Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Only This Summer

 

Hey there! This is Amy Sorensen, and I'm writing to you from the zone. You know, the war zone your house becomes in the summer when all the kids are home? Where you're refereeing eight arguments, reminding someone four times that yes, that chore does need to be done now, and proffering up thirteen different suggestions for what that bored kid could do instead of complaining about being bored. (All numbers are approximate but occur hourly.)

Yeah. I'm in that summertime war zone. And I'm guessing I'm not the only mom in the trenches! I really do love summer, even though it comes with all those entertain-the-kids challenges.

Speaking of challenges, that's exactly what I'm doing today (and the other two times I'm hosting the blog this summer): offering you a challenge. This one's designed to help you embrace the reality of what your summer is like. Your summer, right now: what's it made of? What details make it different from any other summer you'll ever have? What are the little things you want to keep fresh in your memory? What things do you discover around yourself only in the hot months of the year?

Here in Utah we're having weird weather (the ski resorts are staying open till Independence Day) so all of my flowers are blooming at the wrong time, our family's hayfever victims are suffering more acutely than usual, and my oldest daughter is taking driver's ed. (An event which has caused me to stop counting the individual appearance of grey hair; it's becoming a deluge!) One kid is obsessed with playing catch, another's deeply involved in hanging out with friends, and yet another is shooting hoops nonstop. Since those specific circumstances (and more) will only happen this summer, I want to make sure to get the uniqueness documented. Hence, the challenge:

Only This Summer Photo Challenge

Here are the rules if you want to play along:

1.  Find your camera.
2.  For the next hour, take some photos with the goal of documenting the summer stuff around you.
3.  Look for both the tell-tale summer signs and the more unique, this-year-only ones. Think about the everyday rather than the eventful.
4.  Don't pick up your house. Don't declutter or rearrange or straighten up. The messiness is part of the story!
5.  When you're finished, blog or journal about your pictures so that when you've got time to scrap them, the words are already there.

That's it! As I did this challenge yesterday, a little bit of magic happened: that anxious knot of summer-is-making-me-edgy start to dissolve. Documenting the details helped me remember I only get this very summer once in my life, so I should try harder to enjoy it. Here are two handfuls of my favorite challenge pictures:

1. Wet laundry hanging to dry on the swing set.

 

2. Such a not-smart idea: I totally left the clippers out in the grass after deadheading my poppies. Considering my kids' proclivities for getting into stitches-required situations, this was a close call! 

3. Only in summer is my apple tree the gathering place for rambunctious boys. 

4. I try to keep fresh flowers in the house. It looks like it's time to toss these and cut some new ones. Luckily I now know where my clippers are! 

5. "Who got the berries out? Can you please put them back in the fridge when you're finished?" 

6. Don't let him fool you: this scene may look bucolic, but he's also 13 and can turn on his zippy, goofy, energetic obnoxiousness in one-point-five seconds. 

7. Just where is that missing white flip flop? No one is certain, but luckily there are just a few extra pair sitting around. Not that those shoes are actually worn much. In general it's a barefoot ruckus around here. 

8. Another sure sign of summer. Not the flip flops (he'd wear them all year if I let him) but the scabby toes. 

9. They almost look like friends, don't they? My running shoes, my daughter's running shoes. She's deep into cross-country training time, while I run just to keep my sanity in place and my thighs from becoming monstrous. 

Want to play along? Leave a link to your blog in the comments, or post a few photos on the WCS Flickr page. I hope the challenge helps you, too, discover the unique goodness in your summer!

Scrap with your tweenie!

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be back posting on the blog! I thought that I´d share a few tricks to scrap with your kids that are about to be teenagers. Sometimes it is so hard to believe that I have a child that will be a teenager next year. But on the bright side I have raised a wonderful person and that she enjoys memory keeping is just icing on the cake :) I like to incorporate her words, photos etc. on page especially those of herself. And even though these pages are not exactly like ones I make typically, I love that we have made them together in a way!

Now, even though if your tweenie might not enjoy the scrapbooking process as much as mine, there are a few tricks to get them involved on a page or two. 

