Remember the old days when you would just pick up a box of greeting card at the store, sign them and send them off to faraway family and friends.  Maybe you included a picture of two, maybe not. Well, because of our great digital cameras, we now have modern Christmas cards as well! You just take your pictures and then upload them to a photo printing site. In just a few days you will have fun holiday photo cards to send to everyone you know.

But what makes a good picture for holiday cards? You may want a holiday or winter background – something that just screams “holiday magic, snowmen, & fun!”. Or maybe a traditional family group shot, with everyone perfectly posed. It is your choice, because it is your family photo card!

Here are a few tips for getting a great picture for your card:

• Prepare! If you are taking your own family photo, spend some time at the location. You should get a feel for the lighting – what direction does the light come from, do you need a flash, where are the shadows.
• Use your flash! Even in a sunny or bright location you may need a flash to brighten faces that may be shadowed. Use a flash diffuser to soften the light from the flash. You can make your own diffuser by placing a piece of tissue secured with a rubber band over a pop-up flash. Or tape a piece of tissue to the flash on a point and shoot camera. You will find you like the lighting better if you use a diffused flash.
• Don’t expect perfection. Taking group shots is hard, it is almost impossible to get everyone looking the right direction, smiling at the right time, etc.  Allow yourself to relax! Pictures don’t have to be perfectly posed, and everyone in their Sunday best to have a great photo!  I love this photo for that reason.  This photo shows family love – look how much these kids love being together and hamming it up for the camera.  This might not be the setting you would choose for a holiday card, but it really shows their personalities!
• Put your self in the picture! How many pictures do you have of everyone else in the family – but not you? Use the self timer on your camera (most cameras have them), or invest in a remote shutter cable.  Remember the WHOLE family – not just the kids!

With a little bit of planning and a little less worry about perfection, you can create the perfect modern Christmas cards to send to all your faraway friends and family. And of course you will need to save some to scrapbook!

Time for another FREEBIE! Click here to find it.

If you ask anyone in the graphic design or professional photography field, they will tell you that Photoshop is the best photo editing and graphics program on the market. True, it is a fantastic product with a wide range of capabilities. But, these are people that use it every day. What about the average user who wants a program for digital scrapbooking that also helps them get the most out of their digital photos?

While Photoshop is the industry standard for professionals, it has features and capabilities that will never be used by the casual user. So why spend hundreds of dollars on a program that has features you won’t need or use?

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Let’s take a look at Photoshop’s little sister – Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements and Photoshop are both made by Adobe. They have similar interfaces and both are capable of photo editing and graphics work.

When deciding which program to buy, you need to look at how it will be used – and how often. Most consumers want a program that will allow them to edit their digital photos – remove red eye, adjust color tone, etc. They also want a program to use for digital scrapbooking or digital card making. While both programs will do these things, Elements is a user friendly program that is easy to learn and use.

One of the major differences in the two products is price. Photoshop retails at around $650, while Photoshop Elements is priced at $99. This makes Elements much more attractive to the average consumer.

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Adobe designed Elements to have all the Photoshop tools that the average user would need. It is named Elements because that is what it has – the core elements of Photoshop. Some people mistakenly thing that Elements is a ‘dumbed down’ version of Photoshop. This is simply not true. Elements is a product with a different focus than Photoshop. There are many online tutorials and forums that are dedicated to learning both Photoshop and Elements.

In the end, it is really a matter of choice and budget. Both programs will give you everything you need for photo editing and digital scrapbooks and cards. So, which will it be – Photoshop or Elements?

This is a little quick page freebie I offered on my other blog a while back. So if you already grabbed it from there, sorry.  But for all you new followers – enjoy this Trick or Treat QP!

Enjoy your Halloween photos!

How many of us have looked at scrapbooks from the past and wondered who was in the photo and what were they doing? Why was Aunt Sally at Cape Cod in 1952?  Did she know someone there? How long did she visit? Was there a wedding or event, that may have had printed invitations? When we scrapbook we need to answer the who, what, where, & why’s of the future.

Who will end up with your scrapbooks in the future? You are preserving memories not only for your immediate family, but for your posterity as well.  By being descriptive in your journaling you are creating a history that will endear you to future generations.

• Tell the story behind the pictures. Where are you and why are you there? Why is Uncle Bob laughing so hard? Even if the story doesn’t seem interesting, it tells who you are. I cherish my grandmothers journal even though there is only one sentence per page. It tells of her everyday life and brings a human element that I can relate to now that I am a wife and mother.
• Journaling doesn’t need photos. Did a funny thing happen on your vacation that you don’t have photos for? Included that story in your journaling! You will remember the fun when you read it. There doesn’t need to be a photo for everything. Take a photo of grandpa and then journal stories about his childhood.
• Be creative! Don’t just put dates and names in a line under the photo. Journal around the photo or in a creative shape! Just make sure your writing is easy to read.
• Use fun fonts – but sparingly! There are a lot of fun fonts available and they are great for titles and some captions. But make sure your journaling is in an easy to read font. We want people to be able to enjoy the story – not be frustrated because they can’t read it!

