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.

Studio J- Digital Scrapbooking

I really like my paper and ink. I love the feeling of the paper and embellishments. I love ink on my fingers as a reminder of how much fun I had. I guess I am really a kindergartner at heart-- I like my arts and crafts.

But I have found recently that sometimes doing digital scrapbooking is a lot of fun too. My daughter earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. For her celebration, I wanted to have an album of her Girl Scout years-- all 12 of them. I started pulling out pages of Girl Scout days from my scrapbooks and realized just how many pages I have. Plus I have so many pictures that I haven't put into scrapbooks yet.  With everything I needed to do for her ceremony, there was no way to break the pages down into one album and complete more pages for the missed years. I decided to try Studio J, Close To My Heart's digital scrapbooking site. What a life saver! Within a half an hour I had four layouts completed.

I decided to do the whole album digitally. I had a two page layout for each level, plus a layout for her camp, her trip to the UK, and a couple layouts on her big awards. All in all, the book ended up 26 pages. Many of the early photos I needed to scan since they were taken while I was still working in film. I think I spent four hours total on the album, including the scanning time! It turned out beautiful! My daughter didn't see the book until the ceremony so I was so excited to see her face when she looked at it. Wow! Was she happy!

If you haven't worked with digital scrapbooking, give it a try. Click here to go to Studio J or just click on the Studio J box on the right hand side of this site. During the month of October, if you purchase nine layouts, the tenth one is free. It's a great time to try out Studio J.

I really don't think everyone should give up their paper and adhesive. There is no way I ever will. But I do think that sometimes the pages need to be done. That's when we need digital scrapbooking. We can be creative on the computer and get it done quick.
Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Digital Scrapbooking

My daughter has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award and we are preparing for her ceremony. I want to have an album highlighting her years and achievements as a Girl Scout. I have tons and tons of pages in our family albums with trips, cookie sales, awards, ceremonies, and friends. Too many for one album. So I thought I'd gather up my favorite pictures from her Girl Scout years and put together one album. I don't have a lot of time to get this done so I thought I'd try a little digital scrapbooking. I clicked on Studio J ( http://cathryn.ctmh.com/CTMH/Content.aspx?id=%2fen%2fsitecore%2fcontent%2fOBA%2fProducts%2fStudio_J.aspx).

Within an hour, I had eight pages done! Here is a two page layout on her trip to England.

So quick and easy. I don't know if I'll the whole album this way, but I am thinking about a few more pages. Studio J is helping me not be so stressed about the upcoming ceremony.