Written by Mommy Blogger, Andrea: Digital Scrapbooking, Part 4

Other Parts:
Digital Scrapbooking Part 1

Digital Scrapbooking Part 2

Digital Scrapbooking Part 3

Hey MomDotters!  Sorry for my delay in bringing you this crafty post, but it was my master’s, I mean my son’s, fourth birthday today and the festivities kept me busy.

I now have a ton of birthday pictures to scrapbook and sweet memories to record.  This weekend I promised to bring you some time and money saving ideas for digital scrapbooking that will come in handy for all those birthday pages I am sure to create soon.

Two words…Quick Pages!  Some designers create Quick Pages to go along with their kits and these are so so great when you don’t have time to pour over every detail or you just aren’t feeling all that inspired.  I downloaded a set from Beckie Wallace back in July that I absolutely love and plopped in one of my photos to show you what I am talking about…

Everything on this page was already there, the only thing I added was my photo.  I use Adobe Photoshop Elements so I just drag the quick page image onto my background and then layer my photo beneath the quick page layer and voila!  Done!  So easy and simple and looks like I took the time to add all those papers, elements and words myself.  If you wished to add more, you could always do so right on top of the quick page layer.

Quick pages can be found in most shops, as well as on freebie sites and sometimes even on designer’s blogs.  I highly recommend having a stash of them in your digital goodies folder!

Another great tool is a template.  Templates are like the blueprint of a scrapbook page.  The elements are all laid out and you just plug in the items you want to use.  Here’s a preview image from Sunshine Studio Scraps to give you an idea…

Everyone gets stuck on designing a layout from time to time and templates can be the perfect page saver in that situation.  There are some scrappers that use them frequently and I can definitely see the draw.  If you have a chance to add to your digital goody collection, consider adding a few versatile templates.

Now onto the money saving part, something I love to hear in these depressing economic times…sites like From The Chicken Coop provide links to freebies as well as list the current sales happening online at scrapbook stores, this is an incredible resource since it has all been summed up in one post for you.  Many shops offer Freebie Fridays and other weekly sale days such as the $1 Thursdays at my favorite shop, The Funky Playground.  Also, most shops send out a monthly newsletter with links to sales and special offers for newsletter recipients.  If you sign up for their forums and check the box to receive the newsletter, you may be surprised at what you find in your Inbox.

I hope this series of posts about digital scrapbooking has inspired of few of you to get started or get back into scrapping!  I have enjoyed sharing and look forward to all the holiday craft ideas to come in the next several weekends here at MomDot.

Happy Crafting!

Andrea