Hi I’m Vanessa and I am from Melbourne, Victoria
As a follower of Tamar’s blog, I am thrilled to be doing a guest post for her today. I have been following her daily for what seems forever, and have been inspired by her on many occasions. My 10 year old daughter and I have played along with the Hip Hip Hooray Series, I have enjoyed the Style Studio and the Christmas (Peace and Joy) Style Studio, I have cooked her recipes, admired her digital scrapbooking and I even won a giveaway here!
In October 2010, I resigned from work and I began seriously looking at all the loveliness being created out there in the digi world.
I cannot thank Tamar enough for blogging about her digital scrapbooking and starting me on my digi scrapping journey – Thank you, my bloggy friend, for your inspiration - I am now totally obsessed with it!
I have just joined the Creative Team of The Urban Fairy (also an exclusive designer at Digiridoo Scraps)
And since July 2011, I am on the Creative Team for Rhonda Sunflower Designs (exclusive designer at Digiridoo Scraps)"
A digital layout for my bloggy friend
First I needed to “learn” Photoshop!! Thanks to my IT consultant (17 year old son) who patiently at the start, and not so patiently later on, came out of his room when I asked the same questions again and again! “How do I ….?” “Why isn’t this working?” and numerous other questions. Often the answer being – “Click on the layer” or “Control Z” or “You have to select it first”
So here I am to share some of my favourite Digital Scrapbooking Freebie Sites with you:
Beginning Digital Scrapbooking
Sahlin Studio “How to Start” tutorial
Jessica Sprague Use your computer to tell your stories – ABeginner’s Guide (free 15 minute digital class)
Free Fonts
Dafont My all time favourite fonts come from this site (typewriter fonts, graffiti fonts, decorative fonts, grid fonts, curly fonts, fonts by Last Soundtrack)
Kevin and Amanda Lots of handwriting fonts on this site
Freebie Sites
Craft Crave Daily previews of freebies on blogs
The Coffee Shop Blog So many things to look at
Shabby Princess Free kits
Jessica Sprague Free Kits and Templates
The Graphics Fairy Vintage Images to download
Free Daily Downloads
Spring Flea Market Frolic- Free Daily Download (April 16-30) from Divine Digital
Divine Digital Must be a registered user (sign up HERE)
Two kits per month are offered (1-15 of the month and 16-31 of the month)
Visit the forum every day to download a free mini kit (only available for 24 hours– then for purchase in the Boutique) I subscribe to the forum thread and receive a daily email as a reminder.
Ginger Scraps Visit every day to download the few elements/papers offered – a free kit for the month
Free Digital Magazines
Ginger Scraps Street Digital Magazine (monthly) Free full kit each month - link on right side of blog
Deviant Scrap - The Deviant Muse (monthly - Art Journal style) - need to be registered user to download PDF from shop
Free Tutorials/Classes
The Coffee Shop Blog - fabulous tutorials, with free actions in some tutorials
Big Picture Classes - some free self-paced classes to get you started
Misty Cato – a huge variety of tutorials
Sahlin Studios -Realistic shadowing, install actions, FAQ’s
Free Templates
Having recently discovered templates – I just love them!
The Coffee Shop Blog Storyboard and frame templates and more!
Heather T – Template Tuesdays Free template most Tuesdays
M Originals Free weekly templates for Project 365 (a photo a day) and free templates
There are monthly template and calendar challenges at most digital scrapbooking sites with free templates for that month. I participate in the monthly challenges at Digiridoo Scraps
Free Template from Divine Digital -August Template Challenge
Colour Inspiration
Design Seeds Found this site awhile ago – it is just wonderful. I have even tried some new colour combinations!
“Like” them on FB and get daily colour inspiration!
Facebook
‘Like” a designer or site FB page. Often designers have exclusive gifts. Some designers regularly update their FB gifts. Site FB pages keep you up to date with what is happening in the stores and any freebies/coupons/sales.
Newsletters
I subscribe to many designer’s newsletters. Often they have exclusive offers, coupons or freebies and you also get to see new kits being released (to put on your wish list!)
A Few Tips
Make sure your virus protection is up to date.
I like to leave comments on every blog/forum I visit to thank designer for freebies – only takes a moment and is really appreciated – these designers work very hard to produce these free products for us and I believe we should thank them for their generosity.
Just remember - the freebies offered are for personal use only and if you use them, please credit the designer.
Be selective with what you download (look for quality)
A lot of designers have direct download, but if they don't, I only download from well known download sites.
While it looks like all I do is collect freebies – let me tell you that I do purchase quite a lot of digital kits and templates!! (Tamar keeps blogging about really good stuff that I NEED to have!)
If you would like to see some more of my digital layouts or would like any more information about digital scrapbooking, please visit my blog http://whirlingbutterfly.blogspot.com
Vanessa x
