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Post by penny on Jan 2, 2022 0:23:16 GMT
Hello everyone!
Not that I was a big presence at all, but I was here when we all moved from 2Peas but then dropped off the face of the planet 5 years ago and haven’t been back since. Over the past year I found myself missing the social connection but life was still busy. My New Years resolution was to reconnect with a community that was always kind and supportive towards me, and just a lot of fun. So, hello again and I hope everyone has had more good than bad in the past few years, and is feeling optimistic and cared for as we start this new year.💛
I’m going to hit the ground running with some very basic questions to try and get up to speed. I’ve been poking around on IG and a few sites looking at products - and in true scrapbooked style I’ve certainly purchased stuff over the past few years despite the massive, overflowing stash I had already and not making one single thing.😂 Baby, I’ve still got it!😉😂
Photo printing: I’m in Canada and need, oh, about two years worth of photos give or take, printed.🤯 There’s nothing local and while I can print at home, it’s too many and I’d like to spend my time catching up on making stuff rather than printing. Is Persnickity Prints still what most people use and like? I’ll be selecting/editing my photos on either an iPad Pro or MacBook Air, so any tips on editing or placing an order so that the printed photos and what I see on my screen are as similar as possible would be great. I know some places used to always print a bit dark or warm/cool so people would do a batch edit as standard practice. Any tips at all would be great.
Formats: I used to do mainly 8x8, with some 12x12 and BH PL type stuff, but I’m really drawn to more of the travelers notebook or Stop The Blur journal type formats now. I don’t have the typical family events, travel is non-existent, so it’s more of a creative way to keep a diary and have more life exist off of electronic devices. I have a set of Stop The Blur planners and want to use stuff I already have as much as possible. I enjoy watching Heidi Swapp’s videos because of her personality and ideas, but her style is a bit too much for what I end up documenting. A more modest approach seems to suit me better. I mean the blueberries were good but it’s not my Best day ever! Any recommendations for people to check out that use her stuff in a more minimal style?
What would be amazing is if there’s anyone out there that has done a basic quick-start type guide - what size photos, handful of basic layouts that I can copy/repeat, etc. I’d like to be able to move through getting last year into an album without much fuss and use it to figure out what sort of things I like now and what I want to do next.
And if anyone has any good recommendations for 4x8, 6x12, 9x12, type sized albums and supplies, please mention them. The only consistent place I seem to see those are SC, and either a Canadian source or just a better value option would be good.
Inspiration: I’m still a fan of Tim Holtz - use it more for art journaling, mixed media, and Christmas projects though. I do like SC style, but no plans on buying kits and find them to be pricey, especially being international. I like Heba Alsibsi - her style, the size of books she works on, and the (not sure what it’s called) 30 day lists of things to document projects. I like Paper Person - has replaced SC in a lot of ways for me. Same with Everyday Explorers and Ink By Jeng. I do like a vintage, office stationary style too. Any suggestions for people or companies to check out?
Templates: I’m trying to get my head around digital templates. I have a couple from Ali Edwards and like that I can just drop in photos or whatever and print stuff off, but I’m wondering if those are something I can make myself or there’s a place to buy one that’s got the layout I’m looking for. I’d love to have an 8-1/2x11” template where I could plug in photos for the week that are sized for the Stop The Blur planner for example. Would be easier to pick/choose/see what photos I’m using, cheaper to print out, etc. I don’t have PhotoShop which from Googling seems to be what most digital scrapbookers use, and I don’t think it’s worth it for me to get it. I have Procreate and have made a few collages there but it’s not fast and I haven’t figured out how to make a template in it. I think there should be a way to do it with layers, but I’m still on the learning curve.😵💫
That’s about all I can think of to hit you guys up for.🤗 Hopefully once I get back into things I can contribute more back. It’s a bit of a trip to be going through my supplies and having memories pop up about what we all thought about certain trends, or projects a bunch of us were working on. I imagine as I come across familiar names and faces it’ll bring up even more good memories.
