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A One-Stop, All-Inclusive Guide
Secrets of the Designers offers many things that you won’t
find elsewhere, at least packaged all in one, easy to access place.
It solves common problems scrapbookers run into when beginning digital
scrapbooking. It also teaches the right questions to ask and shows you
how to discover the answers for yourself, allowing you to accomplish
exactly what you can envision.
The following are features that distinguish Secrets of the Designers
from any other product or resource out there:
1) Professional Design Secrets. I hold nothing back on sharing
with you my graphic design secrets. I developed these by earning a degree
in graphic design and spending over 10 years in this industry. You will
see my thinking behind layout and design choices, discover how I use
the computer to obtain incredible results, and understand more fully
the techniques you can use to incorporate good design into your scrapbooking.
2) Clear Instructions. Secrets of the Designers is packed
full of easy-to-follow instructions that teach you how to achieve the
results you want. I spent over a year researching what digital scrappers
want, and I also have devoted a lot of time and energy into usability
testing this material to ensure it works and is easy to follow. Through
talking to people and reading forums, I quickly saw there are three
common frustrations many have when reading other how-to books and instructions
on digital scrapbooking: 1) missing steps in tutorials, 2) incorrect
assumptions about the reader’s ability level, 3) and ambiguous
instructions. I've tried to avoid these deficiencies in Secrets of
the Designers.
3) Home
of the 15-Minute Layout. I don’t always spend 15 minutes on
a layout, nor do I always want to. But when time is limited or I’m
in the mood, creating a layout in about 15
minutes gives me a great sense of
accomplishment and satisfaction. Completing a layout this
quickly helps free up time for both my family and my other hobbies.
You too can access these tricks to drastically speed up the time you
spend on your layouts.
4) How-to and Idea Book Together. Many scrapbooking resources are
either just a how-to or just an idea book. While these have their value,
Secrets is unique in that you get the best of both worlds: two
galleries, examples and instructions throughout. The galleries showcase
what a scrapper can do with graphic design training…and it’s
just the start; there is no limit to what you can create once you learn
the techniques I share with you! The rest of the ebook is devoted to
teaching you how to apply the training and techniques to get fantastic
results in fashioning your own unique paper, professional layouts, cool
embellishments, and meaningful journaling.
5) Making Money with Your Designs. Would you like to make extra
money while staying at home? Having worked as a freelance graphic artist,
and typically charging $45+ an hour for my work, I share my unique background
and experiences with you to help you learn how to make money with your
designs. I can tell you from experience, I love working from home and
having my job work around my family life instead of the other way around.
(In fact, I’m in my pajamas while writing this :). I also love
the flexibility to do more when I have more available time, and pull
back and do less during the more hectic times. A traditional job with
a traditional boss would probably not allow for this.
6) Complete Set of Tools to Apply These Secrets. When you purchase
Secrets of the Designers, you will get all of the resources you
need to get started in digital scrapbooking. For instance, in addition
to the e-book you also will get two bonus packs easily worth $80 that
include: 1) a graphics
package valued at $65 and 2) an Adobe Photoshop overview valued
at $15.
Once you have these bonus materials and you grasp the principles behind
making them, you can literally create unlimited
fresh, one-of-a-kind papers, embellishments, overlays, etc.
With the design training in the book, you'll know innovative ways to
use them. To quote an old axiom, the sky is the limit.
Now for the meat. In addition, you'll learn:
7. The Secrets Behind Creating Meaningful Layouts Every Time
We start at the beginning for those of you who have little or no experience
with digital scrapbooking. (For those of you who do know more, just
skip Chapter 1.) I then build upon this foundation throughout Secrets
so that you can have all the skills you need
to create your own impressive layouts. What I love to do,
and I share with you, is how to:
• Create
specific paper to compliment the layout you envision
• Customize brushes and stamps for each layout
• Add just the right balance of elements for the most impact
on your layout
• Manipulate photos for a cool effect on your layout
• Create one-of-a kind elements for your layouts
And even more
on layouts:
• Follow
along to create your own layout in an easy step-by-step tutorial.
I give you all the digital goodies needed to create it in (Bonus
1: Graphics Pack) . (Except, of course, for the photo you
plan to use. :)
• Understand the design decisions a
graphic artist makes in putting together a polished layout.
• Know how to choose the right printer that matches your budget
while still giving you the results you need.
• Figure out why graphic designers care so much about resolution
for printing purposes.
• Learn how to get crisp, high-quality prints, not fuzzy or blurry
ones.
• Learn how to format and save your files for print vs. web (or
blog).
