hey guys…HAPPY WEEKEND :o)

SP here…and I wanted to stop in and let you know our schedule for the BLOG over the next couple of weeks!  We are all looking forward to taking some time off to spend with family and friends throughout this holiday season…and as a result, we will have limited posting!  Here’s what you can expect…

MONDAY (12-20) – Beckie will be bringing you a new Layout of the Week

MONDAY (12-27) – I’ll be hosting the Layout of the Week post

WEDNESDAY (12-29) – I’ll be bringing you the 3rd installment of our GALLERY GIRLS series :o)  Looooove it and you won’t want to miss!

THURSDAY (12-30) – I’ll announce the TEMPLATE CHALLENGE SEVEN winner!

There will be no new blog post on the days NOT mentioned!  Of course, we’ll fit in the FREE JANUARY DESKTOP somewhere in there…maybe on or around the 28th :o)

So, there ya go :o)  We just wanted to let you know the schedule and say HAPPY CHRISTMAS and MERRY HOLIDAYS :o)  We all wish you the best and most wonderful ‘end of year’ ever!

xoxo–SP

P.S.  Don’t forget to be sure and VOTE in the POLL (upper right side of page) for FREE DESKTOP SIZES…as the results will determine the size of future desktops :o)  THANKS!

Shabby PrincessShoppe News, Uncategorized No Comments

Hi everyone! :o) It’s Kylie here with some more seasonal inspiration!

For me, the countdown to a special event is always full of anticipation and much excitement. And let’s face it; a big build-up nearly always makes the day seem even more wonderful when it finally arrives!  A lovely holiday tradition is counting down the days with an Advent Calendar. I’ve always loved them! When I was young, my Mum would often buy one. It would be a beautiful picture on a piece of letter sized cardboard – sometimes Santa Claus, sometimes a Christmas tree, sometimes a Nativity scene. And there it would sit on our refrigerator with all its little numbered windows sitting, waiting, and ready to reveal a cute little Christmas picture underneath. And it always had glitter – glitter was a must! We all took turns to open a window each day, and if you were lucky enough that the 25^th came around on your turn – well that was always the best picture!! When I look around today, there are so many different styles of Advent Calenders to choose from – and many have little gifts, like chocolates, included or even spaces to put your own small gifts – kind of like hidden treasure! – and all so much FUN!! 

This year I decided to make my own calendars. I recently spotted this Advent ‘beyond the page’ Project from Kaisercraft – found HERE  - and knew that I HAD to make one. I will be showing you today the one I made for my nieces as a Christmas present. I also made it double as a ‘creative’ Christmas card! And although it will be too late for the girls to use this year, it will be all ready to go for next December.

I used the adorable sugarplum dreams kit and the NEW sugarplum ADDITIONS from the Shabby Shoppe to decorate the cute MDF advent calendar. I basically followed all the Kaisercraft instructions and added a few ‘Kylie’ touches too! That’s the great thing about hybrid projects – you can always create something that is unique – use any papers, any trims, and all the crafty bits and pieces you want. Here are some details about how I used the Shabby Shoppe products for this project:

• Each individual drawer is covered with almost all the sugarplum dreams papers.
•  I crafted a small 8”x8” scrapbook page to attach to the calendar center frame. This is my “Christmas card” to the girls. And being just that, I couldn’t help but choose a 5×5 Holiday Card from this year’s Shabby Shoppe Holiday Cards Vol 5 – PERFECT! I popped a favorite photo of the girls in one opening, a layer of pink sugarplum dreams notepaper as a background, added my message and then embellished the page with a couple of pieces from the NEW holiday gift tags Vol 1 – too EASY!!! Now that’s what I call speed scrapping! :o) I printed it out on satin-finish photo paper and decorated the edge with some pretty ric-rac.
• To add a little more fun to the advent calendar, I made my own ‘free standing diorama’ using the new graphics from the sugarplum ADDITIONS. I chose all the pretty rub-ons I wanted, reduced them in size and printed them on some more photo paper. After trimming, I used some craft wood and little 3D dots to build up my scene.
• But I couldn’t stop there – (whatever happened to keeping it simple and ‘less is more’, huh?…well, that went out the window as soon as my glitter and glue came out!! LOL!!) – So I made up some strands of peppermint garland with some sugarplum dreams peppermint graphics I cut out, and a length of pink ribbon, and attached it to the top of the calendar frame.

Here are some more pics of this super fun and definitely festive hybrid project.

