Digital Scrapbooking 101

How To Get The Perfect Photo Without A Camera

Have you ever had a family activity where you wanted to be fully immersed in the fun without your camera?  A few weeks ago our family spent a really fun day at Lagoon compliments of Oracle.  

I'll let you in on a little secret - the only camera I took was my iPhone because I wanted to ride the rides with my kids and completely enjoy the day.  My photos from that day are mainly little vignettes (not very high quality) like this one:

Cute memento but what about everything else?  Most of the day I was too busy riding rides or swimming with my kids and husband to worry about taking photos.   So I just focused on immersing myself in the moments and making memories.

The morning after the event, I took some time to make a list of the things I wanted to remember for the day.  I use MacJournal software for this - it helps me keep a journal of things so I can remember them in general and especially if I want to scrapbook them.  The list included:

• Riding the Samurai with Kate
• Joseph saying, “I’m a Lucky Man!” when questioned why he said, “Because I’m not a man yet, I’m still a boy.”
• Freezing with the kids in the lazy river
• Riding water slides with Grace & Hyrum
• Joseph wanting to ride EVERY ride with his dad.
• Hyrum and Grace pairing up to tease Kate
• Emily wanting to ride EVERY ride with mom.
• The look on Emily’s face during the wooden roller coaster ride - pure glee, happiness and fright.
• Emily asking to ride the wooden roller coaster again and again.
• The kids (even 15 yr. old Kate) wanting to ride the carousel twice - some rides never get old
• Kate & Hyrum’s love of the Tidal wave (swinging ship) ride.
• Emily in Pioneer Town saying she wished she lived in that time period (Little House on the Prairie is also her favorite show)...
• Troy showing the kids the miniature circus and old sleighs and wagons.

I took some time to expound on a few of the items on the list, most notably my ride on the Samurai with Kate.  Riding roller coasters with my oldest daughter Kate is just something we do.  She and I have been to California twice to visit theme parks and so it was fitting that we were the only two out of seven in our family brave enough to ride the Samurai.

I wanted to do a layout about this but I didn't have any photos.  What to do?  Go to my friend Google and search "Lagoon Samurai."  The results were just a few videos:

Do you see the word IMAGES in the top left?  Click on this and you get all the related images:

Next I just searched until I found a photo with no copyright restrictions for my layout.  Granted, sometimes this is difficult to do, so another way to search photos is Flickr.  Again I just typed in the terms "Lagoon samurai"

and found lots of relevant photos - 

One of the biggest hurdles to using this method is making sure you only use those images that you can obtain permission to use in your layouts.  You will need to look at the licensing of the image in the photo description to determine this.

For example, when you see this on Flickr, you can pretty much assume it is a no-go:

That said, if you have a hard time finding a photo that is creative commons or copyright friendly - I have actually had success emailing Flickr users to get permission to use their photos for my scrapbook layouts.  

Just click on the user name near the photo and then the EMAIL (envelope icon) at the top of one of their photos.  Most photographers are more concerned about having their images used for commercial purposes.  80% of the time when I contact them and explain that I would just be using the photo in a scrapbook layout for our family's personal scrapbook only and posting in online galleries where I would credit them and link to their photo stream, I have received permission.

Once I have the photo I need (and the appropriate permissions), I create the layout.

The journaling in this layout reads: REMEMBER THIS: Your mother was always ready to ride any scary roller coaster you chose - and she loved it because it was time with you. At times the rides were scary but she still rode along because she loves you.  It’s really a metaphor for your life - no matter how crazy it gets, whenever you need your mom, you can count on her being there.

Funny how as I was journaling this experience, what I thought I would write and what I wrote were two different things.  On this particular day I wasn't feeling 100% and my stomach especially wasn't very happy. When I looked at this ride I thought there was no way and then I saw my daughter's face as she said, "Mom, we're totally doing that one!" and I knew I had it in me - but I prayed the whole line hoping I'd be ok.  Which brought me to WHY I ride roller coasters with my daughter.  Sometimes we do things just for fun - and believe me she and I have lots of fun - but for us this is also about the time and something we do.  No matter how life goes - whether she's asking me to ride a roller coaster or to help her with a friend or teacher - everyday I will be there.

Products Used in this layout: Weeds & Wildflowers SS8_SmartPages, Everday Life Kit Papers, Everyday Life Kit Elements and Holly McCaig Simplicity Paper (retired).  Elements were recolored.  

