Who's ready for a new month?

Stay tuned.... remember we debut the new kits on the 1st day of every month. Feb will only have 1 kit, but March will have the 2 like always. (check out the DT section for all the AWESOME eye candy of the kits... seriously- you'll be blown away)
We have a couple new designers that will be debuting new product as well- so join in the fun and get excited for what's to come!!!!

Fancy a Contest?

LP is going to be hosting a fun contest in the next week or so. It will include using the FREE KIT that you received throughout the blog hop and/or LP product. If yyou want- you can still go thorugh the blog hop blogs and download all the pieces so you can participate!!
There will be prizes involved as well- so spread the word and keep checking back for when it starts!

Now- I know ya'll have been waiting to hear who the GRAND PRIZE winner is for the Blog Hop.
Ready? lol

OK- Our grand prize winner is.......................................................................................

HEIRLOOMSCRAPPING

Congrats girl!! Email me at lollipoppress@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who made this blog hop so much fun! Keep checking back often for more fun, prizes, freebies, and inspiration!

Technique Tues... {ahem} Monday!

Hello out there!  Yesterday concluded the Lollipop Blog Hop 2011 and the winners are expected to be announced sometime today. Yippee!

I am talking tech stuff today.  Don't worry it isn't too technical.  If you have saved any pictures or  layout at all then you know you have options on which kind of file you want to save as. For example, the most common file extension are .jpg .png .gif and I pronounce them like this "j"-peg, ping, and jif. For along time I never understood the difference and what flipppin difference does it make anyway!  So I will attempt to shed a little light on the subject.  

.gif files used to require a patent which was why usually only professionals used that type of file.  It was necessary to make a compressed image without losing too much quality.  The downfall aside from the patent is that it doesn't support as many colors.  

So sometime after that the .png file showed up.  It required no patent so you can image how happy people who were in web developement were.  Also the .png files are a better with depth of color. 

Which leaves us with the .jpeg format.  This is the preferred format for photos because it supports up to 16.7 million colors as opposed to the maximum 256 colors in a .gif file and up to 24 bit in color.  "24 bit in color"? What am I talking about? 

Color depth is sometimes called color resolution. The number of computer bits used for color graphics. Each of the three primary colors (Red-Green-Blue) is represented, and whether it is on or off. Higher quality color resolution requires more memory and larger file sizes. The "-bit" color reference is the number of bits in each pixel ("picture element"). - querycat

So I said all that to say this... Save all your digi layouts and pics in .jpg file format. BUT when you compress a .jpeg you will lose picture quality so be sure to save the original seperate if you need to compress and post a pic/layout on the interent.  What about email, you ask?  I am not an expert but I would say most email service providers will automatically compress the image for you when you attach a file .jpg or otherwise.

Hope that clears up any mysteries about what file extentions you should be using for your scrapbook pages. 

 I have included this link if you would like to read an article from someone much more qualified than I to explain in full.  http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/gif-jpg-png-whats-difference
 

Thanks for stopping by.
Over and Out!
Joanne

Last Blog Hop day

Its been so fun doing this Blog hop! Everyone who has visited and become acquainted with LP product has made this a huge success- so THANK YOU!

We would love it if you stuck around, checked out our awesome kits, and joined in the fun. There will be some big changes coming to LP in the months to come.. so stay tuned in!

Today you will be seeing the GRAND PRIZE give away. I know I've been SO RUDE to not show you until today.. but I wanted it to be a surprise!!

SO- There are a few things you have to do to get entered into the drawing.

1) leave a comment on EVERY blog on our blog hop

2) become a fan of our FB page

3) Follow our blog

You can get an extra entry by doing one or both of the following:

1) making a purchase on our LP website

2) sending a friend over. (they have to comment saying you sent them)

Drawing will be held tomorrow and will be posted on this blog by noon.

So here's what you're gonna get!

Woodland Winter Kit

Chic and Shabby Kit

*And all this:

Includes:

Basic Grey Paper

Fancy Pants Paper

Little Yellow Bicycle Paper and stickers

Amber Winward Paper (yes.. that's me :) )

MM embellishments

Thickers

Karen Foster Embellishments

*The physical product is only available to US residents only.. unless you are international and would pay for shipping. Otherwise- if International person wins- I can compensate by giving you 2 more digi kits ;)

So start spreading the word about the giveaway and increase your chances of getting it!

Thanks to all of you who participated this week- it's been so much fun!

And- in case you were wondering, the final pieces of the Freebie Kit are out today. Here is the whole kit. If you have missed some pieces, check all the blogs and you''ll find the links.

Now- start at my blog and make the rounds... Everyone will be posting the winners of their RAKs today and tomorrow :)

Blog Hop day 7

Today.. all you get from LP is a HUGE teaser :)

There will only be 1 lined debuted for Feb. (usually there are 2). It will be shown and on the LP website come Feb 1.


So.... here's what it is:


Believe me- this one was one of the FUNNEST kits to make- and I KNOW you will love it!
So be sure to stop by on Feb 1 to see the amazing things the DT made with this kit and be one of the first to purchase!

