Lynda's Den

I have paper scrapbooked for 12 years now...I have always loved the look of digital pages, but had never done them until recently.  Now, I am hooked...I love how you can take a photo on your camera phone, and then add it to a layout that night...  It doesn't matter what type of software you use, just find something that YOU are comfortable with.  If you go to my web site or the product review section, you can find a software program that I love to use!   You can take the layouts you have created and make a book out of them...spending aproximately $20 on the "book" itself.  I have seen darling albums made up...recipe albums, yearly albums, and grandparent albums to name a few!  If you have photos...it can be made into an album!  Here are a few layouts I have made with the digital software I mentioned above...  As you can see, you can do a lot with digital scrapbooking...I hope you enjoy these layouts as well!  Lynda Jeffs Memor...

I like to recycle things , especially things that I like a lot, or that are useful.  I don't save everything...and I'm certainly not a hoarder...but I will reuse things!  One thing that I reused was a planner that I had bought one year from Franklin Covey...it ended up in an 8 x 8 album...with each section being something about the topic and the saying for each section.   I then found pictures that didn't go with anything special, but I wanted to showcase it anyway...scrapbooking isn't just about the photos and journalling precise ways, it is about using your photos and journaling creatively to spark something unique.  The album I chose was a simple 8 x 8 album, with Chatterbox papers.  If you have a kit already, then no need to purchase anything special or extra, use the kit you already have!   When picking out the papers to use, I chose papers that complimented each other and yet still looked good individually.  I also chose to use each s...

Christmas is 5 months from today...it doesn't seem possible!  This is why the big thing about Christmas this month...  Not only do you have Christmas around the corner, you also have other events each month...August and September start to be really busy around our family...with October and December a close one after that!  So, I need a way to start planning out the events in my life that I need to pay attention to!  Some events are just not as important as others, and my time is precious right now...as everyones is!  It seems you have to spend more time on the roads, more time working, more time doing this, more time doing that...Where do you have time to "create"?  That is where I come in, I force you to "make" time to do it!  Each month on the 25th, you will get a reminder blog post reminding you to not only look at Christmas...but also to look at the next months events as well.  This way, you will be able to create EVERYTHING you need...just ...

Christmas time should be a happy time for everyone, not a time for stressing out...yet year after year, I end up not doing anything...in fact the past few years for me Christmas has just been another "day".  This past Christmas was the first time we were able to actually get presents for each of us here at the house...and send to the other kids too!  This year, I am starting early...no more of this waiting until the last minute to do things!  Your challenge this week is to make sure you are looking at that day, make a list...and start to look at parties and things as well.  Do you need to plan out a party, or just a create a special dish for one?  Do you have parties that EVERY year you can depend on going to, a family event, or a friends Christmas party?  Make sure you write that down too!  This will be the first year I actually have a party for my friends that live close to me!  I am excited to plan dinner out, and plan a night where everyon...

Christmas is less than 6 months away...not a lot of time if you really look at it.  As you are planning out things, or wanting to make stuff...look at things in a different manor if you can't find "Christmas" paper.  I love to use paper piecing patterns and create my own style of items, even if I don't have a certain "style" of paper.  If I have stamps, I might create paper to match what I want to do...or I will use paper piecing patterns to create what it is I want.  When you are on a budget, the first thing to go is scrapbooking, or other type of hobbies.  Keep in mind...this craft can also be done cheaply, I've been able to scrapbook for over 7 years now on what I have at home and available to me.  I purchase things that are good buy's...like a pack of paper from Die Cuts With a View versus individual sheets of paper.  This way I can take that entire pack of paper and do many things with it.  I still have a Christmas pack I bought a number of...

Tags are another fun thing you can make to include on your gifts, or add to the "can" that you have made in matching colors and embellishments.  Tags are not hard to create with a basic template, or check around for premade tags that you can add paper and embellishments to in order to create your own "look".   Start to look at the gifts you need to buy, instead of buying the little "from/to" tags!  Create them out of leftover wrapping paper for either the background or the embellishment.  Cut out a shape from the paper and matt it on cardstock to create a one of a kind look, made especially for THAT person!  Tags are fun to make, look at the scraps you have, this is what I made mine out of...using up little pieces and leftovers, in the colors that are prominent for Christmas time.  I also found blues and greens, which I totally loved using!   This is just a quick and easy project you can make, creating 6 or so at a time when you hav...

