One of my lovely sisters got married this summer, so I made these 8.5 x 11 hard-bound photo books from Snapfish. I kept the design very simple – no words needed, I just let the photos speak for themselves .

My little guy got to be the ring bearer in this cool, vintage style wedding. I LOVED his little outfit: the newsboy hat, bow-tie and suspenders – how adorable!

I was happy to create the flower hair piece my niece wore as the flower girl – she looked beautiful ! Instead of a pillow for Gabe to carry the rings with, we wrapped vintage poetry and music books together with some more of the flowers and some vintage lace and twine. The books were to represent the happy couple, whose college majors were Music and English .

Even though Gabe gave himself a last minute haircut with his safety scissors, and shot up a couple of inches before I had a chance to buy him some new pants, I think he looked quite handsome that day – but I suppose I’m a bit partial . Julia looked super cute too, as always !

I thought this was an awesome idea for a vintage style wedding: a Polaroid guest “book”. Polaroids were taken of each guest for the bride and groom to cherish always. The wedding photographer also took several film photos using a vintage camera. It was a memorable day, for sure, and I’m so happy for my sister and her wonderful new husband !

*Click here to download the free Christmas Faithbooking Verses*

Free Printable Autumn Leaves for Fall Crafts

{via JessGordonDesign.com}

Simple Fall Photo Book Ideas:

I created this photo book called “Autumn in New England”  (click here to see the full 24 image gallery) back in 2007, and it’s still one of my favorite fall photo books!

Quick Photo Book Tips:

• I used digital templates to help me easily place my photos in a pleasing way.
• The backgrounds are simple neutral digital scrapbook papers, keeping the focus on my photos.
• I created the digital pages in Photoshop Elements, then uploaded them to Shutterfly to print my photo book.

• Use fall-themed digital scrapbook kits and templates to compliment the feel of your autumn scrapbook pages. The pumpkins and hearts on the following two pages were created using  shape templates (available for free, click here).
• Beyond the obvious things to include like pumpkins and fall leaves, don’t forget about regular digital elements in fall colors (notice the buttons, ribbons and other rustic elements).
• Try using a decorative font with leaves and acorns like  Acorn Initials. If you “rasterize” the text in Photoshop, you can then use coordinating fall colors to fill in the letters.

Here’s a cute fall scrapbook page I made in 2008:

Autumn Scrapbook Tips:

• I used my favorite fall photo for inspiration to create my own digital scrapbook papers and elements in Photoshop! The colors and textures came from Gabe’s fall sweater and jeans .
• Since this kit is a few years old, it is now offered as a freebie !  Click here for my free “Fall Fun” digital scrapbook kit and templates. 
• When you have a great fall photo, let it dominate the page – it doesn’t need lots of words or embellishments competing with it.

In 2009 and 2010, life was getting pretty busy with two young kids and lots of travelling, so I went with the basic photo book templates. Here are some layouts from my 2009 family scrapbook:

I actually went into labor with Julia on Labor Day 2009 !

And here are photos from 2008 and 2010 as seen in a Snapfish photo book I made which covers the past 5 years of visits to our favorite pumpkin patch:

Quick and Easy Fall Photo Book Ideas:

• Use the themed photo book pages available at most photo book sites, they will have fall colors and decorations that will highlight your photos without overwhelming them.
• Most photo book software allows you to rearrange your photos on the page, add new photo spots, and adjust the sizes of the photos. Make use of these features to put the focus on your favorite photos.
• You can fill up most of the pages with photos, then place all your journaling about the events and memories in large columns of text on just a few pages.
• Many photo book sites have autumn backgrounds, titles and digital elements you can add to your pages – no Photoshop needed!
• If you have digital scrapbook papers you would like to add to your pages, but don’t have the time or ability to create digital scrapbook pages, try this technique I blogged about: (click here, then scroll down).

Do you have fall photo book tips to share? If so, please share in the comments section, I love new ideas! I hope you’re having a fabulous fall!

New Digital Scrapbook Papers in my Etsy Shop: McIntosh Apples

There’s something about fall that makes me love apples even more than usual! My favorite type of apple has been the McIntosh for as long as I can remember, which is why I was inspired to create a digital paper pack named after them. These digital papers are perfect for photo books, digital scrapbooking, and can also be printed for all your paper crafts and scrapbooking as well!

McIntosh Apples Digital Paper Pack
Cute apple designs hand drawn by me

*Click Here if you’d like to view these digital papers in my Etsy Shop*

Here’s a fun layout I made using this digital paper pack. Last fall we went to a nearby apple orchard, then made a yummy treat with our fresh apples! Click here if you want to see the Apple Bundle recipe I posted on my blog last year - oh, that rhymes hehe :).

McIntosh Apples Double Page Scrapbook Layout:

McIntosh Apples Digital Scapbook Layout Page 1:

McIntosh Apples Digital Scapbook Layout Page 2:

This is such a simple layout idea, which makes it very versatile. If you like it, please feel free to download it – I turned it into a freebie template ! Let me know what you think of the new digital papers and these freebies too – Enjoy!

McIntosh Apples Freebie Templates:

*Click here to be taken to the McIntosh Apples Freebie Templates download page*

Meanwhile, here’s a scrapbook layout from an album I made about our trip to England in 2009. My husband’s grandmother flew us all over there from America so we could celebrate his grandfather’s 90th birthday party, what a huge blessing – it was the first time Gabe, Julia and I had ever been to Europe and our first time meeting all the English relatives! We were there from the end of October into November, so here’s my Halloween scrapbook layout from 2009:

Wasn’t Julia such a cute little pumpkin baby? I can’t believe she’s two already!

