Angie Pedersen's Scrapbooking Industry News

75 Percent of Digital Cameras Will Offer 8 Megapixels by 2011: Lyra Research

Via Photography Industry News:

Newton, MA— In the ongoing megapixel race, more than 75 percent of all digital cameras sold worldwide will have a resolution of 8 megapixels or more by 2011, reports Lyra Research (lyra.com).

While most digital cameras now on the market are more than adequate resolution for consumer’s needs, camera manufacturers have continued increasing megapixels and consumers have continued to respond. As a result, sensor resolution, or megapixels, has becoming the defining spec for digital cameras, notes Lyra.

The research firm sees the digital camera market shifting: the megapixel race will continue; average selling prices will drop further; and consumer DSLR shipments are on the rise.

Read the whole brief at Photography Industry News.

“Desperate Housewife” Marcia Cross Partners with Hallmark to Create Legacy Keeper

New Legacy Keeper incorporates audio technology to help preserve memories for future generations

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Life makes the best story. As a family-focused new mother of twins, actress Marcia Cross knows this is true. She wanted to tell her own story, and to ensure her family’s legacy lives on so her children, and their children, will stay in touch with their roots. That’s why Cross approached Hallmark with her vision to help people share life’s journeys. Together they created the Hallmark Legacy Keeper, a memory-keeping product that uses digital technology to capture and preserve families’ histories for future generations to see – and hear.

“Sharing our joys, heartaches, and life lessons will bring us closer to those we love and those whom we will never meet,” Cross said. “That’s why I approached Hallmark with this idea. I wanted to create a tool for people who, like me, believe life’s journey is precious enough to be captured and shared with loved ones for years to come.”

The Hallmark Legacy Keeper contains all the elements necessary to record an autobiography in one’s own voice. The kit features:

• a digital MP3 voice recorder (with up to eight hours of high-quality voice or music recording capacity)
• easy-to-use quick-start instructions
• a book of categorized questions (to help organize the story-telling)
• storage space for sharing keepsakes, mementos, photos, and DVDs

Hallmark’s Legacy Keeper will help people share their life story so future generations can see and hear it for years to come. The Hallmark Legacy Keeper, a Hallmark Gold Crown exclusive, retails for $50 and is now widely available at Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

“We were thrilled to work with Marcia to bring the Hallmark Legacy Keeper to life,” said Jonathan Bowyer, a retail merchandise manager for Hallmark’s memory keeping products. “This new innovative memory keeper allows people to deepen their connections by talking about their relationships, and it preserves those conversations for generations to come in a way that simple photo sharing can’t.”

About Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Kansas City-based Hallmark is known throughout the world for its greeting cards, related personal expression products, and television's most honored and enduring dramatic series, the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The company's Crayola subsidiary provides fun and imaginative ways for children to colorfully express themselves. The company publishes products in more than 30 languages and distributes them in more than 100 countries. In 2006, Hallmark reported consolidated net revenues of $4.1 billion.

SOURCE: Hallmark Corporate Information.

Call for Submissions: Scrapbooking Kids & Teens

Via the recent Scrapbooking.com e-newsletter:

Scrapbooking.com Magazine is looking for submissions from kids and teens. We would like to start a new section in the magazine but need your help. We want layouts and the stories that accompany them, created and written by clever youths. If the pages are published, they will be credited to the youth and will remain in the archives indefinitely. The kids can use this acknowledgment on resumes and college applications - they would be, after all, published artists and writers. Pretty impressive stuff for potential employers and admissions committees! I'm sure a lot of you have creative children, teach in schools or know talented teens in your community. Please pass on this information to anyone who might be interested. All aspiring young artists can contact us for more details at publisher/@/a-z.com.

Family Tree & Memory Makers Magazines offer 2006 issues on CD

Via an email from FamilyTree Magazine, now available: Family Tree Magazine 2006 archive on CD.

Get all the 2006 issues of Family Tree Magazine on one CD...This fully searchable CD gives you instant access to six complete issues of Family Tree Magazine, featuring 564 pages of how-to genealogy articles such as these:

• Tip-a-day planner of 365 ways to trace your roots
• 89 family history freebies
• Five ways to save time online
• Genetic genealogy explained in plain English

All the content is in an enhanced PDF format that lets you click directly to thousands of Web sites, quickly find the content you want, and take your favorite family history advice with you when you research.

Also available, Memory Makers 2006 Annual CD.

