Make a digital tag book
In the April issue of ScrapBook inspirations we shared Morag Cutts' super-cute tag book. If you fancy making one yourself, here are Morag's full instructions:
My friend has two adorable children similar ages to my own. Although she is not a crafter, she often comments on my pages and projects. When I came to make a present for her birthday, my thoughts turned to creating a small brag book that could be easily carried in a handbag. She adores pretty things, but because she also has a boy, I didn’t want it to be too girly. The book had to be small, durable and most of all, cute. To ensure that the final book would be durable, I would laminate the pages.
Having made many tag books in the past, I know that there are some things that can be difficult to achieve on such a small scale. Also, because the pages would be laminated, care must be taken on the number of paper layers and I couldn’t use lumpy accents that I love. So I turned to my computer for the solution.
There is a whole world of digital scrapbooking out there to tempt me. Thousands of beautifully coordinated kits with patterned papers, embellishments – everything you need to make a scrapbook page or if you are like me, to print for use on paper pages.
Digital scrapbooking has many benefits such as being able to resize and re-colour items. The ability to reduce the size of patterned papers and accents will be a great advantage for this size of project.
Although I am not a digital scrapbooker, it doesn’t mean I don’t collect digital kits! One of the first kits I ever downloaded was from Shabby Princess (www.shabbyprincess.com). There are dozens of free kits to choose from, all of which include adorable papers and many accents such as ribbons, buttons. There are even more kits are available at The Shabby Shoppe (www.theshabbyshoppe.com) which offer a wider variety of kit and are good value for money.
I used papers and elements from a number of kits for my project (see below for a full list). I loved the detailed accents all ready to use and the coordinating papers that make projects a breeze. It is also worthwhile digging out those elements such as staples, stitching from other kits.
As a starting point, decide on how many pages you want for your book, I have eight pages in mine. It is advisable to sketch ideas for each page – this helps to plan the type of accents needed.
Consider using a mixture of round frames and rectangular to add interest and variety. Remember to keep the frames as wide as possible to ensure that photos can be easily placed behind without having to scale down too much. The ‘Olivia’ collection includes a beautiful circular frame accent. I created other frames using stitching or layering papers just as I would in traditional scrapbooking.
I use Adobe Photoshop Elements (PSE) to edit my photos. It is quite a powerful tool although very reasonably priced and easy to use. I use PSE to catalogue both my photographs and digital kits, making it much easier to find the right accent or paper.
Steps:
1. Create a new document at the desired size - my tags are 4x3in.
2. Digital patterned papers are normally 12x12in so depending on the pattern you may wish to scale them down to suit the tag size. This is easily achieved. Firstly drag your patterned paper over your tag document. This creates a new layer in your document.
3. Using the move (v) or transform tool (control-t) resize the paper using the corner handles. When the pattern is at the appropriate scale, use the crop tool (c) to crop the paper to the size of the tag.
4. When using multiple patterned papers, repeat with the above process.
5. Accents can be treated in exactly the same manner – scaled to suit the size of the project.
6. Continue layering papers and accents as desired. It is so much fun to try things out and undo at the touch of a button. (I just wish paper scrapping was as forgiving!)
7. Remember to add shadows to your elements for a more life-like appearance.
8. To create the photo aperture, you will need to ‘cut a hole’ in the papers. This is really simple. Using the marquee tool (m) drag the selection box to the appropriate size. Next select the layer to cut from the layers palette. Press delete. Hey presto! A perfectly-cut frame.
9. If you have more than one layer of paper, without changing the selection, simply select the next layer in the layer palette and press delete. Repeat for each layer.
10. Lastly, drag your photo to your tag. You may need to resize it to fit inside your layout aperture.
To assemble the book, print each digital tag on suitable photo paper. Attach each printed tag to patterned paper or cardstock. Round the corners if desired before placing the tags in laminating pockets. Ensure all air bubbles are removed before following the manufacturer’s instructions for laminating.
Tip: Place laminated sheets under a heavy book whilst warm - this will ensure that the tags stay as flat as possible.
Cut laminated tags to size and punch a whole for the fastener such as a ribbon or book ring. The added benefit of a digital tag book is that they can be easily reprinted with different photos. So I have a matching set of tags and so does my husband! Tag books make excellent presents for birthdays, christenings or teacher gifts. A digital tag book can be completed in a matter of hours.
Morag’s supplies:
Digital Kits – Olivia, Wonderful, Festival, Harvest Spice from ShabbyPrincess (www.shabbyshoppe.com)
Tutorials - www.digiscrappingtutorials.com and www.escrappers.com
For more photos of Morag's tag book make sure you get hold of the April issue of ScrapBook inspirations - on sale 4th March!
