Scrappin' without Scraps

Re-organizing with Typepad Pages

If you are a Typepad user, have you heard about Typepad Pages? When I first heard about these I must admit I just didn't quite 'get it'.  The examples they used didn't seem to relate to me.  Maybe my Yankee we-can-just-make-do upbringing has something to do with it....Then, one day, about two weeks ago I finally figured out how I could use them.   And I found that Typepad Pages are incredibly useful and easy.

One of the things about maintaining a blog that primarily provides information or serves as a reference is that you end up adding or correcting a lot.  For instance, I often add tutorials and I want everyone to be able to find them.  If I just listed them in a post, they would get lost after a few days, buried in the Archives - I've had this blog since Nov of 2005 and there are roughly 750 posts!  So my solution until yesterday was to first write the tutorial as a post, then take the link for that tutorial and add it to a post called Tutorials which was a list of links to all the tutorial posts. [ Have I lost you yet? ]  Then that was listed in a TypeList called Table of Contents which made it easy for readers to find them.  Each time I posted a tutorial, I had to find that one Tutorials post and add a link which meant filtering my posts and then finding How to Do Stuff post or doing a search - both of which took a fair amount of time. Not certainly the worst thing in the world but just kind of a pain. The same thing with updating the A to Z Lists for Designers, Digiscrapping Sites and Fonts.  So of course, since it was so tedious, I wasn't very good about updating them.  :-P

My eureka moment came when I started the Recipe Rounds - why not put it on it's own Typepad Page?   I thought I'd try it as an experiment.  And to give credit where credit is due - Angie Pedersen's post about Typepad Pages encouraged it.   Wow -that was a good idea!  Recipe Rounds gets it's very own page which makes it really really easy to edit and add stuff (like all the cooking kit resources I've added this week).  Rather than hunting around the list of posts, I can simply open the list of pages and select the one I want. No searching around. Brilliant!

So last night I moved all the posts for tutorials and other resources that were in my old TypeList - my old table of contents - so that each has its own Page.   And I then changed the name of the Pages section to Table of Contents (if you dont change it, Typepad calls it Pages).  Lastly I got rid of the TypeList  and moved the new Table of Contents into that spot.  Simple!  And the very best part?  All I had to do to move the posts to pages was to copy and paste!!  I mean, what could be simpler?  Those long lists of all the designers and their links could simply be copied and pasted into the new Page. I think it took all of ten minutes!

Functionally it is the same and I don't think a casual blog reader would really notice...but for me, this has made editing things like the ever changing list of designers much much easier.  It gives me a stable page to plunk my resources and saves me a lot of time.  Thank you Typepad!  Want the full scoop on how to add Pages?

If you were a designer how would you use Typepad Pages?  Right now designers post their promos in a post so why not have a page called Promotions?  It would be easy to edit, easy for us blog readers to find and wouldn't get lost in all the other posts.  Or a page for Challenges or Contests??? 

Oh and I've started to update the A to Z Designer List and the A to Z Digiscrapping Websites list too and even thought it is much easier, it's going to take awhile....and if you notice I'm missing someone [ like maybe you or your favorite designer] please let me know at seswhite@gmail.com   Thanks!!

Get Published!

Have you ever wanted to get your layouts published in a magazine?  Here's a golden opportunity, especially for those of you that use FxFoto!

Digital Scrapbooking Magazine is looking for layouts done with various software for its next issue.  The due date is April 16th so you have to act fast!

Here are the details, copied from the Simple Scrapbooks website:

" Digital scrapbookers have a huge variety of programs to choose from for crating layouts and projects.  We'd like to see what you're doing with eh software tools you have available.  Submit you layout along with the following information:

• how long you've been scrapbooking digitally
• the name of the program you use, and how long you've been working with it
• your favorite feature of this program
• step-by-step instructions for achieving any special effect or technique featured in your layout.

Submissions are due no later than Monday April 16.  "

You can find all the details in the Digital Scrapbooking Magazine - Software Roundup Call   We're not specifically on the list but fall under the "Any other widely available software you are using for digital scrapbooking" category!  Let's show them what FxFoto and you can do!!

So a few tips for getting published that I picked up from April Anderton who is the founder of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine.  She gave a talk on getting published at the first Digital Scrapbooking Convention in Pennsylvania and I still have the notes!!  (Can you say pack rat?)  I'm no expert since I've only been published once but let me pass these on to you.

