New Tutorial is Up at OpenScrapbook!

Springtime is on its way here and I’m so excited! I love the warm air, the distinct smell of spring sunshine, the actual sunshine, finally!! I decided to pull out some springy – summery photos and play around in Photoshop a little bit. This is one of my favorite effects… a little vintage hazy look! It works great on so many photos!

I’ve written up a tutorial on how to achieve this effect over at my website, OpenScrapbook. If you’re not a member yet, you should be!! We have great tutorials for photography, photoshop and digital scrapbooking! Plus fun papers, textures and actions just for members! And… if you’ve seen my Photo Veils lately, you can get them 50% off if you’re a member! How cool is that?!!

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My lilac bush is sprouting these sweet little buds! I love this one, it looks like a butterfly. I love it when I find little surprises in nature! I’ve noticed most of my photos lately have brown and grey tones… I am so ready for the green and color to come!!

I used a couple of my Photo Veils on this:

Northern Lights set to Overlay at 100%

Summer Lily set to Soft Light at 40%.

Get them here!

I’m Going to Wow You with My Mad Sewing Skillz!

(These are for my other 365 project… yes, I’m insane and I’m doing TWO Project 365’s! One is for my photography and the other is just for my girls and their daily lives. These are for my girls’ project today… day 50! I’ve actually made it 50 days without missing any pictures! I love to look back and remember the little tidbits of their lives!)

So, Autumn brings me a pair of pajama bottoms this morning and tells tells me to cut off the legs because they have holes in the knees. I cut them off and tell her to throw the scraps away. She pauses for a minute, then tells me she wants to make a dress for her Calm-Down Bear! So I cut some holes in the sides for sleeves and put the scrap on her care bear. She then tells me to make one for Summer’s Calm-Down Bear too! So the two Calm-Down Bears have matching dresses! Aren’t they so cute! So, do you want me to make you a dress now? I’m available…

On both photos, I used my newly released Photo Veils from the Simplicity Collection! They are so fast and easy to use! I whipped these two photos out in less than a minute! Check them out… you will love them!!

OpenScrapbook Photo Veils – The Simplicity Collection

I am so happy to announce the debut of our OpenScrapbook Digital Products Shop with our first release of Photo Veils – The Simplicity Collection! They are so simple to use and they can transform your photos quickly into works of art! Photo Veils work much like textures, you apply them to your photos and use blending modes to achieve your desired effects. They are compatible with most photo editing programs, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements!

The Simplicity Collection is priced at $35 and includes 30 original Photo Veils. Members of OpenScrapbook receive a 50% discount on all digital products in our shop! Membership is only $15 a month and includes access to photography and digital scrapbooking tutorials, exclusive brushes, actions and textures, color palettes, special deals and more!

 

I’ve whipped up a few before and afters for you to see what Photo Veils can do! Each of these edits took me less than a minute to complete! That’s how quick and simple these are! They work the best in the Soft Light blending mode, which is what I’ve used in most of these samples. Experiment and try different blending modes to create a custom look!

Pixie Kisses – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

Salmon Salad Surprise! – Soft Light blending mode – 40% Opacity

 

Northern Lights – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

Grass Stains – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity

 

Marigold – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

 

Summer Lily – Soft Light blending mode – 70% Opacity

Honey Crisp – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

 

History – Soft Light blending mode – 70% Opacity

Autumn Blaze – Soft Light blending mode – 20% Opacity

 

Serenity – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

 

Pixe Kisses – Soft Light blending mode – 40% Opacity

Marigold – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity

 

Whisper – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

Ice – Overlay blending mode – 70% Opacity

 

Middle Image:  Brave – Soft Light blending mode – 100% Opacity

Mountain Sunset – Soft Light blending mode – 20% Opacity

Last Image:  Winter Jasmine – Soft Light blending mode – 75% Opacity

Repose – Soft Light blending mode – 50% Opacity

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I’m cheating a little with my 365 today! I am so swamped getting things ready for my photo veils release! This is one of the before and afters I’ve been working on this afternoon.

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I am so happy I’ve made it this far into Project 365! It has definitely been a challenge this winter to find things to photograph, I’m sure a flower girl! I love taking photos of flowers, but they’re pretty hard to come by in the winter! I decided to pull out my Inspiration List I created for a Project 365 article I wrote for OpenScrapbook. I closed my eyes and randomly pointed and I landed on “Secrets.” Hmm…secrets. It sounded a bit difficult but I made myself go with it! That was the whole point of choosing with my eyes closed! So I go outside and this is what I find! Those sneaky little nasty wasps! We just can’t get rid of them! I had no idea they were hiding in our pine tree! Isn’t it funny how things work out? I go looking for secrets and I find this! Well, they won’t be finding they’re hideout come spring… We’re knocking that thing out of there!

I processed my photo with my Simplicity Photo Veils. They’re going to be released at OpenScrapbook very, very soon! I have a couple samples included in my latest tutorial featured at I Heart Faces. Go try them out! You will LOVE them!!

Here is what I used on this photo:

Remember Me – Soft Light blending mode at 100 % opacity

Aurora – Soft Light blending mode at 45% opacity

Brave – Soft Light blending mode at 60% opacity

New Year – New Look!

The New Year has come and we’re greeting 2010 with a New Look over at OpenScrapbook! Along with the new look comes a lot of improvements. You’ll find it easier to navigate through the site and find the tutorials that appeal to you. We’ve added more articles that will help you perfect your skills as a photographer and digital scrapbooker. You’ll also find that we’ve made our Forum & Gallery open to the Public!!! So click on over and join in the conversation and post some of your own photos and pages to the gallery! We’d love to hear from you, so let us know what you think of the new look.

52 Weeks of Gratitude – Week One

Over at my website, OpenScrapbook, we’re hosting a 52 Week Project called “52 Weeks of Gratitude.”

“52 Weeks of Gratitude” is a journey of taking one photo each week of 2010 documenting something you’re grateful for. As I was thinking about a theme for the OpenScrapbook 52 Week Project, I kept coming back to gratitude. Gratitude is such an important part of my life. It lifts me up when I’m feeling down. It helps me remember how many blessings I really have. Feeling grateful is a wonderful tool to create happiness in your life! Who doesn’t want to have happiness!

So here is my first photo of my “52 Weeks of Gratitude!” I am grateful for naptime! Thank goodness my 3 1/2 year old Summer still will take naps!

 

Christmas Rose

My sister got these gorgeous roses for her wedding and she asked me to take some pictures of them before they wilted. I love how this turned out. It’s so soft and pretty!

I used Texture No. 16 from OpenScrapbook at 90%.

 

Brrrr…

Brrrr! It is too cold! We’ve been in the teens this week with lows below 0! The snow has turned to ice and is not very pretty anymore. I wish it would just go away! I decided today to browse through my spring photos and find some nice flowers. Maybe that will warm me up a bit! I am so ready for spring already!

(Again… All three photos are processed with “Simplicity.” A super exciting, huge release… Coming soon to OpenScrapbook! I am so excited about this! I can’t wait to share it with all of you! But, I have to finish the project first. It will definitely be worth the wait!)

 

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