Adding digital stamps to your photos

Subtitle: You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

I love word art. I buy it like there's no tomorrow [Southern expression], right Peter? =) 

I buy sets of word art and use them in Photoshop on photos and journaling cards when I make my Project Life weekly pages. Here is an example from an earlier week this year: 

Specifically, the word art on the above photo is "game night" by Ali Edwards. What exactly is "word art?" To me, it means modifying words and perhaps using different fonts together so that the result is, well, pretty words.

Why use word art? The text on the right top of the above photo was sufficient to tell the story behind the photo, but, in my opinion, the addition of the "game night" word art took this photo up a notch. Also, if you glanced at this photo, you'd have a good idea of what it's about without reading the text block. So, word art is about adding interest and brief bits of info to photos.

Word art is fun to use, too. As I've mentioned before, I'm a SERIOUS collector of digital word art, especially that done by Ali Edwards and Rhonna Farrer. 

Besides using word art on my computer, I also use it on my phone. Many photo-editing apps include word art. For example, I made this for Instragram using a photo I took last week in Torrey Pines City Park (outside of San Diego, CA) and word art from the Vrsly:

Vrsly offers mostly inspirational word art, and it's usually done in brush script, often by known brush script artists. Every day a new Vrsly is offered for one day only. You can use it as is or as an overlay.

Sometimes I'm the last person on the block to figure out something. No, sometimes I'd never figure out something obvious if someone didn't tell me. 

Case in point: I have word art on my computer and mostly different word art on my phone. Who knew you can use word art from your computer on your phone? Thank you, Cathy Zielske, for this video that explains the process. Here's the photo she used as an example:

The white arrow with "LOVE" is from one of her digital stamp kits.

I did NOT know I could import the word art stored on my computer to my phone via Dropbox until I watched Cathy's video. No Photoshop or Photoshop Elements needed.

(The word art by Rhonna overlaps both computer and phone usage. You can buy her word art from her website for your computer, and it's available through her app for your phone.)

Now I can get more use out of the word art I buy for my computer, or, as they say, more bang for my buck. And that's a good thing, right, Peter?

Here's a photo I made today for Instagram showing my brilliant grandson who was piloting a boat on the Intracoastal waters off Jacksonville the other day, although he's only three:

The Ali Edwards' word art is from my computer to my phone via Dropbox. Love.

PS. I only have the free amount of Dropbox storage. For now I'll only transfer word art as I need it. In other words, I'm not copying all of my word art from my computer to my phone, because I'd have to pay for a much larger Dropbox account. And I'd be transferring until the cows come home [Southern expression].

Happy photo embellishing!

Project Life 2014 – Week Seven

Here is my two-page spread for Week Seven of my Project Life/pocket page album:

For Week Seven I used February 2014 Storyteller Collection, a digital kit by Just Jaimee:

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

Here’s a closer look at the right side:

I’m looking at these two pages, and I’m thinking I LOVE the Project Life/pocket page style of scrapbooking. If I seem slow on doing these pages, I was even slower when I did traditional (paper) and digital scrapbooking.

My hang-up was designing each page; in other words, figuring out what to place where. There are lots of design rules to follow to give a layout a good “flow.” A properly designed page goes with the way our eyes naturally take in information when looking at a page.

That’s intimidating to me. All I want to do is put photos (lots of them!) and words (lots of them, too!) on pages to record my memories. Then I want to add some stuff so I’ll feel creative. But I don’t want anyone to throw up when they look at my pages because the design is discombobulating.

With Project Life, I don’t have to design. I just put photos, words, and stuff in pockets. Actually, since I’m digital, I put it all on pocket spaces.

Besides the kit shown above, I used this stuff I used to make these pages:

• digital template - left page: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)
• digital template - right page: Project Life TemplateW
• “week” stamp and “six” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen
• QR code maker
• word art on top of animal photos: Rhonna Design app
• “On VALENTINE’S day”: freebie from Smitha Katti (See my PL FREEBIES board on Pinterest here for more freebies.)

Fonts used:

Thanks for visiting!

PS. As I'm trying to get caught up on my pages, I am shortening my blog posts by not showing every pocket. Is this working? Can you still see the photos okay and read the words? If not, let me know. 

