My Two Cents

The only thing more excited than a kid about to get a ton of candy is a kid about to get a ton of presents. Just try to get your little angel (or Batman or Snoopy) to hold still for a cute photo. Yeah right!

So here's my two cents for how to get at least a decent picture of Cinderella. Don't ask her to "pose." Instead take your camera (and better bring the kids too) to a location with a nice fall background, like a park, and give them props to play. Then snap away while they are busy making stew in a cauldron or riding a broomstick. Be careful of afternoon sunlight, especially this time of year. A shady space is your best bet. Watch out for your own shadow! Nothing like the perfect picture of your child with a shadow of someone holding a camera intruding from the botton!

Grab a shot from behind as they run out the door as well. But be ready when they are! You won't get a second chance to shoot that one!

Good luck and here's to spooktacular pictures!

Scraplifting

That's the official term for "borrowing" someone else's scrapbooking idea.

Mind you there are ethics involved here. Just ask my scrapbooking yahoo group. We got into like a million post discussion about what is scraplifting and what is copyright infringement. But basically if you see an idea you like you are perfectly free to use it yourself. Especially if its a compliment to me:-).

At the Fall Festival on Saturday I believe every person in attendance picked up a Hershey's candy bar decorated with fall patterned paper, buttons, ribbons, chipboard and whatever else I had handy and promised to go home and make one themselves.

Of course, I would have like the business.

But I appreciate the compliment.

Count Down

In just a few hours I'll be packing up all my displays, products, and even tools! The Lathrop Fall Festival is almost here. And as usual, I'm so excited!

I'm introducing... chocolate! Well, not like I invented it or anything, but like I've add decorative chocolate bars to my gift selection. Its the perfect thing when you need a thoughtful but not too expensive gift, say for a child's teacher, co-workers, coach, mailman, distant relative, that type of thing. Or just for eating. 'Cause now I'm hungry.

And there will also be a kid's table. For three dollars children (of any age :-) ) can make a paper bag album. Still to do on my list today is to create cards for ideas of things to add to your paper bag album. It can be hard to think of things, especially if you don't have photographs with you!

Also on the to do list is iron my table cloths, fix the sign that says "raffel" instead of "raffle", choose samples for my display board, pick up tables, and pack everything! Perhaps get tootsie rolls. Yes, definitely get tootsie rolls.

So I guess that means I should get off the computer and get to work!

See you soon!

Ziplock Pizzazz

Here's an idea for making your own little photo album.

Choose the photos you'd like in your book-- pick an even number of pictures.

Grab a quart size freezer bag. If your photos are mostly horizontal, cut 4 1/2" x 2" strips from the bag. If your photos are mostly vertical cut 6 1/2" x 2" strips. You will need half as many strips as you have photos.

Sew the strips together as close to one edge as you can. Sew again as close to the first seam as possible.

Using photo safe adhesive attach the first photos to the edge of the top strip. Match the second photo directly behind it on the other side of the first strip. Continue this till each photo is attached. Trim.

Staple ribbons to the sewn edge of the album. Add stickers, photo corners, decorative paper or any other scrapbooking embellishment to the pictures and enjoy the quickest album you'll ever make!

Aren't You Lucky

I recently mailed postcards, which means some of you on the mailing list may now be reading this blog. Good for you! What you may not have known when you clicked on this ultra-important bloggy link is that just for reading I'm going to give you a link to 10% off any purchase through the end of October.

Aren't you lucky!

So here it is: http://www.designsofminebykm.com/?code=bc1 . Use it well.

Once Again

Well here we go again! I enjoyed spending the day at the Maysville Fall Harvest so much that I've decided to do another one. I've got a spot reserved at the Lathrop First Christian Church Fall Festival, a babysitter arranged for the little guy, and tons of new ideas!

I've decided to add a little something for the kids who will be coming. I'm going to set up a children's craft table, where, for a few dollars, kids can decorate their own paperbag album. The flyer for the event states they will be taking pictures, so I'm thinking people will need a place to display these pictures!

