Some different styles of Digital Scrapbooking

So as I engage more with the international digital scrapbooking community I am being introduced to different styles of digital scrapbooking.  One style is more fantasy-based, where your subject is inserted into the fantasy world as if they are a character in it.  My friend from India introduced me to this style and I tried my hand at it in this layout where Greyson is the "Frog Prince."

Here is the original photo of Greyson. In GIMP I created a new layer with Transparency as the background and then opened the picture with the Open as Layer option.  I used the Free select tool to cut him out of the picture and then I used the eraser at 50% opacity to smooth edges.  When I was happy with the extraction I exported the picture as a png to preserves the transparent background.

I used a freebie paper by Avital Scrap called Fairy Lake and some elements from JulieC Designs Feeling Blue collection to create the fantasy layout below.

I have also been looking at the Project Life style of scrapping. Now I don't journal like a lot of people do, but this is supposed to be great for journaling and for hybrid (part digital, part physical) scrapping.  Basically there are set "pockets" for pictures and other cards.  The pockets can be physical and then you can use a ring binder to contain them or they can be digital and just have the look of being a ring-binder page with pockets.  Usually there are setups with 4x6 and 3x5 cards in various configurations.  I took a quick stab at it with a couple of my own layouts without pockets:

Paper and Elements by Misty Cato (JoyfulNoise)

Shawna Clingerman (You are my Happy), JulieC Designs (Feeling Blue)

Text: DJB Milkmaid

and my Single Photo Explosion with pockets:

Traci Reed DocumentLife Slip-in

Mari Koegelenberg at Mydigitalartstudio

That last layout was pretty simple. I just used the DocumentLife Slipin Mat template and just imported my photo and used the technique I documented in my post about using PSD templates to cut the segments.  It was a snap!  There are lots of resources for doing this style of scrapping.  You can google Project Life, DocumentLife, or even Pocket Life from Scrapgirls There is a great set of blogs posts on Digi.Shop.Talk about Project Life.

 - Jen

Just For Fun - Recent Scrapbooking Pages

Credits for Eat Your Veggies:

Paper: Word Art World (Those Who Love)

Alpha:  World Art World Alpha FB Jan2013 Freebie

Embellishments: Studio basic Designs (Only You! News Freebie, Fly Away with Me), Angela Blanchard (Water’s Edge), Growing Pains Scrapped (Down on the Farm), DigiDesignResort (Natural Breeze Collaboration)

Credits for Pan Band

Papers: Julie White (Magic Vacation), Misty Cato (Joyful Noise), Mommish (JustMe),

Embellishments: Misty Cato (Joyful Noise), Growing Pains Scrapped (Down on the Farm), Laura Louie (Boy Joy), Sarah Batford (Love Bugs)

Alpha: Gina Cabrera (Digitally Smitten Shadowed)

Credits for Down By The Bay:

Papers: Syndee Nuckles (A Whale of a Time), Angela Blanchard (WatersEdge), Laura Louie (BoyJoy)

Embellishments: Growing Pains Scrapped (Down on the Farm), Angela Blanchard (Great Outdoors), ScrapGirls (Relax),  Angela Blanchard (Naturalist’s Journal), Angela Blanchard (CuteCritters), Zoe Pearn (SoSweet), Angela Blanchard (Water’s Edge), Gina Cabrera (Oh Happy Day), Syndee Nuckles (A Whale of a Time)

Font  - Darcy Baldwin (DJB Celebrate Life)

Alpha  - JenC Designs (It’s Christmastime) 

I won a Design House Digital 4Play Digi-Challenge

Since I have started digiscrapping I have been all over the blogs and forums and recently came upon Design House Digital.  They have several weekly and monthly challenges that you can participate in, which is neat because you have the chance to win a 5$ gift certificate to their store.  Basically, the designer for that week picks 4 kits and then you have to design a layout with ONLY those elements.   I saw the January 28th 4Play Digi-Challenge kits hosted by Mary Cimeni (you have to buy them for 1$ each, so you are out 3$ to get the kits; you get the 4th kit free) and I was really inspired by Mary Moseley's WordArt from the Reminisce Collection.