 

Trick #1 Use Their Photos

Ask them if you can borrow their memorycard from their camera or cellphone to download any photos they might have taken during their day. If they don´t have their own, maybe you can let them use your point and shoot for a day to see the world through their eyes. Print a few of them (if they are of poor quality use a mosaic tool for example on picnik.com or bighugelabs.com) and make a page titled "Through a tweenies eyes" or something like that! 

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Trick #2 They Can Journal

Ok, I get that it could be tricky to get your kid to do some in depth journaling, but give them some guidance. Say to them, I am doing to scrapbook these photos, what do you remember from that day/event? Or tell them that you would like them to write something and ask them to be sure to include where the photos were taken, who was there, what they did, how that felt, etc. I thought of one more: ask them to email you! Ask them to write as if they were writing a postcard or in a journal. 

 

Trick #3 Interview

The third way to scrap with your older child is to interview them. Now, this can go several ways; 1. you ask them questions about themselves or 2. ask them questions about you or someone else. 

I gave my daughter a few "favourites" questions during a long car ride and it was quickly done! 

I´ll see you later this summer! Happy scrapping! 

Ps. Here are a few more layouts that I shared on my blog about collaboration on scrapbook layouts!

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day printables for the last-minuters

Good morning! And Happy Father's Day Eve.

Wait! Don't panic, ye procrastinators! I have employed my super sleuthing skills to compile an assortment of free Father's Day printables to ease your burden and slow your breathing.

Just click an image to go to the corresponding site. And be sure to leave a little "thank you" comment while you're there!

 

(Blog names are cited below the photos that have no identifying watermark.)

 

CARDS

{via Catch My Party}

 

{via babalisme}

 

 {via paisley wallpaper}

 

TAGS & PARTY DECORATIONS

(via Martha Stewart}

{via seventhirtythree}

 

{via Catch My Party}

 

 

SUBWAY ART & OTHER GIFTS

{via Pink Ink Doodle}

 

 

{via Homespun With Love}

 

  {via Disney Family}

 

{via Tatertots & Jello}

 

{via nellie*design}

 

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

{via The Creative Homemaker}

 

{via Yesterday on Tuesday}

 

{via Big D & Me}

 

Now, fire up your printer and no more procrastinating! :)

and the giveaway goes to . . .

Thank you, Darcy, for your generosity in sponsoring our giveaway. And thank you, our readers, for your interest in having your writing turned into a font! Our lucky number this week belongs to:

Natalie, please send an email to us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Up next, oh, yes, it's a surprise!! Stay tuned!

...ghijk{LISA}{MARNIE}nopqr{SCRAPBOOK}tuvwx...

Good morning! We are Lisa and Marnie and we are so happy to see you today! How is your summer thus far? We are having a fun summer and hope you are, too!

Today, we have teamed together to bring you some "friend"ly fun!

Between us we have four little ladies, and spend lots of time watching them play. One of our favorite things is how quickly kids make friends. All they need is a playground in common and they are friends. Done. So we figured we have lots in common (making layouts, buying scrapbooking supplies, taking lots of pictures, making time for our hobby, not to mention we are Sound of Music sisters...) so we should just become friends.

(Did you notice that you have many of those things in common with us, too? More on that later...)

And isn't it always more fun to play with a friend? Our playground stretched from Ontario to Ohio and included three games.

 

I Like You, You Like Me.

Rules of this game? Find a layout you love from your friend, and let it inspire you. Or copy it exactly.

Lisa:

I was inspired by the most recent layout on Marnie's blog, "Crazy!". I loved the design, colour scheme, and short little lines of journaling. (I also covet her daughter's dress, but that's a different story.)

Here's the layout:

I kept pretty true to Marnie's layout, using this recent photo of my hubby and me. I used journaling strip stickers from Creative Imaginations that have been in my stash for years! Of course, I had to add bling, too. I love me some bling.

 

Marnie:

The hardest part of this was choosing just one. I love so many of Lisa's layouts. I spent hours pouring over her pretties but this one stopped me in my tracks.

I knew just the photo to use. But then I remembered how my computer crashed one day and took with it 5 months of my (un-backed up) baby's life. (I'm not ready to talk about it more than that yet. :( ) So rather than copy Lisa in every way, I replaced the nape of the neck shot with some eyelashes instead!!

I loved the design so much that I stuck to it v.e.r.y. closely. Why mess with perfection?

 

LET'S SHARE TOYS.