• Complete uncut contents of all 9 subscription issues from 2006, including the popular Top 50 and Scrapbook Idea Gallery 7
• The Family Ties
  article series, with scrapbook galleries covering 7 different family
  relationships, such as siblings, daughters, sons, parents, grandparents
• 1000+ magazine pages on one disc you can take with you anywhere—just grab the CD and go!
• Easy access to articles and ads through simple keyword searches
• Printable pages you can share with your scrapbooking friends
• Interactive tables-of-contents that make finding fun facts fast

Learn Digital Techniques Easily Step-By-Step with New Book

Become Confident Without Being Committed
Digital scrapbooking instructor offers tips for beginners to advanced users, everything from installing the program to organizing digital kits and achieving realistic effects - all with no technical or graphic arts experience…or help from husbands.

Fountain Valley, CA – November 14, 2007 – Finally, an instructional guide designed specifically for creating scrapbooking and card-making projects on the computer - Digital & Hybrid Scrapbooking and Card-Making with Photoshop Elements promises it is "the book that fills in the steps that the scrapbook magazines leave out."  More than an idea book, this is a 384 page how-to manual written in plain English for scrapbookers who want to learn digital techniques with clear step-by-step instructions.

"Digital & Hybrid Scrapbooking" is based on author Patty Debowski's experience teaching digital scrapbooking in California community colleges.  "Many of my students learned to use a computer with their impatient husbands hovering over them," explains Debowski, a formerly frustrated digi-scrapper. "They depend on their husbands for even simple tasks, like copying the photos from their camera to their computer.  My students love my simple step-by-step instructions – they go home and get the same results they got in class.  So many women have emailed me to tell me how empowered they feel because they can now do this easily."

All of the techniques in Debowski's book are explained for a digi-scrapper. "Everything I’ve read explains how to use Photoshop Elements to edit photos," says Debowski, "not make scrapbook pages or cards. Nowhere in my book will you find an instruction like 'rasterize the vector layer' and wonder what it means.  That is what makes this book unique."

At 384 pages, and weighing nearly three-and-a-half pounds, "Digital & Hybrid Scrapbooking" is no light-weight "fluff" book with a lot of pretty scrapbook pages, cautions Debowski.  "My students are tired of looking at the pretty pictures – they want basic instruction on how to do the techniques and use all the digital tools. This is a Photoshop Elements instruction manual geared toward the digi-scrapper that’s written in plain English."  Extensive table of contents and index listings allow readers to quickly find instructions on any digital scrapbooking or photo editing task they need.

Digital and Hybrid Scrapbooking & Card-Making with Photoshop Elements includes:

• Basic instruction for the beginner, such as how to download and install fonts, how to unzip and use digital scrapbook supplies, and organize them efficiently.
• Detailed step-by-step instructions with lots of screenshots show how to do the techniques shown in scrapbooking magazines and how to use the Photoshop Elements program.
• Tips on achieving more advanced techniques, like making and using templates (a fast way to speed up your scrapping), making and using brushes, and using blending modes and filters.
• A DVD filled with 15 digi-scrapping website discount coupons, and more than 1,000 pieces of digi-scrapping elements, created by more than 30 professional designers -- a great starting point for a new digi-scrapper, and great additions to an existing collection.
• Customized Photoshop Elements Organizer tags, designed for the digi-scrapper to instantly install. They will allow you to find the perfect scrapbook element in less than 15 seconds when you tag your digital scrapbook supplies.
• Handy mini reference card with shortcuts and tips, sized to slide under your keyboard while you work.
• Detailed "What Did I Do Wrong?" section to help you quickly fix problems you encounter.
• How to combine digital techniques with traditional scrapbook supplies (hybrid).

Included in a grand opening special which expires November 30 is The Digi-Scrapping Menu for Success (free with the purchase of the book, a $6.99 value) -- an 8 ½ x 11 inch plastic coated, fun, chocolate accented, reference card to keep by your computer...all the tips and tricks you need at your finger tips. The book, and menu are available at www.TheDigitalScrapbookTeacher.com. International & U.S. bulk specials, templates, and gift wrapping are also available.

TheDigitalScrapbookTeacher.com offers an affiliate program, enabling affiliates to earn a commission for every product sold through ads placed on their website, blog, newsletters, or emails.  Find more information at http://www.thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com/Affiliate/scrapbook.html.

Debowski works with local retail stores to help them set up digital classes and programs.   
To encourage retailers to offer digital programs, Debowski offers product discounts for bulk orders.  Find wholesale information here: http://www.thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com/Wholesale/scrapbook.html.

# # #

EDITORS: Patty Debowski is available for interviews and as an expert resource on digital scrapbooking.

