http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/ I'M READING: FOLLOW ME ON:TwitterFacebook ABOUT ME: I'm a lifelong resident of beautiful Portland, Oregon. I began designing pages at age six, making little booklets patterned after my brother's high school yearbooks. After graduating with a BA in Communications, and taking a career detour or two, I began a fun and rewarding career as a freelance graphic designer. I have a deep belief in the power of personal photography to enrich life and increase joy. I also love modern design ... thus my Design Studio was born. I am an incurable optimist with the belief that everything in our lives works together for our ultimate good. I am crazy about my family, reading, dogs, road trips, the natural world, fashion bargains, and smokehouse almonds. Sat, 19 May 2012 04:33:02 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2011/9/34 I'm happy to announce that I've moved my blog to a Blogspot location: http://nanscottdesignstudio.blogspot.com/. This will allow me to be more connected in a number of ways. See you there! Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:55:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2011/9/34 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2011/3/33 I’m back in the Studio, and it feels great to be here :) I can’t believe it’s been exactly four months since I’ve posted a blog.  To briefly explain, I abruptly put the Studio work on hold while I attended to the needs of my 86-year-old mom in November. As you can see, she is adorable. She’s also been my best friend forever. Until mid-November, she walked over a mile a day in her charming NW Portland neighborhood of coffee houses and boutiques … but suddenly, sh... Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:19:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2011/3/33 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/11/32 It’s time to start dropping hints for holiday gifts! Give Santa a break by passing along the best prices for Adobe Photoshop Elements—a program that is a guaranteed investment in your family’s memorykeeping. Should help a lot with that New Year’s Resolution to do something with your cherished digital photos! A major development in Elements is that Version 9 was released in September. I haven’t upgraded yet, mostly because the older versions do everything I need for the simpl... Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:43:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/11/32 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/31 On November 4, 2009, I posted my first blog. Here’s how I illustrated it: I had high hopes of bringing a fresh look to digital scrapbooking. I used the word “modern” but in my heart I was also thinking “sophisticated,” as in little black dresses, Jackie O sunglasses and Kate Spade handbags (that’s one in the photo; I used it to show how to add a splash of red to a layout). I bravely went where I thought no woman had gone before—to create digital products for p... Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:14:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/31 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/30 My book club met Tuesday to discuss one of my favorites: “The Last Lecture,” by Randy Pausch.  If you aren’t inclined to read the book, you can see the real lecture on YouTube; it’s totally worth an hour of your life. I’ve happily read the book three times. Something that got me thinking this time around was the section called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” Randy had some great and quirky dreams as a kid—to float in space like an ast... Sat, 16 Oct 2010 07:55:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/30 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/29 I love squares! You might notice this from my logo, which features four of them. As a designer, when I came up needing a logo design that was solid, graceful and elegant ... I started with a square as a jumping-off point.  And although my first photo albums were oversized rectangles, I was happy to see the scrapbooking world go toward the 12 X 12 square as the industry standard. Yet, the 12 X 12 does present some challenges ... including printing, once digital scrapbooking entered the scene. Digital ... Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:44:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/29 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/28 This week marked the beginning of a new era in the Studio ... in two major ways. First, I signed six amazing modern artists to design patterned digital paper and page accessories. I’ve asked them for photos and bios and am excited to introduce them to the digital scrapbooking world next week. Second, I will be posting the first Clean Sheets Classic Scrapbooking product on Monday ... The Hudson Quick Album.  Here’s a sneak peek: A little about why this is so exciting for me.... Sun, 03 Oct 2010 06:28:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/10/28 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/9/27 “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” —Steve Jobs, in a 2005 commencement address at Stanford. I hope you are foolish enough to believe that you have something unique to offer the world that no one else does … NO ONE, in this world of 6,697,254,041 individuals (thank you, Google). I hope that, at whatever stage you are in life right now, you know at some point you will begin to put your heart and soul into offering that “something” … in whatever large or small way yo... Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:57:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/9/27 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/9/26 Wow, it’s been WAY too long since I did a Best Price Check on Photoshop Elements! With the kids back in school, maybe it’s a good time to think about doing a little learning of your own—with a program that is a guaranteed investment in your family’s memorykeeping. One trend I’ve noticed is that the pricing for the Mac and PC versions is now equal in all the outlets I checked. It’s the first time that’s happened! Here’s what I found: BEST PRICE: $49.99 (M... Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:05:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/9/26 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/8/25 I love you because  … I sometimes look at product and have to ask, “What is it?”  A print, a sculpture, a piece of jewelry, a chair? Your YouTube Channel lets me take a break and visit the studios of artists with their own unique ways of seeing the world. I realize that in a world full of new technologies, your artisans are sewing by hand, drawing with pens and pencils, and carving with a well-worn chisel. Your morning email (Etsy Finds) makes me think, laugh, swoon, and... Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:03:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/8/25 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/8/24 I’m getting back in the swing of things after 10 amazing days of vacation. I took my laptop and good intentions to work … but I never so much as opened it. I did take lots of pictures and notes, though, so I'm excited to scrap the trip soon. How do I blog, in a few hundred words, the meanings behind the moments? Here are just a few snapshots and their significance: 1: Lauren’s homecoming. My niece just returned from a mission for our church, and we held a party in her honor. You can... Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:36:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/8/24 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/7/23 We've got a road trip on Friday! I LOVE our twice-yearly trips across the desolate Eastern Oregon-Idaho-Utah highways. Haven't people always gone into the wilderness seeking peace? I love my hours to do nothing but relax, talk, and read. This trip, I'm excited to read my first book on our brand spankin' new iPad en route, and I'm curious to see how my experience differs from my last half-century of reading in the car. Our trip comes on the heels of Amazon's announcement last week that the... Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:54:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/7/23 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/7/22 This morning while my neighbors were waking to a beautiful morning, I was at Costco picking up prints and slipping them into a U.S. Army scrapbook album, knowing that in just a few hours, it would be given to a grieving family at the memorial for their son, who died 15 days ago in Afganistan. On June 23, my son, Mackian, was skateboarding with his friends when Jeromie got a call to come home immediately. Within a couple of hours, I received the news that Jeromie’s brother, Tony Justesen, had been k... Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:12:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/7/22 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/21 This week I’m grateful SUMMER IS HERE in the Pacific Northwest at last! Ahh, green leaves in the breeze and sunshine. NOW I remember why I live here! And, this week I’m happy to welcome my summer graphic design intern, Maggie Schilling. In the corporate world I had several interns, but hadn’t really considered one for my new design Studio. The way the internship came together strengthens my understanding that the good things you do in the world ALWAYS come straight back to you! Maggie&r... Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:33:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/21 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/20 There are two shows I love on television, and they involve two of my passions: canines (The Dog Whisperer) and design (HGTV’s Design Star). The new DS season began last night, and so Sunday nights at 10 look for me in my Snuggie with a bowl of popcorn! Last night didn’t disappoint. There was frantic shopping, spilled paint, crazy ideas, a painful design faux pas, plenty of creativity and personality … and because the show is now produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor and The Apprentice),... Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:48:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/20 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/19 The first seven days of this month have been unremarkable—no major events, no vacations, not even good weather. An orthodontist appointment, shopping at IKEA, a meeting with a new client. The stuff of everyday life? Yes. Worthy of remembering? Absolutely! Even if you’re not a great photographer (yet), the photos of your are meaningful when they capture specific, personal moments … because no moment in life is ordinary. If you're familiar with my Beautifully Simple method of photo orga... Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:25:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/6/19 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/18 I planned to blog on my laptop at the motorhome dinette table, but instead, I’m sitting here in a hefty back brace, in pain but grateful to be out of bed and at my desk at home. Three days ago, bending to pick up a pen from the floor caused my back to go into a major spasm. The chiropractor says the happy hours (months?) I’ve sat motionless in front of my Mac actually caused a hip muscle to shorten, ultimately going into a major cramp ... OUCH! Anyway, it’s Memorial Day weekend and our... Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:09:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/18 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/17 I love reading other bloggers, but my blog has been sporadic and ho-hum. Here’s what got me started thinking about the perfect solution for my mental blogging-block: Years ago, my dessert-loving sister-in-law Val devised a creative way to keep her weight down, and it worked. (Maybe there’s a bestseller here?! Oprah?) Periodically, when the scale crept up a pound or two, she’d announce that she was swearing off desserts for a specific amount of time—like a month—and would te... Mon, 24 May 2010 19:41:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/17 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/16 I’ve had a life-long love of dots, which may have started in my childhood bedroom, which were sheer pink drapes with white dotted swiss. In my high school years, I went through a phase of retro (or retro-style) dresses from the ‘40’s, which looked adorable even decades later, and one of them had white dots on navy blue. Ahh … In the ‘90’s, I LOVED Julia Robert’s dress in “Pretty Woman,” with random crisp white dots on chocolate brown. (And don&rsqu... Sun, 23 May 2010 19:26:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/5/16 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/14 It’s time to drop hints for Mother’s Day, which is coming up FAST on May 9. If you don’t already have Adobe Photoshop Elements, here is my Quick Price Check that your loved ones may find of interest! BEST PRICE: $49.99 at Amazon.com This is an amazing price and is the same for both PC and Mac. It is available by box only (no downloads), and the price is a result of a $20 mail-in rebate. It’s eligible for free shipping, too. NEXT BEST: $69.99 at Adobe.com Now there’s somethi... Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:47:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/14 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/13 Wow! It feels like forever since I blogged. It’s been a busy eight days, during which I finished up four freelance design projects for clients. I’m happy to be back in the Studio now, having fun with the digital paper I worked on over Spring Break. Here is a layout I just finished in four color ways. Which page do you like most?  The white with a pop of red? The deep neutral? The bold spring green? Many of us tend to gravitate toward a color and design style that reflects a certain pr... Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:29:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/13 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/12 Last week, we road-tripped across Oregon, Idaho and Utah for a Spring Break to visit family … two 12-hour driving days, and two four-hour driving days … yay! I may be crazy, but I LOVE the feeling of whizzing across the vast expanses of wilderness, some of it breathtakingly beautiful, some of it fairly monochromatic, but not monotonous. Who says subtle landscapes are a bad thing? They let you enjoy the expanse of sky … and daydream. Pix from trip:  My mobile office … m... Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:47:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/4/12 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/3/11 Ahh, IKEA. Just thinking about that huge blue building with the bold yellow sign makes me happy. Swedish meatballs with ligonberries, colorful kitchen gadgets with names like Bekvam (a spice organizer)—and best of all, aisle after aisle of amazing modern textile design! This trip I found myself continually swooning over the crisp, bold black and whites. I had already been dreaming of how to use my new black and white digital patterns in upcoming scrapbook pages, picturing them accessorized by a sin... Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:39:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/3/11 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/3/10 Last week I had a fun lunch with a friend exploring a great idea … She has a connection to a family that operates schools in Kenya, and they often bring back handcrafted gifts and sell them informally to support their efforts. My friend wants to sell these gifts (which are charming, like these zebra salad tongs) in a broader way, expanding the range of gifts and beneficiaries. It will be a “service project” for her family—with no compensation beyond the satisfaction of making a... Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:47:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/3/10 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/9 It’s a GREAT TIME to invest in Adobe Photoshop Elements! Probably thanks to the sluggish economy, several retailers have dropped prices since my last Price Post in January. Here are today’s prices*, from lowest to highest, including screamin’ deals (for PC users) from Staples, and a bundled deal from Buy.com: Staples.com:  PC: $49.99, after two Staples discounts and a $20 mail-in rebate; eligible for free shipping. Boxed only, no downloads, check website for in-store availability. ... Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:51:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/9 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/7 Over the last few days I’ve had a blast creating Valentine’s Day patterns. I confess I’m not a huge fan of this particular “holiday,” but I’d had some requests to do digital paper. So, as is my custom, I’d created the patterns in black and white first, and set about finding the right colors to fill the shapes. I just couldn’t find the right colors, until I opened my mailbox to find the latest issue of InStyle magazine. There it was in the masthead, a s... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:46:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/7 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/8 Two weekends ago, we took a quick overnight trip to Lincoln City, on the Oregon Coast. Anyone from the Northwest knows that in January, you’d better plan on drizzle at the beach, so anything else is a gift. Our car was packed with hooded rain gear for all. But as we crossed the Coast Range we were amazed! The clouds actually cleared rather than thickened, so we quickly left the hotel room for a walk on the beach just before sunset.  To Oregonians, these unexpected moments of dry skies are eve... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:14:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/8 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/6 Baby showers often come in pink and blue, but last week’s shower for my future granddaughter Adeline (due any minute now) was an evening in two of my favorite colors: tangerine and turquoise (the shade is actually closer to the famous jewelry store boxes). Little Adeline will share space with big brother Finn, so my creative DIL Tiffany chose fabrics for the nursery that were vibrant, youthful and great for both genders. I was happy that my absolute favorite color—orange—was in the mix!... Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:46:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2010/2/6 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2009/11/4 More than any other comment, I hear the wistful “But I don’t have the time!” as the reason why people don’t digital scrapbook, as much as they think it’s a great idea and sincerely want to do it. Let’s begin here to “find” the time in your 24-hour days … First, envision how your life would be enriched if you had beautiful, up-to-date and accessible albums of your digital photos. Picture yourself enjoying the process of page creation and sharing thos... Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:42:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2009/11/4 http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2009/11/2   Okay, I admit it. I am a handbag addict. Not that I own very many (although they are my gift of choice), but I am pretty obsessed with them—even when I have no intention of buying one, I love to browse the aisles and just admire. For a utilitarian object, they are amazing in their variety and complexity. And as with all well-designed things, there are page design lessons to be learned by observing them. Case in point: this gorgeous “Cornelia Street” bag by Kate Spade. Kate Spa... Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:10:00 GMT http://www.nanscottdesignstudio.com/blog/1/2009/11/2