Digital Scrapbooking & Photography

Ice on Blackberry Leaves

2011-01-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Frosty Foliage

2011-01-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Ellie Birthday Scrapbook page layout

2009-02-01T20:27:00.001-08:00

Yellowstone Scrapbook page layout

2008-08-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

Part of this fun page was a layered png graphic of different photo borders which was downloaded from designer digitals website. The tape looks very real and even some splatters (blue ones) were included for extra realism. The way these stack adds dimension as well. I can make zillions more pages from this trip as I took around..oh, say...800 photos in a couple days!

Seaside page

2008-02-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

This art was from a kit from web downloaded for $3.99. (Digital Design, Seaside, beach collection). This was specifically to make a beach photo tray craft project. So this could be printed out and set down in a coffee table tray and you could decoupage it, etc. Or put a piece of glass over it. Lots of possibilities. This will go in my 8x8 album of family. There were alot of little elements also included which I didn't use, like photo corners, beads, seagulls, etc.

Fall pet page

2007-11-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

This kit was free from an online site: Shabbyprincess. This was a large download, had to do it in four sections. But I think it was well worth the megabyte size! There were several papers and alphabets, frames etc. This was only a part of it. It i can get my boys outside to pose for a photo, I will have them in my pages, they are a little camera shy and busy with football...

Birthday!

2007-09-10T23:51:00.001-07:00

Camping 07 at Mt. Adams

2007-08-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

We love this spot! Very quite and very little mosquitoes. Our last day had some perfect weather although a little chilly. This did not put a damper on our swimming and fishing excursions. Next year, I am swimming the whole lake. Brad went along with me in a raft, just in case i got a little winded ....

Brad and pup

2007-08-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Campin' with Kloe

2007-08-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

2007-08-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here is Kloe again, she is our boxer/mastiff puppy. About 3 months old now! I am sure I will get her in more scrapbook pages....

Zoey!

2007-08-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome Zoey! My mom's cute little bundle of fluff. She is no bigger than a size 5 shoe!

Kloe page

2007-07-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Our new pup finally sat still for me in a cluster of shrubs. The backgrounds are layered. The bottom is some note paper that I scanned in and there is a light brown layer on top. I found this design in my Digital Scrapbook magazine June/July edition that included some art from Two Peas and Rhonna Farrer.

Summer visit!

2007-07-22T09:47:00.001-07:00

This art was a mixture from a free kit online and a download/purchase of some really neat vintage photo frames (3.00 or so online from Designer Digitals). The frames really ad dimension and realismn especially if the corners are a little flipped up and ragged on the edges. A way to do this to photos in Photoshop is to go to : Edit, Transform, then Warp and you can adjust literally any segment of the photo and pull it out of shape to make it looked curled, flipped, etc. Very cool!

New frames in Elements 5

2007-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Uncle John made Native American flutes for my nieces which were signed by a famous musician and flute maker. Elements 5 makes it fun to design some neat images using the new features.

Christmas layout with New Photoshop Elements 5.0!

2007-01-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

This program has MANY new editing features...as well as retouching tools and many added borders and frames...it is perfectly suited for the digital scrapbooker and very user friendly.

Wanted: Dead or Alive!

2006-11-25T16:18:00.001-08:00

Special Birthday Boy!

2006-11-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wow! My middle son is already 14! Yikes....can't keep up with all the birthday photos, but this was a quick page in Adobe Photoshop Elements. The candles were shapes using the custom shape tools...lot's to choose from. I matched the background layer color using the eyedropper tool by selecting the yellow from the table cloth and the blue of the text matching the blue in the shirt and cake.

Scrapbook your Cat

2006-09-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

We found her in the woods, alone, half-starved and frightened. Now she runs the house, gets special canned foods and loves attacking our dog. I thought these graphics were cute for this photo, especially the grass and leaves, kind of earthy. This kit was downloaded from Cottage Arts website (which was a free one!) The font was some kid type font, not sure which one.
To choose colors scheme in the art (i used the brown in the flower) just use the eyedropper tool to select the color as the foreground color. That color will be chosen, then, when you click on the type tool, so your type will coordinate with your art.

Camping trip

2006-08-16T19:03:00.002-07:00

Mt. Adams camping trip

2006-08-16T19:03:00.001-07:00

Mt. Adams camping trip

2006-08-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

no, these don't have to do with digital scrapbooking, but wanted to share with family and friends. This is a beautiful camping location within miles of Mt. Adams. Thank goodness the infamous mosquitos were not thick while we were there.

