I have been interested in exploring the world of digital scrapbooking for some time now. Awhile back I went as far as downloading all the free digi products I could get my hands on and even bought a considerable amount of templates, brush, digital embellishments. And then I did nothing with all of it.

I can’t imagine ever converting completely … I love to feel and touch the product as I create a page. But for practical reasons it makes a lot of sense. Since I travel. A lot. I often feel like I miss out on valuable crafting time. If I incorporated more digital crafting, I could craft on the road and not have to pack a single extra item.

I was listening to Paperclipping Roundtable on a flight a few days ago and Stacy Julian mentioned Nan Scott and her Web site. While visiting Nan’s site, I clicked on a PhotoShop Elements tutorial and thought I could manage to put together a page with Nan’s instructions. And I did. Here’s a look at my first digi page. Mind you, it’s my first. And I went a little nuts with brushes … but I wanted to try out a bunch of different tools. Pretty much everything on the page is House of 3, plus a freebie Ali Edwards had posted awhile back.

Don’t laugh at my page. It’s my very first try. I really had a ton of fun playing with all the tools in PhotoShop Elements and the goodies I purchase at House of 3. Since I have a background in newspapers and have done some design work, the basics of working in an Adobe product are coming back to be quickly. There was a time I was a whiz at using InDesign, but if you don’t use it … it leaks out your ears and is lost forever!

I also found a super helpful tutorial on the House of 3 blog courtesy of Rhonna Farrer (I love, love her work. She is beyond talented). This tutorial specifically uses a tool kit they sale at House of 3 *yes, I bought it … along with a truck load of other things), but the techniques can be applied to so many different things. Here are a few more pages I made this week … again all House of 3, Ali Edwards and a little Nan Scott Design Studios. Be nice … I’m new at this.

Shelby's 5th Birthday

Finally, I’ve repeatedly checked the various tutorials and articles Ali Edwards has posted on her blog regarding digital scrapbooking. All of her tutorials are straight forward, easy to follow and concise. Check them out here.

I think my vision for my personal digital scrapbooking would be to get a page started, print it out and then add embellishments for texture and depth. This would give me a chance to be more creative when I travel, stay caught up and still play with the physical page at some point.

Are you digitally scrapbooking? Do you have a go to site for tools or tutorials? Share … I want to know!

Aren’t these scrappy pin cushions adorable? There is a tutorial on the Craftzine blog. Have you checked out Craft? There are some awesome ideas and really cool inspiration on the Craftzine blog.

I’ve started listening to a new podcast, Paperclipping Roundtable. It features a panel of professional scrappers, including Noell Hyman, Ana Cabrera and Stacy Julian to name a  few. It’s informative as well as inspirational. Download it and listen to it while scrappin, driving or working out. You won’t be disappointed.

While at CHA (actually, the consumer SuperShow before CHA), Jennifer got a new sewing machine. We did a bunch of fun make ‘n’ takes at various booths sponsored by the National Sewing Council. We both left itching to sew more. I really want to make my daughter some fun little skirts and hopefully teach her to sew, just like my mama taught me. I think I’m going to try this skirt (picture below).

I was reading a bunch of tweets today (I’m a Twitter junkie … you can follow me @crazydaisykits). Someone mentioned this old blog post of Ali Edwards‘ that caught my attention because the link to the post was proceeded by “one of my fave posts of all time. refer to it all the time.” Now that I’ve found it, I will be refering to it often as well.

Another one of my favorite scapbooking blogs that I read regularly is Donna Downey’s “Simply Me.” She’s a phenomenal artist. Her regular Wednesday feature, “Inspiration Wednesdays,” always leaves me in awe. I love, love, love everything Donna does. You have to check out yesterday’s post and the canvas she created.

Last but not least, I am really loving Craft Gossip. It’s a one stop shop for all things crafty. They find all the cool tips and tutorials around the Web and post them in one convenient location. Looking for inspiration or ideas … head to Craft Gossip.