So a rather generic sounding but genuine wish that everyone’s been well, and a thank you to everyone who’s kept this place going - it made me warm and happy to find it still here and with so many people.💛
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Post by Linda on Jan 2, 2022 1:32:14 GMT
Welcome back - I'm not sure I have the answers to your questions but it's always good to see people come back. Do check out the gallery here as well as the share threads on this board (right now we have a quarterly one but last year had monthly). There are also challenges posted on the challenge board - teams are set for now but the challenges are open to everyone and if you think the teams would be fun (they are), keep an eye out for when grammadee posts a call for signups again - not sure if it'll be late January or late March. |
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Post by grammadee on Jan 2, 2022 1:45:13 GMT
Welcome back! I don't have many answers to your questions, being someone who scraps with paper in a 12x12 format. I am in Canada and print my photos at Walmart. I like to do them at the kisosk in the store, and use one hour printing so I can bring them home with me that day and just start scrapping. If I had a batch like yours to do, I would choose a time period or set of events and print them first, then go on to the next set when I was ready. But I know there are lots of Peas who can help you out. Do check out our Gallery and Sharing threads. AussieMeg has completely switched to digital and can help you with templates. justjac does digital page design sometimes and then prints on her 12x12 printer. So those two are people who can probably give you lots of advice. Seems I have seen lots of discussion about different size albums in sleepingbooty's December Documented thread. Anyway, I hope you stick around and join the fun we are having! |
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 2, 2022 3:04:22 GMT
Welcome back!! Templates: I’m trying to get my head around digital templates. I have a couple from Ali Edwards and like that I can just drop in photos or whatever and print stuff off, but I’m wondering if those are something I can make myself or there’s a place to buy one that’s got the layout I’m looking for. I’d love to have an 8-1/2x11” template where I could plug in photos for the week that are sized for the Stop The Blur planner for example. Would be easier to pick/choose/see what photos I’m using, cheaper to print out, etc. I don’t have PhotoShop which from Googling seems to be what most digital scrapbookers use, and I don’t think it’s worth it for me to get it. I have Procreate and have made a few collages there but it’s not fast and I haven’t figured out how to make a template in it. I think there should be a way to do it with layers, but I’m still on the learning curve.😵💫 I'm curious to know how people who do traditional paper scrapping would use the Ali Edwards templates. Are they just basic templates like you'd find when you make a photobook, with no embellishments? Then you drop the photos in and print off on your own home printer? One thing I have discovered is that traditional scrapbooking companies tend to charge waaaaaaay more for their digital supplies than digital scrapbook stores charge for similar items. There are a gazillion digital templates available from digi stores. Most of them require you to add your own papers and embellishments, but there are some that are ready to go, and you just add photos. I scrap with Photoshop, which costs me about $14 each month (I think it's $USD9.99). It's worth it to me to ensure I always have the latest version of PS. There are a LOT of digital scrappers who use Photoshop Elements which is considerably cheaper than Photoshop. There is also another program called Affinity, which is also a lot cheaper, and I think you can buy it outright rather than only by subscription. From what I have heard it is very similar to PS. You will need a minimum of 8gb of RAM for PS and Affinity (not sure about PSE). I have no idea what Procreate is, so I can't help you out there. You could always do a free trial of PS or PSE or Affinity, to see if it's something you think you'd use. If you haven't got 8gb of RAM you won't be able to do a trial. |
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Post by Skellinton on Jan 2, 2022 7:07:41 GMT
For albums can you purchase from Scrapbook.com? They make 9x12 and some of the other sizes, they are amazing.
