Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Megan here. With the new year, we’ve decided to switch up how we do our Trend Talk posts. This year, we’re thrilled to have guest chatters from our Dream Team of designers share their favorite trends. Here to get this party started–and with a very party appropriate trend, I might add–is one of the most on-trend gals I know, Miss Maggie Holmes!Take it away, Maggie.

Thanks, Megan. I’m thrilled to be here talking about one of my favorite trends of the moment–confetti!

confetti floor1 Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of A Beautiful Mess Blog

 

Confetti is a happy little concept that has been around forever and is typically used at parties or weddings.  Lately I’ve also been seeing it used as a design element on wedding invitations, gift wrap, cards, tags, etc. It is also popping up a lot as a photography prop and even on fingernails!

invite confetti Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

confetti wrap Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of ImgFave.com

It’s fun to see something so simple and common trending because it is really easy to translate onto a scrapbook page or card. All you need is a couple of different size circle punches and some paper. You can customize the color scheme and you can also get creative with the size of the confetti pieces and even the shape. Think hearts, triangles, or squares. I think it adds an element of playfulness and a whimsical flair to any project. I’m not saying that I’m ready to give up the basics like butterflies, flowers and banners but this does add another go-to design element that is versatile enough to become one of my basics!

Confetti Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of CakeEventsBlog.com

 

wedding confetti1 Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of Green Wedding Shoes

Here is my take on the confetti trend.

Maggie layout1 Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

I absolutely loved this inspiration piece where they made confetti from pictures!! This would be fun to do with the small thumbnail images I get from my printer when I print photos!

confetti photos Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of Lil' Luna

If you are a digital scrapper, here is a tutorial for you on how to create confetti in photoshop!

PS Confetti Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

Image courtesy of Pugly Pixel

Whether you prefer to create digitally or traditionally, I hope this trend has you inspired to create a little confetti of your own!

Thanks for the fabulous inspiration, Maggie. This is definitely a trend worth celebrating. I’m already reaching for my circle punches and scraps of paper. We’re glad you could stop by and share your view of what’s hot in scrapbooking and paper crafting.

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, creative editor, & Maggie Holmes, CK Dream Team designer
Megan2012 Trend Talk with Maggie HolmesMaggie1 Trend Talk with Maggie Holmes

 

Posted in Hot Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Weekly Warm-up: Create a Simple Mini Album

Greetings from the beautiful Smoky Mountains! I have a confession…I’m a bit of a mini book fanatic. It’s actually my go-to medium for documenting our family’s stories and I’ll choose a mini book before making a layout most any day.

image001 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini Album

For the mini book idea I’m sharing with you today, I’ve left my embellishments to a minimum, just letting the papers, photos and words shine, but you could certainly add layers and trinkets and chipboard until your binder rings won’t hold another thing!

After printing off your free mini book page download, decide whether you wish to use 6×4 photos or to trim them to 4×4 as I did. Using the 4×4 photos allowed me to make my album pages have staggered sizes. Each page of the album gets progressively longer and more of the patterned paper shows.

image002 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini Album

We’re a family of five, hence the “we are 5” title, and each of us has our own page in this mini book describing what our loves were at the time these photos were taken last Easter.

image003 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini Album

It can be tricky trying to thread baker’s twine through the eye of a needle, so let me share this nifty trick using floral wire which will make your life so much easier.

image004 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini AlbumAnd here’s a more detailed shot of a page from my mini book.

image005 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini Album

Be sure to leave a comment below to be entered to win a $20 shop credit to I Love It All, my Etsy shop, featuring subway art prints, modern typography posters, and mini books. I hope you enjoy your mini book page template and I invite you to join me on my blog where I share project inspiration and downloads.

Enjoy!

Monika Wright

monikaheadshot 150x150 Weekly Warm up: Create a Simple Mini Album

Posted in guest blogger, How-Tos, weekly warm up | Tagged , , , | 62 Comments

Tips for Adjusting the Light Settings on Your Camera

Understanding how to adjust the light settings on your camera is one of the most important things to know when it comes to taking good photos. Of course, if your camera is a fully automatic point-and-shoot, your ability to adjust your camera’s light settings is limited, but with a few simple tips, you can take better photos than ever before.

To get started, look in your menu options to see if your camera will allow you to adjust the white balance settings. (Check out this article for links to the manuals for many popular cameras.) If so, you will see icons for several different options, such as automatic, daylight, cloudy or shade, florescent, and tungsten. Each option indicates a lighting condition you may encounter when taking outdoor or indoor photos. For best photo results, select the setting that best describes your lighting conditions. Using the tungsten or florescent settings indoors will especially help reduce the red cast (tungsten) or grayish cast (florescent) you often get when you shoot indoors.

