Can't get enough...

Had to make another layout with Britt-ish Designs new "Made in America", available at ScrapMatters.  This one is for Bean's book: Born in the USA (click for full credits). 

The photos actually weren't taken on the Fourth of July. Last year at this time, Bean was admitted to Columbus' Nationwide Children's Hospital for two days due to a viral infection. He had to have a spinal tap done and would scream his head off any time you moved him.  The doctor's couldn't figure out what was wrong, and the infection ran it's course.  A week later, Mr. Pepper came down with a virus that attacked his muscles.  He couldn't even open the dryer door or open the lid of a pop, he was so weak and it hurt him too much!  We think that's what Bean had. Luckily, everything turned out alright!  Hoping this July 4th is much more calm and fun for all of us!  Happy Fourth of July weekend!  Please everyone be safe!

Show off!

I mentioned in a previous post that one of my favorite scrapbooking sites is ScrapMatters.  There is a great designer there and sells under the name "Britt-ish Designs".  Each Thursday, Britt has a call for people to "show off" on her blog.  If you design a layout and use any of her products, you email her the jpeg by that Thursday night and she'll include it in her slideshow of show offs on her blog on Friday.  Britt also provides some sort of freebie when you send her a layout. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her designs, so it's not hard for my to get almost one layout done each week.  I haven't participated in the past two weeks, however, due to getting the house ready and my trip. 

Last week, Britt came out with a kit called "Made in America".  Take a peek:

I went back and forth on whether I should purchase it, and I bit the bullet and bought it this morning!  So many possibilities! Not only can you do Fourth of July layouts, but picnics, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Americana, etc.  I created a layout of Cocoa titled "American Girl" (click link for full credits).  Here it is:

 

I checked out a new tutorial this morning on shadows... not quite sure I grasped the concept, but I'm trying.  See how I tried to make the sparkler pop off the page?  Not sure I was successful. I'll keep working at it though!

If you're interested in some freebies, check out Britt's blog and use her products to enter in your show off!

Favorite Digital Scrapbooking Sites

Yesterday I said I was going to post about Bean's birthday party, but I've decided to leave that for Thursday (on Bean's actual birthday). So, today I'm going to talk about some of my favorite digital scrapbook sites.

I've mentioned the site "Two Peas in a Bucket" a few times when posting layouts. This was the first site that I was introduced to for digi-scrapping and it's where I spend most of my time. I have a gallery at this site (I know... you click here and you can find out my name and probably the names of others through the pages. I just don't have the energy to make EVERYTHING in my life anonymous!). A friend from high school, Amy, has been scrapping for awhile and she helped me get started. I've wanted to do it for years, but I never had the time to go out and buy scrapbook supplies, find a place in my house to store it, pull the supplies out, get scrapping, and then like what I've put together. Digital scrapbooking affords me the ability to be flexible. It is all contained on my computer, so I just flip MAC open and start creating. I love that it doesn't take up much space and I can take it ANYWHERE with me (see that woman with the computer in Panera? She's not working... she's SCRAPPING!). I like that if I make a mistake, I hit delete and start over. While there isn't as much depth in a layout with digital scrapbooking, I'm learning to make shadows on my elements to make it seem like a "real" looking page. I think I've come a long way since January, when everything on the page was flat. I digress....

Two Peas in a Bucket is a great community to join for any type of scrapping: paper, digital, or hybrid (a combination of both). Are you into card making? JOIN US!! There are so many excellent, uplifting people on this site. Post a layout, and you're sure to get some praise from a fellow Pea on something they liked. Enter a challenge and you just might win a Two Peas Gift Card (I did!). Want to learn more about digiscrapping? Check out a tutorial or an ongoing class. This is how I figured out how to use my PhotoShop Elements program and start scrapbooking. I. LOVE. IT.

Another site I've been frequenting lately is ScrapMatters. Since I upload to my gallery at Two Peas, I haven't uploaded a lot to other sites. I've been engaged in a challenge this month at ScrapMatters though called "Queen of Scrap", so I've been uploading my layouts there too. I used to mainly use this site for shopping (particularly Britt-ish Designs... send layouts to her each week by Thursday using her products, and she sends you a freebie. I've gathered quite a bit of great material from Britt and I love her products).

Finally, I do spend some time over at Design House Digital, but not as much as the other two. I usually go there for shopping and each Monday they have some mad Monday deals. I did enter a challenge there once and won on the first try! I bought a great alphabet book template by Carina Gardner that I will be creating with here soon. And while I don't get over there as much as I would like, I will be uploading there more in the near future (*look for an announcement in the next week or so).

With all of these sites you have the ability to shop for digital kits, participate in challenges, chat with other scrappers in forums, upload your layouts, view other scrappers layouts, and more. If you're interested in digital scrapbooking, I suggest downloading a free trial of software and nab a free kit (all of these sites have them) to see what you can do. Don't forget to check out tutorials to help you along the way. My scrapbook software (PhotoShop Elements 8) was fairly reasonable to buy, but I received mine as a gift for Christmas. Don't spend a ton of money just starting out. I've made some great layouts with my software and it does what I need it to do. If you have questions, leave a comment and I'd be happy to help!