Rules of this game? Pick some scrapbook supplies that you both have and love and make a layout.

Lisa:

Marnie and I both love the "Hello Sunshine" line from American Crafts, and since we each had it in our stash we decided to each make a layout with this line. I took some of that yummy patterned kraft paper, then embellished with paper lanterns-- some are stickers mounted on paper, and others were cut out of another sheet and mounted on foam dots. This set of Sunset stickers is one of my faves, too, in this cheery green shade:

 

Marnie:

I am such a sucker for patterned paper. This line sang to me with its sky blues, tipped umbrellas, and clouds. Oooh, American Crafts is so good to me!

ps. Did you hear the news that Amy Tan has a new line coming out with American Crafts? Due in July. I can't wait!!

 

We Have Things in Common

Rules of this game? Create a layout using three common denominators.

Lisa:

We decided to pick three non-product items: (1) a black and white photo, (2) handwritten journaling (3) the journaling prompt, "Something I love you about you right now..." (from the list of 13 Everyday Journaling Prompts that Ali Edwards recently posted on her website). 

Like many scrappers, I find Ali so inspiring. Her blog posts constantly bring me back to scrapping the whole story, and really thinking about my journaling. In this case I wanted to capture my daughters' relationship right at this moment. I often hand write on my pages, so that was comfortable for me-- I just searched my stash for some ledger paper, in this case from My Little Shoebox-- to create a journaling block.

Since the photo was black and white, I had license to pull out whatever colours struck my fancy. I took some brand new "Floral Lane" from Pebbles Inc, drawing inspiration from the flowers on the girls' sunhats. From there is was just a hop, skip and a jump to this layout:

 

Marnie:

Remember how this was a three item list? Three items. That's all. And then I ran out of photo paper. Which means I don't have a printed photo, which means that I had to bend a rule. Knowing I couldn't use my own handwriting, I tried to find a font that represents my handwriting well. (Remember that giveaway yesterday? One more reason I need to turn my handwriting into a font!! Darcy might have a new customer soon! Oh, and do you think I could sneak Emily's and Monika's handwriting in to be made into fonts, too? Oooh, tell me how much we would ALL love that!!)

Back to the game...

Ali, my brilliant friend, you made a great list. I am hoping to make 13 layouts this summer: one using each prompt. This challenge with Lisa takes care of number 7.

I love how a common starting point can lead to such different ends. I also love that we were each so true to our own styles.

(Just as a little aside, it took me many many years to not covet the layouts of others and to realize that mine had their place. (Similarly, it took me a long time to stop wanting to look like my friends. Have you seen Lisa in a dress? She is an absolute knockout in a dress. My favorite? Her yellow one. She even looks great in dresses she repurposes herself! On the other hand, dresses are a laughable affair for me. I must stick to skirts. But when I add in a colorful cardigan, it's all me.)

Lisa's layouts are like her dresses: snazzy, dressy, and perfect for her. Mine are simple, dressed down, and reflect me well. I love that I have learned to appreciate my friends for their sense of style, be it fashion or scrapbooking, and know that the differences are worth celebrating, not coveting.)

Back to game 3, I do love how quickly this layout came together. I knew what I needed and got right to it. I am so much faster when I have boundaries and a friend urging me on!! I hope that you will find a friend, or be ours, and make your three item layout!!

 

What a fun playdate we had. Remember when we said that you have some things in common with us? We really meant it. So feel free to jump in! Play along! We would love to see your layouts on Flickr!! If you do post, please leave us a link in the comments so we can be sure to see it!

And for the future, if you ever have a scrapping girl crush, email her, and tell her. Chances are it will be just the icebreaker needed to make a new playground friend!!

Happy Friday! Don't forget to visit tomorrow to see who is hosting tomorrow and to learn if you were the lucky number!

give.away.day. featuring DARCY BALDWIN FONTOGRAPHY

Have you ever been handwriting your journaling and made it to the very end and then realized that you have a spelling error? Or that you don't quite have enough space? or that you smudged? Wouldn't it be fun to have your handwriting be a font so that you could arrange it just as you want it and spell check it before you print it so that it can be error free and shine with radiant perfection?

