Thinking About Going Digital?
Have you been on the fence about learning to scrapbook digitally? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Maybe you can’t quite grasp how Photoshop Elements works. Well then, this is your year! Or maybe this is you…in a creative slump? Overwhelmed by the family stories that have not yet been told? Sad that your vacation photos are just sitting on your hard drive? What a waste! There are so many tutorials available to us today. Ones that push you out of your box to accomplish something you didn’t think you could, encouraging you to tell more and more beautiful stories. And there are Photoshop Elements specific classes that teach you about brushes and blend modes and filters and styles. Check out the classes offered by one of many sites dedicated to digital scrapbooking…..Digital Scrapper, National Association Of Digital Scrappers…..Jessica Sprague…..YouTube Channels…..and so many more!
Whether you’re just starting to go digital, or even if you still plan on doing traditional (paper) or maybe you’ll try doing a little bit of both, my hope is this first series of posts will guide you through some of the big steps, give you great ideas, provide you with some inspiration and share important tips.
I’ll also tell you what lessons I’ve learned throughout the years of scrapbooking (traditional & digital) so you can avoid making some of the same mistakes I made!
Getting started with digital scrapbooking (digi-scrap) is a lot of fun and not really all that difficult. Like any new skill, you just need to jump in and start practicing! There may be some trial and error before you are 100% happy with your pages, but they will turn out great the more you learn. Now on to my first tip in this series…
Step #1: Find Some Inspiration & Decide What You Like
Whether you’re a traditional or digital scrapbooker, everyone could use a little kick start now and again to get the ideas flowing. Do you enjoy seeing other people’s layouts? Do you love to read blogs? Do you enjoy tutorials? Or does the discipline of a more formal class feed your needs? Identify what fires you up and follow that path, regularly.
There are TONS of different scrapbooking styles and methods. The first thing I suggest you do is spend some time looking on the internet (Google search, Pinterest or other such sites) to get some inspiration and have a starting place so you do not feel completely overwhelmed staring at a blank screen! Just type in “Scrapbooking Layouts” in the appropriate search bar, and start browsing all the different scrapbook layouts that catch your eye.
If you use Pinterest, you can “pin” the ones that you like the most. If you’re not a Pinterest person you can typically save images to your computer for later reference. All you have to do is create a folder in which to store these images. When you find a layout you like simply right-click (Mac users – Control+click) on the image and select “save image as…” from the drop-down menu. Then just name it and save it in the folder you created. Once you’ve made a board (or folder) with anywhere from 25-50 pins, you’re ready to start going through them and figuring out what you like about each page that you fancied. Was it the color scheme? The organization of the photos? The embellishments? The journaling? The unique photo effects?
All of this will help you decide what kind of style you would like to achieve. This will then help make it way easier to know what kind of supplies (digital or otherwise) you need and exactly what techniques you should be trying to learn.
You’ll find the longer you scrapbook, the more your style and tastes will evolve and change – but that’s okay. You have to start somewhere!
If you haven’t already clicked on the “Follow Me” button please do (you’ll receive a free page template). This way you’ll easily stay updated for Step #2…