Go BIG or Go Home

Ok, peeps, what is UP with all the eensy-weensy photos on everyone's digital scrapbook pages???  If you browse any of the popular designer's websites and/or blogs, you know what I'm talking about.  Layout after layout after layout featuring only a single {tiny} photo, lots of digital elements, and a whole lotta blank space.

Not to mention, when I find a really fun Quick Page to download, there they are again -- itty-bitty windows in the .PNG files where you can slide in a photo no bigger than thumbnail-size.  Like this page:

{Quick Page by Creashens}

How CUTE is that page?  And perfect for the sweet photo of my great-niece, Kayla.  But, dang it, when I printed this out at 8"x8" for my family album, Kayla's picture came out measuring only 1.5" x 1.5".  That's wayyy too small for me {when I have to get out my reading glasses to get a good look at the photo I get grumpy}.

Maybe it's just me but when I look at this page I see the focus as being on the elements - the owl, the button, the stitching, the patterned paper border - rather than on the photo.  I like my pages to be the other way around - with my photos as the focus.

I've been waiting a long time for this trend to go away.  And it's just not going away.  I know there's this idea that all that "white space" (aka empty space) on the page is restful to the eyes, artsy, and modern but, in the long run, my goal is to get all my photos scrapbooked with a minimum of time and money spent.  If I scrapbook just one photo per page it's going to take me a LONG time to make any headway, and it's going to cost me a LOT in ink and paper, too, and albums to put all the pages in and page refills, and bookshelves to hold all the albums . . . well, you get the idea.

Well, I never have followed the crowd, but it could be that my taste and/or style is just different.  Like these pages that I did over the weekend:

{double-click any image for a larger view}

As you can see, my tendency is to FILL the page with photos - usually to the extent that there's no place for journaling {I'm working on that}.  I haven't left much room for elements either, like buttons, ribbons, digi-stickers, etc., which is kind of a shame since I have an external hard drive literally stuffed with 'em.

But somehow I'm ok with that.

And I'm keeping Kayla's page, too, 'cuz it's just way too cute not to.

FREE-Webajeb's First LAYERED Quick Page!!!

 Webajeb-Layered-Quick-Page-001

Introducing...the very first....LAYERED QUICK PAGE!!!  WOOT!

This is not just a template, and it's not just a quick page - it's BOTH!  Each element is still on its own layer in a .PSD or .TIF file (download either or both!) and has NOT been flattened to a .PNG file.

You can choose to either pop your own photos into the spaces provided OR move any of the elements around, resize or recolor them, change the title, swap out the elements with your own or another designer's, pull the individual elements out to use in other layouts, whatever your little heart desires!  The paper and elements are created by me, and are copyright-free, so have fun with them!  Giving credit to me is appreciated, but not required.  {The ONLY thing I ask is that you do not rename them and sell them as your own.}

I'm VERY excited about these . . . even though they are going to take longer to create than regular templates . . . hm, they'll take longer to create than regular quick pages, too . . . still, I'd love to have found something like these out there in digital-land myself, especially when I was a beginner digital scrapbooker (and in many ways I still am since there's always so much to learn).

The inspiration for this first layered quick page came from a layout I did for a client a year or so ago.  I've always loved the bright, pastel colors and the sticker look of the sun and title elements.  The fun background paper is one I created using a photo of my Mom's parquet entryway floor as a texture, then playing with color overlays.  The sun is a standard Photoshop Custom Shape and the font is Flowerchild, available free at urbanfonts.com.  To make them look like stickers (with the white border) I added a size 16 white stroke on the outside.  Add a drop-shadow and you've got the sticker look. It works with pretty much any custom shape and or text.

Here's the original layout:

I do have a problem, though, and I need your help.

I don't know what to call these!  I don't want to just call them "layered quick pages."  Boring!  So that's where you come in.  If you've got an idea for a fun & catchy name, please leave a comment, or send me an email.  If I pick yours, you'll NEVER pay for a Webajeb "Layered Quick Page" - Ever!  I'll simply send you each new file in an email when I post it!  I'm hoping that bribe will prompt you to put on your thinking caps and hook me up with an awesome name.

The other thing I'd love is feedback after you've tried using this.  What worked, and what didn't?  What should I do differently?  I want these to be as useful as possible for you, so any and all critique will be welcome!

Download the file from 4shared as a .PSD here, or as a .TIF here.

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!!!

Junk Mail Inspiration

Artistic inspiration can come from pretty much anywhere. I get a lot of mine from magazines, billboards, product labels and boxes, kid's artwork, and many other places. A couple days ago I got a piece of junk mail from a mail-order pharmacy and the design of the front and back pages really caught my eye:

Simple, clean, graphic. Just the kind of stuff I love. Sheesh, I even like the color scheme. Anyway, I knew immediately that these would be great digital scrapbooking templates so I sat right down and created some. Here they are:

FREE to my blog readers for a limited time

download from mediashare here
download from 4shared here

(more templates here)

I like them! I like each one on its own, and I also like them as a 2-page spread. Just think how these could be gussied up into fancy layouts, or kept as simple and classy as they are.