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Post by peachiceteas on Jan 2, 2022 9:20:40 GMT
Hey penny - welcome back. It's great to see you around here again. I can sympathise with going quiet - I often come here to read but I can sometimes drop off from posting for a few months when life gets hectic. I can't answer many of your questions as I print all my photos from home, I do 6x8 pocket page albums and I don't dabble with templates. If you like the aesthetic of Paper Person, I can suggest In a Creative Bubble's digitals and I have been really enjoying Pinkfresh's recent lines too - they did a collaboration with both Kelly Purkey from PP and Geralyn from IACB. There is a lot of crossover between all their styles. |
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,629 
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Post by kitbop on Jan 2, 2022 17:37:26 GMT
Welcome back! I'm glad you are readopting the hobby! I'm in Canada too - Ontario. I'm lucky to still have 2 LSSes within a 30 minute drive, but I do a lot of online buying for variety and price too. Scrapbook .com offers very reasonable shipping to Canada. They have 9x12 albums and 6x8 albums that are nice, and if you only order one at a time the shipping is bearable. I can suggest In a Creative Bubble's digitals I adore Geralyn, and she's Canadian. HOWEVER, for the past year she could not sell to Canada!!! I just went to her store and see has just added the manual option for us.  thank you Geralyn!!! She also has a a few new releases and I'm jumping on it as soon as I get home  I print them at home and fussy cut them. |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 2, 2022 17:55:38 GMT
What'd you miss? Us, you missed us. Right?  Welcome back! 6x12 is now almost an Inked Brands (Studio Calico) exclusive. 9x12 has fortunately been picked up by scrapbook.com and they're even releasing velvet-covered 9x12 albums this year. Citrus Twist's 4x8 linen albums are a big hit (and they have a lush colour selection). I haven't worked with Stop the Blur journals at all and I haven't seen anyone using these on the board yet (but I did read about some people taking the class) but looking at Heidi's website, there are free photo templates to download. You should be able to open .psd files in the free alternative to Photoshop, GIMP. I hope this solves your issue! |
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Post by melanieg on Jan 2, 2022 20:29:16 GMT
I'm in Canada and my friends and I sendout to Costco (if you have a membership).
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 1:45:20 GMT
Do check out the gallery here as well as the share threads on this board (right now we have a quarterly one but last year had monthly). Ooh - forgot all about galleries! I think I’ll be spending a good chunk of time there, thank you! |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 1:58:27 GMT
But I know there are lots of Peas who can help you out. Do check out our Gallery and Sharing threads. AussieMeg has completely switched to digital and can help you with templates. justjac does digital page design sometimes and then prints on her 12x12 printer. So those two are people who can probably give you lots of advice. Seems I have seen lots of discussion about different size albums in sleepingbooty 's December Documented thread. Thank you! I’m really only looking for templates so that I can drop photos onto an 8-1/2x11” page and print that - it would work out to be more economical than using my PictureMate. I love digital embellishments though.😄 I’m one of those people that love 50% of what’s in a pack and have no use for the other 50% so printing out just what I will use is great. Thanks - off to snoop the gallery more 😄 |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 3:55:03 GMT
Welcome back!! Templates: I’m trying to get my head around digital templates. I have a couple from Ali Edwards and like that I can just drop in photos or whatever and print stuff off, but I’m wondering if those are something I can make myself or there’s a place to buy one that’s got the layout I’m looking for. I’d love to have an 8-1/2x11” template where I could plug in photos for the week that are sized for the Stop The Blur planner for example. Would be easier to pick/choose/see what photos I’m using, cheaper to print out, etc. I don’t have PhotoShop which from Googling seems to be what most digital scrapbookers use, and I don’t think it’s worth it for me to get it. I have Procreate and have made a few collages there but it’s not fast and I haven’t figured out how to make a template in it. I think there should be a way to do it with layers, but I’m still on the learning curve.