How do I create the collages on this blog?
Many people have emailed me to ask about the program I use to create the collages on this blog. I'm using the standard version (downloadable for a very reasonable price) of Fotofusion Version 4.
The most interesting digital scrapbook pages have many layers of backgrounds, images, frames and elements and Fotofusion is an excellent tool for working with those layers. I've never found anything better! Keep in mind that it doesn't really do anything other than work with layers though. If you want to alter your photos (fix flaws, etc), you'll need a good photo editing program. My favorite is PaintShop Pro. I use this every single day and couldn't live without it! I like it because it's much cheaper than Photoshop but seems to do everything I want it to do and it's much more user friendly.
I get my digital scrapbooking backgrounds and elements from many places. Sometimes I even make them myself but usually I find them for free by subscribing to blogs that advertise "freebies". Here are my favorite freebie blogs:
- Ikea Goddess (daily links to the best freebies)
- DigiFree (daily links to ALL the freebies)
- Kubivet (she creates wonderful things and gives them away!)
- Artistic Musings (freebies on fridays only)
- Shabby Princess (everything at this link is FREE. It's the perfect place to start your collection!
Every now and then, I splurge and actually pay for something. I love frames and my favorite frame designer is Katie Pertiet. Here's a link to a little set of frames that I use all the time. This set was under $4 and I use it constantly: http://www.designerdigitals.com/ecom/product_info.php/products_id/3006. Be sure to look at all the other stuff she offers. It's awesome!
Finally, here are some inspiration pages to get your creative juices flowing. Sometimes, I need to see what someone else has done before I can start to see a fun possibility with some of my own photos. I hope these inspire you as much as they do me!
Here are some of my favorite collages that I created over the last year or two:
You'll probably notice that I don't scrap in traditional 12x12 sizes. I picked a rectangular size because I thought I might want to print the pages on my home printer. Then I found www.blurb.com and started creating yearly family albums in their 13 x 11 size. I love the results and I'm so happy that our family photos and the text from this blog is preserved in printed form each year. If you're not doing this, I strongly recommend it! It's one of the best investments of time and money that we've ever spent (other than our adotions, of course!).
Let me know if you have problems or questions. I'm very happy to help if I can
