Quick Drop Question

[bethrich]

My DD would like to get into digi scrapping beyond the Scrapbook Explosion she has been using, but wants to stay with 8 1/2 by 11. Have any of you seen any quick drop pages in that size?

[pbp908]

With the exception of a few templates, I haven't seen anything (that I can recall) for 8 1/2 x 11. Check out Raspberry Roads to see if there's anything in there.

[LadyJaine]

There is discussion on 8.5x11 templates in today's 'The Daily Digi.' She talks about how to create an 8.5x11 template from a 12x12. The author of today's post also comments that she doesn't create 8.5x11 templates, because they do not sell well.

Now, that's templates, and you were asking about quick pages, so they aren't the same thing. But I'll venture a guess that there aren't a lot of quick pages in that size, either.

I'd send your DD to Page Maps and suggest that she use the Side Maps as guides, because she isn't going to find a lot of quick pages in 8.5x11. I'd also find out why she wants to do pages in that size and work with her to start using a more popular and widely supported size.

[Holly]

I'd hazard a guess on that Jean--I think it's because she can print them off herself, without big money for a good 12 by 12 printer. Plus or maybe--because she finds that scrapbook size to work for her.

[bethrich]

Holly, you are so right. She she likes being able to print them and drop them in an album when she finds a few minutes away from the 4 grands. I did tell her about printing options, including printing 8x8 from 12x12. She is definitely not going to buy a large format printer, at least not in the near future.

Thanks, Jean, for the input about not selling well. That makes a lot of sense.

Pam, thanks for the tip. I'll check it out when I get the chance.

[LadyJaine]

I've looked at the costs of printers, ink, paper, and binding into a book or putting pages into protectors. If you shop around, get coupons and so on, the on-line services are cheaper than doing it at home. Even if you aren't printing 12 x 12. The economy of scale works in your favor. You can upload over time and have them printed out when you have a coupon or they have a sale. And, AFAIK, the lifespan of the finished photo favors the commercial printer, not the home printer. I've been told they use a different process.

Printing at home is convenient, but it's more expensive and won't last as long.

[jfugina]

Beth - I am all about the quick drop page. I often use them as a starting point, and build from there, even if only to add a title. So I collect them like like they were going out of style. And here's something that I've noticed that might help out with the 8.5x11 thing. Many of the quick pages I find only feature a single photo (often small) with a highly embellished frame or some kind of cluster. And really truly, the rest of the quick page is just the background paper. Like, 75% of that page is just background paper.

Now, I don't always like that design, because I don't think my photo should be a small blip on a big piece of paper. I want the photo to be the feature. However, if I take that 12x12 and crop it to 8.5x11 (making the photo and cluster larger and more centered), I can then drop that 8.5x11 on a larger background paper, or I can print it out and put it on real cardstock for my 12x12 album.

Raspberry Road has a gazillion freebies - so definitely a good place to start. I also noticed that several of the blogs I subscribe too for their freebies are caught by ikeagoddess. That's another blog, but it features freebies from everywhere - including quick pages, alphas, templates, mini kits, and more. And it's updated every day with new stuff.

Hope that helps!

[jfugina]

Here's an example of what I was talking about. The first image is was a quick page freebie from Sherry Tierney featured (I believe) as a Friday Freebie back in March or so. The second image is that quick page cropped to 8.5x11, and placed on a sheet of lavender Simply Beautiful Club Scrap paper. Another idea that I'm toying with, is using brag book pages and enlarging those, but still keeping them look good printed, and dropping them on a solid background cardstock. And brag books are fairly easy to find as freebies.

stierney_egghuntqp_st1.jpg (20.05 KiB) Viewed 353 times

0507SimplyCS09.jpg (19.3 KiB) Viewed 353 times

[jfugina]

OK. Last update, and then I'll give up the hijack. I just took a 5x7 brag book page and stretched it out as much as I could on an 8.5x11 document (came out to about 7.5x10-ish). I printed it on my own printer, and it came out FANTASTIC. Of course, it was a little shy of 8.5x11 once I trimmed it, but I mounted it on an 8.5x11 Stratosphere pink, and it looks great. I then put that on a taupe colored 12x12 (I think it was from Friendship) so that it will work for my format. But I'm very happy with it.

Here's the part I printed:

[pbp908]

I like the idea of cutting them down to 8 1/2 x 11 pages, Julie. That way I can make quick books for gifts. Thanks for the tip.

I was just on ikeagoddess tonight downloading. Funny how we learn to read "download here" in French very quickly. Miss Polatty would be proud of the fact that her French lessons from a zillion years ago are finally being used.

[bethrich]

Julie, that's a great example! Thanks!

Jean, I hear you on the printing costs. DD has seen that for herself on the custom calendars she makes each year and she has stopped printing them herself. She is a coupon and bargain shopper (you have to be with a family of 6). I'm sure she can find all the bargain printing options and may decide it's a better option.

Of course, sometimes we run into the copyright issue with the professional photos on our pages. I have a large format printer so I can print 12x12 pages if need be.

[jfugina]

Quite welcome. My next experiment will be to take a 4x6 brag book page and see how far I can stretch that out and still have it look good printed out. I'll bet that size will work fine too.