Now that you have a handle on the "gift" part of things, researching what you want to make for everyone, today.....is all about the containers that you put them in!   I am all about recycling, taking my coffee cans and altering them with paper and embellishments to create a one of a kind item for each gift recipient.  This type of thing can also be done with any type of holiday, or birthday...adding your present in it with tissue paper and a card to finish up the look!  The recipient can keep it, bringing it out on other birthdays as a decoration!   This example is a Halloween set of cans I made...but you get the basic idea!  Directions:  Step one:  Take any size of can such as a coffee can, or other type of can that is easy to clean out.  Make sure it is clean and dry.  Step two:  Take 2 sheets of of paper to cover the outside of the can, overlapping the paper to cover the entire can.  Tuck in the edges in the can...

Christmas is going to be here before you know it, so today I want you to look at what it is you really want the holidays to "look and feel" like!  Start to plan things out for your parties, or other events.  You might not have dates down yet for parties you are attending, but if you are doing your own family or friend event, start to look at dates that you can do that perfect party!   If you always attend a work party, or family party that has a date set in stone, put those dates down on your calendar!  Memories are priceless...you can't take away the memories you have with your family and friends.  Make an album of past events, and give them to your friends and family for Christmas.  I have a review on free software and kits that you can download from Daisy Trails, check out my product reviews for that link!  You can then take the layouts you have made and get a book made up, for anywhere between $15-25.00 each book, depending on where you go....

 With Christmas gifts, you do not need to spend a lot of money on gifts for each and every person.  One gift I was able to see was a digital scrapbook album made into a book, in which everyone who was included in the book received a copy of it as a present.  I am sure she spent a lot of time and money on this present, but...I feel it would be a one of a kind album, made with a lot of love ! If you are on a budget, make sure you check out my product reviews or the web site for the San Serif Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 software or their free software and kits you can download from their site.  I have a few great layouts made with their software, and have fallen in love with their software!   For people you don't see a lot, friends or family members alike...cards made and put into packs of cards make a great gift!  If you happen to have a lot of people you make birthday cards for, or the recipient sends cards out to everyone...make...

With talk about a second recession, this years Christmas should be planned early on, to allow for enough time to make the things you want to do.  Every year I plan and make a ton of things for my family, but...by the end of it all, nothing gets mailed out, instead I have a ton of things I have made, but nothing being done about it.  This year is going to be different...I have started to make my plans, and looked at who I want to make things for, and who will get a simple card and gift card instead.  The people I make things for are people who enjoy what I do, and want something I have made.  Challenge #1:  Look at your Christmas card list and start to get ideas as to what you can do for cards.  Find sketches or cards online that you like and want to recreate.  Challenge #2:  Find a pack of paper that you can use for multiple projects, such as the packs you can get from DCWV. Look at each individual person that is on your list, look at...

As you start to look at your list, you will want to look at what you want to purchase, and what you want to make for people.  That list can be varied, from a set of cards for your Aunt, or a framed page for your Grandma.   Start to create your list, even if you don't have idea's for them yet.  For those people you have solid idea's, focus on those first.  Start to look at what you have at home already, do you want to make a mini album in pink and brown for your sister, look at what you have and put that aside.  I like to put the kits together in a Ziploc bag or page protector, for use later on.   This way, I can start to get ideas!  Money is certainly tight, instead of spending a ton of money on presents for everyone, look at what you could make for them instead. For some of my recipients, they are getting a framed page that you will see, that you can tweak in all different ways. It has a Christmas theme, but you could tweak it to match a...

This month is all about Christmas in July, where we will have challenges and ideas all month long!  It will be all about planning....and starting to make things for your friends and family for that wonderful event that happens every year!   If you are like me, the intentions are there...but I never get around to actually finishing up the projects I want to make.   This month, will be all about getting that process started, and each month after that a reminder blog about getting your stuff done!  Everyone is in the same boat this year, we are all watching our money...the recession has hit everyone really hard.  However, I have been in this "current economy" since my husband was taken out of work 7 years ago, so you are all just in my shoes now!  I learned a few things along the way, and am so excited to teach you what I learned...especially about creating beautiful...one of a kind gifts!  Today I am starting with a few chall...