Scraps Of Mind

AZZA Scrapbooking

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Have you heard of AZZA Scrapbooking?

Well I hadn’t until a few months ago when my friend Marla (who isn’t even a scrapbooker) worded me up about it.

Seems AZZA is a European style of scrapbooking. The AZZA heartland seems to be France and Belgium. And its focus is all about the photos and less about the embellishments.

Typically AZZA scrapbook layouts use multiple photos which are cut into shapes that fit into each other neatly. Often special templates are used to create the shapes needed for a pleasing design.

Usually there isn’t any embellishment other than a border which is mostly drawn with a pen or paintbrush. Simplicity is the key and all attention is given to the photos. And the photos themselves become the design of the layout.

It’s an interesting style and makes quite a contrast from the American style of scrapbooking which most of us practice. And I do confess that whilst I’m not a heavy collage scrapbooker, I do like my embellishments and accents.

But I was intrigued by the AZZA scrapbooking style and thought I’d like to give it a try. I wasn’t all that keen on all the photo cutting (I knew from the outset that that way there be dragons). And I wasn’t keen on the expense of buying the special templates.

So the obvious choice was . . .

Digital AZZA Scrapbooking!

One of the joys of digital for me is that you can replicate pretty much anything that you can create in paper scrapbooking at little or no cost. And mistakes are fixed by just a click of the reverse button.

So I decided to give digital AZZA a try and use it to create my album for the trip I took last November, cruising across Europe by river.

Click on the layout to download the PSD template

I made some digital templates in Photoshop Elements and dragged my photos on, positioned and resized them and then used the clipping mask layer to crop them to the size of the template.

I made the borders by choosing a shape from the cookie cutter and then Ctrl-Click to select the layer and doing Edit>Stroke Outline on a new layer. Simply delete the original shape layer and you’re left with the outline border which you can resize and manipulate however you want.

The templates were quite easy to make using the Cookie Cutter shapes and the Marquee Tool for the more geometric shapes. And the spaces between were created using the same Edit>Stroke Outline technique around the photos, Selecting the border layer  and pressing the Delete key on the relevant layers to create the space.

I then just added a small shadow to the photos so they look like they’re stuck on the page; a low key title, some journaling and we’re done.

I quite like how they’re turning out. And best of all, it cost me nothing!

So I think I’ll be doing more of this Digital AZZA Scrapbooking, although I can’t see me becoming a total convert. I couldn’t bear to give up my flowers and brads… both digital and real.

How about you? Have you tried AZZA Scrapbooking before using traditional paper techniques? How do you like it?

And what do you think of digital AZZA scrapbooking? Is it something you ‘d like to try?

You can download the template I made for the layout above by clicking on the layout above. The template is in PSD format.

Let me know how you go.

Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies

Yes folks it’s on again!

Antoinette from  Sparky’s Scratches has organised another huge roundup of scrapbooking freebies for your crafting pleasure.

Just click on the logo below to get to the special blog she has set up with all the links to a Wonderful World of Christmas Scrapbooking and Cardmaking items

I didn’t have anything to do with the organising of this year’s event being otherwise occupied cruising up the Danube and down the Rhine, but I’ve come home in time to do my part in providing some Christmas Word Art Freebies for you.

Just click on the sample graphic and you will open a .PNG file. Save this file to your computer and you should be able to use it with any of the mainstream graphics editing programs (eg. Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paintshop Pro).  You can resize the image to fit your scrapbook layout or card.

Enjoy.

(This looks better in the PNG format. the O doesn’t look so good in this sample)

Make sure you visit the other contributors to the Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebies.

Free Summer and Winter Word Art

Another Word Art Digital Scrapbooking Freebie for you

It’s a bit weird living on the opposite side of the World to most of my readers. Not so much in the right to left sense, that just means I’m awake when you’re asleep and vice versa. The part I find the weirdest is the top to bottom perspective.

You see I live in Australia and, being in the Southern Hemisphere, our seasons are opposite to yours in the Northern Hemisphere.

So it is quite strange to read on blogs and forums about how everyone is getting excited about their summer vacations and is melting in the heat etc. When we are muffling up for winter and firing up the central heating, you Northerners are running around in sandals and shorts and reaching for the air cooler.

So to celebrate the diversity of the seasons in both hemispheres, here is some Summer and Winter Word Art Freebies for you to enjoy.

To download this Word Art just right mouse click on the image and choose Save Target as… or Save link as…

I hope you have fun using these. And if you post your scrapbook layouts on your blog please let me know so I can come and see them.

How to Make a Scrapbook Template or Sketch from a Scrapbook Layout

…and a Template Digital Scrapbooking Freebie

Coming up with fresh ideas for your scrapbook layout designs can sometimes be a challenge. So here’s a tip you might find useful:

Recycle your old scrapbook layouts!

I don’t mean that literally of course. But if you choose some of your favorite scrapbook layouts that you have previously done you can easily create a sketch that you can turn into a totally fresh new layout.

How to Create a Sketch from a Scrapbook Layout

• Choose a scrapbook layout that has some strong structural elements to the design.
• Now sketch the layout on a piece of paper, leaving out all the small details. Just draw basic geometric shapes such as circles, rectangles and triangles to represent the key elements.
• The reason for this is that you don’t want to replicate your original scrapbook layout on your new one. You just want to create the structure that you can build your new layout on.
• Now turn the sketch around. See how it looks from each of the four sides. You don’t need to necessarily repeat the sketch exactly as the original layout. But you will have the basic structure of the design to build on.

And for digital scrapbookers you can take it a step further and Read the rest of this entry »

Word Art for Fathers Day

Digital Scrapbooking Freebie

Here in Australia we celebrate Fathers Day in September. But I know that many Scraps of Mind readers are preparing to celebrate Fathers Day in their country next Sunday.

I had a look on Wikipedia and the commemoration of Fathers Day is scattered all through the calendar if you look around the World. It seems that there is hardly a month in the year when someone somewhere isn’t celebrating it.

So with that in mind I thought I’d give you some free word art to use in your Fathers Day card rather than just leaving the inside blank.

And if you won’t be able to see your Dad on Fathers Day, why not attach the word art to your Fathers Day email.

Anyhow here it is. If you right click on the image you can download a high resolution JPG file. This will have a white background.

But if you right click on the link below you’ll get a PNG file which will have all the transparent areas remaining transparent instead of turning them white. Read the rest of this entry »