Four Seasons Clipping Masks AND a Freebie!

Well, I was supposed to be working on Back-to-School clipping (photo) masks but I got distracted when I discovered these other masks I had start to create awhile back! I decided to finish them up first, then go on to the Back-to-School masks.

I had a lot of fun creating these, and then using them in layouts. Here is my layout using all four masks:

(paper & element by Amy Clegg)

You could do a similar layout with photos of your kids from each season, or your baby's first year of seasons, document your garden in each season, whatever your imagine comes up with!

The masks work great individually, too:

My photos are only so-so (I am not a great photographer -- yet), but if you've got totally awesome photos of the four seasons in your area, you could do them individually like the layouts above, perhaps use a more coordinating background than I have, print them out, and frame and hang them as a quartet as home decor. I can envision that looking pretty nice! Or, how cute would it be to do the same thing with baby's first year photos, framed in white, and hung in baby's room?

I'm getting some great ideas, and I hope you are, too.

You can get all four of these clipping masks in my online store here for just $1.49!

If you'd like to try one of the masks first (FREE!), simply sign up to be notified via email whenever I update my blog. Use the "Opt In" button on the left-hand side of my blog and, in the comments section of the form, indicate which mask you'd like. I'll send it to you via return email.

Thx for stopping by!

New Baby Boy and Easter Felts

Oh my gosh, just check out this precious baby boy! My cousin Julie's new son, Jaxson. Can you get any cuter than that???
LOVE the peeps, eggs, and candy in the basket with him, so perfect for today, Easter Sunday. I can't wait to make a scrapbook layout with this photo and these:
Easter Felts for digital scrapbooking -- soooooo sweet! I am SO using these for little Jaxson's layout. They are by one of my fave designers, Pamela Donnis. Go here if you want to get some, too. She's also got a full Easter kit (which includes these felts) if you want to get the whole shebang (same link).

We've got a totally gorgeous day here in northern Cali so I'll be taking off for a walk, drive, or bike ride as soon as we decide where we want to go.

Happy Easter!!

Baby Girl Digital Layout - sans Pink

I am in love with this baby. Just look at that sweet little face. And those eyelashes! Ok, I'm in love with all babies, especially newborns. They are simply irresistible.

This layout was inspired by April Anderton's layout in the most recent (December 08/January 09) issue of Digital Scrapbooking magazine, page 89. Love that magazine, I read it from cover to cover and am always impressed with the quality of the articles, layouts, and technique tips.

The gorgeous background paper in the layout is by the very talented Stacy of Kalo Designs. Visit her store here and her blog here.

Enjoy!

Sneak Peek - Baby Girl Album

I couldn't resist posting this layout. I'm working on a baby girl album for a new client. It's a Christmas gift for her hubby and chronicles the birth of their daughter exactly one year ago (today!). I am having such a wonderful time working with the gorgeous photos she sent to me. I guess I really have a soft spot for baby layouts!

I also just completed a 20-page photobook at KodakGallery.com for another client who requested my photobook-making service (see more details here). It was the first one I'd done at Kodak Gallery and I found their bookmaking process is not as sophiticated (yet) as many others such as Snapfish or Shutterfly. One important thing that's missing is the ability to send people an invitation to view the completed book. What's up with that? I hope the good folks at Kodak Gallery add that particular function. In my opinion, they are missing out on a lot of sales. For example, if my client sent an invitation to relatives and they viewed her book and liked it, they might order their own copy.

Those are just two of the many projects I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. I'm having a wonderful time with it all, and it just adds to the fun knowing that the completed books will be Christmas gifts!

New Baby Layout - Digi-Scrapping Style

One of the things I love about digital scrapbooking is the way I can manipulate photos.

I can change them to black-and-white, enlarge, shrink, enhance the color and contrast, crop in creative ways, and much more. I can also apply all kinds of filters, borders, spot coloring, remove blemishes and distracting elements, combine two or more photos to get the best smile on everyone in a large group, add or remove people from a group shot....it just goes on and on.

The layout above used just one photo. I took the photo, enlarged it, changed it to black and white, and used it as the layout background. Then I used the same photo, in a smaller size, cropped it into a circle, and blurred the edges. Then I simply added the text.

It's always been one of my favorites.