Celebrate the Funny Side of Life

International Joke Day: Celebrate the Funny Side of Life!

Knock Knock!

Who's There?

Justin.

Justin who?

Justin time for International Joke Day!

I know, I know.  That was a pretty bad knock-knock joke, but today (July 1) really is international Joke Day.  To celebrate that day, I decided to finally scrapbook some of my favorite photos of my children when they were little.  I have three Polaroidpictures of them doing goofy things, and I've been "saving them for just the right layout."  You know how that is, right?  We save them for years; and, before you know it, they're teenagers. 

When my children were younger, I kept a journal of the funny things they said, because I knew that I probably wouldn't remember them all as the years passed.  I was right.  I laughed until I cried when I read the pages in that journal.  Those quotes were perfect for my journaling.

Since the original photos were Polaroids, I didn't have any negatives.  So before I used them on my layout, I scanned them and saved a copy on my computer.  That allowed me the freedom to have fun with the photos.  Using my Cricut and some kraftcardstock, I cut Polaroid frames that I had designed.

 After wrapping some baker's twine around the photos, I layered them on top of some patterned papers from the Simple Stories Summer Fresh line.  The fun zig-zag/chevron and polka-dot designs worked very well with the happy, fun mood of this layout.

I like to mix old supplies with new ones; so for the journaling, I used a patterned paper that came with a kit that I've had for a few years.  I typed up some of the funny quotes and printed the journaling on plain printer paper.  Then I adhered the patterned paper on top of the printer paper, using repositionable adhesive.

The doily that is peeking out from behind the journaling was cut with a Lucky 8 Punch by We R Memory Keepers.  Because I'm a frugal scrapbooker, I cut the doily in half and saved the other half for another project.  I'll probably use it on a card.

Since I wanted a fun title for this layout, I chose a fun font for my Cricut and cut it out of kraft cardstock.  Making the word ‘funny' stand out with glitter was easy.  I ran the letters face-down through my Xyron machine.  Then I sprinkled some Martha Stewart glitter over them and ran them through my Xyron right-side up.  The polka-dots were an afterthought, and I drew them on with a white gel pen.  To make the letters stand out even more, I outlined them with a black journaling pen.

All that was left after that was to add a few embellishments:  buttons, phrases, punched circles, and baker's twine.  Those make just about any layout a little more fun, don't they?

I hope you decide to celebrate International Joke Day by creating a fun layout yourself.  Just grab those fun photos, a few funnysayings or a funny story, some fun products from Scrapjazz.com, and fun supplies from your stash.  Celebrate the funny side of life!

  

7 Tips for Better Cell Phone Photos

My latest article is up on Scrapjazz, and I've posted it here as well.  I hope you find it helpful.  If you do, or if you have any questions or other ideas, please leave a comment here.  Thanks!

7 Tips for Better Cell Phone Photos

by Jeanette Giancaspro (Jun 27, 2013)

Lately I've been finding that I use my cell phone's camera more often than I use my regular camera.  That's probably because my cell phone is with me almost all the time.  It's easy to grab it whenever I want to snap a quick picture of something interesting, memorable, or just plain cool.  With the improved picture quality of today's cell phones, combined with some user-friendly apps, it's easier than you think to get lots of scrapworthy photos.  Here are seven tips that I have for you to help you get the most out of your cell phone's camera.

1. Know your cell phone and its camera.

Just like any other camera, your cell phone's camera has limitations.  There are things that you can and can't do with it, and you need to familiarize yourself with its capabilities in order to get the most out of it.  I highly recommend that you read the manual that came with your phone.  If you don't have a printed copy, you can probably find it online.

2. Take more than one photo.

In my previous article for amateur photographers, I suggested that you take more than one photo of the same shot. That way, you are almost guaranteed a good shot.  It's the same when you're using your cell phone's camera.  Take two or three photos, and choose the best one.

