Take time to smell the rose: Digi Scrapbooking

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Do you digi-scrap?

I love digi-scrapping! I got into it 2 years ago which was right before Ethan was born. I got a cheap scrapbooking software and made up a few birth announcements (for both genders since we didn't find out before birth) ready to add stats and a picture. I was hooked after that. Since then I have digi-scrapped all of his baby photos starting from pregnancy to 1 year old. I also have scrapped several birthday invites, party invites, shower invites, my blog header and many more items. Digi-scrapping is easier & cheaper than traditional scrapbooking not to mention super eco-friendly (think of all the paper you aren't using!). I was thrilled when Serif sent me the Digital Scrapbook Artist2 to review. This program has many, many more options than my other software had.

About Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist2!

*Click on the photos to enlarge to see more detail*

Digital Scrapbook Artist2 is a super simple scrapbooking software that makes it easy to make scrapbooks, cards and any other type of digital creation you are wanting. This software has a great selection of craft tools, photo editing that lets you create some amazing projects. Digital Scrapbook Artist2 uses 300dpi high quality scraps and includes 5 full kits. Each software program comes with an additional $15 gift voucher to DaisyTrail add more kits to your selection. Membership to DaisyTrail is free and also includes numerous kits for free and for purchase. DaisyTrail lets you upload your projects on the site to share with others.

Features of Digital Scrapbook Artist2!

New! Blending

Create stunning effects with professional blend modes. You’ll be able to seamlessly blend objects to take on the appearance of any material to give you fabulous results.

New! Stencils

Put the perfect finishing touch onto your scrapbook with stencils. Use one of the many included stencils, or easily create your own from any object or embellishment.

Cutting & punching

Cut up your material using fancy scissor edges for extra creative detail, or punch out shapes to make gorgeous decorations for your scrapbook.

Edge effects

Give your materials and objects photo-realistic frayed edges by applying one of the many fantastic edge effects, like Hessian and Carpet, for a lifelike look.

Brushes and stitching

Use brushes to paint on sparkling glitter, decorative beads, fancy stitches and much more. Brushes can be easily customised to achieve the look you want.

Layers

Layers are a great way to stack the objects in your designs and makes arranging them, applying effects, and editing complicated projects super-easy.

Text

Add decorative text and beautiful lettering to your designs in Digital Scrapbook Artist 2! You can even write along editable paths so your text can flow around objects

Filter effects

Your designs will be jumping off the page after using effects like shadows, glows, bevels, embossing and more. These realistic effects are sure to impress everyone.

New! PhotoLab

Give your photos a weather-beaten look, turn them into oil painting masterpieces, make funky pop art or combine and customise over 70 effects for amazing photos every time.
You can even edit images to get rid of red eye, remove spots and blemishes, adjust colour, change the contrast, and lots more. Make your photos picture-perfect every time and become a photo editing expert in seconds.

Image Cutout Studio

Use the Image Cutout Studio to remove items from their background or to cut out keepsakes and other items you’ve scanned in.
It’s a fantastic tool if you want to place items on a different background, create a pop out effect, or give an object total focus, plus it’s quick and easy to use so you can be ultra-creative with your design projects.

My Digital Scrapbook Artist2 Experience!
I was really excited when I received the Digital Scrapbook Artist2 in the mail. I couldn't wait to see what this program would do compared to the other one I had. It was easy to install on my computer and it only took a few minutes to get it going. Being familiar with a scrapbooking program I looked through all the craft tools and photo editing quickly. Wow, I could not believe how much the Digital Scrapbook Artist2 had on it!

There are so many features on here I instantly fell in love with. I'm amazed with all of the photo editing that is available like the Image Cutout Studio and PhotoLab. I do not have Photo Shop so I have never been able to cut images out. The Image Cutout Studio was easy to use, but it did take me a few tries to get the hang of it. I used the Image Cutout Studio on one of my pages here. The PhotoLab has been awesome as well. There is no need for me to edit it in another program and then add to my scrapbook page I'm working on. All I do is add the photo then I can click on it to make changes. Right away I can see how it looks on my scrapbook page and can change it to a different effect if I choose with no problems.

Some of the other features that I love about Digital Scrapbook Artist2 is the Edge Effects & Text. The Edge Effects you can turn any photo or paper into a different look by changing the edge of that item. There are several different ways you can place Text on the page as well with different angles and shapes. I enjoy having this feature because it gives your page character.

The ability that you can search for particular items (paper, layouts, embellishments, etc) by theme and color is very helpful. My old program did not offer a feature like this one at all and I can't tell you how much time I have spent looking through individual kits looking for the right color of an embellishment. This is a huge time saver and very convenient.

