Hi there! Letter-sized digi scrapper here.

[minimom87]

Hello out there. I have been perusing the site for the past few weeks and really love the quality and variety of designs! I'll upload my aka page shortly.

My objective is to complete a memory book for my daughter by the time she graduates from high school. I decided to go with "thematic" layouts (vs. chronological) for a host of reasons. My husband is retiring from 23 years in the Army next year and there's that project too!

My biggest challenge is that I'm working in a 8.5x11 portrait format and templates for this are few and far between. I suppose at some point I'll have to join the rest of the square world... it's just that I have already bought the albums, page inserts, etc. I'm getting pretty good at adjusting templates, and PSE 8.0 "recompose" tool is coming in rather handy but it still takes extra time.

Oh and like so many, I've got a mix of print and digital photos to deal with and have been pretty happy with the photo filters that help deal with scanning issues.

So - see you round the neighborhood! Meredith

[katrinak]

Hi there Meredith!

Welcome! Sounds like a fun (and busy) project! I'm guessing you've seen Cathy's templates? She has a lot of 8.5x11 options!

[kaleidoscope]

Hi!

[minimom87]

Thanks so much Katrinak! No... I hadn't seen her layouts and really appreciate the tip on that. Will check that out after I hit the treadmill...

[dugarner]

Welcome, Meredith! You've got some great projects going. My mother-in-law has been working on my husband's album for 5 years now, and my father-in-law retired from the Air Force in 2001 and she's still working on that one, too.

Anna has a whole book of templates:

Landscape Layered Template Album No. 01 8 1/2 X 11 - Digital Scrapbooking

though it's landscape, I don't see why you couldn't just turn it.

[digigrandma]

Also, check out Deena's gallery here.

http://www.designerdigitals.com/digi...500&ppuser=287

Deena has many examples of the 8.5 x 11 size layouts. (She does both square and rectangle)

Oh, and, WELCOME! So glad you found your way to Designer Digitals.

[anke]

welcome to DD Meredith! I was going to tell you about Cathy's templates also but was beat to it. I hope you'll find some inspiration there. Nice to meet you!

[Jen D]

Welcome... hope to see some of those 8.5 X11 layouts in the gallery soon!!!

[earlofoxford]

Hi, Meredith -- so glad you found DD. You'll love it here!

[maureenreynolds]

Hi Meredith, welcome! I too like the 8.5x11 and sometimes adapt a template for myself. I also NOW remember to save the revised template for future use.

[minimom87]

Thanks all for the tips on letter sized layouts!

Wow. I can see there are some amazing talents in this community and know right now designer digitals is going to be one of those happy places I go to frequently for inspiration!

I'll be returning back to work next week (I had surgery) and will really need to be efficient with my time moving forward.

All the best - Meredith

[LisaD]

welcome, Going back to work after time off can be challenging. You'll find lots of inspiration and friendly help when needed here.

[mungerre]

Welcome! Good luck going back to work!