8. Proven Time-Saving
Tools I Use When Scrapbooking and Working as a Designer
I’m a girl who likes to be efficient, which often means I want
to get my layouts done in 15-30 minutes. The secrets and techniques
I share with you have been learned over the course of 10 years in this
field, as well as from other designers I have known and worked with.
And these techniques make all the difference
in ending up with a so-so layout or a layout that has wham.
• A trick
to reuse a digital layout without anyone noticing (hint: it involves
templates)
• The power of overlays and innovative ways to use them
• How "actions" and "effects" can make a
difficult task simple
• How a simple sketch book can save you a lot of headache…and
time
• A quick and easy tool to select colors that work well together
• When buying other people’s digital products, what to look
for before you buy
9. The Design
Principles and Computer Know-how to Create Digital Papers
Creating your own paper, whether you’re going for funky, cute,
grungy or elegant, is perhaps one of the coolest reasons to digi scrap.
I don’t know how many papers I’ve made, over a hundred at
least. And since they are usually so easy
to make, I just keep creating new ones for new layouts (although I do
like to reuse them too)! Don’t worry if you are someone who isn’t
into creating your own paper; you’ll have access to some of my
favs in Bonus 1 (graphics
pack), yours free with purchase.
In Secrets of the Designers learn how to:
• Add neat
textures to solid-colored and patterned papers.
• Create patterned paper using stamps.
• Create patterned paper using overlays.
• A technique to design a gorgeous patterned
paper in only about 30 seconds!
• Create digital vellum – you’ll love how easy this
is to do!
• Make cool "embossed" paper using digital techniques.
There’s more
on papers:
• See an
example 8 different papers I made in less
than 5 minutes (hint: it involves overlays).
• Learn how to distress papers using texture overlays and/or
stamps.
• Watch how simple it is to grunge paper.
• Understand how to get accurate print colors.
10. The Power
of Overlays
Overlays are so fun to make and can be used as many times as you’d
like to create papers in minutes, or even use them to add spice up your
elements such as tags, frames, and borders.
Overlays add impact. Suggest mood. Save time.
The ironic thing is, many graphic designers don’t take advantage
of them. This is something I learned from the digital scrapbooking world.
Some of the things we will talk about include:
• The different
types of overlays
• When to use overlays
• How to create your own overlays
• And how to use your overlays
I’ll also
show you overlays in action throughout the book. Can you guess which
papers above were created using an overlay(s)? How about which of the
layouts on this website?
To help you out on your journey to becoming a prolific digi scrapper,
I am including 8 overlays when you purchase the Secrets of the Designers.
Again, free of charge.
11. Why Digital Stamps and Brushes Are So Cool
For one, they save you TONS of money. For another, you
can create any kind of brush/stamp for whatever project you are working
on. For instance, some custom stamps I’ve recently used
are:
a graceful angel
a cute sheep
a realistic flower
a graphic flower
fun doodles
a crispy leaf
a chic butterfly
a carved Mayan warrior
a kid’s ball
a piece of candy
Even if I could
find all of these in a traditional store, can you image how much I would
need to spend? Not to mention, my kids being tempted to play with the
stamps… And the best part—I don’t have to clean them
after I use them!
Just like traditional scrapping, in digital you can use stamps and brushes
in a number of applications—on paper, frames, tags, text, photos,
etc. And you will see my love for stamps throughout my layouts.
You will learn:
• How to
create a digital stamp out of a shape, doodle, paper, text, or part
of an image
• How to create texture stamps
• An easy way to upload digital stamps, either ones you get from
other people or make yourself
• How to use digital stamps
• How to change color and transparency of digital stamps
• Simple techniques to give texture to a paper by using stamps
• How to change the color of the “ink” to match any
page
There are several
stamps included with Secrets of the Designers, and I think you’ll
be excited to use them. Yours free, when you buy.
12. The Most Commonly Requested Photo-Editing Techniques
In clear, concise language I teach you many of the most commonly requested
photo-editing techniques. Graphic designers, photographers, and digital
scrapbookers alike use these all the time. Some are basic techniques
to improve the look of your photos, while others are a little more complex
but add dramatic results.
The following are some techniques we will cover together:
• How to
resize and crop images
• An easy way to add borders to images
• A simple way to remove red eye
• The tools to use to repair damaged photos
• What defines and how to make a high-quality black and white
image
• How to add spot color to black and white images (like the hat
in the Little Firefighter layout below)
• How to make images look vintage
• How to create vignettes (feathered edges)
• A simple method to round image corners
13. The Secrets
Behind Creating Awesome Digital Elements
Whether you want to use a lot of elements or just a few, I share with
you some graphic design insights on how to find a good balance, as well
as teach you how to make your own elements.
