3 posts tagged “scrapbook reviews”

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ScrapbookLab.com Update

This is reposted from the official ScrapbookLab.com Blog.

Aloha designers, beta testers, friends, and developers! 

It’s been awhile since I have had a chance to put together a status update, and I apologize for not getting something out to you sooner.  The summer has thrown us some curve balls, and as you well know if you’ve ever been part of a new software release, hurdles happen!


See the New Designs

Here is the skinny on where we are today:

  • The user interface and site design have been completely overhauled.  Take a look at all of the designs on Flickr today to get an idea of what the new site and interface will look like, and feel free to provide feedback. See the new design!
  • Beta release postponed until mid September. Bummer, I know! The development team has given me a September 10th date for the beta release, but since I threw a new design at them at the very last minute, I’m sure that will be pushed back a few days.  But we’re SO CLOSE!
  • Font licensing: We are in negotiations with two foundries to attain an embedded license for 20 fonts for the public release.  During beta, we will be using a mish-mash (technical jargon) of public domain fonts.  If you have fonts that you use constantly in your scrapbook projects or fonts that you love, please leave a comment and request that we consider licensing it for use in the application.  We’re open to all font suggestions and recommendations.
  • Artwork: It has been an interesting challenge trying to find designers who are ready to jump in and sell their artwork through ScrapbookLab without being able to see how the software works. We have handshake commitments from a few designers, but are still eager to fill the libraries with yummy artwork for the public release.

    If you are a designer, and are still on the fence about selling your kits through ScrapbookLab, never fear. There will be a beta release for you to see soon! If you are a designer that has submitted Test Kits for us to use during beta, THANK YOU! You all are wonderful! I’m amazed at how much talent there is out there, and the generosity of the designers I’ve encountered.

    If you would like to submit a kit to be used during beta, please e-mail a link to where we can buy the kit or download the kit. We are happy to buy the kit from your normal retailer. We won’t be distributing it, or using it in any commercial form during the beta.  It will strictly be used for beta testing. 

  • ScrapbookLab Shop! The public release will now include a ScrapbookLab online store where users can purchase top loading scrapbooks, books with layout ideas, and our ScrapbookLab Crop Circle Kits.  Any designers who are interested in also selling their kits via high resolution download will have the opportunity to sell in the online store as well.
  • Training Lab: We have been approved by YouTube, and now have our own YouTube Director’s Level Channel where we will be broadcasting all of our training labs, and holding online classes, shows, and exhibits. 

Over the next week, you may receive a series of surveys from us, asking you questions about your scrapping habits, likes and dislikes. If you have a minute, fill out the surveys. We promise they won’t take long, ask you personal questions, or share your information with anyone outside of ScrapbookLab, LLC.  This kind of focus group feedback is amazing, and helps us develop the features and functions that are most important to our users.

Well, that’s about it for the moment. Things are moving fast, and will be picking up speed as we move through September. Thank you again for your continued interest, and your feedback.  You guys are the bees knees!

Take care,
Beth

 

1 comment Tags: scrapbooking, scrapbooks, scrapbook, scrapbook reviews, scrapbook lab, scrapbook software

K & Company Mini Book Continued

Cover In Progress
Cover In Progress
I continued to torture the glitter glue pen today, and forged ahead with the creation of the K & Company Mini Book. I have to say that after this experience, I am a big fan of the mini book, and let me tell you why.

First of all, I've always felt like paper scrapbooking limited my style. The alphabet sets were always slightly or extremely smaller than I would have liked, and having done a lot of digital scrapbooking, I am extremely spoiled by being able to resize letters to their proper HUGE status in my layouts. I strongly use what I call my Wonky Letters (TM) style, which consists of me taking gigantic letters, and aligning them on my layouts like a set of crooked teeth. "First letter tilts to the left, next letter tilts to the right, third letter tilts to the left and drops down an eigth of an inch...", etc. My Wonky Letters (TM) style works wonders in the mini book format. This was a pleasant surprise.

Creating a mini book has also forced me to do something that I've always been terrified to do. I have been stretched creatively, and forced to cut photographs with scissors. Cutting up my photographs was probably the number one barrier of entry between me and the wonderful world of scrapbooking, and definitely the reason I chose to dive into digital instead of paper scrapping. When you're creating a digital scrapbook, you simply crop, resize, and save the original version of your photo on a nice hard drive that gets back up nightly to an external back up drive. Cutting a photo? It's like asking me to cut the fingernails of a two day old baby. What if I screw up? Somebody might get seriously injured! I might chop off an arm, or a head!

I had to throw caution to the wind and cut those photos because they were too big to fit on the mini book format. I feel like I've been liberated! I even cut one of the pictures in HALF, and used it in the center of a two page layout. It was like walking on the moon!



Something that I have noticed about the mini book is that my pages are warping. I am not sure if it is the glue stick I'm using, or because the paper is thicker than normal, but the pages are buckling inside. It must be the glue stick. I'm using Scotch Scrapbooker's glue with 2 Way Applicator. Fancy, I know! I don't think I'll be able to do my normal "Three Days with Shakespeare" scrapbook pressing routine where I place the book underneath my college edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare for 3 days, in which anything under its crusing weight comes out flatter than a flapjack. I have a good many 3D elements in the book. But I'll give The Bard a shot, and see if it flattens up before I give it away on Friday.

If you have any advice for a poor warped Scrapbook Evangalist, please post a comment. I like my scrapbooks a little shabby, a little junky, a little bit rock and roll. I've been told that I have a tendency to pile it on a little thick... but never in reference to a scrapbook!


1 comment Tags: scrapbooking, scrapbook, scrapbook layout, scrapbook ideas, mini book, k & company, scrapbook evangalist, beth berry …

Hot New Digital Products

Hot New Digital Products

With the metric ton of new digital products being released weekly at digital scrapbook sites around the web, the task of weeding through and finding the hottest new kits out there can be a full time job. Here a few shining stars...

To the left, you see Angie Brigg's new digital scrapbook kit Gypsy Boots, being sold exclusively at ScrapGirls.

It includes 16 colorful, slightly distressed papers, 3 sheets of fun, felt flowers, butterflies, dragonflies. You also get ribbon and ric rak and other fun embellishments. And best of all, you also get 3 different types of alpha.

I am a big alpha fan, so this kit looks right up my alley. I love the bright colors and attitude of this fun new kit.
 
 


Designer Digitals artist Katie Pertiet has done it again with her new Little Indians Kit. The kit reminds me of books I used to flip through over and over in the big downtown library when I was a kid. It has a wonderfully nostalgic feel, without being outdated.

The neutral color scheme is also perfect to use for scrapbook layouts featuring boys or girls.

Since I am a big fan of mixing and matching the kits in my library, I see a lot of pieces in this kit that I know I'll wind up using again and again, including the typewriter key alphas, the photo frames, and the stitches.

 
 
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A New Favorite!
Could I love designer Lie Fhung's work any MORE?
I don't think it's possible!

Fhung is an artist with such an amazing eye for detail that literally every time I drop something she's designed onto a layout, I break into a smile.

You really have to see the detail in her Syrin Seamstress Kit to believe it. Ripped fabric strips, stitching that rambles across the page, and a variety of stick pins with shadowing that will blow your mind.

Fhung is such an incredible artist, and is relatively new to the scene. I see a very bright future for her site Ztampf.com, and I'm on the edge of my seat to see what she is cooking up next!
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