Scrappin' Digi Style

Happy last day of 2007!!!!!

Today dawned clear and sunny and beautiful! Much welcomed relief from the dreary weather we have had here in Northern California!

Christmas here was wonderful! We celebrated up a storm....I actually really got into it at last. I was not feeling the Magic....still missing my Gran and letting the stress of life get to me. But Bran came home from his jobs and started to decorate for me! What a shocker! I don't think he has ever done that IN the house. So I finally got my groove back YAY!

The boys loved all their gifts from us and all the family...they got transformers, dragons, playdough, a game table, clothes, pirate ships, books, art suplies...man they are spoiled little turkies, lol. But...the thing they played with the most...was this bouncy foam like stuff from their sister! Totally cracks me up.

I got some nice bath gel and lotion from the boys and an EHD from dh.

My family loveeeeeeeeeeeeed all the stuff I made them. The calendars were a total hit as were the books! My aunt didn't really react much to the paper bag album...makes me wish I kept it for myself :( I don't expect them to do a huge ole happy dance..but she didn't even really look at it. oh well.

Which brings me to Shutterfly. There has been a lot of talk in the digi world regarding shutterfly and a lot of it hasn't been the best. But I personally love shutterfly. It has given me a chance to see my work in print. They have great prices, incredibly fast shipping, great customer service (I have had to contact them for mistakes they made and they are very apologetic and get me a fix and compensation quickly).

I would like to talk about some of the shutterfly goodies. (pictures to follow once I find my card reader :(( )

First....the printing of 12x12 and 8x8 layouts. Man....heaven is all I can say! I was so tickled to get it! It was so much better than seeing it in the books I have come to love! The colors were on the money and the textures showed up quite nicely! I framed one of the boys for their room and they are beyond tickled!!

I then tried out the calendars and they were so easy and fun to make. I loved the option to put on your own birtdays etc. No excuses for forgetting now :). Perfect cropping and colors again! I def recommend!!

Now come my trial of the photo cards. Easy to make, great colors and you can customize to your heart's content! I was one of the ones who got my order messed up on this...I received someone elses cards!!!! They told me that she actually got hers, but they printed them out again and sent them to me too. They had to resend them...and since it was late Thursday...they wouldn't go out till Friday...and they use UPS, so overnight meant that they didn't arrive until Monday. I was disappointed with that...but the actual cards were gorgeous!

Now...since I am a big user of Shutterfly...let me share some tips with you. If you are not familiar with their specs and site...it can be a bit confusing!

All I will be sharing with you now is geared toward the digital scrapbooker.


1.) the digital Scrapbooking solution area of the site. It is where I start off when creating something. If you click each one it will take you to a page where you can download the specs and templates for that product

2. Make sure you turn off Vivid Pics to ensure you get the right colors. To do this:
Select your album
select all
click enhance/fix pictures
then effects
check box on left that says "Don't apply automatic corrections to picture"
click link above this box that says "Apply this effect to other pictures"
select all
click Next
you should now see it say applying to all pictures

3. turn off the easy crop/zoom feature too. (you want it to say custom crop and free)

click pictures
select all
click enhance/fix pictures
then crop
you will see some circles starting with easy crop. look farther down and click custom
now click free

4. turn off your borders

click pictures
click all
click enhance/fix
click borders
no border
to the left of your preview you will see the option to apply this border to all pics

If you do all these tips and use their templates...you will be good to go and very happy. One thing I am careful about too....I like to place a lot of detail on my edges. I make sure when I place them in books to try to not put too much by the spine. If I have all layouts that are very detailed...I make it a bit smaller and allow for a tiny border...just to be safe.

I have also heard of people having their special deals disappear before the expiration date. I was assured that all you have to do is call them and they will fix it up for you. And if you received compensation for a mix up...like a percentage off or free shipping...and it expires before you use it. Just call them and they will put it back for you.

All in all...I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee me some shutterfly! So does my hubby...he just asked me to make each of his three daughters their own books from birth till now. He ASKED me,lol. Never thought I would see the day. Made me so happy! So...lots of scanning and creating to do!

Now...I haven't been able to create much in the goodie dept with Christmas and such. I do have two new products in the store.
Stitched basics. It includes one full stitch, one partial, one partial unraveling, one star and one flower in the following colors....white, cream, blue, orange, and pink. Then there are just the holes in a straight line, a star and a circle. And cause I love ya...I threw in a set of flowers and another set of stars...in lots of colors. Now $1.50



Then there is this set...made for some pages of my son on his motorbike.

MY Need 4 Speed element pack...only 1.50 and full of goodness.



and here is a little bonus for you all to play with.



click here to download. leave me a little hello. don't share or claim as your own. send them on by here if they want it!

here is a layout I made with the pack and freebie.