Scrapbooking In Black And White

Posted by Mommybruno

We've all worked with black and white photo at one point or another - I know for myself, I have piles of old pictures that are black and white. But why would you purposefully change a color photo to black and white, you may ask?

Well, there could be several reasons. The colors in the photo may be clashy or garish. Or perhaps you want to use a color on your layout that wouldn't match the colors in your photo. Sometimes the change to black and white can be cosmetic, to cover up a flaw in the photo.  Maybe you want to set a certain mood on your page that would be enhanced by a black and white photo.

Here are some layouts our Digi Creative Team came up with to showcase black and white photos.

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Squirrel Crazy, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "Our reveal this week was to only use black and white photos. One of the best things about them is that you can get rid of distracting color backgrounds and draw more attention to the photo's subject."


 
Advice: Attitude, by FairyMouseMom (Egle): "By only using a black and white photo, I decided to keep this layout more of a monochromatic theme of blacks/whites/grays...with just a slight pop of color with the striped paper strip used underneath the dots on the left hand side."

 
 
Watching You Grow, by Smiley-Scrap8 (Ronnie): "This week's reveal is black & white photos. I thought, what a better way to show off my ultrasound photos which only come in black & white. My favorite part about using b&w is that you can scrap with any colors you want, the brighter the better. I'm never afraid that the paper and elements will swallow the photos because there is such a strong contrast."


 
So Thankful For You, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "In this particular layout, I changed my photo to black and white because I thought the colors were distracting (what color is my grandpa even wearing, LOL!). By removing the color I've made sure the focus stays on my grandparents."


 
Luv My Furbaby, by sarahwhithers (Jenn): "I love using B&W cuz I think any color always looks great with them."


 
Just "Gourd" Friends, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "Black and white photos really pop on a colorful background, and I especially love the feel they give to Halloween photos!"


 
Keep Your Face Toward the Sunshine, by FairyMouseMom (Egle): "With this layout I chose to use the black background and added the pop of color with the embellishments and font color I used."


 
Storytown, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "This series of photos had a terrible yellow cast to them that I couldn't fix, so I changed them all to black and white. This way I don't look so orange, LOL! With older photos like these, black and white can be your friend."

 
  
True Love, by Art_Teacher (Laura): "One of my favorite ways to use black and white photos is on heritage layouts. It brings a remember when feel to the layout. These photos are only 25 years old, but they work better with today's digi designs when they are black and white."

 
 
Love Blooms, by Digi Guest Fong33 (Sandra): "This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad when they were dating in Hong Kong before they immigrated to NY."


 
Grundy Love, by Mommybruno (Cassandra): "I changed the photo to b&w because the yellow wall behind Grundy was really bothering me. But he has such cool eyes, I didn't want the whole pic to be without color - so some spot coloring here. (I made a copy of the photo layer, turned the copy b&w, then erased the parts I wanted in color. Merge the two layers together and voila!)"

 
 
Advice: Goal, by FairyMouseMom (Egle)

Black and white photos offer flexibility to the scrapper. They coordinate with any color paper and elements.  They have a timeless look and they can help to keep the focus on the subject of the photo instead of the noisy background. So the next time you're getting frustrated trying to match papers with pictures, maybe it's time to take the color photo right out of the equation!

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Special thanks to our Digital Creative Team for their contributions to this article.  You can view more project ideas and scrapbooking tutorials by visiting our Resources Page.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day With ACOT & Best Creation

Posted by JulesinParadise (Jules)

I had been wanting to scrap the pictures I took from two years ago when we traveled to Savannah, Gerogia for the city's favorite holiday, St. Pat's.  We traveled with our good friends, Steve and Dee, and spent four wonderful days in this charming city.  

The problem with scrapping the photos, particularly the ones  I took during the parade and our adventures afterwards was that I could not find the papers that would help me express what a fun day it was and how we totally submerged ourselves in "the wearing of the green" Savannah celebrates to the hilt.  Even it's fountains in the historic squares flow green.  This square was right across the street from our B and B. 

 

 

The parade lasted for hours and people gather, staking out their spot at the crack of dawn and then bbq and spend the day.  When we lived in St. Louis, there were two parades and one involved beads.  There were no beads thrown in Savannah but there was something I had only heard about, "the kissing bandits".  Women of all ages, layer on coats and coats of bright red lipstick and, as the parade goes on, they ambush the male participants in the parade and kiss them all over their faces.  It is a fun parade!

