Free Holiday Printables!

Hey all, I was sent this and I thought I would pass it along! You can download free holiday (including Christmas printables at this site). Here is the link.
Here is a "print screen" preview image of the Christmas one which is really cute.

Have a great weekened!!

-Pam

Digi Tip November: Fonts

Playing with fonts can be so much fun!  They can liven up a layout, be a part of the feeling that you are conveying, and help to express your journaling.

But where to find those fonts?  And which fonts to use? If you are like me, this has been one thing that trips me up in getting my layouts done quickly. I can waste hours browsing through my fonts looking for just the right font.

Today I've got a bunch of great font examples to share. You can bookmark this post as a reference so you don't have to spend hours searching for the font that you want to use!

I've created each of the previews of the fonts using that font at 24 points. This will help you to be able to compare their styles and sizes.  Each preview is linked to the site where you can download that font.

Let's start off with some great fonts for titles.

 

Now that you've got your title font selected, it's time to select a journaling font. While you can be quite fancy with your title font, typically you will want your journaling font to be more simple and clear. This will help to make it easy to read, even at a small size.  I've previewed these fonts in 24 point to make them easy to see.  Each font image is linked to the site for download.

Century Gothic font typically comes with Microsoft and Adobe software

Now that's a whole lot of fonts to digest!  There are lots more out there too. A simple search for "free scrapbooking fonts" will turn up a lot more fonts that you may like.  If you have a go to font that you like for your titles or journaling, we'd like to know about it. Please leave a comment on this post with what you're favorite fonts are.

Iris Fold

I've been folding snowmen.  Yep, you read that correctly, I said folding snowmen!  Not rolling them, or packing snow into huge balls.   I'm folding paper and creating a circle to build my snowmen, and I'm going to show you how.

Iris folding is a technique that takes a bit of time, but gives you a very elegant look.  You basically layout strips of paper following a pattern to make what looks like the iris of a lens.

 The supplies that you'll need are:

• a pattern
• papers
• trimmer
• scissors
• tape

I used two different papers for the iris fold portion of my snowman.  One paper had a print with a nice gloss to it, the other is a plain iridescent paper.  Together they look like sparkly snow.  I cut the iridescent paper into strips about .5" wide. I cut the patterned paper  .75" wide and then scored one end at .25" and folded it.

Cut card stock for the front of the card and then punched out a circle using a die.  Now lay this face down centered over the iris folding pattern and lightly tape in place.  Using the pattern, place a strip of the folded paper along the section of the pattern numbered "1". Tape the ends down.  Now lay a strip of the plain paper where the pattern number "2" is.

Continue this alternating pattern until you've completely covered the pattern. Use scissors to trim the strip of paper as you attach them.

Place a square of the patterned paper over the middle of the iris.  The back will look really messy.  That's OK. The front is going to look great!

So go ahead, turn it over and take a look! Pretty cool, huh?

Now you can embellish it as you wish.  I created these jolly little snow fellows to send as holiday cards.

 

Now you're wondering, where to get a pattern.  I've got a resource to share with you, Craft Creations, you'll find loads of patterns and ideas there, including the pattern for these cute snowmen.

Reader's Page + 2 More Free Sites!

Happy Saturday! Today I am posting two more cool free sites that two people linked when I posted "Fabulous Free Scrapbook Sites". I am also sharing a really neat reader's page!

Up first is the reader's page! This page was made by Francine and features the Two Curves Template. You can download the template here.  What is really cool about this page is she flipped it 90 degrees which gives it such a cool look!  I just love the color palette she chose and the gorgeous photos. This page turned out so beautiful!!  To see more great ideas please visit Francine her lovely blog here!

Would you like to be featured on this blog? Simply use one of the templates, techniques or other ideas on this blog. Send me an email at scrappingpam73@yahoo.com and I will feature your projects!!

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Next up is two more fabulous free sites!  The fabulous first site is by Jamie Lane who has free Cricut Design Studio cut files, SVG files,  SCAL files and Word Art. I think you are going to love the variety of free items here so make sure you check out here!!  Here is the link:
http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/



The next free site is another great place to find sketches called Sketch Inspiration! You are going to love the number of free sketches and pages created as examples of each sketch! I love when there are examples to go with sketches :) So make sure you click over to this site:
http://sketchinspiration.ning.com/ 


 

Fabulous Free Scrapbook Sites!

Don't you just love free scrapbook sites? Here is a listing of a few I found and some of the contributor's favorite free sites! If you have any free sites that you want to link, please leave a comment with link to the site. I will post a listing of reader's favorite free sites in a few weeks! Feel free to post your own sites as well!

http://www.craftcrave.com/
This first site is an amazing free site that you can find free tutorial listing, free digital items, and other features!


http://www.allcrafts.net/scrapbook.htm
There are a ton of free tutorials and digital links here!


http://cottagearts.net/tutorials.html
This site has great digital tutorials on how to get started. Make sure you check this out!


http://digitaltuesday.blogspot.com/
You want some great digital items for free, check out this site!


http://www.justmommies.com/crafts-digital-scrapbook.shtml
You can learn how to create some of your own digital elements at this website.


http://www.jessicasprague.com/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&view=alphacontent&Itemid=92
Jessica Sprague shares some awesome free digital tutorials here!


http://www.fam-bjork.se/monicas-hobbysida/en_craft_robo.html
This next site has lots of free items to cut using different die cut machines! Enjoy!


http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/
I love these free photo actions! I think you will to and she makes them for photoshop and photoshop elements!


http://www.picnik.com/
A neat place for doing some awesome photo editing, check it out :)


http://www.scrap-a-little.com/
An awesome place for templates, sketches and other fun features!


http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/
Want some great fonts, check out this site!


http://www.dafont.com/
This site is great to download a TON of free fonts. I always get my fonts here!


http://lizqualman.blogspot.com/
A great site for finding really great sketches! Check it out.


http://www.pencillines.com/
I love these sketches, check out this site for some great layout ideas.


http://www.allisonrdavis.blogspot.com/
Another fabulous place for neat sketches, I love the variety here!


http://sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/
One more great place for unique and fun sketches!

Photo Effects by Cindy C.!

Happy Saturday! We have a great post by a previous contributing artist, Cindy.  She is sharing some really cool free photo effects that you can get online. I think that these are so fun, so if you have time, give a try! Here is her post and examples of the photo effects! Check back tomorrow for a whole list of fabulous free sites!!


For so long now, I have been telling myself that I need to purchase Photoshop, or at least Photoshop Elements. But.......it just hasn't happened yet. So for the last several years I have been using the iPhoto program that came with my computer, and the free Google Picasa. The editing options from these are actually fine (probably why I have not spent the extra money for Photoshop), but the effects are a bit limited. However, I recently came across another free site that has so many really cool editing effect options. The site is http://www.befunky.com/, and it really is worth a visit. They have over 100 options that are free, in addition to more that you pay for (I was only interested in the free ones). Some of the things you can do are turn your photo into a cartoon, a watercolor painting, an oil painting, a pop art painting, or even a black and white drawing. Here are some before and after editing photos for examples:



Original photo

Underpainting 1 option

Watercolor 1 option

Cartoonizer 1 option

 Pop Art 1 option

 Oil Painting 4 option

Inkify 2 option

Gouache 1 option

Underpainting 2

Sunburst 2

Here are some more using the Underpainting 1 and 2 options - I think these are some of my favorite options:

I hope you have as much fun with this site as I did!

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Give this a try ;)