Making Notepads: Paper Source tut

Hello!
It's Sara, aka Scrapping All The Way, and I've got my favorite homemade notepad tut, from Paper Source:

If you want to personalize your notepads, create a fun graphic (a photo or a cute element) and print it on the paper before creating the notepad. These make wonderful gifts!

OR, if you're like me and not super good with printers, just create a small (3.75" x 3.75") or a large (4.125" x 5.5") notepad at artscow.

And then use your new notepad to write an actual handwritten note to a friend, family member, or anyone else who needs a note of encouragement!

Cheers,
Sara

Is Journaling A Thorn In Your Side?!

Since I started scrapbooking way back when I have always been a journaler, a story teller. Whenever I'm asked how I start a page, it's always with the story and the photo(s). I normally have no idea what type of design it will take on, but I definitely know what I want to convey in the layout. I'm certainly not the best story teller out there, but I try to do my best because I know that's what my kids and family want to see. The pretty papers and embellishments just make it prettier for them to read it!

I hear scrappers say quite often that that is their downfall. They can get the design, paper and photo placement done in no time, but sit and sit when it's time to write the journaling for the layout. So I thought I would bring you some tips on what I do to ease this along.

*I keep a notebook with me a lot. No, not all the time, but I have various notebooks throughout my house and often in my car too. That way, if something comes to me I can write it down right them, otherwise mommy brain takes over and out the head it goes! I write down everything from a page idea, fun quotes from my kids, or random family stories that I suddenly remember.

*I look online for prompts too. One place I love (I'm biased) is Scrapbooking From The Inside Out where you can find a new emotion to explore every month. Sometimes I take the emotion and use it as it's obvious meaning and make a page from that:

The emotion for February was Vulnerable and what first popped into my head was my daughter and the fact that her personality type makes her vulnerable to all kinds of anxieties and issues.

Whereas in this layout I took a fun approach to vulnerable and journaled about my weaknesses.

You can find prompts all over the scrapbook world in online classes, online challenge blogs, kit club challenges, etc. Those can be a great jumping off point and give many different ideas.

*I almost always make room in my designs for journaling, whether it's an entire block, a place for strips of paper or journaling along the outside of the photos and/or layout. I treat it as a photo placement and that way I know I'll have room for more than just a sentence or two. I also always write in pencil first then go back over it in pen. This has proven very necessary in journaling past! If I do computer journaling it is printed off at least once on scrap paper before printing it off on patterned paper or cardstock.

*Finally, look at your photos in non-traditional ways and go beyond the who, what, when, where. In the photo/layout below it would have been very easy for me just to describe that we were at our family house in the mountains, enjoying a cool summer day and the girls actually posed for a photo. Instead, I journaled and made a layout about our decision to have only 2 children and their need to be good to one another and value each other. Go beyond what you visually see in the photo and journal what you feel or what you think of when you look at it.


*As you can see I make layouts about the good, the bad and the ugly. Very, very few things, if any, are off limits when I sit down to make a page. I know not everyone is comfortable putting those emotions and possible struggles out there on a page for themselves or even the scrapping world to see and that's ok. I know that my life is anything but rainbows, puppies and roses, so I go for it all. I want my children to read that I struggle with things in my life too and worry about things. I just pretend in real life to have all the answers!!

Now, I send you out to journal and write, write, write!!! After a while the story telling will be fun and your family will love remembering all the fun and quirky stories your family holds!

Krafty Freebie

Ready for another freebie? This week we have a fun little Kraft Mini Kit with some bright, cheerful designs and the typical kraft stripe.


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Get Well

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Scrapstreet Features Writer, Aymee Gandy, here with you on this beautiful day to share a card I have made. Have you ever flipped through your card box and found that you were missing cards for certain occasions? I did this recently and I noticed how I had a million 'Thank You' cards and absolutely no 'Get Well' cards. I knew I had to remedy the situation. To me, you always need to have cards like these on hand. You never know when a friend or loved one may fall ill or have to go in for a procedure. In times like these, I always make sure to send a card out to brighten their day and let them know I am thinking of them. If possible, I like to add a bit of humor to my 'Get Well' cards. I mean, who doesn't need a smile on those days? So here is what I came up with...

'Get Well'

Supplies:

Paper: Scenic Route

Cardstock: The Paper Studio, Bazzill Basics Paper, Core'dinations

Alphabet: American Crafts

Rhinestones: Queen & Co.

Twine: Divine Twine

Ribbon: Ribbon FX (Hobby Lobby)

Adhesive: Helmar

Electronic Cutter: Cricut (Provo Craft)

Electronic Software: Sure Cuts A Lot (Craft Edge)

SVG's: My Scrap Chick

Embossing Machine, Embossing Folders: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft)

This card was inspired by the 'Bear Behind' svg file that I purchased at  My Scrap Chick. These are for use with the Sure Cuts A Lot software, which I adore. I hope this card will make the recipient smile!

I just loved the little 'bear behind'...

Added extra dimension with my ribbon and pop dots to pop up my bear...

Thanks for looking! Have a fabulous day!

Happy Scrappin'!

Multi-Photo Mayhem

Hi everyone Casey here with some more information on multi-photo layouts.  In case you have not read my GSS article this month you can catch it here.  It gives inspiration and tips on creating multi-photo layouts.  I wanted to take this chance to showcase several template designers that I love and how there products can help guide you through Multi-Photo Mayhem!

First off one of my favorite template designers...Yin from Simply Yin. Her templates are always so well thought out and allow you to incorporate lots of photos for maximum punch!  Take a look at one of my latest layouts using her Template 219.  Be sure to check out all of the oodles of freebies that Yin has on her blog!!!  Oh and she has lots of great template packs in her blog store too!