Now for an explanation of what the Samurai is and why I was so afraid: Lagoon's The Samurai consists of six radial arms that spin as the entire ride rotates through an oval arc in either direction. As centrifugal forces increase, the entire ride rises to a near-vertical position, gathering forces that allow each arm to freely rotate. The sensation of flying and performing loops is achieved in a smooth yet thrilling experience.To experience the Samurai, you must be in good health and free from heart conditions, neck and back injury, and other physical limitations. Prior to participating, guests are encouraged to observe the attraction in operation in order to determine its suitability relative to their own physical condition.   

Here is the ride in action: 

Thoughts on Life & Scrapbooking

So many of you have asked me where I am at with scrapbooking these days. There are so many facets to the answer hopefully I can answer in a way that will inspire each of you to give yourself permission to do things in a way that is right for you.  

Live Life To The Fullest.  I am writing this post on my laptop from the upper stands of my local pool waiting for my kids during their swim lessons.  I am learning that living life to the fullest means squeezing in the things you love (like writing content for this blog) wherever you can find it — sometimes you have to be creative!   

This also translates to scrapbooking.  So many of you write me that you don’t have the time.  The reality is that we all have the time — we just have to conscientiously  choose how we spend it.  If you find yourself saying, “I don’t have time...”  I challenge you to take a step back and change your perspective.  Look at your life from the view of an outsider.  Perhaps “I don’t have the time that I want” really means “I have other bigger things that are more important in life right now” and that is OK!  

Take a few days and set your phone alarm to go off every hour and take down notes of what you did with the previous hour - no judgements, no stress, just information.  After a few days or a week take a look at your time and make a list of the general items on the list and time spent and honestly ask yourself if your time is in line with what you value most in life.  If it isn’t, do something about it!  

A life is fully lived when we fill it with the things that matter most.

Down Time is Essential for True Creativity.  I am finding an ebb and flow with my work in this industry which rolls over into my scrapbooking.  I am learning that taking a few months off each year is essential for me to continue to have the energy and creativity to produce valuable content for my readers.  One thing I am going to work on this year is blocking in creative breaks after each big project so I don’t run until I burn out so badly that I get to a place where I want to quit.  

The most valuable lesson I’ve learned these past two years is that it is essential that my down time includes getting my head out of “working in the industry” and going back to being a “regular scrapbooker” for at least a few days each month.  To stay fresh, it is essential for me to understand things from your point of view which in turn helps me create truly relevant and meaningful content.  To do this, I block out time on my calendar where I don't touch my blog, don't think about classes - I just focus on recording and preserving memories as an everyday scrapbooker.  

You can translate this to scrapbooking by giving yourself time away from creating pages - letting go of being “caught up” and just working your system or enjoying life until you feel inspired to create again.  When you find yourself overwhelmed, set some boundaries with your memory keeping to make it more manageable.  

When I'm having trouble finding motivation I often take a step back and tell myself that the thing I can't find the energy to do isn't on my list - I can't do it for a set amount of time.  It is amazing to me that by setting this boundary for a few days how quickly my subconscious starts generating ideas when the pressure is removed - by the time I return I'm ready and energized!

It is Perfectly OK to “Just” Take Photos.  Going back to “finding the time to scrapbook” - sometimes in the different seasons of life you won’t be able to find it.  That is perfectly OK!!  One thing I have given myself the permission for when life is crazy is to completely let go of scrapbooking.  When life gets rolling along quickly, I often scale back to just taking photos, focusing on processing my photos through my system.  The most essential part of this process for me is WRITING CAPTIONS and keywording.  Then I let it go, only scrapbooking when I feel inspired to create.  Sometimes I scrap only a layout or two a month.  Other times I will pull out ten layouts in a weekend - I just go with the creative flow.

Once I let go of self-imposed expectations, I started to truly enjoy memory keeping a lot more.  I encourage you to do the same!

Do The Work.  I am a huge fan of the book DO THE WORK by Steven Pressfield, the same guy who wrote The War of Art.  It probably seems as if I am talking a lot more about LIFE in this post than scrapbooking, but scrapbooking is how we document our view of life so I really believe it all ties together.

Think of who and what you want to BE.  Seriously - take fifteen minutes to quietly step back from your life and look at it 20-30 years from now.  What do you want to be remembered for?  Who do you want to be remembered by?  Write it down. 

I’ve been thinking like this for over a year now and my “BE” list 20-30 years from now includes healthy, strong, vivacious, married to a wonderful man for 40+ years, mother to five wonderful children, someone who brought out the best in people,  someone who LOVES life, a person who really made a difference - many times in small and simple ways.  

