I highly recommend princess crafts for all your scrapbooking

Posted on February 14th, 2010 by wwaddell.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Testimonial – no compensation of any kind.

Mrs Kathy,

Thank you for making scrapbooking a real enjoyment, I love the beautiful pages ya’ll make, they are awesome, and so easy to create beautiful scrapbooking pages for any occasion, I highly recommend princess crafts for all your scrapbooking projects. I have made four scrapbooks, one on each of my grandbabies in 3 days, totaling 100 pages, god bless ya’ll for all the hard work ya’ll do in making scrapbooking so enjoyable and fun.

Cindy Roderick,

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Printable Stickers and Photo Art

Posted on July 18th, 2009 by admin.
Categories: Site Information, Training.

Hi Scrapbook Friend,

Like we said in our newsletter… Lots has been added to our 8.5×11 and 12×12 members areas and to the no cost areas as well in the last month or two.

First off, Kathy has added New elements categories for you. 5 sets of Block Words and 12 sets of printable stickers photo art (both in their own new categories) have been added as of the end of June. Kathy has also added Added 6 new Patriotic sets and 6 new Summer scrapbook page sets.

Before I give you the link and you head off to check them out…

BIG NOTE: We will be replacing all the background, summer, spring, wedding and animal categories that are in the old gif format with new papers in our new updated png format. Look for those to start appearing next week and we’ll be totally done by the end of August. They won’t be exactly the same, so if you want the current designs… get them before they are gone!

Now, here’s the link to sign into your Members Home page to get the new sets: Digital Scrapbook Members Areas

Not a member yet… you can still see what’s new by checking out the thumbnail images at: www.PrincessCrafts.com for 8.5×11 and www.1-Computer-Scrapbook.com for the 12×12 digi-pages.

FREE for everyone…  Kathy has also added 3 new summer time digital stationeries (or digi-scrap backgrounds) to the stationery site at:

www.FREE-Stationery.com

For last month, we also added 6 new sets of Fathers Day or Dad’s Day scrapbook templates, 6 new two page layout sets for Spring – all in both 12×12 and 8.5×11 size formats.

We are also getting ready to put our prices back to normal instead of the almost 30% off that they are now.  We told you that we couldn’t afford to keep them that low forever!  So, if you want to save even more on your scrapbooks than you do already by getting unlimited access through a membership rather than paying for sets individually… do it now!

Before the price goes up again.

www.MyPrincessCrafts.com

Until next time,

Kathy & Wes

1 comment.

2 Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Digital Photography, Scrapbook Articles, Training.

2 Simple Ideas to Entertain the Kids this Summer (Part 1 of 2)

By: Wes Waddell

 

“School’s Out for The Summer” as the classic KISS song goes.  These words begin causing stress for many a parent weeks before the actual event takes place.

 

Why?

 

Because every parent knows that within days… sometime hours, the dreaded whine begins: “Mommy, I’m bored… there’s nothing to do!”, “I don’t want to go outside, there’s no one to play with!”  The historic echo’s still ring within the walls at our house, even now after the kids are grown and on their own.

 

The good news is that I’ve found a new way to keep my grandkids entertained for not just hours, but for days and even weeks during the summer, and no, it’s not sending them to grandma and grampa’s house!  I’ve taken an old page from my grandmother’s bag of fun and turned it into a new technology children’s game.

 

We call it “The Digital Mystery”

 

Appropriate for kids ages 6 and up… especially good for “Tweens” and young “Teens.”

 

No! you can’t get it in stores…  at least not yet ;-)

 

All you need is a cheap digital camera, a small notebook with pencil and a few minutes of your time creating story lines.  I’ll explain the story lines in just a minute; first let’s talk about the equipment.

 

I said cheap digital camera for a reason.  Kids are sometimes hard on things… I know that’s nothing new to you.  But the younger they are the harder it is for them to take care of things and to keep track of them.  So, depending on age, just pick one up that you can get in almost any chain store these days. Your only requirement is that it needs to hold at least 36 to 40 images in its memory so you aren’t bothered every few minutes downloading them to a computer. Of course older kids will be able to do this themselves.

 

The notebook and pencil can be anything from pocket size to a school notebook. They’ll be using it to take small notes on what they see in each photo they take. Younger children will need more room to write and older kids will want something that can fit in their pocket or camera case. If you use a larger notebook, consider putting it in a small backpack or shoulder bag for them to carry it in… don’t forget to put their names on it!

 

Now, on to your small part in the game.

