Sometimes all you need is one wonderful photo. And this week’s layout by Heather (aka Hguenthe) shows you one way to make that photo shine:

It’s a beautiful example of blending. If you have never tried blending, it’s easy to be intimidated by the thought. But for photos that don’t have a busy background, it can be as easy as grabbing a piece of textured plain paper (something that has a bit of depth and subtly different shades in it) and placing your photo on top. Then experiment with different blend modes (overlay or screen often work well) and use a distressing brush to erase around the subject of your photo. For more techniques take a look at Cassie’s tutorial.

One of the things I love best of all about Heather’s layout is that wonderful use of the journaling as a design element. Give yourself permission to play with your journaling yourself. Replace some words with pictures, highlight some words with doodling, or try a mix of different fonts.

Here’s how we had fun:

Credits: layout by Lynn, paper from Antiquities paperpack, Overhanging Leaves and Feeling Edgy copper border (coming soon) - all by Lynn Grieveson.

Credits: layout by Janet, Graphic Garden No.1 kit, Spiral bund paperpack, Stitched journal strips, Messy stamped numbers and Fresh Flowers brushes by Katie Pertiet, Where Arrows by Jesse Edwards, Clip Its No. 3 and Staple its by Pattie Knox, Vibe alphabet brushes by Art Warehouse, Worn Hearts by Lynn Grieveson.

Credits: Layout by Maureen, photoblendz canvas clipping mask and Hipster Plume Korners and Edges No. 3 by Anna Aspnes, Bayard Paperpack by Gretchen Thomas, Roughed Up Krafty Part 2, Yarn swirls Love and Yarn swirls, Basic paper alpha and Watery Corners (coming soon) by Katie Pertiet.

~ Lynn

Make sure to checkout our Thrifty Thursday specials today.  There are 284 items marked down 30% for today only!  And we have a brand new item for only 99 cents so don’t miss out!

here we are with another fun itunes challenge, I am loving these and your pages in the gallery have knocked my socks off! I was so impressed at all the takes from last time! Thank you for playing along and joining in!

This time we go back in time, just a little, for some wonderful inspiration from ‘the man’ himself..

heres my page, I do love this pic of my girls!

And heres janet’s fun page-

Terri’s cute as heck page -

and finally Mollie’s very cool double page -

As you can see we all took the inspiration and ran in fabulous different directions with it! Now its your turn, please post your pages to the itunes gallery- cant wait to see ‘em!

Running a little late, but I’m here with week 9 of our 10 weeks 2 Treasure series! And you know what that means… next week we’ll be able to order our photobooks!! woo hoo!!

So, snag the Hugs & Kisses Layered Template No. 9 and let’s get this book wrapped up!

And I’m carrying the same, consistent look through my book by using Dave’s midnight sepia action and desaturatng the lower layer for a dreamy look to the large photo and using clipping masks with the Little Princess Kit papers for some added interest! You can get some tips on clipping masks in our knowledgebase!

Layout details here and here!

Share you pages with us in the 10 Weeks 2 Treasure Gallery as we wrap up this series!

Did you see this gorgeous, retro layout by oldvwblues (aka Vicki) in the gallery?

I love how the strips of patterned paper frame the photo, and the soft-focus feel achieved by the distressing. That layered title is a real eye-catcher too!

Here’s what Jodi, Laura and Tara:

Credits: layout by Jodi, Worn page edges and Worn frame edges by Lynn Grieveson, Rose Garden mini-kit (coming soon), Messy stitching, stitched journal strips, tailed alphabet, threaded wraps, photo cut masks, Spring branches no.1 and word label strips (recolored) by Katie Pertiet, 12 x 12 textured overlays by Anna Aspnes.

Credits: layout by Tara, date stamp strips and drawn stitches by Katie Pertiet (plus basic paper alphabet white - coming soon), 09 date stamps and Pregnancy wordart by Ali Edwards, muted color textured paperie, dotted frame overlay, and distressed overlay by Anna Aspnes, worn frame edges by Lynn Grieveson, Sweet love kit by Mindy Terasawa, staple its by Pattie Knox.

Credits: layout by Laura, wooden ornaments, bugs and dirt kit (twill) by Katie Pertiet (plus roughed up Krafty paper and negative sleeves - coming soon), Olan Paper pack by Michelle Martin (coming soon), Wise words wordart by Anna Aspnes, Have a heart felt by Pattie Knox.

~ Lynn