Lake Fun 12x12 Layout Using Clique Kits May Kit Carnival (Process Video)

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all got to participate in the Clique Kits National Scrapbooking Day event yesterday.  There were so many great challenges, events, and prizes.  Today, I have a layout to share with you.  We went to the lake for a day during Spring Break.  The weather was cold especially on the boat.  We fished all day, but caught nothing.  Don't you hate when that happens?  Anyhow, we went ashore for a few minutes and climbed some rocks for this picture.  You can see it was cold because we are all wearing long sleeves.

And here is the process video for this layout so you can see how I created it.  I hope you enjoy it.  Have a great day!

Project Life Week 4

Here is Week 4's spread.  I used Clique Kits December Kit to complete the layout.  You will find a process video on how I made this layout here.

I used 3x3 photos for this spread.  It's only a one page spread for this week.  We had a busy week with Maddie's Science Fair Project and Science Night.  We hung out with some friends.  It was a good week.  And here is the video on my Youtube Channel.  It's only my second one so cut me some slack. Ha!

My You Tube Channel

Hello There!  I've been wanting to post videos on Youtube of layout processes and techniques.  I finally got my Youtube Channel up and running!  It's been a complete chore because my Internet service is horrendous.  We are hoping to change service providers and this should rectify that.  Today, I wanted to share with you a quick process video for this layout.  I know you've seen this layout before in the Clique Kits Pep Rally but I was unable to get the video uploaded.  It actually took a week to get that done.  So here is the video below.  Make sure to subscribe to my channel. I'm planning on having a lot more videos for you in the future.

Project Life Week 16...and a quick video tutorial

Hi everyone!  I realize this is Thursday, and Project Life is supposed to be posted on a Wednesday, but with yesterday's Clique Kits blog share I rescheduled it.  I didn't think you would mind.  Anyhow, as promised here is Week 16.  I apologize for the photos, but it started raining as soon as I was going to take them.  That was some good news for us.  Also, the 4x6 photos were printed from my Canon Selphy. I'll talk more about that later.  The other photos are from Persnickity Prints.

This week, I used my June Studio Calico Kit rather than the Becky Higgins Project Life Kit.  It was a nice change up.  I liked cutting all the cards and adding some regular scrapbooking elements to the layout.

As you remember yesterday, I posted a tutorial for using PNG files.  Well, I found a way to record my screen so I made a short tutorial showing you from my screen how I did it.  So, here that is...

Don't forget, I created a group on Facebook called Scrappy Girls.  You can find our group and join, or message me and I can add you.  Enjoy your day!

Honor Society...Clique Kits Blog Share

I am so excited to join Clique Kits with their Pep Rally.  I haven't received my kits yet, they should arrive soon.  I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.  I can't wait to show you what goodies I got and the creations I make.  I just want to show you that Clique Kits offer such a great variety with their monthly kits.  As a subscriber, I was able to download their digital downloads (designed by Lacey!).  The downloads are formatted as .pngs, some are jpegs, and some are formatted for your Silhouette cutting machine.  I know not everyone has a Silhouette, but that should not stop you from being able to take advantage of the digital downloads.  The .png files can be used in Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, or Microsoft Office.  I'm going to show you that today.  First, let's start with Photoshop.  The same tools should be available in Elements.

Here is the final product.

So, I started in Photoshop by opening my photo, and the .png "love"  The "love" .png looked like this to start.

I dragged and dropped the "love" .png onto my photo.  I resized it (holding down the shift key on the Mac to keep it proportional).

I repositioned the "love" file to the bottom of my photo.  I wanted the color to be white, so I went to my paint bucket tool.

Made sure the color was white....

Then because I didn't want it totally white, I adjusted the opacity to my liking.  Next saved it and it's ready to be printed. 

Here is another one I made using this .png

I did a screen shot of this image so that's why you see the dotted lines (wanted you to see the outline of the shape).  After changing the color of the .png, I added text using the text tool to the bottom of the photo.  

Now, I will show you the pictures with .pngs from the June kit I made in Microsoft Word.  

First, create a document for the photo size you want to print.  I didn't do that for this post because I wanted to show you the background of Word.  The next thing I did was to open the .pngs I wanted to use.  You do that by going to Insert>Image>Picture from File.  After adding the .pngs, I opened the pictures.

So, this is what my document looked like...

