This tip has come in handy many a times.

Try it!

Happy Scrapping!

Up until YESTERDAY I liked my Craft Robo. Today, I love it!

See, I thought that by being a Mac user I was limited to a very narrow area of cutting because registration marks had to be printed on whatever I wanted to cut. Narrow, because the marks had to be about 2 inches in from the edges of the paper/cardstock so the digital eye of the cutter could recognize the marks. Then, I always have had to try positioning the paper/cardstock in slightly different ways until the cutter finally recognizes the marks. And then, if I used a dark colored paper/cardstock or one with a busy pattern, the cutter cannot see the marks at all. I did realize that by oulining the marks with my trusty white Galaxy Marker it helped the cutter see the marks…..but come on…… a bit frustrating to get something cut.

BUT……..the revelation!

I stumbled upon a Wishblade video and noticed that what was being cut didn’t require registration marks. I thought that would be nice if I could bypass the whole centering all the pieces close together of whatever I wanted to cut so that the registration marks are placed just right for the cutter. I thought I would just have to try it.

Well…….it’s wonderful!

I tried it out (yesterday) on my giraffe paper piecing pattern which I had tried before using the “registration marks” method and had gotten it to cut but after much frustration. But now, using any colored paper/cardstock with or without busy patterns, any size from like 2 inches to almost 8.5 x 11 inches, the Craft Robo cuts it like butt-ah!!! I was so excited, I started cutting all my paper piecing patterns just to make sure and yep, it’s great!!

So……what I learned.

The “registration marks” method although I have to fidget with it, is really great when I want to silhoutte a photo or when I design something with specific colors that I’ll print on white or light colored paper/cardstock first and then run it through my Craft Robo.

For everything else, just create and send to cut! Awesome!

1. Get those photos out of the shoe boxes!

Come on! In the words of Nicey Nash, “Get rid of the foolishness!”. The more time passes, the more damage your photos are in danger of acquiring.

2. Get the photos out of the folder jungle in your computer!

Going digital has made things much easier, BUT, in the end, if you don’t get to printing your photos the computer is just a way more expensive shoe box.

3. Your photos are special, you took the pictures to look at them, get through #1 and #2 and showcase your photos with all those great paper kits and embellishments you’ve purchased and keep purchasing and don’t use (see #4). (Same goes for you digital scrapbookers!)

4. Scrapbooking kits, papers, embellishments and tools just get cuter and cuter. Isn’t it hard to “just look” when you’re in the scrapbooking store? I know you’ve got lots of stuff already. USE IT!!!!! That way you can make room for new stuff and minimize the clutter in your scrapbooking corner.

5. Scrapbooking is rewarding.

Once you’ve finished a page it’s just satisfying. You’ve saved your photo from damage. The moments you’ve captured have been beautified. The memories are there for all to see. Your album becomes an heirloom.

Of course there are many other reasons why you should scrapbook, but give these top 5 reasons a whirl and you could easily get to another of my favorite reasons to scrapbook….get your pages published!

Be inspired! Happy Scrapping!

Step 1

Select a background “paper”.

Using a predesigned scrapbooking kit is the easiest way to get your feet wet. You can always design your own, but that takes a while. If you don’t have any kits to start from you can browse through my Shopping Nook and purchase one (they’re very inexpensive).

For this “how-to” I’ll be using my latest kit, Smiley Grunge, and I’ll be creating the layout in Photoshop CS2.

So then, go ahead and open the file you’ll be using as a background paper by clicking: File > Open > choose your file. Click OK. (Figure 1, 2 and 2b)

Step 2

Select a photo.

Maintain the background paper open and repeat Step 1, this time selecting your photo (Figure 3).

Step 3

Copy and paste your photo into the background paper file already open.

Click: Select > All (Figure 4). You’ll then see a marquee around the whole photo (Figure 5).

Next click: Edit > Copy (Figure 6).

Then close the photo file by clicking: File > Close (Figure 7).

And now paste the photo into your background paper file by clicking: Edit > Paste (Figure 8).

Step 4

Scale/Resize your photo to desired size.

You may want to or need to resize your photo as it may be too big or too small once you paste it into the background paper file. So just click: Edit > Transform > Scale (Figure 9).

You’ll see that the photo gets selected and there are small squares on the corners and middle of the sides (Figure 10). You can click on any square and drag and you’ll see that you can enlarge or reduce the size very easily. For this demo I’ll be clicking the bottom right corner while holding down the Shift key and then dragging away from the center. This will enlarge my photo but it will do it proportionately. If you don’t hold down the Shift key you can get oblong enlargements or the opposite “squished” look, which is not very attractive, unless of course you’re creating a wacky layout. Once you’ve reached your desired size click Return/Enter, to commit to the size.

Step 5

Create a Matte/Frame for your photo.

As you become more familiar with Photoshop you’ll learn some great shortcuts. You’ve probably noticed some weird looking symbols with letters or numbers in the dropdown menus. These are keyboard shortcuts, for example, we’ve been selecting things by going to Select > All to select all. We could however easily press Command key together with the A key and voila, everything is selected. Easy, right? Try to learn as many shortcuts as possible and fly thru the creation of your layouts. This brings us back to creating a matte for the photo.