Scrapbooking ties into that, and yet my focus has shifted to committing smaller amounts of time to it because I only have so many years where my children will still be in my home.  My focus is making sure I LIVE and ENJOY life with them and DOCUMENT that in the metadata of my photos so I don’t have to constantly stress about my scrapbooking not being caught up. 

Once you figure your BE's out - DO THE WORK.  Make columns of all your “Be’s” and then write what you need to do to really BE them.  Seriously - then work on it bit by bit.  It may seem like you are slower than a turtle, but as you shift your focus and compare your BE list with your “TIME” list recommended above, you will quickly see what you are doing now that is and isn't part of Doing The Work to BE who you really want to be in your heart of hearts.

Scrap Inspired.    If you are anything like me, I look at all my digital photos sitting in my hard drive and sometimes I feel like I will never catch up.  Then I take a deep breath and look at my life and realize I want my kids to remember me living life WITH them - not just documenting theirs.   I guarantee you that in 20 years your family will want to see you in your photos and scrapbooks.  Make sure you are taking the time to LIVE life - taking photos - BEING IN PHOTOS.  Even if it means you have less time to scrap.   

Then, when you do scrap, I challenge you to scrap inspired.  If your time is very limited, find digital templates to document everyday photos with journaling - and just do that. If you don’t want to print full digital layouts, take your “to scrap” photos and print them out as 4x6 photos along with a few creative journaling cards and do some photo album scrapbooking.

Bottom line - scrap in a way that fits your life and your time.  I PROMISE your family won’t be looking at your books and comparing them to layouts in digital galleries and wondering why you didn’t spend 5 hours on one layout.  They will be looking at your family, the things and people you love and they will be happy about whatever way you capture your family memories to share.

Which brings me to another important point about Inspired Scrapbooking.  Make sure you SHARE your memories!  It is so easy to take digital photos and let them hide in our hard drives.  I challenge you to find creative and quick ways to share your family memories - slideshows on blogs (with captions under each photo from your photo software), digital photo frames, even photo album scrapbooking or using this kit  or something similar & digital.

I spent this morning in my office working on some paperwork while my six year old perused our family scrapbooks.  He would sometimes ask me to read the journaling to him and then he would giggle and laugh at the photos and pages.   He didn’t get mad at me for not printing layouts for the past six months or tell me that I wasn’t completely caught up in my scrapbooking, he just ENJOYED what was there - which inspires me to create even more.

Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves that we rob ourselves of the true joy and creativity that can be ours if we just slow down and embrace the perfectly imperfect life we live.

So there you have it - my thoughts on scrapbooking and life these days.  What are your thoughts on scrapbooking and life?  I’d seriously love to hear them...really, I would. :)

 

Yes, I Caption My Layouts

After spending a few more months in my system, I'm still captioning my layouts but changing things up a bit.  You can read a lot about my process for captioning layouts here.  In addition to the things revealed in that post, I've added a few more.

The Lightroom caption for this file reads: Photo taken Jan. 31, 2006.  Emily was up in the loft of our Centerville home pulling faces and I snapped away.  She is the "girly girl" in the family.  Her favorite quilt is the Butterfly quilt given to Troy and I by my Grandma LaRue.  I love her expressions.  Products Used: SugarPlum Paperie Chocolate Kiss Kit

The journaling is a bit dry - but it is there.  This is another reason I love the system.  I can just jot down my journaling without worrying if my writing is perfect whereas with layouts it seems so final and on display - so I spend a LOT more time.  By journaling in the photos, by the time I get to making layouts it is a lot easier to refine my writing.

If you read my first post on captioning layouts, you will know I primarily use captions to record products used in a layout.   Since I wrote that post, I've begun to change a few more things.  I often write the date the photos were taken, the story behind the layout or things I wanted to say in the layout but didn't.  

The Lightroom Caption: I just HAD to create this layout once I saw the photos in Lightroom.  With Hyrum's ADHD sometimes things are a struggle and he takes a lot of heat from teachers and others who don't completely understand him.  He may not be the perfect student, but he excels at things others could only dream of creating.  Such are the many sides to having ADHD & being gifted and talented.  What a fun ride - I am always learning so much from my son.  Products Used: Kitty Designs Template - 365Inspirations6, One Little Bird and Leora Sanford Tranquility kit, Paislee Press Storyteller kit

Also - keep in mind that after I create a layout with a caption that details products used, I strip all the digital scrapbooking keywords from that layout and replace them with Photo Memory keywords - i.e. Who, What, Where and When.

