Happy Monday to all of our fabulous Shabby Shoppe Blog readers. It’s Anna here with another installment of LOTW. I am so excited to introduce you to a newbie in the gallery. It’s PrimevalPixie. She just started posting at the end of January, and already has over 20 gorgeous layouts displayed!  I especially loved her Trick or Treat page!

Thank you PrimevalPixie for sharing your incredible talent and beautiful kiddos in the inspiration gallery! Check your e-mail for a $10 Shabby Shoppe gift card and have fun shoppe-ing!

Stop by tomorrow for Beckie’s product spotlight - You won’t want to miss it!!!

AnnaLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 2 Comments

hey girls!  SP here with just a super quick check-in for project SCRAP!  February is a short month and the 28th seems to sneak up on us, lol!  So, be sure you are taking pics and getting ready to SCRAP!  I’ll be working on the February templates in the coming days and will share them with you on the 24th!  And, don’t forget about the special project SCRAP gallery…we would LOVE to see everyone’s pages :o)

THANKS A BUNCH…hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!

xoxo — SP

Shabby Princessproject Scrap 2011, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Hi!! Kylie here! :o) … and today I’m here with a little scrappin’ inspiration… about L.O.V.E. … luurve!

 With Valentine’s Day on Monday I’ve been thinking about how much I love digi-scrapping and how I might go about scrapping LOVE. Well, LOVE can mean so many, many things to us all and that gives us all plenty of opportunities to scrap it – however we define “it”! As memory keepers, to scrap the candid everyday moments is so important, as well as, fun and rewarding – life’s little treasures captured. But, sometimes it’s refreshing and kind of ‘scrap-therapeutic’ to dedicate a whole page to someone or something we love – it could be deep and meaningful, full of storytelling or just a little snippet of the lighter side of love! Hey, it could just be a page about those favourite pair of shoes that you LOVE to wear.  It could revolve around a photo or two, or even more. It could be totally photo-less and full of journaling, or just a simple statement, or even, one little word – how powerful! It could feature a love letter – one that’s already been written down on paper or just in your heart; or one that you pen especially for a new page. It could feature a LOVE quote, a poem, a song, a verse, a list. It could be anything you want it to be!

For this post I crafted two pages, with much love! The first is photo-less – hmmm, have I ever done one of those before… I don’t think so. It is a layout of all the little phone text messages, the special ones… I didn’t have the heart to delete, that my husband had sent to me from when we first met until the day of our wedding. It was a challenge to fit them all on the page so the font is extra tiny! Plus my hubby would be slightly embarrassed if it was legible enough for you to read, no matter how sweet and funny I think they are! The page is really more of a record of our little “love letters” – the modern day version, anyway.

My second page is one for my nieces. I often like to write little letters on my pages for them. Little pearls of wisdom…LOL! – probably not … more like general thoughts, feelings and opinions that they might like to look back on one day and get something from, or at least provide an opportunity for them to giggle at their silly Aunty Kylie. But, this page is what LOVE really means to me from my heart to theirs – so no giggles, just sweetness.

I hope that you’ve been inspired a little from today’s post. We would all LOVE to see any of your special pages that you may have been inspired to create and share in our Shabby Shoppe Gallery. Thanks for stopping by the blog today! Bye for now! :o)

KylieInspiration, Uncategorized 12 Comments

O, little remote shutter clicker, how I love thee! Let me count the ways!

Valentine’s day might be over, but I (Beckie) still have MAD LOVE for my little remote.  What is this magic little device, you might ask?  It’s a simple little button that lets you remotely activate your camera’s shutter.  Not impressed?  Well keep reading – it has more practical uses than you might realize!

The idea is simple…securely position your camera (rest it on a table, on a tripod, etc), then frame up your shot, focus on your subject, and then walk away.  Trust your little remote to use infra-red technology to fire your shutter for you from up to 16 feet away!  There are many types out there and you need to be sure to do a little shopping to get one that works for your make and model!

Why would you use a remote?  There are many reasons!  Let’s take a look at a few:

:::Group photos:::

So you’re the designated family photographer, eh?  When’s the last time YOU were in a photo??  And I’m not talking about that time you pushed the button and jumped over Aunt Sally and busted the seam in your pants to get in your spot before the timer went off, either!  There’s a very relaxing way to quickly get a series of group photos – even when you need to be part of the group!

