Imperfect Holidays
The holiday season is not my favorite time to take photos. I am often disappointed when I upload my holiday photos and they aren't as brilliant as they appeared in the tiny viewfinder. There are lots of indoor shots which end up washed out or blurry, and photos taken at other people's homes with the craziest things in the background. The kids (and of course adults, too) seem unable to keep their eyes open and make all kinds of interesting faces. These photos are often with loved ones we rarely see and in situations that are rarely recreated. So we end up with priceless photos, no matter how poorly shot they are. The holidays create the greatest memories … memories I want recorded. While I still want to scrap the not-so-perfect photos, they inevitably seem to end up at the bottom of my pile waiting for inspiration. I decided to challenge myself to finally get those special holiday memories in my books. I know there are lots of computer techniques to play with photos, but I chose to use the photos as they were. With a few clever tricks, I was able to mask the problem areas and accentuate the positives.  This first layout features photos from last year's tree hunt. With the sun setting, I didn't have enough light to get many clear shots. It was disappointing when almost every shot ended up blurry, although I was thrilled with the hilarious photo of our tree bundled up on top of our car. The tree was very tall and skinny and ended up looking like a toothpick on the roof rack! I decided to employ two strategies here. First, create a distraction. I crafted a dramatic focal point with a row of trees to immediately draw your attention. These are very simple to create using Fiskars' circle border punches. Here I used Antique Elegance, Heart of Hearts, and Sun punches.
Simply punch your circles from assorted circle border punches using both sized templates and mark the center of your circle with a pencil dot. Then simply cut "pie slices" from the edge to center point until you have the desired trees you need.
These would make quick work of Christmas cards and tags. And if you only need a couple trees, to save paper simply draw a half circle using the template (the halfway marks are already there for you!) and feed the half through the punch as normal. Also, another great tip is to use double sided papers so you can get a variety of looks by simply turning over your trees. The trunks were a snap, too, by using the Brick By Brick Squeeze Punch. My second strategy was even simpler. I matted the photo I liked with a scalloped mat to let it stand out from the others by drawing your eye there first. By first rounding the corners, I was able to mount it onto cardstock and easily go all the way around with my Scallop Paper Edger without worrying about corners! Definitely a time and sanity saver for me.  I finished off the layout by adding a little bling to the trees with rhinestones and adding a Pinked edge to my journaling block to mimic the saw! Last year on Christmas I was so sick that I actually missed Christmas. I did manage to snap one photo that morning thankfully, and of course it ended up blurry. Even with natural light streaming through the windows. Go figure! Since it was all I had, I knew I wanted to use it anyway and came up with a cool solution. I added a layer of vellum over my patterned papers to blur their design as well! It instantly sharpened up my photo in comparison. Such a simple solution with huge impact.
The wreath is actually masking a distracting pink Valentine bag that my daughter accidentally left under the tree. When creating elements to overlap onto a photo to disguise distractions, a good tip is to only add adhesive where it will not touch the photo so you can always have the option of removing the photo later. Here I used this technique even when using foam adhesive. I simply left the paper backing on the dots that would fall on the photo to retain the dimension with the adhesive. The wreath is actually just a series of overlapping Sun punches glued around a circle base cut using the Ultra Shape Express and Circle Template.
The peppermint is created by adhering four Comma Comma Chameleon Squeeze Punches onto a Round 'n Round Squeeze Punch with the points meeting at the center. Then simply snip off the excess with scissors.
And because it's difficult for me to do anything related to Christmas without adding felt, I went back at the end and added a quick Pinked border for a finishing touch.
The challenges presented in the next set of photos were also easy to correct with help from my trusty tools. The top photo had a severely blurred image of my daughter where you couldn't even tell who it was without knowing what she was wearing that day. But I loved the shot of my son with his aunt, who we very rarely see and who surprised us with a visit on Christmas.
To remove my daughter without ruining the photo, I created a mat using a Stamp Paper Edger which created lots of little crannies to secure wrapped string to tie on a quick ornament created with the Don't Leave Me Hangin' Squeeze Punch.  When eyes are closed or funny faces show up, the easiest way to handle the situation is with humor! The He Said, She Said Squeeze Punch paired with handwriting or rub-ons is a simple solution for a quick, funny quote.
To customize my page with a little Christmas cheer, I created a border of holly leaves by folding cardstock in half and cutting out half of a holly shape using the Clouds Paper Edger backwards being sure to begin and end with a "point".
Add a few chipboard hearts instead of berries for a whimsical touch. I also added a glowing nose to the reindeer with a cute heart punch!
My final example shows another way to use vellum with your not-so-perfect photos. This technique comes into play when you have a bunch of photos and they're all just really bad! When no amount of masking or embellishment placement is going to help!  This Thanksgiving was probably my favorite ever. The photos, however, not so much. Instead of allowing them to rot further in my to-do pile, I decided to just adhere them all down onto cardstock a little smaller than my base. I then sewed a sheet of vellum over the photos securing them along one side. This forms a filtered layer to allow the photos to still show through while adding a few simple elements on top. Just simply lift the vellum to reveal the raw photos! To keep the vellum secure during handling, I created a simple notch to tuck it into using only half of a circle with the USX and Circle Template.  I purposely left the top layer minimally embellished so the background photos aren't completely lost, but I knew I wanted to include one main embellishment.
The scalloped Seal of Approval Squeeze Punch turns into the base of a turkey by punching a hole in the center and wrapping embroidery floss around each cranny, securing with tape on the back.
By using your tools with a few tricks up your sleeve, those photos you never seem to get around to can find a beautiful home in your scrapbooks. Just remember to play up the strong points and mask the others! No matter what, future generations will enjoy looking at all of the photos in your albums, no matter how well composed they are! The important thing is to get those memories recorded. By Lisa Storms « Back to Scrapbooking |
