Digital Scrapbooking

I need my mojo back! I a so creatively drained - but when that happens I start creating CU stuff lolHere are some CU freebies for now. This paper was made from the template - maybe I will keep this colour scheme for the next kit - whenever that might be :)Here is the template!Anyway like Tigger said TTFN :) Have a great day!

Today we have a kit that was designed for St. Patrick's Day and is filled with lots of beautiful papers, embellishments, and fun wordart. This kit was designed with a fresh springtime look and feel so that it could be used for all your Spring photos and projects, not just this holiday. You can grab this new kit here along with the free add-on kit.

{free friday finds} is your source for free, fabulous and functional tips, tutorials and inspiring ideas! Find the very best of the best (about) every other week at Simple Scrapper.

A memory keeping carnival at Complete Organizing Solutions
On the importance of credits at Scrappity Doo Dah
A huge, excellent free font resource
12 steps to improved productivity at Web Worker Daily
Organizing your inspiration with Tumblr at Ella Publishing
10 ways to find your mojo at Log Your Memory
Tools for organizational styles at Be Audacious
Using actions in PSE at The Daily Digi

Reader submitted links via the Facebook Fan Page

Layout and a freebie from Jennifer Hignite
A scrapbooking blog from Elizabeth Albers
Inspiration and a freebie from Ashley Meek

$10 on the 10th Winner
Congrats to Kathy K. who answered the question with:
I have used snapfish & shutterfly to create photobooks. The books I have created have been for specific events: vacation, 40th birthday, & christmas. My friends & family will usually pick a photo sharing site to upload pictures to, this is where I will create my book. I like using pictures that everyone has taken…gives a different perspective of the event & it’s great for the shots that I missed.
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Simple Scrapper's daily tips are sponsored by Clickin Moms:

Visit the subscribers-only archive for exclusive access to archived freebies. The password is "ssfreebies". Still craving free templates? Check out the community directory!

Gym balls are very good for your back if you sit for hours at the computer. But make sure you know where the ball is when you sit down....the floor is very hard if the ball has rolled away! I have a few aches and pains to confirm this!Anyone looking for some fresh new spring designs?I have a new kit - Spring Garden, some frames and a co-ordinating set of plain papers with an embossed border.Here's some pages made by me and my CT to give you inspiration.I made the following layout with Spring Garden and Page Borders 3, then saved the frame cluster to share.Download here.

It’s W&W Anniversary time!!  It’s the 3rd Anniversary no less, and we have a lot of celebrating to do!  First off, there is a sale in the shoppe, which starts today.  Second, we will be giving out freebies everyday on the blog.  But it doesn’t end there!  We’ve got games and some special challenges in which you may participate to win prizes.  So keep checking the blog and the forum over the next several days so that you do not miss any of the fun.
We’re celebrating now through the Wednesday the 17th, at which point the Spring Guest CT Contest will be announced!  Trust me, you do not want to miss this.  But I do want to give you a heads-up that the contest will require the use of Sweet & Simple Life Kits, so if you do not yet own any of those, please take advantage of the sale. (You don’t have to have them all to participate, just at least one)
Freebie time!  The CT ladies have been busy making up quick pages for you, and they all are made with the Sweet & Simple Life kits, so they will merge perfectly into your LIFE albums this year.  I’ve got two quick pages to give you - I had so much fun making the first one that I just couldn’t stop, and I made a second one too!  I made them with your LIFE albums in mind, but you can use then in any way you like.  Here they are:

Download S&S Quick Page #1

Download S&S Quick Page #2
These download links will only be up for a day or two, so if you want them, hurry.  If you use these quick pages, I would LOVE to see!  So please do not hesitate to upload your finished versions to the gallery.
Enjoy the celebration!  I know I will!