Or have you gone digital but miss the look of your own writing on your layouts? Then today is for you! For our today we have a fantastic giveaway from Darcy Baldwin Fontography at Sweet Shoppe Designs! One lucky commenter is going to receive the opportunity to have her handwriting turned into a font! It's magic! Well, magic and Darcy. We wanted to properly introduce you to the creative genius behind your font-to-be, so without further ado, we present Darcy Baldwin.

"Hi! I'm a homeschooling mom of 2 bright boys, married to my 'internet' sweetheart for 15 years, and live in home of the NBA Champions, the Dallas Mavericks! (and I don't even like basketball - so you know how big of a deal it is for that to have happened around here!)

 

I came to storytelling from a mix of life and circumstances. After coming into the hobby kicking and screaming and digging my heels in, I realized I loved the storytelling aspect of scrapping more than anything. I'll even utter the blasphemous words that I think the story is even ore important than the photos. I also see it in a different light because memory problems run in my family, and when we began to see the first glimpses of it in me, I wanted to make sure that I had down our stories before I forgot them, so when the boys were old enough to care about them, they were written down somewhere in case I couldn't remember. 

 

Naturally, when the chance arose for me to start creating handwriting fonts, I jumped at it - it seemed a natural progression to help others get their stories down in their own handwriting. I loved being able to work with Celeste doing her handwriting - because I admire her focus on her layouts - and it turned out SO cute!"

As she said, Darcy recently created the cutest font from the print handwriting of our very own Celeste. Please meet, "i love me some celeste."

 
Here is what Celeste had to say about this font-a-riffic craziness:

I am so excited that I can now include my own handwriting on my digital pages! I love that it is standard--it's actually a lot cleaner and neater than my penned handwriting - that really appeases the clean scrapper in me! Here's a page where I included my new font...

 

Now you have a chance to have your own handwriting made into a font for free! Two fonts, really, as Darcy is offering our lucky reader a custom font bundle that includes a cursive font and a print font. What a delightful and darling, and above all, practical, addition to your scrapbooking supplies.

 
  
Now what we'd like from you. First, please take a minute to stop by and visit Darcy's cool fonts and more at her Sweet Shoppe store. Then, leave a comment telling us a favorite journaling tidbit. We would also love it if you left a link to one of your original layouts that focuses on creative journaling: great storytelling, a unique way to portray the journaling, etc. It can be digital or paper, we love them both!

Comments will remain open until Friday morning. One lucky number will be drawn at random and posted Saturday morning. Please remember that it is your responsibility to claim your lucky number before midnight on Monday. (And again, these times have been changed from our usuals. Please be sure to note the new times! Thank you!)

But before you go off to visit Darcy, before you return to leave your comment and your link, we have to tell you about one more goodie for you...

Darcy would like to offer $1 off any font service. Just use the code write.click.font at Sweet Shoppe Designs. You must be logged in for the code to work. The code expires on June 30, 2011. Happy everybody wins! Thank you, Darcy! Now get clicking and commenting and linking. We can't wait to see your layouts and read your tips!

Making a Long Title Short

Hey people!  I hope everyone is enjoying the summer format of our blog. 

I sure am. 

Partially because I only have one night of sweaty nightmares leading up to my turn, rather than a full week of them (sweaty nightmares are not my favourite) and partially because of all the diverse talent here that we've been enjoying (diverse talent is my favourite).

So here's my offering of the day. 

Something I'm going to call:  ONE KIT: Three Ways.

My initial title was (said with feeling):  OMG. Libby Pritchett you do the cutest stuff and you say you WILL make a mini kit for me to give away on my WCS blog host day?! You're the best. I'd like to be like you one day with all the digitizing and making stuff.

Sigh. 

But I thought maybe it wasn't to the point enough. 

And as I'm confused enough for the all of us, I thought I would simplify it. 

I put together a little tutorial for one of the projects including an image to download if you are so moved to do so. 

Oh right, first, here is:

PROJECT ONE: Not Your Nana's Decorative Plate

 

And here is where I tell you, I had planned to take photos of this project from start to finish to share with you.

And then I didn't.

So, please, close your eyes and imagine, if you will, a place that looks suspiciously like my garage complete with basketballs and razor scooters strewn about willy nilly and a large flattened cardboard box in the middle of the space that is covered with the spray paint remnants of days gone by.

Nestled in a box nearby, lives a family of well loved spray paint cans. 