Editors blog photo by Becky Pagatchnik 400x600 Tips for Adjusting the Light Settings on Your Camera

Photo without a white balance adjustment

Editors blog photo2 by BP 400x600 Tips for Adjusting the Light Settings on Your Camera

Photo with a white balance adjustment

Another quick tip is to use your flash whenever the subject you want to shoot is in front of or facing away from the light of a window or the sun—even if you’re taking pictures in the middle of the day! Because your camera takes in only enough light to expose the brightest part of your surroundings, your subject is often draped in shadows. By using your camera’s flash on subjects less than 15 feet away, the flash will add light to your subject and eliminate any dark shadows. Give it a try and see what you think!

–Kris Brunson, senior editor

IMG 5955 400x404 Tips for Adjusting the Light Settings on Your Camera

Posted in How-Tos | Tagged | 4 Comments

Create a Mini Album with Calendars

Hi everyone, Mou Saha here!

Have you seen the January/February 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes? Turn to page 55 to enjoy a trendy feature about various calendar products and how they can become parts of your scrapbooks. I used a stencil to make a real calendar on my 12×12 page.

6442433199 4409b45624 o Create a Mini Album with Calendars

I love the fact that this stencil comes in a 6×6 size as well, making it perfect for a mini book to record your entire year.

CKCalendarBlogPost2 Create a Mini Album with Calendars

To create a similar mini book, start by cutting three pieces of 12×12 cardstock to four 6×6 pieces each. You will have twelve 6×6 pieces. Line up the stencil on top of each piece of cardstock and trace with a pen.

CKCalendarBlogPost3 Create a Mini Album with Calendars

This is what the traced calendar looks like.

CKCalendarBlogPost4 Create a Mini Album with Calendars

Color the page just enough so that you can read your journaling easily. Add a 4×6 photo or a few smaller photos to the facing page. Use stickers, stamps, punches, etc. to accentuate the theme of your month. For example, I used an acrobat stamp in keeping with the fact that we went to the circus this month. I stamped musical notes on scrap cardstock and punched out a tag to mark the date of my daughter’s chorus rehearsal.

CKCalendarBlogPost5 Create a Mini Album with Calendars

Keep in mind that if you are making your next month’s calendar at the back of the photo page, like I did, it’s best not to use brads or eyelets as the prongs of the brads and backs of eyelets will show on the next month’s calendar. However, if you are inserting your pages in sheet protectors in a store-bought mini album, you needn’t worry about using brads, stitching, etc.

Have fun creating with calendars!

Mou Saha, contributing writer

Posted in guest blogger, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Awe… love is in the air. Can you feel it? If not, I invite you to pay me a visit. My office is sparkling with new romantic paper lines. As the new writer of Creating Keepsakes “Latest & Greatest” column (starting with our Jan/Feb 2012 issue), I wanted to bring you a few of my favorite lovey-dovey lines, just in time for a little Valentine’s Day creating. Let’s embark on this bicycle built for two and take a look at what’s hot off the presses in the land of paper amore!

BasicGrey’s Kissing Booth

basicgrey collection1 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Pucker up! This beautiful line is just what you need, whether you’re telling your own love story or simply want some beautiful new pinks and reds to add to your stash.

basicgrey brads1 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012basicgrey paper Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

basicgrey paper1 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

basicgrey paper2 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Bazzill Basics Paper’s Love Story

bazzill Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Who wrote the book of love, you ask? Well, this cute book was written by our friends at Bazzill Basics Paper. It’s a whimsical line, just write for making a note for that special someone you’ve been secretly admiring. Or, use it on a layout about your favorite sweet friend. The heart buttons are just the sugar on top you need!

bazzill journaling Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

bazzill paper Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

bazzill paper1 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

bazzill buttons Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Doodlebug Designs’ Sweet Cakes Collection

Doodlebug Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Mmmmm…the smell of Sweet Cakes is adrift. Breathe it in and imagine the kind of happy designs you could make with this adorable line. The touches of glitter will add just a dash of sparkle, and the cute motifs will make any scrapbook page smile.

Doodlebug1 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Doodlebug2 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

Time to Win!
Inspired yet? It’s your lucky day. We’re giving away assorted items from each of these lines, as well as various items from our Jan/Feb “Latest & Greatest” magazine column. Want your name inthe drawing hat? Simply leave a comment on this post between now and next Friday, Jan. 20. We’ll randomly select two lucky winners and one of them might as well be you.

Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner, creative editor
Megan2012 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

P.S. Congratulations to Margie S (Nihao, Cupcake!), the winner of a one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine for commenting on contributing writer Deena Wuest’s how-to blog post on ReneePearson.com! Visit http://www.reneepearson.com/rpblog to claim your prize.

 

folder Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012P.S. Don’t forget to download CK Little Women for Free Font Friday!

ck 2D00 little 2D00 women 2D00 01 2D00 13 2D00 12 Latest & Greatest: January/February 2012

 

 

 

 

Posted in latest & Greatest | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 325 Comments