Shutterfly Digi Scrap Blog

A Shutterfly Book : By Maya.

Maya, Owner of Scrapbookgraphics continues to tell us a bit more about herself and shares a Shutterfly Book.

Who or what inspires you most?

"Inspiration is absolutely everywhere and is boundless and overflowing I’ve never experienced any sort of creative block because I know that the only thing between me and infinite possibilities is mindset. I’m most driven to follow inspiration when I am creating something that expresses my love for my family, be it a scrapbook page or a special gift created especially for someone I love. If for some reason I was not alive tomorrow, my family can continue to feel the love I have for them through the art I will leave behind."

Enjoy a beautifully inspirational Shutterfly book by Maya!

Click here to view this photo book.

More From Maya : Her Creative Style!

Maya, Owner of Scrapbookgraphics shares some info about her artistic side!

What is your creative style?

"If I am to select a creative style that best fits me I would have to say that the words experimental and freestyle probably work. My creative style is to allow myself to go with the flow and try my hand at anything and everything that inspires me in that moment. I actually feel a little claustrophobic being pigeon holed into any one label or style. I definitely do enjoy taking risks and I am not afraid to explore and reveal darker aspects to my personality as well as the lighter side. I love to celebrate my uniqueness and because of that I definitely do have a quirky side."

As a special treat Maya has a great "freebie card template" for you to download.  The card has been created in perfect Shutterfly size! Please remember that all freebies are for personal use only.

Download greeting_card.zip

Maya : Full of Everyday Inspiration!

Maya, Owner of Scrapbookgraphics has so much inspiration to share with all of us. Read below to find out about what inspires her.

Since our Blog is about celebrating “Everyday Life”, please share a layout and tell us about an Everyday Celebration in your life and what made it so special.

"Learning to read is a process that happens over time, but there is a point in this process where suddenly it just clicks. Motivated by a love of Pokemon, this happened with our son Kai this summer and since then he has been reading everything he can get his hands on. I’m so excited to see him so enthralled and I wanted to create a page that focused on the magical realms that are opened up to us through reading. This was very easy to do using the art of Lorie Davison from Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com Lorie is a gifted children’s illustrator and her kits are a real treat to use for layouts just like this one."

What cool , fun  or endearing project are you working on right now?

"I just finished a quick page album that I created specifically for the creation of Shutterfly photobooks. Recently I created a photobook for my parent’s 50^th Wedding Anniversary and in doing so realized the need for a better storytelling format in my products and my layouts. Generally speaking I have always been a one page at a time type of scrapper so creating an entire album from start to finish on one theme is a new thing for me. It made me realize how much more beautifully a story could flow from one page to the next if the book was made up primarily of double page layouts. So I created a quick page album that worked with the Shutterfly format, with single layout title pages and closing page but everything in between being double page layouts. The entire album was created with Breathless which is my Anniversary Collection and I even included the front and back cover layouts... I am really excited about using this format so expect to see more quick page albums designed by myself in the near future."

You can purchase Maya's Breathless quick page album here!

Welcome: Maya!

Welcome to Maya, Owner of Scrapbookgraphics. She has a ton of info to share with us about herself, her business and her artistic style. Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself.

"My name is Janice Dye but for about 15 years now I have been going by the name Maya online, both in business and personal circles. I am Canadian and I live in the Greater Toronto Area with my family.

I am the mother of three boys, the oldest two being adults at 25 and 23 and the youngest being the blessing and miracle of new beginnings at only 6 years of age. I am married to Mick who is a wonderful man, my best friend and as my handy dandy technical guru he also makes for a great business partner.

I have always been a creative person utilizing a wide variety of creative expressions, be it related to visual arts, music, or writing.

I started scrapbooking more than six years ago as a therapeutic process after the very traumatic birth of my youngest son. He was actually born without any vital signs and while they were able to revive him he did have to spend quite a bit of time at Toronto Sick Kid’s Hospital recovering. During that difficult time, I did not allow myself to entertain any fearful thoughts or worries that he would not survive. My coping mechanism was simply to not think or feel anything other than positive thoughts.. However, later when he was well and home with us, I suffered from post-traumatic stress. This was the first time I consciously experienced creativity as a healer. I was able to document the events of his birth in scrapbook pages and this helped me to process the feelings I had previously repressed. Very powerful stuff! I have been hooked ever since.

My layouts have been published in Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, BH&G Scrapbook Etc and my products have been licensed by Nova Development for their scrapbooking software and image collections. I partnered up with Helen Bradley, the author of “Layouts for Digital Scrapbooking” which is a book/cd project that I provided all of the graphics for."

Here is a very special coupon for you to use at scrapbookgraphics. We would love to see what you create with the goodies you buy!

Dianne Rigdon : What an Inspiration!

Dianne Rigdon , graphic artist at Scrapbook Graphics has been an inspiration to us all. We send out a big thank you to her as she shares a few last details of herself and one last awesome freebie! Enjoy!

What is your favorite piece of technology (ie. Your camera, your computer, your scanner?) and why?
“Actually, it’s my pda phone. I saw the most adorable painting while out and about today, and I just snapped a shot of it for later inspiration (for my son’s room décor : ) ). I have Outlook and keep my work and school schedule in it, adding appointments and deadlines and I synchronize my phone so I always know if I am coming or going – so long as I can find my phone! : )”

Please share a favorite digital technique that you love to use.
“Well this is hard – I almost think in Photoshop now, so when I scrap or design, I am not thinking “technique” or “CTRL-Z” but thinking “how do I make it beautiful?”. One technique/tip for designing that comes to mind is erasing. Yes that’s right. Erasing. I like to add texture using brushes and the way I control it and sculpt it is by applying the brush work liberally and then I grab a fancy distressed brush and erase what feels like “too much”. A scrapping technique that I use the most is painting my own shadows. I use a really soft brush, add a layer beneath an element that needs shadows and brush in the shadows and erase what is too much for a much more realistic effect.”

Download madeintheshade kit.zip

Everyday Life Layout: By Dianne Rigdon

Dianne Rigdon , graphic artist at Scrapbook Graphics shares some "everyday inspiration" with us!

Since our Blog is about celebrating “Everyday Life” Please share a layout and a quick paragraph telling us about the Everyday Celebration you documented and what made it so special.
"(See "Day 10" layout below) The daily celebration is for me very layered. On some levels, I am just thrilled to make it through the day without imploding. And so many days just fly by so fast! And that’s what makes me want to stop, put on the breaks, and take a moment to spend a little quiet time with my family, or read a book “just for fun” and make sure that I always seek a spiritual and emotional balance rather than allowing my days to run my life. This layout is from an art journal challenge. It contains the central theme in my life."