Starting books for my girls

I have decided that it's fine time for me to start scrapping books just for my girls. I want to create a book for each of them individually that they can keep forever and ever. Jazmine in 5 and Ali is 3 1/2. I have plenty of years left to scrap them but I better get started on the last 5 years worth of photos. Tonight I started Jazmine's book. I did this page of our fuzzy haired little girl.

Recent Designs

This is going to be a long post but I just had to share some of my recent personal pages I created. I have recently participated in a few scrap challenges and these would be perfect to share. I must say, they really did challenge me. Even though I scrap digitally, these pages took me a few hours each but I really couldn't be any more pleased with the results.

The first challenge was to scrap about ourselves. I really don't have many pictures of myself since I am usually the one behind the camera. I dug out some old photo albums and scanned some of my grade school pictures. This is what I came up with. Please don't laugh at the funky hair.

The next challenge was to scrap about traveling. The topic was easy for me because I went on the best trip ever in 2006. I went to Cancun and I had a ton of pictures I could use. I actually scrapped 11 pages for this challenge because I wanted to get a good start on my book. I have been meaning to work on this for a long time but this challenge gave me a reason to have to do it. I work on this in an 11" x 8 1/2" size. Here are a few of the pages.

The next challenge we were supposed to use a song to inspire us. This was one of my favorites. I used "In My Life" by the Beatles and I scrapped a page about me and my Dad. I haven't given him the page yet but I think he is going to love it.

I hosted the next challenge and my theme was Love. It could be any kind of love. One person even scrapped about her love of books. It was awesome. I don't think I would have ever thought of that. Anyhow, I scrapped about my girls and their sisterly love. They have a bond like no other.

The most recently challenge was to use a specific quote as inspiration. I think I came up with the perfect page. The quote was “Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes, Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies” - Lord Byron. This took some thought but I ended up doing my design about my youngest. This is what my journaling said: She is a lover girl who will smother you with kisses. She is always at peace. She is a deep thinker who savors every moment of life. She is a beautiful child. She is... The quote fit her perfectly.

That's what I have done recently. I plan to share lots more. I hope you enjoy!

Where can you buy my designs?

Currently I am selling a few premade semi-custom digital scrapbooks at my Etsy Shop. These books have 30 pages each in one of 6 color combos. There are designs that can be used for children through adult. If you are looking for custom colors you can contact me. I would be happy to work with you on any custom digital designs.

I hope to have dedicated site somewhere in the near future but we all have to start somewhere.

Designer Resources

This blog also has an area where I will share designer resources. This is for those of you who wish to create your own digital scrapbook pages. Many of the resources center around Photoshop. More specifically, I use Photoshop CS2 and these resources can be used with this. I am not certain how these resources work for other programs.

I don't want to hide anything because I know many people are capable of designing digital pages and books all on their own. I also know that many of these resources are available with a few web searches. These are there for those of you who wish to give digital design a try all on your own.

This list is far from complete, but I have listed a few to get you started. Many of these resources are other bloggers who offer their items free of charge. They do this out of the goodness of their own heart. They deserve credit for all the hard work they do. I hope to be able to feature them and show you the wonderful work that they do.

So, if you want to give digital desgin a try, check out the designer resources listed in the sidebar.

What is Digi Dandy Designs?

As you may have read in my about me page, I have discovered a love of digital scrapbooking. I recently completed my first book. I created 40 pages with thoughts of my girls through the year 2007. I had so much fun creating the pages but I was overwhelmed, in a good way, when I saw the finished book that I had professionally printed. Not only does this book hold precious memories, it is also beautiful beyond words. I was so proud that I had to immediately share the book with family and friends. Everyone was also taken with the beauty of the book. Friends expressed amazement that this was something I had created. They knew I was a crafty person but they just kept complimenting me on the book. Many asked if I could create something like this for them with their own photos. I had already thought that this would be a great idea for many people. I also knew that many people would either not know how to do this or just did not have the time. After the numerous requests to create books for others, the idea of Digi Dandy Designs was created. I have most of the logistics down for how this will work and at this point I am using this blog to document how this will work.

Digi Dandy Designs will be a place for you to purchase individual pre-made digital scrapbook pages and/or a complete set of pre-made pages using your photos ready to be printed. There will also be handmade cards and other gift items.

I am also open to suggestions for ideas from you. Feel free to leave me a comment and I will work with you on your own personal creations.