SOURCES: PRWeb and Yahoo! News

* This is a ScrapbookMarketing press release

Memorytrends Magazine Absorbed Back into Craftrends

Announced in the October 2007 issue of Craftrends:

Effective immediately, we are rolling Memorytrends magazine back into the pages of Craftrends and will be increasing the frequency of Craftrends from quarterly to six issues per year.  The next issue will be December, which features our annual Consumer Participation Survey.

Editorial Director Bill Gardner also announced he has assumed editorial director responsibilities for Creative Machine Embroidery magazine, Sew News, and Sew Simple, in addition to Craftrends, and educational responsibilities for the Memorytrends Conference & Expo.

Also effective in October was Beth Hess' resignation as editor of Memorytrends magazine and managing editor of Craftrends.  She left to join her husband in their family business full time.

Call for Submissions: DigiChick Encourages Charity Work & Volunteerism

The DigiChick recently announced a community effort to encourage scrapbookers to  "take action to help in their communities".  To reward these good works, The DigiChick designers have created a special kit that will be given to participants:

Call To Act is a kit created by your favorite designers from all over the community with a common desire to make a change. This kit is being given as a free gift to all scrapbookers that can show that they are taking action to help in their communities. This could be donating canned goods for needful families for Thanksgiving, clothes for those affected by the fires if you live in California, or volunteering your time at evacuation shelters, even being apart of a donation effort put together by your church or child's school for the holidays. Sometimes contributing monetarily isn’t always feasible. This kit is to encourage you to step up and step out into your community. As they say, give and you shall receive.

• Upload evidence of your charity/volunteer work to The Digichick gallery linked HERE.
• "Evidence" could be a receipt or photo of charitable activities, or a complete layout of such activities.
• Describe what you did to contribute in the credits area
• TDC
  Administrators will send participants a code via Private Message to check out with the
  kit at no cost.
• Layouts must be uploaded to the DigiChick Call to Act gallery to be eligible.

Designers contributing to the Call to Act Kit are Emily Merritt, Michelle Coleman, Amanda Rockwell, Gina Miller, Amber Clegg, Chere Edwards, Divine Digital, Sara Amarie, and Elemental Scraps.

Li'l Davis Designs Joins Fiskars Craft Division

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Fiskars Brands, Inc. announces that they have added Lil' Davis Designs to their crafting division. A family owned and operated scrapbooking company since 2002, Li'l Davis Designs (named after young daughter Davis) began operations when husband and wife team Tricia Barrett and Brian Fogg purchased laser equipment to create custom die cuts.

According to Tricia, "Family inspires much of what we do at Li'l Davis, so we understand the value of preserving important memories, family or other, in a unique way. We want to ensure that your scrapbook pages are just as special as the moments themselves."

Li'l Davis has continued to grow and now offers hundreds of innovative embellishments, tools and papers. Over the last five years, the company has evolved into an internationally recognized brand in the scrapbook community.

"We are excited about having Tricia and Brian join our family," says Chad Vincent, Fiskars Craft President. "The brand look and feel that they have created and nurtured holds great potential for growth."

Tricia and Brian will remain the creative leads of Li'l Davis, and the operations and marketing will be handled at Fiskars' US headquarters in Madison, WI. Their newest lines will be revealed at the February 2008 Craft and Hobby Association Show in Anaheim, CA.

"The new product lines for 2008 are fantastic, and we can't wait to share them with our customers," says Michelle Ponti, Director of Consumables at Fiskars Craft.

Fiskars® Brands, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiskars® Corporation, a Finnish corporation traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HEX: FIS).  Fiskars®, is the world's leading manufacturer of scissors, gardening tools and cutlery, as well as other consumer products sold under the brand names including FISKARS®, Cloud 9 Design, Gerber Legendary Blades®, Gingher, Heidi Grace Designs, Montana®, Raadvad, Sankey and Ebert, Brunton, Kaimano, Kitchen Devils, Oficut, Silva, Werga, Wilkinson Sword, Winchester, Zinck Lysbro.

To view Fiskars items, visit http://www.fiskars.com. If you have further questions about Li'l Davis Designs, please visit http://www.lildavisdesigns.com/.

SOURCES: Fiskars Brands, Inc. and Yahoo! Finance

Arctic Frog Closing

Via Nancy Nally's Scrapbook Update, popular paper manufacturer Arctic Frog announced it will soon cease operations.

The company will be liquidating the remaining product in their warehouse until December 1st, and then will hold a public warehouse sale Dec. 1st until the 7th (or until the remaining product is gone).