theBlog @reneepearson.com
An Open Letter from Renee
This is an open letter to our students, partners and friends from Renee Pearson. Warning! Long post ahead.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but ReneePearson.com has been a little quiet since the first of the year. That’s because my husband, soul mate and business partner, Kent, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on January 5th. In plain language, that’s called a stroke.
On January 5th, my whole world turned upside down. Kent was healthy and fit…much more in charge of his health than I was of mine. He was out running errands that morning and visiting a sick aunt in a small regional hospital. He wanted to get everything done to make it home in time to relax and watch the NFL Playoffs.
Kent survived thanks to God’s hand in providing quick action by gifted surgeons, physicians and nurses. (I think of them as angels.) I have never felt so blessed, and we will never be able to thank the medical professionals enough. When it comes to strokes, time is everything and their swiftness meant not only Kent’s life but his ability to achieve full recovery with very little visible damage.
Season’s Greetings
and Happy Holidays
A special greeting at Christmas time to express to you our sincere appreciation for your confidence and loyalty. We are deeply thankful and extend to you our best wishes for a happy and healthy Holiday Season.
Wanna Learn How — Create a Text Border
The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #2, Joscie who commented:
I love when CK offers Digital Scrap Tips. and a chance to win a subscription to a mag I love, well that’s just icing on the cake!
Congratulations Joscie!
Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! I tend to love simple yet strong pages. The old adage “less is more” repeatedly calls my name. But while I love to create simple pages, sometimes they need just a little something extra. So what do you do without adding more “fluff”? Create design with your text! This week I’ll show you how to take an ordinary title and integrate it into your layout design.
Creating a text border is a great way not only to separate photos and paper; it adds a great design element to any project while still keeping the page simple and the focus on the photo.
Wanna learn how simple it is to create these fun text borders? Read on! (more…)
Get Snapseed free for a short time only
Create dramatic images with Snapseed’s powerful editing tools.
My personal favorite photo editing app, Snapseed, is celebrating the release of their new version 1.5 with FREE downloads for a short time only. This fantastic app is usually $4.99, so this is an incredible deal! Jump on it quickly so you don’t miss out.
Android users rejoice! Snapseed’s now available for your mobile device for the first time ever.
And once you’ve downloaded Snapseed, there’s no better way to learn to use it than with my Snap To It! workshop. In 13 video lessons (plus new lessons coming soon to cover Snapseed 1.5’s new features), you’ll learn how to use this powerful, flexible app for all your on-the-go editing needs.
Wanna Learn How: Edit Photos Like A Pro
The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #3, Debbie Joegenson who commented:
Great info. I’d love to win a subscription.
Congratulations Debbie!
Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! This week we’ll focus on our photos and how much of an influence they make on the overall look of our scrapbook layouts.
There is a lot to be said for the casual images you snap yourself and the emotional ties we have to them. The problem? Sometimes the quality falls short of our expectations. Well, I have good news! You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enjoy the impact you get from professional shots. Even photos snapped on AUTO can rival those pro shots you love. The secret? The magic happens long after the shutter button is ever released.
The fact is nearly every photo can benefit from simply adjusting three aspects in Photoshop: Sharpness, Light, and Contrast. And it’s easier than you think! Now, there are literally hundreds of different and involved ways to edit photos in Photoshop, but after several years this easy technique still proves to be my favorite always producing dramatic results. With a few simple steps, you can take a standard photo from this:
to this:
Wanna learn how simple it is to edit photos like a Pro? Read on! (more…)
Cyber Monday 1-Day Sale
Today is Cyber Monday and all* of our self-paced workshops will be 30% off at ReneePearson.com. We’re also launching the self-paced versions of iScrapit by Renee Pearson and Building Color Confidence by Cilenia Curtis!
Don’t snooze on this one, though, because the sale is for today only. This is your chance to pick up those fabulous workshops you’ve been dying to take, including Snap To It by Molly Newman, Digital Scrapbooker’s Guide to Blending by Tiffany Tlllman and the Adobe Illustrator series* by Laura Coyle.
