Digital Scrapbooking

I have done some playing with digital scrapbooking and would definitely say I have a lot to learn. I have been using Photoshop Elements and it is a great program. Photoshop is quite powerful and fairly easy to use. Having said that, it can take a long time to discover all of its capabilities. There are an endless number of free tutorials available online. Two Peas in a Bucket - http://www.twopeaseinabucket.com/ is a great site for tutorials and inspiration of both digital and traditional scrapbooking. There also seems to be an endless supply of digital freebies online. http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ and http://www.digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com/ are a couple of sites I like. Some of the elements I used on these pages are free downloads from scrapbook sites, but the background paper I used for the San Diego layout I made myself using Photoshop.

I still love the feel of paper and can't see myself ever really giving up traditional scrapbooking. It sure is fun to play with digital, though. One advantage to digital is the ability to take your scrapping on holiday without carrying a ton of supplies. Just bring your laptop loaded and ready to go. You can even upload and order your pages before you get home. Now if I could just keep my pages from all looking alike...

Bookmarks

I made a book mark for each of the members of my book club. On the back is a label with the name of our book club, date of inception and names of all the members. The tab at the bottom of this bookmark can be used to recreate a heaving bosom (and is a little risque if pushed too far up). One of the books we read turned out to be a bodice ripper and the inspiration for this bookmark. The book was terrible, but it did make for a lot of laughs.

I used the Cricut and the Forever Young cartridge to make the "fashion" bookmark.

I used the Cricut for these two bookmarks as well. The title of the book under the palm tree is "He's 1 in 20", a reference to a line in the bodice ripper book that made us all laugh. The bookmark with the push up monkey holding the banana is a subtle (and child-friendly) reference to a line from a movie we watched together. Truth be told we have as many movie nights as we "book" club meetings.

Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, of course. We actually read the book!

Valentine's Day

Okay, so Valentine's day has come and gone, but I thought I would post my photos anyway.

 I made a chocolate fondue for the kids after school snack that included strawberries, bananas and marshmallows. This is the plate of nibblies I did for my husband, since he was at work and couldn't enjoy the treat.

I used my Cricut (I love my Cricut) to make wrappers for the chocolate bar Valentines that I bought for the kids and my husband. I used the Love Struck cartridge.The pink valentine is one that my daughter made for her Dad.