Wild Bear photo page

2006-07-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

My dad happens to be a wildlife game camera photographer...see his incredible wildlife blog at www.gamecamera-logbook.blogspot.com for the photos he has captured with his motion sensor wildlife cameras. These cameras go off when the motion of the critter triggers the sensor which enables the shutter to open and take the picture. We have had lots of fun setting these up.. I received one as a gift from him and captured some bears on my camera! So I wanted to scrapbook them for our wildlife album... (when we went to get the film from the camera...the bear was probably not too far away!)

4th of July Scrapbook Design

2006-07-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sepia tone effects to photos are fun when you want to use a specific background color scheme and the colors in the photos don't quite match. It makes it appear vintage and antique looking like the Old West style portraits that you dress up and get your photo taken.

Summer Picnic Layout

2006-06-29T21:41:00.002-07:00

More picnic fun!

2006-06-29T21:41:00.001-07:00

This is one of 10 pages I just got done with, few! Finally done. I am putting all of these jpeg files on a cd to print out at Fred Meyers digital lab and then have these laminated and comb binded at a print shop for around $8. These pages display last years family reunion photos...i unfortunately didn't take enough last year and didn't have a good variety of all the games, etc. But this weekend, I will be prepared with a larger memory card.

Picnic Layouts

2006-06-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

I am putting a little album project together for a family reunion. This idea was from a page where the photos were stacked liked this which shows dimension and interest. This art was from a "shabby" kit.

2006-06-10T20:09:00.001-07:00

I had the interesting experience of taking my son's team photo for his Babe Ruth team. This one was the best out of three...the first one was overlooked due to the fact that my son shifted his hat sideways on purpose! The layout was done in Photoshop Elements using several photos I had taken of the players in different games. It took a little while to do, but was fun and I think the parents will like them....the hardest part was getting the players to sit still...

2006-06-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Professional Scrapbook Services now available!

2006-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Email me for more information: fotoscrapper@msn.com or neilnjo@msn.com
I love to design pages for others. Rates are available by request.

Mother's Day Scrapbook Idea

2006-05-06T20:16:00.002-07:00

Let's make our mom's feel special! This layout can be used for a card idea or single page layout or cover to a scrapbook album full of family photos you put together. Rhonna Farrar was the designer of this kit from www.twopeasinabucket.com . Her style is full of flowery swirls and great colors like lime, black and pink.

Kit from Two Peas in a Bucket

2006-05-06T20:16:00.001-07:00

I applied a new technique in Photoshop using the Layer Mask feature. When you click on quick mast mode, you can "erase" or add areas where you want the background to show through without harming the original layer background. Brushes can be used...I used a flower brush and brushed around on the layer mask. This is great when you want to just show through some of the layer with many of the brushes that can be downloaded.

Baseball Layout

2006-05-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

My younger two boys happened to play on the same team last year, this may never happen again in their lifetimes! So I made sure and took photos of this experience! The background was blue, but I adjusted the hue in Photoshop Elements. The page idea came from Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine, the June 2005 issue. Inspirational quotes are good to use in sports layouts.

Beach Layout

2006-04-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

I used blue and sand colored tones, for sky and beach colors...a sand dollar would have been a perfect touch, but couldn't find a graphic of one. We don't go clamming very often, so this was a special day.

Sports Scrapbook Idea

2006-04-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Cork background was from escrappers.com. Fonts were from scrapbook answers.com. This looks like a bulletin board...digital tacs, etc. can also be used to make it look real.

Floral Scrapbook Design

2006-04-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

This idea came from a layout in Scrapbook Answers magazine... www.scrapbookanswers.com
This publications appears to have lots of digital coverage too.

2006-04-16T17:32:00.001-07:00

2006-04-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

2006-04-15T14:51:00.003-07:00

Scrapbooking Nature & Flowers

2006-04-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

This art came from a kit by Rhonna Farrar off of the www.twopeasinabucket.com
website. Each month they have a freebie, I will have to check this out more often!
Her work is very detailed with scrolling flowers, dots, curved text, etc. Some paint effects were used on the Easter Lily.