As you can see I didn't add any styles or drop-shadows to the text or the circles, so add your own if you want. The circles could be used for photos or journaling, a mixture of both, or whatever. I just love how versatile these templates are.

I made the templates in the square format that I most often scrap in, but am wondering . . . How many people would like to see templates in 8.5 x 11, or some other size? Just let me know if you do, and I'll add some different sizes. I'll even convert existing templates to other sizes, if you like, whaddya think o' them beans?

AND . . . If you're not a digital scrapbooker - No worries. I scrapbook for others, and would be happy to customize these templates, or any of my templates or Page Heroes (pre-designed pages), for you with your own photos. Click here to see how easy it is to order (not to mention you can check out my new recession-busting prices).

Please leave some comment love!

New (FREEBIE) Digital Scrapbooking Template - One Heart

Yesterday was such a productive day! Boy, once I got the majority of my website updates finished and could get back to creating and designing, the ideas I've had in the back of my head have just been pouring out! (Having all that techie stuff hanging over my head has not been good - I'm totally longing for the day I can pay someone to do that for me!)

Anyway, I'd like everyone to benefit from my good day so I'm offering one of the templates I made for FREE! Here it is:

Download from 4shared

Download from mediafire

(sorry, links have expired, but you can still get the template here)

It's a layered .PST file, so just open it in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, and do a Save As with a new name. Then drag your photos, paper, etc. into your new file. Some of the layers in the .PSD file have a plus sign in front of the name; this is to designate layers to which you can clip your paper or photos. This is a quick and easy way to use templates! Or, use whatever method you prefer.

The journaling lines are on layers of their own so you don't have to use those spaces for journaling if you'd rather put a photo or embellishment there instead. The title and the background paper with the text on it are also on their own layers. Use them or add your own. Templates are SO versatile; that's probably why I like them so much.

I'd love to see what you do with this template so send me a web-size version of your layout, or a link to where it's posted on-line. Everyone that does that can choose another of my templates FREE, just let me know which one you'd like.

I'll leave the above download links active for at least a week to give you a chance to snag this template. After that the template will still be available in my online store.

Enjoy!

Obama Inauguration Digital Word Art

Just in time for those Inauguration and Barack Obama digital scrapbook layouts, here is a set of digital word art by Webajeb. Use each piece as is, make it into a brush, color it, re-size it, add embossing or drop-shadows, whatever you want. The set includes four quotes by Barack Obama, and three Inauguration titles (one of the titles has two variations) so you get, in all, eight pieces of word art.

I'm offering the entire set of word art for only $2.49!! The word art is delivered in .PNG format (with transparent background) and 300 dpi.

Get it now at my online store - just click Here!

I'd love to see any layouts you make with my word art, or any of the other Obama digital papers and embellishments I have offered recently (see my Archives list on the left-hand side of my blog for links to more Obama digital designs). Just email me a .jpg version of your layout and I'll share it right here on my blog!

Other Obama digital scrapbook stuff: Obama Digital Paper, Patriotic Alpha (with FREE Obama digital paper), and FREE Obama name in patriotic alpha.

Digital Elements for Sale - and a FREEBIE

Just $1.49

Get them Here at my online store!

As mentioned in this recent post, I have been working on creating my first set of digital elements for sale, and they're done! In that same post is a freebie - the airplane from this set - so if you haven't already and would like to download the freebie first, see if you like it before you purchase the set, click here.

Boy, was there a learning curve in figuring out how to "package" my elements, zip them up for quick download, upload to the file sharing site, 4shared.com, and finally, learn how to add a "Pay Now" button allowing someone (like you, hopefully!) to actually go through the purchase process.

Whew!

I THINK I have the Buy Now button set up correctly. If you have ANY trouble using it please shoot me off an email at deborah@webajeb.com so that I can find the problem and fix it, as well as give you an alternate way to pay and then receive your download link (so you don't have to wait while the hair-tearing-fixing is going on).

Isn't technology wonderful???

UPDATE: 01/07/09 - The Buy Now button is working - yay! When you click on it you will be presented with a Paypal screen. At this point you can either login to Paypal (if you have an account) OR you can pay with a credit card without a Paypal account. Read the screen carefully and then make your choice as to how you want to proceed. Once your payment has been accepted you will be taken to the download screen. If you have ANY trouble, just email me at deborah@webajeb.com. Enjoy!

Yet another update: 08/10/09! I'm no longer using the Buy Now buttons; please go to my online store to purchase my designs and products. Thx so much for your support!