A Great Way To Showcase Your Photos On Your Cards

 Last week on the PaperWishers forum a friend posted some bay window cards. I had never seen the technique before so I had to give it a try.  I thought they looked like they might be a perfect match for my photos and I was right!

After the first one, I was hooked.  I have lots and lots of pictures of  birds so I'll be reusing this sentiment. The feathers are from a download from 88 and Clear.

Part of the fun is coming up with sentiments to go with the pictures.

This one is from our trip to Hawaii

These cards were super easy to make and are A2 size (4.25" x 5.5").  I got measurements that work perfectly for 4x6 photos from Rachel Tessmans' YouTube tutorial here: (5) Bay Window Fold Card - YouTube

In Rachel's instructions the panels are 4 1/8" tall but 4" works just as well.

Watch Rachel's tutorial for the instructions but here are the measurements.

• Score a 4 1/4" x 11" card on the long edge at:
• 3/8"
• 1 7/8"
• 3"
• 5 1/8"
• 5 1/2"
• Cut your 4" x 6" photo into panels from left to right as follows:
• Panel 1: 1 3/8" 
• Panel 2: 1 5/8"
• Panel 3: 1 3/8"
• Panel 4: 1 5/8" 

My Other Passion...

... is photography!  Ever since I commandeered my father's old box camera when I was nine years old, I have been fascinated with photography. I remember spending hours in a dark closet practicing changing the film with an old roll so I wouldn't ruin the film I bought with my hard earned berry picking money. (Yes, I worked in the berry fields when I was nine.  It was legal back then!).

OK, enough with the reminiscing.  What I really want to talk about today is photo editing. Yes, that's right.  Photo editing.  If you want to use your photos on cards or put them in an album, there will be times when you need to edit them first.

For instance, last weekend, I went to a wildlife refuge and one of the things I shot was a really cute squirrel. No, not THAT kind of shooting! The squirrel is fine, sheesh!  Anyway, I had just walked into the forest out of bright sunshine and I forgot to adjust my camera settings (I shoot mostly in manual mode).  I THOUGHT I was getting some great shots, but they all turned out more or less like this.

Oh no! I can't even see the squirrel, it's just a dark blob.
Rather than give up and delete the photo, I decided to pull the raw file into Luminar 3 and see if I could salvage a passable image. 
Guess what setting I adjusted first?  If you guessed exposure, you guessed wrong.  For a picture like this, adjusting the exposure so you can see the squirrel will blow out any bright spots including the sky. 
Instead, I started with highlights and shadows. I brought the shadows all the way up to 100, It was still a little dark, so I bumped the exposure by 0.78.  I also took the highlights down a tiny bit (-6) and adjusted the white and black points (-19 and -4 accordingly).   I made a few more minor changes, including cropping and this is what I ended up with:

Aha!  There's my furry little friend!  Pretty amazing, huh?

OK, I hear you, you'r saying, "But my camera doesn't shoot in raw..."  Well, don't despair.  You can make similar edits to a JPG, but it will take a little more work because you'll need to do your edits in layers and "paint" your changes onto the areas you want to lighten or darken.  It also will not have quite the depth of color as it would if you started with a raw file. But, still, not bad considering what I started with.

So...
1. Always remember to check your settings before shooting!
2. If at all possible, shoot in raw format so you have more options for editing your photos.
3. Even if you don't shoot in raw, you can still make substantial edits with Luminar 3

If you'd like to get a copy of Luminar 3 for yourself, please use my link:
https://skylum.grsm.io/judyh1545
If do, and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

South Slough Estuarine Research Reserve

A digital scrapbooking layout? What's going on here?

Well, I have thousands of photos on my comptuer that are just begging to be scrapbooked.  One of my goals this year is to actually FINISH a scrapbook including having it printed. Toward that end, I've decided to consolidate my scrapbooking blog with my card making blog.  Going forward you will find a fusion of both digital and physical creations. I have a passion for both card making and photography and this just made sense.

First, here's a little information about the pictures in this layout...

