What is a Psycho Mom?

Happy 4th of July

This has always been among my favorite Holidays. Sharing time and celebrating with friends and family, NO PRESENTS TO GIVE, and feeling like a kid again are just a few of the reasons why. There are so many parties, great food, eating watermelon (yum, yum), parades, craft festivals, and of course FIREWORKS!

Grab your camera this forth, and take some amazing photos. Here are a few sites I found with awesome tips for photographing Fireworks displays. Have FUN, and get to shooting.

Kodak    |     The Digital Photography School    |     Photojojo

Here are a few extra things to consider

1 - GET CLOSE. Close ups of kids eating watermelon, corn on the cob, ice cream cones, and chicken/turkey legs make awesome scrapbooking shots. Remember the messier the kid, the better. Make sure to fill the frame with the child's face.

2 - PREPARE FOR RAIN. Everyone who lives in Florida knows that they can count on rain on the 4th of July. Put a clear plastic gallon freezer bag in your camera bag. You can usually cut a hole large enough for the lens to slip through, and it is clear, so you can still look in the view finder. You may catch an amazing shot with rain drops.

3 - PHOTOGRAPH YOUR TOWN. The town I live in gets really patriotic on the 4th so take advantage of these great colors and textures and get close up shots of yard ornaments and town decorations. These can make really cool backdrops for your digital scrapbook pages, and they can offer some real interest to your layouts. Don't forget that the town you live in, plays an important role in your holiday traditions.

4 - LET SOMEONE ELSE TAKE PICTURS. I am the worse about this! If you are always shooting, then YOU aren't in the pictures. When time moves on, you will regret not documenting your own amazing time.

5 - CLEAN YOUR LENS/SENSOR. Don't forget as you move around the day to take along a cleaning cloth. There is nothing more frustrating then developing your photos and having a smudge in your perfectly blue sky.

6 - EXTRA BATTERIES. You don't want your camera to run out of juice before you do.

Cool New Product from Adobe
Adobe Systems has introduced a cool new product line of on-line tools. One of my favorites is Express PhotoShop. This program is currently in the beta stage, and at the moment, Adobe is offering it free. It's easy to perform basic photo editing procedures like color correction, resizing, cropping, and red-eye removal. The interface is clean and gives a great environment for building on-line galleries to organize your art/photos, and then share them with your peers. Check out my Gallery.

This layout was created digitally in Photoshop CS3. The Summer cruise logo was taken from The Joy FM's Web site. Font MLB Block

Finding Joy

This morning started out great. I got to meet the people from the Joy FM, who make me laugh every morning on my way to work. Carmen, Bill, Dave and their special guest Matthew West were at the 43rd Street Deli on 13th Street on their Summer Cruise. Matthew West is a Christian artist, Whose single "You are Everything" from the "Something to Say" album has stayed at Number 1 for 4 weeks. Visit Matthew's official site.

Summer Crop Time
With summer around the corner, I thought it would be nice to organize a few one day crops. The cost will be low, depending on the venue, and it would be in the Keystone/Starke area. If there are any takers, then e-mail a convenient time, and I'll get a place lined up, based on the number of participants. If you would like for me to attend a private crop and teach a technique or two, then e-mail the details to gibbst@psychomoms.com

Road Trip
I have decided to take my crafty little mind and hit the road. I have had offers from a few of the local scrapbook stores about teaching classes, and I've been invited to a few for private crops. In the next week or so, I should have an event calendar posted. Make sure to book mark it so you can join us.

Local Scrapbooking News
Sassy Scrapbooks in Palatka will be giving away a Cricut Expressions Machine at their next all day crop on July 26, 2008. You must register for the crop by July 5, 2008 by calling (386) 328-5433. The crop fee is $30/person and space is limited to 50 croppers. I will be there to give a demonstration on the CriCut.

Latest Projects
Acrylic Albums
Acrylic albums are becoming the latest rage in Scrapbooking. I have completed 6 now, and trust me when I say they are so much fun. They make you stop and think, and get you out of your box. At the request of several, I will be teaching a class on these at Sassy's in July. Details will be posted here, as they become available. Below is a photograph of just how cute these albums are (but trust me pictures don't do it justice). If you would like me to make a custom book the cost is $25.

This book was made with the Keystone Heights Jr. Sr. High School graduation announcement, Ribbon, Fiber, Metallic card stock from Bazzill, Clear Stamps from Studio G, Ink from Staz On, Glitter Paint, graduation cap and diploma from Jolees by you, and Rhinestones from Karen Foster Designs.

Cool Techniques

Stamping Techniques

Transfers with Ink
Since I've been working on the acrylic books I've discovered some new amazing products created by Adirondack Ink. I know these products have been around for a long time; however, did you know that you can do photo transfers with them. CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT from Ranger Inks.

Dryer Sheets before Embossing
Take a dryer sheet that has been used, and rub it onto your paper before stamping with ink. Then apply your embossing powder as normal. The dryer sheet will remove the static cling from the paper, and keep the powder from sticking in places you don't want it to go. There may be a few pieces that stick, they can be easily removed with a cotton swab or paintbrush.

CriCut Tricks
I got these tips from the CriCut Web site and thought I would pass it along.

Air Cut
This is a great trick when you don't have the software.

Have you ever had a scrap piece of paper and didn't know if you had enough room to cut a design from your cricut? Place the blade depth to 1 and the pressure dial setting to 1, then cut your design. The CriCut is designed to not apply pressure to the paper in this dial setting, so it will perform an "air cut". Make a mental note of the results. If you are satisfied, then return the blade to the original position, pressure, and depth, and repeat the cut.

Cutting Smaller then 6x12
Line up the bottom left corner of the paper with the bottom left corner of the mat. Remember that after you've navigated the blade to the upper right corner of your paper prior to cutting, you need to select the "Set Paper Size" button. This will tell the Cricut that you have selected a smaller paper size. Otherwise it still "thinks" that a 6x12 paper is loaded.

FAVORITE QUOTE

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" ~ Erma Bombeck

This layout was completely created digitally. The brushes were created by me in Adobe Illustrator. Fonts - Adorable, and Scriptina.

Here is another completely digital layout. Check out the other layouts here.

You may have seen me at the baseball/softball field taking pictures. To order more photos, please e-mail me.

If you would like a private photo session, please email me.

Click here to view some of my latest photo projects.

Taken during a recent trip to Las Vegas. I entered this photo in the Freedom category for JPG magazine, a publication for amateur photographers to share their work. Although it isn't screaming patriotism. It reminds me of our freedom to move around in this country, to experience life as we please, and reminds us that it is in God that we all trust!

I took this photo in St. Augustine during a recent visit. The sun was perfectly masked behind the tree creating this amazing silhouette. I have always had a thing for trees, and I think this one is going to get printed.