Collage your Pictures

I use sketches a lot when I'm doing layouts as a way to inspire me and to give me a starting point. I don't always follow the sketch exactly and may even end up with a layout that looks completely different. A lot of times a sketch will call for using one or two pictures but I want to incorporate more on the layout. This is when I will decide to do a PICTURE COLLAGE of some sort. I define a collage as anything where the pictures are grouped together. This can be done by hand while you are arranging your layout or done digitally in several different programs. For those of you who use Photoshop, I'm sure you may already know how to do this. If not, there are great tutorials out there to show you how, such as this one by Photoshop Online Tutorials. There are also some great programs that are free such as Picasa. Here is a youtube tutorial for collaging in Picasa.

I have done collages digitally before (such as this one), but I really enjoy just trimming my pictures to make them work for me. Here are a few examples:

Merry Christmas

All of us here at Memorable Seasons wish that you have a blessed and joyous day with your families this Christmas. We hope you make lots of wonderful memories.

Merry Christmas

Old Memories Revived...

We all love seeing pictures from long ago and enjoying how they bring back memories. I don't have alot of pictures of myself as a child, but the ones I have, I cherish. Especially ones with my sisters and I all together in them. The only problem, other than the scarcity of said photos, is their condition. Most were placed in those old timey sticky plastic photo albums, and alot of the photos are in poor shape. I decided to scan in a bunch of the old timers and was pleased to see how my new Photoshop Elements 8 program cleaned up and improved them! If you have not dug out the oldies yet, I encourage you to get that scanner warmed up and do so... I am so happy to have these photos to scrap!!

Here are a few before and after scans:
original:

And after:

Before:

And after:

and the Layout:

Add some green to your holiday menu

I thought I'd take my blog post in a different direction this week. I have a recipe to share. This has become a favorite at any holiday gathering my extended family has. We call it the green stuff. Its real name is Watergate Salad. I'm not sure where it got that weird name but that is what it is called. I've also heard it called Pistachio Salad. I always double this and it always gets completely eaten by the end of the day. The original recipe called for chopped walnuts. I use almonds. I like them better, personally. No one has complained, yet so I guess everyone else thinks it is okay, too.

Watergate Salad
1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Topping
Stir the pudding mix, pineapple with juice, marshmallows and nuts in large bowl until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish as desired.
Makes 8 servings

Make a Crocheted Flower

My grandmother taught me some basic crocheting steps years ago when I was a little girl. However, the only thing that I ever made was long "chains" of yarn. It wasn't until the other day when I was browsing this blog and found this tutorial, that I decided to give crocheting a try once again. I have always enjoyed making paper flowers for my layouts and thought that crocheted flowers would be so cute. This tutorial is awesome in helping you create these beautiful flowers. All you need to know is some of the most basic crochet steps. Once I got started, all that my grandmother taught me came flooding back. It took me some time and pausing the video umpteen times, but what I was doing finally started to resemble flowers. Now I just can't stop making them! If I'm not scrapping, then I'm upstairs in bed crocheting flowers.If you have never tried to crochet, here is another place with basic beginner steps. It really isn't that hard. I hope you decide to give it a try!