Next up in my go to list of multi-photo template designers is ChrissyW Digital. Chrissy creates simple symmetrical templates and funky asymmetrical designs too!  Some of my favorites are her Gridz pack!  Also keep check on Chrissy's blog for great freebies too!  This layout is one of my favorites because it shows off my little one's shoe style...she loves shoes.  Well, she does not love wearing them but she does love playing with them!

OK now lets talk about Manda Girl!  She also creates versatile templates that help you create mulit-photo layouts that are Wow!  Be sure to keep up with her blog for great freebies and inspiration. I used one of her blog freebies to create this layout...yes I said free;)  I broke this up into two pieces so you all could see how the journaling flows with the photos.

So now you have three great resources of templates, tons of freebies to get started and hopefully a little inspiration...so what are you waiting for...get scrapping!  I hope you and yours have a great rest of the week!!

Cupcake Topper Tut!

Hello, it's Sara with a quick post. I'm sick and my husband caught it from me, and it now appears our daughter is sick, too. :( So this is just a quick little post to tell you to hop on over to my blog for a tutorial on making cupcake toppers! It's my first-ever hybrid project, and I'm quite proud. I'm not a hybrid gal, but I am a cupcake gal! I used the new kit Amused by Ellie Lash, but really you could use any word art atop any circular element (or square, or other "easy to cut out" shape would work).

Have a great weekend and happy scrapping (or hybrid-ing!)

Photo Taking Tips with a Guest

Hi everyone!

Melissa here with a fun and hopefully helpful post for you.  I've got a friend helping me today. His name is Marco and he is pretty adorable.  But let me first tell you what my post is about today and then I'll let you see his face.

We get lots of submissions here at ScrapStreet with talented designers, such as yourself, that want to be published.  One of the things that magazine staff look for is a well taken photo.  Not only does it help us see your project well but getting into the habit of taking good photos is just something we should all work on.  And when you get one of those wonderful project acceptance emails, we want your project to look absolutely beautiful.

So I thought I would share with you some tips and tricks in taking photos of your projects for submission and also just in general to post on your blogs and in galleries.  Now let me just bring Marco into this now because sometimes we have a "helper" who just can't stand not being the center of attention.

Isn't he cute?  Poor Marco.  He would be our lovely Mich's doggy.  I couldn't help but share this photo with you all as she was trying to take a photo of a card for an upcoming article.  While most of it is blurred I thought you might like the sneak beyond Marco's snout.  Also, I can't really help you when your animal wants to get in the photo anyway.

Okay.  Now let's get to business.

First of all.. everything I'm sharing is done with my little point and shoot digital camera. I am not rich enough to have one of those fancy DSLR's although, I would LOVE to have one someday. Not just for photographing projects but just photo taking in general. So you don't have to have anything fancy to take good photos. You just need to know your camera.

1. Lighting. It is best to take photos of projects in natural daylight but we all the know the reality of this time of year. It's at a premium and when it is there, it's either too windy or too snowy or too something. I relish in my Summer time! So if you take photos inside, find some good lighting. I have two Ott Lites. But you can use any type of "daylight" type lamp.

A note about outside though: Don't use direct sunlight as this will create harsh shadows. It's best in the shade or on a cloudy day.

2. Focus and such. Here's the fun part. On my camera, I use the Aperture setting. Usually it's indicated by an A on point and shoots. Typically on any Aperture menu you will see an 'f' with numbers by it, a box with a +/- and a number and then ISO with a number. Each of this is adjustable while in Aperture mode. Here are the things to know about each.

'f' captures light. The lower the number the more light it will capture. So it's best to have it on a low number while photographing indoors. I have mine on it's lowest setting which is 2.8 on my camera.

+/- adjusts the Brightness. Kind of like when you edit the brightness in a photo editing software, you can do that on the camera. I rarely mess with this one. So I leave it at 0.0

For ISO, this is something you would change depending on the lighting in the room. Mine is always kept at about 100. For anything else, you can make the number go higher if the lighting is low but just know that your photo will be grainier. Some photo editing programs will allow you to adjust the "noise" of your photo but I recommend not messing with it when taking a project photo.

The other item you will want to adjust is the macro setting. My camera has the macro button on top. Next to the button is a flower and a mountain. The flower is the one you want... that is the macro. The mountain you would use for distant scenery.

3. Flash. NO flash. That is all.

4. Background. It's best to take photos of your projects with a plain background. That way your project will pop without any distractions. I have two white 12x12 pieces of paper that I prop for my cards. Then I take my two Ott lites and shine one on the background paper and the other on the project.

5. Take several photos. This is good to do. Experiment. Take them from slightly different angles. Farther away. Closer, etc. Then bring them up in your photo editing software.

6. Editing. There is always something to fix. I use Picasa and Picnik. I usually crop first, adjust lighting a bit, sharpness, sometimes contrast and brightness depending the lighting and then bring it up in Picnik to resize. Photos seem to appear better on blogs at about 600 to 800 pixels. 

Here is an example of how editing can change your world.  Here is a before and after photo of a card I recently made:

Before

After

I hope that these little tips have helped you with your photo taking!  Layouts... well... there are more tips for that but we'll just talk about cards for this post! And if you have any other tips, let us know!  Share your expertise with us. :)

And while we're talking cards make sure you check out the current Card Corner article.  We are featuring Good Luck cards and then mosey over to the Current Calls!  We're looking for manly cards! :)

hugs,
Melissa