So in a way, the captions on my layouts are also my side to why I am telling the story the way I am.

What about you, do you caption your layouts?

Why Your Photo Library is More Important than Scrapbooking

I am still organizing my photos.  I keyword and caption images at least weekly, daily if I can find the time.  I also have a backlog of photos and information dating clear back to the 1800's to scan and organize.  It may seem overwhelming, but one step at a time I am making progress.

I love this system!  Every time I go through a month's worth of photos with captions, keywords and ratings - I feel relief.  I no longer feel the stress of trying to stay "caught up" with all my scrapbooks.  

The reality is that when you record the caption to a photo - the memories and the why - along with keywords to identify Who, What, Where and When - you have almost everything anyone will need to know why that image was important to you.  Ratings are icing on the cake - they will tell future generations which photos you liked the most while the captions will tell them why.

Honest question - if you could be given ten scrapbooks with 25 layouts each, and a decent amount of journaling OR a digital library of 21,000 images (each with journaling, keywords and ratings) which would you choose?

I can see the appeal of the scrapbook and yet I would choose the digital library EVERY TIME.  Let me explain.  

This layout was created a year ago with lots of different photos of mine and my best friend's children.  It is a layout that captures the essence of the many things we did that day and it basically says that time with friends is wonderful.  

Yet when I peek into my photo library I learn much more...

The story behind the milk cow that inexplicably licked my friends daughter over and over.  My feelings about a friendship of over 20 years, the reason one child isn't smiling in a photo, thoughts on the bond between my twins, and more.  There are literally 9 different stories for the photos in this layout.

I may not have the time to scrap 9 different stories right now, but with captions recorded in my photo files in my photo library, I am ready to do so with the "in the moment" thoughts of my heart thanks to my system.  It takes a LOT less time to record the caption to a photo than it does to create a layout.

Now don't get me wrong - there are a lot of layouts I have that document the story -

This layout tells the story of the first day of school.  I love it.  However, if I adopted the workflow that all my stories should be told in my scrapbook layouts, I'd lose the opportunity to preserve those stories with the photo files.

So yes - it is WONDERFUL to tell your stories in your layouts.  However, I think we sometimes forget that scrapbooking is  a CREATIVE PROCESS.  You can alleviate a lot of the stress of being creative while trying to find space for journaling by simply recording the stories in your photo files. That way when your creativity is sparked - you can go back to your photo library reservoir of memories and tell the story just like it happened yesterday or leave the journaling off the layout and save it to the file in other ways.

A lot of people tell me I think to far in the future.  I have to say it is because of this woman:

This is my great-great-great Grandmother Mary Taylor Simmons Robinson.  I first heard her story when I was 18 years old.  She traveled from England all the way to the United States and walked across the plains until her legs were frozen black all the way to her knees.  Along the trail she lost a child, her husband, and her parents.  

I often have wondered what kept her going.  For years all we had of her were a few photos like the one above and this photo of the tiny cabin she lived in next to my great-great grandfather's home.

Yet even with these photos (where everyone was identified in the photo), I still was left to wonder until 2002, when an amazing set of circumstances led our little family to stay with my grandmother for five months.  In those five months I was given more pieces of my family history  - which included several handwritten letters to my great-great grandfather from Mary in the late 1800's.

Having these letters is like having crayons to color in the pictures from a coloring book.  I learn details of Mary's health, her love for her children, her spiritual strength and more.

The photos are beautiful, but it is the details recorded in these letters that are the treasure to me. Stories of the everyday - recipes for herbal remedies - thoughts on daughter in laws and more.

So yes, I may look too far in the future but how can't I?  Looking back to my family in the 1800's has given me a perspective I can't shake.  I think of the questions I would love to ask Mary if I had twenty minutes.  Am I answering them today for those who will follow  me?  Keeping a photo library with detailed captions, ratings and keywords with BACKUP seems to be a wonderful way to do just that.

Don't get me wrong, I still scrapbook quite a lot - and yes I still tell my stories in my layouts. However, with the way my workflow is now, I don't stress quite as much about journaling in my layouts when the stories are embedded in my photo files with my Lightroom Library.  I am FREE to create layouts however I want - following my heart.

When I follow my heart there is bliss in creativity.  How about you? 

 

My Day Was Crazy...

Every had "one of those days?"  One of those days doesn't even begin to describe my past 24 hours...    