😵💫 I'm curious to know how people who do traditional paper scrapping would use the Ali Edwards templates. Are they just basic templates like you'd find when you make a photobook, with no embellishments? Then you drop the photos in and print off on your own home printer? One thing I have discovered is that traditional scrapbooking companies tend to charge waaaaaaay more for their digital supplies than digital scrapbook stores charge for similar items. There are a gazillion digital templates available from digi stores. Most of them require you to add your own papers and embellishments, but there are some that are ready to go, and you just add photos. I scrap with Photoshop, which costs me about $14 each month (I think it's $USD9.99). It's worth it to me to ensure I always have the latest version of PS. There are a LOT of digital scrappers who use Photoshop Elements which is considerably cheaper than Photoshop. There is also another program called Affinity, which is also a lot cheaper, and I think you can buy it outright rather than only by subscription. From what I have heard it is very similar to PS. You will need a minimum of 8gb of RAM for PS and Affinity (not sure about PSE). I have no idea what Procreate is, so I can't help you out there. You could always do a free trial of PS or PSE or Affinity, to see if it's something you think you'd use. If you haven't got 8gb of RAM you won't be able to do a trial. Not sure how others use her templates, but for me it was a quick way to make pages - drop in photos, print as 6x8, and then stamp and embellish with physical products. Sometimes I’d add in journaling/titles, or a basic type of embellishment like a label sticker, banner, or cut apart before printing it too. Other times I’d print it off at 4x6 or 3x4, using it just as a different way to create a collage. For a December Daily type project it compressed a bunch of steps into one so theoretically you’d be able to keep up and finish it before the following Christmas.😄 I’ll look into the programs - thank you! It’s more economical for me to print out an 8-1/2x11” with the variety of photo sizes I need on it. An assortment of 4x4, 3x3, 2x2, 4x3, 4x2, 3x2, etc, spots I can drop photos into, print it up, then cut apart to use in in my physical projects. I’m not looking for a creative template in the sense of a layout that looks nice - I want it just to print up photos in the sizes I need. To make it easy I’m keeping the same layout for each week of my Stop The Blur album, so if I had a template to drop the photos into then it would make it faster and cheaper. I know I can drop photos into Pages and resize them but it’s more fiddly than a template would be. Procreate is a drawing/painting/designing program, and I know you can set up masks so I have to see if I can create a template in there somehow. The program doesn’t have any rulers native to the program so you have do this weird importing, work around thing with ruler background created in some other program. People have been asking for them to add rulers for years but so far that’s nope 😄 |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 4:26:40 GMT
For albums can you purchase from Scrapbook.com? They make 9x12 and some of the other sizes, they are amazing. Thank you - took a peek and they have a much bigger selection than I would’ve guessed! |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 4:27:37 GMT
Hey penny - welcome back. It's great to see you around here again. I can sympathise with going quiet - I often come here to read but I can sometimes drop off from posting for a few months when life gets hectic. I can't answer many of your questions as I print all my photos from home, I do 6x8 pocket page albums and I don't dabble with templates. If you like the aesthetic of Paper Person, I can suggest In a Creative Bubble's digitals and I have been really enjoying Pinkfresh's recent lines too - they did a collaboration with both Kelly Purkey from PP and Geralyn from IACB. There is a lot of crossover between all their styles. Just googled IACB and love it! Thanks for the recommmedation! |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 4:35:29 GMT
Welcome back! I'm glad you are readopting the hobby! I'm in Canada too - Ontario. I'm lucky to still have 2 LSSes within a 30 minute drive, but I do a lot of online buying for variety and price too. Scrapbook .com offers very reasonable shipping to Canada. They have 9x12 albums and 6x8 albums that are nice, and if you only order one at a time the shipping is bearable. I can suggest In a Creative Bubble's digitals I adore Geralyn, and she's Canadian. HOWEVER, for the past year she could not sell to Canada!!! I just went to her store and see has just added the manual option for us. thank you Geralyn!!! She also has a a few new releases and I'm jumping on it as soon as I get home I print them at home and fussy cut them. I used to have a LSS near me but they closed down just before I ended up dropping off here. Had been ordering online here and there when there were good sales or coupon codes, and once a year we used to cross the border and I’d by anything larger or that wouldn’t ship to Canada, or things that I wanted to see in person to be sure first. Thanks for the tip about ordering one at once - I can remember juggling products in and out of my cart to see which one was causing the crazy bump in shipping charges.😄 I don’t think I even know of any LSSs in Ontario. Is there any you’d recommend? Might be able to work one into a road-trip at some point. |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 5:36:42 GMT
