Month: November 2012

Necessity and Invention

/ LivE / 1 Comment

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” so the proverb goes. (And by the way, did you know that the original author of this wise saying hasn’t been established yet?)

Well, in my line of work, I have to confess that I get excited by needs. And one fine day, I stumbled upon an urgent need of a very good friend of mine, Linda, who also happens to do a great job of creating layouts, designing, putting together wonderful table settings, taking stunning photographs, and… well, I digress. But yeah, she’s an amazing jack-of-all-trades, and she needed templates to put together a wedding album for friends (she took the photos, of course). And she needed it quick.

And just like that, my creative muse went on a thrill ride and this product is what is now sitting on my shelf, thanks to the inspiration from Linda.

My Foto Focus album templates are a huge collection of 26 fully-editable layered 12×12 templates for a complete album, including front and back covers. All templates come complete with a deliciously-textured paper to provide the perfect background to make your photos shine forth, as well as editable drop-shadows, photo masks, outline frames, and optional text paths. The design is deliberately kept clean and simple so that your photos and stories take center stage. The templates are so versatile that you can mix and match pages if you need more than a 24-page album, and you can even pull in your own papers and digital stash if that’s what rocks your boat!

Let’s have some amazing eye-candy, why don’t we?

Let’s start off with some stunning pages from Linda’s wedding album!

Adorable, right? When photos paint a thousand words, who needs more of the written stuff? (The text paths on the templates are optional, so here Linda has done away with text and simply lets her photos speak for themselves).

Here is a truly heart-warming and moving 2-page layout created by Chrissy. I love how it celebrates the generous spirit of her entire family in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

This wonderful layout by Lisa demonstrates how each template from the album also does a great job for single-page layouts!

On this awesome layout, Barbara does a marvelous job of taking the template and adding her own personal touch (and embellishments) to it!

Remember this wonderful Halloween layout by Rachael from some posts back? I love how the template she used totally puts the Focus on her marvelous Foto! 😉

Did I mention that this entire 26-template album set is on sale at 25% off till midnight Pacific time? Go grab it (click on the image of the product above, or click right HERE ) and you’ll never have any lonely photos suffering in the innards of your hard drives. Bring out those marvelous stories and lay them out with the help of these templates and watch with joy as your family and friends oooh and aaah over wonderful shots and equally wonderful memories!

Have an amazing first day of the week, my dear friends! I’ll see you soon! xoxo

The Joy of Playing

/ LivE / Leave a comment

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” Why, indeed, it is, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson. I quite agree with you.

I love playing with my kids, I love playing with my light and shadows on my camera, I love playing with Photoshop, and I love that in my line of work the lines that divide work and play are often blurred, making one spill over into the other and back again.

My latest product on my shelf, and the very first of my Digital Tools collection, is something that I think you’re going to have a load of fun playing with!

Creasers Vol.1 lets you bring the awesome folded and creased look to your papers (and more) in an instant and with absolutely no fuss: all you have to do is drag one, two, three or more of these digital creasers onto your paper (try photos too! :)) and change the blending mode to soft light, play with layer opacity, and voila! You have a wonderful creased version of your paper while still keeping the original flat version in your stash. What a way to play and increase your stash’s capabilities too! Cool, huh?

Did I mention that these debut at 25% off the regular price till midnight (Pacific time Monday)? Go grab ’em HERE if you like playing digitally!

Here are some amazing products of my super-artistic creative team friends as they played with Creasers!

This stunning work of art was created by Miki:

Miki also used my Joy of Childhood Paper Pack and Bubbling Over Stamps & Brush Set on her awesome layout above.

This wonderful layout of Summer just thrills with that amazing 70s vibe:

Summer also used my Circle of Life Frames on her layout above.

Rachael’s super-cute Halloween layout is right below:

Rachael also used my Brownbagger Paper Pack on her lovely layout above.

Linda used the creasers on the little journaling square beside that lovely photo of her darling:

Linda also used my Splatters Vol.1 Brushes and my This and That – Textured Stickers on her layout above.

This artistic, textured delight was created by Debra:

And last but certainly not, never, the least is Mindy’s lovely fall layout:

I have to mention here that I am particularly thrilled with the way Mindy used a whole arsenal of my products to create her awesome totally unified layout above. Aside from Creasers Vol.1, she also used my Brownbagger Paper Pack, Bubbling Over Stamps & Brush Set, Click Elements, Falling for You Leaves, Freedom Is Good Solids Paper Pack, Washi All About-Blush Tapes (recolored), Needs+Wants: Alpha Stampede, Needs+Wants: Stitchies Vol.1 – The Crayon Box Collection, and Needs+Wants: It’s a Date (Date Stamps).

Voila! Have a wonderful week and may it be filled with enormous opportunities to play!