Archive for the ‘Hybrid crafts’ Category

December Daily Part 2

Friday, December 4th, 2009

I’m sorry I didn’t post this earlier! I am STILL waiting for more prints of scrapbook papers I ordered in the middle of November, so I haven’t been able to work on my album any more. My album is pretty basic! I just went through and covered the chipboard with my papers and added a few ribbons!

I don’t have a decent printer and the only photo lab in my town is Walmart… so I will only be printing pictures through an online lab and assemble my pages every other week… to save on shipping. :) I have been taking pictures every day and writing down what we did that day so I can go back and remember what happened.

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Photographing your scrapping projects…

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I have had a couple requests to “share my secrets” on photographing my projects. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a professional photographer… just a girl who is interested in learning more about photography (and desperately hoping for a DSLR… *sigh*).

So, THE single most important thing about photographing your projects is LIGHT. Not that nasty artificial light, but NATURAL LIGHT. I always photograph my projects during the day so I can use natural light. I have a lot of windows in my house… so I use that to my advantage. I always photograph next to a window on the north side of my house. This lets the sunlight in without the sun pouring directly into your window (because the sun is shining on the south side of my house). At my last apartment, there were hardly any windows so I actually photographed outside on a picnic table in open shade…lol. Oh, and TURN THE FLASH OFF!!!! My camera’s on-board flash is awful and makes for harsh, ugly shadows and blown out images.

Next, try to make the presentation attractive. Move any ugly/distracting items out of the way. I like to photograph my projects against a white background so it doesn’t detract from the image. I just buy a big white poster board and use that as my backdrop… easy and cheap.

Now get your camera out! You do NOT need some expensive, fancy camera… you just need to know how to use your own camera! I don’t have a DSLR, so I can only help out the folks with P&S cameras. I have a Canon Powershot A570IS… and it has been an awesome little camera for me and I’ve learned so much about photography just by using this little point-and-shoot camera. What I love about it is that it has the manual modes on it too… so I can learn about aperture and shutterspeed and all that jazz. But usually for my hybrid projects, I shoot on the Portrait setting (you know, the little symbol on your camera that looks like a person’s head) and then set it on Macro mode (on most P&S cameras it’s denoted by a little flower icon). Macro mode is what will let you get up close to your subject and will also help you get the subject in focus and blur the background…. like so:

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One of the annoying things about a P&S camera is you can’t really CHOOSE where the camera will focus… so I get close to the detail I’m photographing, slightly depress the shutter release and my camera shows a red box around what it’s focused on… if it’s focusing on the wrong spot (like something in the background instead of the detail I really want to capture) then I change positions slightly and see where it decided to focus the next time… once it focuses on the detail I want, I press the shutter release all the way and take the picture! :)

Play with angles… sometimes a straight-on pic is what you need, but when you get up close and you’re capturing the little details, don’t be afraid to tilt your camera a little to add a little interest to the image. :)

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I always do a little editing in PS when I upload my pics… usually boost the color and brighten the image a bit.

So, I think that’s it! :)

December Daily Album… 2009!

Monday, October 26th, 2009

I’ve followed Ali Edwards’ blog for a while, and my favorite project she does is the December Daily Album. Around the beginning of November, she starts assembling an album for the month of December… and in December, she takes at least one photo each day and scraps a page for it in the album. She has just posted her first part of the 2009 album here… and you can read more about the project here. I love this idea and the way it will preserve your holiday traditions!!! I started my album last year and only got as far as the cover because my husband fell ill with appendicitis and needed surgery… then he got a bad infection after the surgery that landed him in the hospital again. ANYWAYS, this year I’m determined to do it and see it through to the end! You start your album ahead of time and simply add in pictures and journaling in December.

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I started thinking about my album back in August (I know, I’m insane). I combed through Two Peas in a Bucket and searched for the perfect albums…. and came across these My Edgy albums in colored chipboard and acrylic. I can’t seem to find them on Two Peas anymore… but did find them at scrapbook.com…. and unfortunately, they are double the price I paid for them at 2Peas. :( Anyways, I mixed a brown chipboard My Edgy Album with a clear acrylic My Edgy Album. There’s also pink, green, red, etc… For this project, you’re supposed to have 25 pages, and I’m a little short, but I’m going to add more mixed pages in, maybe even mount a picture or two onto heavy cardstock and punch holes in it and add it in.

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For this project, I decided to use Zoe Pearn’s Little Joys kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs… I love the yummy colors and adorable patterns! I also used a few papers by Miss Mint at Peppermint Creative… the damask patterns from her Jingle Bell Rock Paper Pack.  I printed the papers on 10×10″ cardstock through MyPicTales for 50 cents per page.

