Q & A from Last Week + Valentine Digital Elements Sale @ Designer Digitals

Happy Thursday!

Below are answers to some recent questions regarding the yellow heart layout and the Valentine minibook posts from last week:

POST :Yellow Heart Layout

The large scalloped chipboard heart set from Technique Tuesday is now available at scrapbook.com.

From Jody : I love pages that use acrylics, but haven't tried it. Is it photo-safe? What about cracking/peeling?
I double-checked and the paint I was using here (Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints) is acid free according to Ranger's website. In general this is not something that I am overly concerned about. Some of the things I create are going to last (just look at all the things that have lasted before "acid-free" ever became an issue) and some will deteriorate. I am after a balance between words, photos, and playful creativity. Of the pages that I have painted on I don't really recall seeing any chipping or peeling. I do think that some of my minibooks that have been handled quite a bit do have areas of peeling paint - that's wear and tear that I don't mind at all.

From Camille : Does your paper ever tend to curl
after it's painted? I suppose if it's heavy enough cardstock, you don't
have that problem. Just wondering...
I
have painted backgrounds on cardstock quite a few times now and have
not had any problems with curling. Most often I use Bazzill textured cardstock. I also don't use a ton of paint. I have created some digital files of painted backgrounds available as well: Painterly Backgrounds.

From Danielle : What are the little "doodads" that you use to stand up your layout in order to take a photo...they look too cool :)
Those are "flower frogs" that Tim Holtz gave me last year. These ones are SUPER sharp so watch out with little kids around. Here's a link to some articles on Martha Stewart's website that talk about using them for flower arranging, etc.

POST : Valentine’s MiniBook

From Mel : How did you take the photos---a photo booth, or did you use a camera on a timer?
Those
photos are from a real photobooth at one of our local movie theaters. I
have a great little collection going of different ones we have found
from time to time.

From Annie : I know this is a really basic question but how do you organize random photos to all print on one page?
I
create a new canvas in Photoshop (File/New) – such as 8x10 and then drag and drop each of the
photos onto the new blank canvas. Make sure that you are scanning in
your photos at 300dpi and making the new canvas 300dpi. Check out this past issue of my newsletter for a step-by-step on creating photo gatherings in Photoshop.

From Grace : Could you please share what you printed your digital circles on - Photo Matte Paper or standard cardstock?
I printed them on textured cardstock. You could print them on photo paper as well for a glossy-look.

From
Cheri : My question is do you have any other downloads on the designers
digital site that are pdf and you don't have to have PSE to use? If
that is the only one, please consider doing more for the non digital
scrappers out there.
One
thing to remember is that you don’t have to have photoshop to open .png
files. They can also be opened and printed from Microsoft Word (and other programs). I hope
to create more elements that include PDF options with the files in the
future. Here's a few others that could be easily printed, trimmed out and used on paper layouts:

Memory Tags

Family Gratitude Title & Journal Blocks

SALE : 30% off Valentine products through Friday at 6am Eastern at Designer Digitals. You can see everything included in the sale here. Here's a few suggestions from my line:

Love Postage

Love Word Art

Love Circles

Love You Circle Frames & Overlays

And a special $.99 item from Katie Pertiet:

Stacked Vintage Frames Hearts