Fun with Circles

Hey Scrap Fans! Today's layout was another one I created for the Art + Science of Scrapboking class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. I used something in this layout I pretty much never (if ever) do and that is circular photos. For some reason cutting my photos into circles reminds me of the early days of Scrapbooking when all the photos were cut up in to various shapes and sizes, layered with color paper and stuck on a page with themey stickers and premade border strips. But I wanted to try something different so I figured I'd give it a go. 

The concept of this layout was born when I was browsing my iPhone photos for a particular pic and in the process, discovered just how many Selfies my daughter takes of herself without me realizing. I found it rather humerous, and thought it would be a good topic to try using circular photos since cropping out the background wasn't a problem, since the focus was on her face up close. 

I chose not to further edit the photos other than to make them circles so I could preserve the various filters she had picked herself. If it were any other topic, I probably would have tried to unify the processing, but I felt the variety of filters better told the story visually. I edited the five pics in the Adobe Photo Shop Express app (free in the App Store) and printed them on my Canon Selphy. (Haha I printed selfies on my Selphy) 

I played around with a lot of different papers and color combinations on this layout before I settled on this background paper from the Glitz Wild & Free collection. I found my title "Selfie" in the Silhoutte store and cut it on my Silhouette Cameo on a sheet from a 6x6 pad from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer. I added letter stickers from Lily Bee Designs to complete my title. 

My matte circles were all cut on my Silhoutte from a sheet from the Carta Bella Wildflowers collection. I printed my journaling strips on another sheet from the Glitz collection and punched my heart embellishments from the coordinating background paper, only I used the one from the 6x6 pad to have the pattern in a smaller scale. I inked the edges of everything to unify my layout with Fountain Pen Ink by Jenni Bowlin for Ranger and a round ink blending tool. I finished it off with some epoxy puffy stickers from Amy Tangerine and I called it done. 

I hope you enjoyed this layout and you are inspired to try using circular photos. Remember, they work best when you are focusing close up on your subject and cropping out the background does not inhibit the story you are trying to tell.  Until next time, a Happy Scrappin'!!

Editing and Showcasing Unique Photos

Hey Scrap Fans! As promised, today's layout showcases the uniqueness of a single photo. As I previously mentioned, my little sister went to her first prom in early May. Of course I took tons of photos of her and her date, but her dress was so unique, I really wanted to capture it without the distraction of awkward smiles and forced poses. So I snapped this pic of her from behind as she walked to the car. 

This was the original photo. 

I cropped the photo to eliminate some of the background distraction.  Next, I used an iPhone app called Color Splash ($1.99 in the App Store) This app turns your photo black and white, and allows you to selectively add color back in to your photo wherever you'd like. You simply run your finger over the area you want to color. You can zoom way into your photo to get clean lines and turn areas gray where necessary. It is a very easy app to use and I love the results. 

After I finished colorizing just the dress, I then save the photo and pulled it into Adobe Photoshop Express (free in the App Store, but does offer in-app purchases.) I changed the photo to sepia, brightened it and added a vignette.  I printed it straight from my iPhone to my Canon Selphy. I was ready for my layout. 

I wanted to keep the layout simple so I started with a whitewashed background paper (I'm sorry, I can't remember who makes it) and I layered up some patterned paper from a 6x6 paper pad from Basic Grey Indie Bloom. I also used two small strips of the sequin paper from Carta Bella Wildflowers. I used a Heidi Swapp stencil and inked stars around the edge of the paper with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry. I embellished with a few speciality clips and enamel dots and added a trendy, timely title #promdress with letter stickers. I finished it off by stamping the date with my a Pebbles roller date stamp in the same Distress ink. 

I just love enhancing and changing photos with the various apps available for photo editing. Special effects can really make that unique photo stand out on your layout. I hope you've been inspired to try some fancy photo work of your own. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!! 

Comparison Photos

Hey Scrap Fans! Today's layout is one I made earlier in May the day of my little sister's first prom. I was taking pics of her in her dress, with her date and with various family members. Once I got home and was going through the photos I came across this one of my sister and my Dad and immediately thought of a photo of him holding her as a baby. And the following layout resulted:

I used papers from the Carta Bella Wildflowers collection, a collection I purchased for the cut apart cards, but ended up making quite a few layouts with it. My sister's dress was very colorful and I thought this sequin paper was just perfect. I used the 3x4 card with the sentiment "Photos are Memories we hold in our Hands" as my title as it just seemed perfect for these photos showcasing the passage of time.

I kept the embellishments simple, some stickers from the collection, wood veneer accents and sequins in opposite corners. 

I chose not to include any journaling on this layout as I really wanted the photos to speak for themselves. The dates, times and circumstances of the photos were not nearly as important to me as the visual image of the aging of the subjects.  If that's not something you are comfortable with, you could always add details to the back of your layout, or record your journaling on a hidden journaling card. 

I hope you ejoyed this simple layout today and it inspires you to find some comparison photos of your own to scrapbook. There are endless possibilities for these types of layouts, and they aren't just limited to photos of people. Stretch your imagination and see what you can come up with.  It helps to spend time with your photos and to give yourself the opportunity to make different connections. 

Tomorrow I will share another simple layout that showcases the uniqueness of a single photo. Until then, Happy Scrappin'!!