I'm also planning to introduce a few new products at the festival. As you know (if you've been reading the blog!) I'm currently in love with small, alternative type scrapbooks. So this display will give me the opportunity to add decorated chocolate bars and covered journals to the mix. And who doesn't love chocolate!

The date is October 25th from 10:00am-7:00pm. Directions are: 4 miles south of Lathrop on 33 hwy to V hwy. Go 2 miles, turn right on Meadow Lane and follow the signs to 5684 SE Meadow Lane.

Hope to see you there!

Bounteous Blessings

We live for the bounties of fall

But the harvest of friendship

is blessed above all.

Yum, Apple Crisp...

I love fall. And spring too. And then summer. Well, and winter is nice also... Okay, so I don't have a clue which season I like best. But I do like fall.

First off lets just say that September and October can be wonderful because of the electric bill. We haven't had the A/C on in several weeks and haven't resorted to the heater either. Savings on bills means more to spend on scrapbook stuff!

Then there's the breeze which is blowing in on my as we speak... um, type. Gotta love it. Yesterday I made homeade pizza and didn't worry at all about heating up the house with the oven on. Just open a window! And that's another thing. Fall food. Tonight I'm making apple crisp.

And the leaves are changing. And the pumpkins are all big and orange. And I get to take really great photos without much effort at all because who can't take an awesome pictures of haybales and mums and gourds and...

So I'm off to take pictures of apple crisp (or something like that...), but tell me, what do you like about fall?

Baby Boy

Here are some recently complete pages of a pre-made baby boy album. Each page is only 6 inches by 6 inches-- so think small! Many of the picture corners are clear, so you can't see them, but each page has ready made spaces for photos.

To see more click here.

The Best Things In Life

The best things in life often come in small packages.

And right now I'm working on the cutest little baby album. This very excited grandma chose a 6x6 size and baby boy paper and I cannot tell you how much I'm loving it! It'll be the perfect place for those hospital photos, baby braclett, new mom memories, maybe even a footprint. Could you give your daughter-in-law a better keepsake?

It is so personal. But anyone will love it.

It is so tiny. But it will hold the best memories.

It is so sweet. But even a boy will enjoy what it perserves.

I promise to post pictures when I finish. It will make you want to find your child's newborn photos and fall in love all over again.

Its Not as Hard as You Think

Photos are so fun! But cameras can be so... intimidating! Most of us just turn the button to "auto" and hope for good results. Recently I've been on a mission to figure mine out, and here's what I've learned so far.

For these I used the "child" setting on my camera. Its designated by a little boy with a cap and most cameras have a similar setting. (You can get similar results with the sports setting as well.) Just turn the knob at the top-- I promise it won't bite!

I got the background to blur by standing a bit further back and then zooming in. Its harder to do with a point and shoot camera, but you can get some good results. And take a LOT of shots. With digi cameras you can do this, no sweat. Then delete all the... rough ones and just share your best!

So get to shooting (and don't forget to send me the pictures!)

Too Much of a Good Thing

Okay, so you can never have too many pictures, too many memories, too many scrapbook pages... right? Well... For those who have no limits in life this is probably true. Unfortunately I, as well as most of you, do not fit into this category.

Personally I am quickly running out of space for scrapbook storage. For you it might be something else-- cost of having pages made, time required to get it all together, or even not knowing where to begin. Fortunately for all of you, I love to solve problems!

In my albums I've gone to creating all one page layouts. This means each event in my scrapbook covers 1 sheet of 12x12 paper. The page on the other side of the book is a separate event. Fewer pages, less cost, more space.

Think about solving your problem by ordering pages a few at a time. Get together just those pages of, say a child's birthday, and order a 2-page spread of party fun. When those pages are finished find the pictures of vacation and order a couple of those. For just a few dollars and very little time you can add to your album bit by bit.

Still not sure where to start? Good news for you-- I offer a one hour free consultation. Just send me an e-mail, drop me a line, leave a comment and we can walk through it together. Some problems just need a fresh perspective!