What'd you miss? Us, you missed us. Right? Welcome back! 6x12 is now almost an Inked Brands (Studio Calico) exclusive. 9x12 has fortunately been picked up by scrapbook.com and they're even releasing velvet-covered 9x12 albums this year. Citrus Twist's 4x8 linen albums are a big hit (and they have a lush colour selection). I haven't worked with Stop the Blur journals at all and I haven't seen anyone using these on the board yet (but I did read about some people taking the class) but looking at Heidi's website, there are free photo templates to download. You should be able to open .psd files in the free alternative to Photoshop, GIMP. I hope this solves your issue! Of course I missed you! Well, you know - not you specifically 🤪 And if this welcome indicates what I should expect back here…YES! I’m home!!😂 That Scrapbook.com has 9x12s makes me happy - cover them in velvet and I’ve timed my return perfectly. I do like the Citrus Twist album and agree with you on the colour, but you can only order two at a time if you’re international and at a 4x8 size I know I’ll need more. I think they’re probably the best looking albums - I could definitely see myself using them for some of my Grandma’s old photos, and with the linen and their size leaving them in the living room on display. And alright, you got me - I missed you most of all!! That link to the free photo templates on Heidi’s website are exactly what I was looking for!🤯 They’re listed for her sticker paper so I didn’t even bother clicking on the link over a year ago when ordered the notebooks and went looking for some way to print the smaller sized prints that work for it. I remember hoping that they’d put out templates for printing photos like they did for printing stickers.👮🏼🧠 Hello little brain, are you lost? Aaaand, opening one up in Pages brought up options to edit the masks. The masks. The things I’ve been trying to figure out how to make and what program I’d need to be able to make them. Right there in Pages, with rulers, and snap grids, and editing options, and access to all my fonts, and can import any type of file. You know that sound Tupperware makes when the lid is in the right place and on? My brain made that sound. Thank you. No exaggeration, that’s just completely cut the time it takes me to print photos for one week down from an hour to 5-10 minutes tops. And it makes it a million times easier to track what photos I’ve used - no more duplicates; and because it’s Pages I can make make notes for that week’s stories right there, even on my phone - no more having to remember to scribble stuff down at the end of the day. It’s eliminated 90% of the ‘chore’ part of it all that accounts for 90% of the reason I don’t finish projects.😄 Thank you very much. |
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Post by penny on Jan 3, 2022 5:37:19 GMT
I'm in Canada and my friends and I sendout to Costco (if you have a membership). Didn’t even think of them - thanks! |
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,629
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Post by kitbop on Jan 3, 2022 14:31:28 GMT
I don’t think I even know of any LSSs in Ontario In Waterloo, two scrapbook friends - but they haven't reopened with covid, so right now it is curbside pickup only. It has really curtailed how much I shop with them because if I can't see the products and impulse shop, I might as well get it cheaper online. But they do have a very good selection. And Younique in Guelph - different aesthetic, but a very packed store nonetheless. They also have an online store so you can see what is available before you decide whether it's worth the stop. Regarding Costco: I used to print ALL my photos there until they closed their photo labs last year. I LOVED their quality plus price. Now, I too will be ordering from them online, and hoping that the quality is as good as it used to be. |
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,460
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Post by scrapnnana on Jan 3, 2022 15:20:02 GMT
Welcome back! I can’t help with most of your questions, and I haven’t read all the replies, but I will chime in on your templates question.