 

The object of the game is to tell a story using digital photographs and notes or comments for each picture.  Your part is to come up with a few story titles for them to start with.  Here’s a few things to consider when you start listing the mystery story titles:

 

  1. The younger the child, the smaller the area they have to explore. You may want them to stay in the back yard or on your block.  If you live in an apartment complex, you may need them to stay in a play area or inside the building itself.  So, you wouldn’t want mystery titles such as “What the neighbors did today” if you want them to stay in the back yard. You might want titles such as “Bugs of the 123 Willow St. House” or “What Else Lives at 654 Bluebird Lane.” My 6 year old granddaughter loves “What My Teddy Bear Did Today.”
  2. Your titles need to hint at some kind of mystery or puzzle that needs to be solved. You want the kids to have a definite purpose with the photos and story and not be able to just take random pictures of just any old thing.  You want them to think (age appropriate) and take some time… preferably a lot of it; in coming up with the final story. Tweens and Teens love to play the part of the detective or spy. Give them titles like: “What Changed in the Neighborhood Today?” or “Who Worked on Our Block?” One of my 10 year old granddaughter’s favorites is “Wildlife of Our Street.”
  3. While you don’t want them peeping in windows or invading the privacy of siblings or others, you do want to nurture their natural curiosity and imaginations.  Depending on the child, you may need to set some basic ground rules and consequences for breaking the rules.  The bottom line is that you want them to have fun, but at the same time you want them to be courteous to others.

 

Getting Started:

 

It’s best if you begin planning a few days before school’s out.  Having 8 to 10 Mystery titles (per child) all ready to go before you need them will make your life much easier and ensure that they have plenty to keep them busy.

 

One quick note:  This also works really well for vacations and day trips too.

 

Here’s how we play it at our house:

 

I set up a storyboard using a piece of white poster board.  I have a column for each of the grandkids with their name at the top of the column.  Below I have rows about a ruler wide all the way down the page.  Under each name I have a story title for each child that is different and age appropriate. 

 

After every 5 stories, there’s a prize that they earn for getting to that point.  I never have more than 5 stories listed at any time for each child as I keep that part of my mystery as to what comes next and what the next prize will be.  After they finish one story, I add a new one to their column so that they always have five listed and one prize they are working towards.

 

Depending on how long they will be staying with us, I try and make the last prize a really special one that I know they will cherish.  Last summer we took them to a water park at the end of the week.  This summer, since they are a bit older… we are looking at getting them new digital cameras now that they know how to use them and take care of them.

 

Next, I’m the editor for a fictional news site.  I have final say over all completed stories (just like in the real world) and I get to send them back out to fix any parts of their story that I find missing.  This serves the purpose of both, keeping them busy longer, and at the same time teaching them to complete the whole story with quality (age appropriate again) work with complete thoughts.

 

That’s it! Off they go to start their first story and you are free to do what needs to get done around the house… even if that’s to relax or take a nap ;-)

 

In part two, we show you how to keep them busy by actually creating the story on the computer using the photos and notes they take here.

 

Until then…

Get the Greatest FREE Digital Scrapbook Gift… EVER!

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Review of Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist

Posted on May 19th, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Review of Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist

I actually started this review several months ago when Serif first introduced their new Digital Scrapbook Artist software. Unfortunately, due to some issues with the first version and the fact that it doesn’t run on Windows 2000 or older versions of the windows software… things got delayed a bit.

The good news is that with the latest patches now downloaded and installed, Serif now has a great stable working software that is really fun to use.

Here’s what we learned in our extensive testing with the Digital Scrapbook Artist software:

When you first open Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist the program automatically checks for updates and patches.  We like that and we also like that you can set the period in-between update checks right from the settings menu. Please, let the program update with any patches as some of them fix things that will hang you up or crash the program. As of 18 May 2009 the program with patches loaded is quite stable and gave us no problems in our quite extensive test of it’s abilities.

We do recommend that you have at least 2 gig of memory in your computer in order to use the higher resolution graphics and settings. We also found that on lower end systems that we couldn’t have other programs running in the background or it slowed down displays and required extra virtual memory. (memory allocated on the hard drive for program use)

Our Initial Impressions:

Kathy and I both like that you can preload elements, backgrounds, templates, frames and other tools from the built in packs.  This makes it really easy to have exactly what you need for your new design when you first open a new blank page. I only wish that I could have a way to easily add my own designs and elements to the proper menu’s. We’ll talk a bit more on that in just a minute.

Serif has done a wonderful job with the page set up menu’s.  We found it was straight forward and I needed no help finding the button on the top of the screen and the menu’s to set the size and properties just the way I wanted them.

As a matter of fact, to create a great looking page right from the start, I needed no help from the tutorials or built in instructions.  If you have never worked with graphics, photo or presentation software before, then you may need some help with the use of layers and frames, but it’s all easy to learn. The help menu’s and tutorials that come with Digital Scrapbook Artist are quite complete and we found them easy to understand even the more complex capabilities of the software.