• Secure your camera on a tripod or other sturdy surface, like a table.  Get the group assembled, frame up the shot, make sure everyone can be seen, etc.  Designate your spot in the group and ask someone to hold that place for you :)

• Set your camera to remote/timer.  Mine has options for either a 2 second delay or a 10 second delay.  This is the setting where it knows to “look for” an infra-red signal to fire the shutter (consult your camera manual to see exactly how this works for your model).

• Take a test shot, then look at the photo on the LCD screen.  If all is well, grab your remote and join the group!

• Fire away!  Give the group a warning, ask them to hold the pose, etc.  Take a bunch!!  Remember our head swap tutorial?  Having a series of photos to work with is the best way to create a perfect group shot when you don’t capture one.

Look! I’m actually in this photo!  That’s me in the black sweater.  Three generations of my husband’s family!!

:::Macro:::

I’ve been dabbling in macro photography for a few months now and having lots of fun with it!  But I often have to close my aperture way down in order to create a focal plane that is large enough to capture an object in focus (high f-numbers).  This creates quite a challenge for allowing in sufficient light, which can result in slow shutter speeds.  A slow shutter speed poses a huge risk of motion blur in a photo, which is one reason why many photographers use a mini-tripod for macro photography.  In fact, you often have to manually focus on an object to achieve the exact shot you’re after.  When I’m shooting things that don’t move, I go the extra step and use my remote.  I really value the peace of mind that comes from knowing I’m not introducing an additional opportunity for blur from moving my camera when I push down on the shutter.

f5, ISO800, 1/125

I love this shot of a cool old marble my hubby had in his collection from when he was a kid.  The imperfections in the surface of the glass and the cool swirl of color are so interesting when photographed through a macro lens!  (I use a Canon 60mm f2.8 macro lens). Notice how only a tiny portion of the surface of this marble is in focus?  There’s no room for error in getting the macro shots you’re after, so relying on a tripod and a remote is a great way to eliminate the chance for motion blur from you touching your camera.

:::Slow shutter speed photos:::

Similar to the example above with macro photography, there may be other types of artistic photography you’re interested in that require slow shutter speeds.  Remember the fireworks photography post from a while back?  I used my tripod and remote for the shots in that post.  By using my remote, I could get out there and show my kids where to stand, help light their sparklers, etc – and still remotely activate the shutter to take the picture!  Here’s another of my favorite shots from that night!

f11, 1/5, ISO160

:::Kids “photo-booth”:::

My kids may very well be the most photographed children on the planet.  Seriously.  They’re completely immune to my pleas for “just one more! Smile! Look here!”.  But when I set the camera up the other day and asked my 6 year old to come over and take pictures of herself with the remote, she was super excited!  I got the camera all set up, then turned my back while she did her thing.  She proceeded to give me a series of about 15 silly, kooky, funny, and sweet faces that perfectly capture her big personality.  And she giggled the entire time!  She got the biggest kick out of surprising me with her faces and showing them to me when she was done.  No matter how many times we take their pictures at home, there’s just something about a photo booth opportunity to have their picture taken that most kids seem to love.

:::Self portraits:::

• A remote is a wonderful way to get YOURSELF in front of the camera!  Again, do everything as described above (position the camera securely, focus in, etc) – but this time you need to find a proxy for yourself so that you can frame things up and check your exposure.  Simply grab a baby doll or a stuffed animal!  These toys are great because you can still use the eye as a nice high-contrast area to use for setting focus on the desired position.

• As an alternative, you can find an assistant.  I did a self portrait session and  asked my daughter to tell me if the “little red box” was over my face when I took my first sample photo with the remote.  She helped me scootch into the right position, and then I clicked away!

That wraps up today’s little crash course on remotes!  Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments below.  Be sure to come back again tomorrow to see a fabulous scrapping inspiration post from Kylie!

BeckiePhotography, Uncategorized 7 Comments

Hello All! It’s Anna here and I want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

After debating for nearly two hours over all the incredible new layouts posted this week, I finally decided that the LOTW honor should go to another gal who has never won before – swmadd!

She posted a two page spread of her baby shower that I just loved!

Take a look at her incredible gallery HERE

And since it is Valentine’s Day, I had to share swmadd’s sweet Valentine’s card

Congratulations swmadd.  Have a great time spending your $10 Shabby Shoppe gift certificate!

Last but not least, don’t forget that SP has a SALE going at the Shoppe on most Valentine’s products!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY :)

AnnaLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 4 Comments