Monday ONLY!! Select items are 50% off!! Visit the ScrapMatters Shop for more details!!
*Sale runs 12am-11:59pm ET. HURRY! What are you waiting for!?! *

Happy Saturday after Christmas! I hope whatever holiday you celebrate was a happy one and that, like me, you were able to spend some quality time with friends or family.  I was lucky and also had some time off work to spend scrapping this week to complete a couple of challenges.  We have some amazing layouts in the gallery and I’m here to share these that were given a special shout-out this week.

Our very own Amber chose ALL of this week’s GSOs!  This is what she had to say about this one by scrapper @heart, “Love the duplicated photos, the title, the very “paper” feel of it.”

“Another beauty from Scrapper@Heart. How adorable are those photos? And I love that vertical design!”

This next awesome layout is by debbysrose. “Debby always kills me with her mad skills and eye for composition. This page is no exception with all those elements and journaling – I can just feel the energy!!”

Meejay treated us to this wonderful layout! “Love the photos captured here, the clustering and shadow work are great, too!!”

This last beauty by jetjez is using a Tuesday Template from this month. “Yay for Christmas pages! Another one where the clustering really shines, and I love the attention to detail – like the buttons at the top and the hanging ornament at the bottom.”

I love checking out the weekly GSO thread to see what masterpieces I might have missed in the gallery!  Aren’t those fabulous layouts? They are all linked to the gallery if you’d like to leave some love or check credits. Well, just two more days left of 2012…maybe I can get another challenge layout done before !

~Dolores

Check out this week’s winner!  Congrats goes to Scrappyfrog! I love the simplicity of this page. The white space, black and white photo really caught my eye. Her use of the deep shadow on the leaves and the little swirl in the background.

To leave her some love, you can click the image. =)

She used Memory Lane by Jennifer Labre.  Click the image to check it out!

 

Oh my….the CUTENESS of this just gets me!  I love the book box template that Sandy made and pairing it with this absolutely adorable kit just makes it shine!  I love how the bear is wearing the mittens! Congrats to SandyPie for being this week’s winner!

You can click the image to leave her some love.  She used Frosty Dreams by Amy Stoffel and Roseytoes  to complete this project.

 

Can you believe it’s almost Christmas…just three more days and I’m not even done shopping and haven’t quite decided what to make for our family gathering!  So I’d better make this short and get right to this week’s GSOs!

Sara started off the GSO thread with this wonderful layout by Heather (htew).  Sara said, “love the way you did the letters in the paper and the b&w looks great with the lo’s colors.”  The sweet photo is perfect for the alpha layers of this great template!

Amber chose this Make A Kit layout by Glitter Queen.  Amber said, “This is so fun! I love everything peeking out from behind your photo, which is just too cute, btw! Great job!!”  I really like the title placed on the photo!

Olivia chose these next four layouts. This photoless layout by Jen (jenevang) also uses Make A Kit items and is really well journaled and the title so perfect!  Jen’s layering is great and the paint on the background is a nice touch!

Franlk treated us to this fun layout!  Her photos are adorable and the strings of buttons are great!  I love the Santa hat on the title and the fun drawn elements are just so cute!

We’ve got another great use of background paint on this layout by my4boys!  The circle stitching is a perfect touch and the split title work is wonderful!  That photo is just so cute!

Last up we have this masterpiece by Michelle (msbrad). Michelle followed the Saturday Special tutorial and made not only one wonderful Christmas trees, but three!  I just love the beautiful blended background and fun string of lights across the top!

Thanks for spending some time checking out these great layout!  There are more GSO in this week’s thread so feel free to check them out and each layout is linked to the gallery if you’d like to leave love or find credits.

~Dolores

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out this week’s winner!  Congrats goes to thotim! She  mixed the patterned papers so well and the black & white photo blends with the calm colors to create a beautiful LO. And those cute ellies tucked here and there combined with the journaling add just the right touch. Fantastic LO!

To leave her some love, you can click the image. =)

She used The Simple Life by Meagan’s Creations.  What a happy kit!

Photography Shadows…the unwanted kind

I try to remind myself when I take photos that any photo is better than no photo at all. However there are times when I am disappointed in how the photo turns out because of the shadows on the subject.  The flash on the camera can be harsh. Here is an example of the original – no editing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now if I had the external flash on, chances are this would not have occurred. Since it did – it is time for a little Photoshop magic to remedy the situation.

** Remember to always work on a duplicate of your original photo.

Step 1 –Duplicate ctrl +J [cmd on mac] on your copy so that the photo is displayed on 2 layers in the layers palette as well as other lighting adjustments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2- Selection one of the selection tools you are most comfortable with. I usually select the quick selection tool [W- keyboard shortcut] or the magnetic lasso [L-keyboard shortcut. The tool of choice depends of the colors in the photo.  Now select the subject avoiding the shadow. Once selected and the marching ants are present, ctrl/cmd J this portion to its own layer.

I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

f you close off the lower layers, you can view your extraction and make any other adjustments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3- Return to layer 2, and have it active. We are now going to work on the background to get rid of the unwanted shadow. Again there are several tools available to do this. Options include- marquee tool [M], healing brush [J] or another option is the clone stamp tool [S].