Well, I ‘pulled out all stops’ for the girls with their Advent Calendar, so now I’ll show you what I made up just for me – kind of a reminder and little tribute to all my childhood Advent Calendars. In Photoshop, I created two PSD files – one for the little picture layers (‘underneath’ page) and the other for the numbered windows (cover page). I made the work area of both files the size of a standard A4 sheet (close to a standard 8.5″x11″ letter size). You can choose whatever size you like – it really all depends on the size of paper you want to print on. Tip: to get each window box to align, create all the boxes in one PSD file, select them together and duplicate all at once to the other PSD file. That way they will be in exactly the same position.

I then printed the ‘underneath’ page on plain paper and the cover page on my satin-finish photo paper. For the cover page – using a craft knife or a perforating blade cut the top, bottom and right-hand side of each little box. Score the left-hand side of each box for easy folding. For the ‘underneath’ page – attach thin strips of double-sided tape in between each row of windows and around the edge of the paper. Carefully, stick the back of the cover page to the ‘underneath’ page, making sure all sides are aligned. For a final touch I used pinking shears to cut the edges in a zig zag fashion and then mounted the calendar to a sheet of cardstock. Here is my finished refrigerator Advent Calendar that I have been using to count down the days!!

To stick my newly created Advent Calendar to my refrigerator, I recycled an old promotional fridge magnet. This is such a quick and easy project – it literally took 10 minutes! I chose a small square of sugarplum dreams plaid paper and a pretty circle  holiday gift tag (I love using these pre-layered tags as embellishments – the hard work is already done!) and printed, trimmed and attached them to the magnet with double-sided tape and a 3D dot. I used my trusty pinking shears again to trim each side and added a stick-on gem and some glitter.

Thanks so much for taking a look at my take on Advent Calendars! And remember these hybrid ideas can be applied to any occasion and/or theme. Counting down each day until a wedding, a milestone birthday, a family celebration, starting school, etc. arrives, will add a new dimension to ‘waiting’! Getting to open up a drawer and discovering a little gift or opening a little paper window to see what’s waiting behind (a picture, a message, or both) can be used as a fun way to reward children, too. So many possibilities!!

Wishing you all a wonderful, wonderful weekend! :o)  And, please do not miss Lu’s YUMMY blog post directly below, complete with free recipe card (yep, TWO posts in ONE day)!  SP will be back tomorrow to share the BLOG’s holiday schedule!

KylieHybrid Projects, Inspiration, Uncategorized 13 Comments

“Sugar & Spice, and everything nice… that’s what these cookies are made of”! Hey everyone, it’s Lu here & today I’m bringing you a cookie recipe that hopefully suits everyone (even Santa Claus)! I have such a sweet tooth & this time of year just makes it ferocious, lol! My family hosts an annual cookie exchange, so I have cookies on the brain for weeks. But, by this time in the holiday season, I am definitely looking for the “Easy” button, lol! Combine that with my lack of baking skills (I have no false modesty about this, truly I cannot bake well), I have been on the search for the “perfect” (i.e. perfectly simple) recipe that is delicious yet is not too painful for those who are a bit “challenged” in the kitchen. And this year, ya’ll, I believe I have found my dream cookie. Now, personally, my favorite cookie is the simple sugar cookie. And NOT those gorgeous cut-out, beautifully decorated kind! Don’t get me wrong, I love the way they look… but I can’t handle the stress of trying to decorate them (well, to give away, I mean). I’m doing good not to forget a vital ingredient or burn them, much less master a beautiful creation, lol!  And truly, I just prefer the taste of the more simple version of the “drop” cookie. But gingerbread cookies are what I always think of when I think of a Christmas cookie… however, like the iced sugar cookies, I have no interest in rolling them out, cutting, baking & decorating. I just want to hurry up & get to the eating, lol! So, when experimenting in the fall, I came up with a sugar/ginger cookie recipe that is tasty and easy. And that is perfect for me. The best part of this recipe (for me) is that it starts with a cookie mix! You know who I love? Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. I haven’t tried many of her recipes, but I just love the concept of taking something that’s “store bought” & tweaking it to make it almost homemade. It takes out a lot of stress for me when I’m short on time, because I’m not trying to re-invent the wheel. With that in mind, I decided I’d use a box mix for sugar cookies & just add my own additional ingredients & spice.

