As a mostly digital scrapbooker, I am often asked about printing options for my layouts and digital supplies. People want to know how I print my layouts, and how to print digital supplies for use in hybrid projects. One of the most common questions I get is “which paper should I use?”

For layouts, the answer is easy – high-quality photo paper works best for printing. Photographs are usually the highlight of any layout, and photographs always look best on photo paper. My personal favorite is a matte or luster finish but I know plenty of other digital scrapbookers who prefer glossy paper. As long as it’s photo paper, any of the finishes are just fine.

But when you’re working on hybrid projects that use a combination of photographs, paper supplies, and digital supplies, you have a lot more options. I print all of my photographs on photo paper but I mix it up a lot more when I print digital supplies. Let me show you why other options work just as well for digital supplies.

Here I started with the journaling cards from Katie Pertiet’s Labeled Journalers No. 4 from DesignerDigitals.com.

I chose one of the cards from Katie’s kit and printed it off on three different types of paper.

In the photo above, the left card is printed on Bazzill Basics’ White Orange Peel Cardstock, the middle card is printed on Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster, and the card on the right is printed on HP C6817A Professional Brochure & Flyer Paper. For 8.5″ x 11″ sheets, the Bazzill cardstock retails for $6.30/50 sheets, the Epson photo paper is $27.51/50 sheets, and the HP brochure paper is $10.79/50 sheets.

The cards don’t look that different even though the papers are very different in texture, weight, and finish. The most noticeable difference is the gloss on the right card. The glossy finish is quite shiny and when you look at it straight on, it makes the card look a bit whiter and brighter. But it also makes the blues and the reds a tiny bit more washed out. If you look at the other two, the blues and reds appear a tad more saturated, with the cardstock just a bit lighter than the other two.

Here are the three cards from another angle.

(l-r: Cardstock, photo paper, brochure paper)

From this angle, the colors on the card printed on glossy brochure paper look more saturated and the sheen from the glare of looking at the card straight-on isn’t as noticeable. The card printed on cardstock still looks a little bit lighter than the other two. But they all still look great – no smearing, no smudging – and the colors look very true, albeit a tiny bit different from each other. You can also see the thickness of the paper from this angle. The cardstock is the thickest of the three; the brochure paper is thinnest.

Now, let’s look at them all individually.

The cardstock card looks great – the texture is visible, the colors are true, and there is no glare problem.

The luster card looks just as good as the cardstock card, although the colors are definitely a bit more saturated.

The brochure paper card again has the problem with glare, but is otherwise very similar to the other two cards.

So what paper’s the best choice for printing off digital supplies? The answer is that any of these options works well. It all comes down to personal preference, which may include such considerations as price (the photo paper is almost three times as expensive as the other two), a preference for a matte finish, durability, and texture. In this case, I would probably choose the cardstock option even though the colors are less saturated because it’s easier to write on cardstock than the other two surfaces.

But if I was printing off a different card – one that I wasn’t planning to write on – I might choose one of the other options because I really like the color saturation on those two.

For example, here’s another digital card I printed off on all three papers:

(l-r: Cardstock, photo paper, brochure paper)

This card I made myself by layering some of the word art from Cathy Zielske’s Phrase Cards No. 01 over a piece of Katie Pertiet’s digital patterned paper in her Blendable Photo Cards No. 03 kit. The color and saturation differences show up much more clearly on this card. The card printed on brochure paper is definitely darker than the other two. But again, all three cards look great and because I’m not using photographs and looking for accurate skin tones, this small amount of color variation is just fine. And the brochure paper is much less expensive than the photo paper so that’s a big incentive for me to use it, too.

So the easy answer to the question of which paper is best to print digital supplies is that there is no right or wrong paper. You have a lot of options and they will all work well for most projects. Be brave, experiment with different papers to see what you like for different applications, and have fun adding digital supplies to your paper projects!

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Last year I discovered a shop called Elle’s Studio. They specialize in unique journaling papers, but also have digital files, stamps, mini papers, tags, and other sweet paper goods available. I have had excellent experience with the quality of their products and customer service, so when Elle asked me if I’d like to review their latest release here on Scrapbook Update, I accepted happily.

