ErinInk

Another layout

Some new layouts

I had to do a layout for Maisie's preschool, showing her family and such. This is what I came up with!

 

The winners!

The winner are:

 

 

Please email me at nirecreations AT gmail DOT com. And I will email you your coupon! Congrats!!

Big Announcement!

Do-da-do!! I am happy to announce that I am opening a new store today. One that I have admired for as long as it has been open. I bet you are wondering which one, huh? Well, I will not make you wait any longer! Mscraps is my new home!

And to celebrate this, I am doing a giveaway: TWO $25.00 gift certificates to my store. For one chance, go over to the Erinink Facebook Fan page and become a fan, then leave a comment here that you did. For a SECOND chance, sign up for my newsletter (which has coupons, tips, giveaways) and again leave a comment here. Make sure to leave 2 comments if you do both options! Then check back here on Monday for my announcement of the lucky winners. Good luck and I look forward to getting to know you in the gallery and forum at Mscraps.

Here is a look at what is in my store right now!

Keeping 365 Fresh

Remembering Loved Ones

by Amy Mallory

A part of all our lives is losing loved ones. This is what happened to my family this past week. I lost my first grandparent. I have been extremely blessed to have all of my grandparents for over 33 years. My grandfather was 85. He was a wonderful man and he will be greatly missed. This sadness did take a toll on my Project 365.  I honestly did not feel much like taking pictures as I was mourning the loss of Grankin (my big sister named him this when she was just a toddler).  But after time in prayer and the support of my family, I was comforted.  Grankin lived a great life and I know he has gone on to his reward. I certainly wanted to include him in my project which records everyday life. I chose some pictures of Grankin and my boys to make a tribute page for him. I didn't get a photo for every single day of this past week, but I will let this tribute page count as the page for the whole week. I sometimes feel tempted to stop the project during difficult times, but I remember that my children will appreciate this album in years to come.  My advice to all involved in this project - "Just keep going, even if you don't have a photo for every single day."  and don't forget to hug the ones you love as much as you can!! :)

 

Supplies

**ALL SCRAPARTIST**

**ERININK** -

A Week in your Life LT

Purple Passion Solids

Purple Passion Paper

Love Letters Elements

Rumpled Flowers no 1

Felt Snowflakes no 1 ( I just cut out a circle to put in the middle of the flower)

Scallop Border

Spinning in Circles Brushes

Cait Kit - (frames and staple)

Capture the Everyday Kit (alpha)

365 Stickers Round

 

Other -

A Rockwell- CU - Messy Paper Ends 2

R Young-Valentine Sequin Spills

 

thanks - Amy

Photography 101: Part VII

The last 2 photography posts have been about depth of field, and how to get better control over the junk in the background of your photos. I have shared information on how aperture plays a roll in depth of field, and how distance to the subject can change the depth of field.  Today, I am going to show you how the focal length of your lens plays into your depth of field.   This first shot (photo 1) was taken using the standard kit lens (18-55mm) with a focal length of 34mm.

The second photo (photo 2) was taken using a 55-200mm lens with a focal length of 150mm. 

I stood in the same place to take the both photos, and both were shot at 1/500 (shutter speed).  As you can see, the second photo has much more focus on the subject and the background is blurred out more.  Longer lenses compress your photo which makes a flatter plane of focus.   I LOVE my 55-200mm lens!  A zoom lens is fabulous for taking portrait photos.  I bought my lens at B&H Photo & Video for $175-$200.  Totally worth the money!

 
Keeping focus on your subject, by taking control of your depth of field, is one of the best ways to improve your photography.  Next time you are taking a photo, stop and ask yourself: "What aperture should I use?  f/4 (can go lower) to blur the background or f/22 (can go higher) to keep everything in focus?  If I change the distance of myself to my subject will things improve?  Can I get a better photo if I zoom in a bit?"
 
Photography is a wonderful hobby, and taking a little time to better understanding how to improve your photos will bring you great joy!  Next time, I am going to discuss the exposure triangle and how ISO (film speed) plays a roll in improving your photos.  Happy Monday!

Get organized!

Have only 10 or 15 minutes?

by Lisa Carroll

Hello!

If you are like me, sometimes life gets a little crazy and finding the time to scrap an entire page seems impossible. After a few months of this, you realize you are getting further and further behind and then you really get discouraged. Sound familiar? Well, when I find myself falling into this pattern I remind myself that there are tasks that can be done in 10 or 15 minutes to get organized and make things easier when I do find more time to complete a layout or two.
Here are some ideas:

• Upload pictures off your camera
• Review photos on your hard drive and do one of the following: Delete the bad ones or the duplicates, tag them (by person, occasion, “to be scrapped”, favorites, etc.), Crop them and make small edit, Use them to make a list of layouts you want to do
• Jot down a story you want to tell—the sooner you write down a story the easier it is to journal later.  You can use a blog, a word document, or even a notebook.
• Create a sketch
• Make a layout to-do list—this is something I am planning to do soon. This has been a busy year for us with the move and I have lost count of all the stories I need to tell, and flipping through pictures over and over again is just not working for me.
• Find pictures you want to scrap and make them shine in Photoshop
• Upload pictures to a photo sharing/printing site—I use Shutterfly to print and share my photos. I try to do this at least monthly so it doesn’t get overwhelming.
• Tag your digital supplies. There are lots of options out there including PSE and AcdSee.
• Peruse different galleries for inspiration: ScrapArtist, My Scrapbook Art, DigiShopTalk, log your memory and Get it Scrapped are just a few!
• Pick up a few great templates—then when you have about 30 minutes, you can open a template, drop in some pictures and journaling, embellish and you are done!