I opened my free DaisyTrail account and spent my $15 voucher to receive some new digi kits. They are super cute! DaisyTrail is a must if you have Digital Scrapbook Artist2 because you can not only purchase additional kits that are compatible with the program, but also get lots of digi freebies to add to your collection as well. There are many advantages to having the free DaisyTrail account. You can go here to see the scrapbook pages I made.

I admit it will take me a few weeks to experience all the craft tools and photo editing effects that Digital Scrapbook Artist2 offers, there is a lot! However, I am so happy with this program. It is very easy to use and navigate. Considering the inexpensive price of the program the Digital Scrapbook Artist2 is a great deal! This program is so much cheaper than PhotoShop and it is made to do scrapbooking so I think it is more user friendly for that purpose. I highly recommend this to anyone looking at starting digi scrapping or looking for a more advanced program than their current scrapbooking program.

BUY IT! You can purchase Digital Scrapbook Artist2 directly from Serif. This week at DaisyTrail they are offering digital scrapbooking giveaways and discounts. Go check it out!

WIN IT! Serif is giving away 1 copy of Digital Scrapbook Artist2 to a Take Time to Smell the Rose reader!

You have the chance to enter several entries by the doing the following. Each one counts as 1 entry unless otherwise specified. I am now making it a requirement to follow my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect to enter my giveaways.

MANDATORY ENTRY(You also must be following my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect)-counts as 1: Go to DaisyTrail and look around. Tell me what digi-kits you would like to purchase with your $15 voucher if you win.

Subscribe to my blog via email with Feedburner (on right side bar).

Blog about my giveaway before May 10th, linking back to this giveaway. Leave the URL where you blogged.

Grab my Take Time to Smell the Rose button. Leave URL where it is posted.

Grab my Take Time to Share Your Giveaway Sunday button. Leave URL where it is posted.

Follow Smell_the_Rose on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. After initial "tweet" you may gain an extra entry each day. Limit 1 tweet a day. Leave URL where you tweeted in your comment.

Follow DaisyTrail on Twitter.

Make a comment on my DaisyTrail scrapbook page and come back here to say you did. (5 entries!)

Please copy and paste this for your tweets:

Win a copy of Digital Scrapbook Artist2 program from @DaisyTrail and @Smell_the_Rose. Ends 05/17. http://tiny.cc/DigitalScrapbookArtist2

**Leave your email on each comment. You must do this in order to win!**

Giveaway ends Monday, May 17, 2010 at 9:00 p.m.(CST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

This giveaway is open to USA residents ONLY . Must be 18 years old or older to win.

Thank you to Serif who provided me with the product mentioned in the review to experience. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received to conduct this review & giveaway.

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Do you digi-scrap?
Digital Scrapbooking is really popular. I never got involved with the traditional scrapbooking, I did do one scrapbook back in 2001 for my vacation to France & Germany, but that was it. Digi-scraping has been much more fun and had more perks than traditional scrapbooking with paper products. I started digi-scrapping right before Ethan was born. My first projects were creating his birth announcements. We didn't know the gender until he was born, so I made at least 3 different designs each for a boy or girl. Then after he was born I just plugged in his photo and stats and had prints made. I have scrapped all of my pregnancy photos and all my favorite photos since he was born. Thank goodness I had them all loaded up on my facebook page otherwise they would all be gone, thanks to my computer hard drive going out! I still need to scrap his birthday photos and then I'm ready to have his "First Year" bound into a photo book.

Why I digi-scrap...

Nothing to drag out and make a big mess! It's all on the computer. If you only have 10 minutes to scrap you can get a page or two done, turn off your computer and you are finished. Those who paper scrapbook have to dedicate at least a day to make it worth their while.
You can make your own beautiful customizable birthday invitations, baby announcements, party invites, Christmas cards, etc to save money and have it look exactly how you want it. I make all my party announcements. I will be sharing these along the way. I also made the cupcake toppers to Ethan's First Birthday along with his birthday invitation and the Thank You card on the mints. The sky is the limit with what you can create.
You can make your blog prettier :-) Just about everything you see here including all my buttons I have made myself!
You can email these photos to friends or family.
You can create your own photo books or scrapbooks without using premade templates. One place you can create your own photo book with your digiscrapped pages is at Blurb.com
SAVE MONEY! There is a ton of freebies online, but there also a ton of kits for purchase in just about any theme you can think of.
SAVE TIME! You can also save time because you aren't spending the time to go shopping for papers or embellishments at a store or wait from them to be shipped if you purchased them online. When you digi-scrap you purchase it online and then download it immediately, no waiting!

