Just Add Ink #3 Winners

Hi Inkers!

It was a dark, dark day in the voting forum today at Just Add Ink - as usual, you amazed us with your divine cards and scrapbooking layouts and made the voting process very difficult indeed.

A big thank you to everyone that entered, and also thank you to everyone that left us comments of encouragement on the Just Add Ink blog, they mean so much to us.

Here is this weeks Top 5 (in no particular order):

Carole'Anne Sluchinski

Tessa Wise

Kirsty Brown

Louise Forsyth

Paula Dobson

Congratulations ladies, here's your Top 5 badge to display on your blog:

Click here if you need help adding the badge to your blog.

And here's some other creations that we just had to highlight:

Sam Post

Rachel Jackson

Jane Norrish

Megan McDonald

Janice Klass

Give them a big round of applause, and don't forget to pop by their blogs and leave a little comment love.

Thanks to everyone that participated this week - we love checking out all your gorgeous creations and having a nose around your blogs while we're at it - congratulations to you all.Tune in tomorrow for Just Add Ink #4 ... a colour challenge.

Do you love where you create? We'd love to see it too!!
Care to share?
Click here to find out more.

Photographing Your Layouts (Part 1)

There are but a few simple rules to take better photo's of your cards and layouts. Today I'll focus on scrapbooking layouts, I promise to do a tutorial soon on card photo's... please note I'm no professional photographer - so laymen terms will frequent here, I hope you don't mind!

Rule 1: Natural Light!
Why would you take a photo of your creation in the dark? We want to see all those beautiful colours, the textures - not shadows! You don't need to go out and buy yourself one of these to get that effect either (although there is one on my wish list!) or a snazzy camera...
Great light is just a small step away - like the shade of your back patio for example. Direct light beaming down on your creation will wash it out - but shade is perfect. Give it a try, you'll be amazed what a difference it can make.

Other light tips:

• Don't use your flash - just like direct natural light beaming down on your creation, it will wash a lot of your detail out or create ugly shadows. Trust me, I've been down this path many, many times. If it's night time, just wait until the morning to take your photo, it will be worth the wait.
• Use the MACRO setting - this is usually the little flower on your settings dial. All camera's are different - so play with the different settings.
  

Rule 2: Make sure it's flat
Whether you're (gently) attaching your LO to a wall with blue-tack or lying it on the ground to photograph from above (see extreme example below) make sure your layout is on a flat surface, and parallel to your camera lens.

When you are looking through your view-finder ensure your layout is parallel to the top, bottom and sides of you view finder. This takes a bit of practice, but I can assure you it will make all the difference to how your layout looks in the end (less distortion - you know when layouts look lopsided?), and helps the editing process a little too.

Rule 3: Take LOTS of photo's
Everyone loves eye candy. There's nothing better than seeing little details you love about your creation up close. That's why!


Rule 4: A Little Editing Goes a Long Way
The legendary Karen Giron directed me towards a software program called GIMP, it's really easy to navigate through (well, if I can use it I'm sure anyone can figure it out) and you can download it for free here.

Where was I going with that? Well, it's what I use to edit my photo's... and I will be sharing one tip today that certainly helps 99% of my photo problems!

Here's where you'll find two key "helpers" in GIMP (red boxes):



This is really easy - you basically slide the bars up and down until you're happy with the result - now go play! You'll see what I mean.

This is what my LO looks like after I've cropped and upped the brightness : (moved the tab to the right) - eeek!
Because I've edited a gazillion pics in the past I happen to know "Contrast" will make this all better...

This is my layout after Contrast has been moved slightly less to the right than Brightness, so now I've changed the Brightness and the Contrast on my original picture.
Because the background paper was white, this is what I'm aiming to achieve here, which in theory will make the rest of my layout colours pretty accurate.

And there you have it, the first part of Photographing Your Layouts. If you have any questions PLEASE let me know by emailing me at just-add-ink@hotmail.com or leave me a comment and I'll try to help you out.

Until next time,

JAI3 Entries so far...

If you haven't yet had the chance to check out the stunning cards that are entered so far in this week's challenge, make sure you do because they're nothing short of amazing. There are so many wonderful ideas, and they're sure to inspire you!

Here's a taste of what's been entered so far...

Please click on each entrants name in the Challenge post to visit their site and leave some comment love. And if you're still planning on entering, you still have a little time to get your project linked up. Get creating!!

Just Add Ink Challenge 3 - A Sketch Challenge

Welcome to Just Add Ink!

Are you ready for our 3rd challenge? This week is a sketch challenge! Have fun, we can't wait to see what you come up with...

