Natasha (bcnatty) here bringing you this week’s Saturday Special. Today we are going to delve in to the wonderful, mysterious world of blending. Now, I am by no means an expert in this topic, but I have used this technique to save some pretty bad pictures.

I’m going to run you through the process by which I go through when I am blending. Please keep in mind that there are endless possibilities when using this technique and I challenge you to work your own magic!! Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, I am using PSCS3, and I’m not sure if all of this will translate to other programs.

So, without further ado…

Here is the picture I am trying to save…

In most cases this picture is SO not worthy of scrapping…it’s cute, but her face is really blurry. BUT I love the feel of this pic and how she is holding the ornament…so I’m going to try to save it…cross your fingers!!

First you want to open your picture in your program and place it on a new document. Please make sure that you are not working with your original picture!!

Now you choose your paper. In most cases when I am blending, I want the focus to be on the picture. So I usually choose a very simple textured solid paper (but you can certainly use any paper you’d like). For this example I choose a beautiful paper from Britt-ish Designs and De Crow Designs Very Merry Kit. Drag your paper on to the new document, then go to your layers palette and drag your paper layer so it’s under your photo. Here is what your document should look like now.

The next thing I usually do is make my picture lighter. I do this by right clicking the picture layer and choosing Duplicate Layer. On your layers palette, you should see a field that is defaulted to Normal. Click on the drop down menu and choose Screen. You should definitely see your picture brighten up a bit. If you are working with a darker picture, you could choose to perform this step again to lighten your picture even more. Since mine is already light to begin with, I am only doing this step once. Here’s what my document is looking like so far.

Next you want to merge the picture layers. You do this by clicking on the top picture layer, holding down the shift key and then clicking on the bottom layer. All your picture layers should be highlighted now. Right click anywhere on the highlighted area and choose Merge Layers.

Now comes the fun blending part, we now have one picture layer that we are going to blend with the paper layer behind it. You can play around with the blending modes and see which one works best for your picture. In this case, the Overlay mode created the feeling I wanted. And to create a visual impact I chose to enlarge my picture. You can do this by going to your menu bar, clicking Edit, then Transform, then Scale. Make sure the you hold down the Shift key when you drag to enlarge your picture, that way it will keep the proportions right. Here is what my document looks like now.

Now, I liked the blend and the size of the picture, but the colour was just a little too yellow-ish for me. So I played around with the Levels. I did this by making sure the picture layer was highlighted, then went up to my menu bar and chose Image, then Adjustments, then Levels. You can play around with the sliders until you achieve the look you want. I added just a little more blue to even out the colours. Then all you have to do is add the elements and/or word art you like and Voila! You’ve created a beautiful blended masterpiece!! Here is my final result…

And here are a few other LOs I’ve created using a blending technique.

And here are some beautiful examples from our wonderful CT to inspire you!!

Can’t wait to see all the wonderful blends in the gallery!! Happy Scrapping:)

Nope, this doesn’t involve screaming kids!  (If any of you have a solution to that I’m all ears!!)    I’m talking about those annoying tiny specks of random color that show up in an image.  It’s basically the digital equivalent of film grain.  Have you ever uploaded your pictures from your camera and opened them up thinking they look awesome only to zoom in and find they don’t look so awesome anymore?  This has happened to me more times than I’d like to admit!  Here’s a picture I took of my daughter this past summer.

It looks okay until you zoom in (or print!)

Eeeeeek!  Well there are a few solutions.  First of all, try to avoid it in the first place.

“Shoot at the lowest possible ISO – Your ISO setting controls how sensitive your CCD or CMOS sensor is to light (digital film speed). The higher the number, the more sensitive it is and the less light you need to get a photo.  However, the higher you set your ISO, the more noise you pick up. So, always shoot with the lowest setting possible. If your camera has an “auto ISO” feature, use it – this will keep the ISO as low as possible. As the light gets brighter or darker, it adjusts your ISO automatically.

Shoot at higher shutter speeds – If you stick your camera on a tripod and try some long exposures, you’ll probably notice a nasty increase in noise – especially if you’re shooting at a higher ISO.  If you need to take long exposures, you should probably experiment with different ISO / shutter speed combinations to see what you can get away with. You don’t want the noise to get out of control and get all wild on ya.

Digital Zoom – Here’s yet another reason why not to use your digital zoom – it can add extra “noise” to your photos. Since a digital zoom is forced to create pixels where none exist, it can’t help but add to the noise problem.”

(I found this all these suggestions here.)

