New Scrapbooking Website

Our new website has launched along with many great new products!
http://www.leavingprints.myvoffice.com/shop/index.html

Birthday Chipboard Accordion

NEW Birthday Chipboard Accordion Mini Album Kit
Give an intimate, handmade gift that shows how much you care with this darling Birthday Accordion Book. Perfect to place on your desk, coffee table or hearth. Can easily be assembled in only 1/2 hour.

View The New Kit

10 Tips In Better Photography

Taking a good photo isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Your Available Space

Don't be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it's ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot

Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don't see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.

Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won't turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors.

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.

Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can't continue to blowup a distant object.

Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera's can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don't have this problem.

Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.

Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.

Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical.... if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera's can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing.

Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.

About The Author
Michael Colucci is a technical writer for http://www.photography-tips.org - A site that offers the latest tips on photography.

Coffee Filter Scrapbook Album

Supplies Needed:

6 large cone coffee filters (natural color)
7 large tags (either make your own or purchased)
6 to 7 different pieces of patterned paper
4 to 5 different pieces of cardstock ( I use Bazzill)
Metal embellishments
Eyelets
Raffia by the yard
Several different fibers
Small circular tags
One flower
Brads
Stapler
Scissors
One frame (I made mine from fancy trim, you can also use a premade)
Walnut Ink (I use crystals diluted in water)
Microwave

Directions:

Take some newspaper and lay it out. Place your coffee filters on the newspaper spread out. Spray a nice coat with Walnut ink. Flip over and do the other side.

Please two of your coffee filters at a time on a papertowel and put in microwave for 20 seconds.

When all filters are dried place them together book style with all ridge sides facing together.

Staple the bottom of the book (this would be the narrowest point of the book, the opening of the filter is on top. Staple three times , evenly spaced.

Now take a filter from the bag , a piece of scrap cardstock and trace the filter onto the cardstock to make a template. When you cut it out go in about 1/4" from traced line to fit. (you may need to trim it in until you get a good fit. This template is for the background papers that are attached to the filters. Once you have the template use a corner punch to punch out corners. I had to use a sicissors for the bottom narrow part. Adhere the PP or Cardstock to backgrounds ..... embellish with fibers and metals or round tags that were walnut inked! (see photo's) I also made a smaller template to make a pocket ....just go in another 1/4" from the cut template and glue down only the edges to form a pocket add a decorative tag on top of that....

Tags.....add fibers to the ends and place them into the filter pockets! You can use the tags for photo's or journaling!

Embellish your book to your liking add photo's !

Using eyelets put one in the front center top and one in the back center top.....using fiber or Raffia to create ties to hold book closed.

Scrapbooking Business $1 Sign Up LAST DAY

If you have been thinking about starting your own scrapbooking business, See what Leaving Prints can offer you!

Today is the last day of our $1 sign up promotion! If you want to get started with your own business or want to be able to purchase our products at wholesale, get started now before the $1 sign up is over!

Click Here to get started!

Love Scrapbook Poem- All You Need

Here is an awesome poem that can be used for any love realted scrapbook layouts! This poem was found online with the author unknown.

All You Need

My eyes are here to see you
through times of doubt or strife
My legs are here to leap you
over obstacles in life
My hands are here to push you
a little further toward your dreams
My voice is here to teach you
life's not always what it seems
My arms are here to hold you
when you feel you're going to fall
My finger's here to point you up
when your confidence grows small
My heels are here to stomp you down
when you fail to hide your pride
My elbow's here to shove you
toward the truth when you have lied.
My tongue is here to talk you through
solutions you may seek
My fists are here to fight for you
whenever you're too weak
My shoulder's here to lean on
when your innocence is at stake
My lips are here to kiss you
down those paths you'd never take
My tears are here to flood you
with more grace than you can bear
My feet are here to walk you past
the times when life's not fair
My mouth is here to answer
to your every desperate plea
And my heart is here to love you
if my love is all you need.

Baby Scrapbook Page Ideas

Scrapbooking baby is so much fun! There are literally hundreds of page themes that would be prefect for any little prince or princess! Here are just a few of my favorite baby theme page ideas!

1. My Birth Story, The Story Of .....
2. Labor Of Love (for hospital and labor layouts)
3. Welcome Home Baby, 1st Day Home
4. Baby Feet, Baby Parts, Tiny Fingers and Tiny Toes
5. Pretty In Pink
6. Love At 1st Sign
7. So Small And Sweet
8. Sleeping Baby, SHHH Baby Sleeping
9. First Foods, Yummy Fruits, My First Foods
10. Bath Time, Tub Time, Squeeky Clean