To make a comparison of Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist with the other programs out there… here’s what we think:

Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist falls right in the middle of the pack for ease of use and capabilities.  Scrapbook Max by Indigo Rose is easier to use and let’s you easily export your finished digital scrapbook/cards to Pictures, Video CD/DVD presentations and PDF files so you can share them with your friends and family. Scrapbook Max also lets you create templates with click and insert photo spots built in.  Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist on the other hand lets you do more with your pages such as better object rotation with less pixilation and smoother transitions. Digital Scrapbook Artist also has more filters and special effects than Scrapbook Max.

On the high end, Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist is not as capable as PaintShop Pro or Adobe Photoshop… but then it won’t take you years to learn to use Digital Scrapbook Artist like it can the other high end photo editing packages mentioned above.

In short, if you are computer challenged or have kids that will be using the program (like my 10 year old granddaughter) then you probably need Scrapbook Max. If you are going to create professional designs or work with photos that require a lot of modifications, then you’ll probably be wanting one of the advanced photo editing software packages like PaintShop Pro or PhotoShop.

If you are looking for a program to use to create digital scrapbook pages and still be able to enhance and make common changes to your photos and/or you also want to use some of the better special effects tools out there… then Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist is just exactly what you are looking for.  It’s easy, but still advanced enough with the tools you need to create really professional looking scrapbook pages, digital cards and photo prints.

Here’s the really short list of flaws as we see it for Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist:

  1. The only way to easily add items to the left menu of embellishments, backgrounds, frames, etc. is to put them in the Photos tab. The photos tab is the only one who’s add button lets you select from outside the installed tool/content packs.
    1. We would like to see all the add buttons have the capability to browse the whole computer to add elements, backgrounds, frames and other elements.
    2. Other option would be a tool that lets us create or add to a default Artist Pack. 
  2. The thumbnail images that are created on the Photo tab when you add your elements and photos there don’t show the transparent areas (everything is white), but the transparent PNG areas work normally when dragged onto the page. Minor I know… but needed to mention it anyway. 
  3. This program does have some of the high end tools and capabilities of the high end graphics packages.  Because of this, you really need to have a computer that has at least 2 Gig of memory and 4 Gig would be even better.  Without the extra memory, look for the program to be a bit sluggish and it could even lock up on you.

That’s it! Serif has done a wonderful job and has put out what’s been missing from the digital scrapbook community for several years now… a middle of the road scrapbook software that goes beyond beginner yet isn’t so hard to use that it takes a masters degree in graphics design to use it.

Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist is a very solid capable program that is going to become very popular with a lot of people around the world.  I know I’m a fan already.

Wes Waddell

www.PrincessCrafts.com

www.Blog.PrincessCrafts.com

www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com – The Greatest FREE Digital Scrapbook Gift… EVER!

 

2 comments.

This Digital Scrapbook Site is a Treasure

Posted on May 15th, 2009 by wwaddell.
Categories: Uncategorized.

Hi, This site is a treasure. I love it.

Thanks………Debbie Knahs

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Bishop Ludden Jr Sr High School Scrapbook Project

Posted on May 1st, 2009 by admin.
Categories: Scrapbook Articles, Scrapbook Tips, Training.

Hi Kathy,

I teach at Bishop Ludden Jr Sr High School. Each “house” (homeroom) has been assigned the project of creating a “house” scrapbook. I am the technology teacher and would like to come up with a way that the students ( grades 7-12 – 400+) could create their pages online and then print them and put them in the scrapbooks. The younger students in grades 7 and 8 LOVE to play cut and paste, but my sophomores, juniors and seniors need help with ideas and creativity!

Soooooo – I am not a scrapbooker – I am a “techie” and would love to give the kids a site where they can put their own photos, scripts, etc and then we could have the pages printed. Can you solve my dilemma?

I am guessing that this might be an annual activity! We have 36 “houses” looking for project help and a budget – although slim – to work with!

Mary Lou Connors

Bishop Ludden Jr Sr High School
Syracuse NY

————————————————————————————

Hi Mary Lour,

Not a problem.  You can use our FREE Digital Scrapbooking 101 course and lessons to get the kids started.  The software, course and a good sample of templates are all included at no cost (FREE) what so ever.  Just go to:

www.ComputerScrapbookTraining.com

to sign up and set up your account for free.

If you need more ideas and samples, we provide our memberships to schools – One membership for the entire school to use.  If you are interested, just drop me another line and we can go into details on how you can make that happen.

Happy Scrappin’

Kathy Waddell

www.PrincessCrafts.com.

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