 

Our next stop (or rather stops) on St. Pat's were the numerous Irish bars that line one of the side streets.  We ate at some and we had green beer in a couple of others.  In front of one of the pubs, we met our new friend here who bestowed an Irish blessing on us. 

 

 

This trip, which took place two years ago, was such a wonderful one and so very memorable.  This past year, we stayed a bit closer to home and did our celebrating in one of our favorite towns, Dunedin, Florida.  The celebration was sponsored by the city and Flannigan's Irish Pub, a favorite haunt of ours.  I wore my Mike's Bar shirt from Dog Town (home of the Irish celebration in St. Louis) and we made some new friends who were also from our old home town...small world, what?

 

 

We'll probably be celebrating once again in Dunedin.  Hoping where ever you celebrate this holiday that you have a scrappable one!

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Jules is a retired English teacher originally from St. Louis, MO.  Besides paper crafting, she enjoys traveling, kayaking and teaching scrapbooking classes locally and nationally. 

Scrapbooking With 3 Bugs In A Rug's April Showers

Posted by averys_mom (Mandi)

For my first reveal, I got to work with 3 Bugs in A Rug April Showers.  How cute are these products?!?  And let me tell you, they’re even cuter in person!  Thanks so much to ACOT for letting me work with these great products!

Darling Daughter

For this layout, I was inspired by the colors on the backside of the Springtime PP and chose a photo of Avery standing near a hydrangea bush.  I used a piece of K&Co cardstock for my base and large piece of Springtime (backside).  I cut a scalloped circle out of Pretty Bird and adhered that to a paper doily.  Then I punched a border down two sides of Rain Boots (backside) using my Martha Stewart Swirling Lace punch, to make a mat for my photo.  

I cut “Darling” using my Cricut and the Once Upon a Princess Cartridge out of Rain Boots (backside), Pretty Bird (backside) and Elegance Core Couture Core’dinations.  I cut the tag also with Once Upon a Princess.  I finished the title off with White Sunny Thickers.  I also had some older Prima hydrangea flowers that matched perfectly (don’t you love it when that happens?) and so I added them to echo the flowers in my photo.

 

Flying High

This layout came together super quickly for me.  I used a Sassy Li’l Sketches sketch for my inspiration.  I cut a large piece of Chick-A-Dee (backside) and punched it down both sides using my Fiskars Apron Lace punch.  I adhered this to my Bo Bunny Powder Blue Double Dot cardstock base.  I used large strips of of  Rain Boots and Showers (backsides) vertically and small strips of Umbrella Perch, Pretty Bird and Kaleidoscope (backsides) horizontally. 

I offset my photo on a piece of Pretty Bird.  The banner pieces are from the Die-cut Shapes and I pop dotted them for some dimension.   White Sunny Thickers for my title and a small die-cut tag completed the layout! 

  

To view Mandi's full product review, be sure to visit our Resources Page!  Mandi did a fabulous job - and we're so happy she's a new part of our A Cherry On Top Creative Team!

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ACOT would like to welcome Mandi as one of our newest Creative Team Members! Mandi is a stay at home mom and has been married for over 10 years to the 'friend' she's known since 4th grade. We look forward to seeing more of her talents in the A Cherry On Top Gallery soon!

Scrapbooking With Lush 2 By My Mind's Eye

Posted by 4peasinourpod

If you are a frequent reader of the A Cherry on Top message board, I am sure that you have heard me moan about the lack of NAVY BLUE in the scrapbooking world.  For those of us with teenage boys that we occasionally scrapbook (when they will let us photograph them), it is a color sorely lacking in new products that are being released.  

As I was trying to choose my line for this reveal, imagine my surprise, when I saw My Minds Eye Lush 2!  (Well, I also got about 12 pm's from ACOT members, and many Facebook posts. Like I said, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and have great friends!)

Manufacturers have seemed to have gone the route of multiple colored patterns in many styles to create a line, so My Minds Eye's approach with Lush2 is very refreshing and bold. This line is a basic line.  It consists of the same patterns in four coordinating colors.... fuschia, aqua, orange and navy blue. 