Let us remove the can of Kilz (which sounds much more awful and violent than it is in reality - this is our primer) and a can of Rustoleum Ultra cover gloss white (normally, I'm opposed to shiny, among other things, but I find a gloss works better for painting plates).

Spray the plates that you've lovingly chosen from the thrift store, Aunt Olga's wedding china, or wherever you have found them. 

Spray them lightly and from a distance to avoid puddling and drippings (more things I am opposed to). You might need two coats of this to cover the ducks/roses/insert ugly decorative pattern here on your plates.

When that business is dry, give it a coat of the gloss paint.

And when that business is dry, bring them in and we'll get to the photo portion of our project.

As you can see, I'm not always silly, sometimes I am VERY businesslike.

The first thing I did was use this lovely little kit (download available at the end of this post, monsters however are not).

To create this:

Downlaod May Love Always Follow You

The download should print as approximately 7.5x7.5. I don't think there will be too many dinner plates with a diameter larger than this. Mine was about 7 inches across. I left a little extra room around the edge of the patterned paper to account for this.

Then I used my cricut to cut mine.

You don't need a cricut, but I figured I may as well use it as I am not too handy at following the lines (or colouring inside them for that matter).

So...

Measure across plate and make sure you give yourself about 1/4 inch inside of the rim of the plate (if you cut it too large the circle won't lay flat on what I'll call the "meat'n'potatoes" part of the plate, ie. not the edge).

This is part of the reason my next photo shows not a little birdie circle being cut out but a lime green practice piece.

Take the practice circle, we'll call her Bob, and make sure it fits flatly (is that a word? Or only when referring to the Lord of the Dance? WCS readers are pretty clever chickens, so you get the gist) against the meat'n'potatoes of the plate.

Next I went on to cutting the actual digital print. 

To make sure I had the circle cutting exactly where I wanted it (step one was developed after the circle cutting exactly where I didn't want it too many times to count).

What I did here was keep the sheet on the cutting mat and peel up the edge where the circle had been cut from and slide in the digital print, using the negative circle as a guide to where the machine would be cutting and stick down the photo paper and only then did I remove the green sheet.

And proceed with cutting.

Now a word from our sponsor.

Not really. 

Just an aside.

I just wanted to show you what I did with one of the matching plates (I ended up making 4 more for my niece's bedroom) which I kind of wish I had of done with the larger plate that I'm sharing the instructions for. 

But I didn't. 

And sometimes you just have to forge ahead.

One thing I really dig about digital is that you can add dimension by printing and cutting out elements. 

So, see the banner and heart that I printed? I thought it would be nice to have a bit of dimension on some of the plates, so I printed them apart from the main circle and handcut them. (And hated every minute of it. I swear!)

Here I used some of my baker's twine and my trusty Zig glue pen to attach to the top of the banner.

And here is the heart, upside down, slathered with pop dots (pssst...it's the pop dots that give it the dimension).

I glued the tiny buttons on to "hang" the banner from and secured the banner with a couple more pop dots.

If I were going to redo it, I probably would have used this technique to make the bird pop on the larger plate.

But I'm not.

So that's that.

What I did do to add dimension to the larger plate was use the Zig glue pen to adhere more of the baker's twine around the perimeter of the circle. I tied a bit through a red button and added that to the centre of the circle as well (you can see this in the first photo I shared.)

Now, on to:

PROJECT TWO: Layout

(I use capital letters and italics to both catch your attention and wow you. Maybe I should have tried a different font?)

As I mentioned, I am making these plates for my niece, as I have been both blessed and cursed with stinky little pink hating boys.

Well, not so little anymore, but plenty stinky still.

So I thought I would whip up a layout that I could frame to go with the plates.

I made the layout in 8.5x11 format, but the white frame I had was a weird shape (the photo opening was 6.75x8.5) so after I saved the layout in normal size, I cropped it to the weird size.

I do this often for framing layouts - usually before cropping I group all the elements together (everything but the background paper) and using the corner dragging option I resize everything a bit smaller.

PROJECT THREE: For You

Finally, I made a digital card.

I do this almost exclusively now.

It's so fast and simple it's almost silly. (And I know silly.)

Here it is with the layout I framed:

and here it is as a download if you like:

Download For You card

And here is a final shot of everything together:

Still with me?