I whipped up the printable candy boxes this afternoon with some papers I had designed recently. They are by no means perfect, you can kinda see the fold lines etc, but they are still fun to make. I also included one without the message box plus a .png template and a plain .jpg template so you can create your own if you like too! Oh, and I stuck 3 pink papers in there too !! If you are new to printable crafts, just ask your questions in the comments section and I will try to answer them asap !

CLICK HERE to see the folder with all three downloads inside .

Now, THESE are the printables designed by Kelleigh Ratzlaff the PRO printable designer, so you can rest assured that they will not be flawed like mine . PLUS she has some pointers in there to help you along the way. If you love her work and hybrid projects in general, you will want to go see her in action along with all of the other talented ladies at The Hybrid Chick.

And last, but not least is the free candy bar wrapper by Brooke from Oregon, which I offered here a few years ago, but might be new to some of you!

*Click Here to Download this Freebie Digital Scrapbooking Kit!*

Question From Chelsey:

I looked through Shutterfly and I cant find the same backgrounds that you have?  Is there somewhere special I need to get these?

My Answer:

Sometimes I use the backgrounds by Shutterfly, but sometimes I create my own and upload them into Shutterfly using their “print your digital scrapbook” feature. Are you familiar with digital scrapbooking? In digital scrapbooking, you use digital “papers” and page elements to create scrapbook pages. Shutterfly has an option for uploading these already made pages and printing them in their books. It is a bit more time consuming, but I love being able to create a personalized book .

Follow-up Questions From Chelsey:

I am not familiar with digital scrap booking. Do you have to pay extra for those pages? Where do you find them or do you have to create these yourself?

My Follow-up Answers:

Programs like Photoshop Elements can be used to create digital scrapbook pages using your photos and digital scrapbooking supplies, which can be purchased or even downloaded for free (I have several free kits available at scrapbookideas.wordpress.com). You can also find pre-made digital scrapbook pages, often called quick pages, to use – then all you need to do is add your pictures!

Question From Maryam:

I have decided to start digi scrapbooking and was just wondering what digital scrapbooking program you use…

My Answer:

I use Photoshop for my digital scrapbooking. I was fortunate to win a copy of the full version, but before that I used Photoshop elements which is much less expensive and all you really need for photo editing and digital scrapbooking.

Question From Taylor:

I love how you have different backgrounds on your books. I’m not the biggest fan of Shutterfly’s backgrounds, and I was wondering how you applied those backgrounds?

My Answer:

I know what you mean about the Shutterfly backgrounds, although they do have a few cute ones . I am a digital scrapbooker, so I use digital scrapbook papers in a lot of my photo books. I make the digital scrapbook pages in Photoshop before I upload them to Shutterfly, then I use the “print your digital scrapbook” feature in Shutterfly to create my book using my own custom-designed pages.

Here’s an idea that just came to me: If you want to use a digital scrapbooking paper, but you don’t have Photoshop, you could try uploading whole digital scrapbooking papers you want to use when you upload your photos to Shutterfly. Then, choose a very simple photo book design, like “Versatile Classics”. Then, when you add your photos to the pages, choose layouts with one or two extra photo spots than you need, and place the digital scrapbook paper in those spots. It won’t cover the whole background, but at least you could add a little extra character to your page that way . I tried it just now, and attached a screen shot of what I came up with below. The background is by Shutterfly, but the pink papers are from the free “Real Love” digital scrapbook papers available at scrapbookideas.wordpress.com.

Tip: you can double click on the image once you insert it into the Shutterfly page, then you will be able to adjust the position and zoom.

Question From Vicki:

Which layout on Shutterfly are you using to convert your square pages to landscape with a border for journalling?  I’m assuming you use custom path with a 1 photo layout but I’m having a hard time figuring out which one! I also “scrap” in square, but would sometimes like to take advantage of the landscape album codes and I also don’t journal alot on my pages but could see where one day my kids would want to know more of the details.

My Answers:

I usually design my own digital pages in Photoshop, then use the “Print Your Digital Scrapbook” feature at Shutterfly to print my book. Here is a link to the page at Shutterfly where you can choose from the “Print Your Digital Scrapbook” options: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books/print-your-digital-scrapbook. They have several choices for the size and shape of your book. Once you choose a size, you will be taken to a page where you can download free Photoshop templates in the exact size and shape of the book pages and cover, the templates even have built in guides showing you where the edge of the page might be cut off in the printing process, so you can keep all important details (like text) within the safe zone. For my digital pages I plan to print, I usually use one of the templates as I design the page so that I know that there will be a perfect fit and nothing will get cut off in printing. The great thing about using the “Print Your Digital Scrapbook” feature instead of the one photo pages is that you have complete control over the covers and binding of the book too, plus you know exactly how big to make your pages because of the templates.

I have also used square pages in a landscape book to make use of coupon code like you mentioned, but I just designed a landscape page, with black as my background, then resized my square pages by hand in Photoshop, and added them in along with text. Here’s and example of a book like that I made a few years ago: http://scrapbookideas.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/shutterfly-classic-photo-book/