'You Make Me Believe' by Pam

The papers are double sided, except for the flocked patterns.  The embellishments include brads, rhinestones, journaling pads and buttons.  This Lush line lends itself easily to monochromatic layouts, or to mix and matching colors and patterns.

Here is the layout that I cherish from this line.  It is the navy blue monochromatic layout of my son.  At 14, scrapbooking him has gotten more and more difficult.  He likes simple, so I can't put too much on the layout.  This line was perfect for him.  It is simple, it is direct, and it is navy blue. 

 

Visit our 'Resources' page to see more layouts and the rest of Pam's Lush 2 scrapbooking product reveal.  

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Pam lives in Wisconsin with her four children and husband.  Besides scrapbooking, she enjoys altering items and making gifts.  Pam is ACOT's Creative Team Coordinator.

Using Cell Phone ' Pics ' In Scrapbooking

Posted by MamaK321 (Kristianne)

As technology evolves and the quality of photos taken with our mobile devices improves, many people begin to rely on their cell phone camera for capturing quick, unplanned and everyday moments. This Creative Team reveal is a good example of the variety of camera phone qualities and different ways to utilize your pictures despite their minimal size and limited camera functions. Some newer phone models allow apps for photographic editing and effects. If you are wondering how to transfer those captured moments to your computer, most newer phones are equipped for memory sticks or pc transfer cables, while those with web access can email photos to their pc.

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Best Little Valentines by Jenn Kellams

i think... by MamaK321
"I took these quick photos while walking to the middle school with my dd. I love this view... wanted to remember it just like this."

Love My Boo by Mommybruno
"I have a little Tracfone that takes terrible pics. I did switch them to black and white, hoping that would make them look a little less terrible."

Too Cute by sarahwhithers
"I take a lot of pictures of my cat Gwen with my phone since it's handy and I like that it comes with no flash so I don't get the crazy pet eyes."

farmers market by MamaK321
"...I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of dh and dd walking down the street... memories preserved in an instant."

Giggles and Grin by Jenn Kellams

January 2011 by milmomma
"I take [a photo] everyday for P365 and have been meaning to scrap them but haven't"

Born This Way by Jenn Kellams

death by chocolate by MamaK321

Hula Hoop by Smiley-Scrap8
"My dd was at a friends birthday party and we forgot our camera."

How To Use Glimmer Mist and Prima Masks!

Posted by ACOT Creative Team Member - Megamay:

This month I thought it would be fun to do a combo reveal/tutorial on some of the new mists and masks in the store. I was running a little low in inspiration this month, so this reveal is full of sketches and other inspirations. 

Here is the first layout that I created.

Inspired by:

The Sketch:

It was inspired by the art for this month at the Arttastic blog. See how I used the mists to sort of make four sections of colors like in the painting? This page was really tough for me because I wanted to use the bib from my first run, but I wasn't sure how to do it. I am not so great at using memorabilia on layouts, and this was a BIG one! 

I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers and got my title from the scrapping the music challenge to use the song "Chances Are".  After that, I had the mists and the photos and the title, but thought it still needed a little something, so I created these flowers. 

I started with Jillibean Soup cardboard flowers, then wrapped baker's twine around them - before adding felt flowers and some buttons. They remind me of some flowers that Sassafras Lass makes, and I LOVE them! To keep the twine wrapped, I just used a glue dot on the back - tying it would have been too much trouble.

You can also see here how my mists came out all splotchy, and the chalkboard one has sort of lines. It looks OK on this page, but I wanted a more uniform look and it just so happened that a tutorial by the owner of Tattered Angels showed up on my facebook feed the same day! 

It's a you tube video and she shows you how to get a more uniform spray you should start your spray off the side of the page and sweep it across. There are a bunch of mini tutorials on the Tattered Angels channel that you might want to check out but here is the one I am talking about: 

I have to admit, watching this made me want to run and play with my mists!

Moving on, I couldn't wait to work with this photo or these turquoise papers from My Mind's Eye. I tried out a new photoshop action on this photo that I got for free, it's called Jubilee from Paint the Moon, and isn't it adorable! I love how artsy it made the photo look!

I also used a sketch for this one, this time from Twisted Sketches, where the twist was to use a frame. I decided to make my frame by misting over one of the prima masks. 

