Action Junky

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Nicole

I’m talking Photoshop actions. I love actions since with just a click of a button you can turn a good photo into a great photo. Don’t get me wrong it is important to learn your camera, but often times an action can help with a quick lighting fix or a pop of color. It’s really nice when proofing a whole group of photos as well.

Here is an example. A photo taken on Easter Sunday of my husband and son.

Cute, but the sun is starting to go down and it’s a little on the dark side.

Here it is lightened up.

and with another click of the mouse in black and white.

If you would like to give actions a try there is a whole slew of free actions available on the internet. Just do a quick google search for ’free Photoshop actions’ and you’ll get pages and pages of info. One really good article I have bookmarked on some available actions as well as how to plug them into Photoshop can be found here: Photoshop actions

Some of my favorites that aren’t free and I use all the time are: Itty Bitty Actions and Maggie Holmes Color Actions

Another program I use all the time to assist my photos is Noiseware. Now I admit this isn’t exactly an action but I can’t mention actions without mentioning this amazing assist as well. Noiseware can be used in conjunction with Photoshop, but you DO NOT have to have Photoshop to use the free community addition. Noise in photos happens in low light situations and causes the grainy images. I don’t fix this every time, but to those photos where I think it distracts from the photo I do.

The original:

and the after: I ran the photo through noiseware (portrait setting) and then did a color boost action as well as the lens flair filter.

Hope this wets your appetite of what you can do with your photos. If you are already an action junky like me, link me up with some of your favorites !

Documenting Your Vacations

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Tammy

Do you document the detail of your precious vacation time so that you can remember what you did for future scrapbooking projects? If you do, how do you accomplish it? Do you keep a journal of your activities? Do you blog on a daily basis or do you wing it when you get home and try to remember all of the events?

I’ve noticed that as I get older (and busier) I tend not to remember all of the little details of our vacations unless I document them in the moment. I’ve tried several methods to accomplish this and have found the travel journal to be the most efficient for me. Not only can I document all of the details of each day including where we ate and what we did, but I can also stuff the journal full of memorabilia such as ticket stubs, park passes, and tour maps. I’ve even been known to save our drink coasters from dinner because they make great mini albums!

Travel journals can be purchased in most stationery stores and they don’t have to be fancy. I’ve used the dollar store brand and they work just fine– as long as you have room for expansion if you’re a pack rat like me!

Another method I just used for my most recent trip is blogging and sharing the photos on a daily basis. This method is a little less efficient since it involved bringing my big camera and laptop with me but it worked fine once I got it all through airport security! One drawback to this way of documenting the details of your vacation is that all of your memorabilia is typically unorganized. If you are like me, it all gets thrown in a suitcase pocket to be sorted out and organized later.

If you don’t journal the details of your vacation, you should try it. It makes scrapbooking your vacations so much easier!

Hugs,

Tammy

Copic Markers: Upcoming Classes

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Cindy

STANDARD CERTIFICATION CLASSES

The Copic Papercrafting Standard Certification Class encompasses education of the most important aspects of Copic’s product lines. It includes hands-on education of product knowledge, blending techniques, answers to common problems, how to test and select your inks and papers. This is useful information, whether you want to sell, teach, or just enjoy using our products. You will receive a 68 page manual, as well as a kit of products, including one of each type of product from each of the Copic product lines. You will also have an opportunity to use all of these products hands-on, as we cover their function and differences between each one.

