Digital Scrapbooking

I have exploring the world of digital scrapbooking. I created my own template in Powerpoint of all places.
I find that I am a bit too impatient with Adobe Photoshop. Hopefully this holiday I will read through the manual and figure it out. I really like what I see on the scrapbooking sites. I have downloaded some free material for digital scrapbooking but I can't seem to the pictures in the way I want to.