Freebies-Father's Day Digital Photo Masks

(Background paper by Vinnie Pearce)

June is one of my favorite months. It marks so many things; the start of summer, graduations, birthdays (there are a lot of June birthdays in my family including my husband, my son, my daughter-in-law, and my sister); but the best thing about June is Father's Day.

I made the layout above using one of the photo masks I created especially for Father's Day. When I think of my dad, I always think of the things he taught me, starting with riding a bicycle. It's kind of the "thing" that daddy's do; teach the kids to ride bikes, play sports, drive, even dance (which my dad taught me also), and later, for girls anyway, how to "handle" boys!

I remember so well; I was sixteen years old and waiting for a date to arrive. I was unsure where my date was taking me -- a nice restaurant, or just a run-of-the-mill one? I didn't quite know what to wear. I told my dad, "When he arrives, if he's all dressed up, tell him that I'll be down in a few minutes. If he's dressed casually, tell him I'll be right down." That was our code, so that I would know what to wear. I was dressed casually; if my date appeared dressed to the nines, then my dad would say, "she'll be down in a few minutes," giving me a little time to change into something fancier.

I started out to make just a few masks to share with you, to use when making cards or scrapbook layouts. Well, I must admit, I got a little carried away! I kept coming up with yet another word, or set of words, that describes a father, or the relationship between and father and a child. It was hard to stop!

Here are twelve photo masks that I'm offering as freebies. Each one is a separate .PNG file that you can use in any way you wish. Use them as is, as I did in the layout above, modify them in anyway you like, or take them apart and use the pieces separately, it's up to you. My designs are copyright-free, so I encourage you to do whatever you want with them.

Here are the previews. Each preview shows 4 photo masks. Most of them are at 12" x 12" (one is at 8" x 8" for some weird reason!). Of course, they can be resized to any size you wish, or modified to suit you. I hope you think of these photo masks as a jumping-off point. Go, my friend, and make of them what you will, lol!

All 12 photo masks

are included in the .ZIP file that you can

download FREE at4shared

and mediafire

{sorry, these links have expired, but you can still get these masks here!}

These photo masks are delivered to you in a .ZIP file. Once you have downloaded the .zip file, and extracted the files in it, you will be able to access each of the 12 files as a .PNG file. Drag it into a new document, modify it in any way you like, drag in your fave photo of your dad, add a background paper and your own personal journaling, and you have a layout fit for a Father's Day card, or a digital scrapbook layout ready to be added to your " Book of Me."

I would love to see the Father's Day cards, or digital scrapbook layouts, that you create with these photo masks. Please send them to me via deborah at webajeb dot com or send me a link. Be sure to let me know whether I can showcase them in a blog posting!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Freebie for Digital Scrapbookers

Today is my birthday so I have a gift for you: two photo masks for birthday layouts!

I made these really large, they nearly fill a 12 x 12 canvas so in addition to resizing the mask and using it for a single photo, you could leave it at the large size and put a collage of photos inside (something I've been wanting to try).
Download them both at 4shared or mediafire along with a copy of my new Terms of Use which states that my digital designs and products are ALL copyright-free!

{Sorry, links have expired, but you can still get the photo masks here.}

You may recall a tutorial that I wrote recently on how to use photo masks? A lot of you downloaded it, and left me nice comments or sent emails. I'm glad to hear it was useful for so many of you. Because at least one person (who is using PSE 5 & who has become a goldmine in feedback) was still having trouble I added some more descriptive step-by-step instructions. I've updated the tutuorial and re-uploaded it to 4shared and mediafire. If you are using an earlier version of Elements, and had trouble with the first version of the tutorial, try this new one!

The tutorial is also copyright-free per my TOU so go ahead and share it with your friends and fellow digi-scrappers, pass around the link, or even post the contents on your own blog or website. Credit to me is appreciated but not required, as are small donations.

If you'd like to give ME a birthday gift? Send me your layouts (or a link to them) using any of my products! I really enjoy seeing what people do with my humble offerings. There are so many talented designers out there Be sure to let me know whether or not it's ok to use your layout on my blog and/or website.

Stop back by soon for more FREE photo masks - in honor of Father's Day and Graduation.

Now, go scrapbook something!

Digital Scrapbook Layout Using a Template - Point Pinos Lighthouse

Hi all,

More fun with templates!

Not only do I enjoy creating templates myself, I also love using templates created by other designers. It's such a nice way to jump-start creativity, don't you think? Plus, when you use a template as part of a challenge, it's even more fun. You get to see how other people have interpreted the same template, you may get the template free to use in the challenge and, for some challenges, there are prizes.