Step 4- If the background is a single color [if you are lucky], simply use the marquee tool, select a “good” section, ctrl/cmd J and move it over to cover the shadow. Most likely, there will be some difference in shading of the colors in the background, in which case a combination of the healing brush and clone stamp might come in handy. For this example, I am using the clone stamp on its own layer. In the option bar above, I’ve checked to sample the current layer and below. Then alt/option [mac] and click to select a source [a background you are happy with] and simply brush the shadow away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes a bit of re-adjustment is needed.

To Test your progress, turn back on the eyeball of the extracted layer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once finished with the photo editing, here is the LO, using 30 days of Thanks by Crossbone Cuts Designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are so many tips and tricks in the Adobe programs. I originally learned this one as well as many others from my dear mentor Priss Steelman and adapted to my own needs.

Happy Scrapping.

m

 

 

Monday ONLY!! Select items are 50% off!! Visit the ScrapMatters Shop for more details!!
*Sale runs 12am-11:59pm ET. HURRY! What are you waiting for!?! *

Wimpychompers Creations

 

Is time racing by for the rest of you? It sure is for me! It is already time to spotlight another one of ScrapMatters wonderful designers and today we have a veteran member of the design team to share with you, Wimpychompers Creations. I definitely wanted to know how Christina chose her design name and she does not disappoint. With her friendly and chatty responses to the interview questions, it’s as if we are sitting together getting to know each other.  I actually only live about an hour from Christina in Southern California and we share something else as well.  We both met our husband’s on blind dates.  So pull up your chair and get to know Christina!

“I am Christina Anderson, wife of a high school math teacher and mother of three beautiful children.  My oldest son is 8 and has dealt with health issues since before he was born.  Thankfully he’s a tough guy and being his advocate is a huge job that we have accepted gratefully, we just adore him.  We have a 7- year old daughter and a 5-year old son as well who we love and adore. Being a mother has it’s challenges for sure but we are grateful for them.

I have been a stay-at-home mom for the last 8 years. Now that my kids are all in school I have opened my very own photography business!  That’s right, totally crazy and something new to me (I have NEVER wanted to be a small business owner) but I officially opened my studio doors at Yellow Canary Photography, here in Southern California, December 15th.  It’s taken a ton of work but it’s gorgeous and I am so excited about working with the community.  I focus on High School Seniors, it’s a total blast and I love making those teens feel more confidant.  It’s something I’d want for my own daughter.    I am the oldest of four children and am still waiting to have in-laws join that side and of course nieces and nephews!  On my husband’s side we have 16 nieces and nephews and 1 more coming next summer…. you can imagine what holidays are like.  We rarely get all of the 19 grandchildren together but when we have any kind of gathering we have more than enough to play together.   My husband and I are blessed to live in the town we both grew up in, we lived here since children and oddly enough met on a blind date!  We are close to both of our families and this can be nice as our kids get to know their grandparents as they grow up.

Wimpychompers Creations… well first of all I’d better explain the name behind it.    When I was 12 I went to Girls Camp for my church for the first time.  They were around the camp-fire and decided to give all of the girls nicknames.  My best friend was nicknamed “Wimpy” because she was, well, scared of a lot of things on the hike we had recently done.  I was chewing gum that evening, something I rarely do in my defense and I was named “Chompers”.  I HATED it and wanted to lose the name but my best friend made it stick.  When emails were first out I put the names together to make an email for myself.  When I began designing I really didn’t have any other name so I used that. 

When I found myself a stay-at-home mom of two sweet babies I was going crazy.    I was part of forums and online chatting with other moms in my position. Someone had a “siggie” in their post and I was in awe that someone could make something like that!  I had been a traditional scrapbooker but was drawn to this so I got the program Paint Shop Pro 4 and went to work learning this new adventure.  It was artsy, I wanted to try it!  I got pretty good at it and eventually wrote a blog with tutorials on how to create certain effects.  I realized that digital scrapbooking was not a far step behind and in summer of 2007, around the birth of my third child I began designing scrapbook kits.  I have changed stores several times but once I was accepted to ScrapMatters I finally settled as an exclusive designer.  My style has changed greatly over the years but I do still include those clipart from Alice Smith in my kits.  They are fun to add to the themes I am working with and are like coloring in a coloring book for me, digitally of course, so it is so much fun.  My kids are my inspiration but so is my photography, I love to marry the two together and bring my style into designing and into my studio.

I love ScrapMatters, it’s my home for sure.  I have been around for over 5 years now and during this time have watched stores rise and fall, designers come and go, and know a lot of designers in the market who have been around for a long time.   I love the community at ScrapMatters and the team works well together.  They are so friendly!  I also can’t begin to say how grateful I am that it is so organized thanks to the hard work done behind the scenes, with life so crazy it helps us remember what we need to do!  I love the fun new ideas and trying new things.  My motto is if it doesn’t work out, at least we tried!    My husband always laughs at me because I ask too many questions all the time but I like to think I am always learning.  If we aren’t learning then life gets boring.  ”

Christina selected a few of her favorite layouts  made with her designs to share with us.

Here is one using the colorful and fun Building Dreams

This next layout uses Christina’s cute Halloween kit Candy is Dandy

I love Christina’s firefighter kit Stop, Drop and Roll and this layout really shows it off well

I wanted to share this next kit with you. Christina designed this with the color palette she used for her new photography studio.

Christina made this great kit to share with you while she is the featured designer. It is free with a $10 purchase in the ScrapMatters store now through December 31.

Christina is giving our blog readers this exclusive coupon  for 30% off her  shop through December 31,  WCblogfans12.  You also find Wimpychompers here on Facebook.