PPS. Isn't discombobulating a great word?? I can't think of the last time I used it. It just popped out of my brain as I was typing. 

Project Life is the super-simple method of memory keeping created by Becky Higgins. Put photos and cards into pockets on pocket pages. Add journaling and/or embellishments on the cards. Put the completed pages in an album, and you’re finished (unless you enjoy overkill as I do!). Project Life can be done digitally or physically.

Project Life 2014 – Week Six | left side & right side

Here is the situation. I’m terribly behind on this year’s Project Life album. It’s causing me stress. I don’t like to be behind, and I don’t like to be stressed.

In the past, quite a few ladies have said they, too, were behind and didn’t know what to do. I always told them to start with the most current complete week (one where all seven days are over; not the literal current week, which is still in progress). Scrap it, and then, as you have time, go back and scrap the missed weeks.

That was really lousy advice, at least for the OCD. I can’t do the most recent week, then go back to earlier weeks, then come back to the present when another week is complete in real life, and so forth. That just is not orderly and tidy! I would lose my mind.

I’m all about tidy. Yesterday I had brunch with friends in one of their homes. We all got up to leave at the same time. The next thing I knew, I was going around the table, pushing in each chair that had not been pushed in by whomever sat on it. You can be sure I left the chair backs parallel to the table. I don’t even have to think about lining stuff up. It comes naturally.

By the way, I’m a really good house guest! I leave everything in its place, including stuff I didn’t use. =)

So, I can’t go back and forth from the past to the present on my scrapbook pages. Also, I am easily distracted and can’t stay on topic (such as scrapping), as evidenced by the chair-aligning story above. Obviously, I need to find some way to go faster on my pages.

For a while I’m not going to do detailed posts about each page each week. I think you’ll still be able to read the pages, though. I’ll still give credit to the designers for their materials I use, and I’ll still list the fonts used. But I won’t show and comment on each spot.

If you have questions, please leave them in the comments below or email me.

Here is the left side of my two-page spread for Week Six:

Here is the right side of my two-page spread for Week Six:

Here’s the stuff I used to make these pages:

• digital kit: Plus One by Amy Tangerine
• digital template: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)
• “week” stamp and “six” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen
• “Sweet” word art: Penny Springmann
• “Beautiful Dreamer” word art on top of small photo of Evie: Rhonna Design app

On to Week Seven!! Thanks for visiting my corner of the blog world.

Project Life 2014 – Week Five | right side

Here is the right side of my two-page spread for Week Five:

digital kit: Unscripted by Mye De Leon; digital template: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here); photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen

Top row – left spot:

font: KG Fall for You; "it all begins here": element included in the Unscripted kit; ampersand, arrow: wood chips included in the Unscripted kit

Top row – right spot:

fonts: Dollie Script Personal Use, KG Fall for You; “hello": wood chip included in the Unscripted kit

Middle row – first spot:

Middle row – second spot:

I was going to talk about Peter’s love for fake flamingos, but to save time I’ll just say he really loves them a lot. Very strange.

Middle row – third spot:

font: KG Fall for You

I don’t know which is stranger – Peter’s fascination with flamingos or Destin, which is on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, having snow and ice.

Middle row – fourth spot:

graphic and font on photo: from the Rhonna Designs app

This horn is really, really loud. As long as the neighbors don’t call the police because Peter is disturbing the neighborhood peace, the loudness of the noise is worth it. Those turkey vultures are nasty-looking, destructive birds with large poop.

Bottom row – left spot:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Blake and Elisabeth are so very blessed to have an excellent photographer available to photograph their children and them, too, of course. Her name is Sarah, and she’s the owner of Sarahdipity Photography in Jacksonville, Florida. She just happens to be Elisabeth's sister.

Bottom row – right spot:

(The color is not showing correctly. It's much brighter and prettier in real life.)

At first this photo covered the whole spot. But the kids only took up the very middle of the photo, leaving lots of negative space on both sides. So I cropped the photo, added a gold mat behind it, and put it on a turquoise 4x6 card with white, diagonal lines.

