Be Thankful

Hope you all had a very nice Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for so many things, especially my family. We had a wonderful time cooking and hanging out together at home, so I was able to find time to create. 


In every issue of the e:Spire magazines we include a couple of digi stickers that I create especially for you. Digi stickers are not just for digital scrapbookers. They can be used by paper crafters as elements on  layouts or cards. They can also be used in home decor as I did here with the Thanksgiving sticker I created for the October/November issue.

Supplies: RIBBA Frame - IKEA; Digi Sticker: Be Thankful by Camille (www.scrapsofcolor.com)

For this project I simply printed the sticker on cardstock to fit the frame opening. 


If you haven't downloaded your FREE issue please do so. Make sure to also grab the free digi stickers found on page 12.


Happy Holidays and remember to be thankful for all of your blessings.


Camille

Cool Digi Project: Photo Strips

Happy Wednesday to all of my creative spirits.

Do you remember photo booths? You know the ones that would take about 4 pictures and print them immediately on a strip. I remember how much fun I had making funny faces with my family and friends anytime we would step into one of those. Today I am excited to share a really cool project that I created using Photoshop Elements.

I created the one on the left with four different funny pictures taken on my computer. The one on the right was created with four pictures taken while at the beach.

They each measure a little less than 1 1/2 inches wide by about 6 inches tall. The perfect size to pin up on bulletin boards, hang in school lockers, or  include on a layout.

They also make great keepsakes to share with family and friends.

 
Just another way to use your favorite photo editing software.

I created this png file for you to try this on your own. Click to download. If you don't have Photoshop or a similar program you can use this with your word processing software. Just crop your picture to fit behind the frame openings, print and cut.

Enjoy.

Camille

P.S.
Leave me a comment because I would love to hear what you think about this project.

American Heroes

Summer for me would not be complete without my softball games. I love the competition and the camaraderie of team sports. Every August I look forward to competing in the Military World Softball Tournament. This special weekend is an opportunity for our military men and women to come together to relax and compete in the sport they love. This year we were treated to a special event that reminded us all what this tournament is really about. The Wounded Warriors are a team of veterans who lost limbs while serving our country. Some have lost arms or one or both legs. They play with so much passion and courage that you forget they wear prosthetics.


Today I wanted to share with you a couple of the pictures I took at one of their games. Let's take a minute to remember the unfortunate effects of war on our young people and honor all of the brave men and women in our military.

American Heroes by Camille. Supplies: Digital Paper: Little Dreamer Designs (So Charming).

Summertime Traditions

Do you have summertime traditions? You know, those things that you have to do before the summer is complete, otherwise it just wouldn't feel quite right. I know I have a long list of things that I must do before the summer passes me by. This may be a Puerto Rican thing but I must have a coquito icee from the NYC street vendors. I am not talking about the italian icees, these are typically sold by hispanic vendors. I don't even know the correct name for it, but I know exactly where to find them and that's all that counts. I travel to NYC every summer to visit family and to enjoy my coquito icee. 


I used Aysha's digital kit: Life is Sweet to create this layout that celebrates my mom enjoying one of our family summertime traditions. If you haven't downloaded Aysha's kit from the June/July issue, I encourage you to do it today. It is totally adorable!

Oh So Sweet by Camille. Template: Tiffany Tillman (52 Template Thursday #21);
Digital Paper & Embellishments: Aysha Livingston (Life is Sweet); Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.

What summertime traditions do you have? We would love to see your layouts in the SOC gallery.


Happy Summer, until next time.


Camille

Hybrid Project: COASTERS

Today I am sharing a really cute hybrid project with you, as another example of how you can use digi supplies (especially the freebies) to create one-of-a-kind items. 

July 4th Coasters by Camille. Supplies: Wooden Circles (Michaels), 
Acrylic Paint (Americana), Mod Podge, 
Digital Sticker (Camille - SOC Magazine June/July)

I created these coasters with inexpensive wooden circles, acrylic craft paint, Mod Podge and my digi sticker from the June/July Scraps of Color magazine (page 19). Simply print the digi sticker on cardstock, and adhere to a painted wooden circle using Mod Podge or similar decoupage medium.


I hope you see how digi products are not just for digital scrapbook pages. Try using a digi product on your next project.


If you would like to win these, leave me a comment by Thursday June 30th.  These will belong to one randomly chosen winner. Thanks for visiting our blog and if you haven't gotten your free issue make sure to download it today.


Camille

Scrapbook Projects as Gifts

Another reason to love this great hobby of ours is that we get to create one-of-a-kind gifts for our family and friends. I created a Mother's Day layout for the April/May issue of E:spire that I framed and turned into a great Mother's Day gift for my Mom. 

I then decided to create a matching card for my Mom. The Mother's Day digi sticker I created for the April/May issue is used as the sentiment inside the card.

My mom loved the gift. She told me that she cried reminiscing about that picture of me as a baby. 

If you haven't tried creating and framing a layout as a gift or even to decorate your own space, you should give it a try.