All you need is the super secret (okay not so secret) coupon code: CYBERMONDAY. Add it to your registration to get the 30% discount.
*Holly Shop is excluded from this sale. It’s already reduced to $15 through the end of December.
Holly Shop is on sale!
We’ve lowered the price of Laura Coyle’s Holly Shop to just $15. Holly Shop is the step-by-step Adobe Illustrator project workshop that will help you create personalized holiday greetings while keeping your Illustrator skills sparkling. Like all of Laura’s Illustrator workshops, take Holly Shop at your own pace, you’ll have lifetime access.
When the New Year arrives, we’ll pack up Holly Shop with the rest of the ornaments for another year so get it now!
Tiffany Tillman’s Heart of the Holidays
Tis the Season
Tiffany Tillman’s popular 25 Days of Templates workshop is back and this season we will capture the Heart of the Holidays!
25 Days of Templates began as an online workshop in 2009, and each year since, it has helped hundreds of digital scrapbookers record their favorite December memories. This year’s focus presents weekly presentations featuring the best album strategy, photography, and digital technique lessons from previous editions. And new this year, are Monday — Friday journaling prompts by master storyteller, Sara Gleason of Plant Your Story.
Using your choice of Tiffany’s square or letter-sized holiday-inspired template sets as a foundation plus a generous, digital mega-kit by Karla Dudley and Mye De Leon, you’ll have everything you need to complete a detailed or relaxed album featuring your most-cherished holiday memories.
Be sure to join Tiffany on ReneeTV Tuesday, November 13 at 9pm EST (New York City) for a live webinar related to Heart of the Holidays. Everyone’s invited to attend.
2013 Renee Pearson Creative Team Search
I can remember it as if it was yesterday—my first contact with Stacy Julian of (at that time) Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and the resulting invitation to join Simple’s Contributing Editorial team along with popular scrapbookers Cathy Zielske, Donna Downey and others.
Yes, that first step was a bit intimidating, but my excitement at the possibility of sharing the fun and creativity of digital scrapbooking was motivation enough to “just do it.”
Fast forward to today. With the success of ReneePearson.com, now I need a group of creative individuals possessing a similar passion and spirit to form the Charter 2013 Renee Pearson Creative Team.
Are you a digital crafter, artist or photographer passionate about what you do?
Would you like to inspire others to learn digital techniques by sharing your own digital creations?
Are you connected to an active online digital crafting, photography or design community?
Are you an active blogger?
Do you post to Facebook frequently and have a large group of “Friends?”
Are you a frequent “Tweeter” with followers?
If the answer is a resounding yes, then we want you!
Creative Team members will be required to:
- Accept a one year commitment to the team.
- Spread the word about what we do via blog posts, community activities and Facebook/Twitter posts.
- Demonstrate the skills students learn in our classes and workshops by producing visual layouts, photographs and projects.
- Participate in and initiate discussions in our public community forums.
Team members gain free access to classes and workshops and may also be offered the opportunity to “beta test” new class content before it’s available to the public.
To apply for the 2013 Renee Pearson Creative Team, go to the search page and complete the application. Be sure to add three examples of your work.
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, November 20th. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Wanna Learn How: Selectively Color a B&W Photo
The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #5, Kathi Heifner who commented:
I have Photoshop Elements and haven’t learned all the tricks. Thanks for the tip, can’t wait to try.
Congratulations Kathi!
Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! This week’s tip comes from the request of last month’s tutorial reader Melinda. She wrote:
We’ve all seen those stunning black and white photos with a single item highlighted with a bright pop of color. If you’ve ever wondered how to recreate this look yourself, today is your day! There are probably a dozen different ways to add selective color to a black and white image in Photoshop. But today I’m going to show you my favorite quick and easy technique that can take a photo from blah to beautiful in under 5 minutes.
With just a few clicks of the mouse you can transform an ordinary photo from this:
to this:
Wanna learn how simple it is to selectively color a black and white photo? Read on! (more…)