USING DIGITALS ON POCKET PAGES

Today I'll be sharing my photos from my weekend trip to the Finnish island of Åland. The island is just a 2 hr boat ride from where we live. When I was little we'd spend a week there every summer, camping and fishing.

I'll also be talking about how I use digitals on my pocket pages. Digitals are my go-to because they are versatile and cost-effective. Pay once, use them forever! In times when we have to be aware of how we treat our environment, digitals are also the better choice because there is no packaging or shipping involved.

On this first page I've used three types of digital products. I used this card set by In A Creative Bubble and these digital stamps from the same line. (All digital stamps in this post are from the same set.) I also used two sets of templates by Paislee Press. You can find them here and here.

If you clicked on the link to the printable En Route card above, you noticed that the originals were black and white. I wanted a bit of color so I layered a light blue rectangle on top of the title before I printed the card. My only gripe when using digital cards is the difficulties I have cutting them straight. My best solution so far is to layer two cards together on a 4x6 canvas and printing them in pairs. That way I only have to make one cut down the middle. When I print out a whole batch on an A4 paper I always manage to cut them crooked!

One reason for using these templates is that they help brighten up the page by adding a bit of white. They're also perfect for quickly adding collages, like the triple one below. If you are digitally challenged templates are the way to go! Just drag your photos to the layer that says "photo", adjust size and position and click merge layers. If there's text, click the text and write what you want. You can either go with the pre-selected font and size or select your own.

On this page I used this set of templates, also by Paislee Press. The template had some additional text below the title that I removed by using the eraser function in PSE. Just click the correct layer and erase! I then used the filler tool (that's the paint bucket) and filled in the stars with yellow.

On our second day on Åland we spent the day in the city of Mariehamn. We had amazing salads at the old bakery, did some shopping at a vintage clothing store and took a walk along the coast line

The "Let's wander" card is from the same In A Creative Bubble set as I linked above. This time I layered a blue circle and a pink rectangle over the title. I merged the layers and then used the filler tool to turn the letters black again. I used an analog date stamp because I like that messy look.

When adding a digital stamp to a photo always add it to a second layer. That way you can change the size and move it around until you're happy with how it looks. 

In the evening we had a barbeque and went down to the lake for a bit before we drank bubbly in the woodheated bathtub. It was so warm outside even though it was only mid-May. So wonderful!

On our last day we trekked around the Castle of Bomarsund. It was built by the Russians in the early 19th century. Not long after, it was conquered by the French and English. They tore it down to keep the Russians from returning. Åland has been demilitarized ever since. One of the six towers were located on a hill with a beautiful view of the ocean.

I remember driving past the ruins with my dad on our way to his favorite fishing spot. I've always been a huge history nerd and I remember being disappointed that we didn't stop to take a closer look. I loved getting to see the ruins now and reading up on their history.

This is the third card I used from the In A Creative Bubble card set. I used the filler tool on the title to change it from black to red. The blue color is added in a second layer, and then I used the eraser tool to remove color in the centre.

I used the Scenic Route Elements Pack from Paislee Press to create the bottom two cards.

It was such a great mini vacation and it felt surreal to sit in the hot sun looking out over the ocean, and think that we'd be back at work the next day. 

/Magdalena