Right to Work

It's official, Elemental Scraps made the announcement about the new site Creative Team!


Our official duties don't begin until January but I've gotten right to work! I have a lot of Christmas pages planned so I'm trying to crank some out.

Credits: Dec Color Play: Lucky Smith's Warm Wishes; Dec Color Play: Bella Gypsy's Very Boyish Christmas; template from Connie Prince's Let's Get The Party Started (flipped)


Credits: template from Bella Gypsy's Scrap More template set; Bella Gypsy's Very Girlish Christmas

Best Gig Ever

I'm not sure how it happened, but I managed to end up on the best creative team ever! The Elemental Scraps site team! I applied a couple of weeks ago not really expecting to get it, but I got the offer on Christmas and accepted! So you are going to be seeing A LOT of ES products, ha ha. I am beyond excited! I will be occasionally leading challenges in their forum, posting on their blog, and of course getting to sample from the designers and show off their amazing work! Today is their last dollar day of the year, so head over for some new great items!

Merry Christmas!

I know its a bit early, but things are about to get hectic for me so I thought I'd post this now.

My newest template is my gift to you. Click image to download. Please take note of my TOU in my sidebar!! Merry Christmas and God bless!


And here's a layout I made with it using Jennifer Barrette's Boys Are Trouble kit, and some wordart from WM Squared's Life is a Marathon wordart set:

Riding the Wave

Waves are a bit trendy in digital scrapbooking lately. I was unsure about this look at first, but LePingouin Designs released a new wave template pack and once I started working with them I was HOOKED. I used ALL four templates in this pack already! Click on the template preview to check them out in her store. These fantastic templates are only $2!


Credits: template by Le Pingouin Designs; Bella Gypsy's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie; So Happy alpha by Designs by Sarah; date bits by Plum Dumpling Designs

Credits: template by LePingouin Designs; Bella Gypsy's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie; Bella Gypsy's Cannonball
Credits: Rawr by Ellie Lash; template by LePingouin Designs

Credits: template by Le Pingouin Designs; Santa Season by Melissa Bennett, date bits by Plum Dumpling Designs

Latest Layouts

I have been a scrapping fiend lately. I've been trying to get caught up on all the layouts I want to complete for 2009 and I'm almost there!

Here are some I've done lately:

Credits: All Aglow by Traci Reed

Credits: Simply Scraps Grinched

Credits: BZB Designs iTech; template by Bella Gypsy

Credits: Chrissy W template; Elemental Scraps Collab Shop Til Ya Drop

Credits: The Strawberry Patch by Golden Girls; circle stitches from Daydreamer by Julie Marie Designs
Credits: template by Chrissy W; Boogity Boo by Designs by Tater; Little Amy Lou alpha by Lauren Grier; date tag, string and staple by Julie Billingsley

December Template

I decided to try and make one template a month and give it away as a freebie. Here's a template I made of my Thankful For You layout. Click image to download. Also, please note that I am no longer including a TOU and a preview with my downloads. The TOU can be found in my sidebar on this blog. I realized I love to make templates but don't like taking the time to package everything up. Please only download my designs if you agree to comply with my TOU. Thanks and enjoy! :)

Thanksgiving Scrapped!

Exactly a week since Thanksgiving and my pictures are scrapped! I was lucky enough to be assigned to Jacabean Designs this month, truly one of my faves from www.scrapable.net. Her Many Blessings kit is perfect for fall and Thanksgiving pictures.

Chugging Along

I realized something about myself, I am a slowwwww scrapper. Thankfully templates are cheap and in abundance! I managed to get myself onto another CT without applying, ha ha. A friend is starting up her own template design business and I am happy to help out. Free templates, yeah! The designer is Le Pingouin Designs and if you love templates too you should check her out!

Here are the pages I've made so far with her templates:

Lighthouse Love

I used Sail Away by Project B Designs again, I love this kit! I think it would be good for baby boy pages too, I have some old baby pictures of my son I might use it for. I love lighthouses, and the Split Rock Lighthouse in northern MN is one of my faves.

Sailing Away

I live in Minnesota, also known as the land of 10,000 lakes, so a must have kit for me is a boating/lake kit. Project B Designs has a perfect kit for the hundreds of swimming and boating pictures I still have left to scrap! I used her Sail Away kit for some pictures from our trip to Lake Michigan last Labor Day weekend. Now that it's getting colder I'm turning to my summer pictures to help me warm up!