3. Print your photos at a smaller size.

Because the resolution of your phone's camera is lower than that of a regular camera, you will have to print them at a smaller size.  I find that 2" x 3" and 3" x 4" are good sizes for these photos.  Sometimes I can even get a good 3" x 5" photo.

4. Take a breath.

If you take a breath and hold it right before you are about to touch the shutter icon, this will steady your hand and result in a photo that is less blurry.  Just don't forget to breathe out again!

5. Use your apps.

I have an iPhone, APPLE IP416GBBLK IPHONE 4 16GB (Google Affiliate Ad)and there are a lot of photo apps in the App Store.  My favorite is Camera+, because it's very user-friendly, and the results are amazing.  Plus it was free! There are also a lot of apps available for other makes of cell phones.  Do a little exploring, and try them out. Here's a winter photo that I touched up with Camera+:

  

                 Before                                              After

6. Have a photo management system.

This could be as simple as going through your photos on the same day each month, backing them up and deleting the unusable ones.  A good photo management system is one of the keys to getting the most enjoyment from your photos.

7. Use a smaller format for displaying your photos.

Because you will probably be printing your cell phone photos at a smaller size, it makes sense to use a smaller-sized album to showcase them.  An 8 ½" x 11", 8" x 8", or 6" x 6" scrapbook, along with coordinating papers, would be a good size.  Another option is to use divided page protectors in a larger 12" x 12" scrapbook.

I hope these tips have motivated you to start taking more photos with your cell phone's camera, and have given you some ideas for improving the photos you're already taking.  Just remember to keep your cell phone with you at all times, and keep snapping those photos!

  

Project Life Continued

by Jeanette Giancaspro (Apr 4, 2013)

As I wrote in my previous Project Life Article, I've been doing Project Life on a monthly basis. This has been working very well for me, especially during months in which we don't have a lot of "big" events. Although September is back-to-school month and mybirthday month, I don't usually make an entire layout about each occasion. However, I still take photos and want to document them in my scrapbooks. Project Life to the rescue! 

Since I wanted to have an "everyday" theme for this month's layout, I decided to use the Note to Self collection by Echo Park.  Not only does this collection contain designs that are basic enough to use with everyday photos, but there are also cards that can be cut apart and used for journaling and embellishments.

To maintain continuity in my album, I have decided to use the months' names as my titles, and I will place them in one of the top sections of the divided page protectors.  For this layout, I've used Echo Park's 4" x 6" horizontal and vertical page protectors in their Photo Freedom line.  I cut the letters out on my Cricut machine, and I layered them on top of punched circles from the leftover patterned paper scraps from the paper collection.

As I mentioned in my previous article, I'm trying to go the simple route with this project.  In keeping with that theme, I'm using simple embellishments on my layouts.  On these pages, I've used some stickers from the Note to Self collection, and I've also cut out some of the images from the patterned paper. 

Another embellishment I've used is a punched flower that I had in my collection.  This punch by E.K. Success (see image below) is a nice standard flower punch to keep on hand.  (Here's a tip.  When you have small scraps of cardstock or patterned paper, use your flower and basic shaped punches to make some embellishments that you can keep in your stash to use on your scrapbook pages and cards.)

Because it worked so well for my August layout, I typed my journaling and printed it out for this month's layout as well.  I don't know if I'm going to do the journaling this way every month, but I'll try to keep it as a unifying element in my Project Life album.  I won't worry about it, though, if I change my mind. 

My Project Life album is coming along very nicely, and I'm really enjoying the monthly reflection on my family's (and my) life.  Be on the look-out for more articles about my project, and I'd love to see your layouts in the Scrapjazz Gallery.  If you'd like to discuss this article, you can find the forum here.  I look forward to reading your comments and answering your questions.

Additional products used:

• · ribbon
• · solid cardstock
• · ATG
• · Tombow tape runner

Boy Scouts' Day

Hi everyone!  My latest article has been published on Scrapjazz.  It's all about Boy Scouts' Day.  Thanks for looking!