Digital Layout

As I said in a previous post, I believe I will try digital scrapbooking for a while. I've done some graphics before, but not scrapbooking ones. I use Macromedia Fireworks as my graphics program and there isn't a way to load those magnificent brushes (at least that I know of). I REALLY wanted to because they're amazingly beautiful, but I made do with other things like fonts and dingbats and making my own.
However, I recently discovered that a lot of digital elements are available in .png format (which is the Fireworks format). Yippee! Now I have to decide what would be most practical to buy!

My first attempt at an "official" digital scrapbook page is this:
What makes it official? Well, the square size is the first part. My other graphics were rectangular for a computer wallpaper or a poster printout. I also used official digital scrapbooking elements. The red scalloped background and brown polka-dot 'paper' are part of a free download designed by Sande Kreiger from 2 peas. The swirls are from scrapNfonts. The pointsetta flower is a dingbat font. The notepad paper I downloaded from sxc.hu. The rest is stuff I put together on my own.

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Now, the really important credit goes to journalingjunkie for putting up a challenge and Tanya for the sketch. The gals at journaling junkie have a regular contest and I've always admired but never done anything. I really am bad ... but now that I'm digital, I've already completed two layouts! Yay! I'll show you the second tomorrow!

P.S. I'll elaborate a bit in the next post, but I'm hoping to find out the rules of etiquette for digital scrapbooking and would appreciate ANY hints.