Hello everyone…Kylie here! :o)  Dropping by to share this month’s project SCRAP 2012 templates (two separate templates to create a ’spread’) with you all! YAY!

The MARCH templates are nice & bright, and extra cheerful!  We so hope you love them as much as we do!! :o)  And for something a little different I’ve added a longer panoramic-style photo space on the single page…fun, fun!  What if you don’t end up having a photo to fill this space? ~ you might like to divide the space into two or three photo spots, or even clip it with some paper and then layer a framed standard-sized photo on top.  Remember a template is just a kick-start to your own creativity…so feel free to play, play, play!! :o)

You can click on the image below…or, CLICK HERE to download the your NEW templates!!

New to project SCRAP? …well then, if you are not familiar with our little scrap project (if you ARE familiar with it, skip this paragraph, as always, lol)… THIS POST is a great place to learn more!  Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2012 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject!  It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything in 2012!  But, as a quick little reminder… here is the project in a nutshell:::

I hope you are having lots of fun taking your pictures each week…can’t wait to see them all scrapped and gorgeous!!  Be sure to post your finished March layouts in the new 2012 project scrap GALLERY!  SP & I, the team, and all our fabulous gallery members and visitors, well, we ALL love to see how everyone works with the latest project SCRAP templates… as well as all the beautiful Shabby Shoppe products! :o)  SP will be doing her March ‘check-in’ in a few weeks time… and will, of course, be sure to include some wonderful gallery inspiration using the latest templates…so stay tuned for that post!  (Let’s hope she’s been able to catch-up on her scrapping…love me some Shabby Princess layouts!! ;o))

THANKS a bunch for stopping by the blog today!  Make sure you visit again tomorrow…Jenelle has a special treat for us!

KylieFree (not desktops), project Scrap 2012, Uncategorized 19 Comments

Hello Shabby Shoppe readers! This is Rosy, here to “focus on photos” with you today!
Beckie always does a wonderful job in sharing tips on all kinds of ways to use camera settings and editing to make our photos look their best…today, I’m going to look at photography from a bit of a different perspective.  I’m not much of a “technical” photographer, meaning that learning all of the ins and outs or buttons and settings on my camera are not the part of photography that I love the most.  I am primarily a memory keeper and my interest in photography has come as a result of that!  For me, the most meaningful photos are the ones that show our lives, who we are and what we do, right now.  Yes, I’m talking about the candid photos.

I’m going to talk about a few things that I’ve learned, from others and my own experience, about getting those “natural and unposed” shots.

1. Keep your camera within easy reach.
I usually keep my camera in a central area of the house, close to where most of the “action” happens, but out of little hands’ reach.  If something photoworthy happens, I don’t have far to go for the camera (ok, so we have a small house and I wouldn’t have far to go, anywhere I kept it… but you get the idea).  This also applies to taking your camera along when you go places.  Better to have the camera and not take any photos than to not have a photo because you didn’t have your camera!  I know a lot of you may use your phone for these type of “on the go” photos, but my family has gotten used to me taking my camera almost everywhere I go.

2. Keep your camera ready.
I’ve found this helpful when shooting in manual mode.  If you change a lot of settings because of a extreme lighting situation, before you turn the camera off, changing it back to more normal settings will save you some time the next time you grab the camera for that quick candid shot.  Of course, switching to Auto when there’s no time to mess with settings, works as well.

3. Don’t be obvious.
If you want to capture spontaneous action, don’t call attention to the fact that you’re about to take a photo!  Sometimes I’ll even peek out from behind something so as not to disturd the activity that I want to photograph.  Avoid using a flash if at all possible, and remember that your subjects don’t always have to be facing you.  Photos from behind can tell a story too!

4. Anticipate the action.
Take some time to think about what is happening and where you can position yourself to get the best shot.  Waiting on the right moment is important to getting a good photo whether you’re shooting kids at play, someone eating, a group laughing at a joke, etc…

5. Take more than one.
Even if the first photo looks great in the camera, take several!  You’re much more likely to get one you love if you try a few different angles, and often once I download my photos and see them full size, the photo I thought was great isn’t the best one after all.

I will give a note of caution with this one… remember that sometimes participating in the moment/activity is more important than getting that perfect photo.  If your camera is keeping you from fully enjoying and joining in the fun, you might be going overboard.  Take some photos and then put your camera aside and participate!

6. Be satisfied with less than perfect.
Candid photography is all about capturing the “real”.  In real life we don’t always have the perfect lighting, backdrop, or color coordination.  If you’re like me, often the photo capturing the action or moment best, ends up with some less than perfect feature about it.  I’m here to tell you that it’s ok!  You’ve captured the moment, preserved a memory and that’s why you took the photo in the first place!