See how cuuuute Zoe’s papers are?!?

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I also bought some colored cardstock and some gorgeous glitter cardstock at Joann’s to match…

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I already decorated my acrylic cover and started on the first page. When working with acrylic albums, I’ve found the best adhesive for your papers is a spray adhesive like Craft Bond. Don’t apply the spray to the album, just to the back of your paper. I used Glue Dots to adhere the embellishments.

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Embellies!!! My favorite part of scrapping… ahhhhh! Sooo pretty! I’m going to use an assortment of trims, ribbons, mini jingle bells, Prima flowers, Making Memories stickers, and some handmade felt embellishments….

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I’m so excited for this project! Wanna’ make one with me? :D

Spring is here!!

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Happy Spring!! I hope you are all having nicer weather now. Spring is here and I love the weather… it’s perfect! Time to break out the flip flops! Well, I wear flip flops year-round because I live in the desert, but that’s beside the point. hehe

I had so much fun with this kit! Easter Morning has a fresh palette and loads of flowers (I loooove flowers)… plus, who doesn’t love Easter eggs and fun doodles?! This kit is perfect for your springtime and Easter layouts… and just what you need to get started on your little Easter hybrid projects! You can get this kit for 25% off today and Saturday only! So hurry and grab it! :)

I didn’t give my team a whole lot of time to create with this… but here are just a few!


by Aly

by Britt

by Kirstie

And I whipped up this cute little freebie for ya! These will be perfect for making little treats for your family and friends for Easter! Instructions are included in the download for assembly. Click the image to get it or click here!

A very special charity collab!

Friday, March 13th, 2009


What I have for you this week is very special. I collaborated with GG Digital Designs and Jeni Hopewell to bring you this sweet bundle. Angel of Mine is a charity kit to benefit the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep organization. We have a friend who was recently touched by this organization and this kit is in memory of her sweet Alexis. The following is her experience:

“Imagine being pregnant for the first time, so excited to have a little bundle of joy come to your home and then at 37 weeks your doctor tells you that your baby’s heart has stopped. Your world is turned upside down. Where there was excitement there is sorrow, where there was joy there is deep sadness. You will never see your daughter’s smile or hear her cry in this life. This is what happened to us on January 14, 2009 and on January 15, 2009 Alexis Lynne was born into heaven. We were able to hold our precious angel and a wonderful professional photographer from a non profit organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep came and took priceless photos for free. I would later realize what an immeasurable gift that this company had given us….they had given us a way to remember our baby, beautiful photos that would make it possible for our baby’s life to mean something to others and to remind us that our baby was and is real!

This is what Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep does for millions of families all over the world! In a time that is so heartbreaking, these photographers offer a gift so important and so treasured that there are not words to describe it. Please consider contributing to this beautiful organization, through the Angel of Mine kit, so that families can continue to receive this priceless gift of memories. After all, isn’t that what scrapbooking is all about, to preserve memories?”

Please read more about this amazing organization here.

Here’s a better look at everything included in the bundle:




This sweet kit is so beautiful, and perfect for scrapping your baby photos. This kit is packed full of gorgeous elements and soft papers. It has enough to scrap both boys and girls. In addition to this beautiful kit, you will also receive 4×6 brag book QPs, badge album QPs, and a large set of gorgeous 12×12 QPs. The kit is HUGE. $10 is such a small thing you can do to give back to others and help families who have lost their little angels. There’s never been a better reason to purchase a scrap kit. We are not making any profits from this bundle. It’s all going directly to this charity.

NOTE: PLEASE do NOT use any discount or gift coupons on this charity bundle! We appreciate your cooperation!!
:)

Here’s a badge album I made using the badge album QPs included in the bundle. I was so blessed to get to work with Alexis’ photos. What a beautiful girl! You simply drop in your pictures, print, cut, then slip them in the vinyl badge holders! You can buy a pack of 12 holders at Walmart for about $1.60 and it will make 2 albums. So, super easy and super inexpensive project. Badge albums are the perfect little album to carry around in your purse and show off your little ones! They make great gifts too. ;) And what’s great about this badge album is that I created a boy AND girl version of every page!



My CT just did an amazing job with this kit and I don’t have room to show them ALL to you, so please keep an eye on my designer gallery at SM to see all the amazing pages and projects they did! Here’s a small sampling:

Thank you so much! Sorry this was soooo long. ;)