Whovian Papers - DigiJen

As I write this belated blog, my sweet husband stands behind me, sanding the spackle to fill holes in the wall before we paint this bedroom-becoming-office.

This will become my wibbley-wobbley corner of time and space, where I can give full rein to my Doctor Who obsession - a place where I can hang my autographed photos alongside the framed stamps from England that commemorated the 50th anniversary...where I can set my Lego figurines around my stuffed Weeping Angel which will stand next to the TARDIS cookie jar...a place where a very, very long scarf will most likely be draped over the corner of a bookcase.

Yes, I am in full-blown Whovian mode. I just wish I could jump in the TARDIS myself and fast forward a couple weeks to a point in time when this project will be finished, because it is TAKING TOO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!

*pant, pant*

I'm calm now. Mostly.

ANYHOW...while I'm waiting for the spackle to be sanded and the paint to be painted and dried and the wallpaper to be hung...I have goodies for you that can't be found anyplace else.

Once upon a time, I toyed with the idea of trying my hand at digital design work. I quickly realized that there's a level of technical know-how needed that I don't have, and I don't have time to learn it right now. But before I came to that realization, I played around with creating some background papers.

The result was 11 Doctor Who-themed background papers, which you are welcome to download and use, if you would like. There's no pretty preview to show you what you're getting - just consider it a sort of grab bag gift from one Whovian to however many others want it.

PAPER DOWNLOAD

I hope you enjoy them and can get some use out of them.

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Intergalactic by BoomersGirl Designs & Space Friends by Touched by a Butterfly (Star Wars)

Can you believe that it has been nearly 40 YEARS since the prologue to one of the greatest film franchises first crawled up our movie screens, only to be followed by this huuuuuggggeeeeee ominous spaceship flying into view? Or we first heard the line, "These aren't the droids you're looking for"? Or the line "May the force be with you" gave birth (eventually) to an annual geek holiday?

Say what you want to about the dialogue writing talent of George Lucas. The fact is, he has given us some of the most quotable lines since Monty Python, and he gave us a movie that led to an entire universe of creativity - 7 films and counting, animated TV shows, books, the newest section of Disney World, and - thanks to John Williams - one of the most memorable movie scores ever.

It also makes for a great birthday party, and you'll see some kind of "Star Wars"-themed costumes walking around the neighborhood every year at Halloween:

The fact that we are nearly 40 years later and people still talk about "Star Wars" is one thing. The fact that there is enough interest that designers are still creating digi kits about it is quite another.

I'm featuring two kits this week because, as you can tell from the previews, they both used the same templates for the main characters. Both designers create in a style that I like, so it doesn't surprise me that they have kits that are similar. And yet, this is a great chance to study what it is that gives a designer their unique style and the choices they make when starting with the same basic material. Sometimes it's a choice of color palette, sometimes of texture. Sometimes it's a choice of whether to include related elements (like other aliens) or whether to include alphabet(s). And yet, for the customer, the net result is a variety that allows us to choose the best match for our needs.

There are (many) other "Star Wars" kits out there, and as I  find them, I'll archive them. (If you have a favorite, feel free to leave a comment and let me know about it.) But for these two, you can find them here:

Space Friends by Touched by a Butterfly is available at My Memories - currently 40% off through August 27th (2016)

Intergalactic by BoomersGirl Designs is available at Gingerscraps - Lori has graciously offered a coupon code good for 35% off through September 6th (2016). COUPON CODE: BGD_DGSW457

And as one last treat for indulging this Digi Geek and reading this far, here's a freebie cluster:

DOWNLOAD

(Let me know if you have problems with the download.)

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Steampunk World - Key Lime Digi Design

Steampunk.

It's one of those realms of geekery that intrigues me and mystifies me at the same time.

When I think of "steampunk," I think of goggles and fob watches and top hats and corsets and lots of metal gears and hinges. And wings. I don't understand them, but there seem to be a lot of wings. I know there's a reason for all of that stuff, but that's what I see.

