Photo Storify

Photos, Stories and Scrapbooking

First Page

By

On June 20, 2018

In Scrapbooking

I enjoy the challenge and learning involved in digital scrapbooking, especially when I begin a new project, i.e. completing the first page for my 50th Anniversary book. Just the process of experimenting and thinking about this first page helped me to define what I want to do in this book.

After initially completing the right side of the two page spread, I decided that I would focus on our stories using old photos clipped to fotoblendz masks and adding artsy transfers for depth. Simple enough, right? Rule number one, always do double page spreads at the same time. I didn’t, thinking I was only experimenting with an idea. As a result I had trouble with the balance when I began creating the left side to coordinate with my page on the right.

Note: The solid paper is from ArtPlay Palette Lateritious. I explain how I created the right side in a previous post.

For consistency with the right, I first clipped a photo to overlay 1 from FotoBlendz Overlays No. 12.

Then I added the frames and text boxes of file 5 from Project Template Album No. 3. Below the frames, I stamped brush 7 from Spackle Textured No. 8 on a new blank layer.

For interest on the left, I used the same psd transfer from Artsy Transfers Lateritious that I had used on the other side, reducing the size and deleting layers. I also placed transfer 4 from ArtPlay Palette Lateritious below the frames.  Just above the transfer layers, I combined layers from two different psd files from MultiMedia Suns No. 1. I stamped brush 4 from Bunny Rabbits No. 1 on a new blank layer to the left of the black and white photo. It is on normal blend mode at 100%.

It’s at this point that I realized I had a problem with balance. The left side was too heavy because it carried more weight with the frames and the black and white photo.

However, when I added two additional frames on the right side, the page looked more balanced.

I finished my double page spread with a button from ArtPlay Palette Delight below the thread included with the frames.

Now I have a tentative plan for my anniversary project which involves combining the stories with our old photos. I’m going to use primarily fotoblendz masks, artsy transfers, brushes and small frames from templates. Will my plan change as I work on this project? Probably, projects tend to take on a mind of their own. I’m looking forward to Anna’s heritage class in July. Right now, I’m trying to figure out which story I want to write next.

A Hunting Together We Went

By

On June 13, 2018

In Scrapbooking

On Monday I signed up for Anna’s course, The Art of Heritage. The challenge of creating a cohesive book without a template using my favorite products appeals to me. I have a great deal of information about my husband’s family as well as my own from genealogy books, but I don’t have a lot of old family photos. However rather than cover that history, I thought that I might create a book about my fifty years of history with the man I married on September 7, 1968. I could culminate the project with photos from the anniversary trip we’ve planned as a celebration.

We definitely have a history together. One day, I went out hunting with Bill and his college friend. They gave me a gun to carry. As we were eating lunch this afternoon, I asked Bill why he gave me the gun.

This is the photo that our friend captured with an old Instamatic. I worked on it in Lightroom, exported it to Photoshop CC and added an adjustment layer on overlay blend mode at 70%. I placed it above solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Lateritious.

To give it an artsy look, I clipped it to overlay 3 from FotoBlendz Overlays No. 12.

Note: I enlarged the 3.5 x 3.5 photo about 20% and reduced the size of the overlay to accommodate the photo.

Below the photo and overlay, I placed the layers of transfer 3 from Artsy Transfers Lateritious. I used only six of the layers to support my photo.

Note: Artsy Transfers are one of my favorite products by Anna. I am seriously considering using them throughout this book.

I wrote my journaling, added a yellow button, a thread from UrbanThreadz No. 16 and a title.

When I asked Bill why he gave me that gun to carry. He responded, “to keep you feeling like you were with us. Good grief, that was 50 years ago.”

“Not quite,” I replied.

Remember These Moments

By

On June 6, 2018

In Photography, Scrapbooking

I captured the focal photos on Kate’s last day of preschool, the day she told me that I don’t need to miss her when she goes to school next year because she can still spend the night with me. For this page I decided to combine the photos I captured that afternoon in the park with other photos that tell some of her preschool story. Some of them I scanned from a little picture book that her teacher had created for each child and other photos, I had captured with my camera. With Anna’s new Hipster Plume Template Album No. 3, creating a two page spread documenting preschool memories couldn’t be simpler.

Place template 4 on the left and template 5 on the right.

Note: I replaced one square frame on the right with a copy of the smaller square frame.

Clip photos to fotoblendz masks and add Adjustment Layers as needed.