"Delight" Kit from Scrapbook Answers Magazine

2006-04-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was on my lunch break and thought i would see what new scrapbook magazines are available. I picked up Scrapbook Answers that included a free CD and was not disappointed. This art was a kit called Delight with many tags, papers, frames, etc. I couldn't possibly have used them all. Just used a few here. Also included in this cd was a bunch of wonderful typefaces that work great for the journaling on the pages. The ones I used was called Love, Mom and Distressed.
Check out their website at: www.scrapbookanswers.com

Painter Effects on your Photos

2006-04-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

With this photo, I wanted it to look as if it were a painted portrait, or with similar effects. I used the faux finish brush (be creative!) and played around with it after adjusting colors. The possibilities are endless!

Baseball Scrapbook Layout

2006-04-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, the background was very easy. I set a real live baseball on the kitchen table and took a photo, brought image into Photoshop Elements and "de saturated color" and also applied a couple of effect filters. This can be done literally with ANYTHING you would like as a background that you have around your house. The bottom portion of the layout was my lawn (must have been taken before it turned brown in late summer) and was cropped in my program. The pennant was made by shapes and grouped the text along with it. Then just add photo, journaling and a great inspirational quote and that was it. I am still trying to get that shot sliding into home plate...maybe this will be the year?

Using Huge Inflated Fonts in Layouts

2006-04-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Big, bold type can be a great design element (with your special photo being the star, of course!) and there are many bold fonts out there...go to www.fontfreak.com for some free ones. This one at the bottom is Cooper Black and was filled with a paper background from a kit of Kim Crothers called Summer Set. Here are the steps to filling type with backgrounds....

1. open your selected background file, or create new file and drag this in, not harming original.
2. Create new layer and type your heading
3. Right click on it's layer icon under "layers" and "simplify" the layer.
4. Delete inside color
5. Leaving this still selected, click on background layer
6. Then "select inverse" to select all area excluding your type and background
7. Then "delete", and there you go, big colorful type fill with your paper design!

Scrapbook your Cat...

2006-04-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Blackie....she is a purrfect friend, very lovable...this was a free kit and a few extra pieces I threw in....the name plate and photo tags are my own creations. I liked the swirling flowers on the left that came with this kit. The designers usually save this as png files because they maintain their transparent backgrounds in the programs that digital scrapbookers use....photoshop, photoshop elements, jasc paint shop pro, microsoft digital impact, etc.

Back in the Saddle!

2006-04-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since some of us have ridden a horse and this was a first for me on an English Saddle! Very comfortable, except the dismount...no handle to guide me down...it was a nice afternoon. Kia is such a sweet horse...

Spring Scrapbook Page

2006-03-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

This was a page I have entered in Kim Crothers "spring fever" contest. Her kit was a free download and came with several flower elements and background "papers". Contests are interesting because you see so many different ways to use the same art. Go to www.creativesnaps.com and view these entries after April 1st.

Ready for Summer!

2006-03-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

These were taken in summer 04. We are getting excited for summer 06 already and kids are counting down the days left of school. These graphics were from 2 different kits by Kim Crothers (www.creativesnaps.com). She has vibrant art which I really like. It is fun to mix and match...I had to find a kit with blues and yellows to match the slip and slide.

Baseball Layout! Yes, baseball is in the air!

2006-03-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

My 3 boys all play baseball....so what do we do with these photos? Use their uniform colors, add some texture, stitching, baseballs, grass, etc. and just go for it. It is so difficult to get the perfect action shots, unless you have a telephoto lens, so dugout photos like this one are cute and shots with their teammates after the game are great, too. Be creative!

Another Snow Page

2006-03-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

The snowflakes were shapes in Photoshop Elements which I then applied the "chrome" filter too. The background was scanned in scrapbook paper that I had torn a part of it and layered the darker paper under it on the scanner. This paper matched the lavender and yellow/green of her winter coat.

Winter Designs

2006-03-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

Digital "hand colorization" of Photos

2006-03-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

This photo was very cute...but was a little bright for the soft color palet of pink and brown I was using. The photo was first opened in Photoshop Elements, size was adjusted to fit my page and was cropped a bit. Then the Hue/Saturation box was opened...Control U...and I took and moved the Saturation level to the left until it was removed of the brighter colors. Another way is to keep file as is, bring into your scrapbook page, duplicated it and totally desaturate the upper duplicate layer and the "erase" away certain points using a lower opacity level for eraser...erase the colored areas you want to reveal...cheeks. lips, some hair, a toy if they are holding one, eyes..etc... a good way to make a photo match and enhance the layout colors.