May 21, 2012 – Hanover, MD ~ only 3 spots left
Taught by Lori Craig
Residence Inn Arundel Mills/BWI
7035 Arundel Mills Blvd
Hanover, MD 21076
410-799-7332
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

May 25, 2012 – Regina, SK Canada
Taught by Sherrie Siemens
Wingate by Wyndham Regina
1700 Broad Street
Regina, SK S4P 1X4
306-584-7400
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

June 5, 2012 – Portsmouth, NH
Taught by Marianne Walker
Courtyard Marriott
1000 Market St. Building Three
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603-436-2121
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

June 6, 2012 – Boston, MA
Taught by Marianne Walker
Courtyard by Marriott
75 Felton St
Marlborough, MA 01752
508-480-0015
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

June 15, 2012 – Las Vegas, NV
Taught by Colleen Schaan
Courtyard Marriott
5845 Dean Martin Dr.
Las Vegas, NV 89118
702-895-7519
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

June 15, 2012 – Casper, WY
Taught by Lori Craig
Courtyard Marriott
4260 Hospitality Lane
Casper, WY 82609
307-473-2600
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

June 22, 2012 – Montreal, QB
Taught by Sherrie Siemens
Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain
1, Place du Canada
Montreal(QB), Canada H3B 4C9
514-878-9000
» DETAILS
» APPLY ONLINE

INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATION CLASSES

The Copic Papercrafting Intermediate Certification Class was developed for people who want to know more of the artistic aspects of working with Copic products. You can apply for this class, if you have taken the Standard Copic Certification class. In this class, you will cover shading, shadows and color. You will learn composition and design in paper crafting, coloring trees, working with reds, skin tones and coloring hair. Most importantly, you will learn to improve your own designs! If you want to take your coloring to the next level, this class is for YOU!!

May 26, 2012 – Regina, SK Canada
Taught by Sherrie Siemens
Wingate by Wyndham Regina
1700 Broad STreet
Regina, SK S4P 1X4
» CLASS DETAILS
» COLORING TEST
» APPLY ONLINE

June 7, 2012- Boston, MA ~ only 1 spot left
Taught by Marianne Walker
Courtyard by Marriott
75 Felton St.
Marlborough, MA 01752
» CLASS DETAILS
» COLORING TEST
» APPLY ONLINE

June 16, 2012 – Las Vegas, NV ~ only 2 spots left
Taught by Colleen Schaan
Courtyard by Marriott
5845 Dean Martin Dr.
Las Vegas, NV 89118
» CLASS DETAILS
» COLORING TEST
» APPLY ONLINE

June 23, 2012 – Montreal, QB
Taught by Sherrie Siemens
Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain
1, Place du Canada
Montreal(QB), Canada H3B 4C9
» CLASS DETAILS
» COLORING TEST
» APPLY ONLINE

For further class details and current availability I recommend visting the Copic Web Site.

Local Events News

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Cindy

If you live in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area or are planning a visit during the next six months, you may be interested to learn about these upcoming scrapbooking events. The first is a mere nine days away at Conway Elementary School in Stafford, Virginia where attendees will have twenty-one hours of cropping time and a generous 6 feet of table space per person. To date, 15 seats still remain and registration closes this Monday, April 30th. For further details on this and other upcoming events, please visit the ‘events/locations’ page of this website.

The second is an all-day Crop hosted by the Fredericksburg Tri-Delta Alumnae Chapter to benefit St. Jude Hospital and will be held on Saturday, August 11th. This is a large event with a total of 144 attendees and is just off Rt. 17 at Holy Cross Academy in Fredericksburg, Virginia – 8 seats are still available. And lastly is Citrus Tree Studio’s October Crop being held at the Chancellor Community Center in Spotsylvania, Virginia. We’ll be scrapbooking on Friday, October 12 from 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. and again on Saturday, October 13 beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m. There are 22 seats still available and payments may be made on this site via PayPal (http://citrustreestudio.com/events/citrus-tree-studio-crop/).

I hope you are able to attend one or more of these fun gatherings, it is always great to spend time with family, friends and new acquaintances while creating lasting memories for your loved ones. And if you or someone you know will be hosting an event or fundraiser and you think Citrus Tree Studio would make a good addition, please feel free to contact us at info@citrustreestudio.com. I hope to see you soon.

