'Tis the season to be sparkly! Whether it's glowing lights on a tree, flickering candles in a holder, glittery outfits, or the magic of snow or sparklers on New Year's Eve, this time of year often has both sparkle in photos and on the page! Here's some of the photo op's and methods of working with digital sparkle!Maybe all you need is minimal sparkle to be striking?Both soft and sharp photography works this time of year to focus on details and convey the ambience. You might want to add extra magic with bokeh? (The blurred light effect shown on the tree above). You can do this either in-camera while you are setting up the shot by using a shallow depth of field (either with a low f-stop value or if your phone has a 'portrait mode' that can help achieve the same effect), or you can add bokeh after the fact with a photoshop tool or overlay from the … [Read more...]
Seasonal Inspiration: Christmas (in July)
Have you seen that this week (until July 31) Christmas, Winter, and Document Your December (DYD) products are all on sale for 35% off?I don't tend to actually celebrate Christmas in July but I love that it inspires me to get out previous Christmas photos that I have a backlog of and feel a bit over and burnt out on by the time December is near done, given the stores have been playing carols on repeat since October. Let me share a bit of inspo I've seen in the gallery recently and what I'm loving or taking from them. Click on any of them to see them full size in the gallery! This page by garrynkim makes me think of wrapping paper and I want to use *all* the patterned papers! She has achieved expert level at mixing colours and patterns!The rays on this page by LivyBug is another brilliant way to use all the patterned papers and channel the crazy energy of … [Read more...]
Beginners Mixed Media: Realism with Distorted Shadows and Edges
Hi there. Today in Mixed Media Beginners, I'm going to literally be throwing shade. There's no disrespect or ridicule here, just a comparison and explanation to why sometimes I add hand shadowing directly on to papers or elements, or tweak shadows below my layers and how my mixed media use influences that. It's also kind of a Scrapping Secret post - this is one way to level up your pages, so it's a two-for-one post really, which is to say it's a long one so grab a cuppa and buckle up!______________________________________________________________________________________ Here's a bit of background or nostalgia that will make me sound really old but gives today's post some context: I still remember my first digi pages (cough, cough, like 17 years ago) and the quick progression I made from not even knowing drop shadows existed and therefore not applying even a default shadow … [Read more...]
Victorian Christmas Style
Hello Friends,If you celebrate Christmas, you probably include at least a couple of traditions that date back to the Victorian period.For example: Do you put up a Christmas tree? While the Christmas tree originated in medieval Germany, it was popularized in both England and America in the 1840s and 1850s, thanks in part to the influence of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Do your children or grandchildren eagerly await the visit of a red-coated Santa in a reindeer-drawn sleigh? It was the American writer Clement Moore who first depicted Santa Claus with "a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" in his poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," first published in 1823.With its jolly Santas, rosy-cheeked children, and rich palette of reds and golds and greens, it's not surprising that the vintage Victorian look is such a popular holiday style, and there are loads of … [Read more...]
Seasonal Inspiration: Wreaths
Hi there! Are you getting ready to Deck the Halls? I'm feeling inspired by wreaths this month and they can be more diverse than you think! They don't even need to include foliage from what I've seen in the gallery and today I’m looking at some of the different wreaths in your pages.____________________________________________________________________This page by HeatherB features a densely packed wreath full of flowers, foliage and metallic elements that add interest but uses a colour scheme that makes it suitable year roundI adore this layered cutfile wreath full of wordart! So festive and creative from Dalis!This layout by Berniek uses layers of ephemera to build a nostalgic wreath.Farrah has included photos and a card on her traditional wreath and cleverly masked them onto baublesHere's another wreath featuring a photo by vrielinkie. I love the … [Read more...]
Beginners Mixed Media: Instant Mixed Media with Painted Papers
To some of us, there is nothing more nerve-wracking than attempting a scrapping style out of your comfort zone or more daunting than a blank canvas with infinite possibilities.(OK, yes, I’m talking about me personally but I’m sure this applies to others as well!)So in this blog series, I’m attempting to make Mixed Media less daunting by giving you (and me) some jumping off points. Where to begin with digi – mixed media scrapping? Right here for Mixed Media Beginners! Last month I used basic paint brush strokes in place of paper strips on basic templates. This time I'm thinking about the way paper choice alone can give a scrapbook layout a mixed media look without the addition of any paint or brush work, splatters or otherwise. In other words, I'm going with the 'fake it til you make it' approach and calling today's page creation process 'Instant Mixed Media'!I'm … [Read more...]