Inspiration Elevator - March 2013

You may recall that the purpose of this monthly challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.

It was my turn to post the challenge this month and this is what I wrote:

"Inspiration Elevator has been such a tremendous experience for me! We have explored our style, stretched our single pages into two, documented our fears and regrets, scrapbooked our beliefs, worked with less than perfect photos and have even gone vintage! Hopefully we have each grown as a result of being a part of this group – I know I have!

One of the fun things about scrapbooking is working with our photos. We get to pick and choose our favorite photos and have fun recording the memories behind them. So this month, I thought we could stretch our creativity by having some fun with our photos!

I assume we all work with digital photos, so this month’s challenge will work for everyone. I want you to pick a photo and then alter it in some way using your favorite photo editing program. I would like to see something more than just making your photo black and white. Maybe use a special effect, add a frame, play with text, etc. There is so much you can do!

Play with your photo until it conveys a particular look or feel that will help you to express your memories associated with that picture. Then add it to your page! When you post your finished project, please share how you altered your photo, and why you chose the effects you did. (Maybe you could even post a before and after of your photo!)"

I had a particular photo in mind that I wanted to work with.  It is a photo that I took last summer of my niece Sarah.  As pretty as the photo was, I thought I could play with it a bit to make it stand out even more.

The is the photo I began with:

 

This is the photo after editing it in Photoshop Elements:

My hope was to create a more ethereal feel to the picture to somehow express how much I love my niece. I used three different overlays on this photo to achieve the look I wanted: Patchy Fog, Hazy Spots and Gold Light Streams.  The overlays are from Portrait Pizzazz for use with Photoshop. I was really happy with how it turned out!

Then I paired my finished photo with Kaisercraft's Pickled Pear Collection of papers and stickers to create my layout.

Lots of layering, some stamping (postage and coffee stain stamps), my favorite ribbon and a pretty little border along the top of my page completed the layout I was hoping for!

I hope you will stop by and see what the other designers on this adventure have created:

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Ann Jobes

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

If you would like to take up the challenge this month, please post a comment below and I will be sure to stop by to see what you have created ♥