Friday, February 27, 2009

more free fonts

Font Squirrel offers free fonts. So what? There are tons of sites that offer free fonts, right? But the fonts at Font Squirrel are different. They're commercial quality with a variety of styles (Light, Light Oblique, Book, Book Oblique, etc.) and they come with commercial use licenses. Now that's a deal in my book.

Oh! I used the FFF Tusj font for my name above.
renee

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Blog Headers


Free blog headers are all over the web. What I love about the ones I found at Smashing Magazine is the quality. They're exceptionally well designed. And many of them include the PSD (Photoshop) files, so you can customize them for your own use.

Please share with us your favorite free blog header sites!
renee

Monday, February 23, 2009

Jenni Bowlin's Digital Boutique


Another great paper scrapbooking manufacturer has gone digi! Yesterday saw the debut of Jenni Bowlin's Digital Boutique. The Spring Picnic paper and elements collection is available at [we are] storytellers.

renee

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Free Photoshop CS4 Class!

Thanks to Kim Alderman for letting us know about this free 10-week class. Now we can let you know!

renee

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

New Simply Inspired Challenge: Doodles

Welcome to another edition of Simply Inspired, the challenge where we take a concept from the newsletter and apply it to our next layout.

Hand-drawn elements and doodles are a unique way to put a signature thumbprint on your artwork. They not only convey great personality but also lend a sense of originality to any page. This week we want to encourage you to let your inner artist emerge and create a layout using hand-drawn elements. Experiment with a pen tablet, or draw your element or text on paper and scan it into your computer.

Upload your layout(s) on or before February 24 to the Simply Inspired gallery at Designer Digitals. One lucky winner will get his or her layout published on the web site and receive a $10 gift certificate from Designer Digitals.

We can't wait to see your simply inspired layouts!

renee

Monday, February 16, 2009

Scrapbooks: An American History

Renowned graphic designer Jessica Helfand has written a new book on ... that's right! A new book on the history of scrapbooks. Scrapbooks: An American Historyhas been called:
A gorgeous visual history of American scrapbooks and their evolution over two hundred years.
Helfand has also created a dedicated site with a blog as well as peeks inside the book. Not to be missed is the section on Scrapbook stories:
Scrapbooks, and the stories they tell, rarely follow any kind of prescribed pattern. There’s no map, and as you muddle through, the hints themselves are often murky, at best. Identifying the principals is the easy part — but who were these people, really, and how can we tell?
renee

Friday, February 13, 2009

Digital SEI

Everyone knows that SEI has a digital offering online, right? Well, I have to confess that until yesterday ... I didn't. Collections and downloadable trials are available at their online digital shop.

renee

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Photoshop Preset Viewer 2.0

This looks like a handy little tool! I just discovered the Preset Viewer from Tumasoft. I must admit I was a little disappointed that there's no Mac version. But Windows users should definitely take a close look at this application which allows you to view all of your Photoshop brushes, shapes, patterns, swatches and styles in a single viewer. If any of you have used this or decide to give it a try, please let us know what you think.
renee

Monday, February 09, 2009

New Simply Inspired Challenge


The new Simply Inspired Challenge starts now! This time we'll be pulling inspiration from Anna Aspnes' Triple Take article on art inspiration. It's always fascinating to see how three people can take the same inspiration piece and create such different and unique layouts.

We want to see how the featured art piece inspires you! At first glance, what jumps out at you? The strong vertical lines? The use of heavy paint strokes? The color scheme? Whatever it may be, take that inspiration and turn it into a unique piece of art for your scrapbook album or wall.

Then simply upload your layout(s) on or before February 13 to the Simply Inspired gallery at Designer Digitals or upload to the Digital Scrapbooking group gallery (and title the file "Simply Inspired"). Be sure to include your name, where you live and a complete materials list. One lucky winner will get their layout published on the website AND receive a $10 gift certificate from Designer Digitals!

We can't wait to see your simply inspired layouts!

renee

Friday, February 06, 2009

New Bamboo Craft from Wacom



I got a peek of the new Wacom Bamboo craft bundle at CHA. From their press release:
Wacom has launched Bamboo Craft, a pen tablet inspired by members of the scrapbooking community and dedicated to the burgeoning digital scrapbooking phenomenon. Anchored by a pen tablet featuring 512 levels of pressure sensitivity in the pen tip and eraser for precise and accurate workflow, Bamboo Craft comes with an assortment of creative software applications as well as some exciting tools, tips and tidbits to help build lasting memories the digital way. Fun for both novice and advanced digital scrapbooker alike, Bamboo Craft, at just $129 (SRP), is loaded with extras that significantly increase the overall value and creative experience.
You can check it out or order one at the Wacom site.
renee

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

how to be creative

Have you ever visited the wikiHow site? I subscribe, so everyday on my iGoogle page I receive a "How to of the day." Today's how to is all about creativity. It lists six steps to creativity along with ten creative exercises. They're all great, but my favorite is a tip posted at the bottom of the page.
Spend time around creative people. The most reliably creative people are children. Their imaginations aren't boxed in, and "mind merging" with them can remind you of what it's like to think outside the box.
Our final print issue, on newstands now, is also devoted to art and creativity. Be sure to check out the web extensions at digitalscrapbooking.com.

renee

Monday, February 02, 2009

Create your own comics!

Comicbrush is aimed at people that want a simple way to create, publish and share a comic.

Rather than drawing a comic from scratch, Comicbrush lets you mix stock artwork from their collection of comic backgrounds, characters and props with your own photos. You can add speech balloons, text, your own artwork and more, before publishing your comic to the Web, social networking sites like Flickr, Facebook and MySpace, or a friend's iPhone/Touch.

Give it a try. This looks like so much fun!

renee