Camille

Happy Easter

For all who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter. I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday. Here in Maryland the weather was sunny and warm, a beautiful day to spend with family and friends. My friends stopped by to ask me to take their family Easter photo, and I just couldn't resist turning the photo into a special treasure fit for framing. So in about an hour, I created this. (And yes...even the dog is smiling!)

Easter 2011 by Camille. Template: Tiffany Tillman (25 Days Summer #16);
Digital Paper: 9th & Bloom (Details in the Fabric)

Yet another reason I love this wonderful hobby of scrapbooking.  I get to create such wonderful keepsakes for people I care about. 


How do you share your love of scrapbooking? Do you create gifts for your friends and family?


Camille

Digital FX

Happy Friday! Today I thought I would share a digital tip and hybrid card I created using a photograph as the foundation. There are so many cool effects we can create using photo editing software and regular everyday photos. I started with this photograph taken by my son.

In Photoshop CS5 (this works in Elements too) I applied the Stained Glass filter to the photo and adjusted the levels until I got an image I was happy with. I ended up with a textured effect that made for a great background image on this hybrid card.

Congrats Bachelorette Card by Camille. Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill;
 Sticker: K&Company, Flower: Prima, Brad: Making Memories, Bling: (Unknown).

I hope I've inspired you to use your photo editing software to create a one-of-a-kind hybrid card. The possibilities are endless! 


Camille

I Love Freebies

I am loving the feedback we are getting about the premiere issue of Scraps of Color E:spire. The issue is filled with awesome information and tons of ideas. What I love even more are the freebies, as a digi scrapper I LOVE freebies! In this case, these freebies are not just for digital scrapbookers, paper scrapbookers can use Shellina's template as a sketch; elements from Aysha's kit can be printed out and used on layouts; and my digi sticker would make a great page element or title, try printing it on cardstock or vellum. If you haven't already grabbed your freebies, check out page 20 and download them today.  Here is a digi layout I made to document my Valentine's Day. I used both Shellina's Love Layout template and Aysha's Sealed with a Kiss digital kit. Hope you like it.

Handle with Care by Camille: Template - Shellina Guthrie (Love Layout); Patterned Paper and Elements - Aysha Livingston (Sealed with a Kiss) both downloaded from Scraps of Color E:Spire.

Camille

Are scrapbookers always happy?

Is it just me or does it seem like scrapbookers are the happiest people in the world? As I look through scrapbook layouts in magazines, online galleries and blogs I usually see happy faces, happy occasions, and happy articles. At times I thought these folks were always happy. At one point it bothered me because I was not feeling so happy in life and was therefore, having a difficult time creating happy layouts. Then I thought about using this awesome hobby to express the real me and the real life my family and I lead. That means documenting some of the not so happy events in our lives. I may not share all of these layouts with others, but I will definitely include some in our family scrapbooks. That way, years from now, when we look back at our scrapbooks, they will be more representative of the “normal” life we had, full of ups and downs, happy occasions and not so happy occasions. Here is a layout I recently created.

NOT SO happy days by Camille. - Digital Paper & Elements: LittleDreamer
 Designs (So Charming) and Nisa Fiin (Splendid Fiins @ the office).

Have you ever scrapbooked the unhappy events in your life? If not, why not give it a try, it can be a very therapeutic experience.

Camille

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and your family from all of us at SOC E:spire. We hope that you make wonderful memories this day and everyday. My name is Camille and I am so excited to be part of the E:spire design team. I am a native New Yorker transplanted to the Maryland suburbs where I live with my husband and children. The inspiration for my art and my proudest accomplishments are my three sons, Joshua (26), Frankie (19) and Julian (15). I’ve been scrapbooking for about 7 years although I’ve been creating in many other forms as long as I can remember. I love learning new ways to express my creativity, so besides paper scrapbooking, I love photography, card making, coloring with Copics and colored pencils, decoupage, altered arts, and one of my most recent endeavors digital scrapbooking. About a year ago I was attracted to the world of digital scrapbooking. I just loved the idea of being able to scrapbook anywhere I could take my laptop. After taking a beginners class taught by Renee Pearson I was hooked. I’ve taken other classes over the year and I plan to take many more. There is so much to learn in the digital world and I just can’t wait to take it all in. Okay, so when it comes to describing my scrapbook style and describing me in general I would have to say I am eclectic. I mean can you blame me?  This is how Mr. Webster defines eclectic:

 eclec·tic noun \e-ˈklek-tik, i-\

Definition of ECLECTIC: one who uses a method or approach that is composed of elements drawn from various sources

That fits me perfectly! 

I hope this gives you a little insight into who I am. I look forward to sharing my digital layouts with you over the next year. SOC E:spire is going to be an awesome publication. If you haven’t signed up for your FREE copy, do so and give yourself a gift today!

Here is a digi layout I did of my boys on Christmas Day 2009. 

From my family to yours Feliz Navidad.

Camille

Layout: Love & Happiness by Camille. - Template: Tiffany Tillman 25 Days Templates #1;
Digital Paper and Digital Elements: Paislee Press (Adorned Kit); Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.