Problem: Considering all the busyness on the two pages of Week Five, the card that was showing next to the photo looked bare, even though it is covered with diagonal lines. Smears to the rescue!

The Unscripted kit includes smears. To me they look like painted designs. They’re png files, meaning they have a transparent background. So, if you place them on top of a paper or card, the paper or card shows through.

Here’s what this particular smear looks like:

Again, there is no white on the smear; the background is transparent. I think it really enhanced this space on my page. And it was fun to use.

Thanks for visiting! If you have questions or comments, leave them below.

Project Life 2014 – Week Five | left side

Here is the left side of my two-page spread for Week Five:

digital kit: Unscripted by Mye De Leon; digital template: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here); photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen

Top row – left spot:

font: Arial; “week” stamp: Ali Edwards; “five” stamp: Ali Edwards; date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)

Ellie Mae is seen above romping through Outback Dog Park, the largest off-leash dog park in the whole United States. The park is in Shelby Farms, one of the largest urban parks in the country. Covering 4,500 acres, it is more than five times bigger than New York City’s Central Park, which covers only 843 acres.

Shelby Farms includes biking and horse trails, bodies of water for fishing and boating, playgrounds, natural forests, wetlands, and all sorts of wildlife. It is even home to a bison herd.

So ends this commercial message. If you're ever in Memphis, Tennessee, do visit Shelby Farms.

Top row – right spot:

font: Dollie Script Personal Use (Who is Dollie, and how did I get her personal use script?)

Our “fortunes” were as follows:

• A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.
• Every burden is a blessing.

These are fortunes?

Middle row – first spot:

fonts: KG Fall for You, Arial; "Unscripted": element included in the Unscripted kit

Pause to admire this card. My grandson in his “neigh” boots is just adorable. That arrow thing on the right side is pretty cute, too. I love the kit I used for this week’s pages, because it has so much stuff, which enabled me to fill in all sorts of blank space.

My motto: Leave no space exposed, and eat sugar. No, those two things are not related, but I’m thinking about that cake in the refrigerator. (Sorry you're not here to eat it with me, Graham, especially since you bought the cake. Wish you were here, too, Conrad, for cake eating.)

Middle row – second spot:

fonts: KG Fall for You, fonts on photos from the Rhonna Designs app

Both of these photos were originally on Instagram, hence the text on them. Mister Bucky is really so wimpy that he stands back out of Wu Chow’s way while she looks out the window. Mind you, there are four windows that go almost from floor to ceiling on that wall.

Middle row – third spot:

Quote card: free from Mye De Leon, but I can’t find where I got it. The card had all white words. With the magic of Photoshop, I changed “shine” to match the gold used elsewhere on these pages.

Middle row – fourth spot:

font: KG Fall for You

Bottom row – left spot:

font: KG Fall for You; “SCHOOL DAYS”: source unknown (a freebie from way back when I used to try to download the internet)

I would hate to think how much money I spent on supplies when I was a paper scrapbooker. Shortly after I discovered digital scrapbooking, I learned many designers generously give away digital products. Seriously? While paper supplies cost a ton of money, I could get digital stuff for free? And get I did.

I downloaded so much I had to get more memory on my computer to store it all. I also devoted much time to organizing what I was acquiring. Of course, that left little time for scrapping.

Peter and my older sons tried an intervention. They explained I could not download the whole internet. Well, maybe not, but I could try! And so I downloaded. And got some external hard drives.

What stopped the downloading frenzy? The realization that it’s easier to scrap with kits, because they contain coordinated elements. These days I’m willing to pay to get good stuff, and I'm very discerning about the freebies I collect.

Bottom row – right spot:

The “AWESOME” label is a digital wood chip. Wood elements are quite popular now in physical scrapbooking. I usually add a slight drop shadow on digital items like this so they’ll look realistic.

Peter and I have seen about 20 plays and musicals this year. Great hobby!

Next post: Details about and close-ups from the right side of Week Five. Thanks for visiting!

Project Life 2014 – Week Four | right side

Here is the right side of my two-page spread for Week Four:

digital kit: Timeless by One Little Bird; digital template: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)

 

Top row – left spot:

font: Lancastershire; embellishments on photos: Rhonna Designs app

What a difference three weeks makes in the life of a newborn. What huge eyes and cheeks Evie has!