I always look forward to what they’ll release next, and this was no disappointment. This new release is focused heavily on love and Valentine’s, but what I really love is that so many of the products will translate to other subjects and multiple craft projects as well. They pulled in a lot of turquoise (2010′s hot color) to go along with the pinks and red, and I really like how playful and fun the line is.

Elle’s Studio releases product about four times a year, and have been in business since 2007 when Elle started the company. When asked about her company’s beginnings she said:

I couldn’t find special journaling papers for my layouts, so I started making my own. After making some for family and friends they started encouraging me to start selling them online. Over this last year we have expanded our lines to be complete lines with mini papers, die cuts, stamps and more!

I started out by making a fun wrapper for a chocolate bar. I wrapped a sheet of cut outs around the bar, then secured with a tulle bow and valentine tag. A quick way to make a little gift extra special.

Another fun item are these coupons, and can see so many uses for these from handwritten gift certificates to card insert to making a bouquet or arrangement full of them to give.

I taped a number of tags and things onto thin wood skewers and arranged them in a little cup. This idea would be wonderful to add into a fresh or silk flower arrangement as well. I can’t wait to fill out all the details and surprise a loved one.

Something I appreciate with the products is that they have some signature pieces like these flash cards that they release in new themes with each release. I also like how well their stamps and digital products coordinate and work with their paper products.

Beyond Valentines, this line will be quite useful in my everyday scrapbooking as well. I paired up some of the die cuts and papers with a border stamp in this layout.

I cut out a paper heart and placed it in the center of the page as a mask and spritzed glimmer mist before removing the heart. I also stamped one of the border stamps around the edge of my heart in addition to glittering the inner edge.

page supplies: Elle’s Studio paper, flashcard, journaling paper, and stamp; Core’dinations cardstock, Basic Grey bling, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Martha Stewart Glitter and Butterfly Punch, Jenni Bowlin felt butterfly, K&Co brad

I hope you’ve enjoyed my look at this new release from Elle’s Studio. Something I really appreciate about this company is that they not only release cute products and have great service, but they are also active online. I follow their blog where you’ll find occasional free downloads and ideas galore. In addition to their main website, you can find Elle’s Studio on facebook, twitter, and etsy.

Want to try Elle’s Studio yourself? I have four cute items (pictured above) from this new release to give away right here!

To enter, just leave a comment on this entry before Midnight U.S. eastern time next Sunday night, February 14th. (Note: If you are reading this post via an email or RSS subscription, click on the title at the top of the post and it will take you to the giveaway post on the  Scrapbook Update website where you can fill out the comment form to enter.) Make sure you include your email address in the line reserved for it on the comment form (for your own protection, don’t put it in the body of the comment, where it will be visible to the public – just in the line labeled “email” in the form where only Scrapbook Update staff can see it). You will need it to verify your identity if you are a winner. One entry per person.

Good luck and Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Before you worry about Photoshop and your lack of digital know-how, let me tell you my favorite trick: I open up Microsoft Word, insert the images I want to use, resize them as needed, and click print. In under five minutes, you can be on your way to paper bliss.

For the projects shown here, I used the lace border set, word art kit, and the backgrounds kit by Rhonna Farrer at House of 3. I really like all of her 2010 Valentine releases, but these products were the ones I knew I could use over and over for sure. After selecting these products to work with, I decided I wanted to pick one other main element to work with: doilies. They have long been a favorite of mine, and lately they seem to be coming back into fashion. So I dug into my stash and pulled out a package.

I printed a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 patterned paper (parts of which can be seen peeking out from my folded doily) in addition to printing out the valentine sentiment on a sheet of vellum. I also inked my folded doily (with worn lipstick distress ink) to add some color and detail before I stitched on the vellum sentiment on the bottom and two sides. Doing this created a pocket and secured the vellum. Now I can tuck love notes inside and give it away!

I liked my folded doily pocket idea so much that I made a second one. This time, I used it as a gift card holder and I added some accents as well. A major selling point for digital products like this word art kit is that I can use it for cards or other items I need to make multiples of with ease.

If you find an idea that works well, why not stick with it? I decided to try and convert my basic idea to a traditional card format:

I used a piece of patterned paper (digital – printed onto white cardstock) as well as some rhinestone brads and pink tulle for this simple card, and I’m happy with the results. None of these projects would take more than 15 minutes to recreate, and they are really budget friendly as well.

