candy Basket Idea

This is a VERY cute idea to make for Easter…maybe for your kids to have at breakfast on Easter morning or for a teacher. It is a little Easter candy basket.

Free Texture Overlays

I found some free digital textures and they are great! I found them on Flickr….they are available for download. I added them to some photos of my husband’s from Vienna and I have to say they really added to the photo and made them look fantastic.

They can be “placed” over the photo in Photoshop Elements and then using the blending modes, they can be overlayed, multiplied, burned…however they look best with the photos. They are very easy to use. Click here for the textures….Thanks NinianLif for the FREE textures!

Character Die Cuts

I thought I would add this link. I found this link last summer and thought this was a cute idea. Last fall, I bought some of the die cuts I would need to make these. I want to buy some more of the die cuts this spring and then have a Character Die Cut day this summer and have some friends over that want to make some to add to scrapbook pages for an upcoming trip to Disneyworld, Universal, or even Six Flags. I think they are so cute!

Thomas The Tank Engine Digital Scrapbooking

Thomas is coming to town soon and I will want to make a digital set of scrapbook pages from our photos. I found this Thomas Clip art on my favorite clip art site. I will be able to add backgrounds and embellishments to the pages along with our photos. Train tickets and other Thomas stuff can be scanned and added to the pages. This character clip art can be added, too. Then, I will have them printed out. 

Textured Digital Papers

I found I could do this….use Pink Ink Studios Floral Texture Overlays with any color background I choose in Photoshop Elements…use the overlay and blending modes and voilaa….floral textured backgrounds. I love them!

Valentines Badge Cover Mini-Books

I made this little Valentine Badge Cover Mini-Book for my grandmother for Valentines. 

I used the Mint Tin Templates from Shabby Miss Jennthat i used for the Mint Tins and added them to badge covers. I used badge covers I had bought from Office Depot for work. I used 6 of them since I printed out 12 of the Mint Tin Templates to go in them. I cut card stock to go in each one with the printed papers on each side. I added rings and ribbons ties on the rings. I used fray-check on the ends of the ribbons so they wouldn’t shred. I added a paper flower with a button. I put a little bag of Valentine Sweethearts candy with a ribbon, too. I put them in an envelope with a card and mailed them to her because she is my sweet grandmother.

My grandmother is a very creative lady…she did ceramics, painted, quilted, did caligraphy, her geneology, and kept up with photo albums most of the time. I think she will be surprised when she gets this. Each badge cover has photos from Valentines of our kids that she loves so much. She now lives in a retirement apartment and doesn’t have as much space as she once did in her home she shared with my grandfather. So, when I make her things I try to give her something small she can keep out with photos of our children in it and she can think of them every time she looks at the things I make her.