{we are} storytellers

{page turner tuesday}

This week it's all about templates! Templates are such a great way to kick start your storytelling, and there is nothing better to get you on your way than the amazing products created by our {artists}. Think of it as getting a little help from your friends.

UH-OH, all of a sudden, Joe Cocker (sorry all you Beatles fans) lyrics "With a Little Help From My Friends" are in my head, I better get out of here, I'm starting to sing, and that's never a good thing... Ok, I can't resist - here's a little old school for all of you (and a bit of of insight as to what a 'throw back' I am - lol!) Hey, at least I spared you all the 1969 Woodstock version - you gotta really love "Joe" to watch that one - remember the message and rock on.

Take Care!
{storyteller} deann

Faithbooking: incorporating your faith into your pages

hi all, {storyteller}lisa here to talk to you about a different way to scrapbook.
your faith is a part of who you are.  as a scrapbooker, you have the opportunity to express your faith by incorporating it into your pages to share with others both now and in the future.  faithbooking is one of the newest ways to do this.  you can scrap about your prayers, your testimony, your life journey, your favorite hymns or inspirational songs.  the possibilities are endless!

i have found that when i do scrap pages about my faith, those are the ones that are most therapeutic and i feel like a prayer has been set on a page.  it had been a while since i had done a faith layout and thought it was way overdue.  although i could do a faith layout with any kit, the powers sisters just made it that much easier for me by creating a new kit called Faith at {we are}storytellers available tomorrow!
it has beautiful papers and elements geared towards just the type of layout i had been wanting to do.  and i plan on doing a lot more.  i was so inspired i did two layouts in one night!

if someone were to view your pages, would they know how important your faith is to you?  i know my children know what i believe, but i think it would also be awesome if they could see my beliefs backed up in the layouts that tell the stories of our lives.  won't you join me?  you will not only be building a legacy of faith, you will be setting yourself on a spiritual journey while inspiring and telling others who you are! 

{inspiring art}

What new inspiring art have you come across recently? Have you heard of Julian Beever? I hadn't until a few weeks ago. His art is amazing!! Go take a look at it HERE. His sense of perspective and realism is just so cool! There's even a little video to watch to see how he does it all.

This type of art helps me to think about what types of things can I do to make my art more realistic. Try creating a digital layout where you really focus on depth and shadowing. Or create a paper or hybrid layout that features chalk as your main source of inspiration.

Seek out art everywhere around you and draw from it those things that you can incorporate into your projects! What kind of art inspires you?

{storyteller} emily merritt

{two photo tricks to help you tell your story}

a dramatic photo can help you make a special story SPECTACULAR! here's two of my favorite photo tricks ;).

jesh de rox fine art textures

jesh's textures are actually very simple to use. begin by dragging the texture you've selected on top of your photo. change the blending mode of the texture layer. i've found that overlay, soft light and hard light work best. next, play with the opacity until you are satisfied. i never use just one texture over a photo; i usually mix and match three or four textures to achieve a sophisticated, high-end look.

want flare?

jessica claire and others have popularized lens flare. here's how to achieve the look in photoshop in a snap!!! go to filter > render > lense flare and choose the flare you like best. of course, the real thing is always preferable, but when the conditions aren't right, work the light digitally!!!

cheers!

storyteller {emily}

{page turner tuesday}

We love Tuesdays and we hope you do too! This week we are all about Paper. Pretty paper, versatile paper, patterned paper - who can ever how enough!?! Stock up today and these great prices.

We are always looking at ways to share our storytelling journey and to create an opportunity for others to connect. Please join us at our new Facebook group - {we are} storyteller.com. It's brand new and ready for us all to craft the direction the group can go, while all long helping each other tell our stories. Please join us.

Take Care!
{storyteller} deann

{quote that kid!}

I scrap for many reasons. Sometimes I have a fabulous photo I want to highlight, other times I want to document an event. Whatever the reason, I almost always scrap to REMEMBER. I want to look back on my pages and relive a happy moment in my life, or in my children's lives. Remember what I was thinking. Remember what I was feeling. Remember the gleam of joy in my kids' eyes. We forget the little things so quickly.

Usually, I scrap a photo first, then add the journaling and title last, to complete the feeling that I'm going for. Once in awhile, though, I know what the title will be before I even start. A couple days ago, we were driving home from a pizza outing, and we had all four of our children, plus two spend-the-nighters with us. We were all in a jovial mood, and my husband and I started joking around. I was giving him a hard time because he missed a turn that I had insisted was right in the first place. I turned around to let all the kids know that Mommy is ALWAYS right, and Daddy should have listened to her. We were all laughing, and my youngest daughter suddenly burst out with pride.... "Sometimes my parents are better than cable!"

I laughed the rest of the way home. It was a hilarious thing to come from an 8 year old's mouth (at least we thought so), but it also made me feel good because I knew that at the moment, she would rather be hanging out with Mom and Dad than watching TV. It was a rare moment of parent validation :)

My husband, who is very good about understanding my digi addiction, immediately turns to me and says "You HAVE to scrap that one!" I knew right away that Jessie's quote would be the title of my very next layout. A day later, I had this finished:

The journaling (which, by the way, I used my tablet to "handwrite") says:
"They say "kids say the darndest things." This is especially true when one of your own is the one saying it! Nothing can make you appreciate parenthood more than these little outbursts."

