“Sending Christmas Love” Word-Art Freebie by Deb Chitwood
I’m a great fan of digital scrapbooking. I use it to create word art, cards, newsletters, and digital scrapbook pages. With the holiday season coming soon, one of my favorite activities is to use digital scrapbooking to create cards and gifts that will be keepsakes. I can’t recommend digital scrapbooking highly enough as a wonderful skill to learn and pass on to your child.
Necessary Software or Websites
There are a number of software programs that work well for digital scrapbooking. Adobe Photoshop has the longest learning curve but is the one I’d recommend if you can afford it and are willing to take the time to learn how to use it. Photoshop Elements is a bit simpler and less expensive.
Another software program that is quite advanced but less expensive and simpler to use is Corel Paint Shop Pro. That’s what I use. I like Paint Shop Pro a lot, although I wish I knew how to use Photoshop. Someday I hope to take the time to learn.
UPDATE: I’ve been using My Memories Suite (my review post) for 5 months now, and I absolutely love it for putting together scrapbook pages quickly. I find I can put together scrapbook pages much faster and easier than I could with Paint Shop Pro. So I’m much more likely to get them completed! (January 2012)
A great free (or inexpensive with added features) option is PicMonkey. I have a post about PicMonkey at BitsofPositivity on How to Create Subway Art Gifts. (November 2012)
Now I do many of my digital scrapbooking types of activities on Canva. (2022)
There are a number of other software programs you can use. My son made cards and designs as a child using software that isn’t even available anymore. I still have and treasure every design he created, though. My daughter has created wonderful cards and scrapbook pages with Paint Shop Pro and even Microsoft Word (which I used to teach her first). My daughter and I both use Microsoft Word on occasion for a quick, simple project.
My daughter-in-law has used the Shutterfly site to create lovely books. She even used it to create wedding albums as gifts. For a simple but effective way to create digital scrapbooks, there are a number of sites similar to Shutterfly that allow you to easily create lovely hardbound memory books.
Generally, though, you’ll want to learn how to use scrapbooking software that allows you to use png files. If you’re a homeschooler and want to pass on the best information to your child, I’d recommend using the most advanced software you can afford and learn to use. A program like Photoshop has unlimited photo-editing capabilities along with digital scrapbooking possibilities that will be useful to your child throughout life.
Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials and Courses
If you don’t know how to digital scrapbook, there are lots of tutorials and even courses available online. I found it easiest to learn digital scrapbooking through tutorials and a course at Digital Scrapbook Place. You can download elements and backgrounds to create cards and gifts or you can even learn to create your own backgrounds and elements.
Digital Scrapbooking Freebies
There are a number of wonderful sites online with digital scrapbooking freebies as well as materials of every kind that can be purchased.
Products Available to Purchase
I’ve purchased lovely scrapbooking kits through some of my favorite sites. I’ve had great luck purchasing from many different digital scrapbooking sites over the years. I’ve also developed a special file of scrapbooking kits from my favorite scrapbook artists.
I have lots of fun shopping at hobby and scrapbooking stores for the scrapbooks I use to insert the digital pages I create. They’re easily available online as well, but I still enjoy shopping at a nice craft or scrapbooking store.
Almost Any Age Is a Great Time to Start!
You’re never too old to learn digital scrapbooking, and children can learn a simplified version from a young age. If you want to start with a Christmas project, I created the word art in the image at the top of the post by designing words to go with a royalty-free image found online. To download the word-art freebie, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
Have fun creating digital keepsakes with your child!
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nice article…very well written
Thanks for posting all of the resources. I personally love using photoshop for custome digital papers 🙂 so much fun.
What a great way of getting the children involved, I am sure they will love being a part of the whole process and will come up with some great designs.
Though this seems new to me but never too late. I think it is very useful, for sure the children at my new nursery that I am launching will benefit from it. Help me to help myself!
Thanks for your comment, Shabnum! No, it never is too late! I was almost 50 when I started digital scrapbooking, and I’m learning new things about it all the time! 🙂
I have photoshop but have never even thought about using it for digital scrapbooking. This would be great for children to help with too! I can just imagine the fun and thought processes that would go into creating a piece.
{Sorry its taken me so long to get here!}
Thanks, Carly! How great that you have Photoshop – have fun! And have a wonderful holiday season!
I love to do digital scrapbooking as gifts, too. Every year I make calenders for my parents, in-laws and siblings. I do it all in Photoshop and then send the images to my photo lab. They are always a hit!
I’ve also made the photo books from Shutterfly. I think they make a nice gift that shows thoughtfulness. Maybe this year I will try the cookbooks. Stopped over from blogfrog.
How great that you know how to use Photoshop! I’ve never made a calendar but have really admired the ones I’ve seen people make. I think personalized photo books and calendars definitely make some of the best gifts. Thanks so much for visiting and commenting!
This is a great list of resources. I love digital scrapbooking and I’m thinking that my eldest son (now 5) will be ready to try it soon.
Thanks, Catherine! How great to introduce your son to digital scrapbooking at a young age! He’ll be a pro quickly, I’m sure.
Now this is the type of scrapbooking I could get into!!!
Thanks for all these wonderful tips!!! And yes, I’m a big fan of learning new things – no matter what age and stage of life you’re in! Thanks for the inspiration!
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Thanks for your kind comment, Penny! I love that digital scrapbooking can be enjoyed at so many different levels of difficulty – and it only takes up space on my computer.
Wow this is something I would so love to get into. I will definitely be reading this post very carefully and getting some pointers on how to get started! The month course sounds good too!
Thanks for your comment, Monique! I found the course incredibly helpful – and that extra little push that made it easier to get started!
That looks like fun. I must have a go at this with my girls, thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Thanks, Marita! Have fun!
I don’t know why digital scrapbooking still makes me nervous, but we do plenty of the traditional kinds of scrapbooking in our house, and I love that 4yo Princess already has a love for it 🙂 We make our own Christmas cards too, and most of my recent projects have been Christmas Off the Page decorations. 🙂
One day, one day, when I have the time,(and am willing to part with the money!) I will start digital scrapbooking.
Thanks for your comment, Amanda! You’re not alone! I had to take a month-long course at Digital Scrapbook Place before I felt comfortable enough to actually start digital scrapbooking. I sometimes do a mixture of digital and paper scrapbooking. I’ll also glue digital scrapbooking elemnents to traditional cards at times. It sounds like you’re doing a lot of great things with scrapbooking already. I’m sure it wouldn’t take you long to become comfortable with digital scrapbooking, too!