RANDOM ACTS OF SCRAPPING…

I know that you probably expected to see a Halloween article, a Thanksgiving article or at the very least a Fall/Autumn article here this month but I hope you won’t be disappointed if I share something else instead.

So many of you have said that you know what to do with Christmas photos, Birthday photos, wedding photos or even snow photos, but you are sometimes at a loss as to what to do with Random photos. Usually these are the ones that turn out to be our best shots. This is probably because something delightful and precious catches our eyes and we grab our cameras and shoot!

This may be one reason that we see so many “moments” pages in all of the scrapbooking magazines and on the scrapping websites. One photo is easy to use to create a one-page layout with few other embellishments. One photo also is perfect for a Christmas card or a birthday card, etc.

When hubby and I first married we found we both had a love of photography but on our college student resources could not afford much in the way of equipment. Our first photographic enlarger was made from old binocular lenses and a coffee can. I remember us developing our first prints and making contact sheets and some really rough enlargements. But it felt wonderful, exciting and creative.

When our daughter was tiny we bought a real enlarger and darkroom equipment. We would get out hubby’s SLR camera, set up some makeshift lighting, rearrange the furniture to catch the best natural light and notify the neighbors that we were doing a photo shoot. (Most of us in the apartment building had little ones about the same age…yikes that means we are all AARP members now!…but I digress).

The moms and dads would soon knock on our door with toddlers in tow and we would snap photos until we ran out of film and then hubby would set up our makeshift darkroom in our (only) bathroom, develop the film, and make a contact sheet of all the possible photos. Then he would turn me loose and I would print until I ran out of paper.

My hubby has always been generous and people loved seeing their kids in print. They volunteered to pay but we had them just buy their own packs of paper for us to print for them if they wanted lots of photos. That worked out well for all of us.

I learned how to enlarge, burn and dodge and loved the printing side of it. Today, with my imaging programs I am doing these same techniques but we don’t have to barricade the bathroom for hours, mix messy chemicals and unpack the enlarger! It is always my pleasure to share what I have learned with you!

I have asked some of my friends to share some random photos with me and I will use this opportunity to give you some ideas of fun things to do.

Project 1: Donna’s Beautiful Ashlee
(*Now, I ask you….could this photo BE any cuter?? It really doesn’t need a lot. It will be the star of the page no matter what. (Thank you Donna!)

1. I added a background with a color right from her dress by using the color picker tool .
2. I added a shape to mimic a ribbon or banner and then used the distort tool to make it wavy.
3. I used the transparency tool to add more interest.

Project 1a:

1. I took the photo into Digital Image Pro, to effects and changed it to a sketch.
2. Placing the original photo underneath the sketch, I used the transparency brush set very low and lightly uncovered just a hint of rosy cheeks. I set the brush at 100% to get her lovely blue eyes to show up.
3. I added various shapes to the page and a little poem.

Project 2: Wishin’ I Was Fishin’ with Steven
(*Thank you Muriel for the wonderful photo of your grandson!)

1. After using the dry bush effect in DIP, I used the create a cutout tool and took some of the “water” from the photo to use as the background.
2. I placed the original photo underneath the dry brush one and erased most of the painted effect from the top portion of Steven but left it in the scenery and the lower portion of the page.
3. I added the retouched photo and softened the edges to blend it in a bit with the water.
4. I added some HugWare images and a little verses. * Images from Ark by Linda Wolfe and Busy Busy Bears by Carolee Jones

Project 2a:

1. I took elements from the first page and moved them as one grouping to a letter size page to create a different version for the same photo.
2. I added a photo mat and made it transparent with the “make transparent” tool.
3. I added brads from DIP to hold the vellum look mat.

Project 3: You Keep Me Young. (*Wendy and Pam, thank you for this adorable photo of Grandmom and Granddaughter having fun!)

1. I used one of the filters in DIP to create a mosaic out of the photo in order to have the exact colors for the background.
2. I added it to the page as a mat and placed a copy of the same photo on the mat.
3. I added images from Fun at the Fair by Nan Edwards.

Project 4: I Love Fall
(*Kamie sent me these adorable fall photos!! (Thank you Kamie!))

1. I created a solid background by adding shape, then filling with color.
2. I added my large photo and used the fancy edge function in DIP.
3. I added fall images and backed some of them with solid filled images.
4. I then added the two small photos.
5. I added a little verse.

Here you have a few simple things you can do with some random photos. I had planned on more but unfortunately my computer seems to be trying its hardest to crash and I do want to make sure that I at least get to share this much! (And hubby keeps wanting to know if I’m ready for him to install the new 250 Gig hard drive….I’m thinking I’m ready…picture me typing this while backing away from the keyboard all the while saying…just one more sentence ..) .

One of the most exciting things about using the computer to scrap and have digital and scanner photos at your fingertips is that you have an endless supply of subjects for pages and for your backgrounds and embellishments.

Even with the frustration that I have had this week with my threatening/looming computer trauma, would I give up my PC?….Absolutely not! It has become like an extension of my fingertips! I may get upset with its contrariness at times but mostly ours is a “loving” relationship!

These pages were all done in Microsoft Digital Image Pro V7. I have used the transparency function, the stamp tool, the add shape function and the create fancy effects as part of the creation of my pages. If you don’t have the same Creatables that I have used, you can use your Webbug search function and type in keywords just as I did, to find the images for your page. I typed in “fishing, fall, fair” and found a variety of appropriate and pleasing images.

The classroom bell is ringing and I see you all shoving your laptops into your backpacks and heading for the door, but first:

Your assignments should you desire to accept them:

1. Choose some single photos and do some special effects pages.
2. Swap some photos with a friend and each of you do a few pages for the other’s book .
3. Take some black and white photos if you haven’t already.
4. Hold a family photo shoot.
5. Invite some other families to your photo shoot and get shots for their
   family for your unique perspective.
6. Hug some folks!
7. Use several special effects in your program that you haven’t used before.
8. Meet me back here next month.

Until then, have a wonderful November and happy scrapping!

Gentle Reminder for the Month:

Remember that you need to learn as much as you can. Learn how to do the tricks, find new tips, create special effects, know how to make fancy or soft edges…but just don’t use them all on one page. Just because we know how to do something doesn’t mean we have to use them on each page. Save some things…have some tricks up your sleeve that will make your pages special!!