Free Digital Scrapbooking Template Number 043

{Webajeb-Template-043 - 2-page layout!}

It's been awhile since I gave away a freebie, so here's a cool 2-page digital scrapbooking template FREE to my blog readers!  This template was inspired by Sketch #23 in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Get it in PSD or TIF format (or download both, if you like).  You'll get the 2-page layout as one file AND as individual right and left pages,so you can work with the template in the way you are most comfortable.

These templates include all of my "Easier-to-Use" features: numbers on each photo spot so that you can quickly locate the layer where you want to drop your photo; a plus sign (+) in front of the layer name for layers that are clippable, AND font names included in the layer names for text in case you want to use the same one.

Download in PSD format here or TIF format here.

Visit my online store for more templates, as well as lots of other fun digital scrapbooking products!!

Enjoy!

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.

Rogue Digital Scrapbooking

At the start of a brand new year I always want CHANGE.

Does anyone else feel that way?

It just seems like the perfect time to start something new, or to stop doing something I dislike or am tired of, or that's not adding value to my life.  Having just enjoyed the holidays, and the extra family time they usually bring, is another reason this time of the year is perfect for re-evaluating what's truly important, and for putting the unimportant things out at the curb with the rest of the trash!

Now that it's a brand new year, I am going to be trying some new things here at Webajeb.  But before I tell you what those things are, here are a few things I will NOT be doing:

* Offering online digital scrapbooking classes that require you to buy my products.
* Using the phrases "digital goodness" or "ribbony goodness" or anything remotely similar.
* Putting together a creative team to make layouts with my products.
* Having contests or giveaways as a way to get you to leave comments on my blog.
* Giving out or accepting meaningless blog awards that someone made up.
* Sponsoring, or being a part of, a blog train.
* Charge extra, or say no, if someone wants to use my products commercially.
* Posting photos of my home remodeling projects on this blog instead of my personal blog.
* Posting links to freebies that expire after a certain amount of time.
* A restrictive Terms of Use policy.

LOL!  As you've probably guessed, these are things that I don't care much for. Most of them are popular right now in the scrapbooking world but as a "rogue" digital scrapbooker, I've never like following trends. It drives me crazy when one scrapbooking blog starts a blog train, for example, and then all of a sudden every scrapbooking blog has a blog train. Have you ever tried to work your way through a blog train and collect all the freebies? You can waste literally hours of precious scrapbooking time clicking through all the blogs and downloading stuff that you'll probably never use, don't need, and won't be able to find later if by chance you do want to use it.

However, I digress!

Some things that will stay the same:

* Webajeb content that's all about digital scrapbooking.  (If you want to get to know me on a more personal basis, you are more than welcome to follow my personal blog.)
* A simple, uncluttered blog design.
* Copyright-free content and digital products.
* Freebies with links that never expire.
* Samples of my work, both personal and for clients.

And the new stuff!  I'm excited about heading off in a bit of a different direction this year. Webajeb is going to be more about skills than products.  Oh, I'll still be creating my own digital products and offering them for sale and as freebies but I will be including brief tutorials whenever I can to teach you ways to make the product more useful to you.

My "Wee Three Trees" freebie (download it at 4shared here) is a good example of this.  With the elements I included directions on how to easily change their color to match your background paper or photo(s).  To me, having a single .png file of an element and being able to change its color to suit me, is better than having 12 copies of the same .png file, with each in a different color.

I'll also be writing more tutorials that teach you the skills you need to make your own paper and elements, on the fly, instead of having to spend precious scrapbooking time searching your digital files or the internet for that perfect item.

I can't even think how much time I've wasted searching for stuff on my external hard drive.  Obviously, lots of people have the same issue or there wouldn't be so many digital file organization software packages out there!  Not only do we, as digital scrapbookers, have a lot of photos, but we also have thousands of digital product files!  Keeping all that stuff organized and tagged is frustrating and takes constant diligence.  Frankly, I barely have the patience for it (hence, my dislike for blog trains).

Another new thing is one that I'm super excited about: layered quick pages.  Yep, a combination of layered templates and quick pages!!  These .PSD & .TIF files will be completed scrapbook layouts (a quick page) that are ready for your photos - the difference is that the file is still in layers, like a template, so you will be able to add, delete, or move the layer contents around, change the color or size of individual elements, even pull elements out to use on other scrapbook layouts!

Because I'm most excited about the layered quick pages, I'm going to be busily creating a BUNCH of them over the next month or so (hopefully not to the total abandonment of tutorials, heh), so be sure to check back frequently.

