Who of us digi-scrappers doesn’t aspire to make our scrapbook pages look as realistic as possible? Well, I found a great tool to give your page a fun slant that is a wee bit different than our typical scrapbook layouts. I’m talking about the Magazine Stand templates by Amanda Taylor (taylormade designs at Oscraps). She has two volumes out that are super-easy to work with, and yet highly editable, which means you can pretty much use them any way you want. Magazine Stand Vol. 1 by taylormade designs     True, those of you who digiscrap in order to print an album, probably won’t find much use in these templates. But if you simply are looking for a fun way to document your memories, and make them stand out in the galleries, too, these templates might be just what you are looking for. They come in two versions. One layered template that includes frames and guides (though you have to create your own textpaths), the other version is just a blank page template, which means …

Something I’ve seen popping up in the galleries more often recently (but which I’ve been in love with for a long time), are photo pockets. You know, the page protector thingies that are so common in traditional scrapbooking. While it is true, that photo pockets can make your page look at little faded (since they are usually placed on top of everything else on your page), it also is true that they can give your layout a fun twist. Photo pockets are so much fun to work with. And they are really versatile, too. You can fill them with photos, papers, elements or with a bit of everything. Photo pockets come in various styles and formats. Like this sample by Joanne Brisebois: While these protectors have a strong reflection (which can distract a little from whatever it is that you want to showcase), I still like them, because they are not like the traditional square format, and the way Joanne divided the various pockets makes them interesting to work with and look at.   Emily …