What if, despite doing everything you can, you still end up with some noise in the photo? Well, Photoshop and PSE have “de-noising” filters that are supposed to help, but to be honest they are pretty pitiful in my opinion.  I could hardly see any difference at all even at the highest settings!  So I did a little online research and found NeatImage. I have been using this plug-in for Photoshop for a little over a year and I am so impressed!  Check out some of my results:

Sooooo much better!  Now if you don’t have Photoshop or PSE that’s okay, because NeatImage is also available as stand-alone software, which means anyone can use it.  Unfortunately it’s not a free program but there are free demos available.  Click here for a Windows Demo and here for a Mac Demo. I hope this helps reduce the noise in your life, well the digital kind anyway!  Have a great day!  Jeni Hopewell.

Hi all, (scrappy)Kate here with this months Project reNEWit…
how to make a mini album out of old envelopes!

Now all my envelopes just happened to be all white, and the same size.  I had bought a pack years ago and never used them, as they weren’t the right size for the cards I was making at the time.  They were just sitting there begging to be used for something! 

I get most of my junkmail/bills/subscriptions online these days, so I don’t get those return to sender envelopes much anymore, but they would be perfect for this.  I think it would be more interesting to use different coloured ones, different sized ones, ones with text/addresses on them or even ones with windows, for that peek-a-boo effect!

Now, here’s the how-to…

I used “Boy on Wheels” from Digi Keepsakes by Monica Evan.  I sealed the envelopes and ran them straight through my printer – back side up.

Stick two envelopes, front to front so the printed side is on the outside.  Two envelopes makes one sheet.

This next step was done because this project is for my 3yo son and I wanted the pull out cards to have some ridgidity.  You don’t have to use cards anyway, you could pop photos, little keepsakes or anything in there!

Keep it together!

Decorate!

Create some digital layouts to fit your pockets.

Glue printed layouts on to cards for the aforementioned ridgidity!

Decorate – again, cards this time.  Attach something to use as a pull out tab.

I inked all the edges with a sponge and black ink for a bit more grunge and to get rid of the white bits

Here’s the back…

Some of the inside…

And back to the start…

Why don’t you try making a mini album out of some old envelopes?  We’d love to see it, so be sure to post it to our hybrid gallery!

Hey All – Donna here from reCREATE. With some eco-facts about junk mail… Did you know that according to 41pounds.org that “An average of 41 pounds of junk mail is sent to every adult citizen each year.   Approximately 44% of this mail goes into a landfill unopened.”  I also read that between 65 and 100 million trees are cut down each year for the direct mail industry, and that the average American spends eight months of their life dealing with junk mail – Scary, huh?!  www.41pounds.org and www.greendimes.org.  You can also check out this article, and easily do it yourself!www.recreate.org

There are several companies that will take your name off the junk mail lists for a small fee

If you do get something you don’t need – by all means – craft it up like Kate did with this cool envelope album!
 
Donna Sangwin, Director

Have a great holiday season and I’ll see you back here on the first day of 2009 for another tutorial!
Kate

Stacy here for your next Word Up challenge.  Since Christmas is right around the corner and I am feeling the Christmas spirit I made you some word art to use on your LO.  You can either use the word art I made or make your own using one of the sayings – I’m pretty easy going doesn’t matter to me.  Download the word art [url=http://www.4shared.com/file/75412373/d1f17ec2/sbdchristmaswordart.html]here[/url]

Here is what I came up with using Britt-ish Designs White Christmas and Bing Crosby Christmas alpha:

A few other examples for your viewing pleasure!

Monique (monsu) using Very Merry Kit by Britt-ish Designs and DeCrow Designs
Keepsake 15 template by Digi Keepsakes by Monica

Kim (kimbytx) using Britt’s Hustle and Bustle

Christine (alamama) using Britt’s *It’s Christmas Time in the City* & her *Ribbon Jar*

Remember you can earn one point for this challenge just by completing it and linking your image in the gallery to the forum.  You can earn an extra point for using a new product within it’s first week of release.  There is also an extra point up for grabs when a winner is chosen.  Can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!

Hello everyone! Linz here. When I found out I was hosting this challenge, I decided to try my hand at making a template for the first time. Hope you all like it!

You can download this template HERE.
PNG files can be downloaded HERE.

There is no set theme this week. The only requirement is that you be creative! Add some things, take something away — any changes are fine, just make it your own! Maybe the circles will be stars (or flowers or leaves, like in my example below). Maybe you’ll use 2 photos instead of just one. I think templates are a great starting point for a layout, but they’re so much more fun when you add your own little touches.

For my example, I used Autumn Time by GG Digital Designs, Itty Bitty Alpha Tiles by Designs by Tater and String Theory by Britt-ish Designs.

