Every Needful Thing, by yours truly, is a preparedness - themed digital art collection I have had in mind for a long time. I hope you enjoy it - especially for Enrichment Night projects for preserving and storing food. There are some cute recipe cards and canning labels, and fun scrapbook Quick Pages so you can scrap harvest/canning memories or recipes.
The font is one I call DWHMaple. The capital letters have a maple leaf on them, the numbers have a maple seedpod, and the lower case letters have a fun divided up effect.
The extra projects this time round are two new delightful Quick Pages designed from elements of Serene Heiner’s 2007 Acorn Fun Collection.
I hope you have been enjoying the Quick Pages - just layer your own photos behind the page so they show through the transparent openings, and then add your own text on top of the page - in a few moments you will have a beautiful finished digital page you can send to family and friends, post on your blog or print out!
CLUB SAMPLER free clip of the month is a ready-to-print pdf page of the Russett Canning Labels from the Every Needful Thing Collection - so be sure to go and save it now, before you forget - http://latter-dayvillage.com/pages/ClubSampler/index.html
Elise Black is still working on the illustrations for her LDS ABC Book, I will let you know when it is available!
DESIGN A FONT - honestly, I KNOW some of you have super fun hand lettering techniques, so why not share them with us and have your own font! Just write out all your letters, numbers and punctuation in black ink on white paper, and scan it at about 300 dpi - and send it to me! If I think it would be of interest to our Club members I will turn it into a font and send it to you at no charge. Then you can type it into all your projects, and be credited as the designer on the site!
We’ve had glorious weather here in Utah County of late, and I am so enjoying walking or swimming each day - have to admit, it is quieter now the kids are in school!
Have a great day,
Debra Woods Hamilton
debra@latter-dayvillage.com
We have two new digital Pioneer Collections, and one veteran collection to choose from in our store. This wonderful LDS clipart is from two gifted LDS photographers, Courtney White and Terrell Moffett and our talented illustrator Elsa Remund.
Martin’s Cove Photographic Collection by Terrell Moffett. Terrell and I met at an Adobe Photoshop Seminar sponsored by NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) in April of 2007. We walked into the Salt Palace together and just stuck together the rest of the day. I don’t know what I was expecting at a Photoshop seminar but still, I was surprised that most folks attending were photographers. I am not a photographer. Terrell told me about his work as a fine art photographer - and when it came time to join NAPP - you know they exert some friendly pressure to join, Terrell said he highly recommended it, and said it was the most valued membership he maintained -their almost monthly magazine alone was worth the subscription. So I took his advice and joined. I haven’t regretted it at all - and believe me, I make plenty of dumb purchases, but this one was terrific. After the seminar I visited Terrell’s website and got a look at his work. I only wish Nampa was not so far from Saratoga Springs, because he’d be worth apprenticing with. I asked if he were LDS and once we established that I asked if he might be interested in doing some photography for LDV. Time passed and along came Pioneer season and I thought I didn’t have a pioneer collection that would be ready. So I contacted Terrell who I knew had gone on a handcart trek and put together a massive slide show for his stake. He sent me some great photos and I practiced some of my acquired Photoshop skills to turn them into an art collection with scrapbook papers. I wanted to frame some of his photos in period frames - so I scanned a bunch of old frames and books I have inherited from my ancestors and created digital frames to go around his photos. All in all it was a lot of fun and the collection turned out very well. If you have been on a trek or are going on a trek or like celebrating Pioneer Day - this is a great collection for you!
Courtney White went on the big re-enactment Pioneer Trek in 1997 and took wonderful photographs, which she now has turned into a beautiful digital scrapbook collection with artistic effects. The photos come in full color, watermark and sepia tones. Also included is a beautiful set of ready-to-print Pioneer Trail Notecards - featuring the photos with quotes from pioneer songs and journal entries.
At the tail end of a difficult pregnancy, Courtney finished several pending collections one right after another - and despite her discomfort in sitting at the computer, she did a fabulous job as always.
And I have to remind everyone of the beautiful illustrated collection by Elsa - this was from our 2007 Club, but it is also available in our store. Elsa has such a gift for capturing emotion with her designs. This beautiful collection includes posters, cards, bookmarks, stationary and scrapbook papers, tags and borders that are perfect for Seminary, Youth Trek, Primary, Ward/Stake Activities, printed Sunday bulletins or personal use.
BTW - Elsa had her first baby this Spring - congratulations Elsa!
I hope you will have a great Pioneer Day this year!
We have found a way to easily share some of our artists creativity by creating a store through Zazzle. Similar to CafePress, our Zazzle store offers our unique designs on appearal, mugs, and other consumer products. Even though we are just in the startup phase, we have quite a few products to showcase.