I figured I’d satisy my desire for the “traditional” ginger cookie and my tastebuds, with the sugar cookie. But I also added an additional item… when grating the ginger root, and releasing that heavenly ginger smell, I thought how much it reminded me of lemons (which I loooooove). And, because our Meyer’s lemon tree is now producing like crazy (we’re so proud, it’s our first crop), I thought I’d throw in some lemon zest as well.  I just love the idea of my now-to-be traditional Christmas cookie having an ingredient from our back yard! Oh, I feel a scrap page coming on…! Of course, any lemon will do, lol. {A note about the Meyer’s lemon: it is very “thin skinned”. Meaning, don’t be heavy handed when you zest or you’ll also get white pith… and that is bitter}

Here is the “short but sweet” ingredient list:

• A box of your favorite sugar cookie mix
• 2 tablespoons of lemon zest (you could add more if you love lemons like I do)
• 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon of crystallized (candied) ginger
• 1 teaspoon of allspice
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
• 2-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• additional sugar (for rolling)

(I tend to go easy on spices, as I don’t want one flavor to overwhelm another. This could easily just become a ginger cookie, lol, so I put in more lemon zest & took it easy on the fresh ginger. My girls won’t eat them if they’re “too” spicey. But by all means, spice it up if you like it that way. If you omit the cinnamon, it has more of a sugar cookie look & taste).

 Directions:

•  Follow the directions on your cookie mix (additional ingredients will vary according to brand)
• Add in additional ingredients and stir until a dough forms
• Form into 1″ balls, roll in sugar to coat
• Space balls approximately 2″ apart
• Bake according to your mix instructions, until the edges are a light brown
• Let sit a minute on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cookie rack to completely cool

Now, because these cookies are so easy to make (and yummy), I knew I wanted to give them as homemade gifts. Check out these little projects I put together:

 I started with a chipboard flowerpot from a local craft store. I created a pot “wrapper”, printed out, then matched a paint color & painted the whole pot. When it was dry, I glued on the wrapper (with Mod Podge), and tied on the ribbon. I filled the pot with a round 5″ foam floral ball and added the grass. Then I set it aside to make the cookies! As soon as the cookies came out of the oven, I immediately inserted a cookie stick (available at your local craft store), appoximately 1-1/2″ into the cookie. You have to move fast or the cookie edges will harden & you won’t be able to insert the stick. Once inserted, let it sit for a minute or so on the baking sheet. Then carefully transfer to the cookie rack to cool completely.  Once cooled, I wrapped each cookie with a small clear treat bag (I bought mine in the craft section of Walmart), then tied off with a ribbon. This way, my “arrangement” will keep for a few days.  *A note: if you plan to wrap up your cookies, be mindful of how large you make them. You’ll want them to slide in easily.

For this next set, I picked up these adorable gift boxes at Target at the beginning of the holiday season, so not sure that they’re still available (I so wished I’d bought a dozen of them). This is just a matter of putting a dozen (or more) cookies into a bag and then into the box they go! So easy! To secure my package, I punched holes on the closure flaps, threaded the ribbon through them & tied off. I created a few gift tags similiar to the new Shoppe gift labels, available here. I just love these labels, they instantly provide the perfect personalized finishing touch. SP makes gift giving so charming and simple!

One final comment about cookie mixes… they do not all look the same coming out of the oven, lol. The mix that I used for my flowerpot, is not the same that I used for the boxes. I found that this gluten free sugar cookie mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen  produces a “puffier” cookie, that would allow me to insert the stick. Not only did I find them more “visually” appealing, now this arrangement will be safe for any gluten intolerances! The other brands (non-gluten free) produced a flatter cookie, which is perfect for stacking a dozen or so cookies into the box.

This was the most fun I’ve ever had baking & putting together baked gifts (and that’s saying a lot, because I’ve been at this for years). And although this recipe is almost easy enough to commit to memory (even for me, lol), I’ve created this recipe card for you. You can click HERE to download, or simply click the image below.  Hope you enjoy!

SP will be back tomorrow to fill you in on the blog’s HOLIDAY SCHEDULE, so be sure to check back then.  Also, don’t miss Kylie’s post above as we have TWO new blog posts for you today :o)  Have a wonderful weekend.

LuFood Stuff, Free (not desktops), Uncategorized 4 Comments

Hi guys :o)  SP here!  Hope you are all having a great week and are finding yourselves all ready and prepared for the FAST-approaching holidays!  I know that I am MUCH closer after a few days of shopping and decorating and wrapping and making grocery lists, lol!  At least I feel like I am SOMEWHAT organized…even if there are still LOTS of action items on the list, lol!

