Crafting One Handed With Studio J

Earlier this month, I had surgery on my right hand. As a crafter, it has been very tough not being able to work on anything. During the first week after my surgery, I wasn't able to use my right hand at all. I sat with my computer on my lap, playing with it one handed, and watched movies on the TV. It was tough. I spent a lot of time on Pintrest which really made matters worse because I came up with more projects I wanted to work on but couldn't. I finally decided to play with Studio J, Close To My Heart's digital scrapbooking site.

I have done an entire album with Studio J. Even though I love to play with my paper- I love the feel of the paper and the ink on my fingers-- sometimes we all need to get a project done quickly. I think that is where digital scrapbooking is for me-- when I don't have time to play. Or in this case, when I don't have access to my crafting supplies. I just couldn't make my paper cutter work with my left hand.

The Studio J site is so easy. Upload your photos. Choose your paper (so many paper packets to pick from). Pick a layout style based on the number of photos you have. Click your pictures into place. Add title and journaling. Decorate. At every step, you can make changes in colors, placement.

On the above layout, I will add more journaling as a pull out behind the page to explain each of the little pictures, just as I would on a traditional scrapbook layout.

The above will actually be two different pages in my 2012 Project 365 Album. The program doesn't allow for a single page which is tough for me since I generally work in singles- not two page layouts.  However, I was able to find photos for two different parts of the album that would work with similar papers.

I'm pretty happy. I actually spent very little time on the pages. Most of my time was spent playing in my Picasa program sorting photos and deciding what I wanted to work on. I have a bit more of our life documented. I was able to get crafty and feel useful despite doctor's orders to sit and do nothing. Like I noted before, I'm pretty happy.

Give Studio J a try. Check out my Studio J site and see how it feels to do a digital layout. If you are feeling very behind on your scrapbooks or you want to get that one album done, this might be the right spot for you.