Challenge #1

The Lilypad is sponsoring a challeng a day for the month of January. These are good for me because I have so many stories to tell. Don't laugh but I am working on 1993 and 1994, as well as 2015-21017.

Here is the first challenge and the rules:

1. Start with ONE solid background paper.
2. Add ONE patterned paper that is smaller than your background paper (you should still be able to see the solid background).
3. Add ONE frame. This can be a single opening frame, or multiple opening frame. But it must be one frame.
4. Place your photo(s) inside your frame.
5. Add a journal card somewhere on your page.
6. Add ONE piece of word art. You may NOT include additional journaling. Let your photo tell the story
7. Add 6 elements to your page. These can be duplicated, or they can be 6 different elements. But you must have 6 (and only 6) elements visible. Since we have already added word art, you may NOT add additional word art (including word strips) as one of your 6 elements.
8. Add the date.

Caite at age 3

Another fun use of layers

For this layout which began with a template (of course), the patterned paper I used was the leafy border. I selected the background which reads like a solid and the inversed the selection to just have the leaves.  I put the leaves on a new layer so that I could put them above the photo and erased any that were in faces. I love the feeling that is captured of being in the tree.

Layers and templates

I started with a template but this does not resemble it all that much. I like layers in Photoshop and love to showcase them. For this layout, I clipped pictures to some of the squares but for others I erased the square to reveal the patterned paper below. And in other spots I added a patterned paper instead of a photo to add some color and dimension. The cutouts serve a couple of purposes here. First, they are a way to tiangulate by revealing color, which moves the eye. Second, they are a vessel for adding some theme related elements.

Blending Two Photos

For the image in the layout, these two photos were blended. I flipped the first one horizontally and then made it much larger than the other photo moving them around until I got the layout I wanted. Finally, the composited image was cropped. Fun Result, don't you think.

Look Up a template challenge

Once again I began with a template but in the end youwould not recognize it as so. I started by stretching the photos. I like to see the photos and in the original template they were tiny. I wanted to use the very cute cloud paper and so made some interior mats to break up the patterning right next to the photo. Fun for me!

An Herb Garden

A view of my tiny herb garden. I love using fresh herbs in cooking.
I also love using a font without spaces but a change in color makes it quite readable.

Use of a template

Templates make scraping much faster. Yet they still allow for personalization.
I see it as providing a framework without the detail.
Here's an example. I reduced the size of the inner circle and most of the elements that were included. Added three papers but rotated each of themto provide an interesting change of direction.
And, I used a visual triangle for the three red elements.
Simple but compelling.