Don’t miss the CHALLENGE at the bottom of the post (complete with prizes)!

Anyway…back to the post, lol!  I thought it would be so fun if our blog team all scrapped photos from their childhood holidays!  I have to tell you that I think we all enjoyed the process very much!  Well…actually, I’m not sure that ANY of us enjoyed trying to edit those ‘old’ photos…but that’s not what is important!  Just the fact that we have some photos is a blessing!  So, we’ll take the bad with the good, lol!  I have to also tell you that it was a great confirmation to me…reminding me of why I scrap and that it is such a worthwhile ‘thing’ for me to do!  My mom (hi mom, lol) is amazing…she is truly the quintessential mother…but her memory is not what it once was, lol!  She has closets full of boxes and albums with photos from probably 100 years or so.  That’s great, right?  IT IS, it really is!  Sadly, the problem is that she cannot remember anything about most of those photos…including where or when they were taken (in some, she is not even sure WHO the people are, lol)!  We have spent a LOT of time on the phone over the past couple of weeks…going back and forth trying to determine what year all of my kid Christmas photos were from.  Unfortunately, there is only one year we are SURE of, lol…the rest are all guesses and estimates based on the background (trying to figure out what house it was, thinking that might spark a memory, lol)!  I guess my point is that I am so happy that our little man will at least know a little bit about the photos I have scrapped.  My ‘creative’ style or page designs might not be anything he will care for, lol…but at least the facts will be there for him (and me, too – since my memories are already beginning to fade)!

So, how about some FUN layouts with our childhood pics?  Just a note:  we often decrease the size of our layouts here on the blog so that it doesn’t take forever to load…but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that here, lol!  Most of our photos are already so small because ‘way back when’…that’s just how they were, lol!  And, I want you to be able to really see how sweet these are :o)

The first two are mine (SP)!  You’ll notice on this one (letter from santa)…I had to put 1980ish, lol!  Mom was not sure of the date or location…so there wasn’t much for me to ‘say’ on the page!  I mentioned that I actually remember the letter (or at least the look of it) and really like the excitement in my expression :o)  I know that this doesn’t look like a super traditional Christmas page…but I wanted to coordinate with the blue in the photo (which was tiny, of course) :o)  

Thankfully, on this next one – we actually know the date and location…YAY!  I do not have many specific memories of this age or particular Christmas…but I do remember having (and loving) a lite-brite, lol!  I also remember having a baby doll that went potty…only because I very clearly remember making her poo on my dad’s leg one time, lolol!  Now, THAT is a memory (wonder if he remembers?) :o)  Oh…and the toy typewriter…I always asked for office supplies, lol!  Loved playing pretend office or cashier or anything like that :o)

 OK…enough of me, lol!  thanks again, mom, for taking on the task of going through the mountains of photos to find a few for me :o)

Let’s see…who’s next?!  How about we move on to Kylie who also scrapped two pages for this ‘challenge’!  This first one (which are her first Christmas morning photos!) is sooooo beautiful and perfectly girlie!  I love the tiny little pics…especially the one with Kylie and her mom sitting on the floor!  What a beautiful photo and memory :o)  Of course, the page design is gorgeous – love all of the little squares surrounded by various elements and journaling! 

 Next from Kylie…oh my, that journaling!  What a wonderful Christmas memory (it might be too small for you to read here, so be sure to check out her gallery post)…I LOVED reading about her ‘Santa Sack or Christmas pillow case”!  Definitely a treasured memory and one worthy of being scrapped!  And, how adorable are those pics?  All of the layers of elements really just make me happy!  GORGEOUS!

 Moving on…let’s visit Lu’s childhood :o)  I just ADORE that photo…look at the BIG, pink, stuffed DOG (named Ricky), lol!  It is such a sweet photo and Lu scrapped it perfectly!  It’s so fun that you can see the Christmas tree in the background…and the journaling is just perfect!

 Next up, we have Beckie :o)  I have to say that she looks EXACTLY the same now, lol!  You know how some of us hardly resemble the baby versions of ourselves…well, not this one :o)  I would know that was Beckie any day – sooooo cute!  Great little pics…especially love the ‘portrait’ (just look at that smile)!  But really, the page design here is just gorgeous – love the elements and the ‘flow’ of the page :o) 

How about a peek into Karen’s past? :o)  Even though she did not have any photos to scrap…she didn’t let that stop her!  She had a great memory of a specific toy and chose to add a pic of that…and focus on her memory/journaling – LOVE it :o)  The memories are just as important as the pics and when you don’t have one…go with the other!  And, you’ll have to read the journaling to find out that miss Karen discovered her precious doll a little early, lol!  Too funny – and such an ADORABLE page…total perfection! 

