Making your layout "pop"

Ok so taking pictures of your layout is never easy -- I know I put it off until the last possible minute. But here is a couple tips I have for you.

First, take your picture in indirect sunlight --- I use the kitchen, and sometimes even take it outside on my patio table. Some other ways I have taken photos are:

*scanning it (although I had a 12x18 scanner so I don't know how to "stitch" the layout together)
*I also used to place it right on the ground on top of a white towel and shoot directly above it. I did this outside in the evening.
*If I am running real late on a deadline I will use my external flash inside and that usually gets a decent picture.

I want to show you where I start with all my layouts. I upload into Picasa and usually crop it (for me it is easier there than in PSE. This one is not cropped but it shows you what my photo looks like straight out of camera. Not too hot - look at all that background noise --and just fyi - I have a cookie jar propping my layout up. Sometimes I will use a little display easel but that means everything has to be nice and neat and lately that ain't happening! LOL!


Ok so this is what it looks like with the background noise cropped out. Note: This is in Picasa

Ok, now I need to brighten this layout so it looks true to life.

In photoshop elements (and this works in PS too), I go to..


ENHANCE>ADJUST LIGHTING>LEVELS

Now you should see this on your screen. When you do click on the WHITE eye dropper.

ok with that white eye dropper you will take it to your layout and click on anything that is white. When you click it you will see your layout "pop". I would suggest not settleing on the first pop -- some white parts are lighter than others and you have to find the right click to make it look true to life.

This is what my final take looked like

Big difference from the first one huh?

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I have a bunch of little 'cheats' that I use to edit - this being one of them. I am also excited to announce that I will be holding an editing photos class here at Noel Mignon - yay! I will be teaching you some of my favorite techniques that I use to make my photos pop as well as trying to fix those not so awesome (but a great moment) photos.

Here are the details...

*click on the image to make it larger



And if you want to take the class purchase here!

How bout a few tips to tickle your fancy

There have been quite a few techniques shown lately so I decided to go with some tips I have learned over the last few years. Some you may already know about and some you may not…

Jammed Punches:
Try popping them in the freezer for a bit. Heat expands metal thus causing them to get jammed on occasion. By cooling the metal part of the punches they should then become “unstuck”.

Sharpening punches:
Tear you off a piece of aluminum foil( I use the heavy duty) and punch through the foil a few times (I usually punch through at least 10 times). That will sharpen your punches.

Stiff Punches:
Use wax paper that you have folder a few times to punch through. By doing this you will lubricate your punches if they are stiff.

Mixing Paint colors
Use a freebie CD (like the free aol cd’s you can get almost anywhere) and place on top of a glass of water to act as a paint pallet. You can use the hole in the top to drop your paint brush into for easy clean up. Wash the CD and reuse it again next time.

Ink Pads:
If you have dry ink pads you can turn them upside down and store them like that for a bit. This will allow the ink to seep through to the pad and you will be able to use every last bit of ink. I store all my ink pads upside down in a drawer at all times. The only ones you don’t have to do this with (that I know of) is Stampin Up’s pads because of how they close.

Metal Embossing:
Dry emboss on Foil Pie tins. You will get some fabulous results and the thickness is perfect. You can also run the tins through your cuttlebug with some of your embossing plates. Doing this the possibilities are endless with what you can create. Backgrounds to charms or embellishments anything you can think of can be done.

Tearing:

Tear paper or vellum towards you to open up the layers

Un-Mounted Stamps:

As you may know, un-mounted stamps come without a cushioned layer on the back of them. There are products called Kling-on or Ez-mount available to attach to the back of these stamps. As a low-cost alternative, lay a cheap spongey mouse mat under your card or paper before stamping, which will do the same job & allow a much crisper image when stamping

Sticking Pressed Flowers:
When sticking pressed flowers onto your card with a wet glue, it pays to put a little glue onto a flat surface and use tweezers to pick up the flower and dip it into the glue, then add it to your work, as it saves messy fingers and short tempers.

That is about all i can think of for now..but as i remember more i will come back with a part 2 at a later date..

A Final Layout

A final presentation showcasing the "Penny Arcade" kit. I have to say, one of the original reasons I fell in love with this kit is because I was drawn to it's subtle colors and patterns. The muted hues are perfect for documenting stories about family. Whether your scrapbooking about your ancestors of yesterday or celebrating new love, this lovely kit provides the perfect palette for preserving such stories. 

For this last project, I documented an ongoing family tradition that Eric and I used to share - gatherings in the kitchen. He would carefully manage the cleaning of dishes. It was a task that belonged to him. After his passing, the task became mine. Every time I take note of the sink or whenever I'm doing dishes, I think of Eric. To me, the task of cleaning dishes is trivial, but to Eric, it was an activity of finely attuned awareness. I took this photo of him a few months prior to his passing of him working in the kitchen. He's fully present in the moment and of total peace of mind. 