How do I digi-scrap?
The program I use is Memory Mixer it is very simple to use. If you have Photoshop you can use that. Photoshop is expensive, so if you don't have it you can download a free program online that is just like it, Paint. There are a few free scrapbook programs out there as well such as ScrapbookFlair. I don't have experience with any of the free programs so I can't tell you anything about them. I love my Memory Mixer because it is fast and easy to use so any questions you have about that I can answer.

Who is Plucky Pear Designs?
Plucky Pear Designs is a new digital scrapbooking store that just opened in June 2009 by Rachael & Kelly. They have some adorable stuff and it's exciting to see what else they will come out with next. A little info about them:

We first got to know each other as designer and CT member in the spring of 2008. We quickly

became friends. In June of 2009 we decided to do a collab together. Thus came Safari Stampede, an

adorable and fun kit that can be used in so many fun layouts. Because of the success of this kit and

our growing friendship we have decided that we wanted to form a dynamic duo. We will still be

designing on our own, but have joined together to become Plucky Pear Designs. Why plucky pear?

because we are a spunky, spirited pair of ladies. We have found ourselves a new home for our

designs and hope that you love creating with them as much as we do making them!

My scrapping experience with Plucky Pear Designs!

I was so happy when Plucky Pear Designs sent me their Autumn Hues from Creations by Rachael. The preview picture only shows some of what you get in the kit. This kit is so beautiful!
Here's what comes in the kit:
Kit Includes
23 Papers
72 Elements

Elements Include
3 acorns
1 bead scatter
2 bows
5 branches
4 buttons
1 dragonfly
1 fabric strip
3 fasteners
1 fence
7 flowers
4 frames
12 leaves
2 mats
6 nature elements
1 raffia
6 ribbons
1 hay ride wagon
1 sign
4 tags
1 thread
3 trees
2 twine
1 wire mesh

Shadows for previews only.
All elements not always shown.
S4H Friendly

First thing I made was my my blog button for my Fall Festival! Of course you've already seen it...but here it is again :-)

I also scrapped a few pictures from the past week. I probably didn't even use 25% of all the paper and elements just in these 4 items. Click on each picture to see it in larger detail.

I am really impressed with the excellent detail and variety of the Autumn Hues kit. This is the most beautiful fall kit I have seen out there. I look forward to using it on the rest of our fall photos of the season.

BUY IT! You can purchase the Autumn Hues kit directly from Plucky Pear Designs website .

WIN IT! Plucky Pear Designs is giving away one download of the Autumn Hues from Creations by Rachael kit!

You have the chance to enter several entries by the doing the following. Each one counts as 1 entry unless otherwise specified.

MANDATORY ENTRY-counts as 1: Go to Plucky Pear Designs and what other kit you would like to have.
Follow my blog publicly. THIS COUNTS AS 5 ENTRIES! Comment separately as "I follow your blog publicly #1", etc.
Subscribe to my blog via email with Feedburner (on right side bar). Counts as 2 entries!
Blog about my giveaway before October 16th, linking back to this giveaway. Leave the URL where you blogged.
Grab my Take Time to Smell the Rose button. Leave URL where it is posted.
Grab my Take Time to Share Your Giveaway Sunday button. Leave URL where it is posted.
Grab my Fall Festival button. Leave URL where it is posted.
Follow Smell_the_Rose on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. After initial "tweet" you may gain 2 extra entries each day per tweet. Limit TWO tweets a day. Leave URL where you tweeted in your comment.
Follow Plucky Pear Designs on Twitter.
Become a fan of Take Time to Smell the Rose on Facebook.
Become a fan of Plucky Pear Designs on Facebook.
Subscribe to Plucky Pear Designs Newsletter.
Enter one of my other current giveaways and comment which one. You may earn one entry for each current giveaway you enter.
Make a purchase from Plucky Pear Designs between Oct 7 and Oct 21.
Vote for me at the Top Mommy Blogger by clicking here Vote must be a new vote placed between Oct 7 and Oct 21. The vote will only count for this review giveaway. COUNTS AS 2 ENTRIES. Comment separately as "Voted for you on Top Mommy Blogger #1" and "Voted for you on Top Mommy Blogger #2"

Be sure to read this post on how you can earn extra entries on the last review & giveaway! If you have earned extra entries, you must enter them in yourself at each giveaway.

**Leave your email on each comment. You must do this in order to win!**

Giveaway ends Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 9:00 p.m.(CST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

This giveaway is open to USA residents ONLY . Must be 18 years old or older to win.

Thank you Plucky Pear Designs for sponsoring this review & giveaway!

Please read my disclosure statement.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Digital Scrapbook Artist2 Review & Giveaway