Like Karen, Anna also could not get her hands on any of her Christmas photos…so she scrapped her FIRST Christmas memory…which is definitely worth a read, lol!  I’m pretty sure she made the ‘naughty’ list that year, LOL!  Not really, Anna is too sweet…and, who doesn’t peek under the tree?! LOL…love this page…the design and the focus on the story :o)

And, last (but certainly not least)…we have Trish :o)  And, while her photo isn’t quite as ‘old’ as the rest of ours lol – I love that it still has that ‘vintage’ look and feel to it!  It is so cute that there is someone sitting in the background (isn’t that what Christmas morning is like so often…everyone sitting on the floor, gathered around the tree)…and her little dress…and the expression, lol!  CUTE CUTE CUTE!  adorable page, too (especially the gingerbread boy and girl peeking out behind the tree, he he)!

So, there you have it…a glimpse into our childhoods!  Again, this was so much fun and something I hope we can do every now and then (it’s great motivation for scrapping some of our ‘old’ photos…which are not always at the top of the list…especially since they take a bit of extra effort)!

Now…how about a CHALLENGE?  We would LOOOOOOVE to see some of YOUR childhood holiday photo layouts (though you can do what Karen did if you do not have a photo)!  So, we are challenging you to find some of your ‘kid’ pics from holidays past and scrap them!  You have until January 6th (that’s three weeks from today) to post your layouts in the Shoppe’s BLOG CHALLENGES gallery!  We’ll go through all of the submissions and choose our favorite THREE (to be announced on January 8th)!  Each ‘winner’ will receive a $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe!  So, scrap away and enjoy the nostalgia…it truly is wonderful to take a trip down memory lane every now and then (especially when the memories are of fun holidays and time with family and friends)!  We can’t wait to see your entries :o)  BE SURE TO POST A LINK to your page in the Shoppe’s gallery IN THE COMMENTS SECTION of THIS post to be entered into the challenge :o)

Thanks for stopping by – have a great day (or night)!  Be sure to stop back by tomorrow as we will have TWO new posts for you!  Lu will be cooking up something yummy…and Kylie will be sharing a hybrid project with us!

And, a tiny little P.S.!  You’ll notice the SHOPPE POLL way up there on the right side of the page?  If you are a fan of our FREE monthly desktops…please take a moment to vote for your size!  We want to make sure we are creating the sizes you guys want/need…and the two with the most votes ‘win’ :o)  THANKS a bunch for participating!

Shabby PrincessInspiration, Other Challenges, Uncategorized 29 Comments

Hi everyone!  Beckie here with a special holiday edition of Focus on Photos! This week I have a few ideas to share for how to creatively capture beautiful photos to showcase your favorite lights and decorations.  And what better place to start than with the evergreen beauty that becomes the focal point of many of our homes for several weeks each year?  The Christmas tree!

O Christmas Tree….

Luckily, my neighbors know me well enough not to bat an eye when I knock on their door and ask to take photos of their Christmas tree :)  I wanted to bring you two examples of a basic Christmas tree photo and illustrate some of the basics of capturing a good image.

1.  Shoot in RAW.  Even if you don’t normally shoot RAW, this is a great time to do so since you may want to tweak with the white balance of your image in your photo editing software.   Most indoor lighting will show up  rather yellow in your photos.  Setting your WB to Tungsten will prevent this.  Or, my preference, is to use the sliders in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) after the fact to introduce more blue to the image while still leaving some of that gorgeous warmth that feels like the holidays to me.  See more about ACR here.

2.  Take your photo during the day, when there’s some daylight present in the room.  You can also use lamps and other available lighting available in the room, but this can introduce unexpected shadows and complicate the white balance situation (especially if there are different types of lighting).  I do not recommend a pop-up flash, as it will definitely introduce harsh shadows and unfortunate bright spots .  Unless you have more advanced flash equipment (diffuser, off camera flash, or experience using “fill flash”), I recommend trying to make-do with other sources of light!