 Next, you will need to text wrap your images.  It's the little dog icon.  You can also access it by right clicking on the photo.  I always choose "In Front of Text" that way I can drag the photo  where ever I want to.  You can then reposition the photos.

Next, I wanted to change the opacity and effect of the image.

 This would be incase you wanted to change the color.

This is how I dissolved the edges and changed transparency.

 At the bottom of the photo, I just inserted a text box to add text to the photo.  I then right clicked to bring up the formatting options and changed the opacity...In word it was the transparency.

I really hope this all made sense.  If it didn't please feel free to ask questions in the comment section.  

If you are here, make sure you have checked out all of the other blogs before:

Clique Kits

Gia

Jody

Erica

Lacey

Stephanie

Madge

Charity

Rosann

Shayne

Alisha

Danielle

Tyra

Tess

Cassandra

Mariah

Quick and Easy Way to Display Your Pages

I don't know if I shared this before.  I've gone back and searched my posts and couldn't find it.  Anyhow, I had four extra canvases laying around the house.  I bought them for 40 percent off at Hobby Lobby.  I figured I could use them for something.  Well, the something turned into a display on my wall in the craft room.  I just stapled (okay, it was Erik) some ribbon to the canvases.  Then I used some hooks from Ikea and hung them on the ribbon.  The total cost was probably $4.00 a "frame."  They look good and it's easy to change out the layouts.  They look good enough to hang anywhere in your home.

Photography 101.3

Let's talk about the TV setting today.  TV stands for Time Value.  I believe for a Nikon it is called S for  Shutter Priority.  When you put your camera in TV you are setting the shutter speed.  The camera will set the aperture for you.

Shutter Speed is how fast your lens opens and closes.  If you want your pictures to be crisp and sharp you need to have a high enough shutter speed to freeze the movement.  Usually a setting of 100 or 200 is pretty good.  I only use TV setting when I  am trying to get artsy with photos.  Either, I'm trying to catch motion such as jumping like this:

My TV for this photo was probably over 2000.  I wanted to freeze the movement in my picture.

For this photo, I set my shutter really slow.  I wanted the movement to show in the photo.

When you set your shutter speed really slow, you need to hold really still or use a tripod.  If you shake, it will show up in your photos and your subject will be blurry.

When you shoot fireworks, you can set your shutter as slow as it will go.  Sometimes your camera will show the word "bulb" when you do this.  That means your shutter will stay open until you close it.  So you will push the shutter release (the button) expose the photo for as long as you want and push the shutter release button again.  I took these pics with a tripod and just set my shutter to expose for about thirty seconds.

Photography 101.2 :)

So, today, I am just going to explain a few camera settings on your dial.  Not all of them, because I don't actually use them all.  I will explain the most important ones, and then if you need more info you can leave a comment or consult your manual.

 My aperture was set at 2.8 for this photo.  The focus was on my son's right eye.  You can see everything softening up and blurring in the photo.  (The busted lip was due to him hitting himself in the face with a Nerf Gun).

2.8 aperture on this photo as well.  The focus is on the fly on my dog's nose.  The rest of the image is blurred.  

I wanted this photo to be sharp, so I set my aperture at 7.1.

AV for Canon or A on a Nikon: That  is your aperture value.  You set how wide you want your lens to open up, and the camera does the shutter speed for you.  If you had time to purchase a prime lens, you can play around with this feature.  The lower the Aperture Number on your settings...1.8. 2.8, etc. the wider your lens opens.  Your camera will take a photo with the focus point very sharp (crisp, clear).  The rest of the photo will soften up, making it less in focus or more blurry.  The smaller your lens opens up 5.6 or higher, the more sharp and crisp your whole photo will be.

You  must remember that your aperture value in AV Mode will set your shutter speed.  The more light you let in, the faster your shutter will go (open and close).  The smaller your aperture, the slower your shutter will go.  So if you are inside, and it's sort of dark, you will want to widen your aperture. (Lower the number on the dial)  It will allow your shutter speed to increase.  You will have softer photos, though the wider you go.

Your shutter speed is important, because the slower your shutter opens and closes, it will show blur if there is movement.

I hope this makes sense.  Let me know if you have questions (leave them in comments).  Next week, I will talk about the TV or time value mode.