I'll have the first one up either later today, or tomorrow!

Layout Using FREE Wee Three Trees Elements

In my last post I offered a last-minute Christmas freebie, a set of three embossed tree elements.  (You can still download the set at 4shared by clicking here.)

Today I just wanted to share a quick layout I made using the elements.  As you can see I changed the color of the trees to match my background, resized and moved them around until I was happy with the balance of the layout.  I love simple layouts that allow the photo or photos to be the focus.

The background "paper" is actually a texture that I downloaded from the Shadowhouse Creations blog.  The blog creator, skeletalmess, frequently posts textures, tutorials, and brushes which he offers as free downloads under a creative commons license.  I love his stuff!  You can apply the textures to photos, too.  Look through his blog and you'll see some of his own gorgeous artwork.  I think you'll find it very impressive!

How is your scrapbooking coming along?

Wee Three Trees - FREE Digital Elements

 

Wee Three Trees by Webajeb

Christmas is over but my guess is you probably aren't quite finished with your Christmas digital scrapbooking layouts yet.  So I wanted to offer a little last-minute freebie; three little trees perfect for your Christmas layouts.  Here's a larger look at them:

 

 

Download Wee Three Trees FREE from 4shared here.

A Bevel/Emboss style has been applied to each one for dimension and a little shine.  You can easily change the color of these trees, too {and I'll tell you how-below}:

 

Changing the color of these elements is super easy:  select the layer the element is on.  Click on the "Add a Layer Style" icon on your layers palette and choose Color Overlay.  Your element will appear flattened, that's ok, you can easily fix it!  Look at the Layer Style dialog box.  The Blend Mode will have defaulted to "Normal."  Using the dropdown arrow, change it to "Color."  Now, choose whatever color you want your tree to be using either your color chips (your foreground/background colors) or the color picker.

The directions above are included, for easy future reference, when you download the trees!  And, like all my digital scrapbooking products, the elements are copyright-free; see the TOU included in the download for details.

There's a little story behind these trees.  I saw some very similar ones somewhere (now I can't remember where or who the designer was) but I wanted to use them on client layouts, which was against the designer's Terms of Use.  So, rogue scrapbooker that I am, I decided to reverse engineer them and make my own, which I can now use in any way I wish, AND give them to you - FREE.  Next post, I'm going to teach you how to make your own outline-style elements just like these trees, so be sure to follow my blog!

Let me know what you think!  If you have any problems at all using my digital products, please feel free to email me at deborah@webajeb.com.

Happy New Year!

Two Free Digital Scrapbooking Templates

It's another double-double day!  Here is a double serving of free templates and they each come in both .PSD and .TIF formats!

Download Webajeb-Template-031 free from 4shared here.

 

Download Webajeb-Template-029 free from 4shared here.

As a demonstration of how versatile templates are, here is a 2-page layout I made using these two templates:

As you can see, I modified both templates pretty drastically!  Sometimes I use a template exactly as it comes, other times I modify them to suit what I have in mind for my layout.  It was fun to combine these two unrelated templates, and I love how the 2-page spread turned out.  Here are the individual pages, for a closer look:

 

Enjoy the templates!

If you'd like to see more templates like these click here to visit my online store!

FREE Digital Scrapbooking Template by Webajeb

Webajeb-Template-038

Here is one of my latest templates, free to my blog readers; you'll find the download link at the end of this post.  For those of you who are keeping track, yes, the most recent templates have been posted totally out of order.  I have at least a half-dozen that I have not yet posted, but am hoping to get them up very soon.  So keep an eye on this blog!  Subscribe to it, or Opt In to receive e-mail notifications when it's updated; that way you won't miss any!

And, of course, some of them (all?) will be offered FREE here first, then eventually uploaded to my online store.  Right now I'm pretty slow about getting stuff into my online store - I don't know, lately I just haven't felt like doing the techie stuff but I'll get caught up one of these days.  Oh, and don't forget, as of this post, the links to freebies on my blog never expire!  {As I wrote in that earlier post, I haven't had time to go back and re-link all the freebies from all my earlier posts, so if you find a freebie you want and the link has expired, simply email me, tell me which item you'd like, and I'll send you the link.}

Ok, back to today's free template.  It's a double-header!  LOL, I mean a 2-page spread.  I do LOTS of 2-page spreads - I love to have a unified look across both pages, especially in albums of specific events, like weddings.  I use a 24 inch wide by 12 inch high document to create the 2-page spreads.  I did the same for this template.  The template document size is 24x12 and, as you can see, the title runs across the center divider.  The template file includes a layer with a thin divider line - you'll want to hide or delete this layer before you print or publish the layout, the same way you hide or delete the layer with the photo numbers on it.

