Free Word-Scrap Digital Scrapbook Elements

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by wwaddell.
Categories: Free Downloads, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

Today Kathy just added 6 New Sets of Word-Scrap or Scrapbook Tittles Words to our all new www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com website. They are over in the “More Freebies” – “Digital Scrapbook Elements” section. Hang on a minute and I’ll get you direct link over there.

First, I need to mention that there are Vacation Titles, Camping Titles, Gaming, Church, Golf and more covered in these word-scrap elements.

Here’s just a look at what one of them looks like:

That’s 3 words per set, 6 Sets equaling 18 new scrapbooking page titles or Journaling headings for you to use. They are in .png format with transparent backgrounds inside the zipped files so they should work with almost any word processor, photo editor, digital scrapbook program or journaling application.

Here’s the Direct Link: Digital Scrapbooking Word-Scrap Title Sets

Have fun and let me know what you think…

Wes and Kathy

www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com

www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com

www.Free-Stationery.com

 

0 comments.

Review of FREE Pho.to App for Droid and Your Computer

Posted on May 3rd, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Free Downloads, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

Review of FREE Pho.to App for Droid and Your Computer 

 

Before I get started, here’s a couple of notes that Kathy wanted me to pass on.

First, there are 12 Brand New Mother’s Day Digi Scrapbook sets in the Members Area. Just log into your Members Home page at: MyPrincessCrafts.com to get all three sizes.

We have several FREE Mother’s Day Stationery Downloads (and free training) for you at: http://www.free-stationery.com/

Mother’s day is only a few days away, don’t miss the chance to tell your mom how much she really means to you… put it in writting so she can treasure it always!

Now, on with our review.

Recently I’ve been playing with the new Pho.to app on my Droid 2 Global phone and I’ve been having so much fun with it that I just had to share.

 

 I got my new DROID for my Birthday in January and loved the new 5 Megapixel camera, but needed a way to edit and crop the photos on the road without a computer.

 

Long story short… after several apps I didn’t like, I found Pho.to.  It not only works live with the camera, but will edit any photo I have on the phone and let me save and share the results.  I fell in love with the app the minute I used it.

 

Here’s one of the first images I made with Pho.to of one of the photos I took last Halloween of Kathy (right) and her sister Kris. The frame is one of the hundreds that come with the app. New ones are being added all the time too.

 

 It’s so easy to use. Just open the app, choose a frame or effect and then choose the photo from the camera or stored on your phone. Some frames even allow multiple images such as the photo book image here of my grandson, Nick helping feed the horses.

 

Once you have picked the frame and photo or photos, you have the opportunity to crop the images. If the photo has multiple people in it and the affect just needs the face of one person, you can crop the image to choose which person to apply the affect to.

 

For example, the Jackie Chan frame image of Kathy’s sister Kris, on the left, came from a group shot of her and all her siblings. What do you think?

 

All in all, it’s a great app and it’s so easy to use. All the processing is done over the wireless web and that keeps the app small and keeps the abilities large. You can even turn off the Pho.to mark and add text to many of the frame effects such as I did for Kris’s image. My favorite effects are the Celebrity collages such as this next one…

 That’s my niece Jessica in this one.

 

I use this all the time for my grandkids now. My grandson thinks it’s cool to be Iron Man:

 

  

Since I loved this app so much, I wanted to see if they had a version for my computer. WoW! They do and it’s web based so it works with all computer operating systems, windows, mac, linux, what ever.

 

Just go to www.Pho.to and you can use it with no signups needed.

 

The web based version isn’t as easy to use as the one for the DROID, but it still is easy enough to figure out and you won’t need a manual to learn it.  Just play and have fun.

 

The biggest advantage to using the online version is that it also does animated Avatars and photos such as the one here of me. I just added the effect to an image Kathy took at Lake Perrigin State Park last year. Looks pretty cool here on the web, doesn’t it?

 

Let’s sum is all up.

 

Likes:

 

The Droid version app is easy to use, let’s you save the results as well as share them via email, Twitter, FaceBook or what ever other social site you are in to.

 

The Web based version also lets you animate many of the frames and effects.

 

The DROID version also connects to your phone’s camera so you can take images for frame effects in real time.

 

Hundreds of Frames and Effects to choose from in both versions.

 

Needed improvements:

 

I’d like to be able to upload my own .png frames to use with the app. That would make all our PrincessCrafts digital scrapbook pages available to use.

 

Would love if the DROID version also allowed me to create the animated effects and had the Avatar function.  My .jpg versions that it creates can be used as avatars, it would just be nice to have them sized to start with so I knew exactly what the final avatar would look like.

 

That’s it, I have nothing bad to say and only just two items on my future capabilities list.