A few years ago we had some artwork for scripture mastery flashcards and stickers provided by one of our members, and at the last minute, she changed her mind about working with us. So in a panic, I took on the job of designing artwork for each of the 25 scripture mastery verses that curriculum year. Panic is an understatement. How I agonized over those designs. But they were one of our most popular items that year, and so the next year, Tim said it was time to do another set, and this time we would also use the art to make printed posters. Again I did the project with much internal resistance. I don’t think my skills are as good or natural for what I had in mind, and forced myself to just do it anyway. Again, the stickers and posters were our best selling items!
So a new year approaches - this time we are preparing for the New Testament. I had been working hard on doing a New Testament Clipart Collection, and it was actually fun! My skills as a designer have steadily improved over the past couple years as the need for artwork has increased, and my work with our wonderful group of LDS artists has blossomed. I just kept getting more and more ideas and I was tickled with how the designs turned out.
Time for New Testament Scripture Mastery Stickers! How I do it is, I read the scripture mastery verse - and almost immediately a visual idea comes to mind - a way to depict the verse visually - not so much a beautiful illustration as a simple icon that can evoke an instant idea that can be associated with the verse. I really have a lot of fun thinking of the ideas and now my design skills can match up to my ideas.
25 designs is a lot. To make the task reasonable for my brain, I set the goal of doing five a day. And I strictly followed that plan. In six days (I did not design any on the Sabbath) I had done all 25! And they were fun for me and I was pleased with how they turned out.
My sons have oft been my guinea pigs and testers. Sometimes I would show them the design and ask what scripture they thought of when they saw it. They did pretty well, but not 100%, yet I figure even if the first time students see the design they have to have a bit of explanation, or at least read the verse first and then see how it applies - ever after, that little image will bring to mind that particular scripture. The stickers are now in our store.
COMING SOON
I also did greyscale versions to use in our printed New Testament Scripture Mastery Posters - a set of 25 posters we have printed and ship to customers - great for the classroom. They are 11×17 - a good classroom size.And the same artwork is used in our digital New Testament Scripture Mastery Clipart Collection, now in our store. It includes full page posters, half-page flashcards and a set of playing cards and this year I had fun creating a game I call SCRIPTOPOLY for this set that come as a digital download and can be printed as needed.
I am SO excited about the fabulous New Testament Magazine Ad Posters that Courtney White has prepared this year! Her stunning photography nails each concept and both students and teachers are going to love these posters as much as the Old Testament Magazine Ads by Courtney.
One seminary teacher said - “I love the OT clip art that I bought this year that looks like the Scripture Masteries could have been from the Mormonads of the New Era.”
PLAN OF SALVATION
Each year of Seminary, not to mention Primary,Sunday School and all gospel teaching at church and home, the plan of salvation is taught/reviewed. I am thrilled to announce that Scott Jarrard is designing a wonderful Plan of Salvation digital art collection for the Village Downnload Depot Club this month! After retiring from the Club, it will not be added to our store as a digital art collection, but instead, it will be featured in a brand new Felt Story set!
NEW TESTAMENT FELT MAP
Stay tuned for more information about a new map later this summer!
NT CHARMS, KEYCHAINS and RUB-ONZ
Stay tuned for more fun New Testament products in our store in the next few weeks!
I have been studying Jesus the Christ with great relish. What a superb way to understand the life and mission of our Savior!
We have a new friend in our Club! Bunster Bunny! The February Seasonal Collection in the Village Download Depot Club is all about Bunster! Illustrated by Dustin Pike, Bunster comes hopping right off the screen with his adorable cuddli-ness. Dustin has been creating these delightful whimsical clip-art characters for many years, and we are excited to introduce some new pals here at LDV.
I had a lot of fun designing some special projects and scrapbook papers and borders for this collection. The artwork is so cute and colorful, I found I couldn’t sleep at night just itching to hit my computer and photos-hop Bunster into action. I admit - I came up with the name Bunster. Along with his feminine counterpart - Bet.
Last Thursday I had some time on my hands while waiting for my husband to have some medical work done, which required me to be the driver. So I moseyed on over to Foothill Village near the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City. There is an educational toy store there - I love those places! It made me want to be a kid all over again. They had some fun little activity books, and I picked one up as inspiration for doing a Bunster Bunny Activity Book. That is one of the best things about this collection. Dustin sent me line art drawings that are perfect for coloring pages and activity books so the kids can do the coloring themselves!
This is a great collection for teachers, parents and grandparents - as well as anyone who enjoys whimsical art!
The day after I learned that President Hinckley had died, I wrote to Scott Jarrard to request that he do a new coloring page for Thomas S. Monson. Scott has illustrated our Prophets of the RestorationFHE/Activity Book with fabulous coloring pages for each prophet. Scott had already thought of it! He got busy researching for a story - and has drawn a beautiful coloring page to a classic Thomas S. Monson story - it has been added to our Prophets of the Restoration Activity Book, available for instant download in our store.
