Getting Ready for Halloween

Scarlett is getting more into Halloween this year.  Last year, she went trick-or-treating for the first time, but had no clue what was going on.  I let her have one sucker then threw the rest of the candy away, and she had no idea. I'm sure that won't be the case this time around.  She's very into asking what everyone is going to be for Halloween this year and she loves noticing all the pumpkins and decorations that are out.  They're going to paint pumpkins in preschool this week too which I'm sure she'll love.

This year she is going to be a cowgirl! We got her some real live pink cowboy boots from the western store, a pink hat, and a little western skirt ensemble. She originally said she wanted to be a princess, but I figured she has plenty of time for that, and that this might the last year I can fully control her costume. She wears the new boots all day around the house so I think it was a great idea.  I figured she would continue to wear it all for dress-up even after Halloween too which helped me justify the cost of it all!

Here's some digital scrapbook pages I just finished of her first two years.

And a small sneak peak I took with my phone of her in 1/2 of the costume for this year....she would NOT sit still... I think it will be a fun Halloween!

Digital Scrapbooking: Fall 2009

Just made these digital scrapbook pages from fall of last year, and I used the same kit to make my new fall blog header.  I have so much fun doing this it's ridiculous!

Digital Scrapbooking

I love digital scrapbooking. It's a fun way for me to be creative with all the gazillion pictures we have of Scarlett. I never did get into regular paper scrapbooking. That takes too much effort and time. Digital scrapbooking is quicker, cheaper, your pictures can't get ruined, and there's never any mistakes!  I am definitely still learning. People out there can do some amazing stuff! Here's what I do:

Step One:
Buy a scrapbook kit online. *I also use these kits to create my own blog designs. I make my own blog headers and backgrounds. You can also use the kits to make cards, invitations, calendars...the possibilities are really endless!

I like:
The Shabby Shoppe
Scrap Orchard
Sweet Shoppe Designs
Two Peas in a Bucket
Scrap Artist

Step Two:
Design a scrapbook page in Photoshop (I use Photoshop Elements 8) using the elements from the kit. This is the part that takes some learning, but it gets easier.

Step Three:
Send off the pages to be printed! M PIX, Shutterfly and even Walgreens print scrapbook pages. I've also heard that Costco prints them very nicely, but I don't go there. Basically, in order to fit in scrapbook albums, scrapbook book pages are sized 8 x8, 10x10, or 12x12 so you just have to find a place that prints that size..

I've been working on albums for my mom and mother-in-law. Here's some of the pages that I've made for them. I'm pretty proud of these! They were so much fun to make, but Photoshop isn't always that easy to figure out. I think the finished albums will make really nice gifts for them.

I'm also working on a birthday album for Scarlett. My plan is to add about 5 pages each year after her birthday parties then I'll have one big album just of her birthday celebrations. I've only got some done from her first birthday so far...

I hope I've inspired someone to give this little hobby a try! If you ever have any questions, I'd love to try to help you!