Photography Tips

Face-free PhotographyPhotographing the graduation, wedding or Mother’s Day gathering? Capture a least a few photos that are face free. Relationships and settings are often more powerfully demonstrated with tight close-ups of things other than faces. Let’s look at a few shots you won’t want to miss.








HandsSnap grandma holding hands with grandpa or the newest member of the family. Grab a photo of the bride and groom hand-in-hand as husband and wife or capture the diploma in your young graduate’s grasp. Show Mom helping her daughter prepare for the prom or graduation. And too, if the event has associated traditions like a tea ceremony or signing a wedding certificate, those moments also deserve the power that a close up, face-free photo brings.







The DetailsGet in close and capture the décor, the jewelry, the shoes and socks, or lack of them, which make your family’s special occasion unique. If it’s a graduation, document the program, the flowers, and the school emblems that are displayed along with the Hawaiian print shorts your son will wear underneath his graduation gown. And if it’s a wedding, remember most wedding décor is chosen to be a reflection of the young couple. Will the bride be sporting jeweled flip-flops under her wedding dress? Are the paper lanterns a nod to her Chinese ancestry? Will one of the groomsmen be wearing purple socks? Let the personal touches they choose for their celebration live on forever in photos, and the memories made will be remembered long after the event is over.





The LocationTrying to get everyone in the photo and still see the scene behind is often just not practical. Always include at least a few face-free shots to help define the location. Whether it’s the celebration table, the high school sign, the outside of the church or a photo of the road sign; such scene-setting photos add context to your pages and projects.

Adding Context and DetailWhile faces are the mainstay of photographed moments, you can add rich detail and important context with your no faces photos. Never let them replace those smiling faces. Just think of them as the icing on the cake!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

April New Studio Art

Looking for collections with a decidedly feminine touch for that wedding, pregnancy or Mother’s Day project? April’s art offering provides a variety of female-friendly collections that fit the bill perfectly.

Two of our April releases are from French art provider Digital Crea. “Away from You” and “Say Yes” are both filled with frames, foliage and flowers designed for wedding, romantic or other feminine layouts and books.



Looking for home, family or gardening themed art? Our “Time 4 Family” and “Silver Bells and Cockleshells” are wonderful additions for just such storybooking. Check out the cute family pets and the wonderful tree in “Time 4 Family” and the rusted buckets and gardening tools in “Silver Bells and Cockleshells.”



Clean, contemporary and loads of fun, “A Pea in the Pod” is a tastefully designed pregnancy collection. You’ll love it for baby showers, pregnancy journals and recording the arrival of the little one. In this month’s single departure from the more feminine, you and your train-toting toddler will be completely on board with railroad themed “Engine No. 9” from Gina Miller of The Lily Pad.



For wonderful Mother’s Day gifts and greetings for grandma, oma or nana in your family’s life; be sure to check out “Child of My Child: Grandma Add-on.” Its papers, elements and word art are designed for your special grandmother, no matter what the grandkids call her.
And to finish out this month’s art offering, we’re releasing three versions of the 2013 calendars. Jump-start your holiday gifts by taking advantage of these early release calendars today.

Art Purchased Just for You

With almost more art than you could store on your home computer (if you could afford to purchase it in the first place), Heritage Maker art grows every month and you help it get there! Customers just like you send suggestions for seasonal, themed and evergreen art and we listen! Need new Father’s Day art? Interested in a sport we haven’t covered? Want to commemorate a road trip and could use a little extra art? Let us know. We’re building this gigantic and varied art collection to suit you!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

collection to suit you!

Club Kudos

The Club HM Facebook page was designed just for you. Visit today and you can be part of a supportive community that focuses on learning, growing and sharing. We offer tips to teach, answers to questions, and creative challenges to help us appreciate new art, try new products and learn different ways to document our life stories.



Learning a New Approach
In a recent “No Faces, Photo Challenge” Club HM Facebook members were challenged to document a relationship without showing any faces. The inspiration piece for the challenge was Renee Lamb’s “Unbreakable Bond” a 12 x 12 scrap page, template 78444. Renee’s page showed her three step-daughters sitting on a fence holding hands. The “unbreakable” bond illustrated in the photo was a powerful lesson to many of us on the Club HM page that faces are not always the best focal point for a relationship photo.



Club HM member entries poured in for this one-winner-only challenge, and many were the most striking projects ever posted on Club HM. Some of those in the running to win were Tina Snider’s project “made from a photo she had taken the previous year and loved and Karen Cattles’ project “Love is Color Blind” honoring her new grandson.



Lisa Iwata adapted a page from a page she’s made previously featuring her daughter and her three best college friends. Michelle Bedard’s 12 x 12 scrap page, “A Happy Day” had recently become template 32514 in the Template Gallery and was also a big hit.