From my understanding, the main theory behind steampunk is, "What if we'd never advanced beyond steam-powered machinery? What would today's world look like?"

So I went looking for answers. First stop: Wikipedia.

There I find probably the most succinct explanation:

"Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes anachronistic technology, usually from the Victorian era."

Okay. That helps. So instead of focusing on today having never developed past steam power, it's actually more a focus on introducing steam power earlier than it really was - a jump forward in time, in a sense. Or backward. I'm never really sure.

What I am sure of is that I find the interpretations of such things fascinating. (I also love the way it can be blended with other fandoms.....)

Caption: My pal Roy mashing it up as a 

Steampunk Jedi.

Marcon - May 2011

I am also sure that this great kit from Key Lime Digi Designs will give you a good start on scrapping your steampunk cosplay. It contains 18 papers and 50 elements, including:

binoculars

bookplate

2 bottle caps

2 bows

brad

butterfly

button

graffiti cluster

3 cogs/gears

2 cog corner clusters

2 coils/springs

dragonfly (jeweled)

5 flowers

leaf stem

3 frames

2 top hats

hinge

key

keyhole

2 labels

lace 

luggage/suitcase

left & right wings (separate)

2 ribbon frames

rosette

string

tag

wallet

watch

2 watch hands

wheel

wire wings

Designer Sandy at KLDD has been generous enough to offer a coupon code for "Steampunk World" at Gingerscraps. This code is good for 30% off through September 30th (2016). While you're there, take a look around at her other designs - it's only through the cooperation of the designers that I can run this blog and compile this resource.  COUPON CODE: Steam30Punk

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Of Knights & Dragons - MagsGraphics Designs

I have a friend who, along with her husband, work in the show business stunt industry. Her husband

is a whip master, as well as proficient with knives and swords. The two of them together do stunt riding on horses. 

At one point in time, before we became friends, I got her husband's autograph. He would sign his photos with the phrase "Noblesse Oblige."

"Nobility obliges."

I love that idea. I love the idea that nobility comes not only with entitlements, but also with responsibilities, particularly social ones.

It's that old-fashioned sense of being accountable that I find to be one of the most attractive parts of the whole idea of knights and ladies, kings and queens, royalty and titled nobility.

It's something that's sadly missing in much of today's society. 

So I'll just go back to dreaming about the romance of the old days. And for people who enjoy dreaming about the days of chivalry...or maybe you want to showcase your little prince or princess...or maybe you are involved in Renn Faires (an item on my bucket list), the kit "Of Knights & Dragons" by MagsGraphics is a great one to use. I haven't had a chance yet to scrap with it, because it's brand new. But I have gotten to play with it and create some clusters and frames to go along with it, which you can pick up in the My Memories store within the next few days. (They're in the pipeline to get posted.)

While I was playing with this fantastic kit, I put together a quick page. Buuuuut, since I only made one, there's not enough to put a pack in the store, so Mags gave permission to offer it as a downloadable freebie. 

DOWNLOAD

In the meantime, you can grab the main kit at My Memories or at GingerScraps. In both stores, the kit is on 30% sale through August 27th (2016). It includes:

• 20 12"x12" Papers
• 3 Banners
• 1 Bow
• 2 Buttons
• 1 Castle
• 1 Crown
• 1 Dragon
• 1 Flag
• 6 Flowers
• 3 Greenery Pieces
• 2 Horses
• 1 Horse & Carriage
• 1 King's Cross
• 2 Knights
• 1 Nail
• 1 Prince
• 1 Princess
• 3 Ribbons
• 4 RicRac
• 3 Ropes
• 2 Shields
• 1 Staple
• 3 Swords
• 8 Word Tags
• 1 Tie
• 1 Arrow Trim
• 1 Wand
• 1 Stone Window Frame

Enjoy!

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Super Heroes - Magical Scraps Galore

Marvel or DC?

Among comic book fans, that seems to be the big question. People seem to like one or the other, but not both.