The journaling reads:  It started with Hyrum missing the bus by literally seconds this morning so I had to drive him to school.  HUGE accident in the way and it takes 3 times as long to get there.  After I drop him off the roads are closed so there is no way to go home so I have to just sit and wait- did I mention I was bra-less and in PJs and flip flops?  For dinner I wanted to try a new recipe - Pasta Carbonera. While stirring the sauce, I smelled smoke.  Then I felt something warm on my stomach.  As I looked down, my shirt was on fire! Overcoming my momentary shock, I  started blowing the flames out while running to the sink to drench my shirt in water.   I am sure I looked pretty crazy. The fire burned through two layers of clothing.  When dinner was served, I brought out the salad dressing and proceeded to shake it up - the lid came loose, spraying dressing all over the dining room.  And my “luck” didn’t end there - I opened the root beer, only to have it  turn into a sprinkler, spraying everything in sight.  It definitely wasn’t my day but on the bright side? Miraculously I wasn’t burned, things are easy to clean, and no one I love was in that morning accident.  So in hindsight, maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.

And yes the photo in the layout is the charred remains of my layered shirts...

Note to self: loose clothing, gas stoves and cooking really don't mix.

Template by Crystal Livesay and Fizzy Pop Designs - you can get it here

 

The Process of Scrapbooking

I grew up with a mom who is an amazing housekeeper.  Her housekeeping wasn't just about the surface - it went all the way down to the closets, cupboards and more.  Everything had a place so there was less clutter.

 I remember the first time she helped me organize my own kitchen.  I had two toddlers and the craziest kitchen ever.  It took us two days, but we organized that kitchen from top to bottom.  It was a process - the first thing we did was take everything out of the cabinets and move it all to the dining room (yes we ate takeout for a few days - lol).

We then wiped all the cabinets out, and my mom starting asking me questions... 

Where do you make sandwiches for the kids? 

Where do you do most of your prep work for dinner? 

Where do you make cookies? 

What do you use this for (asked while she was holding up a gadget or tool)? 

We started organizing my kitchen around centers - cooking, baking, snacks for kids, etc.  The end result was a kitchen free of clutter - organized to support me so I could stay organized and have what I needed when I needed it most - quickly and easily.

In some ways I approach scrapbooking in the same way - when I started organizing my digital supplies, I went back to what my mom taught me in the kitchen and I started thinking about how I scrap  {I start with my photos, think of the story I want to tell, then on to journaling, photo grids, templates, papers, color from my photos, accents}. 

Thinking about my process helps me to organize accordingly and also use the wonders of technology to find what I want most quickly and easily.

So I thought I'd share something I created while I was thinking about my process. I've got this hanging by my desk now so when I am tagging and organizing, I am reminded that even though it seems an overwhelming process to get organized, I am doing work that will make my memorykeeping process something that works for me and is built around what is most important.

The trick of true organization is taking all of this "stuff" and funneling it into a framework - using technology to organize your stuff in a way that works for you. Looking forward to sharing more in class!

Reader Q&A: Lightroom Scrapbooking

Holy cow wow - did not expect all the emails- but I loved hearing your thoughts and questions on scrapbooking in Lightroom.  You all are so helpful to me as I work on the content for this class.  Thank you!

Since I only shared a sneak peek - I thought it would be appropriate to clarify a few things and provide a few more answers to those of you patiently waiting for details on a few important issues:

Lightroom is not a replacement for Photoshop or Photoshop Elements - it is another tool in your digital scrapbooking toolbox. Just like graphic designers use several different programs from Adobe - i.e. Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop - the same can be said about Lightroom and Photoshop Elements or Photoshop - you can do a lot in Lightroom, but I still believe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements play an important part in a digital scrapbooker's workflow.

In my workflow I continue to convert my PNG files to import them into Lightroom - even though I can't use the transparent files when I scrapbook in Lightroom.  The main reason I have my PNG files converted and in Lightroom is because I can then tag them and organize them and the metadata will stick.  Metadata doesn't stick to PNG files.  As far as what I am converting them into - right now I am refining the process - doing lots and lots of reasearch and experimenting to see if I like the PSD or TIF format better - the journey has been very enlightening to say the least and I am excited to share what I have learned with you all in class!   

I can't get Lightroom to recognize a 12x12 page size because I don't have a wide format printer - what do I do?  So grateful you wrote and helped me know this was an issue!  If you scroll down on the right hand module to Print Job and change things to Print to: JPEG File and then check the box next to Custom File Dimensions and double click on the numbers and then edit the page dimensions - you can create any size you wish!

