I chose this desktop from Design by Dani. It’s bright and colorful but still Halloween-esque. It fits exactly what I was looking for this month. The only problem is that I don’t know which picture I should use. Take a look.

Do I go with the boys in their fall initial pumpkin shirts? (From this Etsy store at a great price.)

Or do I go with the boys in their Aeromax firefighter costumes (review next week) in a cute picture taken after the fire?

Dilemma indeed. I currently have the one with the fall shirts sitting on the desktop but I just want to keep switching back and forth between the two. I love my two little firefighters as well! Such a hard decision. Let me know which one you think I should use for the month in the comments!

I saw a few other nice October digital scrapbooking desktop wallpapers out there in my search. This one at Digital Scrap Cafe was light and lovely. And this one by Traci Reed’s Team Blog, while without a calendar, was definitely adorable. (Plus I have a love of ones that allow for three pictures so I can have one of each child and either a nature shot or one of them together.)

I leave you with this lovely October quote.

“Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.” – Carol Bishop Hipps

So true. Enjoy your beautiful October.

October Desktop Dilemma is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I don’t know why but the number of fire truck/engine/fighter digital scrapbooking sets out there are very few. To boot, pun intended, some of the existing ones aren’t all that great. I mean, I may not be all that crafty but I know what looks good and what doesn’t and trust me: some of the available sets out there aren’t all that good looking. I was so excited when I came across a set made in late 2008 (after I went with a jungle theme for LittleBrother’s invitations) that was not only well designed, filled with lots of papers and elements and colorful in general but… get this… it was offered as a freebie! WIN-WIN!

I (immediately) downloaded the Just Call Me The Fireman set at Kim’s Scrappin’ blog. It comes with:

• 15 12 x12 inch papers
• 2 borders
• 1 RicRac
• 3 brads
• 4 stickers
• 1 frame
• 1 filmstrip

That’s a lot of stuff… especially for a freebie. But, the question begs to be asked: was it good stuff? Was it too cheesy? Was it poorly created? Would I be able to create a layout for both the boys’ fire stuff (dress up, visits to the fire department) and FireDad’s real life fire photos? Or would it just accommodate one or the other? The good news is: it’s good stuff. It’s not cheesy. It’s not poorly created. And it works for either the boys or FireDad’s photos.

I chose to make a layout from the photoshoot that brought about a winning photo in the Goodmama photo contest last year back when LittleBrother was just starting to crawl around the fire department.

The results look best in full size.

I love it. I’m not one who uses a lot of stuff on one page. I prefer three to six pictures, an explanation of one or two pictures, a title for the page and a few embellishments. I like some blank space so that the pictures draw the eye. I’m kind of particular about my scrapbooking, digital or otherwise. (Especially for someone who isn’t very crafty.) I love the colors, the texture of everything and the quality of the creation.

And so, I can honestly say that this is the best firefighter digital scrapbooking set I’ve ever downloaded and used. In the future, I will be bringing you some other sets, embellishments and links to digital scrapbooking stuff for fire families. As for right now, head on over to Kim’s Scrappin’ blog and download this amazing freebie (even if you aren’t a fire family!). I mean, it’s free!

If you are a digital scrapbook kit/element/paper creator and you have something you think we’d be interested in, please let us know. If you’re just a digital scrapbooker yourself and you happen to come across a great looking fire set, could you please contact me? Thank you!

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(Note: The font used is a freebie available at DaFont.com named Broken Ghost. Kudos to the creator for that one!)

The Best Firefighter Digital Scrapbooking Set is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

The customizable desktop she is offering this month is patriotic in theme. And here’s what is smiling back at me right now.

It comes without the picture of my smiling children, obviously. That said, it does come with a blank spot for you to enter your own picture. You will need photo editing software of some sort. Being the (pseudo-)photographer that I am, I have Photoshop CS4. Then you can sort through lots of girly-based digital scrapbooking sites and become annoyed at the lack of available stuff for moms of boys and/or moms who prefer green to pink. But, you know, who is complaining? (Apparently I am.) (That said, there are great digital scrapbooking sets with boy themes, though very few that are with fire trucks that aren’t… ugly. More on that next week.)

Happy July! And thanks to Designs by Laura for offering me something without frills!

My July 2009 Desktop is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.