Easter Scrapbook Page

2006-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

This idea came from a "traditional" page done by Julie Mims from a new magazine called "Traditional Meets Digital" by Teri Fode and Heidi Zsupnik (sisters who have the site www.scrappinsassy.com) I used similar elements, but mine were done all using Adobe Photoshop Elements.

More Ducks!

2006-03-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Since this kit from Cottagearts.net came with so many elements....there were many possibilities, in digital "scrapping" you can cut and paste as in traditional, but never destroying anything. The original is always safe and sound. I always open original, then drag into my page file and then close it selecting "don't save changes".

Rubber Ducky Kit

2006-03-03T21:27:00.000-08:00

Ellie happens to love ducks and after a few searches on my favorite sites...I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across this one by Michelle Scheveland designer of Cottagearts.net. This was going to be a surprise for her birthday album...but darn it, it was too cute not to post.....Exactly what I was looking for! This was purchased for around $4 then downloaded at high speed. I believe this included 32 megabytes of creative ducky designs...

Cute as a Button...

2006-02-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

These button elements were scanned in by putting a few together that I had gathered in a container....they were laid flat on the scanner bed and then brought in to Photoshop to edit and remove background. These happen to fit perfectly here....The photo was hand colorized in my photo editing program, most turned to black and white, except, of course, her very, very blue eyes...

My Niece Katie...

2006-02-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

Katie is so photogenic with her bright smile...she is very genuine and sweet, but don't try to beat her at cards OR hunting for Easter eggs...she is a competitor!..happy belated birthday Katie...

Love- Aunt Jo, Uncle Neil and your crazy cousins Parker, Brad and Nate

Moms...are you in the pages?

2006-01-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is so very important, I have read in a magazine a very interesting article regarding moms that take photos and scrapbook. They look through the many photos, but guess what? No pictures of them to be found! If there are, they are the not-so-perfect shots at the hospital giving birth or just after baby is born, etc. It is important for moms to be photographed often so our albums handed down through the years will have them in it. Some advice is to take your own photo looking into the mirror, holding the camera just right to not get it in shot or have husbands, kids, boyfriends, mother-in-laws take some with you in it.

My mom took this shot with my youngest son and myself at an outdoor birthay party. There are only a precious few photos I have taken with myself and each son alone. I will be working on this in the near future whether the boys like it or not! :)

This is a "scrap over" kit (just imported photo and moved underneath the template) from Cottagearts.net by Michelle Scheveland, check out her creative designs at www.cottagearts.net

Idea from designer Renee Pearson

2006-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

This idea was created from "scratch" in Adobe Elements from an idea by Renee Pearson, a digital scrapbook professional, who has a CD out with similar elements and kits called "Digital Designs for Scrapbooking". This also comes with a 164 page book with step-by-step instructions for digital layouts. Co-authored by Cathy Zielske and Donna Downey.
More information is available at: www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/shop/dds
I modified this a little adding hot pink type which matches the pink in the clothing. It is a good idea to coordinate with the colors in the photo and doesn't make the page too busy.

More Sports Ideas.....Wrestling!

2006-01-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

Our school just hosted an invitational tournament this last weekend. Very exciting day....several wrestlers from our school made it to the finals. My son enjoys looking back at these pictures. I took several, but the lighting in the gyms really are tough for picture taking. I took 3 shots of the team after the match, only 1 of them turned out! Close call...
One of my favorite effects right now is the burn tool in Photoshop Elements...use this with any size brush and brush around the edges making them looked burned and rustic. Another idea would be to take photos of the scoreboard, mats, cheerleaders and use them in background behind the photo and fade it back.

Easter Pages

2006-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Easter is always a favorite time with the colorful eggs and outdoors egg hunts...hopefully not in the rain! I saw an idea similar to these and "scraplifted" it, but used my own background. The flowers were colored with crayon and crinkled up and then scanned in. The magazine said to soak this in water and use water color pencils. But I didn't have any on hand. With all of the filters in Photoshop and other programs, this could have been done digitally as well. Sometimes we all love to get out the crayons...you know you have some in your kitchen or desk drawers!