Thanks for sticking around, I know I get so wordy on these blog posts.

I feel like I'm all - "and this, and this and this...did I mention this?"

They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step, no?

This is the mini kit, Libby so kindly designed for us!

Supercute Free Download from Libby

The rest of the projects I made using the original kit that she made, you can find it here:

And Your Bird Can Sing

(take a look at Libby's other kits - they are awesome. And while you're browsing, don't forget to check out her titles - they are always make me laugh!)

With that, I am out of here!

I think I'll go catch some sun on the deck and clean up my mess later!

Hope you all have a most excellent summer!

Cheryl O. (I'm supposed to have a cool uploaded signature here, but I haven't done it yet. Sorry Marnie! Have I told you how beautiful you are lately?) [Dearest Cheryl, No, actually, you haven't. I haven't slept in weeks worrying that perhaps my new bio picture with my gorgeous new grey roots and awesome new wrinkles had either scared or scarred you. So tonight, finally, I can sleep knowing that you still think me foxy after all these years... xxMarnie]

Wait a minute, was that just a means of distracting me away from that missing siggy???

90 Days of Summer

Hi friends! Kelly here. It's finally feeling like summer around our house - the kids are out of school (goodbye making lunches every morning! goodbye homework!), the air conditioning is running at top speed, the back door is constantly being opened and slammed, and there is a faint whiff of sunscreen and popsicle in the air. Ahhh...I love it. Generally. But then there are the days when everyone needs to get out and have an adventure. So I've come up with a little mini album that is going to help my family (and me!) enjoy every minute this summer, and remember them, too.

Let me introduce you to the "90 Days of Summer" album that we are going to (hopefully) fill this summer:

 
I've finished "daily" albums before, but I concentrated on one month of the year. For a few years, I chose to write/scrap/photograph activities for every day of August. But then I would skip taking a photo one day, or we would go on a trip and have two dozen photos one day, and then I had kiddo number three and doing anything every day went out the window. So...this year I had a brilliant thought: Why don't we just make a list of the things we want to do this summer, and then take pictures and write our thoughts about those? That way we have 90 days to complete our record of summer instead of just 30.

I took a bit of inspiration from the crafty ladies at eighteen 25 and their to-do list printable that I used for the cover of my mini-album. I simply downloaded their graphic and printed it as a 5 x 7. I adhered it to some cardstock and added a few number stickers for the year. For the pages in my album, I used an old mat stack I had hanging around. Some of the colors are funky, but they are perfect for the eclectic feel I'm after. I designed a simple border for the bottom of each page, and then wrote down one of the activities we hope to do this summer on each one, with a check box next to it. When we go on one of these adventures or complete one of these projects, we can add more journaling, a photo, or some sort of memorabilia to the page (ticket stub, part of a map, etc.).

 
I used scraps of patterned paper and cardstock that I had lying around, so this project came together pretty quickly and didn't cost any additional money. I punched holes in each page near the bottom and used a big binder ring to finish it off. I'm pretty simple, but you could add some charms to the ring, or a few ribbons for a fun look. I think by the time we add photos and other stuff, the album won't look so simple anymore!

So what's on our list? Some examples include: Stay up late to watch for shooting stars; Eat s'mores around a campfire; Go geode/fossil hunting; Spend lots of time at the water park; Have a bike rodeo with friends; Throw water balloons; Go to a parade; Make popsicles and ice cream; Visit Grandpa in Wyoming; Put on a play or puppet show...and the list goes on. There's room for more pages, so let me know if you have any great suggestions for keeping kids busy in the summer!

 

(Letting my parents' dog Scout, lick my boys, is not on my list. But visiting Nana and Pop, is on there).

I'll be back in July with another post - I'll let you know how our summer album is coming together. Until then, sit back with some icy lemonade and watch the clouds go by. Summer doesn't last forever!

Fun With Photos

Hi There! Today is my very first post as an official WCS collective member and to say I'm a little nervous and intimidated is a HUGE understatement. I have been following this blog and all the fantastic content that the ladies share and hoping I live up to the standards! So here goes!

As all other scrapbookers, I love taking photos. Combine the love of taking photos with all of the wonderful technology out there to turn one photo into a million different variations and I could literally spend days at the computer going through all the options. Doesn't bode well for the family that needs fed, so lucky for them there is modern technology for that too--the microwave!