And the Winner Was . . .
Our "No Faces" Challenge was one of the most moving challenges we've ever had. From tiny baby hands to children led along by Dad and babies yet to be born, we LOVED how many ways our Facebook Club HM members found to demonstrate deep relationships without showing faces. Our final winner was Jan Stamm for her touching portrait of mom and grandma lovingly preparing the bride for her wedding. It’s a 12 x 12 scrap page, now template 82049 and called "Three Generations of Love."

The Real Winners
The real winners on the Club HM pages are the thousands of participants that learn and grow each day. Join us. We’d love to have you.

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Mother’s Day Ideas

Does your mom deserve a special shout out this Mother’s Day? Well Heritage Makers has gifts and greetings to make her day one she’ll really remember!

Hats Off to Mom x 100!Let her know how love and appreciated she is with a “100 Things I Love About You, Mom” 7 x 5 storybook, template 56347, by Lynda Angelastro. Write what you appreciate about mom inside this beautiful purse-packable book. Divide the 100 “things” up between your brothers and sisters or interview the grandchildren to make filling the book faster. Only one, first-page photo of mom is needed. It’s fast, it’s heartfelt and one thing is certain: mom will treasure it forever.



An All Year Long Thank You
Give a gift that will display your gratitude all year long with a subway art-styled poster like this one from Karilyn Pieratt. It’s template 83853, “Mother’s Believe Subway Art Poster,” made from an 11 x 14 poster. Karilyn also created a poster made from an 8.5 x 11 scrapbook page, designed to be shown off in an 8 x 10 photo frame. This pink poster, made just for Mother’s Day, is called “Mother's Day 8 x 10 Subway Art” and is template 83854.





Recipe Cards GiftSearch online or go to your local high-end kitchen gadget store and you’ll find clear acrylic recipe boxes in the 6 x 4 size. Pair the recipe box with 6 x 4 invitations made into recipe cards and you have a winner of a Mother’s Day gift. Ann Perry has a set in blue, shown here, template 80515, named “Recipe Card,” but search the Template Gallery and you’ll find many styles and colors from various designers. And really, what could be more flattering or appreciated than for mom to have her recipes in printed form? Saves some sibling rivalry too because mom’s recipes will now be easily be duplicated for all.


The Faces She LovesMom or grandma will go gaga over a Mother’s Day card featuring the faces of the little ones she loves. Check out our super popular template 61575, “Mother's Day Card” by Julie Young, a 7 x 5 greeting card. With its pink and pretty design and space for three photos, it will be an instant hit. Use a single photo of all the kids together (or this be one of the cards each child gives) with template 8602 by Elisa Black. It’s called “Green Mother's Day Photo Card” and is a perennial favorite.



Cards Designed Just for HerDo click the “preview” link while you’re searching for that special card in the gallery. Many cards that are beautifully designed on the outside have a place for the photo that will touch her heart on the inside!

“Amazing Mother Card” by Karilyn Pieratt, 5 x 7 greeting card, template 83852 is a good example. Show off a photo of grandma’s younger days with “HM M is for Mother” by Roxanne Buchholz, a 5 x 7 greeting card template 81708. And for another “fancy outside, photo inside” card check out Michelle Bell’s “Mother’s Day Flowers,” template 21453, also a 5 x 7 greeting card.



In Her Favorite ColorIf your mom loves blue, check out “Bright Mother's Day” by Michelle Bell, a 7 x 5 greeting card, template 21395 or “Blue Butterfly” by Leanne Reist-Barr, another 7 x 5 greeting card, template 54770. But remember, it’s easy to swap out papers! In Studio every-element is swappable, so that blue could just as easily be purple, if that’s the color she loves the best or to match that special photo you want to choose.

Heritage Makers Gifts and Greetings

Making the most important woman in your life a personalized gift or greeting is easy with Heritage Makers templates. Enter “mom” in the Template Gallery search engine and you’ll find nearly 200 designs created especially for her! Change any color paper to her favorites, swap a photo or two, complete with your personal message and you’ll have a keepsake she’ll cherish forever.
 

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Canvas—A Clever and Classy Gift

A Deeply Appreciated Gift

Looking for meaningful gifts for your many upcoming family events? April’s the perfect time to plan for those wedding, graduation or Mother’s Day gifts, and canvases are the perfect gifts for such special occasions. While fast and easy, a canvas is a thoughtful, substantial and always appreciated gift that shows just how much you care. Check out these ideas for your spring and summer gift giving.

(Shown above are “Mothers Day Tribute” by Michelle Wolfley, a 20 x 16 canvas, template 56489 and “Dahlia Wedding Canvas” by Sandra Dovre, an 8 x 20 canvas, template 65893 that’s part of a complete wedding collection.)

