The news broke on Becky Higgins' blog this morning that American Crafts has entered the digital scrapbooking world by opening their own digital shop, AC Digitals. AC Digitals will be carrying both past and current collections from most of the American Crafts family of brands in digital format, starting with a small selection being introduced this week (including Amy Tan's Ready. Set. Go. full collection) that will be expanded in the weeks to come with new products being announced on Mondays. Brands included in this new venture are American Crafts core collections (including the Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine signature lines), Crate Paper, Pebbles, and Becky Higgins' Project Life. Noticeably absent from the lineup is Studio Calico, who maintains a production-and-distribution-only relationship with American Crafts while retaining full rights and control of their own artistic properties.
I'm pretty much a paper scrapper (though I dabble in digi now and then), but I have reasons for getting quite excited when I hear that another scrapbooking manufacturer has opted to release their existing paper lines in digital format. Being able to print out just the small section of paper I need without having to store a whole collection and the ever useful Print and Cut feature of the Silhouette cutter are two big ones, but there's a third (and perhaps more peculiar) one at play that I think at least a few of you might share with me.
I like pretty paper. A lot. And sometimes there's a sheet so pretty (ummm, the map print above from Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride collection, anyone?) that I hesitate to cut into it for fear of never being able to get hold of that pattern again. Having a digital copy of those same patterns makes it much, much easier for me to chop up paper and use it on my layouts, knowing that all I have to do is go into the Lightroom catalog where I store my digital supplies to be able to see it again in all of its whole, uncut glory, and I can even have it printed again in 12x12 format (though it's not really cost-effective to do so, simply having the option gets rid of all the anxiety for me) if needed. It also eliminates the ever-popular "buy two sheets just in case you ever want it again" way of solving the problem, reducing the amount of money and storage space used for duplicate physical supplies. I admit that this quirk may be unique to me, but it's my main reason for doing a little happy dance every time one of my favorite manufacturers adds digital to their existing line.
And that map print paper? It's available in either the individual digital paper pack or full digital Sleigh Ride collection, and this week it's even 25% off as AC Digitals celebrates its grand opening!
American Crafts joins popular lines such as Echo Park, Carta Bella, Glitz, Fancy Pants, Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paislee (all available at Jessica Sprague), and others I'm sure I'm missing in the joint digital/paper frontier. Now, will someone please call up October Afternoon and politely ask them to join the party so I can chop up some of their lovely papers that I'm hoarding right now?