Here’s some more inspiration for you!

Kim used GG Digital Designs’ Halli kit, Framed and Bits N Pieces.

Stefanie created this page using Erica Zane’s Falling Dusk and Tater’s Itty bitty Alpha chips.

Heather used the Witchy Woman alpha by Britt-ish Designs, Summer Retro by Simply Sweet Designs and Fall Splendor, Fall Splendor Pumpkin Add-on & Cardboard Dating, all by Haynay Designs.

Finally, Kelly used mostly Angel of Mine by Dirty Feet Designs for this simple, yet lovely page.

I’m excited to see your layouts! You have all month to complete this challenge. Please upload your LO to the Tuesday Template Challenge gallery, as well as linking it in the forum to get your point. You can also earn an additional point by using any product released in the past 7 days in the SM shop. Just make sure you mention that when uploading your page. At the end of the challenge, I’ll be choosing one random winner for an extra point as well!

You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products to participate in this challenge, but we love it when you do! Remember, no double dipping. Each LO must be created for one challenge only. Can’t wait to see your pages!

Happy Monday to you all! Mary (littlehiccup) here with today’s What Matters Monday post. I wanted to focus on order today…not order in the court or even order in your house…but rather layer order.

I used to paper scrap for about 15 years (gosh am I really that old?) and when I started digi-scrapping, I wanted my pages to look like they had been paper scrapped. This is why I am sometimes obsessed with layer order. I have to think about my LO as if I am cutting and pasting each element on the paper. Then I have to review my LO when I am finished – moving from the bottom layer up to make sure that each element is where it should be (a little OCD maybe…).

One of the areas where I am especially careful is when I am using text. I have to think if it would be possible or would I even attempt to write on a piece of ribbon or this flower, etc. Another example is when I combine text with an alpha, I have to make sure that the text would be able to be written on the alpha or I place it underneath. Sometimes I just have to add a paper strip to get the right look.

This being said, let’s hear a few hip, hip, hoorays for the wonders of digital and all of the neat tricks that we can accomplish! There are so many awesome typography effects and blended effects that we can create digitally that I would hate to be bogged down my paper scrapping rules. When I am designing a more graphic style LO, I don’t worry about these limitations. And that is just the beauty of it.

So maybe it does matter or maybe it doesn’t – you decide! Have a lovely day!

Happy Sunday everyone! It’s the SMG to bring you another wonderful spotlight. This week we have the pleasure to learn more about one of our wonderful designers…Happy Scrap Girl!

1. What is your real name? Well, only Andrea knows that for sure! Online, I go by Happy Scrap Girl, HSG or Happy – honestly, as long as you are nice, I’ll pretty much answer to anything, LOL!

2. Why did you pick your Designer name?I started out in digi land as a freebie hunter. My blog was called Happy Scrap Girl. Since so many people knew me with this name, I thought it might be a good idea to stick with it.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about who lives with you? I live with my wonderful family – a very supportive and loving DH & two sweet little girls.

4. What is your favorite color? My favorite color is blue – but fall in love with new color combos for designs almost daily!

5. Do you find yourself incorporating that color into your layouts/kits?I do have several kits in my shop that have blue in them – Taylor, Aiden, Wild, Flirt, Inspire Me and Color Me Happy Worn Papers all have lots of blue in them

6. What kind of computer do you have? I am a PC girl.

7. What program(s) do you use to design? I mostly use PSCS3 and PSE 5.0. I’m also learning to use Illustrator.

8. What is your favorite element? Flowers & greenery – I seem to be drawn to them lately.

9. What is your favorite type of paper? I’ve been designing a lot of Worn products lately – I’m a bit addicted to them actually!

10. When did you start designing? I started designing a little over a year ago.

11. What motivated you to design? One of my friends and I have this running joke whenever we go to a crafty type store – “oh, I could do that” – for those projects that just seem to easy to do on your own. The more I scrapped, the more I thought – “Oh, I could do that”. It’s taken me a while, but I learn how to do something new almost every day.

12. What was the first thing you designed? The first thing I designed was a template that I gave away on my blog. The first thing designed for SM was a pumpkin themed kit. Looking back at it now – I just cringe looking at it – my style has changed so much and I have learned so much more – maybe I’ll redo it someday – but it’s not in my shop anymore.

13. Do you remember the name you gave it? It was called Little Pumpkin.

14. Where do you get your inspiration? EVERYWHERE!! Kids clothes, toys, books, ads, TV, just walking through a store gives me ideas.

