November Challenge

I love using flowers on my layouts but I like handmade flowers the best. So whether you use patterned paper, felt, chipboard, ribbon...whatever!...this month's challenge is to create a layout using handmade flowers.

Here's a few inspiration pieces:

Cowpoke - Davinie Fiero

Delight - Elizabeth Kartchner

Precocious - Stephanie Howell

Be sure to upload your layouts to the Creative Scrap Flickr Group when you're done!

Happy Scrapping

Butterfly Frame Kit

Jamie designed the following gorgeous butterfly frame as a project for a spring scrap event. It became a hit with students who happened to see my completed frame in my scrap room. By popular request Jamie recreated her butterfly frame kit in limited quantity.


The kit includes step-by-step color instructions and everything you see in the photos: one sheet of 12x12 Basic Gray Ambrosia Fresh Squeezed; one sheet of 12x12 Designer Paper Simpicite; Making Memories black Shimmer Alpha; chipboard butterfly die cut; chipboard tag die cut; circle tag; white 8x10 frame; silk flowers; wired ribbon; brads; and beaded embellishment.


All you need to complete the project are standard scrap tools (paper trimmer, scissors, adhesive). Just in time for Christmas, e-mail us at creativescrapdesigns@gmail.com to order your butterfly frame kit. We have 5 kits at $30 each (plus the cost of shipping).

Class Announcement: Vintage Christmas Box Album

I am pleased - no, EXCITED! - to announce a unique class project from guest instructor, Deb Swyters. The following photos are of Deb's original Vintage Christmas Box Album. This beautiful 6x6 vintage box holds a 5.5x5.5 accordion album that you'll create - a perfect backdrop for your cherished holiday photos. Sure to draw attention, I plan to display my album box on our coffee table.

Here's another tip...adhere your photos with removable adhesive if you want to change out your photos each year. Or, add photos to your album each holiday season and build upon your family photos year after year.

Deb needs at least 6 students for the class. We are still in the process of ordering product for the project, but we estimate the cost to be no more than $50 per student. Deb has convinced me to order the full line of Graphic 45 vintage papers for the class kit (click here to view the entire line of Graphic 45's Christmas Past paper collection). This will give you more than enough to complete the project, plus oodles of leftover paper for your favorite holiday layouts.

At this great price, you'll want to make one Vintage Christmas Box Album for yourself and another to give to your favorite someone as a Christmas gift. Because I'm in the holiday spirit, save 10% - $5 - off the cost of a 2nd kit.


The class date is Sunday, December 6 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. To reserve your space for this awesome class, please e-mail us by 6:00 p.m. Friday, November 6 at creativescrapdesigns@gmail.com. If you want to purchase a 2nd kit at a discount of 10%, please let us know in your e-mail. However, don't delay. The first 12 people to e-mail us will be guaranteed a seat in the class.

At The Park

October Challenge Accepted!

For this layout I used Scenic Route paper from their Lynden line. I used a round punch for the circles and the Martha Stewart butterfly punch. It's hard to tell from the scanned image, but I punched 6 butterflies from a transparency, inked the edges and then stapled them to my circles. I punched 3 additional butterflies from the patterned paper to complete the layout.

I plan on adding some journaling just below the 3 smaller photos. This was an important day for our family and I don't want to ever forget its significance. Ava had just been transferred to the intermediate NICU at Piedmont Hospital so we were finally allowed to bring family in to see her. Mimi, Bumpa, Ayden and Jameson were all able to meet our sweet baby Ava for the first time. The main photo is of Ava holding onto Peter's thumb. It's hard to believe that she was actually that small! Now she's a healthy 21lb baby who's about to turn 1 year in just 26 days.

I hope you had fun with the October challenge!

Get Ready for the Holidays

With Halloween behind us, it's time to get seriously ready for the holiday season - Thanksgiving and Christmas. The season brings ample opportunity for holiday photos. When photographing the family, don't forget to take photos of the table setting, food, and other often missed details.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the moment. I strive for perfection - from the Thanksgiving turkey, to the Christmas tree - and I often miss the fun and excitement of the moment. Capture the memories and scrap for future generations to enjoy. Document how you spend the holidays. It'll be a special treat for your family to read about in the years to come.

PSE 7.0 Tips & Tricks - Dodge and Burn

Of all the dramatic impacts you can make on a photo, the dodge and burn effect is one the easiest. By following the steps below, you never touch the actual pixels. Instead of using Element's Dodge and Burn tools, we'll use the brush tool and a separate layer to achieve a more controlled result.

1. Open a photo you want to work on. You'll dodge areas of the photo to add highlights and burn areas you want to darken, keeping the viewer's eye focused on important aspects of your photo.

Here's the photo I selected...


2. From the Layer menu, choose New>Blank Layer. In the dialog box change the Mode to Overlay, and click the Fill With Overly-Neutral Color (50% gray) check box. Click OK.

3. Be sure you are working on the Layer; not your original image. Press B to switch to the Brush tool. Choose a soft-edged brush from the Brush Picker in the options bar above the workspace ( I used the Soft Round 100 pixels); set the brush's opacity to 30%.

4. Now we'll do some dodging, which means we will brush with a bright color. Press D, then X to set your foreground color to white. Start painting on areas in your photo that you want to brighten and draw more attention to. If you look at the gray thumbnail in your Layers palette you should see some light gray strokes appear and the image will become brighter in those areas.

5. If the highlights appear too bright, lower the opacity setting of the brush tool.

6. To burn - or darken - parts of the photo so they appear less prominent, we'll switch from painting with white to painting with black. Press D to set your foreground and background colors back to their defaults black and white. Here, we want to darken the background, so begin painting in those areas.

Here's my photo after dodging and burning. Notice the intensity in color of Jameson's sweatshirt, and the darkening of the background. His sweatshirt looks less washed out and the distracting background is less noticeable.

As you finish dodging and burning, don't forget you have the benefit of having worked on a separate layer. That means you can modify the layer's opacity if the settings are too strong. Or, if you're unhappy with the effect, just delete it and start over again. That's one of the great benefits about working with layers. Have fun!

Credit given to Adobe Photoshop Elements Techniques, September/October 2009, "Dodge and Burn Like A Pro"