If you head South out of North Bend on the Cape Arago Highway, you'll eventually come across Seven Devils Road which will lead you to the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.  It's right in the middle of some pretty rugged terrain, but the road leading to it is good.  You can't see much from the parking lot so you'll want to bring a good pair of walking shoes and maybe even a walking stick.  The trails are well maintained but some are a little steep.  The views make the drive and the hike well worth it.

Here are a couple pages I made in My Memories Suite using the pictures I took last January.

Picking a color palette to accent my photos is always a challenge.  I try to keep my choices to just 1 or 2 digital paper packs, but I'm not always successful.  For this two page spread I chose papers from Fireflies (MMDCS) and Day At the Beach (CMD).

For the blue and orange layers, I added photo boxes first and sized them to the dimensions I wanted. After that I added the background papers as photos and dropped them into the photo boxes.  It's always best to do any resizing before dropping the papers or photos into your photo boxes or you may end up with distorted images.

One of the things I love about digital scrapbooking is having so much control over image sizes and zoom levels.  The bridge on the above page was actually from a landscape photo. Since there was no more room on the page for a landscape shot, I dropped the photo into a portrait oriented photo box and zoomed in on just the bridge.

I don't often use a lot of embellishments on my pages, just a little here and there to accent the photos or page topic.  The embellishments for this spread came from several different kits from My Memories as follows:

• Tags - Bella Grace Add On Kit (jjscrap)
• Washi Tape - Beach Romance (kapi)
• Stitches - Day at the Beach (CMD)
• Frame, green and red leaves - Autumn Garden (CatDes)
• Bow - Turtle Cove (MMDCS)
• Fir sprig - A Little Birdie Told Me (DBMarci)
• Star Confetti - Fireflies(MMDCS)

If you'd like to try My Memories, you can download a free trial here: http://mymemories.com/mms/my_memories_suite.  If you decide to buy it, be sure to use my coupon code: STMMMS97442 to get $10 off (coupon cannot be used in combination with other discounts). You will receive a discount and at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission.

Use Designer Frames With Your Photos

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

I just went on a trip to Hawaii and of course, I took lots of pictures. What better way to share them than put them on cards, right?  The Designer Frames die set is perfect for photos.  These went together in minutes and they look great.  The words are interchangeable and you can put them at either the top or the bottom of the frame. The set comes with three words, thanks, congrats and birthday plus a solid band so you have the option of stamping or writing something different.

You can cut these frames in two steps, but I found it easier to cut them in three.  I cut the outer 4" x 5.25" frame first, then I centered the inner cut-out on that, then I cut out the word last.

I printed my pictures on 4" x 6" photo paper and added the frame to the photo before trimming the top and/or bottom off.  That way I get a perfect fit every time.  For these photos I used Rich Coral and Lemon Drop card stock for the frames and mounted them on 4.25" x 5.5" Whip Cream card bases.

Our card  stock is on sale until the end of this month so be sure to grab some soon!

Materials list:

Designer Frames die set DI-0318 *

Whip Cream card stock CS-0040 *

Rich Coral card stock CS-0093 *

Lemon Drop card stock CS-0018 *


* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Chocolate Dipped Artful Card Kit

While cleaning the other day, I came across what was left of an Artful Card Kit I bought a couple years ago.  I had already made several cards from it but there was still quite a bit of paper and lots of embellishments left, so I decided to finish it off.

The first card I made was for my Sister-in-law’s birthday.  It’s a double slider.  It looks complicated, but is very easy to make.  I got the instructions from Teresa’s Amazing Folded Cards CD from Paper Wishes.

Pull the ribbon and both ends pop out.

Other items used:

• Paper Artist 6 Layered Labels & 2 Swirls Cutting Die set
• Paper Artist 10 Tags & Trims cutting die set
• Birthday Cheer stamp set
• Birthday Greetings stamp set

The slider mechanism is made using a strip of plastic from a plastic bag.  I liked this technique so much that I used it again to make a get well card only this time I made it vertical.

