Masks are becoming an everyday part of life with the current Covid-19 situation. And while cloth masks are helpful in real life, I want to talk about another kind of mask that's helpful to digital scrappers. I'm talking about pre-made masks like the Painted Masks 1 released today by Rachel Jefferies. These pre-made masks are an easy way to add some magic to the photos on your layouts. Take a look at this layout for example.The instructions and screenshots below were created in Photoshop Elements 2019, but the steps are similar in other versions of PSE and Photoshop.1. Start with a favorite textured paper. It can be mostly solid or as much texture as you'd like. I'm using a textured paper from Rachel Jefferies' From The Rooftops: Mixed Media Paperie.2. Add a pre-made photo mask. I added the 9x12 version of a mask from Rachel Jefferies' Painted Masks 1 and turned it 90 … [Read more...]
Father’s Day Journaling Tips and Tricks
I'm pretty sure I just heard some groans! Journaling seems to have a love - hate relationship overall. To me, a page isn't complete without a little journaling, even if it's just the Who, What, Where, and When. I snapped a few photos on Father's Day to scrap. Today, I'm here with a few thoughts for documenting the Fathers and Father figures in our lives. One of my favorite tricks to journaling when I don't know what to say is letting someone else tell the story. Is there a child who can answer a few questions about fathers? Or is there someone who will tell the story for you? I love to capture my mom telling stories about her dad. I've added some stories from my siblings about our dad. For my husband, I added a story that a child from church told me. Stories from other voices can help round out the personality of a person. Lists are a great way to capture the moment. List out the … [Read more...]
Do You Reuse Photos on Multiple Layouts?
This weekend, while I was scrapbooking, I started wondering about something. Do most people reuse photos on their layouts? Often, I find myself going back and pulling a photo of one of my girls that I’ve used before to include it on a layout. Is this something that you do, or do you think it’s almost taboo? Reusing pictures is a strategy that I use often, and I’ll tell you why.A good picture is a good picture.Let’s face it, while we take a ton of pictures throughout the year, there are always going to be some that are true standouts. I can’t turn down a great picture, I just need to use it, and I like using it over and over. Why choose a picture that might not be so great instead of one that is awesome, just because I’ve used it before?I’m a moment scrapper.I don’t often scrap events, I spend my time scrapping moments and memories from our lives. This lends itself to a having … [Read more...]
Hybrid Template Fun
Hey everyone! Hope the end of summer, first of school is treating you well. This will likely leave you with some "extra" time or just regular time to create. I have a fun thing to try for hybrid that you may not have thought about.It's Katrina aka katrinahunt13 here on the blog today sharing a hybrid layout I did with a fun template from Sabrina's Creations. If you haven't taken a look at her store DO IT! I love her style even though it is so different than mine. AKA, I pile stuff on and Sabrina has a clean and simple style. BUT, I fell in love with her In Review|September '17 Template and just kept going back to it. That hexagon kept calling my name.And then Allison Pennington's Doggo kit was calling my name! If you haven't seen it, here is the kit picture. I knew mixing the two would be a fun combo.So, I started playing with it in digital and decided to … [Read more...]
Overcoming Mental Roadblocks to Scrapping
Have you ever had an idea in your mind you just couldn’t get over? An idea that prevented you from doing something else? That’s a mental roadblock – an idea that keeps you from doing something that you want to do. Personally, my head is full of mental roadblocks…tons of them. Today, I’ve put together the four most common mental roadblocks that keep us from scrapbooking, and I’ve come up with some ideas to help you overcome them. I’m so behind, I’ll never catch up – Yeah, know what else, neither will I. I've been scrapping for almost nine years, and there are still tons of things that I haven’t scrapped. I still haven’t finished scrapping our trip to Disney two years ago! One thing I learned is that if I want to get some scrapping done, I have to let go of this idea. Who cares if I’m behind? At least I’m doing some layouts, right? I just don’t know where to start – I’ve … [Read more...]
3 Tips for Mastering Clustering
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about Clustering vs. Layering. I was amazed at the response to the article! So many people sharing which they prefer to do, and tips for each, it was truly awesome.One thing that I heard loud and clear is that some people wanted some tips on how to cluster. Today, I'm going to share with you the top three tips I use when I am clustering.Clusters work when they are anchored to something on the page - Clusters are often more effective when they are touching some other part of the page, maybe the photo, or even the edges of the layout. When the cluster is anchored, it appears to have more purpose on the page. On this page, you can see that my cluster is anchored to both the edge of the page and to one of the photos.Rule of Threes - The Rule of Threes is so prevalent in all design. When you are clustering, the rule of threes means that … [Read more...]