15. Have you ever done a Collaboration kit with another designer? I’ve done a few. I did one with Shari(SHARIng Creations) called Juliana and anther with Shari & Andrea called Refresh for the Queen of Scrap Challenge participants last year. I’ve done many with the SM design team. I’ve just finished a charity collab for Divine Digital. I worked on this month’s newsletter kit with Heather of Haynay Designs – I think this is my all – time favorite kit – just wait till you see it!

16. When did you start selling here at ScrapMatters? October 2007

17. What is your favorite kit that you’ve ever designed?That would be this month’s newsletter kit – I LOVE it! It was loads of fun to create, and the CT has created some gorgeous LO’s with it! I’m also addicted to making worn overlays.

18. Can you tell what your theme is for the next kit? Right now, I’ve got a few small projects in the works, but I’m really trying to cut back this month – because of the Christmas holiday and all the extra activities that come with it.

19. What is your design/scrapping area, what does it look like(Clutter, clean, organized, etc). Eeek! It’s a mess right now! When DD2 came along my office got moved to our basement. I have a huge French door that rests on file cabinets and is covered with a sheet of plexiglass as my desk that I absolutely love. I’ve got lots of pictures of my family and friends tucked in each window opening. My FIL made me a beautiful shelf that hangs above it and runs the whole length of the desk. Both are painted a creamy white.

20. Can we get a “Fan of Blinkie” for our readers to shout your beautiful creations in their signatures? Absolutely! I’ve got this one that was created by Neverland Scraps – Wendy – yup my interviewer!

I also have this older one:

Check out Happy Scrap Girl’s store here at ScrapMatters. Thanks for letting us get to know you better Happy!

Hi everyone!  Happy weekend!

Each week, the Saturday Special challenge brings us a new technique to try in scrapping.  This week I have chosen an artistic technique rather than a technical one.  I have chosen the technique of using a series of photos to sequence an event or project.  I want you to choose pictures that show the parts or progress of something.  It can be anything!  Some examples are showing a few photos taken within a short time span, like a minute, that show a child making a play in a sport, or using pictures of an object you are making that show the progress of it being completed (building something, doing a craft, etc.).  I chose to scrap a Holiday Tradition my family has and did it with a light feel to it.  I showed the progress of a couple days’ work of us making a TON of cookies!!!  Have fun and make it your own, I am excited to see how everyone interprets this!

Here’s mine:

See here for journaling and credits

Please scrap your entry using a series of photos and post it in the Saturday Special challenges gallery on or before December 31st.  And post it in the SM challenge forum here.  When you do, you will receive one point for completing the challenge.  You don’t have to use SM products, but we love it when you do!  As a bonus if you use a NEW SM product that has been released within one week, you will receive an additional point!  And there is no double-dipping.  Each LO must be unique to this challenge (i.e. can’t use it again for another challenge).

Here are some awesome examples the CT made to get you started:

From monsu:

From alamama:

From littlehiccup:

Happy Saturday and Happy Scrapping!  I’ll see you in the forum and gallery!

Jen

Stefanie here to bring you another addition of Photo Phriday!

The Holidays are upon us and that means lots of pictures of those special moments.  I’m going to give you some tips to take better Holiday photos.

1.  Compose your scene-  Instead of centering your subject try moving your camera off to the side.  This works much better if you can balance your subject with something in the background like a Christmas Tree.

2.  Take some steps towards your subject-  You want your subject to fill the frame.  This is especially helpful when you don’t have a background that you want to photograph as in the example above.  This will allow your subject to be the main focus of the picture.

3.   Shoot quickly and shoot often – There are many magical moments to be captured during the holidays.  For example, your kids opening presents under the tree on Christmas morning.  You certainly don’t want to miss that moment of excitement.   The scene can change within a split second so be fully prepared to have your camera in hand and start shooting. You can erase pictures later but you will be happy when you get that perfect picture.

4.  Group photos- If you plan on taking a group photo, plan out your location before hand and take the pictures early in the celebration.

5. Eye Level-  When taking pictures of children, get down on their level.  The picture will show the perspective from their point of view.

6.  Candles and lights- Turn off the flash and use a tripod to reduce shake in the camera.

7.  Be prepared- Extra batteries and space on your memory card are two important tips to remember.

Take time to enjoy the holidays and make sure you are in some of the pictures.  Have fun and get lots of great pictures!!!  Happy Holidays!!!

~Stefanie

Happy Thursday, Everyone! It’s Tgmousechick Kim here, with another hybrid showcase for you. This week is our Happy Hybrid Holidays segment, and with Christmas coming up quickly, I decided to focus on making hybrid ornaments.