Me? Well, I've never been much of a comic BOOK fan. But I have loved almost everything put on the screen (large or small) based on super heroes. I love the Marvel movies - they're bright and funny and full of hot guys. And while I support the DC movies, they're a little darker than I like (although they're still full of hot guys). However, I've loved DC-on-TV ever since the beginning of Smallville 15 (!) years ago. These days, I don't miss an episode of Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash or Legends of Tomorrow. (And the hot guys don't hurt!)

My fandom for both comic universes makes "Super Heroes" by Magical Scraps Galore the perfect kit because it includes references to both worlds. You have DC staples such as Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash represented alongside Iron Man and Thor, Captain America and Wolverine. I can make layouts based on my love for the Marvel movies as easily as my love for the DC TV shows. (Then there's the fact that my daughter and grandson are both HUGE Batman fans, so that helps, too.)

And even though I didn't grow up as a fan of the comic books, I LOVE the comic look of this kit! It gives me the freedom to go a little overboard with my layouts rather than worrying about keeping things more realistic (which is my usual scrap style). 

But best of all, this one kit works no matter who you bump into as you walk down the hall at Comic Con.

I admire the artistry that goes into a detailed costume, and I love the dedication people have to carrying off the character. And most people are more than glad to pose for photos and have their work noticed. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of attending a convention!

So if you're needing a super hero kit with a bit of a different look and the flexibility of scrapping characters from both of the giant comic worlds, give this one a try. "Super Heroes" is available at Scraps 'n' Pieces, Gingerscraps and Gotta Pixel. It includes:

25 papers: 17 patterned, 8 solid

1 upper case alpha, numerals 0-9, and some symbols

75 elements:

• 1 comic strip banner
• 4 hand-drawn comic book clouds
• 4 comic book dialogue boxes
• 3 unique fan folds
• 10 superhero flairs (spiderman, batman, superman, captain america, hulk, flash, wonder woman, wolverine, ironman, thor)
• 2 superhero silhouettes (male and female)
• 10 comic book words (pow!, boom!, bazinga!, bang!, ka-pow!, splat!, wham!, boing!, swoosh, crash)
• 10 word tags (supehero, never fear, fight for justice, to the rescue, save the day, my hero, secret identity, @#$%&*)
• 1 city skyline border
• 1 spider
• 1 bat
• 1 blast
• 1 bomb
• 1 lightning bolt
• 1 mask
• 2 paper clips
• 1 hand punch drawing
• 4 star cutouts
• 1 ribbon
• 1 ric rac
• 2 frames
• 1 paper leaf
• 2 arrows
• 1 staple (with and without shadows)
• 6 unique buttons
• 2 strings
• 1 tag
• 1 piece of tape

If you pick up this kit from Scraps 'n Pieces, you can use this coupon code, good for 30% off the price of the kit through September 15th (2016).

COUPON CODE: MSG_SH30%off

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Yellow Brick Road - Touched by a Butterfly

Once upon a time, long, long ago (in a galaxy far, far away...) (sorry, got distracted), I was a new baby digiscrapper. As I started looking around at kits, the bright colors of this one jumped out and grabbed me just like the apple trees in the dark forest grabbed Dorothy and Scarecrow.

I loved this kit so much that when I stumbled across a CT Call for this designer, even though I had NO idea what I was doing, I applied - and Celeste was sweet enough to give me my first CT home!

There are some movies that grab your attention and stand the test of time, becoming absolutely legendary and a thing that is passed down from generation to generation. "The Wizard of Oz" is one of those.

Now, as it so happened, my nieces do dance, and their routine that particular year was (you guessed it!) "Ease on Down the Road," from "The Wiz." So it was PERFECT to grab some pictures my sister-in-law posted on Facebook and combine them with this kit to get this early scrappy project:

Speaking of "The Wiz," for my high school graduation, our choir sang the song "Home" from that show. The opening line has long rung true for me:

"When I think of home,

I think of a place

Where there's love overflowing...."

With my husband, our homes have always been overflowing with love - all three (and only three) that we have lived in during our 33 years of marriage.