Thanks for checking in with the blog today.  Kylie will be with you tomorrow to share the MARCH Project SCRAP templates…be sure to stop by and pick them up!

RosyPhotography, Uncategorized 15 Comments

Happy Monday everyone!  It’s Beckie here with you, and I’m so pleased to have the task of selecting this week’s LOTW!

We’ve just wrapped up an amazing Spring Break week here at our house, and the weather was absolutely spectacular!  We’ve all got the end-of-vacation blues however, and lucky for me browsing through the gallery was the perfect pick me up!  You guys are all doing an amazing job with Project Scrap and Kylie’s incredible Easy-as-Pie Template Challenge 21!  As usual – the gallery is full of creative and inspiring layouts!

This amazing layout (Pretty Girl) by Amber totally caught my eye:

I just love the soft pink and brown and the wonderful photo treatment!  and how GORGEOUS is sweet little Hannah?!   There are many beautiful details here too, from the scalloped border to all the stitching and the subtle white floral stamp.  It’s sweet and happy and perfect for LOTW!

Congratulations Amber! You have been emailed a $10 gift card to the Shabby Shoppe (please check your spam folder if you don’t see it). Hope you have fun shoppe-ing!

Thanks for joining us today!  We will see you again on Wednesday! :)

BeckieLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 7 Comments

Happy Friday, everyone!  This is Kim, here to share a hybrid project I adapted from an idea I recently stumbled upon.  For a while now, I’ve wanted to make new name signs for my two kids who share a bedroom.  I even bought shelves I wanted to paint and chipboard letters I wanted somehow to sit on the shelves.  But as things often go, the shelves and letters sat in my closet for quite a while!  But when I saw the idea of using CDs as the backing to letters, I suddenly had an idea of how I was going to put it all together.  I’ll tell you more below, but first, here’s what my finished (YEAH!) project looks like.

It only took a few items to put together my letters.  Here are the supplies I used:

• CDs (What a great way to reuse old CDs with data you no longer need or music you long ago loaded onto your computer!)
• Chipboard letters that I painted with antique white craft paint (I already had these and wanted to use them, but there are lots of great alphas in the Shoppe that you could print and use instead.)
• Scrapbook paper printed out to layer behind the letters (For my patterned paper, I used the Summer Cottage and Gabby kits.)
• Embellishments printed out on cardstock to add to the letters (I kept mine fairly simple, but I love the way the Barefoot birdies added a little extra touch.)
• Glue (I used scrapbook glue for the papers and hot glue for the letters.)

How to put your letters together:

• Decide what papers and embellishments you are going to use and print them.  This was the hardest part for me – so many options!!  But once I had my plan in mind, the rest was easy.
• Cut the layers of paper into circles.  I was fortunate to have some circle cutters from my paper scrapping days, but you could also find round objects (jars perhaps) to help you trace a circle to use as a pattern.  When I cut my circles, I intentionally left a little edge of the CD showing (I used the side of the CD that the data is recorded on because I didn’t want to see any labels).  I thought having a little of the CD showing added a little “bling”!
• Cut out your embellishments
• Glue everything in place – papers, letters, and embellishments
• Decide how you want to display the letters.  I knew I wanted to set mine up on the shelves I had, but you could also attach them to ribbon to string them together for hanging.

That’s it!  It’s a fairly simple project, but one that I’m glad I finally put together.  And it’s an idea you could use for any kind of word you want to spell out and display.  How about a saying for a media room?  Or a happy birthday sign?  What would you want to create?  Hope this project inspires some of you out there!

Thanks for stopping by today and hope you all have a lovely weekend.  We’ll be back on Monday as Beckie announces our Layout of the Week!

KimHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Hi all :o)  SP here today, and so happy to be bloggin’ with ya!  The purpose of my drop-by?!  …it’s time for our project SCRAP 2012 CHECK-IN!  So, how are you guys doing with project SCRAP 2012 so far?!  I will admit that as your ‘fearless leader’ – I’m not going to be the best example today, lol!  I really can’t even explain how incredibly busy the past month has been for us…and as a result – I just could not get my pages finished in time for this post :o(  I am so sad about that…it’s the first time since we started this super FUN project – but, ‘it is what it is’, lol!  I tried, I really tried :o)  However, in a way – I think it is OK…it just let you guys know that it happens every now and then…BUT – it is no reason to stop the project!  I will still get my pages done SOON…and will share them with you on the next check-in, PROMISE :o)  I won’t let this deter me…and hopefully – I won’t have to postpone pages anymore this year!  I think we ALL have certain times of the year that are busier than others…and sometimes – we just have to work around that and do the best we can, right?  So…if you get behind (like me, lol) – please do NOT get discouraged…just get back to scrapping when you can and all will be FINE!  That’s one thing I LOVE about a year-long scrapping  project…you do have a little bit of flexibility :o)  But…one word of caution – DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET TOO FAR BEHIND!  I would say three months might be the limit?  I think any more than might be difficult to overcome?  Hey, we’re all different though…so you might be someone who could make up for 10 skipped months (assuming you were still taking plenty of photos during those months).  I know I couldn’t, lol…so I have to make sure I pick back up with my scrapping SOON!   Alright…so I really do apologize for not having my own pages to share with you this time…