1. Engaging photos - you want the photos to be interesting and pique our interest enough to stop and take a closer look.  Having a subject who makes eye contact with the reader is good and usually one big photo is better than many photos on one page. She showed us two photos of a lighthouse - one with light beam showing and one without - to show that sometimes it is the small things in a photo that can make a big difference.
2. Remember that your layout will be smaller on the magazine page than in real life.  So think about how it will look at 4x4 inches or less.  In particular patterned papers may be a problem.  Sometimes small patterns disappear at a small size and sometimes large bold patterns take over the layout.  You can easily print your FxFoto LO at various sizes and see what it looks like.
3. Unless it is an article about journaling, make yours 2-3 sentences only.  It won't be readable otherwise.
4. Most magazines like titles (even if you don't). It draws the reader in to look at the LO.
5. Color - think about when the article will appear and use colors for that season.  April pointed out that although you may have the perfect LO about family for the July issue, she wouldn't take it if it was in Christmas colors.  But if you redid it in summer colors then it might make it.  Of course, if it were a Christmas in July article then it would be fine.
6. A second point on color - sometimes it pays to be just a wee bit different.  The example she used here was winter LOs - they all seem to be white and blue and if you did one with a slightly unusual color, say pink, she might take that just to liven up the color scheme.
7. Don't just use one kit - mix and match.
8. Feature a special technique, but not lots of them.  Having something cool the magazine can point out gives them a reason to include your LO. But there isn't usually space for a huge dissertation on everything you did so keep it simple.
9. Don't forget to include everything they need.  Read and reread the submission call to make sure you are sending it the right size.  For this call it has to be under 100K so use the medium size in FxFoto when you are uploading (and if you need help email me at susan.white@triscape.com) Make sure you have your name, phone number, email address, address and list of credits.  They have deadlines and are way too busy to go searching around for your information. So if you don't have it right there, you will just get passed over. And if your file is too big, it may never even get there ( it gets automatically deleted to prevent server crashes).  They will contact you if they need a bigger file later. So check and double check before hitting send.
10. Send the right file type - be sure you send it as the file type they want.  In this case, they want a JPEG so be sure you don't send a collage file.  Click on Save and then choose Save Image As and it will save as a JPEG.

I hope these help you!  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions - I'm happy to help - seswhite@gmail.com    And please please let me know if your LO gets picked!!  Wouldn't that be cool?

National Scrapbooking Association Blog

Our press release on FxFoto v 5.0 was featured on the National Scrapbooking Association blog yesterday!  Woo hoo! 

Actually I met some of the folks from National Scrapbooking Association at CHA - really nice folks.  I thought of it as an association for vendors but it turns out I was wrong.  You can join as an individual person and there seems to be lots on things on their website - news, calls, contests, members reviews and forums.  It's worth checking out!

Off to record my Power Point demo for our booth at Scrap-A-Faire...I keep goofing it up! And I can't believe it's Thursday already!

Angie Pedersen's Blog & FxFoto

Take a look at this post on Angie Pedersen's The Blog of Me ..... she made a digital photo collage for her Dad's birthday using FxFoto!  How awesome is that?  I was really blown away - first that she would make this, second that she made such a gorgeous LO and thirdly, that she posted it on her blog!  I am really touched and this has totally made my day!  I'm walking around here grinning ear to ear like an idiot and I just might stay that way for the whole long weekend.

I'm also playing hooky a bit to chat on DigiScrapDivas which is having a Re-Opening today.  They've added lots of amazing new designers so it is worth a trip over there...

Article in the Union Leader

Big news today is that we are in an article about digital scrapbooking in the Sunday Manchester Union Leader.  Okay, so it's not the NY Times but it is still exciting to see your name in print! 

The article focuses on two sisters who in live in NH and both scrapbook - one digitally and the other traditionally.  Lovely photos of both of them at work.  I met Correen Silke at the Digital Convention - it's funny how you have to travel that far to meet someone from the next town over!  More than just a digiscrapper, Correen is also a wonderful designer and an administrator for RAKScraps.  Her website is Silkescraps

The article also has quotes Camille Wentworth the owner of Scrapbook Island in Derry saying that they often have 18 scrappers at their weekly crops but no one has ever brought a laptop.  Hmmm...might have to change that....I'm not sure I am brave enough to walk in there alone so maybe Correen would come with me...somehow I feel like a challenge has been issued! LOL!