Here's a new layout fresh from Photoshop, LOL! The photos were taken from our camping trip at Avila Hot Springs Resort in Avila Beach at San Luis Obispo. It was Calix's first camping trip and Kail's second. It was a fun but exhausting weekend!

Credits: Template - Simply Yin Template 365 Set 9; Papers and Elements - Nature Kit by Jackie Eckels for Memory Makers

It's almost midnight but I was in the mood to create some digital layouts from my backlog of photos. I'm really loving digital scrapbooking because I can just sit in front of my computer (which I do a lot anyway), pull out a template, pick my photos, papers and templates, drag and drop them, and voila - a page ready to be printed and placed in an album! No messy adhesives, no cleanups needed either!

Credits: Template - Liv Esteban Time of the Year Template; Brads - Liv Esteban's Sun Fun; Papers and Elements - Michelle Coleman's Wild Sorbet for Memory Makers

Credits: Template - Simply Yin's Template #77; Papers, Elements, Photo Mats - Gingerscraps Independence Day Collaboration Kit

An Ounce of Creativity

Three posts in three days - wow, there must be something wrong with me! ;)

As I was on my way to work this morning, I briefly recalled my childhood (I'm not sure why, but I did) and realized that back then, I thought I was adopted if only because I never got an ounce of creativity in my bones. My mom was the artist in the family. She drew very well, she can make anything with her hands - from sewing, to crochet, to any kind of craft you can think of. My brother got the creative genes in our family. Even at an early age, he would be able to whip off a good drawing in the blink of an eye. His notebooks in school do not have lessons on them, but they did have very beautiful drawings! It just shows how much he doodles in class, to his teachers' dismay, LOL. He is both left and right handed. I admired him for that because he had what I craved for - creativity.

During school, I would always ace my Home Education projects (and my projects have always been chosen for exhibits) not because I was good, but because my mom made them herself. I make such rotten artworks that I think my mom couldn't bear to think I was her daughter!

As I left for the US, I realized how sad life away from family can be. I have seen some friends go through bouts of crying and feeling down. To overcome that feeling, I had to be busy - so I read book after book. Then I took classes. Then I got into crafts - from sewing, to cake decorating, to knitting, to scrapbooking and then photography. I found my niche in scrapbooking and photography. I enjoyed the process so much that I spend late nights when the kids are asleep reading on photography and scrapbooking, editing photos, scrapbooking, watching video tutorials on Photoshop Elements and scrapbooking techniques and digital scrapbooking.

I now realize that there are those born with the creative genes in their system, and there are those who develop said genes. I belong to the latter. I don't create over-the-top layout pages nor award winning photos - far from it actually. I scrapbook because I need to tell our story, to make sure memories will not be lost forever, and because I owe my children their life stories. I take photos because it gives a glimpse into our lives - however mundane it is. I take lots of photos because I only have a handful of childhood photos - most were either lost in the move or drowned in the flood. I find that unfortunate because I was a cute kid (ehem - need to feed my ego from time to time).

I take photos and I scrapbook because I am the family's life artist and nobody knows our story better than me.

Here is the niner I created last night for my last project for Frame Ups and Special Effects. The model is C, a friend's daughter. She is currently in college and doing some modeling on the side. She needed to update her portfolio and the mom asked me to take photos of her. She is truly a beautiful girl (inside and out) so I hope that she'll be successful with her modeling.

For more photos of her, please check this out.

Credits: Brushes by House of 3

The Frame Ups and Photo Editing free class wrapped up yesterday at the Spraground. It was a great class! I learned so much about adding interesting visual elements on my photos! Thanks so much Jessica Sprague and team - you guys totally rock!

Here are some of the photos I've enhanced using the techniques from that class (the photos below do not necessarily show the order in which they were presented):

1. Selective coloring technique - I converted the photo to black and white and recolored Kail's shirt with its original color:




2. Clipping Mask, Textures and Type


3. Clipping Mask, Textures, Darken Edges, Word Art, and Type


4. Clipping Mask and Textures

5. Hand tinted look on a photo and I colored Kail's lips with a shade of pink.

6. Photo converted to black and white and enhanced with brushes

7. Here is a photo of me and Calix with a round flourish frame and word art

8. Here is a 3-photo storyboard. Only the photo inside the frame remained in color while the image outside of the frame has that hand tinted look:
9. I burnt the edges of this photo so the background didn't show:

Credits - Brushes by House of 3; Frames House of 3; Textures by Fudge Graphics; Word Art by Jessica Sprague; Clipping Masks by Kimi Kreations and Jessica Sprague

I still owe another project - a niner. Hopefully I'll get to finish that tonight.

There's a ton of information presented in this class! What's great with this site is that the course materials are available forever so I can always go back in case I forget something.

Now that the class is over, I'm having withdrawal symptoms but I'm so happy Jessica is offering two more classes for August. They're no longer free but I'm entitled to a 20% discount. I'm so excited!

I've neglected my blog for far too long now that there are days when I'm seriously considering packing it up and shutting it down. The reason why it's still up and running is because my writer self thinks it's my chance to get my thoughts down. Gone were the days when I used to keep a journal and write my heart out everyday. Besides, this is the only way I'd connect to my writer self (if she's still there). I so badly need a muse right now... ;)

I have been vocal about my lifelong love for photography. My love affair with camera started when I held a film SLR at 12 years old. For a long time though, I have been shooting in program or auto mode. I recently discovered the amazing possibilities of shooting in manual and I've never looked back. Our photos dramatically changed! Now I only have my camera in auto mode whenever I'd hand it over to someone else to shoot. I've also learned to edit our photos more creatively. I am one happy mamarazzi!

To prove my point, here are some photos I'd like to share. All photos were taken in manual mode with natural light (no flash). I enhanced them in Photoshop Elements. You can view more here.