August 27, 2008

Welcome the Newest Kid on the Block with a Baby Bliss Photo Frame

By Kara Hiltz

PrinTales: Lauren Meader of My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence Explains How to Use Your Printer to Create a Photo Frame

Tired of hunting for the perfect frame to show off your favorite family photos? Instead of trudging from store to store, buy a simple white frame and then adorn it with help from your printer and some innovative stamping.

Lauren Meader of My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence started creating paper crafts in 2004 as a stay-at-home mom. After helping her oldest child battle leukemia, Lauren developed a new outlook and resolved to "live for today, and go for my dreams."

One of her dreams entailed sharing her love and talent for stamping and all things crafty on a larger scale so she launched her blog in March 2007. Now she designs personalized projects for her family and friends by combining stamping with printed photos and text.

Lauren designs projects for several companies, including All That Scraps Store, Lizzie Anne Designs, My Favorite Things, Papertrey Ink, Pink Cat Studio. She also belongs to the Scor-Pal Design Team and the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Alumni.

You don't need a high-end, fancy printer to create beautiful projects. Lauren uses a Canon PIXMA iP4000, primarily for photos. "I love using my printer for things like printing patterned paper from a PDF file, but I especially love using my photos of my children to incorporate into gifts for my family," exclaims Lauren.

Baby Bliss Photo Frame: Create a Photo Frame For Your Favorite Newborn

Lauren shared a special project with us that she created for a friend's new baby. While Lauren included one of her own children's baby pictures to give the full effect, she encouraged her friends to change out the picture on the photo placemat with a photo of their own newborn (see above photo). Use the steps below to duplicate Lauren's project and free yourself from the same old overpriced frames.

Supplies

• Basic White Frame
• Color photo printer
• Kodak photo paper
• Unity Stamp Company stamps
• Brown StazOn Ink
• White Stazon ink
• Chocolate cardstock
• Sweet blush cardstock
• Liquid pearls
• Buttons
• Adhesive
• Vellum cardstock
• Flower punch

Steps

1. Choose the color scheme for your project. "I chose pink and brown," says Lauren.
2. Select a photo to put in the frame and edit it to your liking using a digital photo editing program. "I cropped down the photo to focus on the fingers. I then changed the color to Sepia."
3. Set your photo size (Lauren uses the standard 4x6 inch size), and click Print Preview to make sure it looks the way you intended. Print the photo on photo paper.
4. Stamp the design you want on your cardstock and layer the photo accordingly. "I also used special inks to stamp on the glass," explains Lauren.
5. Select a font type, size, and color in your favorite word-processing program for the baby statistics.
6. Print your baby statistics on the colored cardstock. "I used a die cut to get the embossed border."
7. Position your baby statistics on the frame and finish the rest of your stamped design, adding any other finishing touches you'd like.

Of course, the creativity need not stop with new bundles of joy. You can customize a picture frame in the same way for other events, such as weddings and graduations. Just find stamps to suit the occasion, print any commemorative text and photos, and off you go!

About PrinTales
If every picture tells a story, then every printer must contain several bookshelves' worth. In PrinTales, we bring these stories to you by profiling people who use their printers in a creative manner. Think of it as "once upon a time" for the digital generation.