3 posts tagged “designer digitals”
Sunday was busy, and didn't have a chance to post as many reviews as I wanted. Here is another one from Designer Digitals
Title E.I.E.I.O
Designer Mindy Terasawa
Released March 2007
Price $6.99
Link Here
Cost Per Item 25c
How this kit was created without the designer going mad I will never know. All the time that I have been planning this review, looking at the kit and deciding what to say, I have had the Old MacDonald song going round and round in my head. I feel like screaming! This kit has obviously had a lot of work and time invested in it, if the designer had the song going round in their head the whole time, I think a quiet dark room must have been in order to recover!
Papers - As with the previous Lynn Grieveson kit, if you look at the CPI of 25c you might think that this kit doesn't offer value for money. It does.
The colours of the papers are muted without being "blaaah". The hand-drawn animals are very expressive - they are just the sort of thing you can print out and use to decorate a nursery, or bits and bobs connected with the baby (see - value for money!) The "doodled" paper looks very interesting, I'd like to see more of that. I love the brown - it doesn't overpower the rest of the kit. It's a strong colour for a children's kit but it fits in well. All in all, I don't see a paper here that I wouldn't want to use.
Elements - Another kit where there is no element bloat. They are all well judged, especially the fun ribbons (could do with one or two more, but I am greedy). Fans of alphas will like the alphas supplied with the kit. The stitched tags will find their way onto your layouts thanks to their lovely stitching.
Looking at the kit again as a whole, it's the animal drawings and the way that they are used, that makes this kit. They aren't cloying, just very lovable-looking. This is a versatile kit for both boys and girls, I can imagine using it in a LO featuring children and their soft toys, children and their pets, and of course those visits to the farm, zoo or petting zoo.
One sentence The friendly animals and great drawings in this kit will have you using it again and again.
Second kit of the day from Designer Digitals
Title Spring Picnic
Designer Lynn Grieveson
Released March 2007
Price $6.75
Link Here
Cost Per Item 25c
Site Blurb - "Celebrate Spring with this delicately pretty kit, comprising:
- 10 patterned and textured papers in pinks, green and vanilla
- 2 long, thin knotted and buttoned down silk ribbon
- 1 short length of frayed silk ribbon
- 4 vintage photo corners
- 1 glass button
- 1 embellished torn paper heart
- 2 postage stamps
- 4 circular tags hanging from silk ribbon (2 plain and 2 ready to use with phrases)
- a floral alpha and numeral set"
Papers - This is when I regret putting the cost per item in this posting. It makes the kit look expensive for what you get, but it most definitely is not. The vanilla paper with the pink flowers in particular is beautiful enough to hold a LO on its own. The other papers are understated and the blending and choice of patterns on each of them is gorgeous.
Elements - Argh! How to be complementary without being gushing? Here goes. As with the papers, the elements are spartan in their simplicity yet beautiful in their design. Every single piece would grace a LO, and it would be hard not to pile them all on as I wouldn't want to leave any off. The ribbons look as if they have just been unravelled from the bottom of Grandmother's sewing box, and the little china/glass button is very sweet.
Bad points, bad points, let's see. I'd like more papers, oh and the colours aren't suitable for a boy layout. Hah! Do you hear me scraping the bottom of the barrel here looking for criticisms?
One Sentence A graceful kit with beautiful papers and elements.
A new release from Designer Digitals
Title A Mother's Love Layered Template Book
Designer Katie Pertiet
Released 24 March 2007
Price $24.99 (includes a voucher for 30% off an 8x8" Shutterfly photobook [expires 5/14/07])
Link Here
Cost Per Item Not Applicable
Site Blurb - "A complete 20-page scrapbook in layered templates. Each page has
different word art related to mothers, children and love. Also includes
flourishes, frames, fasteners, stitches and buttons in a cohesive,
classic design making the perfect gift!
And to make it even better, the set includes a 30% off an 8x8" Shutterfly photobook [expires 5/14/07]! File Size: 29MB"
Designer Digitals and Katie Pertiet know what their customers need before their customers even know that they want it. Justified text trails, printable tag templates and amazing brushes, they cover all these and much much more. Unfortunately this review blog only covers kits and templates, so let's dive into this template book.
I have several Shutterfly 8x8 books and I think that they are marvellous. Unfortunately, I printed them all out and it was only when I received them that I realized that an 8x8 photobook cut off the edges of all my 8x8 LOs. Not a cheap error to make. Luckily I was too delighted with actually seeing my LOs printed out (so delighted that it was only the thought of being locked up that stopped me running out into the street and showing my book off to random strangers) for that to bother me. It doesn't say in the blurb if the templates are "true" 8 X 8s or "Shutterfly" 8x8s. If it is being packaged with the Shutterfly voucher (which is a great touch by both Shutterfly and Katie Pertiet) I would hope it was the latter, or both.
The templates are a good mix of single picture and multi picture LOs. I would resize the small picture on the last page; a picture that small might get "lost" in a large 8x8 LO. The templates favor a clean and mimimalist LO, so if you are a fan of "I paid for 20 papers in this kit and I will use them all if it kills me" scrapping you may have to do a bit of freestyle shoehorning in to add extra papers. I can't read the quotes on the previews, but I will assume that they are all tasteful and suitable - can't imagine anything else from Designer Digitals! The joy of templates means that if you don't like or want them, or want to use this book for another reason, they can be binned.
The problem with most of us digiscrappers is that we love doing LOs of other people but really struggle doing LOs featuring ourselves. I would feel weird doing a book saying how wonderful I am as a mother, so would rely on someone making it for me. Seeing as there is more chance of my husband orbiting the moon under his own steam than taking up digiscrapping and making me a book like this (which I would sob like a baby upon receiving and then treasure it forever) I would use it to make a beautiful gift for my friends and relations who are mothers.
One Sentence Great idea from Katie Pertiet for making a moving Mother's Day gift.
