by Linda | Jan 24, 2013 | DIY printables
The Pixel and Paper Series highlights digital techniques and products for scrapbookers like you and me. I believe that everyone should consider digital elements to be a part of their scrapbooking toolbox, so let’s learn together what the possibilities are. Each week, I’ll be sharing the opinion of a real-life scrapbooker to reveal how they use digital in their scrapbooking. Each post will also offer a freebie download to help you get started on your pixel and paper journey. Enjoy!
Introducing… Noell from Paperclipping
A role model in the scrapbooking industry, I’ve followed Noell for quite some time as a member of her professional scrapbooking video community, Paperclipping. I’ve also learned so much from her inspirational blog posts and community driven podcasts (Roundtable and previously The Digi Show). I believe that Noell represents a lot of paper scrappers out there, who benefit from using digital in a variety of ways. She uses Photoshop for a variety of techniques even though her layouts are all on paper in the end.
Noell says:
My favorite digital tool is the text tool in Photoshop. I love adding journaling directly onto my photos and then I dial down the opacity a bit to make it slightly translucent. I’ve done a lot of my title work this way as well.
The other most common things I do is to make grid collages with photos, or to use my wacom tablet to add my handwriting or some hand-made doodles, like hearts, onto my photos! Love that!
Photo Collages
Probably the most common use of digital for scrapbookers is the processing of photos before printing. Since 99% of photography is digital these days, it’s the natural workflow of getting photos into your scrapbooking.
via Paperclipping
Noell takes it a step further, not only processing photos for print, but creating photo collages as well. It’s a great way to fit multiple photos into a layout. Don’t forget that there’s a whole lot you can do to your photos before sending them to print.
- Consider post-processing to up the quality of your photo (cropping, color adjustments)
- Consider creating collages or series of photos in a block
- Consider using templates and frames to prepare your photos for print
Digital Titling, Journaling, Labeling
Probably the second most common use of digital for scrapbookers is typing and printing our journaling blocks. You can easily type your journaling in any font you choose and often will be able to fit more journaling than if you handwrote. Although there’s nothing wrong with handwriting your journaling, digital tools might be handy for certain circumstances.
via Paperclipping
Noell takes it to the next level by using digital type for titles, journaling and labels/doodles… to further enhance her photos before printing.
- Consider adding your title onto your photo
- Consider including captions for your photos
- Consider adding elements as embellishments onto your photos digitally before printing
Try it for yourself
I think the take away is to remember that digital provides you with a lot of flexibility in scrapbooking and you should definitely advantage of it! Adding elements digitally means you can see how it looks before committing to print – thank you undo button. You can also create so many different styles with all the fonts, actions and digital elements available in the market. The possibilities are limitless.
To start you off this week, I’ve designed some freebie digital frames for your personal use. Place them on top of your photos before printing, a great way to highlight those Instagram-type snapshots. Of course, you can use these frames in digital and paper layouts – whatever works for you.
DownloadDigital Frames Sampler
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by Linda | Jan 16, 2013 | DIY printables
The Pixel and Paper Series highlights digital techniques and products for scrapbookers like you and me. I believe that everyone should consider digital elements to be a part of their scrapbooking toolbox, so let’s learn together what the possibilities are. Each week, I’ll be sharing the opinion of a real-life scrapbooker to reveal how they use digital in their scrapbooking. Each post will also offer a freebie download to help you get started on your pixel and paper journey. Enjoy!
Hello blog friends and new visitors!
My name is Linda Tieu and I’m the little lady behind this blog, BackToPaper. I thought it was only right for me to kick off this series by sharing how I use digital as tool in my scrapbooking.
I’ve always considered myself a hybrid scrapper, because I create using both digital and paper. There was a time when I felt as if I had a scrapbooker’s identity crisis. Where did I fit in? Was I part of the digital crowd or paper crowd? I couldn’t be just one or the other and realized in the end that there was no need to choose. I am free to scrapbook in whatever way I choose given the project at hand and definitely find myself relishing the freedom of using pixels and paper.
There’s no doubt that I love the tactile feel of paper in my hand. The texture and dimension of having real layers and embellishments in my projects caters to my crafty side. I could not live without it. I also feel that it’s easier to share with friend and family when I have a physical album to show off to them, especially for older generations that simply don’t like the digital presentation of photos and layouts.
By sharing some of the ways I use digital for my scrapbooking, I hope to inspire you to try out some new techniques and methods. Expand your scrapbooking toolbox and most of all – have fun!