I also created a page for additional information about Thomas S. Monson for the book. In looking for articles about and by him, again and again I noted that a strong theme of love, charity and service ran through his life and work. I have linked to many online resources about President Monson, including his own website.
It will be a wonderful experience getting to know him better, as we always do, when there is a new prophet.
I love the dollar store. It is so addictive to walk down the aisles and think - only a $1?!! WOW - I’ll take one of these and one of those - yadda yadda yadda. I saw some brightly colored kiddy clay the other day on one of my vigils at our local dollar store - and since I am the nursery leader, AND an artist, I dropped it in my cart, along with 35 OTHER inexpensive gotta-haves.
So late one night over the Thanksgiving holiday, I couldn’t sleep - VERY typical - and I came downstairs and my son was still awake. I saw that clay there and peeled open the package and started making little clay Christmas figures. He’s an artist too, so I said, - hey - why don’t you make one? So we rolled and squeezed to our hearts content, forming little clay buddies. I don’t have much luck with my digital camera, need to take a class, so instead, when I got one done, I’d lay it on my scanner. The first one, I made the mistake of closing the lid. SQUISH! After that I laid a Kleenex (or cheap knock-off facial tissue from Walmart) over my little pal, and a piece of white paper and did my scanning. Still they got a little squished, but, thanks to AMAZING Adobe Photoshop, my favorite friend, I unsquished the squished places, filled in the cracks, and then adjusted all the colors so our yellow and blue snowman came out white with black trim and an orange carrot nose.
OK - so now I’ve given away my secret - my clay figures ARE computer enhanced, I admit it.
I also wanted to JUMP FOR JOY - because with this Christmas Clay Collection, I’ve finally figured out how to make text follow a path around an object in Photoshop. I knew there HAD to be a way, but could never find the steps to make it happen. DUH - I felt motivated enough to actually use HELP - that curious menu item I almost wholly ignore in about every program I’ve ever owned. You know how most fathers REFUSE to stop and ask directions while traveling in an unfamiliar area - well, in as much as I so admired my dad, I guess I must have adopted that classic male characteristic - at least when it comes to software - anyway - the instructions were right there in Photoshop Help - easy peasy - and what fun I had creating a path around the snowman and writing the cute words to a cute song - I will definitely be using this new found tool again and again!
This collection is exclusive to the Club this month only - I won’t be adding it to the store later on. There are 25 items, which make it perfect for an advent calendar, and there are several nifty scrapbook papers included too.
I wonder what else I might find in the HELP section . . . hmmmm
Ask and ye shall receive. Timing is, however, important. This is the time of year, or we are just getting to the end of the time of year when the bulk of our seminary subscriptions renew. So, feeling generous, Tim asked if I wanted any new equipment. I thought on it, and saw an ad on my Photoshop User’s magazine for a Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet. I’d been thinking about tablets and had no idea what they cost or which ones were good etc. So I got on their website and read up on this nifty device. After reading third party reviews, I determined this was the industry standard for my needs as a digital artist. So I told Tim and he was happy to oblige me. Two weeks later, a-hem, my tablet arrived from Amazon.com.
The font I designed this month for VDD Club is my first tablet project! I got the 6×8 tablet. The tablet plugs into my computer and with the pen they provide, I can draw on the tablet and it shows up on my monitor. It is a lot easier than using a mouse to draw with. And you can get special effects not possible with a mouse - it is pressure sensitive, and so when I press harder, the brush stroke is wider or darker. I am just learning how to use it, and this font is my first project! It came with some free software. I usually use Adobe Photoshop, but Corel Painter Essentials has some neat effects that Photoshop doesn’t have, and that is what I used to do the DWHScript Font.
Corel Painter Essentials is a beginner version of the more robust professional Corel Painter X. It comes with a large selection of media types - or pen/brush categories, and then within each brush category are several variants. I chose Art Pen Brushes as my brush category and Grainy Edge Calligraphy as my brush variant. Then I started writing my letters on the tablet with the pen it comes with. It was so easy! And if I made a mistake, guess what . . . on that same pen, on the other end is . . . lo and behold . . . an eraser! It works just like a real pen eraser, only better because it leaves behind no marks at all. I still feel more comfy with Photoshop so I saved the file as a jpg and opened it in Photoshop to isolate each letter as a separate file. Then I imported each character into my Font Creator software - had to rotate some letters a bit, sized and spaced them just right and saved and installed my new font! Then I made a sample page and uploaded everything to the website for Club members to download.
Anyway, using my new toy was fun and easy and I’m just getting started.