Most photo editing is not free and can be quite expensive with purchasing the software plus the actions to turn photos into art. I'm going to run through a couple of those, but I want to start out first with fun photo effects that are...   wait for it...   FREE!!!

 

I'll be starting with this unedited photo of our family clown (aka Ella) to showcase various effects to run on photos. 

* Disclaimer: I am no professional photographer, nor pretend to be one or want to be one so these are my amateur biased opinions!!

 

Be Funky

This site is fun right from the start. Bold, bright colors and easy navigation. There is no registration, no fee and no download required here. Of course there is the option of upgrading to get even more cool effects, but it isn't a necessity.

I got started right away and turned my little cheese face into a vintage photo, using their Vintage Color photo effect. I love a good vintage photo effect and this one didn't disappoint.

After that I scrolled through to see all the effects they had and there were some really great ones to try! I won't show them all here, but I did want to show one other effect I tried and liked. I ran their polaroid effect on the photo next:

And for a super fun effect? Facial effects!

How fun are those?!!

 

Tuxpi

Next I found Tuxpi, which also happens to be free, and also happens to have some great effects too. These effects are quite a bit more artsy and not necessarily effects I would use on a regular basis, but I still found some worth noting. This site wasn't as fun and funky as the other one, but it gets to the point and puts all the effects out there on the homepage.

There are days when we may or may not need this type of poster for one Ella P.! I think are great for a kids' party, especially to take photos of the kids from the parties for favors!

They also have various colors for a swirl effect. Again, not something I would use all the time, however, still a cool effect and my daughter thought she looked "crazy"! Kind of reminds me of way back in the day yearbook effects we used in high school. (Is that dating myself? I'm pretty sure it is!)

 

Picnik

I love this site and use it on a regular basis for minor editing when I don't have access to my Photoshop Elements. Aside from editing, this site also has effects for photos as well, and you guessed it - FOR FREE!! Of course, as with the other sites, you can always upgrade for a price to get more effects and actions. You can also register at no cost.

This was one of my favorites from the list of effects. It's titled "Vignette" and I love it! I love a good edge burn and this one doesn't disappoint at all. You can vary how strong it is and how large the edge burn is, which is fantastic. 

And this one? While looking easy and not much of an effect, still a great one for those who want rounded corners on their photos. I love the look of rounded corners on photos. Kind of takes me back to those old 70's prints I have from my childhood. Um, again, dating myself!!

And a for fun effect:

This was filed under "Movember"!!! Bwahhaaa! I love it, seriously! So fun, especially if you don't have the fun fake mustache for photos!

 

Photoshop Elements Actions

I have Photoshop Elements 8.0 and use Pioneer Woman Actions ALL.THE.TIME. Nearly every photo I edit is through that set of actions. Yes, I know, there are tons of other action sets out there that are free, like Coffee Shop Actions and MCP Actions and so many others, but I gravitate to these.

This is the one I use most: Boost. Gives a great color boost to photos, especially when the light isn't quite right in the photo. And it's very easy to go back and lower the saturation a bit if the boost is a little too boosty!

Love the vintage effect too. Gives a great old photo effect and looks great on scrapbook pages. And a cheese face is a cheese face in boosted color and vintage color! 

Now, while these actions are free, obviously you have to buy Photoshop Elements in order to install them so there is that cost. I love PSE and highly recommend this program and I don't even use it to it's full potential! I need a period of instruction!

 

Instagram

This is a free app for iPhones, iTouches and iPads. Once again, you must have one of these pieces of technology first to have this free photo editing and sharing app, but it's free! I broke down and bought myself an iPhone a month ago and I'm most definitely addicted!

There was no way to convert my cheese face youngest over since it wasn't taken on my phone, so I went for one just from this weekend - my girlfriends and I after a fun mud run! I converted these to Early Bird and Brannan respectively, then saved and voila, ready to print and use! 

I made this layout using the traffic photo above:

So there you have it!  Some fun, and FREE, photo effects you can use for all those hundreds of photos you'll be taking and are taking this summer. This is obviously not even close to an exhaustive list, however, I wanted to give some starting points for everyone to get lost in and convert all those great photos!

Thank you for joining me on my first day posting here at WCS!