Hybrid Take-Out

Hi Everyone! Happy April! As many of you know, I'm not really a tutorial kind of gal. I have photography issues, and patience issues, and so I usually steer clear. But to start off April in a big way, today I've got a little tutorial over at the Hybrid Chick on how to make this adorable little Take-Out box. Head on over to --> this post <-- to check it out! The box uses Kelleigh Ratzlaff's Take-Out Box Template and some of the gorgeous new papers included in this month's Digichick Designer Collab kit - Springtime in the Afternoon. This kit has all sorts of digi papers, tons of fabulous little elements and a couple cute printable boxes and bags.

ETA: The butterfly is one of the new Fluttering Butterflies by Prima. This one is style F and I purchased it from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. I didn't see it in stock on her website, but there are five varieties of the butterflies, and it looks like she still has variety A and C. These are absolutely GORGEOUS!

And since today's a hybrid day, I thought I'd answer a few of the questions I've been getting about hybrid.

Most digital kits come with 12 x 12 paper, do I need a printer that prints 12 x 12 to use them? No, the beauty of having the files in a digital format, is that they are re-sizable. Most of the papers and element files come in high resolution .png or .jpg files so that you can print them from any program you like. Just open them in the program you would like and resize them to fit a regular 8.5 x 11 sheet.

Do I need a graphics program to be able to print the papers? While you get the most flexibility from a graphics editor like Photoshop Elements, having one of those programs is not necessary. You can open the files in Word or Paint and resize them to print the size you would like. And if you don't have Word, you can even print them using the built-in Windows Photo Printer wizard. I've explained this method a little bit in this mini-tutorial.

Do I need a graphics program to be able to use the templates? In most cases, yes. Many of the templates are layered templates, which means you need a program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro that can handle layers. Much like layers on a card, these programs allow you to stick one thing under and another thing over, to give a realistic overlapping.

Does printing take a lot of ink? This really depends on your printer. If you've got a gas guzzling Hummer, you're not going to go the same distance as a Prius. The same thing applies to printers and ink. I've printed A LOT of paper in the past couple months and still haven't even had a notification that I need to replace any of the ink cartridges.

Is all that printing expensive? Hmmm... I guess this one depends on how you look at it. The papers I'm drawn to in the scrapbook store are now between $1.00 to $1.79 per 12 x 12 sheet. That seems expensive to me! And then I always have to buy at least 2-3 sheets of each design because I don't want to run out in the middle of a project! Many of these printed papers are beautiful, but not a good scale for cardmaking - which is what I do a lot of. One of the things I like most about digital papers is that when I scale them down to size for printing, the images of the paper scale as well, so I don't have a 4" rose taking up my entire card. Everything is in its place. And I can print as much as I want as often as I want. No need for excess paper sitting around collecting dust, or a mad dash to the LSS when I'm in the middle of a project.

What paper do you print on? Just like when you're stamping, paper DOES make a difference. Sometimes I print on regular cardstock and sometimes I print on Epson Matte Premium Presentation Paper. This paper is a nice weight and seems to be able to accept ink when I stamp on a printed page better than a lot of papers I've tried. My absolute favorite paper is Epson Watercolor paper. It's more expensive, but I'm a texture gal - and this paper feels just like Crate Paper. YUMMMY!