Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Digital Scrapbooking...Whew! QUITE the adventure! AND.....1st EVER Blog Candy!!!



Ok, so most of you know what a see-saw ride it's been for me regarding ALL things digital. If you don't, let me just start by saying that I'm a camera snob. So, when I was given my first 35mm Canon Rebel for my birthday a few years back in 2004 I swore it would be the only thing I'd EVER use.

Eh-hem...fast forward to present. Ok, so most of you know what a camera SNOB I am. If you didn't, you read the first paragraph of this entry and now know. So, needless to say, when i was given my first DIGITAL Canon Rebel XTi for Mother's Day this year, I swore it would be the only thing I'd EVER use.

I will admit that it's been a few months since I have owned this incredible toy and have yet to take it where I want to go, you know, that place, not too far off in the distance, called "The Land of Untapped Potential?" Ay-yi-yi. SOOO much it can do, sooo little time it's neglectful owner has had for it.

Anyway, stay tuned as I have now challenged myself, by sharing with you, my loyal readers, to learn more about this wonderful little giant of digital photography. I will definitely be back with tips and ideas. For now, I leave you with a few product suggestions as well as my VERY first digitally created scrapbooking page.

I purchased Memory Mixer on the recommendation of a few friends who have been scrapbooking digitally for much longer than I. It's a pretty cool program, easy to use, allows you to save and use purchased digital papers and embellishments (some of my faves are from Weeds & Wildflowers-check 'em out!), and other non-Memory Mixer items easily without compatibility issues. It also is extremely user friendly and runs with an affordable price tag (about $80 retail for the newest version).

Anyway, check them out. The other handy dandy little tool I played with was Photoshop Elements v.6 from Adobe. I am OBSESSED with photos that black and white out everything except for a focal point or two. My first order of business was to play with this feature, experimenting with "layers", "backgrounds", "brush tools", etc. Ok, SOOO far over my head at first, but I had figured it out within an hour or two. After all, frogs kinda HAVE to be green, right? My son was ECSTATIC when he saw this page. That made it all worth it.

What is your opinion on Digital vs. Traditional Scrapbooking. "Hybrid" scrapbooking? Leave a comment and you'll be automatically entered to win a FREE handmade Journal! (see top corner photo). Winners will be chosen by Random.org and announced on Friday, August 22nd in the evening. GOOD LUCK and thanks so much!

9 comments:

Kevin Renz said...

Hey Jess,

I want to delve into digital scrapbooking, but I'm afraid - there I said it. I'm afraid that the learning curve will take too long and I already spend so much time doing what I do now, but it is sooo tempting. My husband bought me a canon G9 for Christmas and I love it, but haven't even tapped what it can do. I feel like a dummy when it comes to all that photo jargon. My husband uses a Canon professional camera (5D)and even has the big expensive photo shop program, so its all right here just waiting... I guess, I should just jump head first and do digital scrapbooking and keep the paper stuff for the cards and other papercrafts. Will you lead the way??

IamDerby said...

I like your digi page and very cool blog candy!

Jessica Diedrich said...

Thanks for being the first to comment ladies :)

Katie-I totally know what you mean. I'm STILL afraid LOL! I think for me, it's having all the pictures just kind of sit in "limbo" that is one of the hardest things. From what I've heard, there are some AWESOME online tutorials that are free for Canon owners. I am looking into it this week, and will let you know when I Find something!!!

Kevin Renz said...

Thanks Jess! Have a great day. For now, I'll digiscrap vicariously through you. We are going on vacation starting Saturday and will be taking laptops with us, so maybe I'll get a chance to use hubby's and see...

Unknown said...

Hi Jessica! Jenny McDermott here. I tried to email you from your blog but it comes back unreturnable. Email me at jlpontow@gmail.com with how I can get in touch with you.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sista!! Well, as you know, I'm very intrigued by the idea of digi-scrapping. I will never get around to doing any traditional scrapbooking - tho I think it is quite the beautiful artform. I'm just not that creative and thankfully my DH and I don't take that many photos. But, I would really like to have an outlet for some of the occasional (scrapbook-worthy) photos we do take. So, it seems like digi-scrapping is a plausible idea. What do you think? The main problems are that it seems quite complicated to use (or at least make full use of all the features) and also somewhat cost-prohibitive, if you really want to make the most of what is available out there :). So, in a nutshell, while it sounds really interesting, I'm still on the fence about it, to a certain degree. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on this.
Thanks a bunch!

Darla said...

Darlin' page Jess! You did a good job on your first digital scrapbook page. I think digital scrappin is way neat...but because of the classes I teach and the product I already have on hand, I think I'll be sticking with traditional scrapbooking for a long time....but I can appreciate other's digital abilities!
Love ya,
Darla

Kevin Renz said...

Hi Jess,

I sent you an e-mail, but I got a non delivery notification. Its odd because I get one every time I leave a comment too, although the comment shows up on your blog - argh - technology sometimes. Anyway, I would love to be added to your list :) Have a good weekend.

Charlene Austin said...

Oh....scrapbooking scares me let alone digital. I can't even imagine. I can barely take a picture and up load it on my blog for goodness sakes. LOL!! I too will live vicariously through you!! I love the froggy page!!