We will use a shortcut. See the Layer palette to the right of the Photoshop desktop? There’s a layer for the background, in this case Layer 0, and a layer for the photo, in this example Layer 1. Go ahead and double-click on Layer 1 (photo layer) on the white area as seen in Figure 11.

Double clicking on the white area will open the Layer Style window (Figure 12). Now click on Stroke, the last item on the left column. This will open the options for that in the same window. You can then click and drag the arrow in the Size area to whatever size looks best for your photo. Next click the dropdown menu next to Position, to choose how the stroke will be applied. Choose Inside (Figure 12). Then you’ll probably want to change the red default color of the stroke to one that matches or compliments your layout, so click the red square next to Color and a color picker will open where you can choose another color (Figure 12). Click Ok. Then click Ok again to commit to all the stroke settings and you have a matte.

Step 6

Create a title/journal block.

Since my background paper is busy, I want to create a block to help make my title stand out.

First I’ll create a new layer by clicking: Layer > New > Layer… (Figure 14). Click OK. You’ll then see your new layout in the Layer palette, in this case Layer 2 (Figure 15).

Now, select the Marquee tool from the Toolbox (Figure 16). Click and drag wherever you want your block to be. I’ve chose all the way across the bottom, leaving a little of the background showing above and below the block (Figure 17).

Next, fill in the block with a color by clicking: Edit > Fill (Figure 18). Choose Color from the Use dropdown menu (Figure 19). The Color Picker will open. Choose a color. Click Ok. And click Ok again to commit.

Step 7

Type a title or journal.

Select the Type tool from the Toolbox (Figure 20). Now click inside of the block you just created (Figure 21). You’ll notice that a new Text layer automatically appears in the Layer palette. This is good because you don’t have to do it manually like we did for the block layer (Figure 22). Woohoo! Anyway, now you can type away!

Next, select the text just as you would in a word processing program. Then using the Character palette change font (Figure 23a), size (Figure 23b) and color (Figure 23c) to whatever compliments your layout.

Step 8

You’re done!

You may, however, want to move things around. Do this by selecting the Move tool from the Toolbox (Figure 24).

Then select the layer you want to move things around in and click and drag to a new position. Rearrange items until you’re happy with the layout.

Now you’re done. Remember to save your layout by choosing File > Save As > Name your file whatever you want.

Here’s what the final layout looks like:

This is the simplest of layouts. There are many things that can be done to add details to your layouts. For example, using the steps taken for creating a matte, in the Layer Style window you have other options besides the Stroke option. There’s Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, Outer Glow, Bevel, etc. Take some time to click through the different options and combination of options to become familiar with the effects. There are other effects under the Effects dropdown menu giving you more options. Don’t be afraid of experimenting and get scrapping!

For more sample layouts checkout my Gallery and be inspired!

Happy Scrapping!

Here’s why I say that…

I’m getting ready to print a scrapbook of my new little nephew. So far I have a good 40 pages!! I’ve checked various photo websites and the prices are outrageous!! The cheapest I’ve seen is $5.39 per 12 x 12 print! That’s a whopping $215.60, plus shipping. Just printing these pages twice would amount to what I paid for my printer. Yes, I have to buy paper. Yes, I have to buy ink. But, on average I’m saving $80. I have to print my pages anyway so why not do it saving money. I really believe digital scrapbooking is cheaper and easier and when combined with “traditional” embellishments your creativity is endless. And to have the ability to share the pages and/or albums with friends and family that aren’t close by makes it even more worthwhile.

As inspiration and challenge for myself, I thought sharing some of my layouts, both digital and handmade would be of inspiration to you all. Feel free to “scraplift”!!!

If you have layouts to share please do! If you don’t know how, leave me a comment or email me at cristina@cocscrapbooking.com. I’ll answer right away almost always!

By the way, I’ll be adding more layouts on a monthly basis so visit often and be inspired!

Here are some multi-photo layouts:

Have any experience in the creation of these embellishments? Leave your comments!

Coming soon:

Direct links to one-of-a-kind tear bears, get ready to scrapbook!

At first I thought I’d print the pages and then mount them in an album just like the photographer would have done, BUT, as I researched in the internet I found that buying the outer shell of the album and the adhesive pages to later mount the prints on, would cost a whopping $500+!!!!!! Ridiculous!!!!! So I checked out KodakGallery.com, Shutterfly.com, and some others and saw I could get the album done for WAY less. I’ve used several of these sites throughout the years and they are all pretty good. I went with Kodak because I could make the album in a larger size, 14 x 12.

I was able to include most if not all the pictures taken by the photographer!! Which traditionally you’d be able to pick a handful and end up with a 10 to 20 page album at a very high price. My sisters album ended up being 82 pages and really beautiful, if I do say so myself. The best part is that I was able to print another album in a smaller size for my parents and later for my brother-in-law’s family with just a click of the mouse!

So, if you’re looking for a way to save some $$$$$ on your wedding or a family member’s wedding, creating the wedding album yourself is the way to go! A lot more of those special moments will be scrapbooked at a more affordable price.

Here’s a sample of a couple of pages:

Kodak Gallery

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 (Mac)

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5 and PREMIERE ELEMENTS 3 BUNDLE WIN MINIBOX (29180248)