For those of you who prefer to work with single pages, I'm also including the template as two separate 12x12 documents (with the title moved to one page).  Here they are:

left page

right page

Oh, and something new!  In addition to the Easier-to-Use features I've already added to my templates, I am now also including the name of the font that I've used in any text layers.  I know how frustrated I get when I'm using a template someone else has designed, and they've used a totally cool font for their title and/or journaling and I want to use the same font, but don't know its name.  So from now on in my template files that info will be included in the name of any layers that use fonts.

Here is today's template as I used it for a double-page spread in an album I'm currently working on:

{flame element by Amy Hutchinson}

Isn't that fun?  You can see that I haven't hidden the divider line yet.  I like to wait until the very last minute to do that so I don't inadvertently allow it to run through someone's face, or through some other important element.

Here's a closer look at the pages after separation:

left page

right page

If you've never scrapbooked in the double-page format you're probably wondering how you're gonna print that thing.  Obviously, you've got to split it into two documents first but doing that is a LOT easier than you might think.  Here's how:

First, hide or delete any layers you don't want to print including the divider line and the numbers layer.  Next, flatten the document.  Answer 'yes' if you are asked whether you want to discard any hidden layers.  DO NOT SAVE.

Select your crop tool and set its Width and Height parameters each to 12 inches, type 300 in the Resolution box and select pixels/inch. Hold down the CNTL key (CMD for Macs) and press the hyphen (-) key so that there's some room around the borders of your document.  Position your mouse a little up and to the left of the top-left corner of the document.  Drag it toward and past the center bottom of the document, then release the mouse button.  Double-click inside the selection to accept it.  You will now see ONLY the left page.

Select File, Save AS, and save your layout under a new name (I usually just add an A to the existing filename), and in .JPG format for printing.  Your new file will go into the folder you indicated, and the original .PSD file will remain open.

IMPORTANT STEP!  In the History palette, go back to the step before Crop (keyboard shortcut: CNTL-Z will take you back one step).  Now repeat the cropping process, this time starting with the mouse position a little up and to the right of the top-right corner and dragging, again, toward and past the center bottom.  Select File, Save AS, and save under another name (I usually just add a B to the existing filename), and in .JPG format (with Quality = 10) for printing.

Now you can Close (don't save!) your original double-page file.  When asked if you want to save changes, choose No (else you'll end up saving your .PSD or .TIF file in the flattened format).

Download the double-page template from 4shared here for .PSD and here for .TIF.

{UPDATE: the individual page templates are included in each downloadable .ZIP file; sorry for the confusion!}

Let me know if you have ANY problems; I'm here to help!

Graduation Photo Masks FREE for Digital Scrapbookers

My sister, and our parents, on her graduation from Brooklyn Law School.

(digital paper & brushes by Amber Clegg)

It's JUNE! That means graduations so I decided to put together a set of graduation-themed digital photo masks. I used one of them for the layout about. I chose to leave the words in their original black and filled just the rectangle with my photo. I added a thin white stroke to the mask. I have also personalized this photo mask by adding my sister's name and changing the year.

Here is a set of 7 graduation-themed photo masks for you FREE (for a limited time). Download today because the link will expire in a week or so; of course, you'll still be able to get them after that from my online store. Included in the download is a tutorial on how to use the masks!

Here's a preview of all seven photo masks:

download from 4shared
or
download from mediafire

{Sorry, links have expired but you can still get these masks here! AND you can still get a personalized mask FREE with your purchase!}

The 8th mask in this second set of previews has been personalized, and is included just as an example of another way to use the mask. As a BONUS, I will personalize any one of these masks for you, with the name of your graduate! This offer is limited to the first 10 people so don't delay, send me an email today! **Update!! I underestimated the response to the personalized photo masks; many more people would like one that I ever thought! I'm pleased! So I'm extending my offer to the first 30 people!***

(Patamomma, send me an email with the name you would like - I've saved you a spot!)

*Update: if you'd like a personalized mask please be sure to send me an email (use the "contact me" link on the sidebar of my blog) with your email address so that I can send you the mask. Thx!

Oh, and did I mention my photo masks (and all my digital products) are copyright-free??!! No worries about whether or not you can use them as a scrapbooker for hire, or for creating kits to sell. Credit is appreciated but not required. See my most recent Terms of Use for more details.

Enjoy the photo masks, and happy scrappin' to ya!

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!