As I have said before, I usually create custom elements for my layouts.
Why, you ask? Well, because it’s fun. And it's another way my layouts
reflect me.
In Secrets of the Designers you will learn:
• What to
look for when buying digital supplies
• How to create your own digital elements so you can get exactly
what you want without paying a cent
• How to create tags in mere minutes
using shapes and templates
• An easy way to embellish elements
• How to create fun labels, realistic ribbons, and attractive
frames
• How to make decorative edges on papers, photos, or elements
• Design and embellish your own frames
I also share many
examples of elements throughout the whole book. I hope these can help
you learn how to create your own as well as inspire you as to some of
the unlimited possibilities out there.
There’s more
on elements in Secrets:
• Create
a lovely grosgrain ribbon.
• Make colored brads.
• Make brads that appear to be from metal, wood, fabric, etc.
• Make brads out of any shape, such as flowers, photo prongs,
leaves, etc.
• Learn a simple techniques to recolor elements for dramatic
results.
• Not only create shadows, but realistic ones (something that
sets the professional apart from the amateur).
Since elements
are one of the most important aspects in a layout,
I am giving away A LOT of elements in the Bonus
Graphics Pack. They will really help you save time and
get well on your way to digi scrapping. These include some of my favorite
(no junk here) stamps, brads, photo prongs, frames, tags, and ribbons.
And they are yours free, when you buy Secrets of the Designers.
14. The Approach Professionals Take with Text
Everyone uses text in their layouts, but not everyone uses it well.
We all admire scrapbookers who seem to intuitively understand how to
use type well. And you know who they are, don’t you? Their pages
always look great.
But for others,
it doesn’t seem to come as naturally. The biggest mistake I see
people make is using fonts that just don’t seem to fit with each
other or don’t fit the content of the layout. Another one I see
a lot is choosing fonts that are difficult to read and don’t communicate
well..
Honestly, I think
the reason they do it is they simply don’t know better. In my ebook,
I show the difference between good and bad, and explain how to match
the font to the type of layout. Now you’ll know how to choose fonts
that “feel” like they fit in your layout. You’ll be the
one your friends will be begging to teach them how to make the type
in their layouts look as good as yours! By the time you finish Secrets,
you’ll know:
• A simple
way to make a font look more elegant or polished
• What to do (and not do) to make your type more readable
• A trick I use to give titles more focus and emphasis
• How to create not just any WordArt, but quality WordArt
• The most common text mistakes and how to avoid them
15. The Basics
Behind Strong Journaling
Over the years, I have worked with a lot of writers, was hired as an
editor for a newspaper, and I earned a degree in journalism, so I have
a unique perspective on journaling. Over the years I've arrived at a
way to find and tell my stories which translates well into my scrapbooking.Secrets
of the Designers we will cover the following topics about journaling:
• The right
questions to ask to tell your story
• How to arrive at “raw, honest” journaling
• How to find the right balance when adding digital journaling
• How to creatively design your journaling
• Ways to save time when journaling
16. Two Scrapbook
Layout Galleries
I believe that one of the best ways to learn is by being able to see
what other people are doing. As such, there are two galleries included
in Secrets.
• Gallery 1 - With this gallery, I challenged myself to
only spend about 15 minutes on each layout. I show several layouts and
explain the time-saving shortcuts I used to create them. I also explain
how I assembled them and why they work.
• Gallery 2 - This gallery shows a variety of layouts and explains
why they work using the design principles explained throughout the book.
You'll also get ideas for your own scrapbooking designs. This gallery
will also help you discover how to:
• Apply
art elements and principles to your scrapbook designs
• Combine several colors in a layout successfully
• Pull colors from your images—literally
• How to unify and resolve distractions
Risk-Free Guarantee
If for any reason you decide that this product is not right for you,
return it within 30 days of purchase and I will give you a full refund,
no questions asked. But with that said, I believe in this product. I
think you'll absolutely love it. I've seen the confidence this training
builds, and how it has empowered my students to create what they envision.
I’m confident it can do the same for you.
The price for Secrets of the Designers™ is only $45. Putting
together Secrets of the Designers literally took me hundreds
of hours. Since I typically charge $45+ per hour as a graphic designer,
I would bill any one of my clients thousands for a project like this.
Instead of paying a lot of money for design training (not to mention
years in a university), you get all of this for the equivalent of paying
for 1 hour of my time. Not to mention, you can learn it on your own
time and at your own pace.
To order, go to
the purchase page. You can order with any
major credit card, with an e-check, or with your Paypal account.
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