Color coated chipboard doesn't have to be used "as is". If you happen to like the shape of a piece of chipboard embellishment, but the color doesn't quite fit, simply paint it or cover it with an alternative material. For the above chipboard embellishment, I painted it light brown and coated it with silver glass glitter. I backed the chipboard embellishment with one of the vintage cards provided in the kit. 

I've already mentioned this at my blog, but I'll mention it again. I have a substantial size collection of transparency embellishments, including frames. Frames are not only wonderful for accenting photos, they're also a great option for bringing attention to journaling. Trim your transparency frame to fit your area of journaling (or whatever you decide to frame) and adhere it to your layout using small glue dots.

Thank you for the opportunity to guest design using the "Penny Arcade" kit. It's been a pleasure! Have a wonderful evening everyone! Take care - Christine M.

Making Your Own "Thickers!"

Do you love American Craft's Thickers? ME too! I hoard them, buy them constantly.......but let's face it, they are not cheap! I am going to show you an easy way to make your own. The best part of making your own? You'll never run out of those important letters, and they are super cheap!

Any craft store will carry fun foam in a variety of colors. There are some that even have the adhesive backing on them! I have even seen it sold in bulk!

What do you need? Any die cutting machine will do.

You need letter dies. Here are a few of the ones I own.

Just place the die and fun foam in die cutting machine......and you have an instant "Thicker!"

This one uses a Quickutz die.

I crank that baby through the Big Shot too.......no more using that darn Quickutz squeezy thing!

American Crafts also sells glittered Thickers. So here is how you can make those too!

Run fun foam through die cutting machine.

Gather these supplies......

Coat letter with a thin layer of Aleene's Crystal Glaze. I use my finger to spread it out thinly. Dump glitter over letter.

Shake off excess. Voila!

ooooops! Spelled Dimension wrong.......again! Sorry!

Here is a sneak peek of a LO I did using my homemade Thickers.

In these tough economic times, who doesn't want to get more bang for their buck? This is a quick easy way to make lots of cheap dimensional letters!!!

Have a great week!

Always There

Even though this lovely kit is already "sold out", I still have the opportunity to play with it each week over the month of June. This week, I worked up a frenzy with die-cut butterflies and paper curls. I layered borders with doodling, rub-ons, and paints. I even took out the shimmer mist to add a subtle layer of blue-green to the bottom half of the page. There's plenty going on with this layout, so take a closer look and enjoy! - Christine M.

Title Tips & Techniques

Today's tip/technique is simple, but something that adds a special touch to your projects!

I like to make my titles stand out... and I seem to not be able to leave the letters alone.

Here are a few ways I embellish my titles:

-Color your chipboard letters with colored pencils & glitter.


-Sand the edges of chipboard:

-Layer the chipboard letters on top of each other (and heck, add a few distress Stickles!):


-Glue on a few rhinestones:



-Draw some simple lines...
-Or add dots and trace around the letters!
What ways do you like to alter your titles?

Quick & Easy Gifts with Templates

Sometimes you need something quick and easy to say THANK YOU to a friend, neighbor or colleague . . . but you still want it to be cute!

Here's an idea for you.

First, start with few Kit Kat bars (I used the JUMBO bars, but I think the regular ones would fit in much better).



Next, find a FRY BOX TEMPLATE online and print it. You can copy and paste it into a word processing program to size it if you need to.



Now, use the template to cut the shape from a piece of cardstock. Decorate as desired. I added some patterned paper to the inside of mine and then made a simple band of patterned paper with a label for the outside (papers from the Rise & Shine kit). "Thanks" is spelled out with Jenni Bowlin rubons.



Fill with broken Kit Kat candy to look like "french fries."



Place in a cellophane bag and tie with a cute bow! Done!!!
Hint: if your cellophane bag is too tall, just cut it shorter with a pair of pinking scissors. CUTE!

This would be fun for a teacher, friend, neighbor . . . or how about using this idea for Dad or Grampa for Father's Day.



For more fun templates check out the links below:
(if you know of any others, please tell us about them in our comment box and I will add them up here.)

Stampington & Co. Templates
Mirkwood Designs - Templates
Mel Stampz Blog - Templates
Jan Donavan Templates
Chia's Rubberstamp Art (House of Stir Fry) Templates
Jers Girls' Free Templates
Lori's Templates
Scor-Pal Projects (click on the different Volumes and E-zines -- some of these would be easier to do with a Scor Pal, but I'm sure some of them can be accomplished without one)

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BONUS TIP:

If you are like me and love to use buttons, you are constantly changing your thread color to match the layout you are working on.

Instead of rethreading your needle everytime, buy an entire package of embroidery needles (they have a larger eye and are easier to thread) and keep a length of each of your favorite colors on its own needle. Black on one, brown on another, white on the next, etc.

I keep mine in my tool drawer and they are ready to go whenever I need them.