Note: As I have previously explained, I use Adjustment Layers rather than duplicating a photo and changing it’s blend mode. I also used a brush on the masks to darken areas to accommodate the photos I used.

Duplicate photos and clip to stains. At the bottom of the Layers Panel, place a photo across the page gutter. Add an inverted mask and brush back in enough to extend the scene.

Clip photos to small masks and adjust as needed.

Note: I blurred the faces of the other children in two of the photos.

Add title and blue buttons.

That’s it! The hardest part was deciding which pictures I wanted to include and what I to write.

Ready for Kindergarten

By

On June 2, 2018

In Scrapbooking

My granddaughter looks so grown up now. I have mixed feelings about this little girl beginning kindergarten in August. On one hand, I know how much I’m going to miss driving her to preschool, making lunch and playing with her in the afternoons.  However, I also know how much she will enjoy school, how much she’ll learn academically and socially. The teacher in me loves knowing all the wonderful possibilities waiting for her. I created this page in celebration of those possibilities. The steps are simple.

Roughly extract child from three photographs using the Quick Selection tool and a layer mask.

Clip photos of grass to mask 2 and 3 from WaterColor FotoBlendz No. 8.

Note: I photographed the grass to unify the extractions since each was a separate photo.

Add the psd layers of frame 1 from Postage Frames No. 1. Clip grass photo to masks. Above the masks, place a second copy of extractions. Add a custom shadow to each extraction.

Below the extractions and first set of frames, place a second frame set. Clip a copy of the grass photo to the frame masks.

Add one more psd frame 1. Again, clip grass photo to masks.

Add transfer 1, art stroke 2 and overlay 1 and 3 from ArtPlay Palette Ariose below the fotoblendz masks. Just below the top postage stamp frames, place two copies of overlay 4 and art stroke 2. Place solid paper 1. Lighten paper with a levels adjustment layer. Change blend mode to screen at 80%.

Note: I erased part of the paper with the Clone Stamp tool.

Finish with a title and cluster with elements from ArtPlay Palette Ariose.

Family Tree

By

On May 20, 2018

In Scrapbooking

At one time or another all of my grandchildren have asked me about my parents, even whether I ever had grandparents. While my parents and grandparents have all died, these photos keep them in my memories. I hope to share some stories about them so that my grandchildren will know them too. Working on this simple page has inspired me to consider working on a heritage project, but to take the perspective of my grandchildren and the questions they’ve asked as well as some of the stories I think they’d enjoy reading. Below are the steps for this page.

Move the template layers of Family Tree Template No. 6 to a new blank document. Recolor the branches behind the frames. Note: I chose a green.

Clip transfer 2 from ArtPlay Palette Moorlands to the tree brush layer of the template. Add a little brown to parts of the brush.

Note: Press command and the thumbnail of the brush layer to get the marching ants. Add a new blank layer above and stamp brown on some areas.

Clip photos to masks and add names. Add hue and saturation adjustment layers to give photos a similar sepia tone. Then add levels adjustment layers on overlay blend mode. Adjust as needed.

Note: I’ve added only first names for privacy purposes.

Next, to fill in the background, place transfer 1 and 3 from ArtPlay Palette Moorlands. Change blend mode of transfer 3 to darken at 75%.

Place most of the layers of psd file 3 from Artsy Transfers Moorlands. Turn off the gold paint.

Add a button from ArtPlay Palette Moorlands and journaling.

I’m looking forward to hearing the questions Kate will ask next week when I share this page with her.

Tulip Garden

By

On May 13, 2018

In Photography, Scrapbooking

The tulips weren’t blooming at Lauritzen Gardens in April, but they were simply stunning at my photography class Wednesday evening. With optimal light on these tulips for about forty-five minutes, I worked the angles with my little camera. My instructor suggested that I capture more of the stems with the tulip flowers. I’m so glad I did because those shots work perfectly with Anna’s new postage stamp frames. Below, I share the steps for working with one photo for the background combined with some detail shots.

Place photo and resize to fit the boundaries of a 12×12 document. Add inverted layer masks and bring back in the photo with AnnaBlendz Artsy brushes. The bottom layer is on color burn blend mode at 100%, the second layer on normal at 75% and the extraction at the top is on normal at 100%. Create a custom shadow for the tulip extraction by putting it on a separate layer, then warping and erasing as desired.

Note: I processed all the photos on this page in Lightroom before adding them to my page. I also added a levels adjustment layer on soft light at 100% just above the masked copy on normal blend mode. I used solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Amaranthine as a foundation for this page.