Ornaments are a very big part of my holidays- I just love them. Tiny little sculptures packed with sentimental memories, and they come in an infinite variety. I have a rather odd ornament collection- I have the full series of Star Trek ship ornaments made by Hallmark, dating all the way back to the original released in 1992. Before my children arrived, my husband and I simply decorated our tree with the ships, plus some glass balls that vaguely looked like planets. The ultimate geek tree.

Handmade ornaments are great tools to recall special memories and milestones, and they can make wonderful hostess gifts. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, a general seasonal ornament can still enhance your home decor. And, with the huge assortment of digital kits out there (including several found right here at Scrap Matters), making unique ornaments with a hybrid flair is easy. Today, I’d like to share with you a few ideas that I have pulled together.

Foldable Templates

Geometric shapes can make fun ornaments- from simple cubes to more complex polyhedrals. Tiny boxes can even be functional- small gifts (jewelry, perhaps?) can be tucked inside and hung on the tree. Imagine having your advent calendar hanging on the tree- with 24 numbered boxes scattered throughout…

Before discovering scrapbooking, I used to trace a pattern onto paper and cut away, but I didn’t really have too many design options outside of rubber stamps. With the discovery of digital, this can be a much more sophisticated project with much less work. The Black Friday blog train included a printable 20-sided ornament, and now there is a collection of polyhedral templates in the Scrap Matters shop. The templates allow you to customize your ornaments to show off your favorite papers, or you can include photos without having to cut them to fit later. Here are some of my examples of the shape templates, using the Holly Jolly kit by Andilynn Designs:

These ornaments look a little complicated, but with a little practice, they can be fun (plus, the download includes a file with instructions and tips)! Add your papers, print, trim around the outside, score along the fold lines, and glue the flaps in place. This can also be a sneaky way to teach your children about shapes.

Cut-Out Shapes

Another ornament option is embellishing chipboard shapes. In addition to die cut shapes that may be available at a local brick and mortar scrapbook store or library, many manufacturers offer chipboard shapes (Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations are just a few), and you have plenty of embellishment options: paper, flowers, paint, glitter, etc. Here are a couple of chipboard shapes (from CI) that I jazzed up:

I can take credit for the tree- it’s a remake of an ornament I made last year at one of my local scrapbook stores- Scrapbook Art in Columbus. It’s too cool not to share because it’s so easy!! Simple strips of paper layered over the shape, trim to fit, and edge with acrylic paint. The ornament shape was even simpler- I measured the opening of the shape, and added the lace frame (and a drop shadow) to the digital paper before printing. I enhanced the swirl pattern within the paper with Stickles glitter glue.

This is a great project for scraps hanging around your hybrid space! You don’t need to stick with traditional holiday shapes either- this would be great for chipboard swirls and other shapes. Don’t have access to a die cut machine? No problem- it’s simple to cut a triangle tree or circle ball from the backs of notepads, cereal boxes, or junk mail postcards!

Chipboard Coasters

My love affair with the chipboard coaster continues, this time disguised to create a quicky ornament. This was an idea scammed from an old issue of Better Homes and Garden’s Digital Scrapbooking Special Issue. This example features one of Haynay’s new kits- Fall Splendor, Christmas Add-on. I copied a 4.5″ square of patterned paper to a new project, and added the digital swirl and the drop shadow. Once printed, I glued the coaster on the wrong side of the printout, holding it up to a bright light to make sure the swirl was included. I trimmed around the coaster, and neatened the edge with my red chalk in from Colorbox. Additional embellishment included tracing the swirl with Liquid Pearls, adding the Prima flower poinsettia, and adding the American Craft rub-on letters.

Embellished Slide Mounts

A couple of years ago in my paper days, I discovered 35mm slide mounts. They were wonderful as miniature frames or shaker boxes, and were super simple to cover with patterned paper. I pulled my slide mounts out of the mothballs for this project, once again using Britt’s Very Merry kit.  These are TINY- the “frame” opening is only about 1.5″ or so- but it’s a great way to use photo proofs or the mini photos sold in photo packages.  Wrapping a slide mount is fairly simple- I use a 3″ square of printed paper (paper is better than cardstock for this as it folds around corners easier), and trim the triangles off the corners to reduce bulk.  Trim an “X” in the slide opening and wrap everything around the back (don’t panic!  a diagram is in progress!).  I masked the adhesive work by covering the back with another 2 1/2″ square of paper.

I hope you are inspired to add some hybrid goodies to your Christmas tree this year! Many of these projects are kid-friendly, which is perfect for these days when the weather can be questionable (at least, those of us in the Northern hemisphere). Grab a cup of hot chocolate, a plate of cookies, and some printed digital paper!

Happy Holidays!