Family Pet Page

2006-01-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Don't forget your beloved pets! My mom's horse passed away at age 35 in September 05. She was a special family pet. We all learned to ride on her and have wonderful memories. This is a special memorial page. I am sure most have a special pet they can scrapbook. Cats, dogs, horses, etc. are fun to do, use paw prints, rustic backgrounds, etc. I used a wood accent on this and a bandana that I scanned in and changed colors. www.escrappers.com is where I downloaded the wood background. There are many natural backgrounds available for FREE. Great site!

Sports Layout Ideas

2006-01-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Take your photos from school activities, sporting events and put a collage together for the kid's scrapbooks. My boys are involved in many activities, so it is hard to keep up with the pictures! Set your goals small, so you do not feel overwhelmed....a few pages are better than none. Kids appreciate them and love looking back through them in their books and showing their friends.

Creating a Basic Layout

2005-12-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Using your photo editing software that supports layers, etc. start by:

1. Under file, click "new"
2. Select size (12x12, 8 1/2 x 11, 8x8) all depending on your scrapbook album size. Set resolution to 200-300 dpi....very important for good output.
3. Open photos you want to work with. Drag them over to your new blank layout.
4. Open background "paper" and drag to your layout. Use one that will compliment your layout.
5. Add borders or mats and drop shadows to photos if desired.
6. Add embellishments (tags, buttons, bows, ribbon, stitching, etc.)
7. Add journaling, titles and other text
8. Use special tools in your program for added effect: brushes, stamping, drop shadows, filters...to get the desired effect.

Enjoy....and have fun.....things can always be changed and rearranged at any time until you "flatten" the layers.

Christmas Photo Greeting Card Idea

2005-12-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Holiday greeting cards are fun to make with your Imaging software program using LAYERS....remember layers "stacks" graphics that you import (your precious family photos) in your layout program so you can move them around one by one. I imported about12 photos and reduced them and moved around until I was happy with format and then flattened the layers all together. The Holiday Greetings was a brush type font and I added a drop shadow to this and made some snowflakes using the shapes tools. Experiment with the shapes and you can create all kinds of designs!

Customize your Backgrounds!

2005-12-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

This was a birthday gift to another special niece. I bought her a scrapbook and did a page for her to put in it....I think this is when the obsession began! The denim background was a digital photo I took of my husband's jeans...yes, you can use virtually anything in your house! Girls and denim seem to go hand in hand, so I thougtht it would be cute for this page. I will keep adding to her scrapbook....oh the possibilities...if we only had the time!

Summer Scrapbook Page...

2005-12-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

Everything here was created myself, except the screws, which were downloaded from www.escrappers.com site. This site is full of very realistic "elements" for your pages. Tacks, nuts, bolts, buttons, tags, etc. Just like the paper style. Drop shadows which I applied on several things on page really show dimension. Don't be afraid to play with the styles and brushes in your software program. Just beware: It is addicting!

Sample Scrapbook Page done Digitally

2005-12-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

My neice is a perfect subject for some very creative pages and a great inspiration!
Start with your photo and work with the colors in the photo and begin selecting backgrounds, graphics, and other elements. Alter colors if necessary, I will get more into this later.
This art is from one of my favorite sites:

www.creativesnaps.com by Kim Crothers

Basic Hardware Requirements

2005-12-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

PC or Macintosh computer with adequate storage
256 mb RAM/200+ mb hard drive space
Color monitor with 16 bit color
CD ROM drive /. DVD burner(one that burns or rewrites to blank cd's/dvd's)

Other options:
Scanner, Digital camera, Photo printer, External hard drive (keeps photo safe from hard drive crash!)

My gear: PC with 60 gig hard drive, Western Digital 80 gig external hard drive, One Touch scanner ($49 at Office Max), Olympus C-740 Digital Camera, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Epson Stylus 820 Photo Printer (awesome quality!)

Helpful Resources

2005-12-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite web sites for computer scrapbooking:

www.adobe.com
www.cottage-arts.net
www.escrappers.net
www.creativesnaps.com
www.twopeasinabucket.com

Helpful Software Programs

2005-12-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

(Stick with digital imaging software that supports LAYERS). This is how you move things around and alter colors without adjusting the other pieces of art (or other LAYER) on your document.

Your program also needs to import files such as: PSD (photoshop document), PNG, JPEG and TIFF

Some popular programs used for digital scrapbooking are:
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Digital Image Pro, Ulead Photo Impact, Corel Painter...there may even be others I am not aware of. All fun programs.