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It is no secret that I love to make digital layouts. Just look at my gallery and you will see. A hybrid layout takes the photographs created in the digital layout process, and combines them with paper and 3D embellishments.

Digital Layouts when printed 12x12 or 8x8 and placed in a traditional album can appear cold and flat. By adding 3D elements, you add warmth and texture, that is hard to achieve with digital layouts. If I choose to go completely digital, then I use services like Shutterfly and Snapfish and print them into a storybook.

This layout is an example of a hybrid layout. The photographs contain text that is layered onto the image then printed as one image. The rest of the layout is completely paper and 3-D embellishments. Notice the I heart Chick-Fil-A on the photo below. You can click the smaller image above to see the entire layout.

Brittany's Facebook Closeup

For the next few weeks we will explore how Hybrid layouts can help create a unique look in your scrapbook pages, and how easy it is for you to integrate them into your own projects.

Let's get started...

Hybrid Layouts - Part 1

First thing you need is an image editing program. I use Photoshop CS4, but there are lots of programs out there for making this easy. You may even have one and not realize it. We will explore a few in this week's article.

MS PowerPoint
Many people have MS PowerPoint on their computers. This program is not ideal, but will work in a pinch. PowerPoint is an object based program so it allows you to create layers. It can also export files as jpegs. You can change the "slide" size to the size you want to yield in your final print job. You can created several slides in one project, and export them individually as JPGS. Powerpoint also supports the PNG-24 file format, which many digital layout designers use for their kits. It displays your fonts in their WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) form. The down side is that it is not much of an image editor. But again, basic editing of changing the colors, sizes, and cropping can be done with other MS Office products. Not my first choice, but it will work!

Photoshop Elements
If you would rather spend a little money, and get something a little less frustrating, I recommend Photoshop Elements. It retails for less then $100, which makes it affordable. Elements is basically a simplified version of Photoshop. You can easily create layers, tweak the color of the photographs, mask, and perform basic drawing techniques. Bonus to using Elements over many others, is that it has customized brushes, filters, and vector shapes. There are TONS of free downloads out there that will add to your creative experience.

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Cricut Announcements

Design Studio Font Pack Update Available
Provo Craft has released a Design Studio update that adds the March & Summer Releases to the font library. There are a few special instructions for the Hannah Montana font set. Here is the information provided by Provo Craft.

Font Pack Updates:
Font Packs are separate installers that contain new cartridges not included in the installer.

Please be advised: When using the Music feature key on the Hannah Montana cartridge it works the same as the End Caps feature key for Plantin Schoolbook and the Mickey Font cartridges. If you use the Welding or Kerning features and then click apply your file will corrupt, displaying that an Unhandled Exception has occurred or that Cricut Design Studio has stopped working, (usually with a red X). However, you are able to Nudge the characters together creating the “welded” effect you’re looking for.

Stand & Salute Ships this Summer
Provo Craft has released two New Cartridges for this summer. And yes, these cartridges are available in the font update for Design Studio. So you can explore them before taking the plunge.

STAND & SALUTE as you can see from the image of the back cover, this cart offers a lot for Military, good ole' Americana, and 4th of July Iconic Images. Would you like to pre-order this cartridge for $54.99, then E-mail me!

stand and salute

SIMPLY SWEET was the second cartridge added to the Provo Craft family. Card makers, you are really going to like the added features on this cartridge, with some popular phrases ready to cut. This font set is clean and sleek, and will be among your favorites in no time. Would you like to pre-order this cartridge for $54.99, then E-mail me!

Simply Sweet

Favorite Quotes

Do you own a Cricut, and want to hang out with others who share the same addiction? Do you want to buy one, but want to play with it before you invest the money? Each month I will host a crop and we will complete a quick project. Spend the rest of the time hanging out and cropping.

Design Studio Basic Training

FRIDAY - July 10, 2009
6 p.m. Palatka

We will go over the basic navigation of the system, explore adding cartridges to your "My Cartridge" and do some basic welding of multiple cartridges and characters.

Class fee is $20. Due to limited spacing pre-payment is required. Instructions for sending payment is included in the Swarm Registration.

What to bring:

A computer with Design Studio Loaded on it.
Please make sure Design Studio is working properly before the class session
your firmware has been updated for your bug, and
you are running the last updated and font update

Order your SWARM SHIRT when you register $20 plus sizes $22. These are Women's shirts, and very soft!

Bible Verses

Bereavement
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" Matthew 5:4

Family / Love
"We Love because he first Loved us." ~ 1 John 4:19

"So you my child be strong in the grace that is Christ Jesus." ~ 2 Timothy 2:1

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” ~ Psalms 139:14

“Children are a gift from the Lord; a child is a reward from Him." ~ Psalm 127:3

“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” ~ Psalm 4:8

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

>>More Verses

Favorite Quotes

"It is good to remember that the tea kettle, although up to its neck in hot water, continues to sing."

“And the day came when the Risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anais Nin

“We do not remember the days we remember the Moments” ~ Cesare Pavese

“Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

“home is where your story begins, and every picture has a story to tell, so tell it”

“Life is sweeter shared with Friends.”

“As you dream so shall you become.”

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies”

“It is only with the heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

"I'll have tears as you take off, but I'll cheer as you fly." ~ Mark Harris from the song "Find Your Wings"

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it is about learning how to dance in the rain." ~ Author unknown.

"Make Time Everyday to do something Silly!"

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" ~ Erma Bombeck

"Land of the FREE because of the BRAVE." ~ Author Unknown

"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. " ~Virgil A. Kraft

"Good Friends are like Angels, you don't have to see them to know they are there."