The Basics of Digi Scrapbooking

Venting about the YUDU

2009-12-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me know that I like doing all sorts of scrapbooking, digi scrapbooking, and even t-shirt designing, so when the YUDU came out I was salivating at the thought of combing all of my loves into one machine. But the YUDU was always so darn expensive, so I waited and waited and waited. Then came the miraculous BLACK FRIDAY! I was finally able to get my beloved YUDU at a much better price.
At the foot of my stairs the beautiful big YUDU box sat, just waiting for me to gather the courage to open it and silk screen my every desire. But it had to wait for over a week, for I needed to get my first YUDU creation perfected in my mind, as to not wait the VERY EXPENSIVE paint and emulsion film.
The day came this week. A project was devised, a plan created, I watched 5 gazillion YUDU videos making sure I was doing right. Everyone made it look so effortless. Now was my chance to become a silk screening artist. Sadly, my first attempts were sad an pitiful. This is my story.

Here are the problems I had:

the emulsion film would not adhere completely the first 2 times. I guess I wasn't getting it wet enough on both sides of the screen.
the font and images I printed were too fine on the emulsion film that wouldn't adhere the first 2 times, so I couldn't see where it burned through.
On the third try, (after the trip to Joanns for more emulsion film) I learned a trick from YUDU forums, and got the emulsion film to stick, but got the screen way too wet and watched half of my emulsion liquefy and run off the screen. I did my best to salvage the screen by drying the drips with a hair dryer on the cool setting. It works a little bit.
Then after burning in my image, I forgot to take the clear plastic sheet off after drying the film and it ripped half my design off. So close, yet so far away.
I did a run through on the botched film anyway just to at least say I made it to the painting part. That part is fairly easy. And I'm hoping that if the imaged had burned right in the first place it might have been darn near perfect.
I decided to create a cheat sheet in bold orange sharpee to help me remember the steps, and so now, on the 4th try, I hope to be successful! I will triumph!

For those of you with a YUDU, visit YUDU forums. It will save your life!

Rounded Corners

2009-11-11T15:39:00.001-08:00

Please go visit Summertime Designs for a great tutorial on putting rounded corners on your pictures!

CLICK HERE!

Journaling and Titles

2009-10-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Digi Scrapbooking, The Basics: Tutorial 2

2009-10-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Enjoy! I'll try not to wait so long between posts!

Next chapter: Titles and journaling

Another YouTube Video on Starting Your Page

2009-09-18T10:10:00.001-07:00

YouTube is a great resource for scrapbooking tutorials. Here's another basic video done by SeeJaneScrapbook so that you can get another perspective! There are some things I might do differently, but hey, as long as the page looks good and you're not crying from frustration, who cares! I'll add some of these videos from time to time. If you happen across a good YouTube video, let my know and I'll post it for all to see!

Digi Scrapbooking, The Basics. Tutorial 1

2009-09-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

There was such a great response to the digi scrapbooking class I taught for enrichment months ago, that some friends who had missed it were hoping for another class. Well, scheduling became a problem, and so I decided just to put the tutorial on my blog. That way if you missed something, you can go back to it, and watch it again. The lessons will be done in 10 minutes sections. This first lesson is the basics of putting a page together. Its to hopefully get you playing around with your program. You will learn about 5 of your best friends in Photoshop:

The Move tool
The Rectangular Marquee tool
Ctrl+C (copy)
Ctrl +V (paste)
The ratio button

Also, in the sidebar of this blog are some great blogs and websites. Always check for freebies! A few disclaimers about the video, my voice seems to be a little ahead of my actions, I hope that doesn't confuse you. Also, at one point, I am changing the color of a circle from brown to blue, and the cursor SHOULD change from an arrow to an eyedropper. It does not on the video, please do not ask why. I'm choosing to not be picky with the computer Gods today. The paper kit is from Summertime designs. Check out her blog in the list below. You can enlarge the video to see it better. Scroll over the bottom of the video and find the link! And I'll apologize in advance for Wyatt's commentary!

Digi Links
House of 3

Summertime Designs

Choosing Joy

Shabby Princess