As a result, I really had to rely on the project SCRAP 2012 GALLERY - and our scrappers certainly did NOT disappoint :o)  THANKS for the great inspiration, girls – it is much needed this month (for me…and others, too – I’m sure, lol)!  I really LOVE what everyone did with these FEBRUARY templates!  They were so cool to begin with…and to see them ‘brought to life’ with all of the amazing photos and ‘scrapping stuff’ – just fabulous!

So, we’ll start with these gorgeous layouts by jessg26 !  They just MELTED me :o)  Absolutely adore her choice of papers (that color combo is perfection)…and how she split the main photo into two!  It’s so important to remember that the templates are just a starting point…and you can ‘customize’ however you need or like!  This is a great example of that!  All of the photos here are just toooooo cute as well :o)  Definitely some new fave pages for me :o)  As always, thanks so much for sharing with us, jessg26!

 Next, we have Kylie’s HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY pages…you seriously cannot look at that main photo without SMILING :o)  Well, at least I know I can’t, lol!  So much beautiful color…and gorgeous, bright and cheery photos!  Can I just say that Kylie’s ADORABLE nieces are growing up so fast?!  I didn’t think it was possible…but seriously, they are just getting cuter by the minute :o)  I’m always amazed at how she is able to capture their love and relationship in pictures :o)  Great job, as always, Kylie – thanks!

 Moving on to Kim’s fabulous February :o)  The first thing that grabbed me was the gorgeous color combos here (she did a great job of recoloring items, too!).  But, that was quickly followed by smiling at all of the great pics!  The family photo is so sweet and special…but just look at those happy kid faces, too?!  he he – talk about HAPPY PAGES?!  Super cute how she added a journaling paper on the second page…and I think the mix of patterned papers is genius :o)  I just keep looking at these layouts…and find something new each time, lol!  Thanks bunches, Kim :o)

  Another fave set of pages from the gallery – Amber’s amazing February spread!  I LOVE all of the green mixed with the heart paper…with the addition of the ‘extra’ colors – fabulous!  But, seriously – that main photo of the little guy sleeping…WITH PENNIES on his FACE?!  LOL…you just WANT to read on to find the ‘story’ behind it, lol!  And…the family photos and baby face pic?  PRECIOUS!  I also enjoyed the ‘tweaking’ that Amber did with her second page…it totally WORKS here – and was a brilliant idea :o)  Thanks for the great inspiration, Amber!

 And, finally – we have Rosy’s  super cool layouts :o)  She also edited the main template by adding two photo spots…and I’m so happy she did!  I wouldn’t have wanted to miss either of those pics!  Totally ‘cheesin’ over the lollipop photo though….how CUTE is that?!  The snowman is awesome, too – and the closeups of cookies, treats and shoes/pants – LOOOOOVE!  They really help to illustrate the ‘story’ and journaling (note to self:  more closeups, lol)!  Looks like a super fun February – thanks for sharing it with us, Rosy :o)

  OK, so that is it for our check-in :o)  Again – I hope that you are still scrapping right along…I’ll be checking in again before long…and WILL be up-to-date :o)  So, stick with me…and HAVE FUN with it!  Just remember…even if you are too busy to scrap at the moment…you MUST at least take photos (even if you don’t download them immediately) :o)  You can’t scrap without ‘em, lolol!

Oh, don’t forget to post YOUR project SCRAP 2012 pages in our special GALLERY :o)  We ALL love to browse the pages to get inspiration for our own layouts!  Especially during those times when we are not feeling so creative, lol!

I’m back to work on the new kit…which is coming right along :o)  So…you won’t hear from me much as all of my ‘free time’ (ha ha ha) is going towards that right now – YAY :o)  Thanks again for the patience!  Hope you all have a great day/night…and a very, super BLESSED and HAPPY weekend!  XOXO – SP

Shabby Princessproject Scrap 2012, Uncategorized 8 Comments