Below the masked photo and extraction, place transfers 4, 6 and 8 as well as the lace from ArtPlay Palette Amaranthine. Change the blend mode of transfer 4 to linear burn at 75%.

Add transfer 5; mask as needed and change blend mode to liner burn at 75%. At the top of the transfer group, place transfer 3 on normal blend mode at 100%.

Place psd frames 2 and 8 from Postage Frames No. 1. Clip photos to masks. Tilt frames to angle on the page.

Add thread 6 from UrbanStitchez No 12 as an edge for the extraction. Add stitch 11 to tack down the frames. Add button from ArtPlay Palette Hello Autumn and button thread 2 from ButtonThreadz No. 2. Finally, add a title and journaling.

Note: I adjusted the color of the button with two levels adjustment layers, one on overlay at 100% and the other on screen at 50%.

After all the browns, grays and whites of winter, I’m more than ready for some color.

Waiting on Spring

By

On May 4, 2018

In Scrapbooking

I fully intended to capture the tulips while I was at my evening photography class at Lauritzen Gardens a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately the weather was so cold during April that they had hardly sprouted the day I was there. Frost killed my bowl of pansies in April, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that the large pots along the brick wall in the Victorial Garden were empty. There were a some daffodils and few struggling panies in the beds, but the tulips were just emerging from the ground. What a shame, I love a good tulip display. I’m going to my class again next week and hope to see a few left.

Even without any flowers, I decided that the photos that I made of the ornaments, urn and door with all the brick deserved a page.

For this page, place two copies of overlay 3 from ArtPlay Palette Ariose (free with a $20 purchase of Anna products during the NSD sale at Oscaps. Both layers are on normal blend mode.

Note: This might be an odd place to begin, but I love this overlay.

Place the layers of template 3 from WaterColor Template Album No. 6 on the page. Add two copies of the gold paint and change the blend mode to color burn at 50%.

Note: The overlay layers are just below the fotoblendz mask from the template. Initially, I turned off all the template layers except the fotoblendz mask. I also applied a painted treatment to the photo with Topaz Studio.

Recolor some stains and/or clip copies of the photo to others.

Turn on three of the small frames. Clip photos to two of the small frames. To the third, clip artsy paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Ariose and adjust the position within the framed mask.

Place overlay 4 and art stroke 1 from ArtPlay Palette Ariose just below the small frames, both on normal blend mode. Complete journaling.

Turn on the template’s urban thread layer. For additional interest, add the flower, bird and thread from ArtPlay Palette Ariose. Add title.

Note: As I finished up, I decided that solid paper 2 with a levels adjustment layer on screen provided a better background than white.

Now I can’t wait to see what’s in the Victorian Garden next week.

Brush Play

By

On April 26, 2018

In Scrapbooking

Sometimes, I just play with brushes. While the end product may not be my favorite layout, I think that simply experimenting with blend modes and brushes is valuable. On this layout, I painted with digital brushes in Photoshop. Below, I explain my steps.

Stamp brush 6 from ArchiTextures No. 10 on a new blank document. Below the brush layer, place solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Home.

Note: The brush is partially transparent which allows the texture to bleed through on normal blend mode.

Paint the house with brushes from ArtsyPaint No. 14 and ArtsyStains No. 6 on separate layers.

Note: Using separate layers allows you to rotate or duplicate a brush. I practice using the Brush Panel to rotate brushes, but sometimes it’s faster to move it after stamping.

Place a photo below the stamped painted house with added paint. Click command and the brush layer from ArchiTextures No. 10. Marching ants appear. Go to the photo layer and click the add layer mask icon. An inverted mask will appear linked to the photo. Then stamp with white as the foreground color on the black mask with brushes from ArtsyPaint No. 14, ArtsyPaint No. 8 and AnnaBlendz Artsy No. 10 to fill in a scene around the house.

Note: I “undo” a brush stroke if it doesn’t look the way I want. Once it looks right to me, then I duplicate the mask and clip it to other layers of the photo. The top layer is a sketch on linear burn at 70%. The second photo layer is linear light at 50%. The bottom photo layer is multiply at 50% with a screen adjustment layer attached.

Above the photo layers but below ArchiTexture brush 6 layer, place layers of file 3 from Artsy Transfers Evanish, a glow from ArtPlay Palette Glance, overlays from ArtPlay Palette Evanish and splatters from ArtPlay Palette Home.