Doing the Hula

I was asked to guest CT at Scrapable, such an honor! The site CT members are called Hula Girls over there. I was assigned to Project B Designs and immediately started to work on her As We Look Back kit. This kit was really fun to work with, and really versatile. It seemed a little boyish at first but I actually settled on pictures from Mary's first birthday to use with it!


The cute cloud elements in the kit really caught my eye, so I hunted around for some outdoor pictures and settled on some I had been wanting to scrap from our vacation last June.

It's been awhile since I've been on a CT, and I'm thinking once my stint is over at Scrapable I may apply elsewhere too!

Template Freebie #1

Back from a long hiatus with my first template. Tell me what you think. :)

{Inter} National Scrapbooking Day

I'm so excited! My first National Scrapbooking Day as a digi scrapper! Soooo much easier to shop good sales and deals from the comfort of my own office chair. I'm still in my jammies!

Here are the deals I'll be browsing today:

There is a storewide 50% off at Elemental Scraps. Chrissy W has an NSD freebie template only available for a few days, and Bella Gypsy has a Buy 1 kit, get a free template set deal going on too. Spend $10 in the store and get 4 free kits worth $20, all outdoor themed.

The Sweet Shoppe has a storewide 30% off sale and are also offering a huge collab kit for free if you spend $10 today. Lots of pretty colors in this kit, some neutrals and purples. I don't know if I'll make the $10 total, though.

ScrapMatters has a storewide 40% off sale!

Digital Candy is having a storewide 30% off sale.

In other news, this morning I am inspired by this article over at the Daily Digi. I'm going to take some time to scrap a page today about digital scrapbooking. I want to be sure to actually scrap today since that's what the day is really all about. I remember my first National Scrapbooking Day in 1999, where I attended a Creative Memories crop with two good friends. I even remember the layout I scrapped - it was all about a musical I choreographed in college, Godspell.

I think my style has evolved a tiny bit, what do you think? :)

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, and have fun shopping AND scrapping!

Prayer Board Project

I finished a big hybrid project just in time for Easter. I made a prayer board for the family fridge. It holds pictures of our family members, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, to be switched out every day. A friend of mine made one for her kids several years ago and I've always kept it in mind for when I had kids old enough to appreciate it. It was easy peasy to do it digitally!


First I made a 12X12 scrapbook page and left enough space for a picture, a tab with the person (or couple's) name, and a pocket to hold all the pictures. I printed the page and cut a small slit on the top and the sides of the pocket to hold the pictures. I also had some pictures printed and trimmed them to 4X4. I glued the page down to a 12X12 cardboard, leaving room inside the pocket for the pictures. I printed some tabs, adhered velcro to the pictures and tabs, and magnets to the back of the board and I was done! When not in use, the pictures and tabs are velcroed together and stored in the pocket. I plan on making more to give as gifts, especially to our godchildren.


Here is what the page looks like printed:


And here is the completed prayer board up on our fridge:



Credits: Mandy Mystiques' Little Back Pocket; Cori Gammon's Nicholas alpha; Cross element from Misty Cato & Julie Billinger's Because He First Loved Us kit

Catching Up On Christmas

I got so many great pictures last Christmas, but once the holiday was past I just wasn't in the mood to scrap red and green pages. I finally dredged up the motivation today to scrap my favorite picture from Christmas Eve. It was taken by one of my hubby's cousins, of my daughter sleeping peacefully on my lap all dressed up in her Christmas dress. I ended up not using the red and green scheme at all, and I really like how simple and elegant the layout turned out.

Zillions of credits for this one: Christie Lemmon's Let It Snow alpha, Stitch from Sweet Blossom's Sweet Lilac, Ribbon from Joyce Paul's Dark Fairytale, Papers (recolored) from MIO's Gloss and Charm, Flowers by Janny Lynn, Heart stitch by Redju Designs

Speed Scrap 2

My hubby is the best. After a few long days with sick kiddos... my daughter had a fever for almost three days straight... he knew I needed a break and put BOTH kids to bed, cleaned up the house and made me my favorite snack (roasted chickpeas) all while I did another speed scrap at the JM digi scrap board. I'm really happy with this page, it's nice to get some older pictures scrapped and done. Today everyone is feeling almost back to normal and now I have some pictures from our trip to the zoo this morning to scrap!