3.  Consider shutter speed!  The slower the shutter speed, the more blur you’ll get on the lights on the tree.   This can have a beautiful effect and greatly contribute to the warmth and beauty of the photo! I highly recommend using a tripod – or resting the camera on some stable surface for the photo.  This will allow you to drastically slow down your shutter speed without introducing blur.  You should experiment with the results from various settings; I tried several, from 1/50 second all the way down to a 3 second  shutter speed!

Here are two examples!

You can see that I left the lights in the photo on the left slightly warmer than with the tree on the right.  It’s really a matter of personal preference!  Also, note the very slow shutter speeds, which allowed me to capture a soft glow from each bulb, not the harsh outline of the glass itself.  Here’s one more example below, which is another photo of the tree on the left above.  I intentionally put the tree lights out of focus, resulting in a gorgeous bokeh effect.  To do this, simply turn the focus ring on your lens until you achieve a nice, soft, out of focus blur!

Photographing a person in front of the tree is slightly different.  The show shutter speeds that produce such gorgeous soft light in our previous photos will likely result in blurry portraits if we introduced people to the photos.  The best alternative in these situations is to separate your subject from the tree (at least 2-3 feet) and then use an open aperture (low f-number) to help emphasize the bokeh effect in the image.  You’ll also need additional lighting for your subject’s face.  In this case, All I had to do was remove the shade from the table lamp in the living room!  My normally reliable daughter was just not in the mood to be my model, but my wonderful mother in law was more than happy to stand in for a quick photo!  (and yes, the glass of wine definitely helped, LOL!)

• If you have small children, this same technique works – but you’ll need a wide lens (like a 30mm).  Put small kids on the floor in front of the tree – at least 3 feet away from the tree – and place a few plastic ornaments down to help attract their interest.  Then, get down on the floor at their level and snap away!
• Try your favorite photo actions on these shots, too!  A wonderful vintage look, or a soft color wash can help hide troublesome white balance issues and eliminate distracting colors.  Check out Sarah’s actions at My Four Hens (she was our very first blog guest interview!)

Celebrate the bling!

I picked up a gently used 60mm f2.8 macro lens, which I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun experimenting with!  A macro lens has a very tiny focal plane, which means only a very small portion of an object will be in focus.  Here you can see that this 4″ ornament has parts that are clearly in focus as well as some that most definitely are not!  I took this photo right on the floor in the light of the table lamp, bracing my camera against my body to minimize blur (another challenging aspect of macro photography!).  Even if you don’t have a macro lens, take a moment to snap a photo of your most treasured ornaments so you can document their origins!  I ran an action on the photo below to saturate the colors a bit more and give it a subtle artistic feel :)

The Great Outdoors

It’s likely you might want to try to capture some of the fun and excitement outdoors as well!  I had a lot of fun walking around with my camera trying out various techniques and angles for capturing outdoor decorations – and, here are a few tips!

• Outdoor lights are best captured before it is fully dark outside.  Much like the Christmas tree photos we discussed above, a little extra lighting to help expose the surrounding elements accentuate the appearance of the lights themselves.  In this photo, you can still see a wonderful, warm glow from the lights, while still having enough light in the background to provide context for the image.  This helicopter Santa is the newest addition to our yard, much to the delight of our three year old :)

• Get up close and personal!  This is my favorite photo from my little holiday photo shoot.  I LOVE the pattern from the lights and the cool texture from the glass bulbs.  Look for repeating patterns like this, and don’t be afraid to get down on your knees – or even stomach – to capture things from a whole new perspective!  To determine proper exposure, take a test shot and look at the result on your LCD screen.  The bulbs will be blown and over exposed, but you need that in order to ensure that some of the surrounding details are visible.  With a little trial and error you’ll achieve some fun, creative shots that will give you a fun new type of photo for your scrapbooks!

• Here are a few more fun lighting shots taken with my macro lens.  I was able to get just one small bulb in focus and lots of great bokeh all around!  You could create a similar effect just by taking a shot intentionally out of focus.  This is such a fun effect with multi-colored lights!

And finally, be on the lookout for other gorgeous manifestations of light during the holiday season!  I was retrieving my son from a neighbor’s house where he was playing when I realized that her tree lights played so beautifully through the textured glass of her front door.  This entryway just looked so warm and inviting that I just had to snap a photo!

With just a little trial and error, you’ll have photos you love in no time!  I can’t wait to see your layouts in the gallery that showcase your fabulous holiday lights.  And feel free to share your favorite tips below in the comments section, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to come back again tomorrow, you won’t want to miss a fun post from SP!

BeckiePhotography, Uncategorized 10 Comments