I See Better With My Camera In My Hand...

Are you suffering from scrapbook block? Is your crafting at a standstill, is your mind muffled? Does your creativity need a jumpstart? Well, most people have moments if not extended periods of time that fall into these categories.

If you are a scrapbooker and you are momentarily blocked, put away the photos of the 3rd birthday party, cease worrying over the photos from Christmas, and ease the Easter photos into one of those nice slotted page albums. Now that they are out of sight, pick up your camera and let's take a walk!

I see so much better with a camera in my hand. I took my camera for a little drive this morning as we ran errands and then jumped out of the car almost as soon as the car was completely stopped and ran across the street to take some photos of our neighbors blooming plants. Then I walked down the street to a tiny little park that overlooks the bay and took some more photos.

Pretend that I have come to visit you and you are showing me around the neighborhood. Then create a page from some of the photos. Chances are that once you get started you will see all sorts of things, people and places that will get those creative juices flowing and you won't be able to wait to create some more pages. You will be searching for those photos that we put away just a few paragraphs ago!

What is the weather like today? Here in California, the sun is shinning and the weather is delightfully Springy. Here, I will take a photo of a flag billowing in the breeze and a photo of a flower being kissed by the sunlight to show you what my town is like today. Is it snowy there or are your flowers blooming? Snap! Here is a photo of the rose garden a couple of doors down. What do people do in your town for fun? Snap! Snap! Here is a photo of a sailboat and motorboat and here are folks sitting on the bench in the park watching it.

Now that we have some photos to encourage and inspire us, we can decide how we want to use them. Some of them I will want to add to my HugWare backgrounds or enhance with Creatable imageart and some I will want to use as is for cards or as backgrounds, frames or posters on their own.

I can start with looking in my browser for the type of image or background that I desire. Come with me now and let's get to work and create something with these photos!

* If you don't have the new Hugbug Browser, then I really recommend it to you. When I start to work with a photo, I just type in the item that I need and it finds it for me... doesn't matter which Creatable it was in, it searches through them all and gives me choices.

Project 1: Elinor’s Elephant

I got the cutest phone call from my neighbor Elinor who invited me to come over and see the elephant in her courtyard. Elephant? Ok, I was out the door in a flash with camera in hand!

Sure enough, as she led me into the courtyard, I saw it….there it was, big as life, a jasmine elephant complete with a rider on its back. By the way, I think I saw a cactus llama in her front yard….I created this page for Elinor and can’t wait to take it to her…please don’t tell her that I showed you first!

1. Using the HugBug Browser, I typed in elephant and chose the one in Ark by Linda Wolfe.
2. I used the fill with picture function to fill in with jasmine from Elinor’s yard and used the jasmine as the background for the page as well.
3. I made the background jasmine transparent.
4. I added a mat behind the photo and added another smaller photo or two and used the edge function in DIP to add the white border around the photo.

Project 2: I See Better With a Camera in My Hand

You don’t have to create an artistic masterpiece in each work you do. This simple page can bring a bit of fun to an online friend, be printed as a postcard or used as a tag on a gift for someone as you return from vacation.

1. I added the camera from the Travel Adventures Creatable by Carolee Jones onto a new page.
2. I added the couple from the same Creatable and used the color picker to choose a background color to match colors in the imageart.
3. I used the cutout tool to cut out the lens from the camera and added the photo underneath.

Project 3: Welcome to San Diego

Another simple page that uses several layers which are easily created in Digital Image Pro. Always start with a new page in the size you prefer, add a shape the same size and fill with color. Images are from Travel Adventures Creatable by Carolee Jones.

1. I created the bulletin board by adding shape, then creating a texture.
2. I added the trim from the photo effect in Digital Image Pro.
3. I added the photo and skewed it in DIP. I used the transparency brush to brush away some of the photo to show the pencil.
4. I copied my article and pasted onto a shape added to the bulletin board.
5. I added a photo to the postcard.
   

Project 4: Memories May Fade

I always love to do one page that needs nothing save your imagination.

1. I created a new page and added my photo.
2. I used the cutout tool and cut out a portion of the photo, then pasted it in same spot.
3. I used the emphasize effect and tried various ones until I found an effect I liked.
4. I then used the gradual transparency tool
5. I wrote down the little verse that had been jumping up and down in my mind from the moment I saw this photo!

There you have some very simple but fun pages and some ideas that I hope will get you moving and outdoors in the sunshine with camera in hand!

This has been a very busy and exciting month for me as I try to meet (or beat) a deadline for the last of the month to submit a book of poetry to the publishers. A lot of the poems will be ones that you have seen here. It looks like to get them all in, I will need to do a volume Two!

Now for your assignments should you decide to accept them:

1. You know the first one: HUG SOMEONE!
2. Be especially kind to folks, there is so much “stuff” going on in our world and everyone needs a bit more TLC than usual!
3. Go out for a walk and take photos in the sunshine, take photos in the rain, take photos just for the sheer fun of holding a camera in your hand and a memory in your heart!
4. Experiment with any photo program you might have and have some fun.
5. See if you have an elephant in your yard….or a llama..
6. Meet me back here next month!!!
7. Send a note to the folks at pcCrafter and to the office Angels there and tell them how much you appreciate them!

AND if you see a book on the market called “Where’s Thena? I Need a Poem About”… be sure to buy it!!!

Hugs,
Thena