October Dawn: She’s Just A Country Mouse – The Elements

Sarah Sullivan – Be Bold Papers

Mary Moseley: The Reminisce Collection – Wordart

Michelle Scobell: Valentine’s Day Lace Embellishments

My grandparents, Fred and Hazel Sigel used to label everything in their house with those embossed tape labels.  I especially remember the jars are raspberry jam that my grandmother would make.  I had this picture of them from their wedding day that I decided to scrap for this challenge.

One technique that I used on this layout was to embellish the corner flowers with snipits of other flowers to make them look more vibrant. I did this by pulling the flower to the top layer over where I wanted it to peek out and then used the Free Select tool to trace around the flower section that will peek out. I then copied and pasted that to a new layer, hid the full flower, and then positioned the flower petal peek layer where I wanted it.  

Paper before adding elements

The journaling on this layout reads:

My grandfather and grandmother were married in 1938 and were together for 65 years.  I remember that my grandfather Fred loved to use the embossing tape label maker to label things around their house like bottles of homemade raspberry jam and the buttons on the intercom that was connected to the garage and my great Aunt Pat's house, which was just next door.  In January, we remember the passing of both my Grandmother Hazel, in 2003, and my Grandfather Fred almost exactly one year later, in 2004.

So I won a 5$ gift certificate to the DHD store.  Weehoo!!  Thanks so much, DHD!!!

DigiScrapping Tutorial: How to use PSD template in GIMP

I was recently asked by a blog commenter (and fellow digiscrapping addict Priya) if I knew how to use templates in GIMP. I had to admit that I hadn't used any templates in my limited time at digiscrapping so off to the web I went. I knew that I had downloaded a few photoshop templates (with the file extension PSD) but just assumed that I wouldn't be able to use them in the GIMP program.  I also felt that using templates (where the boxes for your picture and some embellishments etc are alread laid out for you) is a tad bit cheating at digiscrapping but I guess it is a good place for new scrappers to start.  So anyways here is what I found out.  I found this tutorial by Sommerfug Design and followed it pretty much as described though I have a few clarifications I'd like to add.  So here is my version of using PSD templates in GIMP. Thanks, Priya, for the post idea!!!

1. Open GIMP
2. File - New Image - Size 12inx12in or whatever size you want.
3. File  - Open as Layers – find file with your PSD template file on your computer. Click open.  All the layers of the template will load.

4. Now add a picture. File - Open as Layers - browse for the picture on your computer and click Open

5. Now, Using the Move tool (4 arrows) move the picture over the photo box where you want the picture to be (here shown in multi colors, sometimes they are grey or black). If you need to resize the image you can do that now with the Scale tool or if you want to just crop it, you can just plunk it over the photo box.

6. Here come the tricky parts.  Make sure the layer with your image is grey (ie selected).  Right click on the layer and way down at the bottom you will see Alpha to Selection. Click that.

7. Now click on the layer that has the photobox that you want your picture to be in. For my example it is the light aqua box. Click on Select by Color and then click in the picture where that aqua box is (under the photo).  Click Select then Invert. Here you will see both the picture and the box (underneath) will have the "marching ants" around them.

8. Click on your photo layer and click the Delete key. This should crop your picture in the size of the box underneath.

9. Now you can move your picture layer so that is floats under any embellishments on the template. You can do this in the Layers dialog box using the up and down arrows at the very bottom.

I hope this works for you. Please let me know!!

Oh and here are some newer LO's I have put together:

Credits for CAKE:

Papers: Gina Cabrera (Hello Cupcake, Confetti, Yellow Dots, Tangerine), Julie White (Snow Friends)

Word Art: Gina Cabrera (Oh Happy Day)

Alpha: MadGeniusDesigns (An Innocent Heart )

Embellishments: Juliana Kneipp (You are my Sunshine), Krystal Hartley (Just a number), Jen Dipzinski, Gina Cabrera (Oh Happy Day)

Credits for Daddy Loves You:

Papers: Traci Reed (FlyAwayWith me), SugarPlum Paperie (Grateful Hearts), Snickerdoodle (5000FBLikes)

Embellishments: Birdee’s Nest, Agnes Biro, Manue Designs, Odd, Peeps and Milo, Erika Zane, Charlize Creations, Che Yang, Mandy King,

Alpha: Zoe Pearn (So Sweet)

Credits for Take Me Out to the Ballgame:

Heather Roselli Designs Runs Batted In Collection, Erika Zane Grow, Sara Schmutz Indian Summer