By the way, the font Lancastershire that I used for “Evie” did not come with the long waves. I started to use a dingbat or symbol font to add waves, but then I realized it would be faster to draw them than to find a font.

Top row – right spot:

font: Arial

One of my very, very favorite Instagrammers is @msriver32. She’s a fellow Memphian, and she takes the most gorgeous photos of our city, especially ones of the Mighty Mississippi and of older structures around town. You’ll be seeing more of her photos on my PL pages, because she gave me permission to use her photos.

I also enjoy following @karlthefog, who posts the most amazing photos of the San Francisco area, particularly as it's covered with fog. SF holds a special place in my heart since it’s where one of my sons lives. Also, I like fog and bridges and the SF Bay.

What about you? Do you follow Instagrammers from your city or town? It’s a great way to connect further with where you live.

Instagram is also a great way to connect with the world! Last year before Graham and I went to Turkey, I looked on Instagram for someone posting from Turkey to see real-life photos from that country. I found @sefayamak, a professional photographer from Istanbul. I’m still following him, as are 462.8 thousand other people. He’s really good.

Middle row – first spot:

star: The star is from the Timeless kit. Traditional/physical PLers like to put elements on top of the plastic pockets. I don’t have plastic pockets, but I can make elements appear to be above the other stuff on the page.

Middle row – second spot:

Middle row – third spot:

Quote card: free here from Elise Blaha Cripe

Middle row – fourth spot:

I had a busy week stalking Instagram.

Bottom row – left spot:

fonts: Arial, Orator Std; 2-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

Bottom row – right spot:

font: Sofia

And that’s a wrap for Week Four. After I post this blog write-up, I need to get some sleep. This time tomorrow I’ll be in Jacksonville with two of the cutest grandkids ever!

I chose to fly out really early so I wouldn’t waste part of the first day with them sitting in airports. I’ll be leaving the house at 5:15 in the morning. What was I thinking?? I’m not a morning person.

That’s nothing. I was totally packed by 8:30 this evening. I have never, ever been packed so early. Usually I’m literally stuffing stuff into my luggage while I’m running out the door to the airport.

If you want to be overwhelmed with cuteness, check out my Instagram (donna_gibson) photos for the next week.

Thanks for visiting!

Project Life 2014 – Week Four | left side

Here is the left side of my two-page spread for Week Four:

digital kit: Timeless by One Little Bird; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

font: Arial; “week” stamp: Ali Edwards; “four” stamp: Ali Edwards; date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)

This photo was taken by my daughter-in-law Kate. So pretty. I have a love/hate relationship with large bodies of water. I hate being on them or in them, but I love being near them and watching them. I’m envious that three of my sons and two of my daughters-in-law live on the coasts of the United States.

Top row – right spot:

font: Sofia; embellishments: Rhonna Designs app

I took these two photos with my iPhone then edited them with my phone using the Rhonna Designs app, one of my two favorite apps. (The other one is PicTapGo.) I cropped the right photo so they’d both fit on this card.

I really like our neighborhood. We have lots of trees. It’s a good place to walk. And there’s lots of stuff for Ellie Mae to sniff while we walk. And sniff she does. I don’t get it. Would you stick your nose into the grass, hoping to find a spot where someone had peed? Me either.

Middle row – first spot:

font: Arial

Kids’ artwork and writing are all over the halls of the elementary school where I tutor second grade reading. During this week one wall featured pages where the kids listed three facts they’d learned about Martin Luther King. (Martin Luther King Day was on the 20^th of January.)

You probably can’t read it here, but the #1 thing this kid learned about MLK was that he said big words. Haha! So cute.

Middle row – second spot:

fonts: Orator Std, Lancastershire

Are you blown away with my word art on this card? No? I’m not either. I put the word “timeless” from the Timeless kit on a paper (that I reduced) from the Timeless kit. I like brush script and I like gold, but I did not like this card. In its simplicity, it dominated the page.

So I cluttered it up a bit with words. I like words, and I like the things I listed on this card, which are things shown in the photos on the two pages of Week Four.