Photobooks & Photocollages
Oftentimes for big projects, events and vacations, I scrap everything into a digital photobook instead of individual paper pages. It’s the fastest way for me to compile a mass quantity of photos and keep it all the same style and theme. There’s huge cost-savings because digital supplies can be reused as many times as you want, you don’t have to buy x number of copies and you won’t run out of e’s in your alphabet stickers!
From my wedding and honeymoon to month-long vacations back to the USA – I’ve created and printed my photobooks through Blurb.com (affiliate link) for years. I like their imagewrap covers and premium paper selections. I often design everything from scratch as they allow print quality PDF uploads, but they also have services that are easy to use for non-designers.
I believe that photobooks are a great way to get all those photos together and printed, without having the pressure to create a full-on layout every single page. Those are usually too-big projects that never get finished anyway! I want to enjoy and share my photos asap… rather than have them pile up as another to-do on my list.
On the same vein, before printing my photos I sometimes photocollage them together. It’s so much easier to do this digitally, so you can take your time in cropping and arranging your compilation of photos. It’s really a superb way to get multiple photos into a layout. There are a variety of round-up and collage digital templates out there as well. Even if they are meant for digital scrappers, you could use them to just organize your photos. Then print and use the collage in your regular scrapping process!
Digital Titles
I’ve blogged before about creating titles digitally for my scrapbook layouts. You definitely save on all the alphabet stickers you would have to purchase and the styles out there are limitless. Using fonts to premade digital scrapbooking products…
Digital Embellishments and Elements
Since I design digital products, I most definitely use digital embellishments and elements in my scrapbook layouts. It’s like making your own products yourself and a pop dot here or there will instantly turn an image into a multi-dimensional embellishment. Most scrappers who purchase digital kits are purely digital scrappers. But I feel that those same kits can be really useful for paper scrappers as well. You can print your own background paper, create your own embellishments from digital elements and most definitely print journaling on cards and inside frames.
Multiple Copies and Digital Files
Finally, we all know that when multiple copies are required, digital really helps out. With a digital file you can send it instantly to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. When you want to distribute the work, you can print multiple copies and it’s often a lot of money saved than creating another paper version entirely. I have actually created 7 copies of a particular family albums to distribute and although I loved the results, it was a huge amount of work, supplies and time spent. If I would have done it digitally, I wouldn’t really have lost any quality at all!
Suffice to say that there are many advantages to the digital format. How do you use digital in your scrapbooking process?
To get you started off this week, check out the freebies section and feel free to use all the digital downloads I’ve offered thus far. I hope you enjoy, have fun and discover some new advantages of using pixels and paper. As this blog is titling, I’m all about bringing digital, Back To Paper!
by Linda | Jan 15, 2013 | my creative journal
We can all agree that the Internet has opened up a whole new realm of inspiration and connection for creatives like you and me. We have instant access to so much content and visual stimulation. It can be a feast for the eyes, propelling you into a world of imagination.
Unfortunately, you’ve probably experienced information overload as well. Inspiration can quickly turn to overwhelm and self-doubt. It’s important to limit your information diet, but of course you want to take advantage of everything available as well. It can be fun to surf your favorite blogs, scroll through Pinterest and leaf through your favorite magazines, but then what do you do? How do you put inspiration to use?
Physically using your print magazines and tactile materials…
I’m a huge fan of print magazines and have a pretty hefty collection on my bookshelf. This year I’ve decided to really put them to use. Yes, they are beautiful and precious, but they would serve me better if I cut them up and used them in my journaling. I can also give specific issues to creative friends when an article would serve them well. Finally, I could also donate books to the library and allow others to gain some inspiration and knowledge. I need to process and pass things on.
Thinking back to 2012, so many books and magazines were kept safely on my bookshelf – collecting dust. So I’m making it a point to go through my physical inspiration stash and use them somehow. This goes for art prints, papers, stationery – all those bits and pieces of inspiring materials we tend to hoard. Stop hoarding, start using!
Using digital and virtual inspiration…
It’s sad to see many print publications disappearing these days, but thankfully a new generation of digital publishing is rising up to take its place. I definitely turn to online magazines and virtual content for inspiration as well. I want to share my list of favorites for visual eye candy, but before you click away, I wanted to talk a bit more about how to put that inspiration to use first.
Although you are looking at something virtual, if it peaks your interest, don’t hesitate to snap a photo or print out a copy to include in your journal. You have to take notes somehow if you are going to put that inspiration to use. I often have my journal beside me, so that I can doodle and jot down notes while perusing around.
