Scraps Of Mind

The PMA Show - Digital Scrapbooking Heaven

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Please welcome back this week’s Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind.
Today our Guest Writer is Kayla from The Legacy Lady. Some of you may remember Kayla’s great article on digital photography last year. I’m rapt that she’s written another Guest Article for Scraps of Mind, and when you read it, you will be too!
You too can join the Journalist Team at Scraps of Mind and showcase your work to other Scrapbookers by writing a Guest Post and getting published on Scraps of Mind.
When you’ve enjoyed Kayla’s article, why not click over and check out her blog?

I would like to thank Karen for inviting me to guest again - I not only enjoy reading her blog but also all of your wonderful comments and discussions. Thanks for having me!

Today I thought I would share some fun little things that apply to the world of digital scrapbooking. Do you all realize that you are riding a wave of change in the scrapbooking industry? Digital scrapbooking is not only changing the way traditional scrapbookers look at keeping their memories, but also bringing in an entirely new group of individuals interested in preserving their stories - and that is a very good thing!

Last month I attended the PMA Show in Las Vegas. It was quite an interesting look into the trends for photography retailers, software, printing and technology. I was very interested in this show because I love photography and the more I get into digital scrapbooking, the more the two meld together.

Visiting PMA and seeing all the exhibitors was eye opening. Things were so different than the usual at scrapbook shows - we were definitely outnumbered by men in suits! The displays were plentiful and the large companies like Samsung, Nikon, HP, Sony and Canon had booths that seemed to be their own little neighborhoods…

Read the rest of this entry »

What Happened to the Sad and the Bad?

Please give a warm welcome our latest Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind.
You too can join the Journalist Team at Scraps of Mind and showcase your work to other Scrapbookers by writing a Guest Post and getting published on Scraps of Mind.
Today our Guest Writer is June from Cen’s Loft. When you’ve enjoyed her article, why not click over and check out her blog?

Looking through my album pages the thought occurred to me how they were all bright and cheerful, showing happy events and good times, a store of positive memories.

OK, I hear you ask “What’s so unusual about that?”

It’s not, most scrappers will find the same in their albums. I know that I for one, use scrapbooking as a way to record the things that happen to me and those close to me as we go through our lives. Photographs and journaling explain the events and feelings, so they don’t get forgotten. But on reflection it seems to me my album is a little unbalanced.

What happened to the rest of my life, the sad, confused or lonely days? The times I was so angry and the moments I felt lost. Perhaps other people do scrap those as well, but I am sure many are like me and just preserve the positive moments.

So why should I feel the need to scrap the negative?

Well, those negative moments are just as much part of my life or yours as the happy ones. I’m not suggesting that we start taking photographs of sad or morbid events, quite the reverse.

There is an other way to include those times and it needn’t be ugly!

What about using a photograph to represent the mood we were feeling or the atmosphere of the time. Photographs of animals, especially cats and dogs, which have such a wonderful range of expressions could be used.

Or what about a photograph of a large, empty piece of countryside - great for symbolising loneliness or sadness whilst still being beautiful.

The journaling can explain the mood and could be extremely therapeutic to write, as it would get us thinking about how we were actually feeling at the time. The more I ponder it, the more ideas come into my head on how symbolism could work.

How about a blurred or swirling image for situations that left us confused.

A mist over water could convey a feeling of being lost or directionless. The possibilities are endless and not just for negative emotions. Perhaps I’ll even adopt this idea for other more positive times too!

So in conclusion, I feel that in future my albums should capture a wider range of the emotions that I experience in my journey through life. There is a place in my albums for negative emotions, they are after all a part of my world and me.

June writes the Cen’s Loft Blog where she shares her designs and freebies with her readers.

Calendar Keeping Can Help You Focus on the Details

Last week Hope showed us how to organise our scrapbooking events using Google Calendar.
This week Calli from Dots ‘n’ Details takes organisation a step further and talks about creating a scrapbooking memento from your calendar.
Please give a warm welcome our latest Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind. And why don’t you join the Journalist Team at Scraps of Mind and showcase your work to other Scrapbookers by writing a Guest Post and getting published on Scraps of Mind.

Creating a calendar can help you focus on the “Details” of life. When you sit down to fill in your calendar, don’t just schedule haircuts and doctor’s appointments… take time to plan some happy memories.

As a way to stay organized, I started making a Calendar every Christmas season. I start with all the fun family activities we want to do for the Season like going to the Nutcracker, visiting Santa, going to the “Back in Time Nativity.” I also add fun at-home activities like making gingerbread houses, watching the Grinch, or making Christmas cards scheduled as well.

Before I added everything to our seasonal calendar, my husband and I would talk about things we wanted to do, but before you know the season gets crazy and we ran out of time. Now, the calendar gives everyone something to look forward to and we found that we are able to get a lot more done because everyone knows what to expect.

Another fun idea, is to take some time to embellish your calendar and put it up on the refrigerator, at the end of the season the calendar can go into your scrapbook. In years to come it will be fun to look back and remember all the fun you had together. Read the rest of this entry »

Organizing My ‘Scrapbookable’ Moments

Please give a warm welcome our latest Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind.
Join the Journalist Team at Scraps of Mind and showcase your work to other Scrapbookers by writing a Guest Post and getting published on Scraps of Mind.
Today our Guest Writer is Hope from 4thememories. When you’ve enjoyed her article, why not click over and check out her blog?

