How I Learned Digital Scrapbooking Using Photoshop Elements

I received an inquiry about the eyelet lace on the masthead of this blog. It's a brush created in PSE. Isn't it a great design element for just about any vintage scrapbook page?

Here's the scoop on the lace... the brush was created by Linda Sattgast. Linda has a web site called ScrappersGuide.com where she teaches wonderful techniques for digital scrapbooking. She is a master of Photoshop and Elements and she is a natural instructor as well. Linda uses both .pdf's and videos to teach her techniques and they are very easy to learn from. You can subscribe to her free newsletter right from her home page and receive helpful lessons on digital scrapbooking each week. In addition, she has CDs you can purchase with step-by-step lessons for learning all the basics. I have purchased and recommend her Photoshop Elements 5.0 training video. Even for a very experienced Photoshop user like myself it will come in handy. Elements is enough different from Photoshop and scrapbooking is enough different from photo editing to make this CD valuable.

Once you master the basics, you may want to subscribe to Linda's premiere newsletter. It comes out once a month and has more advanced techniques as well as a full kit designed by a professional designer. The kits are terrific! I look forward to getting my new kit each month and I haven't been disappointed yet. Each month also has an instructional video for a new technique and often sample templates, brushes, or layer styles that she created to go with the videos.

Linda's web site also has a forum where you can interact with other scrappers. People share great tips and techniques with each other and also offer some great advice. There's a gallery too where you can post your scrapbook pages and get some feedback on your layout.

Now, getting back to the eyelet lace brush... Linda's video for May for the premiere subscription was on making eyelet lace. Along with the video was the kit Shabby Flora by Michelle Shefveland, and some sample eyelet lace brushes you can load into Elements or Photoshop. The lace I used above is one of her sample brushes. After watching Linda's video I could have made my own but I was pressed for time and the sample brush came in handy. You can purchase past premiere back issues on Linda's web site. The May issue with the tutorial on making an eyelet lace brush is here.

Virtually all of the techniques Linda has taught since I've been a premiere subscriber (October 2006) are ones you would find helpful in creating a heritage scrapbook. Very versatile, very impressive. Scrapbooking is a great way to dress-up your family's photos!

I have not received any compensation from Linda Sattgast, Michelle Shefveland, or Adobe.