Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Baby Girl Digital Scrapbook

This is the title page of a digital baby girl scrapbook that I created for a client to give to her husband for Christmas. Click on the layout to see the rest of the book (minus a couple of pages that I felt were a tad too personal to display via the Internet). I hope you'll take a moment to see the rest of the album.

I was really happy with the way the book turned out. My client reported that her husband "loved his book; tears were flowing!" Just what a digital scrapbooker-for-hire wants to hear!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Happy Birthday Digital Layout - for my Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!!

My dad loves cars, especially VW bugs (in all their many variations), dune buggies for off-road racing, and (of course, he's a guy) fast sports cars. He has owned many cars over the years so for his birthday I decided to make a collage of photos of just some of those cars.

The top left photo is from the 50's and shows my dad holding a jackrabbit that he'd shot while out hunting with a friend. In the background is his VW bug which, if the photo were in color, you see is dark green with with red tires. How awesome is that?? The top right photo is an iStockphoto of a "new" beetle, red, exactly like one he owned some 7 or 8 years ago.

In the middle is a photo of an apple green de Tomaso Mangusta sports car. Although this is a photo I found on the internet (I didn't have one of my dad's own car handy), this is exactly like the car he owned in the 70's. I remember it well. In fact, for all I know, this may be the actual car my dad owned that's now owned by someone else. In my Internet research I found that only 200 Mangusta cars are still out there, and how many could there be that color?

Third row: on the left is a red Classic VW that currently sits in my dad's garage. It's a 1968, and is in close to original condition, including the skinny steering wheel with the horn in the center, and those funny little wing windows that you crank open with a little lever. My dad just this year acquired it from "a little old lady" who only wanted him to give her what she'd originally paid for it in 1968.

The other photo is also from the 70's. My dad was big into off-road racing in those days, along with my brother, Steve, (that's the two of them in the photo). The dune buggies were built on VW chassis, had roll-bars added, and were pushed full-throttle over dirt roads pocked with holes and rocks. A very bumpy ride that required the wearing of kidney belts and left the riders covered in mud, dirt, sweat, and grins. My dad and brother were a tough bandido in those days.

Bottom row, on the right-hand side is my Dad's bright orange VW with flames painted on the side and a souped-up and satisfyingly noisy engine. I got to drive this car for awhile during my first year in college (in the 70's) and enjoyed the attention I got wherever I went.

Finally, bottom left-hand is my dad posing in front of the Brubaker Box, aka the Automecca Sports Van, a vehicle originally dreamed up by a guy named Curt Brubaker, and then taken in hand by my dad who worked to manufacture and sell them either fully built or as a kit. You can read more about it here. And if you scroll down to the photo of the "Volkswagen Greats" magazine article entitled "The Automecca Sports Van . . . or the Brubaker is Back?" you'll see a photo of my dad, Mike Hansen, just to the right of the title.

I guess you could say my dad's had a few cool cars in his day . . . !

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Last-Minute Digi Layout for Christmas

I hurried to get this done for a client so he could have it framed and then give it to his wife for Christmas. I can usually get these collages put together pretty quickly, so that wasn't a problem. We did have to scan the bibs that he and his wife wore in the race, and then getting it printed was a slight problem because he wanted it a larger size than I can print here at home.

So I called my dependable source, Scrapbooks to Share, in Florida. Lise assured me she would get it printed and mailed out that very day, so that it would arrive at least two days before Christmas. Yeah! SBtoShare came through yet again.

Scrapbooks to Share specializes in printing digital scrapbook layouts AND will also scan your paper scrapbooks so that you'll have digital copies of them as backups, or to share. Their prices are very reasonable, their service is fast, and you can get personal service (like I did) when you need something printed in a size that is not "standard" (I needed 10 x 13). Plus, you can get your prints on high-quality photo paper, not the glossy cardstock that Kinko's and so many other services automatically give you if you ask for a print larger than 8.5 x 11.

To all my clients, colleagues, friends, and family - have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Baby Girl Digital Layout - sans Pink

I am in love with this baby. Just look at that sweet little face. And those eyelashes! Ok, I'm in love with all babies, especially newborns. They are simply irresistible.

This layout was inspired by April Anderton's layout in the most recent (December 08/January 09) issue of Digital Scrapbooking magazine, page 89. Love that magazine, I read it from cover to cover and am always impressed with the quality of the articles, layouts, and technique tips.

The gorgeous background paper in the layout is by the very talented Stacy of Kalo Designs. Visit her store here and her blog here.

Enjoy!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Sneak Peek - Baby Girl Album

I couldn't resist posting this layout. I'm working on a baby girl album for a new client. It's a Christmas gift for her hubby and chronicles the birth of their daughter exactly one year ago (today!). I am having such a wonderful time working with the gorgeous photos she sent to me. I guess I really have a soft spot for baby layouts!

I also just completed a 20-page photobook at KodakGallery.com for another client who requested my photobook-making service (see more details here). It was the first one I'd done at Kodak Gallery and I found their bookmaking process is not as sophiticated (yet) as many others such as Snapfish or Shutterfly. One important thing that's missing is the ability to send people an invitation to view the completed book. What's up with that? I hope the good folks at Kodak Gallery add that particular function. In my opinion, they are missing out on a lot of sales. For example, if my client sent an invitation to relatives and they viewed her book and liked it, they might order their own copy.

Those are just two of the many projects I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. I'm having a wonderful time with it all, and it just adds to the fun knowing that the completed books will be Christmas gifts!



Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Free Digital Scrapbooking Layout - Christmas

Here's my latest pre-made digital scrapbook page layout. A simple layout, with a classic look, perfect for "busy" photos; that is, photos with a lot of people in them, or with a lot of different colors and/or patterns, where you don't want to highlight any one part of the picture, instead you want the picture to simply stand out nicely from the page, and to be the first thing the eye is drawn to.

This layout is especially suitable for group photos taken at Christmas, like this one. The date on the layout can be modified to any year you like.

If you'd like to see your family Christmas photo in this layout email me at deborah@webajeb.com! This layout is free to you if you mention that you read my blog or that you are a subscriber to my newsletter. (If you are not yet a newsletter subscriber, visit my website and sign up at the bottom of the homepage.)

Just a few mouse-clicks on your part and you'll be the recipient of a digital scrapbook page layout ready to be slipped directly into your family album.