First I want to say hello to all the readers here at Scraps of Mind.
I have gone digital!

Not digital scrapbooking. Although I know that is in my future. How could I not be inspired to start after reading amazing blogs like Scraps of Mind?

But right now my digital journey is starting with my calendar.
The mess on my desk was just getting to be too much. How could I organize my life and reduce the clutter?
I gave away my paper calendar (I think it came from the dollar store…) and I started to use Google Calendar.
At first I began to use it for all of my personal appointments and then I moved to even scheduling my errands, phone calls, etc. And it has been great so far.

Recording the Events As They Happen

Then I started to plan my new 2008 Family Album.

The idea is to do a two-page layout for each month with one page being an actual calendar. I knew I had to record the events as they happened or I would most certainly forget. Even with my plan to complete each month’s layouts right at the end of the month I needed a place to record my ’scrapbookable’ moments.
Read the rest of this entry »

Gimp Installation Guide - Step by Step

Thank you to Olga as the latest Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind. And don’t forget, the invitation to become a Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind is always open.

Olga digitally scrapbooks using the Gimp software which is an OpenSource (therefore FREE) graphics editing program which has much of the functionality of Photoshop.Gimp is probably not well known in the Scrapbooking world so this is a great opportunity to learn more about it. In this tutorial Olga will walk you step by step through the downloading and installation process for Gimp (which can be more complex than we’re used to with packaged products).And when you’ve enjoyed her article, why not click over and check out Olga’s blog 9990 Ways of Scrapbooking?

Gimp, the Free Graphics Editing Program

Gimp is what is called an Open Source program.

That means that the program has been created and developed by many people and if you have the right coding experience you can participate in the project and add more functionality to it. As it is also licensed under the GPL, you have access to the code and you can change it and even distribute the changes you have made without a problem.

It is also a free program and nowadays it is considered to have almost at the same level of Photoshop CS. It does not have all the features as Photoshop but it does have most of them and with a bit of effort you can get to do everything that you can do in Photoshop.

Gimp was first developed in the Linux environment, and for sometime it had a way of installing it that was a bit complicated and strange compared to other programs you install in Windows. Even though that has been made easier in the latest release of Gimp, 2.4, it continues to have some rules that are important to follow to get the most it.

If you are thinking of installing Gimp in your system, in my opinion, the best thing to do is to first download and organise all the pieces in a folder before starting to install anything.

Because the project is developed by a community of software developers and not a company you might have a problem finding drivers to print directly from Gimp (in my experience some Lexmark printers won’t recognise any output from Gimp, so trying to print directly from Gimp with some Lexmark printers won’t be possible). But that can be easily solved saving your work and opening your printer program and printing your jpg, or any other compatible file from it.

So without going into more technical details, here are links for all the main parts of the program follow by the steps in the installation.

Click on the thumbnails for larger screenshots. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Use Textures in Digital Scrapbooking

Please give a warm welcome to another Guest Writer on Scraps of Mind.This Guest Writer Series is a great opportunity for Scraps of Mind readers to see some of the great ideas and talent of other Scrapbookers and also an opportunity for other Scrapbooking Writers to showcase their work to other Scrapbookers.Today our Guest Writer is Joe (aka Wildheart) from Wildheart’s Works. When you’ve enjoyed her article, why not click over and check out her blog?

First I want to say hello to all the readers here at Scraps of Mind.

Karen asked me to come aboard as a guest blogger and I happily accepted. One thing that we threw back forth when I was asking what to write about was the use of textures in digital scrapbooking. If you visit my blog and look at my free textures you will get an idea of what a texture is, if you are still new to digital scrapping and to digital design as well.

In this picture, (Layout found at PSP Classic Creations) you can use textures to create the crosshatch look you can see in the background paper.

To do this you need to do the following steps with Paint Shop Pro (the principles are the same for other graphics editing program but the terms may differ): Read the rest of this entry »

Scrapbooking Your Recipes

I’ve started a series of Guest Writers on Scraps of Mind.This is a great opportunity for Scraps of Mind readers to see some of the great ideas and talent of other Scrapbookers and also an opportunity for other Scrapbooking Writers to showcase their work to other Scrapbookers.
Our first Guest Writer is Monique from Monique’s Scrappin’ Blog. When you’ve enjoyed her article, why not click over and check out her blog?

Hi, my name is Monique and I’m here to talk to you about scrapbooking your recipes. I’ll talk to you about why I scrap my recipes, what sizes are popular for scrapping recipe pages, and what you can do with them once they’re scrapped. I’ll also tell you about how I go about scrapping them and finally I will provide you with some inspiration to help get you started. Sound like fun? Great, then let’s get started!

Why Scrapbook recipes?

The first thing you might ask if you’ve never scrapbooked a recipe is why?

Well, you scrapbook your photos and memories for future reference, enjoyment and for future generations to enjoy right? Then why not scrapbook your recipes for future generations too? Wouldn’t you be overjoyed to receive a beautiful collection of your mother or grandmother’s recipes? Then why not do the same for your children? Read the rest of this entry »