 

I’m having a ball playing with the app and I know you will too.

 

Wes Waddell

 

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

www.Free-Stationery.com

www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com

www.DigitalsScrapbooking.com (free samples news)

 

1 comment.

One of the Best Scrapbook Sites Out There …

Posted on April 25th, 2011 by wwaddell.
Categories: My Thoughts, Site Information.

Hi Kathy

I feel the site is one of the best out there. I only use yours and one other. I have made some beautiful pages for my albums. I finally got my pictures out of storage so have a lot of pages to make. You may not remember but back in 2009 my son passed away and you made me some beautiful pages for his album, just for him. I have been a member for a long time and will stay one as long as you are out there.

AJ

In a message dated 4/22/2011 1:01:13 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

0 comments.

4 Easy Steps to Turning Your Holidays into Lasting Memories

Posted on November 4th, 2010 by wwaddell.
Categories: Free Downloads, Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Before we get to the article, here’s a couple of links I know you want:

Recently Added Templates

• Halloween
• Boys
• FREE Mini-Scrapbook Page Template
• Free Travel Scrapbook BLOG

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4 Easy Steps to Turning Your Holidays into Lasting Memories.

Author: Wes Waddell

Don’t you find that no matter how many times you experience holiday travel, the excitement never fades?

Unfortunately, the one thing that does fade is your memory of all the wonderful experiences and pleasures you enjoyed on your trips.

There is a way to preserve more of the memories, emotions, sights and senses… you can even pass them on to friends, family and future generations.

Would you like to know how?

Here’s how really easy it can be:

– Step 1: Keep a small journal or notebook handy on your trip.

I know that the idea of writing everything down can be boring.  But all you really need to do is take 10 to 15 minutes at the end of the day, usually after dinner when things calm down, and just jot down the days highlights and where the photos were taken.  If something really exciting, funny or memorable happened that day you may want to make those notes a little more detail.  Otherwise, keep it simple and know that the photos will help jog your memory later.

If you didn’t take a lot of photos, then the receipts will help with your notes.  For those of you that don’t take a lot of photos or forget to bring the camera, I’m afraid that your best option is to keep a detailed journal each day or risk losing your memories forever.  If you don’t like to write or have trouble writing like my wife does due to medical reasons, then keep an audio journal with an inexpensive digital recorder or even a video recorder or laptop computer. 

Just remember that your photos can only capture so much of the story and emotions… it’s your journal or audio (or both that will capture the rest of the real emotions you had that day.  Oh, and don’t forget to get comments from the whole family when possible so that you can capture their emotional memories as well.  This one step of keeping a journal is going to make your scrapbooks and photo layouts so much easier later when you truly preserve the memories.

– Step 2:Take lots of pictures.

I know in theory this doesn’t need to be said, you probably already do that, but here’s a few things that usually get missed in all the excitement and fun. 

Don’t forget to take some background photos of the food, your picnic table settings, trails or gardens and even the outside of airports, hotels or empty campsites.  These make perfect travel scrapbook backgrounds and stationery for your final photo memory books and journals.  Besides, with digital photos and inexpensive memory cards, it costs next to nothing to snap a few extra fill photos here and there.

I personally also like to create a separate directory and subdirectories on my laptop for each day of the trip and inside that a subdirectory for each location we went to that day.  I then sort the photos into those directories at the end of each day and review the photos while I’m compiling my journaling notes.  Going through the photos each day also helps me create a more complete journal for each day as well.

Many times, this step has got me to go back to a location the next day (when I could) to grab a few more photographs to replace an out of focus one or a missed shot.  It’s amazing how your photos will change when you think about the final memory book and how it will look as you go.

– Step 3: Shop for bargains and think FLAT!

What does that mean?  What I mean is that every location will offer some unique (maybe even exotic) items you can buy for very reasonable prices that will become real treasures when they later sit on your mantel at home or augment your photo memory journal and scrapbooks.

What gets missed a lot of times are local fabrics (careful of acids in the dyes), papers and even post cards that help your minds eye recall the feelings and emotions you felt while you were there.  Just keep FLAT in mind as you’ll be placing some of this in your scrapbook memory book with your photos and journaling along side.

Note about postcards: Many really popular locations are always filled with people and it’s hard to get a clean shot on your own.  Most of these places sell postcards that have been taken when the attraction was empty.  One of these along with a close-up shot of you and the family at the same location make for a great memory layout page later.

– Step 4: Don’t forget the paperwork.

All to often, a lot of your receipts get thrown out when it’s a pleasure trip. Be sure and keep your taxi receipts, menus (when possible), boarding passes, railroad passes, left over foreign paper currency, attraction receipts, and ticket stubs to special events. You might even like to cut out pages from any travel books and brochures you used or picked up on holiday.