Spring’s Product Explosion

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Cindy

April has been a busy month for retailers who have been receiving and unpacking lots of new product from many of our favorite manufacturers. Signs of this glorious event were already apparent in late-February with a heavier showing in March with the arrival of such lines as “Pretty Party” by Crate Paper, ”Summer Soul” by Fancy Pants Designs, Basic Grey’s “Plumeria,” and more recently, “Summer Fresh” by Simple Stories.

We can look forward to much more this month and into early-May, actually way too many to mention, so I will note just a few that have caught my eye so you can check them out in detail on the manufacturer’s websites. Kaisercraft and MME seem to have the most collections becoming available in the near future. Kaisercraft’s “Great Southern Land,” “Magnolia,” “Rock Pool” (shown above), and Timeless” provide a myriad of styles to assist you with your crafting projects. MME’s “Nostalgia” and multiple “Indie Chic” lines cover the color gammit which are sure to inspire. Other lines just hitting retailers shelves or soon to arrive are Authentique’s “Carefree,” LYB’s “Hello Spring,” the next round of mini-themes by Echo Park, “Paradise Beach” and “Sweet Day,” and Webster’s Pages “In Love” and “Palm Beach.”

I can’t close without mentioning these next product lines, all of which have a patriotic or at the very least, a red, white and blue color scheme or variation thereof, which never fail to grab my attention. Authentique’s “Glory” (shown above), E.K. Success’ “French General,” Pebble’s “Let Freedom Ring,” and slated to ship in May, the ”Declaration” line by Pink Paislee.

I hope you found something above that will fit your scrapbooking needs and please feel free to share any other product lines that you are anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Scrapbooking the Lemons along with the Lemonade

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Nicole

Most people start scrapbooking because of weddings, birth of a child, birthdays, holidays. I started for the same reason almost ten years ago when Wes was born. Today though I want to encourage you to scrapbook the not so glamorous times as well. Because life isn’t always sweet sometimes there is a few lemons along the way. I’ve started including these rough times more and more in my scrapbooks along with my thoughts of how I go through them. It’s become very therapeutic and by doing so I also hope I can help someone else someday.

After Thomas was born last summer I had a really hard time. Not only was I in a lot of pain from the C-section, but I also was dealing with blown veins in both hands and a malfunctioning gallbladder. There were a lot of negatives, but the big huge positive was snuggling with my new little guy and looking at his perfect little face.

So yes it’s important to turn your lemons into lemonade, but remember it’s the lemons that make us who we are and it’s important to remember them and document them.

Happy Sunday, Nicole

Welcome to the NEW Citrus Tree Studio Website

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Cindy

If you have stumbled on the site for the first time, I welcome you. If you are familiar with Citrus Tree Studio and are returning for a visit, welcome back. For those that are unfamiliar, Citrus Tree Studio (CTS) was established in May of 2008 as an on-line scrapbooking store specializing in kits. The site went ’live’ in late-July and began selling kits in August of the same year. Since that time the industry has changed quite a bit especially with the arrival of social media. Patrons are being diverted into many different directions which has led them to enjoy their love of crafting in many different ways. And so came the time for a change at CTS wherein I decided to re-direct the business to more of a local vending venture. This is not unfamiliar territory as CTS began vending at local scrapbooking/fundraising events in 2010. As much as I enjoyed getting to know my on-line customers, many becoming good friends, I also really enjoy seeing my ’in real life’ customers and meeting new people at these events. This change will also allow me more time to enjoy the hobby that I love and what sparked CTS initially.

As you have probably already noticed, this new site has more of a blog feel which will lend itself to a more personal connection with CTS and its contributors. What you can look forward to is news and announcements about upcoming events, reviews, tips and techniques, the occasional challenge and new kits with a few being available for purchase on-line. You will also see that the Gallery remains to help inspire you and to also aid customers in their kit purchases.

Thank you for visiting Citrus Tree Studio and as always, please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or need assistance. I hope you will visit often and happy creating.