Stuff I’ve learned about Digital Scrapbooking…

1. “Designers” create digital paper, word art, frames, embellishments and more. Designers sell their work in many venues. There are two main ways that materials are disseminated. One is through web site “stores” and the other is through blogs.
2. Both stores and blogs offer “Freebies” to entice you to visit their site often. Freebies are digital elements like paper for backgrounds, paper clips, cool frames, templates, and word art. Some are in “kits” of coordinated items. I’ve collected hundreds, well probably thousands, of freebies. It is customary when downloading a freebie from a blog to leave a comment of thanks.
3. This craze is international! In one evening I visited blogs from Germany, France, Sweden, Australia and from some country that I couldn’t identify because the letters were backwards! I’m stretching to remember some French so I can find the download link and I can say Merci! What a fun sisterhood of artists. You can’t help but be inspired! I’ve found some French designers I love. They use clean lines and vivid colors.
4. There seems to be a lot more gorgeous stuff out there for scrapbooking girls than boys. I don’t know why… I guess that leafy, flowery designs are popular, just not boy-friendly. There is a trend called “grunge” that is perfect for boys.
5. There are whole communities set up around some of the web stores. They have contests and galleries for everyone to post their creations. It seems like people spend a lot of time doing this. Who could have so much time?
6. I love layouts inspired by advertisements and web sites, instead of traditional scrapbook layouts. It is awesome to not be limited by scissors and tape!
7. There is a file sharing web site called “4shared.com”. Bloggers post their files there for you to download. You just download, unzip the file and you’re done.
8. Most people use a version of Photo Shop or Photo Shop Elements. Honestly, I’ve tried. But Adobe is just not intuitive and it gives me a headache every time! I love Microsoft Digital Imaging and I can do almost everything that the Photo Shop people can do.
9. SAHM means “stay at home mom”.
10. Word art is my favorite part. I love SAYING something that captures the memory and arranging the words in an artistic way. Dr. Seuss quotes are awesome and many of them rhyme.