I use Photoshop Elements (PSE), mostly for tweaking my photos prior to printing them, but I have played with templates, and yes, you can make your own in Photoshop (PS) and/or Photoshop Elements (the “slimmer” version for hobbyists). I have used both the full program in the past, as well as Elements, which I currently use. There is a difference in both capability and price between the two programs. The full Photoshop program is for graphic and commercial artists and costs far more because it can do things non-artists don’t generally use or need. Photoshop Elements is a slimmed down version for scrapbookers and amateur photographers. Photoshop Elements does everything a scrapbooker (digital or traditional) could want for a more affordable price. Now it seems to be a monthly fee, but I bought mine back when you could buy PSE at Costco and then use it for life. I don’t have the latest and greatest capabilities, but it still does everything I want, without my having to shell out money every month. I don’t know if that is still an option, but probably not. If you have to pay a monthly fee, PSE is a lot more affordable than PS.
Another option could be Inkscape which used to have a free version. I don’t know if they still do. My son used that in the past, but now uses Lightroom for his photos.
Templates are basically what is called a “layer,” and a layer is basically like a layer of paper, but you add your photos using an additional layer on top of it as an additional layer, or underneath the template layer. You can “flatten” the image before printing so that all the layers are together. If you use a template and paper that will fit a photo paper that your printer can print, yes, you can just add photos to the template, print it off, and drop the printed page into a page protector. You could also adhere the printed result to a larger page.
However, I don’t like the look. I like the dimension, however minimal it may be, of actual layers of paper and card stock. If you like Tim Holtz, and things like texture paste, it doesn’t look the same printed and put in an album. The colors aren’t as vivid when printed on a home printer, either, and I have a good one that is made for printing photos.
I could scan in my favorite paper and embellishments, create a template which I could tweak for a variety of pages, to create very coordinated album, but I feel that it’s more work than it is worth. It gives less than satisfactory results, because my printer never prints as good or true a color as the original (a required feature in every printer to prevent potential counterfeiting), and the quality will be always slightly less than the original. It simply does not look as nice to me as a traditionally created layout.
PSE is great for photos, though, and yes, you can make your own templates with it. What is right for me does not mean that the same will be right for you. PSE is a great program, and you may want to try doing your own digital pages. There used to be some digital freebies (pages, embellishments, etc.) out there. You could try digital templates and see if you like the results. And one advantage to digital scrapbooking is that you can have a photo service print a book of your pages for you. My DDIL’s do that, but they use photos for their backgrounds, which also looks really nice.
I’ve been working on my Mom’s life story, and I had scrapbooked a lot of her early life. I am combining scanned digitized versions of the scrapbook pages with written story and individual photos on other pages. I can share it easily with my siblings, and they can print copies if they want at Costco or some other service.
There are advantages to digital vs. traditional, but you can also combine them. I suggest you do a trial version of PSE, or whatever other digital program you want to try. Download some freebie templates if you can find some, and play with them. Then you can decide if you want to pay for the program when the trial runs out.
This took awhile to type, so others may have given you similar info. Welcome back here, and enjoy getting back to scrapbooking again, regardless of how you choose to do it.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 3, 2022 15:31:36 GMT
penny No worries, we all have scrappy brain farts but the board usually straightens them out for us in no time.  So glad your template issue has been resolved and you can get all your photos uploaded and ready to be printed in a matter of minutes. Must've been a massive hassle before. So much more time for stamps, stickers and journaling now! Again, welcome back. Hope you make yourself cosy and join in on all the fun we have. There will be a big online crop in March that is super fun. There are the Team Challenges (quarterly instead of monthly these days) in the Challenges board. And there are plenty of fun discussions to butt into all around. Can't wait to hear how your documenting is going as the year progresses.
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,516
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Jan 3, 2022 15:45:21 GMT
Hi Penny. Welcome back.
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Post by papersilly on Jan 3, 2022 17:56:20 GMT
welcome back!
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I print them at home and fussy cut them. 
So glad your template issue has been resolved and you can get all your photos uploaded and ready to be printed in a matter of minutes. Must've been a massive hassle before. So much more time for stamps, stickers and journaling now! 