Middle row – third spot:

card: Pocket Life January Collection by Traci Reed

Middle row – fourth spot:

Someone is a grumpy little elf. That expression!!

This could get interesting. Right now Peter is all about sharing with his little sister – whether it’s toys or a blanket or (my favorite) his shoes. Maybe one day Evie will appreciate the generosity of her brother.

Bottom row – left spot:

Steve Jobs probably looks out of place in my Project Life album, although there is a connection between him and our family. Sort of. He had his liver transplant here in Memphis at the Methodist University Hospital. Also, over the years our family gave him a bunch of our money.

The reason he is here is explained in the journaling. I like to include current events, popular culture, and all that on my pages. It is all related to my life, and this album is a project about my life. (Get it? Project Life!)

Bottom row – right spot:

font: Arial

Blake tried not to be too jealous when Evie gave Peter a remote control car, when the siblings exchanged gifts in January in honor of her birth. Elisabeth noticed his longing look at Peter’s car (as did we all), as well as Peter’s frustration in trying to get a turn playing with his own car. So, this week she surprised Blake with his very own car.

Digital Project Life tip to make small photos (such as these on the card above) have rounded corners:

• Make a copy of one of the 3x4 masks in the second row.
• Move the copy on top of the 4x6 mask.
• Clip a photo to the 3x4 copied mask, moving the photo around on top of the mask as needed until you like what’s showing on the mask.
• Hold down both the photo layer and the mask layer so you can reduce them together to fit on half of the card.
• Repeat the process for the second photo.

Next post: Details about and close-ups from the right side of Week Four. See you soon!

PS. I use Photoshop to edit photos and make my PL pages. The above tip might not make a lot of sense if you're not a Photoshop or PS Elements user. If you need better instruction, ask me, or Google a tutorial. I've learned so much about PS from reading tuts I found via Google and from watching You Tube videos.

Project Life 2014 – Week Three | page two

Here is the second page of my three-page spread for Week Three:

digital kit: January Storyteller - Collection by Just Jaimee; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

font: Colagorate-Regular

On Monday evening Blake, Elisabeth, and I each separately realized Evie looks a lot like her brother did at this age. I found a photo of him, and we compared them.Yep. They look alike.

Top row – right spot:

font: Geared Slab; 6-photo collage template: Designs by Lili

Peter is a busy boy.

Middle row – first spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

I took this photo and the one two over with my iPhone. I embellished them on my iPhone and saved them to my Camera Roll before I posted them on Instagram.

Middle row – second spot:

Middle row – third spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

Middle row – fourth spot:

font: Geared Slab; “LOVE this” word art Digital Stamps from February Storyteller Collection by Just Jaimee

This is my ~favorite~ photo on this page, because my child is holding his child. When I was holding Blake when he was a baby, I never thought about him holding his baby one day. The circle of life goes on, and it warms my heart.

This photo is also my favorite on this page, because this is real life. The addition of a baby to a family is a gift from God. But life must go on. In this case, it meant Blake had to continue studying for the Florida Bar Exam he’ll take later this month. He only needs one hand to type and scroll anyway.

A good thing (I hope) about me going to stay with Blake and Elisabeth right after Evie’s birth is that I could join them in playing Pass the Baby. Many hands make light work [Southern expression adopted from the 1300s in England], unless you’re talking about broth making, in which too many cooks spoil the broth. I just mixed metaphors. Don't tell my former high school English students.

Bottom row – left spot:

font: Arial; “the LITTLE moments” word art: Penny Springmann; 2-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

This week, like last week, I spent a good amount of time staring at Evie. I put her on my lap and my feet on Peter's Brio train track (sorry, Peter), and I just stared. Is it normal to sit and stare at one’s grandkids? I hope they don’t think I’m weird, but I am observing miracles. Amazing! Do you think they’ll think I’m weird?

Bottom row – right spot:

fonts: Geared Slab, Arial

My kids' Instagram streams provide lots of good material for my Project Life pages. The sign Conrad photographed on a pole in his neighborhood . . . hahaha!

Next post: Details about and close-ups from page three of Week Three. Thanks for stopping by! Happy weekend, everyone!