Here are some great examples:

So as you can see, there are lots of small tasks that can be done in 10 or 15 minutes that will make life easier once you do have time to scrap. And who doesn’t have 10 or 15 minutes a day to devote to our favorite hobby, right?

If you have any other quick organizing tips, I would love to hear them!

Photoshop is your friend: Tip #7

Re-coloring Elements II

by Shirley Woodard Polk

Last time we learned how to re-color papers.  Click here to visit that lesson again.  This week I will teach you how to very simply re-color elements.  This is great on buttons, flowers, or even tags.
1. Open your item in Photoshop. I used a flower from the Cait Kit.
2. Drag your item onto your layout or a new canvas.


3. Command-click on the item’s thumbnail in the Layers palette 
4. Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer).
5. With your new layer targeted, go to Edit > Fill (or use brushes, etc). Fill this layer with your chosen color.

 

6. In your Layers palette, set the blending mode of your new layer to Hue. The Hue blending mode keeps the Saturation and Luminosity of the bottom layer, but adds in the Hue (or color) of the top layer. Neat!

Photography 101: Part VI

The last 2 photography posts have been about depth of field, and how to get better control over the junk in the background of your photos.   I have shared information on how aperture plays a roll in depth of field, and how distance to the subject can change the depth of field.  Today, I am going to show you how the focal length of your lens plays into your depth of field.   This first shot (photo 1) was taken using the standard kit lens (18-55mm) with a focal length of 34mm.

The second photo (photo 2) was taken using a 55-200mm lens with a focal length of 150mm.  I stood in the same place to take the both photos, and both were shot at 1/500 (shutter speed).  As you can see, the second photo has much more focus on the subject and the background is blurred out more.  Longer lenses compress your photo which makes a flatter plane of focus.   I LOVE my 55-200mm lens!  A zoom lens is fabulous for taking portrait photos.  I bought my lens at B&H Photo & Video for $175-$200.  Totally worth the money!
 
Keeping focus on your subject, by taking control of your depth of field, is one of the best ways to improve your photography.  Next time you are taking a photo, stop and ask yourself: "What aperture should I use?  f/4 (can go lower) to blur the background or f/22 (can go higher) to keep everything in focus?  If I change the distance of myself to my subject will things improve?  Can I get a better photo if I zoom in a bit?"
 
Photography is a wonderful hobby, and taking a little time to better understanding how to improve your photos will bring you great joy!  Next time, I am going to discuss the exposure triangle and how ISO (film speed) plays a roll in improving your photos.  Happy Monday!

Hybrid: Family Chore Chart Banner

By Amy Kingsford

Using your digital products in your paper and/or hybrid projects is a wonderful way to stretch your stash and to save money.  Those of us who digi scrap, probably are attracted to the ease with which our digital products are customized and who’s to say you can’t transfer those same attributes to your paper projects, as well!   Read on to find out how you can make your very own “Family Chore Chart Banner” with nothing but what you have on hand and using your digital supplies to fill in the gaps!



I am a big fan of using my leftovers…but sometimes the hardest thing about doing so…is finding what we need.  This project, however is an exercise in self control.  Often when we find that we don’t have what we need or want to complete a project, we just run out and buy what we need--but for this project I challenge you to use what you have!  Here are a few tips to point you in the right direction!

• First of all mini albums can make for fun banners that can be easily stored after you are done displaying them…whether chipboard, acrylic or even cd mini’s, most can be easily converted into something that will work as both a mini and banner—all you need is a hole punch and some type of connector (i.e. book rings, ribbon, bead chains, ect.).
• It helps to have your leftovers organized and visible so that they become easier to use.  I organize mine by colors and sometimes size/orientation depending on the type of scrap.  This made sorting through my alphas, ephemera, ribbon and scraps for coordinating colors to use on my chore chart much easier!
• Finally to fill in the gaps use your digital supplies, I selected a few of my favorite ErinInk digital papers that coordinated with my selection of leftovers from her Bracket Papers No. 1 and her Capture the Everyday Kit to cover my mini album pages and to make my own stickers.  

Now you have everything you need to piece together your very own Family Chore Chart Banner or any other low budget layout or project!   Now for some simple steps:

• Sort through your leftovers and gather a selection of ribbons, ephemera, alphas, and scraps that coordinate.

• Alter additional digital elements and papers to fulfill any design elements you happen to be missing and that coordinate with your selected scraps and then print them out.

• Design the pages of your banner with your coordinating elements and papers.

• Connect the pieces of your banner, by using the components that come with your mini, or by creating your own connectors using a hole punch and string, ribbon, book rings or bead chain.

• Punch additional holes in the bottom of your banner pages to hang your alphas from.
• Hang on the wall for everyone to enjoy!