According to the emailed announcement, members will be compensated for their memberships in the shutdown:

…we will be offering a FULL REFUND for all yearly Club Members (no matter when you signed up) and for all monthly Club Members activated within the last 60 days. This refund will be issued automatically via PayPal. Your funds will be returned to the credit card you used when signing up.

To preserve the content that they’ve created on ScrapHD, members are being advised to take immediate advantage of the service’s “Print from Home” option:

The print from home feature will prompt the system to email you the high resolution .JPG version of your completed scrapbook. This file can then be saved to your computer and used however you would like. For instance, you can save the file to a USB device and use an outside printing source if you do not have a printer at home.

A video is available to teach members how to use the Print from Home feature if it is new to them.

ScrapHD was founded as a membership service in the summer of 2009 to provide a bridge between digital and paper scrapbooking industries by facilitating hybrid scrapbooking. Paper manufacturers offered some of their collections on the proprietary platform in digital form, in the hope that scrapbookers would then seek out their paper products to add to their layouts to create hybrid content. Manufacturers who initially signed on to the project included 7gypsies, American Crafts, Art Gone Wild!, Imaginisce, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Karen Foster Design, Mrs. Grossman’s, My Mind’s Eye, Piggy Tales, SEI, Teresa Collins Designs, and Three Bugs in a Rug.

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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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May Flaum has been published in numerous magazines and is the co-author of Paper + Pixels: Scrapbook Layouts. She is a Big Picture Scrapbooking instructor, outgoing education coordinator for the Fiskars Crafts website, and a design team member for Scarlet Lime kits. Over the years she has taught classes around the United States as well as managed a scrapbook store, been on design teams, and done freelance work with various companies. You can find her blogging most days on her website.

I have never even considered getting any kind of die cutting system for myself, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.

That’s a bold statement, I know. In fact sometimes when people find out I don’t have anything – no Cricut, no Slice, or anything else – their eyes go wide. It’s as if creating without such a device is inconceivable. Oh, they’ve tried to convert me and it just has not worked. I’m not interested.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that nobody should have them. I know teachers (craft and school), card makers, and other crafters who truly get their money’s worth out of every design and font. However, I see too many scrapbookers feeling pressured to invest in a system, to upgrade to the newest stuff, and thinking that they truly need some expensive system. I believe you can have just as much fun never having any kind of die cutting system, and today I’ll explain why I’m happily abstaining.

We could discuss the pros of owning such a system – and believe me I realize that there are good reasons to own one. Instead today I’d like to give you five reasons I am very happy living without.

1. Let’s get the money subject out of the way. If I wanted to get a healthy set of images and fonts as well as a machine of any kind $300 – 500 would be my average investment to get started. I priced out a couple of different options and no matter how you cut it, it’s quite an investment – and from what I can imagine one that continues to eat up budget as new goodies come out. When I picture the $500 worth of letter stickers, rub-ons, and other items I’d imagine replacing by using a die cut machine. I’d rather have the product.

I know for some the argument that the font will pay for itself and that you won’t run out of letters is very valid, but I don’t see buying $50-$100 worth of the same alphabet sticker font ever- so that doesn’t ring true to me.

2. I like the challenge of making the sizes and colors of what I have on hand work. Oh sure, it’d be cool to be able to have a 3″ high lilac cardstock butterfly or the perfect color and size of aqua letter stickers on command,  but using my punches, hand cutting something or making an existing sticker work is fine by me.

3. Creating by hand is so satisfying. It is a huge reason I won’t go completely digital – I like creating with my hands and not just clicking buttons. I have always hand-cut titles and embellishments – first it was because nothing existed, then because it was economical, and now because I enjoy it!

4. I’m not willing to give up space in my craft area. You might laugh- but I’m very serious. I have a hard enough time allowing paper punches to hang out, but the idea of some piece of machinery and accessories coming into the mix makes me twitch. Call me silly – but I would rather have ribbons and glitter and pretty things surrounding me. The computer and printer is bad enough.

5. Digital supplies rock! I can find, alter, and print just about anything I want thanks to amazing digital scrapbook designers. So when my paper stash fails to yield what I need, I can simply create a hybrid page that gets the job done to my satisfaction. Whether I buy a kit or just print with a font I’ve already got – I’m covered.

Now that I’ve told you why I choose to create without die cut assistance, I’d like to show you two layout examples.

Supply List: American Crafts Letterbox line rub-ons, American Crafts Welcoming Card Ribbon, American Crafts Warm Wishes Letterbox Paper, American Crafts Pastel Cardstock, Making Memories Brad, Jenni Bowlin Studios scalloped card, Maya Road Pink Pearl Flower Trinket Pins

First I have this “Carousel Bliss” layout to share. The Letterbox line from American Crafts is a current favorite, and at $2.99 the American Crafts Parcel Letterbox Accent rub-ons that go with this are too good to resist. I have seen die cut options for flowers and butterflies before – yet I find myself happy to use designs that coordinate with a line of product.

My title was created by printing on cardstock and cutting out the letters (French Script font). I keep a ruler in my scrap space so that I can approximate how high I want titles to be (printed off the computer) and that’s how I knew how big to make this title. I find cutting titles out relaxing – and often when I’m on the phone that’s what I’m doing instead of doodling or folding laundry. It’s multi-tasking at it’s finest!

Supply List: Punky Monkey Digital Kit by Brandy Buffington, assorted buttons, thread, Tsukineko Brilliance Ink (Orchid), Basic Grey Nook & Pantry Stitched Brad, Mickey font, Offray ribbon, unknown cardstock.

Next up, it’s Manny! For this I used a blockier font to show that if the thought of cutting cursive makes you woozy, you can just use letters that are more straight & easy. I think it took all of 5 minutes to cut this title out.

To make this page I printed out the papers (from Punky Monkey Digital Kit by Brandy Buffington) the sizes I wanted and added in the title over the orange strip. No Photoshop needed here – I used Microsoft Word and created a word art for the title! I then copied that word art and moved the second copy (without re-sizing it!) to the top of the page where I removed the black fill. Then I printed and cut out the title, as well as cutting out the 8×8 square of patterned paper with a deckle blade.

I cut almost everything with my trusty Fiskars Micro-Tip Scissors. They are spring-loaded and so they’re good to your hands. I’ve yet to find another pair of scissors that even comes close to being as good as these are.

I put the white copy of the title that I’d cut out over the black shadowed copy using foam adhesive. I then inked with pink to add a hit of color and completed my page.

Of course the possibilities are limited only by your own imagination. Hand-drawn titles, paper piecing, and so much more can be done with a few snips of your scissors. I hope you enjoy some creative time over this winter break and have fun with whatever you do!

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