To take it a step further, don’t just clip or bookmark the inspiration. For those who use Evernote, it can be too easy to just clip everything and never have time to look back! Think about why you want to stop and record that inspirational spark. I find it best to actually write out my idea as a task or project.
The point is to take in the inspiration, digest it and really think about how you can apply it to your work and life.
It really only takes a few minutes to see something inspiring and then decide that you actually want to start a series of prints in that same color scheme. Or perhaps a certain geometric design you saw will be the starting point of your next line of sewn bag design. Put inspiration to use by taking that tiny step ahead in the process. Eureka – inspiration hit – now what does that mean for you? I guarantee that changing your mindset in this way will help you feel truly inspired and more importantly – productive – at the end of the day. It’s really inspiration time well spent.
Now here’s my list of inspiring publications…
Of course, taking a walk outside and snapping photos can be amazingly inspiring as well. Putting inspiration to use can apply whenever that spark ignites.
I want to add that it’s not about making your recreational time about work – by no means. If you are taking time to recharge then acknowledge that the time is spent for that reason. However, if you are out trolling for inspiration, then make sure you put that inspiration time to use in the end. Looking for inspiration is completely different from recharging your energy!
So what sources do you turn to for inspiration? Have you put that inspiration to use?
by Linda | Jan 10, 2013 | my creative journal
The Pixel and Paper Series highlights digital techniques and products for scrapbookers like you and me. I believe that everyone should consider digital elements to be a part of their scrapbooking toolbox, so let’s learn together what the possibilities are. Each week, I’ll be sharing the opinion of a real-life scrapbooker to reveal how they use digital in their scrapbooking. Each post will also offer a freebie download to help you get started on your pixel and paper journey. Enjoy!
Sometimes there’s a divide between digital and paper scrapbookers. It seems silly for a hobby that is meant to bring people together, but inevitably differences arise. Scrapbookers often refer to themselves as either digital or paper (sometimes hybrid). I want to promote the fact that we are all hybrid or mixed media in the end, so really there’s no point in saying digital or paper. When we use store bought products know that those are digital designs, simply pre-printed for your convenience. Is there really a line to be drawn between pixel and paper? I don’t think so. Ultimately, everything is simply a tool for our own memory keeping goals.
I believe that we will start to see a blurring of the lines in scrapbooking. From art journaling techniques to other mixed media tools… we do whatever is fun and gives us the effect desired. That’s the way it should be for this hobby we call scrapbooking. I hope that we can all keep an open mind and let ourselves explore and experiment.
So to riff off the topic and share something useful with all of you, I decided to start this series of posts. Each week I will share the opinion of a real-life scrapbooker so we can see how they use digital in their projects. From designers to teachers to prolific everyday scrapbookers, my hope is to highlight the possibilities and help you have more fun and success during your scrapbooking time.
by Linda | Jan 7, 2013 | my creative journal
As many of us probably have a huge list of scrapbooking to do’s, I sometimes feel the overwhelm of all that I want to document. Even though it’s a hobby and there is no right or wrong, I still feel the obligation at times. We all have scrapbook goals afterall! To start off my year on the right foot, I decided to create an opening page for my 2013 album.
The background paper is a paintable by Prima Marketing that I watercolored up partially. Then I added a bunch of bits and pieces to welcome the new year with my one little word (#OLW) together on a toothpick flag. There’s more detailed journaling actually within the envelope from Maya Road.
The journaling card is actually an experimental card that I made using some Hero Arts stamps. Instead of using all new materials, I put this layout together by shopping my own stash. I think it’s actually a nice reflection of the reality of life. We are made up of our past bits and pieces… and it doesn’t look too shabby either. I’m pretty happy with the results and looking forward to a year of happy and fun scrapbooking.
The layout was partially inspired by my word of the year as well – together. It’s an idea that just presented itself and I usually don’t concentrate too much on choosing a word. I simply wait and see what surfaces itself naturally. In thinking about my word, I like that it can mean keeping myself together as well as being together with others. Dual meanings, always nice!
As we are expecting our first child this February, I know my time will be strapped and I will be challenged in so many ways. So it’s important for me to keep it together, not just in getting things done – but in the respect of taking care of myself as well. It’s all a bit scary, but good scary. I’m definitely looking forward to rocking the year of 2013. Are you ready for the new year?
by Linda | Jan 4, 2013 | DIY printables
I’m a huge fan of the Heartmade blog by Mayi Carles and for 2013 she put out a call for help to promote her Life is Messy bootcamp. I immediately thought of my default girl illustration writing out the message “I’m Messy and I Know It” – so here’s the final product!