         

Other items used:

• Paper Artist 6 Layered Labels & 2 Swirls Cutting Die set
• Paper Artist 10 Tags & Trims cutting die set
• Paper Artist Lacy Border cutting die set
• Paper Artist Flower Frenzy cutting die set
• Teal Jewel Butterflies Dazzles
• Teal Jewel Dazzles
• Teal Jewel Border Dazzles

The next card is a Pop-up slider.  The picture is from one of our trips to Klamath Falls.  I think it’s either a house finch or a purple finch.  They are really hard to tell apart.  I love taking pictures of birds and other wildlife and am always trying to find ways to incorporate them in my cards.

When you pull the tab at the top, the picture pops up and reveals a message.

 

I should have made the card a little bigger because when the picture pops up, it hides the greeting on the pull-tab.

Other items used:

• Paper Artist 6 Layered Labels & 2 Swirls Cutting Die set
• Teal Jewel Border Dazzles
• Gold Tiny Words Dazzles
• Gold Heart Pearl Jewel Dazzles

The next two cards are cut away cards (the front is narrower than the width of the card).   I finished the insides as well.

I made a get well card.

   

Other items used:

• Red Jewel Border Dazzles
• Foam squares
• Heartfelt Greetings stamp set (HOTP)
• Tiny Tags, Little Labels & Greetings stamp set (HOTP)

and a friendship card.

   

And the final card is a birthday card.

 

Other items used:

• Red Banner Greetings Dazzles
• Red Jewel Dazzles
• Gold Tiny Words & Phrases Dazzles

All that from an already used Artful Card kit!

I Hope I’m not Bugging You!

I’m always looking for ways to use my photos on cards, so when we had a swap at Just Cards with a bug theme, I jumped at the opportunity.

I turned the dragonfly picture into 3D paper tole and it turned out really nice.  Just about everything on this card besides the photo is from Paper Wishes:

• Viney Swirl cutting die
• Flower Frenzy Cutting die
• Layered Labels Template
• Dazzles
• Emerald Glimmer Paper
• Papers from Personal Shopper Kits

3-D Merganser

We took a trip up to Discovery Bay, Washington in January.  The weather was gorgeous and there were flocks of all kinds of ducks including a small group of Mergansers.  They were rather shy so it was a challenge to get a clear photo.  Here’s one of them that I converted to 3-D Paper Tole.

The paper tole sheet for this card is available for download and includes instructions for the picture frame.  Just click the link below.

Supplies

• Double-stick foam squares
• Rich & Spicy Autumn 3D Paper Tole (HOTP)
• Rich & Spicy Scrapbooking Papers (HOTP)
• Precision tip scissors (Cutter Bee)

Merganser Paper Tole Download

Hinged Card

We recently had a hinged card swap on the Just Cards Forum.  I wasn’t able to join in at the time, but I really like the look so I saved the instructions for later.  Here’s my interpretation:

Made with:

• Water Lily photo
• Sew Cute paper pack and labels
• Tiara border punch
• Butterflies stamp set
• Flower Frenzy stamp set
• Blush ink pad (Memories)
• 12 Flower Frenzy cutting die
• 8 Circles and Scallops cutting die
• Wisdom Owls Dazzles (border)
• Mix ‘Em Cupcake Dazzles (border)
• Pink Jewel Dazzles
• Mini flower brad (Making Memories)

If you’d like to make one, you can find an excellent tutorial by Wendy Weixler on her Wickedly Wonderful Creations site

Kit Swap!

I joined a Kit swap at the Paper Wishes forum this month.  If you’ve never joined one, you should.  They are a lot of fun.  Basically, each person builds two identical kits following a recipe, makes a card from one of the kits and sends the second kit to their partner.  Neither person posts pictures until both have finished making their cards.  It’s a lot of fun to see how different or similar the results are.

The kit I received had papers and die cuts from Emma’s Garden.  The really nice thing about the papers is that they’re double sided so I had six patterns to choose from (I chose all six!).

Here’s what I made with it.

 

I haven’t decided what to stamp on the inside yet, so the banner is still blank.

I cut the flowers and leaves using the 12 Flower Frenzy die set and I used Design Tool Kit #6 for the front card flap and the background on the inside.