I’ll let you know how it goes from here. Oh yeah, about my tablet, lucky for me I have a deep drawer where my keyboard and mouse reside, and the tablet rests either in front of or behind the keyboard just fine, without taking up extra space on my desk. Otherwise I’d have to put it somewhere else when I wasn’t using it.
I’ve had a blast designing and preparing the designs of our talented artists for new digital scrapbook collections in our Village Download Depot. I have something to admit - I have little experience making scrapbooks the way most people do. I have a very old fashioned scrapbook from high school, and long before the scrapbook craze began, I made scrapbooks for both my babies (now 27 and 23) and for their missions. But I haven’t bought scrapbook paper or embellishments etc to do it. I decorated them by hand or designed them on my computer myself.
Over the years I have noticed the scrapbook section of the local craft stores I frequent getting larger and larger - taking up more and more floor space. One store has devoted well over 50% of their store to scrapbooking products. It blows my mind.
But right here in the heart of the seedbed for this international passion for scrapbooking, where it all started - along the Wasatch Front - you can hardly find any LDS-themed scrapbook paper or embellishments/tools anymore. The general market is so immense, our little LDS-niche is hardly worth sneezing at - even for scrapbook companies I drive past along I-15, owned and operated by latter-day saints who once catered to their LDS customers.
Well, we all have birthdays and holidays and vacations and other memorable occasions we want to scrap like the general population - but what about those uniquely LDS aspects of our lives that we also want to make a permanent and beautiful record of?
That’s where LDV steps in. We have a growing array of LDS-themed scrapbook products, along with the traditional general/seasonal themes, and we can offer it because our products are digital! We leave the printing, if you even decide to print - to you! That allows us to design to our hearts’ content without worrying if we can sell 10,000 of any design. Printing and manufacturing prices go down with volume - so most companies have to pick and choose what products they will feature with that high-volume requirement.
Problem - not everyone knows how to use digital images to make beautiful scrapbooks! I do my designing with Adobe Photoshop - oh what cool things I can do with that robust program! But average Josephine scrapbook enthusiast isn’t going to pay the high ticket price for that high-end professional software, nor have the time to learn how to use it.
Well - I decided to test some affordable digital scrapbook software out. I wanted to see if it was easy to use, could do cool stuff, and if I could import images from our Village Download Depot collections into a scrapbook page using it. I read reviews about various products - and it was very hard to tell if they allow you to import images from outside their programs - so there was nothing to do but buy a package that sounded good and try it. I picked Nova Development’s Art Explosion Scrapbook Factory Deluxe Version 3.0. It got the highest ratings in the reviews I read and only cost $29.95 direct from the manufacturer (you might find it cheaper elsewhere).
It arrived in a timely fashion and installed easily onto my computer. They have good documentation to step you through the process. It comes with tons of templates and clipart for unlimited designs, and has easy to use tools that do really nice things you would need scrapbook software to do. But the true test for me was, of course, could I use my own Village Download Depot images and Fonts to create scrapbook pages with it?
WAHOO! YES! It worked - and was so easy! With any project open in the editing window, click on the INSERT menu option and choose GRAPHIC then FROM FILE. You then find the image you want to insert from your DownloadDepot folders and viola! It is inserted and can be edited as needed! Now, granted, I am used to Photoshop - so the ease of use of this software seemed dreamy to me - but I really believe anyone could use this to create lovely digital scrapbook pages, import our great LDS scrapbook elements into it - edit them freely so they are just the right size, shape, direction etc - and print out beautiful pages, or simply save them in a form anyone can view them and email them to your family and friends.
As much as most people spend on their scrapbook supplies, this software is a small price to pay for a great tool.
Since most people have home printers that only print on 8.5×11″ - Scrapbook Factory templates are for that size paper - but they also allow you to select 12×12 layouts - and if you have a wide format printer, you can print those yourself, or send the files to a copy center that does wide format printing, or use an online service that will print your 12×12 pages and ship them to you. I am researching printers, scrapbook papers for inkjet printers and scrapbook printing services and will write about those more in a future post.
This month we are featuring a quaint Thanksgiving Collection by Nicole Whitehead, along with a fun wheat character set that Nicole designed.
I also did greyscale versions to use in our printed New Testament Scripture Mastery Posters - a set of 25 posters we have printed and ship to customers - great for the classroom. They are 11×17 - a good classroom size.
Testament Scripture Mastery Clipart Collection
I am SO excited about the fabulous New Testament Magazine Ad Posters that Courtney White has prepared this year! Her stunning photography nails each concept and both students and teachers are going to love these posters as much as the Old Testament Magazine Ads by Courtney.
PLAN OF SALVATION
We have a new friend in our Club! Bunster Bunny! The 