 



Wedding Memories

If you’re involved with the wedding and have access to the photos, preserve those feelings of joy and promise by creating a canvas that’s matched to their wedding invitations and books. Shown here are Darcie Toom’s “Blessed Wedding Canvas” a 24 x 18 canvas with the deep wrap, template 83895; Kristen Melnyk’s 12 x 12 canvas template 78762, “You and Me” and Roxanne Buchholz’ 12 x 12 canvas template 66411, “HM Wedding White Canvas.” Search the Template Gallery for “wedding” with “canvas” selected as the product. Many of the wedding collections have a canvas as part of the set.




For the New Couple

Want the young couple to know how much you are pulling for them and their future together? Canvases as décor for the new couple’s home are the perfect wedding gift. Take your favorite photo of the two of them and make Wendy Bailey’s “The Hands of Time” 20 x 16 canvas, template 52700. They’ll treasure it forever. Don’t have photos of the bride and groom but want a really meaningful gift? Here’s a solution, try “The ABC's of Us Canvas” by Kelly Wolfer. It’s an 18 x 24 deep canvas, template 59317 that can either have the new last name under the initial or the first names of the couple. The ABC’s that follow are attributes that anyone would find inspiring. (This template or the matching 11 x 14 poster version makes a great graduate gift too.)




Graduation Gifts
Give the new graduate a gift that helps him or her set lofty goals for the new life ahead. Add your inspirational quote to any of our 8 x 8 canvases. The message that came on your card or the words you’d love them to live by all can have a longer life and resonate more deeply while hanging on your young adult’s walls. Many of the canvases made to display a photo of a child work for graduates. We chose “Do Great Things” by Lynda Angelastro, template 58393, for a male graduate and “Wish” by Tanja Rigby, template 29172, for a female graduate.





Making Mother’s Day Meaningful

Nothing pleases most moms more than having photos of loved ones decorating their homes. Add the upscale look of a canvas to a photo they’ve been dying to display and you’ve got a gift for mom or grandma this Mother’s Day that’s sure to be a winner. Canvases in our popular 12 x 12 gift-giving size that fit the bill perfectly include “HM Cute as a Button” by Roxanne Buchholz, template 66406 and “Grandparents are Gifts” by Leanne Reist-Barr, template 69186. “Call It a Family” by HM Signature Templates, a 20 x 16 canvas, template 29531 is also a wonderful, larger canvas to show off your family.

Impact and Value

In addition to being the perfect present for all your important occasions, April’s an especially good time to make your canvases because each and every one is an additional 10% off this month. Show just how much you care with a canvas. It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s a fantastic gift!

Click here to start a project now. http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Fast and Easy Graduation Gift

This spring make a popular subway poster for the graduate in your life like the one shown here by Lynda Angelastro, template 84423, made from an 11 x 14 poster. Personalize it with the graduate’s name and high school colors. Follow these easy instructions and your gift will be finished in mere moments.

1. Click inside the graduate name on the top line to personalize with the name of your graduate.
2. Change the initials of the high school and personalize it to your graduate’s school colors.
3. Recolor the “CONGRATULATIONS” banner and all other colored text box.
4. Change the bottom line to the high school mascot name. If the new name is shorter or longer than the template name, turn ont he rulers, unlock the text box and pressing down the CTRL button, stretch the text box until letters line up with the half inch mark as shown below.

Your Finished Gift

Personalize your poster gift in just minutes and send it off to be printed. When it arrives, frame it to make it an extra special presentation. 11 x 14 is a standard photographic size and frames are widely available and often on sale. Your graduate will love your thoughtful keepsake.

Click here to start a project now: http://studio.heritagemakers.com/getStarted/

Go to my web site at http://www.OurPhotoStories.com or contact me via email at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about Heritage Makers products.

Gifts & Greetings for Mom

You're invited to attend a free Inspirations Online Class with Heritage Makers! Theme: Gifts & Greetings for Mom To Watch & Listen, go to http://youtu.be/VAGqE2HTcZc Treat mom to gifts and greetings with a Heritage Makers twist this Mother's Day. Heritage Makers holds online classes twice a month. Learn time-saving tips and tricks from Studio experts, including digital mastermind Lynda Angelastro -- former managing editor of Digital Scrapbooking magazine. Lynda and our other Inspirations Class instructors will demonstrate creative ideas and template shortcuts to bring an inspired touch to your storybooks and projects. Click here to start a project now. Go to my web site at http://www.HeritageMakers.com/Rebecca or contact me via e-mail at Rebecca@OurPhotoStories.com to learn more about calendars and other Heritage Makers products.