Did you know you can have your own handwriting made into a font? You can do your journaling on the computer but still in your own handwriting! Many online digital scrapbook stores offer this service so check it out.

Scrapbooking is a great way to preserve our family memories and stories for our posterity. By journaling we let them know what kind of people we were and what we enjoyed. Don’t sugar coat it – show who you really are. Your future family will love you no matter what. Now get journaling!

We have heard of hybrid cars, hybrid plants, even hybrid animals. But what the heck is Hybrid Scrapbooking? Well you have traditional paper scrapping and digital scrapping – hybrid scrapbooking is a combination of the two!

If you paper scrap, you might already be doing some hybrid scrapbooking without even realizing it!  When you use your computer to create any part of your layout – journaling, photo resizing, etc., you are making your layout hybrid.  You are using technology and traditional scrapping together.  Don’t you love the results?

In a hybrid layout pick what you want to create digitally and what you will create with paper.  You could make a great photo collage in a photo editing program, print it on photo paper and put it on your paper layout. Add fun elements and journaling for a complete page that comes together easily!

You can create an entire digital layout, print it and add real ribbon for dimension. Add ticket stubs or maps from vacations and events.  Reprint a digital page and cut out certain elements, the adhere them to the first page using pop dots for added interest!

Both traditional scrapbook stores and digital stores are starting to cater more to the hybrid scrapbooker.  Many online digital stores carry templates that are special made for the fun chipboard albums that are on the market.  You know the ones, they are shaped like words, brackets, etc.  Polka Dot Potato carries quite a few that are made to fit the SEI Word Books.

Chipboard albums are a fun way to use hybrid scrapbooking. You can create the entire layout online using a template or quick page. Then add ribbons and other fibers to tie it all together. Add a few traditional elements to your pages and you have an awesome book to give as a gift or keep for yourself!

Hybrid scrapbooking embraces the best of traditional and digital scrapbooking.  So, if you just can’t give up playing with paper give hybrid scrapping a try.  Have fun and get creating!

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No matter how they are dressed, little kids never look scary – just adorable! Capture the moment and the memory by taking great photos of your little ghouls, superheros and princesses! By following a few simple tips, your Halloween photos will be the best you have ever taken!

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In my last post, I talked about Jack-o-Lantern photos and many of the things I pointed out there apply for trick or treat shots as well. Lighting, setting, etc., will all make a good Halloween photo a creepy stunner!

• Lighting – like I said before, Halloween is supposed to be dark and scary. So you don’t want brilliantly lit photos. Adjust your lighting (and aperture if you can) to make the photos dramatic! Use the glow of a fire or the setting sun for some great silhouette photos. Photograph your child looking into their Jack-o-Lantern, this will add a spooky glow to their face!
• Perspective – Don’t take pictures of children from your perspective, get down on your knees and shoot at their level. For even more drama, lay on the ground and shoot up. They will seem larger than life and that much scarier! Get up on a chair or ladder and shoot down from a greater height than just standing for great group shots.
• Tell the story – take photos of the process of getting ready to go trick or treating. Putting on the costume, make-up, etc. Make sure you include photos of pumpkin carving as well!
• Shoot the loot! Trick or treating is all about the treat! So make sure you get photos of the loot as well. Take photos of your child going to a door and getting the treat – it is fun to include the person giving the treat, or at least a hand holding out the basket of treats! Take photos of your child with their candy spread out for all to see (before they get a chance to eat it!).
• Watch the flash – if you do use your flash, make sure you are aware of any reflection off shiny surfaces like windows, etc. You may need to move around to avoid flash reflection.

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After Halloween, have your fun photos made into cards to send to far away family and friends. Share your memories – that is what it is all about!

The scary night is almost upon us. The night when frightening creatures roam the neighborhood looking for treats and threatening tricks! It is also the night when kids look so absolutely darling you just have to take some pictures of them! But what makes the perfect Halloween photo?

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Anyone can pick up a camera and take some pictures of kids in costume or the jack o lantern. But with a few tips and tricks you can take your Halloween photos to the next level!

Jack-o-Lanterns: After all the time you spend picking out the perfect pumpkin and then carving it into a scary creature – you want a picture that does it justice, right?  It only takes a few little tricks to create the perfect Jack-o-Lantern photo:

Click here to find a great freebie!