Free Digital Scrapbooking has a monthly template challenge. I based the above layout on the May 2009 template which you can get here. Take a look at all the other entries, too, while you're over there and, what the heck, pick up some free digital scrapbooking stuff, including several more templates!

There are lots of other types of challenges for digital scrapbookers, too, everything from a challenge to start with a bit of word art and build a layout around it, to being given a list of what you can and cannot use on your layout. I just today found a new site called Digi Dares that posts a digital scrapbooking "dare" each week. Here is the "Dair Flair" (challenge) for this week:

"Create a page with any shapes except squares or rectangles on it. (This does mean the background cannot be a square)
Use only b/w photos.
4 fasteners (must all be different types of fasteners–button, staple, tape, glue, tie, clip, etc.) **CAN HAVE AS MANY AS YOU WANT BUT MUST HAVE AT LEAST 4 DIFFERENT TYPES**"

You can see example layouts by the Digi Dares C.T. here.

Every participant receives a coupon to the sponsor-of-the-week and they are also entered into a drawing to receive the grand prize of a $10 coupon to each of the Digi Dare sponsors.

If you've never participated in a challenge, I encourage you to try one. Just about every scrapbooking website offers some sort of challenge or contest. Next time you're feeling uninspired go find a challenge. You'll get a little boost to your creativity, find fresh ideas, and maybe even win something.

Know of any really fun challenges or contests? E-me and let me know, or leave me a comment!

Have fun!

My Five Favorite Scrapbooking Blogs

I browse the internet a LOT. I'm always on the lookout for new digital designers (and, boy does it seem like there are new ones every day), different layout ideas, and fresh inspiration - not to mention freebies, lol.

Sure, I love 'em as much as you do! Then when I find a designer whose stuff I just LOVE, I go check out their store to see what they've got that I just can't live without.

I was just emailing my BFF a list of my (current) favorite designers' blogs and thought I'd share them with my blog readers, too. Here they are....(singing)...these are a few of my favorite blogs....:

{we are} Storytellers
Pamela Donnis Designs
The Daily Digi
Lindsay Jane Designs
Creations by Rachael

This is my SHORT LIST. I subscribe to over 100 blogs and probably 2/3 of them have something to do with scrapbooking. I just find them so inspiring, and often reading a few posts and looking at the layouts others have done can jump-start my own creativity.

Have fun exploring some new blogs, and each blog will probably lead to you other blogs, and so on, and so on, and so on . . . .

FREE Tutorial - Creating Digital Photo Masks

You've seen layouts like these:

So fun! Made using a photo mask to shape the photo, or as a layer with the photo on top, or in lots of other ways.

Lots of digital designers (including me) offer these photo/word masks for sale. But did you know these masks are super-easy to make??? You can custom-design your own, using just the right word for the layout you have in mind, or use your child's name, or your family's last name, or use two or more words, the possibilities are endless.

Want to know how to make these masks? Just click here (4shared) or here (mediafire) for a tutorial (in Word format). This tutorial is FREE for a limited time after which it will be available in my online store for only $1.

INCLUDED is a second, bonus tutorial detailing two quick and easy ways to USE your photo masks once you've created them.

And, in accordance with my latest Terms of Use, these tutorials are copyright-free. Share them with your friends!

NOTE: I would love feedback on my tutorials ('cuz I'm kind of a newbie at writing them). If you find them difficult to use, or the instructions are not clear, etc., please let me know! Use the "Contact Me" button on the right-hand side of my blog. Thanks!!!

Judy, This Template's for You!

First, I want to show off a layout my BFF, Judy, made with one of my Page Heroes:
She did a great job! Judy is a brand-spankin' new digital scrapbooker. She's been learning Photoshop Elements and having some success and some frustration.

I sent her some of my Page Heroes (quick pages) to try, thinking they might be easiest to start with, and she loved them. When she sent me her completed layout she said: "Those are so darn fast and handy! I can't wait to try the other ones. Really nice the way the pictures just slip up underneath. I didn't add any extra embellishments or do anything else - just stuck the pictures in."

Then Judy proceeded to ask if it's possible to change the "color & stuff" of the Page Hero. This made me smile. Well, yes, you COULD change the colors, at least, using some more advanced techniques . . . but pre-made pages like my Page Heroes aren't really meant to be used that way. They are meant to provide a super-fast and easy way to whip up a layout in mere minutes.