  Ok, let's start with the treat (because we all know it's all about the treat anyway!). I found these adorable cupcakes online and placed an emergency call to Tom (who happened to be at the grocery store). "Lemonheads, cashews, and slivered almonds, please!" They were super simple to put together and the kids loved them. The movie was another story entirely. I read a ton of reviews before we watched it and expected to be less than thrilled, which we were. The kids enjoyed it, but the deeper meaning of the movie went right over their heads (which was probably a good thing). What didn't go over their heads was how violent and sad Max was. And I mean really violent. I don't let my kids watch a lot of things on TV (most Cartoon Network shows, the Simpsons, and most regular prime time cop shows that seem to always be on), but we're pretty lenient with PG movies or movies like this that might not be the best, but that can teach them something (as long as we're watching it with them). Before I even had a chance to comment on Max's behavior, the girls were saying things like, "Wow, he doesn't listen very well" and "He should be sent to his room!" To which, we wholeheartedly agreed. We talked through the iffy parts of the movie together, and all in all, it was a success. I don't plan on buying the DVD or letting them watch it again anytime soon, but it was a learning experience and it was good family time, which is what it's really all about anyway. Although the sugar certainly doesn't hurt ;)

Today’s freebie is a set of 6 creased overlays that I overexposed to give them a bit of a funky look and used some grunge brushes on a couple of them to scruff them up a little. Download the CU OK Creased Overlays HERE (OSS Direct Link) or HERE (4shared)

Heehee!  I forgot to put a lower case “r” in my Squeaky Clean Alpha Free”bee”!!!  Ack!!!!

Here it is!  You should be able to just save the file from here!!  I’m sorry guys!!  Have a good weekend!

I have lots of new goodies for you over at Scrap Orchard this week.....a little bit of everything! Remember that everything you see here is 20% off this week! The first thing I want to show you are my new Banner Templates. This is my very first "hybrid" project and I am super excited about it. I basically made a set of Banner Templates and you can use any kit that you have and make your own personalized banners with them. So you can make a banner for practically anything....birthday, anniversary, any party, to decorate a room, etc....And they are so easy to use. I actually made 2 different styles so you can choose which one you like best. Each set comes with the whole alphabet and numbers 0-9 (which can be combined to make any number). You can see my sample project below. I made a banner to celebrate my daughters 3rd b-day. It says Happy 3rd Birthday Kyla and then I used one banner just for her picture. So all you have to do is clip your own digi-paper to them, add embelishments (or add them after printing), print them out and hang them up. I punched wholes in them and then strung ribbon through them.This is Banner Style 1 Sample made with Banner Style 1and I used a kit from Megan Turnidge called "Make a Wish" to decorate my banners.Here's Banner Style IIThis is the sample project I made with Banner Style II.I also used "Make a Wish" for these.This might be something a little familiar to you. These were up in my old store but I've updated them a bit and now they are available over at Scrap Orchard. You can use them to make any date, address, name, etc.. There are so many combinations you can make with these. Lots of fun! Date SealsHere are some journaling boxes. With each of the shapes you get 3 different outlines, a clipping mask and the journaling box. If you've never used a journaling box be sure to check out my tutorial here. I have another tutorial here on how to do a little more editing with your text boxes (there's a freebie there, you might want to check it ou ;-). They are so fun to play with. I love journaling on my pages and these are a fun way to do that. Journaling Boxes IHere's another set of templates for you. Fun with Text Templates! More Journaling.....I LOVE journaling, I think it's a very important part of scrapping. Each of these templates come with a fun spot to journal, some waves, circles, etc.... So much fun! Fun with Text TemplatesHere is some inspiration for you. This one is by Tiffany and she Used my Fun with Text Templatesand my Date Seals.She also used a kit from Ziggle Designs and Kristen Aagard called "Strolling Through the Park." This one is by Charmaine using my Fun With Text Templatesand an adorable new kit from Ziggle Designs called "Squeaky Clean." Last but not least (as usual) here is a freebie for you tonight. It's from my Fun with Text Templates. I thought maybe you might want to try the journaling out. Just click the pic. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to pop back in here this weekend....I might have a little something else for you ;-)

If you did - awesome!! If you don't have the opportunity (like me) and own a blog someone will do it for you. Yes - To neutralize your blog from carbon emission place this button on your blog and the kind people of "Make it green!" team will plant a tree for you! To read more and join click on the button below! GO green today!