When you finally transcribe your travel journal into your photo memory book scrapbook, you’ll be able to add photos and then journal in small vignettes and anecdotes amidst these visual items of your trip.

Finally, don’t make the all too common mistake of procrastination in assembling your memory book scrapbook when you return home. 

I’m not saying you need to start it as soon as you walk through the door, but I know from personal experience that the sooner you get started, the more easily you’ll create the finished your best memory book scrapbook project.  Try doing it as a family and I just know (again from personal experience… even with teens) that this will be an enormously entertaining family activity. Besides that, we all know that the sooner you begin your memory book, the fresher your memories and emotions will be.

Holiday travel is meant to be relaxing and fun, even if the relaxing part sometimes gets left out. So why not let this fun carry right over into the preservation of all those wonderful memories.

If you simply follow these 4 simple steps, you will easily enjoy and “relive, over and over” your favorite travels.  Do it well, and even your future generations will be living them right there with you in the future while they create their own adventures in many of the same places.

Happy Travels!

You can keep up with our current scrapbook activities on our blog, Computer Scrapbooking 101 at: blog.princesscrafts.com or join the First and largest digital scrapbook membership site on the internet at: www.myprincesscrafts.com. You can even get Downloadable Stationery at: www.Free-Stationery.com

2 comments.

August Digital Scrapbook News and FREE Downloads

Posted on August 17th, 2010 by admin.
Categories: Free Downloads, Site Information.

So far we’ve Added 9 new background sets to the 8.5×11, 12×12 and the Landscape areas.

 

• 3 new button sets

• 4 photo sticker sets

 

 

And Wes just added 3 new FREE Stationery downloads with a Sports/Fishing Theme and Travel/Vacation Theme to our FREE Stationery site.

Enjoy the Scrapbook Page Set Downloads and as always, if you can’t find what you need, just let us know.  We are always happy to help all we can.

Happy Scrappin’

Kathy & Wes

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

www.Free-Stationery.com

The Most Incredible FREE Digital Scrapbook Gift… EVER!

0 comments.

Digital vs Hand Scrapbooking Costs

Posted on July 20th, 2010 by wwaddell.
Categories: Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Site Information, Training.

One of our new friends here at PrincessCrafts had a question about printing digital scrapbook pages.  Since this is a question we get now and again, I thought that I would post our answer here too.

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Hi Lois,

Kathy passed this on to me as I do most of the tech support for her.

If you want hard copies of your scrapbook pages, then yes you will need to get them printed.  You don’t need to print them yourself though.  Many photo printers, including Wal Mart now offer 12×12 print services since digital scrapbooking is such a big thing now and is becoming the #1 way to scrapbook.  They can be a bit pricey on the surface, but when you consider that the average hand scrapped page now costs more than $4.00 and go more than 5 times that depending on what you put on it… it all becomes relative.  If you don’t have a large format printer and even if you do, we recommend you check out www.Realbooks-Scrapbooks.com.  Bill and Colleen are very good at turning your digital scrapbook pages, even the 12×12 size into the most beautiful real hardbound books you will ever see.  And the cost is amazingly low.  We have them do all our books for us.  The quality beats anyone else out there hands down.  You even get to design your own custom cover… something you can’t do at all with the old hand scrapped books.

Sorry if it sounds a bit commercial, but they really are terrific and do such amazing work.

On the other hand, many of our clients don’t make hard copies at all any longer.  They create the pages and put them on DVD or Video CDs.  Others incorporate them into slide presentations using PowerPoint or Open Office (which costs nothing).  Still others add sound and transition effects using movie software and turn them into actual video DVDs and CDs.  We have an example of our granddaughters doing the Twas the Night Before Christmas a couple of years ago on our www.PrincessCrafts.com site.  This one is still a big hit with the family and gets played every Christmas.

As you can see, you can create your scrapbooks for as little as the cost of a blank DVD or you can have a full size 12×12 hardbound book with custom cover done (in multiple copies if you want) for just over a buck a page through Realbooks Scrapbooks.  You can also shrink the 12×12 pages down to 8×8 and print them yourself.  Our Cannon printer, that can use ink refills you do yourself prints 8.5×11 pages for less than 25 cents a page.  It’s also a large format printer that prints up to 13 inches wide and we get prints for as little as 80 cents a page including the paper cost when we buy in bulk. 

Hope this helps you out.  If you still have any questions, please let me know and I’ll do my very best to get you the info you need.

Happy Scrappin’

Wes

PrincessCrafts.com

(877) 751-6368

28115 N. Spotted Rd.

Deer Park, WA 99006

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com – Digital Scrapbook Memberships

www.Free-Stationery.com

www.FreeScrapbookTraining.com

1 comment.

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