I smiled because Judy's question indicates that her skill level & her understanding of layers has already moved beyond Page Heroes which have a single layer with cut-outs for photos. She's already chomping at the bit to change the page elements!

Judy, your next step is TEMPLATES! To make the transition to templates easy for you, I've taken the same Page Hero - Hearts - and turned it into a template. Here it is FREE (for a limited time):

Download from 4shared

or

Download from mediafire

(More templates can be found here)

(More Page Heroes can be found here)

Don't forget - ALL Digital Scrapbooking products by Webajeb are
COPYRIGHT-FREE!!!

The downloadable zipped file contains the same template in two different formats; .PSD for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users, and in .TIF format for users of digital scrapbooking programs that don't work with .PSD files. (Thanks to Grace for the suggestion to include .TIF files!)

Templates have multiple layers with each element on a separate layer. Recolor the elements, clip digital paper to them, re-size, duplicate, or remove them, whatever your little heart desires, Judy! Templates can be thought of almost as a pattern, or guide; something to jump-start your own creativity. The resulting layout can be completely true to the template or have no noticeable resemblance at all. Most are somewhere in-between. Every scrapbooker makes the template his or her own.

Templates give beginning digital scrapbookers the opportunity to learn all kinds of new skills while providing a starting point, or base, for a completed layout. Tutorials abound on the internet, as do online digital scrapbooking classes, both free and paid. Just a few of my favorite places to get help when I was learning are:

Digital Scrapbook Place

Scrap Girls

Photoshop Elements User (this link is specifically for PSE 5, other versions are on other pages of the website).

Blogs have become a fabulous source for tutorials in the past couple of years:

Jessica Sprague has a ton of great info and tutorials.

Kayla Lamoreaux's blog, Digital Scrapbooking 101, is chock-full of great info for both beginners and advanced digi-scrappers.

There are tons more, just do a Google or Yahoo search specifying the particular software package you use (including the version), include the word tutorial as well as the specific task you want to learn such as recolor elements, create text, etc.

Judy has suggested that I include with my downloadable Page Heroes some basic instructions on how to use them, and I think it's a great idea! I'll be writing something up soon, and also for my templates, and then including the documents in each downloadable bundle. If they are not needed, the instructions can be ignored, but if they are needed, it could make the difference between a fun experience and a frustrating one.

Feedback like Judy's, and Grace's, is helping me become a better digital designer.

So grab my free template, make it your own, and then send me your feedback, suggestions, and layouts. I'd love to hear from you!

A Quick Page and Page Heroes

Picked up a fun little quick page freebie at Creashens this morning, modified it just a bit to please me, popped in a photo of my little-girl-cat, Scout, enjoying the spring weather, and . . . done! The kit that goes along with this freebie is really awesome and spring-like and cheerful. You can check it out at The Daily Digi where Shen is being featured in the Sponsor Spotlight.

Quick pages are just that - a quick way to put together a digital scrapbook layout in less than no time at all. I have quick pages - I call them Page Heroes - on my website. Check 'em out! They are now copyright-free (as are ALL my digital scrapbooking products) so share them with your friends, include them in your own kits, modify them in way you like, etc.

(The TOU currently delivered bundled with the Page Hero files is outdated-I will be replacing it soon. Until then please click here for my latest Terms of Use document.)

Enjoy!

Webajeb Designs are Now Copyright-Free

Copyright-Free Digital Designs by Webajeb
(In other words, I release my digital designs into the Public Domain)


In the interest of promoting artistic inspiration in the creative community it is my choice to retain no copyrights to my digital designs. You may use them in any way you like, in both your personal and commercial projects.

You may modify them, recolor them, include them in a digital kit, use them to create layouts, decorate your blog or website, or in any other creative endeavor.

You may also freely share my designs in any manner you choose including email, CD/DVD, blogs, websites, or as a part of your own digital creations.

Credit and Payment

You are under no obligation to do so, but I would appreciate it if you give me credit for any designs of mine that you use and, ideally, link back to my website or blog.

Sure, I’d love payment but, again, there is no obligation for anyone you share my designs with to pay me for them. However, if they are so inclined I do accept and appreciate donations via the Donation button on my website or blog.

Sharing Back
I’d love to see what you do with my designs.
If you’d like to share, drop me an email and let me know where I can see your work (and possibly brag about it, too).

***

I will be updating my website accordingly, as well as the TOU that is bundled with my digital products, over the next week or so.

Inspired by: ZenHabits

Find my products at my website and here, on this blog.