Photography 101

I've decided to publish a few articles on how to use your DSLR camera.  I will be posting from a Canon standpoint.  I am a Canon user through and through.  It started as a kid, with my dad's Canon 35mm Film Camera...I got to take pictures sometimes, but he did a lot of picture taking with it.  He had all the lenses for it.  My first camera was actually a 110 film camera, probably a Kodak.  I eventually moved on and got my own Canon 35mm film camera, which I still have.  Then I went on to have two Digital Rebel xTi's, a Canon 60D, and a Canon 5D Markiii.  I will try my best to help out the Nikon users as well.  The principles are basically the same, the names on the cameras are different.

My first piece of advice is if you want to learn how to use your camera out of auto mode you need to purchase a Prime Lens.  A Prime Lens has a fixed focal length...you can't zoom it in or out.  The benefits to that are that you can shoot in lower light, and fix your aperture value.  Aperture Value is the size of the hole in your lens.  The wider the hole, the more light you can let in, thus shooting in lower light settings.  I'm trying to use laymen terms here.  Here are two EXCELLENT lenses.  They are both 50mm 1.8AV lenses.  One is Canon and the other is Nikon.  They are excellent because I personally love the focal length (how far it "sees"...it's your distance).  I love the wide aperture value (AV) which allows for blurred backgrounds, and I love the price.  They are cheap.

Canon 50mm 1.8

Nikon 50mm 1.8

Both of these lenses are around $100-$125.  Nikon is more expensive than Canon, but the difference isn't huge.   The Canon 50mm works great on all of the cameras I've owned except the 5D Markiii...The focus is slow on that lens and it doesn't focus fast enough for me on that camera.  I really love the focal length of this lens and some day when I can afford the $1600 for an L Series lens, it will be my first purchase.  See, $100 isn't sounding so bad, is it?

My next post, will discuss what the dial on your camera means, and how to use your Prime lens.  If you have ANY questions, please let me know.  You can post them in the comments section and I will answer them in my next post.

Planning your Pages Part 2 (My Notebook)

Sorry this post took so long.  I've started this post about five times and never finished it.  It was hard to begin and to explain.  So, I just decided to show you a few parts of my notebook and explain them.  


My notebook has my sketches, picture pages, and album page order in it, as well as random bits of journaling.  


It is divided into two main sections.  The first section starts at the front working forward, and the other starts at the back working backward.  These pictures show you the front of my notebook where I plan my pages.  So I have the title a the top.  So lets go with the very first one that says Baptism.  I wrote down how many photos I wanted for that layout.  The numbers are image numbers I wanted to print.  Then, I drew a sketch to the side to see how to layout my photos.  (That big splotch on the bottom is distress ink).  The checkmark means that I've already printed the photos.  That way I will know where I left off.  The X's across the section mean that I have already completed the layout.

Now, this is the back of my notebook.  I have it divided by each boy with the layouts in their album.  I do this so I know the order of the pages.  I also know if I can make a two page layout or a single page.  I don't like to have blank pages in my albums.  The check mark means I've completed the page.  The big X means that I'm done with all of the layouts on that page.

In addition to those two main sections, I have a page full of different sketches and journaling ideas.  I hope this makes sense.  Next in the series, I will show you how I plan a specific page for a layout.

So Easy a Five Year Old Could Do It...

Hello friends!  Today I want to show you how to make some super easy and cute pumpkins.  My little Maddie came home with a cute little pumpkin that he made at school.  He wanted me to help me make some more for our house.  So here you go...

Here are the finished products.  The all orange pumpkins are the ones Maddie made all by himself.

Cut your paper into 1" strips.  The length can vary according to the size you want.  The smallest pumpkins were made from 8" strips.  The longest I made from two 12" strips glued together.

For each pumpkin, you will need four strips.  First make an X...Put glue in the center of one of your strips.

Add another strip.

Add the final strip.

Start gluing your strips together at the top.  I started with the first strips and glued them together.  Glue the opposites together.

Here's the finished product.

Cut some rectangles for the stem and glue them to the tops of your pumpkins.

Then, I cut some really skinny strips of paper and curled them with the scissors.  You can see the small strip dangling from my assistant's mouth.  (Notice his missing tooth)  I glued them to the top next to the stems.

The last thing I did was thread wire through the tops so I could hang them from the arch above our entry way.  

They're super easy and quick to make.  Mine aren't perfect...since my son helped me make them.  However, he likes them so that's really all that matters.

The patterned paper is from Fancy Pants.

Leave a comment if you have any questions.