Hello Everybody and Happy Thursday!
Last night was my very first digi-crop at my new place, and it was so much fun! For those of you local to Calgary who weren't able to make it this time, we'll do it again next month! (August 11, from 8-10pm)
The best part about last night was that I had a new client over, and I was able to share some tips about translating traditional scrapbooking into digital scrapbooking - something I've never really thought about as being useful, but it definitely is!
Quite often, I'll see a new digi-scrapper drag and drop a quote or add text to a page. Straight onto the background page. Now, keeping in mind that there is not a "right and wrong", there are some things that traditional scrapbookers generally don't do. One of those is writing directly on a background page. Even if you had a printer that would fit a traditional 12x12 page, most background pages are too busy and hide the writing. And even if your page pattern isn't terribly busy, most scrapbooking paper is expensive enough that you wouldn't want to ruin it by writing directly on it and making a mistake!
There are a few really good solutions, most of which involve thinking like a traditional scrapbooker:
1. First, add some layers, therefore adding some visual division and room for your text. Sometimes the most fun papers look the best as more of an accent and less of a focus. And because everything is all-inclusive with Heritage Makers, adding more things to your page does not cost you anything extra - have fun with it!
2. Decide the purpose of your text. Is it a title? Is it the story? Is it a sub-title? A quote? Or just another element, more for visual purposes rather than to say anything? Knowing the purpose of your text can help you determine how much weight you want it to have on your page.
If you are creating a title, make it BIG, as if it were chipboard. In fact, use some alphabet art rather than just adding a text box. Add a drop shadow. Maybe even layer it, add some ribbons. Whatever you do, make sure that your Title stands out more than the rest of the text.
Next, looking at my text, I have a quote that is nice, but doesn't really matter - it's just an element. So I'm going to make it smaller so that it doesn't compete with the title or the story. Another option would be to make it big but transparent, so that it is more a part of the background page, but then you risk covering some of the words. Here, I've added a strip of "vellum" - just any piece of paper that is cropped to a strip, filled 100% with white (my favorite kind of vellum - it's so clean!) and made transparent (about 50%) and then given a border to make it pop just a little bit. I'm a bit fan of the vellum strip with a trim that goes from over-the-edge to over-the-edge - otherwise it's not a vellum strip with trim, but a vellum box. Either one is lovely, and it's completely your choice. :)
Easier than making "vellum" is placing your text on a more solid piece of paper. Just like I add a mat to my pictures, I like to add a mat to my text boxes as well. And maybe some buttons or ribbon - jazz it up :) Again - with Heritage Makers, it's all inclusive, so you don't need to worry about the expense of too-many buttons, flowers, or ribbon, and you don't need to worry about running out of glue dots or staples :D
So there you have it - some basics on how to get your text to stand out and hold its own! I hope this has been helpful! Feel free to leave a comment so I know!
