Over at the ScrapWest blog this week's theme is a celebration of blogs! So we're asking everyone to join in and share some of their crafty secrets on their blogs and we'll link to them.
I love downloading free fonts from the internet and use computer printed journalling in most of my scrapbook layouts. It wouldn't be possible to have stickers, stamps or rubons for every occasion but I can always find the perfect font to match every project. One of my favourite sites for free fonts is
http://www.dafont.com/ and one of my favourite fonts is called "Mom's Typewriter". I find it suits lots of layout styles as its kind of rustic and distressed!!
I hope you can see the screen snapshots ok - they seemed to get smaller once I uploaded them!!! BTW I used Windows XP.
Step 1 - Go to
http://www.dafont.com/ and find the font you're looking for either by style or by name. In this case I put the words into the search facility. Once the font appears you'll see a box on the right hand side of the page which you click to download the font to your pc.
Step 2: Once you've clicked "Download" a pop-up box will appear asking if you want to "open" or "save". Always choose "save".
Step 3: Once you've clicked "save" you'll now have to choose where to put the file containing the font. It's best to keep all your fonts in the one place so you should use the "Fonts" folder which should already be on your hard-drive. It contains all the preinstalled fonts which you use in Microsoft Word e.g. Arial, Times New Roman etc. If you're having trouble finding it, it should be at C:\WINDOWS\Fonts. Once you've opened the fonts folder click "Save" and the font will be saved into the Fonts file as "Mom's Typewriter".
Ok, you've now saved the new font in the proper folder. Now it's time to install the font into Word so that you can use it in your journalling.
Click on the "Start" button at the bottom left of your screen and go to "Control Panel". If you're not using Windows XP you might have to get to your Control Panel another way.
Once you've clicked "Control Panel" this new screen should appear. What you're looking for here is the "Appearances and Themes" category. Once you've found it, click on it once.
Once you've clicked "Appearance and Themes" this new screen should appear. On the left hand side of the screen there is an icon for the "Fonts" folder. Remember this is where you saved your new font to. Click on the "Fonts" folder icon.
You'll now see a screen which has a listing of all the fonts which are currently available to you and saved in your fonts folder. Just because a font is saved doesn't mean you can use it though, it first has to be installed. You should be able to see your new font "Mom's Typewriter" in the list.
To install the font so that you can use it in Word. Click "File" at the top left of the screen. Now move the mouse down and click "Install Font".
A new pop-up window will appear asking you to choose the location of the fonts you wish to install. Again choose C:\windows\fonts
The list of fonts will then appear in the top left window of the pop-up and you simply click on the name of your new font "Mom's Typewriter" and then click OK and voila! your font is now installed.
To check if you've done all of it right open up Microsoft Word and from the drop-down Fonts menu you should be able to find the name of your new font in alphabetical order all ready to use.
Once you've done all the hard work just type in your journalling in your new font. Then to make sure it fits into your layout print the journalling onto a plain A4 sheet. Choose the paper you want the journalling on in your layout and cut it to a size to fit onto the layout. Then, using removable!! adhesive, stick the piece of paper or card over where the journalling printed and run it through the printer again. The journalling will now be exactly where you want it. Just remove the cut piece and add it to your layout, card or other project.
I hope you find this useful. It looks so good it encourages me to add in that priceless journalling without having to use handwriting.
Don't forget to check out all the other crafty ideas on the ScrapWest blog and leave your comments with a link to your creations (if you're feeling inspired).
Anyone who leaves a comment here will have their name put into a raffle for a gorgeous prize of a new Basic Grey Collection Pack and I'll announce the winner next Friday.
Everything in the kit co-ordinates and this is what's in it:
