Christmas Card Template 2

October 10, 2015 by Debra 2 Comments

Hi, Christmas is just around the corner! Have you taken your family photo yet? Given any thought at all to doing so? The fall leaves will be turning beautiful colors making the perfect setting for family pictures.

Christmas Card Template 2

Free for download the above template shown – does not include the background image of the couple. Simply replace with your own background image. The Merry Christmas with star and banner is a matte. You may change the color by dropping in a new digital paper design. One of my personal favorite scrapbooking sites is Sweet Shoppe Designs

Christmas Card 2

After downloading the Fotofusion V5 template, unzip the file to your computer. I suggest your desktop. After unzipping the file, open Fotofusion. From a blank project choose FILE > ARCHIVE/RESTORE > Restore. Point to the .scrappackage file. The project will then reopen, prompting you to save the project and the source images into a new folder on your computer.

A Photoshop template can be emailed to you upon request. Please note the .psd file will be exported from Fotofusion.

Don’t have Fotofusion or Photoshop but still would like to have a flattened file with an image you submit? Contact me and I will provide instructions for submitting your image. Professional photographer’s work will be respected.

Print at the lab of your choice. Most labs will reference this as a SlimLine card.

Best Wishes,

Perfect Family Picture

October 5, 2015 by Debra 1 Comment

Hi, I have mentioned Fall is the time of year for family pictures. Most will have an idea what they think a perfect family picture is. I bet it’s different than what I consider a perfect family picture. There are no guarantees with young children!

The best advise I can give to parents, do your best to make sure your children are well rested and well fed prior to your session. Trust your photographer. Go into the session with the thought that no matter what happens, the end result will be awesome. The more comfortable you are, the more comfortable your photographer will be and the children will be comfortable too- creating that memorable family picture you will enjoy for the rest of time!

Perfect Family Picture

From funny expressions……….

To someone looking away……….

The more people there are in a group picture, the more difficult it is to have everyone looking at the camera at the same time with a pleasant smile.

Sometimes the best pictures are when no one is looking at the camera…..

More images from this photo session.

So many different expressions!

A real beauty.

And handsome!

Remember- when having your family pictures taken; either by a professional or setting your camera up on a tripod and using the self timer, you are creating a lifetime of memories for you and your family. Be relaxed and have fun. Your images will show your happiness and love for each other!

Below is my favorite of the family. I like it best for several reasons:
1) Everyone is looking at the camera;
2) Everyone has a pleasant smile;
3) It tells a story.

Do you see what the middle child is doing? He’s holding one of the juicy fruits the parents brought for the kids. Even the littlest is holding one. I’m not sure just how many they went through that day, but it was alot!

What are some of your favorite memories from one of your family photo sessions? I would enjoy hearing your story.

Best Wishes,

Click here to view more family pictures.

Business Tools 101- Websites

October 3, 2015 by Debra 2 Comments

Hi, websites are wonderful. At least I believe so! A website is your online presence; a necessity for any business large or small. Not just for businesses either. There are many uses for websites.

INFORMATION: Seemingly gone are the days when you would look something up in an encyclopedia or dictionary. If there’s something you want to know, Google is generally the first port of call for most users and there’s nearly always a website that has the information you are looking for.

SELLING: Online shopping – eCommerce.

RELATIONSHIPS: Online dating.

FUN: Playing games. Surfing the internet, watching videos and generally procrastinating!

Website Business Tools 101

Below I will mention the tools and programs I use to create and work with gmasDiary. Not all of these are necessary, however- to accomplish what I like doing; they are needed.

Choosing a website platform

Have you thought how difficult it would be to create a website? Or wondered what tools you would need to create the website? Here are a few suggestions. I personally have used WordPress.com and WordPress.org platforms. Either one of these two I recommend. The main difference between the two sites is hosting. WordPress.com is free and requires registration. WordPress.org is self-hosted through a hosting company like Bluehost. For complete information on both WordPress types, click here.

Now if you are interested in a blogging site only, WordPress.com and Blogger.com are similar, free and require registration. Both are pretty easy to set up and get going. Your online space is limited with these accounts.

Using WordPress.org requires a hosting account as I mentioned previously. This type of an account allows more flexibility for your creative designs. You can create a regular website or a blogging website or a combination of the two using a one-step installation function from the admin control panel. gmasDiary was created with this platform. I link to pages created with the CoffeeCup HTML program featuring image galleries, videos, calendars and other fun stuff! Which is the main point for this business tools 101 post. When you are ready to set your website up, please refer to these complete detailed instructions.

One of the biggest reasons I prefer the WordPress platform is because of the admin control panel. As long as I can connect to the internet, I can access the control panel of my website. This allows me to make instant changes as needed. With other website design software- changes can only be made with the computer where the files are stored. This is very limiting and can be a real pain! WordPress also offers many free responsive templates. With all the different smartphones, tablets and computers this is essential!

Choosing a HTML editor

What is a HTML editor you might ask. As explained by Wikipedia, an HTML editor is a computer program for editing HTML, the markup of a webpage. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality.

I absolutely LOVE CoffeeCup! Please head over and check it out- CoffeeCup HTML Editor. There is a free HTML version you may want to try first. Just an FYI- with CoffeeCup, you can download and try any one of the programs free before buying.

When working with HTML codes, I have booked marked this webpage- w3schools. As noted on the right side of this webpage, I refer to this site often!

There is a learning curve to working with websites and HTML coding. Believe me, if I can do it; so can you!

Selecting a FTP program

In a nutshell, FTP is a program used to transfer files from your computer folder file to your website online folders. The program I use is Smart FTP Client. For several years I have been using this and just have gotten comfortable using the interface. There are many other good choices. As mentioned above- CoffeeCup.com offers excellent programs.

Detailed information for, What is FTP and how to use it can be read here.

Let me show you

I created an HTML page using CoffeeCup’s HTML Editor default layout- two column fixed 5.

You can view it here.

What do you think

Do you think you will create your own website? Or if you already have a website, what programs do you use and why? It would be fun to hear your answer!

Best Wishes,

Do you have your letterhead? Letterhead Business Tools