Credits: Julie Marie Designs Earth Wings 2 freebie mini; frame is by Mandy Mystiques; tape is by Angie Kovacs from her Just A Boy kit; string is by Cori Gammon from her Nicholas kit.

Wagon Ride

Just a quickie today. Both the kids are sick and clingy so I didn't have much time to scrap this afternoon. Hubby and I took the kids for a wagon ride last month when it was still a little chilly out. I thought my daughter would be scared or complain about the cold, but she giggled the entire time. I think she felt like such a big girl, she's really starting to want to do everything her brother does!

Credits: Template by Chrissy W; Kit is Party in the Playroom by Janny Lynn; Cartoonish Alpha by Faith True

Easter Egg Hunt

On Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt for the cousins before dinner. We were excited that it was warm enough to have it outside this year!

Credits: Connie Prince Hippity Hoppity; template by Chrissy W.

First Speed Scrap

I participated in my first speed scrap last Friday night, hosted by Natalie and Vero over at the JM digi scrap board. It was really fun, but also a little stressful! I found it a bit out of my comfort zone, because when I approach a layout the first thing I have in mind is the overall design. So not to know how it's going to look, more or less, in the end was driving me nuts! But I think it turned out pretty well and if I do another speed scrap I'll have a better idea of how to go about it.

Credits: Mandy Mystiques Under the Sea; Cartoonish Alpha by Faith True; Heart stitch by Redju Designs

Doodle Crazy

I know I went a little doodle crazy on this one. I took these pics of my kids last month, and I've been itching to scrap them the moment I saw how well they turned out. My son is in a great phase right now where he's so gentle and loving toward his sister. I wish it would stay this way forever, but I'm sure there are tons of sibling squabbles ahead! I wanted to keep this layout fun and young and bright, so I turned to my doodle stash. I went a little nuts, but I like it anyway. :)



Credits:
Paper, butterfly & bee from Melissa Bennett's Playhouse kit
Doodle corners from Fee Jardine's Blush kit
Little Amy Lou alpha by Lauren Grier
Flowers by A Work in Progress Designs by Vicki
Journaling box from Fee Jardine's Sweet As kit
Scribble Arrow by Chaos Lounge

Park Page

I love finding templates good for multiple photos. It saves so much time! Here's a layout of a recent trip to the park.

Credits: Chrissy W's clustered template, papers and embellishments are from Mandy Mystiques' Little Back Pocket, Alphas are Robin Carlton's Doo Dots, Cori Gammon's Nicholas, Painted Chippy Alpha by Libby Weifenbach, and Silver Mine Bead Alpha by Blythe Evans.

Photography Composition Lesson #3

How are you doing? Is your head still swimming with rules? Have you been experimenting with your photos? This next lesson is a super simple and easy one, so don't worry. I'm giving you all a break! :)

If you haven't already, before you read this blog post you'll want to read Lesson #1 and Lesson #2.

Framing Your Subject

Framing your subject is a super easy way to draw quick attention to your focal point. There is NO doubt about what you're trying to show off in your photo if you frame your subject. Here are some pictures of mine to demonstrate what I mean:

A frame can go all the way around your subject, or it can just be on two or three sides of it. Unlike the other rules we've covered, this is just a technique you can use occasionally when it's convenient to really draw attention to what you want to highlight in your photo. Try it out this week and see if you can come up with a frame or two to try!

29 Things

I'm back after a brief hiatus! This spring is already hopping for me, but I did manage to squeeze in some scrapping in this weekend.

This layout was fun and quick because I snagged the journaling from my family blog. On hubby's birthday last November I blogged 29 things we love about him as a surprise.

Lots of credits for this one: Template by Chrissy W, Paper from Cori Gammon's Nicholas, flowers and swirl from Christie Lemmon's Little Charmer, date tabs by Sweet Blossom Designs, heart from Digi Designs by Nicole's All Girl kit, alphas are Danielle Corbitt's Crinkled Up Alpha, Blythe Evan's Silver Mine Bead Alpha, Robin Carlton's Doo Dots, and Flerg's Troublemaker alpha.

