Father’s Day Gift Idea

Father’s day is only a couple of weeks away, but there is still time to create a personalized photo book for dad, grandpa or a favorite uncle. Here are a few themes to spark your creativity:

• Children/grandchildren
• Hobbies
• Vacations
• Family History

My father-in-law tells me that the 5×3.25 mini brag books from Viovio fit perfectly in a man’s shirt pocket which is “very handy for showing off grandchildren because men don’t carry purses.” These little books come in multi-packs and there are also square mini books available too!

If you are looking for something a little larger, Viovio offers over a dozen different book sizes, all at a very affordable price!

Here are a couple of pictures of the mini brag book I made for last Father’s day:

Scrap Outside the Box!

Scrap Outside the Box! offers a small store, gallery, blog, a moderately active forum and a handful of freebies. However what really sets this site apart is the tutorials offered. There are over 30 digital scrapbooking tutorials for a variety of programs including Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and FotoFusion.

A Work in Progress

A Work in Progress is the blog of designer Vicki Parker of Bristol England. She started designing a the beginning of the year and is giving away a lot of freebies in order to gain experience. Some very nice kits are available including a lovely Red, White & Blue kit that is perfect for a Memorial Day layout.

The Pioneer Woman

I have been reading the Pioneer Woman’s blog for sometime now and have watched it grow and expand. Ree is an entertaining story teller, and besides the tales of ranch life and great recipes she now has a photography section.

In the photography section she shares tutorials and tips for both photography and for Photoshop. In addition to the free tutorials, she also has a few Photoshop actions that she is giving away. And if that isn’t enough to entice you to check out her blog she also occasionally gives away some really great stuff – like a $500 shopping spree at Kelby Training.

DigiScrap Chat

This is what Char has to say about the purpose for DigiScrapChat: “I started this blog to share my love all things digi-scrap. I hope to encourage “newbies” who are interested in learning what digital scrapbooking is all about, and I also hope to find community with those who already are enjoying this hobby and passion!”

Main categories of posts include, Fun Sunday Finds, Mon Challenge, Tues Tips/Templates, Wed WOW, Thrifty Thursday, Photo Friday andDesigner Showcase. There is also an extensive list of digital scrapbooking blogs, as well as links to other digiscrap related resources.

The site is well organized and contains a wealth of information that is useful to both “newbies” and more experienced scrappers.

Seaside Scraps is closing!

On May 22nd Seaside Scraps is going to be closing it’s doors. Downloads will be available until the 31st of May, however CD and DVD burns are no longer available. So if you take advantage of their 50% off sale (that includes everything in their store!) right now you need to remember to download and make a back-up copy ASAP!

Scrappin & Stampin with Savitri

Scrappin & Stampin with Savitri is an interesting blog whose creator, Savitri Wilder, has been using Photoshop since 1994! There are over 30 free video tutorials for Photoshop available here with topics such as:

• Text in Path
• Weathering and Antiquing
• Texture Overlay
• Grunge Overlay/Technique
• Creating Scallop Paper
• Stitching in Photoshop
• Vector Mask Tool
• Blending in Photoshop
• Flowing Your Text in Photoshop
• Alter Your Elements/Alphas
• Photoshop Extraction Using the Pen Tool
• Text in Shape

Create-your-own tumblers

Yesterday Designer Heather Manning showed a create-your-own tumbler project she had created on her blog. She used a Starbucks mug, but I don’t have one of those near-by so went searching on the web and found that Aladdin makes several different styles and sizes.

I have a couple of 16 oz and two 8oz tumblers on order now and turned the Aladdin PDF templates into png files so they would be easier to work with in Photoshop, Elements or PSP. If you’d like to snag them you can find them here. They are set up to be printed out on an letter size sheet of paper and then you simply cut them out along the dotted lines and slide them into the tumbler.

I’m sure there are probably other places you can find these types of tumblers. Thanks to Heather for sharing I know have Father’s Day gifts wrapped up!

5/15/08 ETA – shipping was very quick! My order arrived today and for those inquiring minds that asked – the scrapbook tumblers do have screw on lids. I

Scrap Orchard

Scrap Orchard is owned and operated by four friends; Shauna Burke-Smith of Pineapple Plantation Designs, Tammy Cirilli of TammyKat Designs, Kami Leonard of Ziggle Designs, and Kim Sheen of KCS Designs.

In addition to the Gallery that currently has 20+ FREE mini kits, quick pages and templates, there is a blog, forum and marketplace. Registration for the store and forum are separate and you do need to be registered and logged into the store in order to download all of those great looking freebies.

“Take Flight”

Songbird Avenue, Inc. is a digital scrapbooking-based online boutique whose proceeds are donated to various charities each month in an effort to give compassionately to those in need.

The charity kit this month is a beautiful mega kit called “Take Flight”. Guest designers helping Songbird Avenue celebrate it’s first year with this kit include: Shabby Princess, Dianne Rigdon, Gina Miller, Robin Carlton, Carrie Stephens, Nancie Rowe-Janitz, Amy Wolff, Jenna Desai, Kate Hadfield, Jacque Larson, Michelle Coleman, Shabby Miss Jenn, Susan Bartolini, Kate Teague, Leora Sanford, Meredith Fenwick, Jan Crowley and Janet Phillips.

100% of this month’s profits will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.