Lori of Scraps of Ellay is hosting a speed scrap tomorrow afternoon at Stuff to Scrap. Check out the flyer below for more information or head to the forum for more information.And here is the prize you get for participating.Don't forget--there's a speed scrap tonight today with the ladies of Scrap N Pieces. Hope to see you there!

When I was growing up (in the 80’s with my puff paint t-shirts), my concept of memory keeping involved keeping  a photo album (for the photos, of course) and a scrapbook (for everything else). The idea of combining the two together was not even on my radar.
For over 100 years, scrapbooking consisted primary of collecting the paper leftovers (notes, cards, tickets, clippings, etc.) of your everyday life, the ephemera. My grandmother, like many of her time, had an odd fascination with the famous Dionne quintuplets and kept a scrapbook of all the news clippings about them.
When I glued (with Elmer’s of course) my first ticket stub to a page in a rainbow colored bound album labeled “scrapbook”, our modern scrapbooking industry was only a twinkle in Marielen Christensen’s eye.
The industry changed things. Our attitudes and perceptions about scrapbooking shifted towards an (perhaps) idealistic concept of coupling photos, stories and art as well as ephemera into one attractive package.
Stacy Julian’s Simple Scrapbooks magazine helped to re-focus the community on our storytelling purpose, but I’m seeing a recent shift towards something even deeper and if you will, more retro. Ephemera is returning in ways that make scrapbooking even more accessible to the masses. For devoted fans, this throw-back brings new inspiration to the routine.
A new approach
In today’s busy and cluttered world, people are finding it harder to find time for scrapbooking. We’re all looking for ways to be more productive and one new option may help us get there. Modern ephemera scrapbooking (or could we call it hybrid documentation?) has these general characteristics:

Use of divided page protectors
Inclusion of photos, journal cards & scraps of life
Optional additions of scrapbooking supplies
Typically a chronological organization

What I’m seeing is a new wave of Project 365-style work in a way that can help digital scrapbookers (in addition to paper girls) incorporate ephemera into their albums. This is very much what Ali Edwards is doing with her Project Life album this year. The industry has jumped on this band wagon with some great tangible supplies:
Project Life kit from Becky Higgins

Simple Stories collection from Memory Works

I see this trend as only just the beginning of new ways to make scrapbooking easier for the everyday memory keeper.
Digital ephemera scrapbooking
One of the easiest way to incorporate this approach into your own scrapping is to use brag book templates. Scrapping in smaller dimensions can be a bit awkward at first, so templates will bring great design to your door. Some good options include:
Mini Me Brag Book Templates by ChrissyW

Brag Book Album No. 1 by Connie Prince

5×7 Brag Book Templates by Darcy Baldwin

Couple templates with supplies you already own for a no-fuss approach. Then, print these at 5×7, 4×6 or 3×5 to fit into the divided page protectors of your choice.
For a more minimalist approach, couple printed photos with computer journaling on digital spots. Design House Digital has a couple of offerings that would be easy to print at home:
Design 365 Journal Cards by Jen Allyson

Legible Journal Cards by Meredith Fenwick

I’m really excited about all the possibilities for new spins on hybrid scrapbooking. We’re at a huge point of transition and opportunity, where the paper world is paying attention to digital and the digital evangelists are feeling the need to touch something real.
I’m looking forward to what’s to come. What do you think the future will look like? How will ephemera fit into your scrapbooking this year and beyond?
During the month of March, we’re counting down 21 ways to tell your story.
Photo credits: tulanesally, boboroshi, alannageorge
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Simple Scrapper's daily tips are sponsored by Clickin Moms:

Visit the subscribers-only archive for exclusive access to archived freebies. The password is "ssfreebies". Still craving free templates? Check out the community directory!