The kit I sent to my partner included one of my photos and papers from several Personal Shopper kits.  Here’s the card I made with it.

 

Items used:

• Sparkle gold twine (Maya Rd.)
• Greeting from Card Greetings & Sentiments CD
• Tan Swirly Flowers paper
• Blue paper from February 2014 Dazzles PS Kit (you can get the paper without the printed border in the Ooh La La Artful Card kit.)
• Green paper from a Dazzles kit (I'm sure this is probably available in a paper pack, but I can't figure out which one)
• Feathers Dazzles
• Gold Jewel Border Dazzles
• Flower embellishment made with:

• Ecru card stock
• Flower Frenzy die
• Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink
• Blue stickles

Check out the January Kit Swap at Paper Wishes to see what my partners made.

Using Photos on Cards

I’ve been in a creativity slump for about a year.  Endless hours sitting at my craft desk pushing papers around and finding no inspiration made me wonder if I would ever be able to create again.  Now I’m finally emerging from the fog and I’ve found that my style has shifted just a bit.  I think it has improved so perhaps I needed the break. 

One piece of creativity that I did manage to hang on to during those long months was my love for photography.  I especially like photographing winged things, be they birds or insects.  Several people have expressed an appreciation for my photos, so I decided to try incorporating them into my cards.

This is one of the first cards I made this year.  I created it for one of the people who helped me find my way back out of the fog.

For this card I used:

• 10 Tiny Things Plus Shadows Cutting Dies
• Unforgettable Double-Sided Paper Pack (teal background)
• Heritage Paper Pack (brown borders)
• Grapefruit Double Sided Paper Pack (orange butterfly backgrounds)
• Gold Thin Lines Dazzles
• Nestabilities Large Labels die set

My second card is from a recent trip to Discovery Bay, Washington.  There were quite a few ducks hanging around the dock and this Surf Scooter ventured the closest.  He’s a very goofy looking bird, but I just love the reflection in the water.  I chose a background that closely matched the color of the water to extend the look of the water from the photo onto the card.  I also wanted a natural looking wood frame, so I chose Paper Wishes’ Barnwood paper and popped it up on a few layers of card stock.  I mitered the corners to complete the wooden frame look.

I used the Wildflowers cutting die to cut an orange and a green layer for the flowers and pieced the two together.  I did the same with the dragonfly using green and brown scrapbook paper.  The torn edge of the tan paper from Natures watercolors gives the illusion of a shoreline.

Items Used:

• Pale blue paper (background)
• Barnwood Paper (frame)
• Nature’s Watercolors Paper Pack (tan foreground)
• Wildflowers Cutting die
• Batik Ditigal Paper Pack  (dragonfly wings and body)
• Roses in Harmony paper pack (green dot paper)
• Spooky! Halloween Papers (oragne flowers)
• Gold Tiny Words & Phrases Dazzles

Pinwheel Star Card

I recently purchased and downloaded a project guide from Kaleidoscope Kreator to get some ideas for more things to make with their software.  The first project that caught my eye was card with a layered star and I wanted to learn how to make it.

I used a picture of a Dianthus from my garden to create the star.  After that, I just followed the instructions, which were very easy, and the card went together surprisingly fast. 

The really neat thing about Kaleidoscope Kreator is that you can print the same design in multiple sizes on a single page.  This makes it ideal for printing tiles for tea bag folding.  You can also use it to print on fabric to make pieces for a quilt.  it is really quite versatile.  To see some of the other things you can do with Kaleidoscope Kreator, check out their idea gallery at http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/ideas.htm.

Snowed in

Today, we had our first winter storm of the year and I'm snowed in.  Well, not really, but snow here is rare enough that when it happens we all stay home.  Not that I mind all that much. 

Since it is so cold and grey out, I decided I needed to look at something to remind me of warmer weather.  Here are a couple more photo cards I made this afternoon.

One of the things I am attempting to do for Christmas is put together several packets of greeting cards to give as gifts.  I don't think I am going to get as many finished as I had hoped, but today did give me an opportunity to work on them a little.  Here's another one.