The Two Sisters' Designs new Framed Journal Templates gave me a quick, easy way to make it unique. I will cherish this page forever, because I now have insurance that I won't forget the day she said this. Don't forget that although scrapping is a VISUAL art, we can still make our children (or anyone!) HEARD!

{page turner tuesday}

This week...

Also, don't forget your coupon for 15% off your purchase of New Life, a kit created by our Artists at {we are} storytellers, is good until midnight tonight - 3/18/2008. Use Coupon Code: NewLife4Blog. Also, check out our great {add-ons}; perfect complements to our kit, and wonderful stand alone products as well. Our Monthly {Arts & Crafts} will make you feel like you're at camp again!

(* by using your special blog reader coupon, you can pick up the New Life kit and Brag Book through our special buy-together for a great savings - act now, offer expires today!)

Take Care!
{storyteller} deann

{six word memoirs}

Top o' morning to you! I've taken a break from my Irish Jigging and looking for Leprechauns, actually 'following' might be a more accurate word...hoping they might lead me to the end of the rainbow...(sorry, I digress - HA, what's new!) to share a really cool concept I heard about...

I was listening to an interview with the author and creator of Six-Word Memoirs this morning, and it really got me thinking. When most of think of a "memoir" we think of the definition as: An account of the personal experiences of an author. Rarely, does the idea of it being written with only 6 words enters your mind! Heck, I can't even tell one of the boys to clean their room in 6 words - lol! This concept was very intriguing to me, and in the short time, I had come up with a few. Try often, Fail much, Try again. To much to do, slow down. Good enough is greater than undone. I think it might turn into my new favorite pastime.

I am going to begin collecting all my Six-Word Memoirs and create a mini album. How bout joining me! Let's get started today, but before we do, I have to warn you - this can be very addicting. I've noticed that I've been thinking in "sixes" all day - LOL.

I want, I need...Big Difference.

I'll leave you, on this fine St. Patrick's Day, with a slightly lesser known Irish Blessing -

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.
Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.
Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

Sending you the luck of the Irish today - not sure what that exactly is, but it sounds good, right! - LOL!

Take Care!
{storyteller} deann

Oh don't forget - to show our appreciation for spending time with us on our blog, we are offering you a special blog readers coupon good towards 15% the purchase of the New Life kit. Use coupon code: NewLife4Blog. Hurry, coupon expires on 3/18/08 at 11:59pm est. Enjoy!

Posterize Edges

Most of the time I like to scrap in my usual ways. Paper, photos, ellies...maybe a brush or two, maybe a little (or a lot) of journaling. But, every now and then I like to do something that's out of the norm for myself.
I know that there is a current trend for blending large photos into the background of a page and then scrapping over that. And while I see many, many pages like that in various galleries it's never something that I normally do. This week I've decided to try it, but add my own little oomph! to it.
Here is my Free Spirit layout. (credits here)

If you notice my background image, I have turned the photo of my son into somewhat of a cartoonish image. I have seen this technique done a few times here and there and I really love the look, so much so that I plan on doing a few more pages in this way.
Here is how I did this...
My original image looks like this:

My next step was to do a little post processing of the image to lighten up the face just a tad. In Photoshop CS3, I then went to Filters>Artistic>Poster Edges.
This will bring up the Poster Edges. I adjusted each of my sliders toward the lower (left hand) side but you can adjust the sliders however you wish.
Next, I desaturated my image. There's really no need for a dramatic black and white conversion here because your image is going to go in the background and is going to be blended in with your background paper.
This is what my new image looked like:

The next step is to take the photo and blend it in with the background. Since my background paper is 12x12, I sized my photo to about 15 inches wide, then dragged and dropped it to my background paper layer on my page. Next, I lowered the opacity of my photo layer in Photoshop to about 31%. After I was satisfied at how opaque my photo was, I used a soft eraser at about 50% opacity to erase the hard edges of my photograph.
The end result was this:

To finish my layout, I then scrapped the page as I might normally. I love the look this gives to a page and my son LOVES the look of his photo...almost like a comic book. Think of the things you could do with the Posterize Edges filter and how you could use it to tell a story. You could make a fun comic book/brag book for a friend or family member, an adorable ABC book for your small child starring them...the list goes on and on!
I would love to see what you guys can do with this filter on your pages. If you would like to try this technique, post a link here to your page to the rest of us here at {we are storytellers} can check out your awesome inspiration!
Have fun with this technique and remember, don't just scrap...INSPIRE!

{storyteller} Mandy

{wanna see something very cool...}

{we are} storytellers very first collaborative project - New Life. The fabulous kit, with matching {add-ons} is our first project for our new Monthly {Arts & Crafts} department in our boutique. I wanted to show you the kit, give you some inspiration, and leave you with a little treat...

by {storyteller} jennifer22

by {storyteller} emily merritt

by {storyteller} kasia

by {storyteller} emily

We are really proud of this kit and not just because of the way it turned out, but it was the first time we all worked together, artists and storytellers, sharing ideas and concepts. For many of us, it was something new! We hope it inspires you to create something new; celebrate a new life, a new adventure, a new day. And to get you on your way, and to show our appreciation for spending time with us on our blog, we offer you a special blog readers coupon good towards 15% the purchase of the New Life kit. Use coupon code: NewLife4Blog. Hurry, coupon expires on 3/18/08 at 11:59pm est. Enjoy!

Take Care!
{storyteller} deann