Photography Composition Lesson #2

It's Monday, so that means it's time for another photography lesson from me! If anyone out there has been experimenting with the rule of thirds, leave a comment with a link to your photo(s), I'd love to see them. If you haven't already read that first lesson, go here before continuing.

Directionality

This lesson is a relatively simple one. I'm calling it Directionality. This is not an official term I don't think, but it's my way of talking about photographing your subject while keeping in mind the direction the eye naturally moves across a picture.

Unless anyone out there is proficient in Hebrew, I'll assume my readers all read and write from left to right. Because we learn it this way, when we look at a piece of paper with words on it our eyes are trained to automatically start on the left of the page and move to the right. When viewing a picture there is a natural movement the eye wants to make as well. As a photographer it's your job of helping this natural movement along. There are two ways of doing this:

1. By helping the eye move from a focal point (something that is placed either along a line placed on a "third", or at the intersecting points in the picture) through the rest of the picture, or

2. By helping the eye enter a picture smoothly and right toward your focal point.

To demonstrate this first point, let's go back to this photo of my daughter Mary:

Because she is placed off center and according to the rule of thirds, I've photographed her in a way that your eye has room to move from her face over to what is in front of her, which gives you information about what she's doing at the time the picture was taken. This is the most common way directionality is taken into account while photographing subjects - by making sure to leave more room in the photo for whatever the subject is facing or looking at. The eye wants to move from the focal point of her face to what she's facing. This is especially helpful in scrapbooking, because you want your photos to help you tell the story or memory you're preserving.

Here's a good example of this: two versions of a picture I took the other day of my son in a tunnel at a playground:

Notice his head and body are off center, more or less at a line of third, and his entire body is in the shot. But does it feel awkward to you that you focus on his face and then your eye has nowhere really to go? Now take a look at the full version I captured on camera:

This picture is more visually appealing and tells a better story, I think. Your eye focuses on him and then has room to move in the direction he is moving. You get more of a feeling as to what is going on when the picture was taken, an important quality most scrapbookers would want to capture in their scrapbooking, I think.

Keep in mind something I said last time - sometimes rules can be broken, or at least tweaked a little! In this picture, my son is running but looking behind him. Which version do you like better? The one with more space in front of him, or behind him?

I think the second version provides the most visual interest. He's looking behind him, which causes the viewer to wonder, what is it he is running from? Another way to tweak the rule is to photograph more space behind the subject to show how far they've walked, for example. Really it all depends on the story you're trying to tell by taking the photo in the first place.

OK now we're moving on to the second point I mentioned earlier: How to help the eye enter a picture smoothly and right toward your focal point. The best way to do this is by using lines. Diagonal lines are the biggest attention getters as far as photos go. But any line in a photo will cause the eye to follow it, so you want the lines leading toward your subject if you can. The best way I can explain this is just by showing you, so here are a bunch of photos I've taken keeping the lines in mind:

In this first photo, notice the diagonal line of the sidewalk that draws the viewer in and up toward the subject of the photo. And in the following pictures, the slide and fence do the same thing.

In the below picture, the mower my son is playing with leads your eye up toward him in a way that taking the shot straight on might not have.

In this next shot, the cars as well as the rug lead your eye up the picture toward the focal point.

In the photo of my daughter below, I've moved over a bit so that the actual chair is creating a diagonal line up towards her, rather than photographing her straight on.

This next photo demonstrates both of my points well. The diagonal lines of the shore and water naturally lead the eye toward the subject, and there is more space in the direction he is looking, which would flow well with my accompanying journaling on a layout about how tentative he was about wading in the chilly lake.

One last tip: the way you angle your camera toward your subject can make your actual subject (or parts of him/her/it) a line. Here are a few photos to demonstrate what I mean. In these photos, I've positioned myself in such a way that my daugther is photographed somewhat diagonally. This causes your eye to move naturally right to her face.

And in this next photo, my son's outstretched arm while playing a game of peek-a-boo draws your attention straight to him.

And finally, I have homework for you! Take pictures while keeping the directionality of your subjects in mind. Experiment with lines and keep in mind what story you want to tell with the picture. This should help you position your subjects in a way that a viewer knows more of what you were trying to capture. Next week's lesson will be much shorter, thanks for hanging in there with me for so long this time! :)