LTieu Messy And I Know It
I used my Wacom tablet (finally, getting more practice instead of scanning!) and really love the result. Drawing how I want to draw and just following my heart. Just like Marisa from Creative Thursday, Mayi helped me to learn that cute can be professional and successful. I used to be plagued by misconceptions, thinking I had to be serious and grown-up to be taken seriously. But it was all wrong, because it just wasn’t the authentic me.
Now that I follow my heart and create freely, I’m a much happier and more successful person. Funny how things work out. Thank you, Universe! I thought it would be nice to give back to the community, so please take advantage of this free art printable. Declare your messiness and know that it is a-okay! Be yourself and thrive! I hope you enjoy and don’t hesitate to Tweet or Facebook share – I would really appreciate it.
Let’s rock 2013 together!
by Linda | Dec 26, 2012 | my creative journal
Hope you had a lovely holiday with family and friends!
I’ve been trying to clean up my space and found myself tempted to dive into a bit of crafty fun. Nothing like getting your hands into materials to spark inspiration. I noticed that my collection of leather has been building up, so I thought it was about time I used my leather scraps for something. Often a project that uses fabric can be applied to leather as well. Here’s my round up of leather craft tutorials – enjoy!
If you are looking to buy leather, think of upcycling old jackets, boots and purses you already have. Sometimes it’s cheaper to get something from a second hand shop as well. Otherwise, you can check out the Tandy Leather Factory. Is there a leather project that really peaks your interest?! Share your projects… because I definitely will.
by Linda | Dec 19, 2012 | my creative journal
I know that every day, something sad happens somewhere in the world. This holiday season we’ve all been faced with gruesome news and challenges of every kind. I know we all feel it somewhere in our lives.
Even though my hands are shaking with worry and fear at times, I wanted to share an illustration with all of you. Let’s think about peace on earth. Let’s cherish the time we have with our loved ones and live life to the fullest. Be kind. Be happy. Be you.
Download Printable Card Peace on Earth ZIP
by Linda | Nov 20, 2012 | my creative journal
The opening of our art show last night was just lovely and it was wonderful to connect with old friends as well as meet new people. Besides all the great work in the gallery and excitement of sharing our work… I think the most touching part was during Gnocchi Artyst‘s performance piece – really a collaboration with all of us.
The symbology of ringing our bells with some whimsy and fun… but also her heartfelt words afterwards. She was speaking to us, about us, for us. It was beautiful and touching. I was certainly reminded of the importance in community… being together in Art. It’s not just about me, me, me… my work this and that. The interaction and responses are so important.
I’m honored to be a part of our little SACI group of grads and felt even more honored to have my work up along side everyone elses’. My Lessons From Mother Goose print series are just the beginning of a new stage for me… I feel that anyway. Suddenly, I feel so much more energized and filled with possibly. Each of us are definitely taking away a little bit of magic with us… just like 10 years ago. Pretty darn cool.
BTW, I’ve posted the girl prints onto Society6, so you can grab yourself a print. I’m going to be framing a large version of Old Mother Goose for myself… quite proud of the look I’ve been able to achieve with these works. Another step forward in my journey.
by Linda | Nov 19, 2012 | my creative journal
Today I’m off to meet up with my fellow alumni in Florence, Italy for the opening of our reunion show – Cacciucco 2012. It’s amazing to me that 10 years have passed since I first stepped foot onto Italian soil. So many amazing memories and feelings of nostalgia, for sure. I’m excited to have this opportunity to regroup with my classmates again… not to mention, show a bit of what I’ve been up to.
Now that I’m married and a mama… life has definitely changed so much. I might not be a famous artist exhibiting in museums or fancy galleries. But seeing the world with an open, creative mindset is something I treasure… and honestly still learning and growing into.
For this alumni show, I created series of prints around Mother Goose nursery rhymes. I guess you can say, I have babies on my mind. The rhymes are personified into girls… my illustrations, tweaked into digital designs and presented as prints at the exhibit. I honestly would have opted for giant subway sized prints… and sort of make it neverending, flowing down onto the floor, like draperies of paper. Or maybe a million postcards, that people can take away… but budget resources restricted that vision. However, I suppose the idea is forever here on my blog…
It would be fabulous if you can visit the exhibit in real life, here in Florence. But otherwise, I hope you enjoy seeing the prints here online instead. Thank you!