So whether you want to make layouts about what home means to you, or about friendship with people who are different than you are, this "Yellow Brick Road" mini kit is a great start to your "Wizard of Oz" collection.

This mini kit contains 5 patterned papers and the following 30 elements: A basket, a bike, a castle, a dog, flowers, a flying monkey, frames, a girl, a hot air balloon, a house, a lady, a lion, lollipops, a man, an oil can, a queen, ric rac, a yellow brick road, a scarecrow, shoes, a tin man, a tornado, wicked witch legs and a witch.

You can grab this mini kit - and the entire store, actually - at the Touched by a Butterfly store for 65% off through the end of August (2016). Celeste is retiring from digiscrap design and shutting down her private store at the end of the month, so this is a chance to grab some great goodies from the My Memories Designer of the Year for 2013 and 2014! (After this month, all of her designs will still be available at My Memories at regular price.)

 I hope you'll have fun with "Yellow Brick Road" and watch out for those lions, tigers and bears (OH MY!).

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust by BoomersGirl Designs

I swear,it seems that every other person I meet in the digiscrap community is a Disney fan. LOL! And the number of Disney-related kits available from many designers in various styles attests to that fact. 

Of all the Disney kits you'll see on this blog through the coming months, I had to share this one first, simply because I've used it the most. The themes of holding onto your inner child and looking at life as a great adventure are big ones in my family, so they are easy to scrap. For example:

My grandpa was never more at ease than when he was being silly with his grandkids (or, in this case, his great-granddaughter, my daughter).

Our family took a Disney cruise last summer (allowing me to mark an item off my bucket list). While Disney has a Pirate Night during the trip, my grandson decided to dress as Peter Pan, which made for a lot of fun with all of the Peter Pan characters (and a LOT of pictures to scrap!). 

My daughter has a special love for anything related to Peter Pan - she has Peter Pan-themed tattoos, she sees life as a series of great adventures, and she loved this particular song which was popular just at the time she was graduating from college this past spring.

This kit has 36 papers, 2 full alphas (upper and lower case, plus punctuation), and 102 elements, including:

alligator; baby; 2 arrows; banner; 5 bows, boy in dressing gown, boy in green, 9 buttons, 1 clipping mask, clock, 5 curling ribbons, flourish, fairy, 8 flowers, girl, 2 graffiti, 2 frames, 4 hearts, Indian, 5 labels, 4 leaves, page title, paper clip, pirate ship, pirate, 2 pixie dust elements, 7 quote cards, 3 ribbons, 2 ric-rac, 2 borders, 3 scatters, flying shadow, 4 stars, 3 stems, 2 layered stitches, 4 strings, swirl, tag, 2 pieces of tape, 2 swords, teddy bear, treasure chest, treasure map

And as a thank-you for checking out this blog, BoomersGirl Designs is offering a coupon code for 55% off of this "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust" kit at GingerScraps through August 22nd, 2016. Use code: BGD_DG42856

I hope you'll have as much fun with this awesome kit as I have!

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Please:

1. Tell your friends about this blog. The more traffic it has, the more designers will share their kits and have special deals on them!

2. If you're of a geeky nature, come join our Facebook group, Digi Geek! Here is where you can ask for sources for hard-to-find scrap kits to match your fandom. (And if you're a designer, you're welcome to use the group's photo albums to archive your previews and store links for people to find.)

3. If you have certain requests, let me know! I know what MY interests are, but I also know there are many more out there, and I want to give good representation to all of them!

GO! Catch 'Em All! - MagsGraphics Designs

There are so many video games out there. Some of them become really popular.

And then every once in awhile, one just absolutely captures everyone's imagination and becomes a phenomenon...much like "Angry Birds" did.

That's the current case with "Pokemon Go!" If you're not out searching for the little critters yourself, you've probably seen groups of people walking along the streets and through the parks looking to catch one. 

