Are you primarily a one kit only scrapper, on a budget or looking for ways to extend your stash?Mashing 2 (or 3!) kits together (and making your own customised collab!) gives you so many opportunities but means you won’t have to spend all your time tagging or searching your stash. If mixing and matching is not your normal style and feels daunting, this series will look at several ways to make mixing different design styles easier than you think! ______________________________________________________________________________________________Hi there and welcome to a fun new way to start Mondays in the middle of the month – The Monday Mash-up! definition: Mash-up noun- informal.* a combination or mixing of dissimilar elements, especially content from different sources. Some background:I hope you are … [Read more...]
Thoughtful Thursday: Simple Journaling
There isn't much that makes me happier in scrapbooking than clean and simple pages that showcase a lovely photo and includes some thoughtful journaling complimenting the photo. But sometimes coming up with that"simple" journaling can be so challenging! For me, this often happens when I'm over thinking things, so I have to remind myself to keep it simple and reflect on what it is that makes me love the photo I'm scrapping, and what I want to tell others about that photo.One of my journaling go-to's when I'm in this mind block is to use a formula for simple journaling: repetition and short sentences. This is my formula for many of my layouts: I will start each line of my journaling with the same word or phrase. I will then add a few words after that phrase that conveys the message I want to share. I put each sentence on it's own line and incorporate the journaling into the … [Read more...]
Mixed Media Minimalist Pages
Have you ever worked with the Mixed Media products at The Lilypad? If so, then you already know how amazing the products are. But, if you haven't, then let me share a little secret with you...they are not just for art journaling, mixed media style of pages. They are for all scrapbooking styles and, even more specifically, for minimalist pages.It doesn't matter where you start, whether you have a photo chosen and want to build your design around that, or if you spotted some product or paper you just can't resist, and you have the urge to use them right away (that happens to me all the time, I spot a little piece of a kit and my heart skips a beat, I need to have it and scrap with it).If you think you might be overwhelmed by the magnitude of products in the monthly mixed media collection and not know where to start or even if it is a collection that you will want to use, try … [Read more...]
Photographing Pets
There's nothing more fun than photographing pets but it can be a bit tricky to capture a good shot. Let me share a few tips with you that have helped me when photographing pets.The two most important tips, in my opinion, are to be prepared and to be patient. Let me explain what I mean.Being Prepared:Look at your surroundings. Do you know what direction you would like your pet to face? Have you figured out where you will be in relation to your pet? Have you thought about the angle or distance between you and your pet? Do you have to adjust any camera settings and if so, take a few test shots beforehand so that when you place your pet into the position you'd like, you'll be ready to take the photo. Have you checked to see if there is any clutter around the area you don't wish to be in the shot? If there is, can you move the clutter out of the framing of your shot?Check … [Read more...]
A Day In The Life Of A Polly
It's always interesting to learn more about our fellow scrappers, isn't it? I'm excited today to share my interview with Jill Williams, a Polly at The Lilypad. We've been online scrappy friends for awhile and I know she is a lovely, sweet woman. It was fun to learn more about her. Here is a pic of Polly Jill and a few of the gorgeous pages she has created for The Lilypad.Jill said, "Thank you Rae for giving me the opportunity to share with fellow scrappers!! "I"m Jill and totally addicted to digital scrapping! I've been married for thirty six years. We have a son, a terrific daughter-in-law and two beautiful grandbabies. I can see the little light at the end of the tunnel called retirement!! I work full time as a Process Improvement Manager for a distribution Center and I do enjoy my job; however, retirement sure sounds delightful! My dream is to retire in three years … [Read more...]
Artsy Masking
Learning how to create a mask is easy. By blending a variety of brushes, overlays, etc you can create your own artsy mask. Let me show you how, using Photoshop.Here's a screen shot of my layout with my layers of brushes which were combined to make a mask for my photo. I've turned off all the other layers except for the background layer so you can see the completed mask with the photo clipped to it before I finished off the page. I used brushes from Tangie Baxter's 2017 Brush Of The Month Club February Brushes and Lynne-Marie's Mixed Media kit.How I start my mask building is to first select the photo I will use so I can get a sense of the shape of mask I want to create. Then I turn down the opacity of the photo layer so that I can see through it to the mask layers below as I create them. This step isn't necessary and by no means do you need to select a photo first, this is just my … [Read more...]