Of course my true test of digital products like these that are so strongly themed is “can I use it for other stuff too?” and the answer here is a huge yes! To show you what I mean, I’ve created this layout (doily and all!) to illustrate my point:

I re-colored the patterned paper (pink one) and then layered on some brushes and one of the fabulous word art titles as well and printed onto cardstock. I trimmed off the excess paper (to a finished size of about 8×8) and placed it on a sheet of die cut patterned paper from The Girls’ Paperie. From there it was fun and easy – just adding some stitching, a few fun accents, my doily, bits of patterned paper left over from my digital printouts, and before I knew it I had a layout all finished.

For your boyfriend or mom, favorite aunt or dear friend, any project you put a few minutes of hand crafted love into is sure to be well received. If you make the most of your paper stash and combine a bit of digital goodness you can have unique cards, layouts, home decor, and so much more in less time than it would take to watch your favorite TV show.

Before I head off to make some more love inspired creations I have some more digital product suggestions to check out this Valentine’s Day:

Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals has been prolific in her offerings this year. A favorite pick of mine is these lovely photo masks.

Melissa Esplin has a font called Classy Cupid that I’ve fallen in love with.

Betsy Tuma has a free kit available at Two Peas that’s perfect for so many love filled projects.

Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals has these love embellishments that would be fantastic for so many projects and layouts.

I hope you too embrace this opportunity to spread happiness and love to all those that mean the most to you. If you’re interested in learning more about working digital scrapbook products into your traditional scrapbook pages, I invite you to check out my on-line six week workshop that starts in just two weeks at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

Until next time – happy {hybrid} crafting!

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Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) has secured an earmark of $5 million in Defense Department funds to be used to create digital scrapbooks for military units.

Remember My Service, a program currently being rolled out by the U.S. Army and the Salt Lake-based company Storyrock, compiles photographs and records to tell the stories of individual National Guard units.

Bennett and supporters of the program say that the digital scrapbooks are a morale-booster. Some even go so far as to say that the DVDs will even encourage troops to re-enlist.

The program is not without critics, however. Though the $5 million being used to pay for the program is a very small percentage of the overall Defense Department budget, many have pointed out that it is money that could be used for troop training or supplies.

Storyrock, the company chosen to provide the service, was started in Utah in 1998 as a digital yearbook company. The company has since added digital scrapbooking, as well as the military scrapbooks. Storyrock company officials have been reluctant to call the “Remember My Service” products “scrapbooks”, preferring instead to call them “historical records”.

What’s so dangerous about that, you ask? I will explain.

My husband works in the field of computer graphics and so up until now I have relied on his assistance to do my scanning and occasional critical photo editing and other digital work. I didn’t learn how to do it because it was faster and easier for both of us to just have him do the tasks, and with his professional skills he could get better results than I could probably ever reasonably hope to achieve. But recently my work output has increased to the point that my needs have outstripped his availability to assist me, so the time had come to throw me out of the nest and force me to try my own digital wings. Conveniently adult education was advertising the upcoming workshop and so I signed up and off I went to venture into the land of Photoshop.

I came home with a hundred questions for my poor husband about how to do things and anxious to put my new skills to use learning how to scan. In the meantime, I immediately sat down and tried some photo editing. After peppering my husband with a half-dozen questions, I produced my first photo edit – for a tag for Donna Downey’s blog book project – and was thrilled with the results! I admired my handiwork and basked in the knowledge that I was managing Photoshop!

That thrill started me thinking…most of my pictures are film and getting them scanned to disk reduces the resolution over what they would be if they were taken originally in digital. So of course I need a better digital camera than my current 2.0mp model so that I can have better originals to work with for editing (ignoring the fact that I have long espoused my preference for film).

And then I started thinking….wouldn’t it be so much faster to scrap some pages digitally? And I wouldn’t have to worry about wasting anything making mistakes, or making trips back and forth to the photolab, or guessing what print sizes I need, and it would be so much cheaper. So of course I need to buy some of those great kits of digital elements that I see all my friends using for their digital scrapbook pages.

And then I started thinking…now that I have photoshop to do the effects in, I should really start doing colored text on my pages. It would make them look so much more put together. So of course I will need to buy some more ink cartridges since I’ll be using them so much faster.

See what I mean? I am armed with Photoshop….and it’s dangerous to my budget!