Add word art 8 from ARTWord ART Mix No. 1, a red button from ArtPlay Palette Merry Tree and thread 7 from ButtonThreadz No. 1.

I’m not going to say that this is my favorite layout, but while playing, I enjoyed myself practicing.

Sayaka Ganz

By

On April 22, 2018

In Photography, Scrapbooking

At my photography class on Wednesday, suspended from the ceiling of the conservatory at Lauritzen Gardens hung a dolphin by Sayaka Ganz. She uses common household plastic objects to create animals with a sense of motion.  and assembles them to create the effect of a Van Gogh painting. She states, “I believe the best way for artists to help reduce waste is to show how beautiful these materials can be and what can be done with the mundane…When we think of these things as beautiful, we value them. If we value our resources, we will waste less.”

As I looked up, I struggled to get the angle of the dolphin amid the palms. I liked the shapes of the fronds, but in a way, they compete with the dolphin. With my 18-70 mm, f/3.4-5.6 zoom, standing below, I was too far away to blur the background in the late afternoon light. However, with photoshop, I can change the emphasis. Below, I share my steps.

Extract the dolphin. Duplicate twice; create a sketch with one and apply an effect to lighten in the second copy. Clip the sketch, 100% color burn, to the copy with the effect. Link the two copies and rotate clockwise so that the dolphin is headed down more. Add a standard shadow to the top dolphin from the style menu and a custom shadow to the original dolphin copy. To do that put the standard shadow on a separate layer and warp it.

Note: I learn a lot about my photography creating these pages. In this case, in an effort to get all the fins, I placed the dolphin in the center and chose a safe angle.

Below the extraction, place another linked copy of the photo. Clip the copy to mask 3 from WaterColor FotoBlendz No. 8. Duplicate the photo twice and apply effects. Above the photo copies position artsy paper 2 from ArtPlay Palette Evanish. Add a layer mask and bring back in just part of the paper with a soft round brush. Change the blend mode to linear burn at 80%.

Note: For this page, I experimented with a watercolor look and a painterly effect in Topaz Studio.

Place artsy paper 3 from ArtPlay Palette Evanish at the bottom of the layers panel.

Note: I chose this paper because the shape fit my photo so well.

To fill in the background, place art strokes 1 and 2 as well as the gold paint 2 from ArtPlay Palette Evanish. Above the gold paint layer, place file 4 from SeaSprinkles No. 2.

Add glows from CoolGlows No. 1 and CoolGlows No. 4, one on linear light at 60% and the other on soft light at 100%. Place blue buttons and tack down with thread 2 from ButtonThreadz No. 3 and thread 10 from ButtonThreadz No. 1.

Note: The buttons are from ArtPlay Palette Socialize and ArtPlay Mini Gelid.

Finally, add a title and journaling.

This is quite a change from my original photo.

Anywhere, Everywhere

By

On April 18, 2018

In Photography, Scrapbooking

We stopped at the park last Thursday for a short time before picking up her brothers from school. I captured her moves when she jumped up on the bench at the park with my iPhone. Actually, Kate is always moving, sometimes to music and at other time just imitating what she has seen, for example these gymnastic moves. She doesn’t mind my taking pictures as long as I slide, swing, climb and dance right along with her. In fact, she will often tell me what I should photograph.

Extractions are one of my scrapbooking strengths. I use them often, so they are fairly quick now. On this page I did use my tablet to control the Quick Selection Tool and masking. Often, I just use the trackpad on my computer. Below, I detail the steps for creating this page.

To create an extraction, trace the image to extract with the Quick Selection Tool, choose refine mask and then output to a mask. With a small, hard round brush, clean up any unwanted pixels. Add a custom shadow.

Complete the other extractions and add shadows. Reduce the size to about 50%. Place psd layers of file 3 from MultiMedia Accordion No. 2. Delete the gold elements and adjust the position of the thread. Rotate the frame 90°. Clip copies of artsy paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Infatuated to each mask. Add file 1 from UrbanStitchez No. 2 to ground large extraction. Add thread 10 from ButtonThreadz No. 2 to the right side of the frame.

Note: I reduced the size of the paper and linked the copies.

Stamp brush 10 from MiniDots No. 2 vertically and horizontally behind the extraction and frames.

Note: Use the eraser tool to remove overlapping areas.

Place pattern paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Glance. Using the dots as a pattern, stamp randomly with a hard round brush some black and pink dots. Add and journaling.

I’m going to miss this girl when she’s in kindergarten next year. She is so much fun!!

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