The wonderful part of this game is that it has gotten people out walking and moving instead of sitting in front of a video screen. (Of course, the down side is that you can only play until your battery runs down, then you have to take a break to recharge.) ;)

Another wonderful part of this game is this great collection MagsGraphics put together to scrap pictures of your favorite hunters. Here are some of the sample layouts her creative folks did for the release of this bundle:

You can find the "GO! Catch 'Em All!" bundle at GingerScraps, and you can use this coupon code to get a 25% discount through the month of August (2016) as a thank you gift for checking out this blog before heading over to pick up your prize!  COUPON CODE: MAGS_POKEGO

***If you have any particular geeky genres you want to see represented in this blog, or if you are a designer and have kits that fit our little corner of the digiscrap world, leave a comment and let me know! Ultimately, I'm wanting to build a resource where Digi Geeks can find resources to scrap their interests.

Also, if you've happened to stumble upon this blog, feel free to come join the fun at the Digi Geek Facebook group. Hope to see you there!

Bigger on the Inside - Kate Hadfield Designs

I've been through a handful of fandoms. And I've had some that I was more involved with.

But my current Big Love is a certain Doctor from Gallifrey. "Doctor Who" has been my favorite for the past 5 years or so. I came into it just as #10 was leaving and #11 was making his debut. My first episode that I saw was "Silence in the Library" - I loved the witty dialogue between the Doctor and River, and I've enjoyed Alex Kingston since her days on "ER." So I thought maybe this show deserved some attention.

Fast forward five years. Items of a certain shade of blue seem to keep multiplying around my house. I've made my first fannish piece of clothing (I crocheted a "scarf skirt"). And I've hosted a season premiere party to welcome #12, complete with decorations and themed foods.

So when I started doing digi scrap, I wanted a kit to represent this particular fandom. And given that my daughter & her son were moving back home at the time, I had an idea I wanted to try for decorating their bathroom.

That's when I found "Bigger on the Inside." This set of hand-drawn doodles was easily my choice for my first geeky blog post simply because I've used it more than any other kit I own. Period.

If you aren't familiar with Kate Hadfield Designs, Kate is an artist who creates her own hand-drawn doodles based around various themes. Now, on the one hand, this means you only get elements; you have to get papers and alphas from other sources. But on the other hand, these are absolutely original items, not available from any other designer.

In addition to layout work, I took several of these doodles and printed them on window cling adhesive (available at office supply stores). Then after painting the aforementioned bathroom, I used the clings on the walls and on our sliding tub doors as decorations.

This kit contains: 

3D glasses, apple, banana, bow tie, crack, cube, bowl of custard, diary, 2 fezzes, 2 fishfingers, British flag, gas mask, glasses, 2 hearts, 2 jam biscuits, key, leaf, 3 outfits, paper, roman helmet, shoe, soufflé, Stetson, suitcase, tally marks, tie, TV and fob watch.

And the following wordy-bits:

ALLONS-Y! (two styles)

GERONIMO! (two styles)

FANTASTIC! (two styles)

affirmative

bigger on the inside

DON'T BLINK

fanboy

fangirl

hello sweetie

I wear a ...now; ... are cool

I <3 <3 New New York

new who

NO MORE

still not ginger

OOOH WEEE OHHH

pretend it's a plan

Rule No. 1

....RUN!

run for your life!

The Doctor will see you now

shenanigans

smaller on the outside

spoilers

timey-wimey

VWORP VWORP

AND since you read about this kit here on this post, Kate Hadfield Designs has graciously offered a coupon code for 30% off if you want to buy this kit for a limited time. Just use the code at checkout: digigeeksROCK.  This code will be good through the month of August (2016) at The Lilypad. (Use link above with kit name.)

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While we'll be exploring and covering many geeky genres in this blog, I'm open to suggestions. If you have a favorite fandom that you want to find kits for, or if you are a designer and think you have a kit that would fit our little corner of the digi scrap world, feel free to leave me a comment or send me a note.

And be sure to tell your friends about the Digi Scrap Geek! Sign up for notifications when a new post is made, or come join our Facebook group to keep up on the latest!