Can you use transparent files while scrapbooking in Lightroom?  Not at this time.  You can open them from Lightroom into Photoshop by right clicking on the item and then choosing Edit In> Edit in Adobe Photoshop CS5/ Photoshop Elements > Edit Original.  However, working with transparent files in Lightroom in the Print Module or opening a group of files from Lightroom as Layers in Photoshop does not currently work with transparent files.  If you would like this to change, please join me in seconding my feature request here to show there is a demand for these features!  You will need an Adobe ID to do so, but the more we ASK, the more we MAY get what we ask for! 

 

On the templates, is there a way to eliminate the page border so that in essence you have a borderless file?  Yes there is!  If you set your print dimension as outlined two paragraphs above, you can click on the large photo cell for your background paper and enlarge it off the page just a tad (just to clarify in this screenshot it is still on the page) - that will eliminate your border! :)

 

Lastly, a few things to remember and realize about scrapbooking in Lightroom:

1) You don't have layers - not so bad unless you want to save your files in layers and move them around later - you can only save a FLAT document of whatever you create.  That said, your file sizes will be smaller if you use Lightroom to create the base of your layouts. :)

2) All of your elements - bows, ribbons, flowers, overlays, cannot be used in the print module without that unsitely white background where the transparency should be.  A little frustrating - but again - this is why Lightroom is only a piece of the workflow puzzle.   We still need Photoshop/Photoshop Elements.

So many more questions - I am afraid I can't share all the answers today but I tried to hit on the most urgent.  Hopefully this helps tide you over for a few weeks.  I am running off to my daughter's basketball games and a weekend of baking & fun with my kids and husband - can't wait!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Believe in Fairies?

Do you believe in Fairies?  Let me introduce you to a fairy I believe in -

Karen is the type of fairy that should have digital scrapbookers everywhere clapping their hands and jumping for joy.  Every day and sometimes several times a day, Karen releases antique clipart on her blog that crafters and scrapbookers can use in their everyday projects.  The best part is she does it all for free - just sharing - she's a woman I totally identify with and we are so lucky to have her in blogland! 

The Graphics Fairy also runs a site called The Background Fairy where you can download free templates and fun things to prettify your blog.  Now do you see why I believe in Fairies? :)

I am such a huge fan of Karen's that I shared a few blogging tutorials on her site a few months back.  We also recently coordinated on another tutorial for The Graphics Fairy site where I show how to use the graphics from her site and make your own pattern paper and cute Christmas card.  You can see the video tutorial here.  Hope you enjoy!

Video Tutorial: Scrapbooking in Lightroom

Finally as promised on this show, a tutorial to give you a sneak peek of how my workflow is working to do scrapbooking inside Lightroom.  I'm looking forward to your comments. :) You can download the Lightroom template here - I'll leave it up until the end of December 2010.  So if you are reading this post after that date, my apologies - stay tuned for my class. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy DSD 2010!

I love digital scrapbooking.  I also love that we have our own day to celebrate Digital Scrapbooking and the generosity and talent of the many members of the digital community who so willingly share so many great freebies!

A few I have found this morning that you might enjoy:

• A darling free kit with a fun challenge over on the Digital Scrapper blog.
• Cute FREE quick pages over at Little Dreamer - only available Friday but I was able to download them early this morning - so run and get them while you can!
• O'Scraps blog hop with freebies from the likes of Paislee Press, One Little Bird, Fei Fei and more!

 

A few other items to note -

My latest tutorial with Digital Scrapper Premier shows you how to make a string of Christmas lights just like the above - in both Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS - you can find it here.

I used the light string along with a few pieces of this month's premier kit to make this layout:

You can't go wrong with Premier - this month you not only get four tutorial videos in both Photoshop Element and Photoshop CS, you also get the above kit and much more for around $9 monthly - download this month's Premier newsletter here.

Speaking of Christmas and digital scrapbooking, I had a lot of fun playing with this new collab kit by Michelle Coleman and Danielle Donaldson - the papers are just gorgeous and this kit is so versatile it can be useful long after the holidays are over!

you can find it here :)

While we are at it, I thought I would share a few more freebies around the web -

• Shabby Princess' Plentiful Kit - while you are there, subscribe to her blog and check out all the great freebies - the template challenges are one of my favorites!
• Memory Scraps Freebies - I especially love their Vintage Christmas Kit.

Today I am moving my office down to a new space in our home - I am really excited.  I will pop in later and share anything else I find that is fabulous on this Digital Scrapbooking Day - better yet - post your own finds in the comments!

Enjoy!