Here's some inspiration from the Just Add Ink Design Team:

Amanda Reddicliffe

Danielle Daws

Chantell Randall

Delys Cram

Kirsty Jeffery

Nicole McMurtrie

Sarah Klass

Tania Gould

Bronwyn Eastley

Just Add Ink Rules:

• While the DT uses Stampin' Up! products for their projects, we welcome you to use any brand you like.
• Please use the keyword JAI3 when uploading to public galleries.
• Please mention our challenge and provide a link with your post.
• Provide a DIRECT LINK to the post on your blog where you've displayed your creation using Mr. Linky. Incorrect links are NOT eligible for Top 5 picks, and may be deleted.
• Projects must be new.

Don't have a blog/gallery? Email us a picture of your creation at just-add-ink@hotmail.com and we'll publish it on our linked challenge blog for you.

Mr. Linky will close Wednesday 10th February at midnight EST. Be here on Thursday 11th February to see our Top Picks.

Not sure how to use Mr Linky?  Click HERE.

Just Add Ink Challenges Participants

1. Vicki 2. Julia Leece 3. Jan Radu 4. Louise Forsyth 5. Monica 6. Kris Sobolik 7. Barbara Taylor 8. Claire Dauncey 9. Shelley S 10. Kirsty Brown 11. Leah Weir 12. Gardenia 13. Felicity 14. Carole'Anne AKA Stampin Stressaway 15. Paula Dobson 16. Rachel Jackson 17. Meghana 18. Sharna Russell 19. Marcelle Jansen 20. Carole Stedman

21. Richelle 22. Susan Joyce 23. Michelle Scott 24. Jacquelyn Pedersen 25. Lynn Powell 26. Sam Higgins 27. Linda Wormall 28. Bron Heslop 29. Sam Post 30. Shelly D 31. Kris McIntosh 32. Christine Blain 33. Alexis E. 34. Louise Layton 35. Naomi Jansen 36. Tessa Wise 37. Claire - Ink Inclinations 38. Esther Holt 39. Tina G 40. Nicole Derendorf

41. Bridget Fox 42. Melissa 43. Sharnee Torrents :0) 44. Jane Norrish 45. Megan McDonald 46. Paula Fuller 47. Lorena Grun 48. Chantelle 49. Erin 50. Nikki Pascoe 51. Lisa Bullock (NZ) 52. Kim Badelt 53. Kylie R 54. Susan Joyce 55. Kristine Thompson 56. Janice Klass 57. Narelle Hoggard 58. Kerry Deane

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Just Add Ink!

We Want To See YOUR SPACE!

Have you noticed our new blinkie? It's over on the right hand side of your screen. Have you wondered what it's all about?

Right now we're looking for people that want to give the Just Add Ink readers a tour of their craft space - where the magic happens!!

Please email me at just-add-ink@hotmail.com telling me a little bit about your space - be it the kitchen table to an entire dedicated room! I want to know what you can't live without, what amazing tips you can share for storage, and a wealth of photo's of your special space. It doesn't have to be neat, and it doesn't have to be flashy - it's not a competition to see who has the most stuff!

Or if there's someone's space in particular you'd like to see, leave a message on this post and we'll see what we can do!

Can't wait to hear from you!

Just Add Ink #2 Winners

Hi Inkers!

It looks like you all had a tremendous amount of fun creating for this weeks challenge and everyone here at Just Add Ink would like to send out a big, sarcastic THANKS for making the judging process so difficult!

Every single creation sent in to us was adored by all, but as always there can only be five in the Top 5... here's the badge for you to display on your blog:


Click HERE for help adding the badge to your blog.

And here is this weeks Top 5 (in no particular order) - congratulations ladies.

Erin Gonzalez

Jaquelyn Pedersen

Susan Joyce

Sam Post

Tessa Wise

And these cards were also truly inspiring:

Tui Nathan

Kylie R

Louise Layton

Lynn Powell

Give them a big round of applause, and don't forget to pop by their blogs and leave a little comment love.

Thanks to everyone that participated this week - we were blown away with all the gorgeous entries - congratulations to you all.

Tune in tomorrow for Just Add Ink #3 ...

 

JAI2 Entries so far...

Wow! We were blown away by last week's entries and this week's entries are just as wonderful! There are so many different types of projects and so many skilled crafters!

If you haven't already entered, the cut-off time is Wednesday 3rd February at midnight (12am) EST and you can submit your entries HERE.

Make sure you have a look at the entries so far and leave our entrants some comment love! Here's a slideshow of the entries so far...



Keep those entries coming in!