I wanted to get a little funky here and do a couple of different overlapping mist techniques. And I made a little tutorial for you also. I started out using a template for a shaped paper (I created this template a while ago by tracing a shaped paper and cutting it out) as a mask, and overlapping the sign mask because I wanted it to look like the sign was hanging OVER the frame created by the paper. 

I used the technique from the above video and this is what it looked like when I finished misting. you can sort of see where the 'swipes' were if you look at the edges of the cardboard/paper that I put down to protect my carpet. Not that it really needs protecting because it is a total MESS anyway. thank goodness it was just a remnant from when we had our stairs recarpeted, and we still have some. I think it is so far gone at this point that I can't vacuum because it would break the vacuum! But, I digress.

After removing the mask and wiping it off on a paper towel, this is what I had:

Then I put the mask back and sprayed with another color of mist. The first mist was chalkboard, and the second was glimmer mist, so the second gave a more transparent look. The colors are very close though, so they sort of blend and keep the whole thing coordinated. 

A word to the wise, if you intend to blot like she does in the video - by putting a paper towel over your finished spray, really committ to it - can you see my hand print in the image below? There are sort of three fingers poking out from the bottom of the mask. *blush* :

So, after that, I did some more vigorous blotting to try and get rid of those splotches at the top and the hand print on the bottom. Then I outlined all the masked parts with a coordinating marker. Unfortunately my marker wasn't as good of a match as I would have liked, and the wide line around the die cut part really bugged me, so I ended up zig zag stitching over it to sort of cover up that color. 

It remains around the frame but doesnt bother me as much there. this is what it looked like after the marker but before the stitching:

Here it is with the stitching - yes I am a total freak and stopped the machine where the hanging part of the frame is, and started on the other side, to keep that illusion of the sign being on top of the background.

Then, of course, I didn't have the right color letters, so I got out some white chipboard ones. I probably should have sanded them a little first, but I didn't. The first time I sprayed them with the chalkboard mist, I went a little overboard, and the mist sort of pooled on them, and dried funny. 

The next time I tried the lightly misting in a sweeping motion technique and after 2 or 3 light coats they were totally covered.

You can still kind of see how they are not a totally uniform color, but I kind of like that.  It gives them texture. I think the moral of this story is, with mist, sometimes you just have to go with it and trust that it will work out in the end - yeah you can still kind of see my handprint, but I bet you wouldn't have noticed if I didn't point it out. 

Yes, the letters are not a uniform color, but that gives them character. And yeah, the sign masking has a little blotch in the middle right below the triangle, but again you probably wouldn't have noticed, and it gives it character.

Next, I wanted to try a resist technique. I saw a frame made out of these doily stamps on someone's blog and thought I would try a twist on that. 

First I got a piece of white cardstock larger than I needed and traced my photo onto it. 

Now, I used pencil, but it doesnt really matter, I don't think you would be able to erase it after the fact, so I traced around the photo assuming that I was going to mat the photo and cover the pencil.

Next, I stamped all around the frame with the doily stamp and clear embossing ink. I recommend the tinted though because I had a really hard time lining up my stamps. 

Then I covered the whole thing in white embossing powder. You probably could use clear embossing powder too - because the cardstock underneath is white, but sometimes with and intricate pattern like this, I find that the mist bleeds a little under the embossed part and makes the intricacies not as crisp. 

Of course, the intricate parts didn't show up that well with the white embossing either, so I don't know.

After shaking the powder off and heat embossing, I sprayed the whole thing with red glimmer mist.

Then I waited a moment for it to sink in to the paper before placing the paper towel on top and pushing it down uniformly so I didn't get any hand prints.

And this is what I had:

Then I moved on to the background. This time I stitched the patterned paper down, and stitched around the edge before doing the misting.

Then I cut down the frame, and created a sort of sign to hang over the masked part, and voila! here is what you have...

Finally, I made a card with two more misting techniques. I used a uniformly misted piece of cardstock as the back mat on this card. Then I sprayed some mist on a piece of plastic and dipped a stamp in it and used it to stamp the leaves. I am so annoyed at that bow! I glue dotted it to within an inch of it's life and it doesn't want to stay straight! ugh!

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Megamay (aka: Megan) resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter.  Megan has been scrapbooking for over 6 years and loves experimenting with her art.