Welcome, crafty friends!

Oh, you guys. I just can't even with this new release. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to color, and all the line art on these new stamp sets just set my coloring heart aglow!!

I'm not even going to drone on about how awesome the release is because seriously the products speak for themselves, so let's get to it!

The images in these stamp sets are easy to color and really easy to arrange so you can make great scenes. Just color, die cut, and arrange! Here's how I did mine:



Don't you just love that tree? It's so stinkin' cute!

And I just love that sentiment--so much fun! Makes me think that I'll send this card to a friend who will hopefully picture me standing on my porch waving to them in the form of this card!

Here's another look you can create with the house and tree images:

Welcome, crafty friends!

It's a tale as old as time.

You make a beautiful card and your heart is filled with pure joy. You can't wait to share it with the world so you whip out your phone to take a picture, and then this is the result:






Awash with frustration and sadness, you refrain from posting your card photo on social media because there are so many other card makers out there whose photos look like they belong in The Louvre.

Friends, you can conquer your photo demons with these simple and cost-effective tricks!

1. Add Scrapbook Papers to Your Stash as Photo Backdrops.

I recommend these from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. They are less than $1.00 (and even cheaper when they're on sale!), so you cannot beat that, am I right?!




































2. Add Inexpensive Greenery as a Staging Prop. 

Warning: Be careful not to overdo it when you add greenery into your photos, because the attention should be on your beautiful card! I recommend some neutral branches like these from Hobby Lobby:




































Tip: You an also use the supplies you used to create your card as staging props! Inks or embellishments work great!

3. Use Daylight Bulbs

Go to your local Walmart or general hardware store and put some daylight LED bulbs into your cart. Daylight bulbs can add the effect of natural light to your photos. Experiment with the placement of the lamps in your photo taking area as you're taking photos and don't give up! I point my lamps at my white walls, because the light bounces off the white walls and creates a more natural brightness.

Now let's talk about a few simple principles when it comes to arranging your card photos.

1. It's All About the Layers!

Use a jar or something around the house as a riser underneath your card. This creates a bottom layer (your patterned paper backdrop) and a top layer (your actual card). Then, place your greenery or other props on top of your backdrop, (but under your card riser) as a middle layer!

2. Use What You've Got!

We all use Instagram, so here's a foolproof formula for putting the finishing touches on your photos.

• Brightness: Adjust the brightness filter until you get a more natural looking amount of light in your photo.
• Structure: Adjust the structure filter so that the great details on your card aren't lost!
• Saturation: Sometimes when the brightness is adjusted, the color is washed out, so adjust the saturation filter until you get a true representation of your card's colors.
• Shadows: Adjust this filter to reove the shadows that are sometimes unavoidable when trying to photograph your cards.

There are other filters that you can play with, but these 4 are ones that I use every single time I post a picture. My advice would be to start out simply, and then experiment with other filters once you've got the hang of using them!

Thanks so much for hanging with me through this post, and I hope these tips have been helpful to you!

If you have any questions, drop me a comment and I'll do my best to answer them!

Hugs!
Kelly