Now... start of this hoppy day by visiting my blog!

Blog Hop Day 6

Have you seen our sketches? I never used to be one to use them.. or create them. But it sure has been fun!

Click on our sketches tab to check them out :)


Also- because I enjoy them... here's a new one just for this hop. Be sure to leave love where it's due :)-


Enjoy!


Now start this day off right with eye candy and RAK's galore! Start at my blog first!

Blog Hop Day 5

Man.. i had a whole post written and it got erased. Hate it when that happens! So here it goes again. lol

I wanted to point out that our digital kits are not only for digital scrappers. Have you ever branched into Hybrid scrapping? It's so easy. And one main reason it's making a huge sweep in the industry now is because it's CHEAP. You will spend, on average, 20 cents per pattern paper versus the average 85 cents per paper on the physical market. What's nice is that you can purchase the papers in matching kits, so you KNOW you will always have papers that go well together. (pattern AND plain)

Did you know you can purchase JUST the paper from my kits on our website? Each kit has different purchase options to fit your needs.

If you know how to use a computer and have a decent printer, it's UBER cheap to print off what you need.

I have a few girls on my team who hybrid scrap and they are the PRIME examples of how to do it. Check out what they can do with the LP kits!

Chic & Shabby Kit used by Carol Monson:

Woodland Winter Kit used by Trish Harwick:

Now- start up our blog hop day at my blog and be sure to search each blog for the freebies given out today!

Blog Hop Day 4!

Isn't this fun? Had I known what was going to be said and shown- I would have done this a lot sooner!! lol
Be sure to hit all the blogs- there are a few freebies to download today! If you get lost, remember there is a Master List a couple of posts down that you can refer too.

Also stop by the LP website and grab one of our kits for yourself! We would love to see what you do with them!!
First stop is my personal blog- so head over and see what else I have to say ;)-

Blog Hop Day 3

Have you checked out the LP website yet? All the kits are on there amongst a few new things :)

Our lovely Erin has decided to join the designing ranks and design a few things for LP. She's designed beautiful cards using LP kits and a few page templates. Here's a taste of what she's created:

Aren't they so cute?! Be sure to stop by the LP website and order yours today! Now... stop by my personal blog and start day three of LP eye candy and inspiration!

Blog Hop Day 2

Hope you are enjoying all the eye candy so far! I know I've been truly inspired by my wonderful team. I have a great group of talented girls who definitely know how to scrap!

Today- you will get to see the 2 new Jan. Lines!! The first one is called Chic & Shabby and the second one is Woodland Winter. Both lines are to die for! I had so much fun creating them and hope you will hop on over to the shop and buy yours today! Your first stop is going to be my personal blog- so head over and see what I have in store! And be sure to stop by all the blogs- there will be pieces of the freebie kit posted each day and you won't know who posts it until you visit the blog!

Chic & Shabby-

Woodland Winter-

Using Actions with PSE9 to make your photos really POP

This is my first Technique with Lollipop Press and its a little scary.......

I've been Tradition and Hybrid Scrapping for a long time, although relatively new to digital scrapbooking!!

But i am a keen amateur photographer so I thought i would share with you how i make my photos really POP making them eye catching when on our layouts.

I am using Actions for Photoshop Elements 9.

Im a huge fan of Actions.

Rather than playing with lighting, contrast and colour ourselves, we can down load free Actions, or purchase them from Photographers.

Here is a photo that was taken by the Local Paper at a recent school fete. Its kinda flat and boring dont you think, and i totally don't like that background, but with the right "Action" we can change that!

Once Actions are purchased you have to save them into the Program Data File for PS9 and then they are avaiable to use.

Then its just as simple as a double click on your photo to completely change their look.

I have several free and purchased actions on my PSE9, but my favorite ones are the ones I have purchased from professional photographers.

For this finish i have used what the photographer calls Astoria. It adds brightness and contrast and really makes the subjects stand out from the photo.

This finish is called Tombstone and it gives a real cowboy feel i think. Its been layered with a brown shade, reducing the opaque and adjusting the tones.

But the finish i find i use most is converting the Black & White features. That way it doesn’t matter what colour my photos are, i can always make sure they match my papers.

It also reduces the impact of the background in the photo.

See... the photo looks much better now doesn't it!

So Chic....

In more ways that one.... hehe

Thanks so much

Hope you enjoyed my first Technique with Lollipop Press

Blog Hop Master List

We hit a little snag- When you get to Casey's blog, it stops. BUT THERE IS STILL MORE!
She's fixing the problem- so if you are looking for the rest- here's the list of the order and all the blogs you should be hitting throughout the week :)
Amber's Blog
Amanda's Blog
Carol's Blog
Trish's Blog
Bre's Blog
Joanne's Blog
Casey's Blog
Jodi's Blog
Natacha's Blog
Erin's Blog

First LP Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by! Here's where the fun begins. Here at LP, we've tried to put together a fun blog hop for you to enjoy. So take a look at the link below and have fun browsing! Each day each girl will post a new project using the new January Lines. There will be RAKs, freebies, and give wawys along the way as well.. so check back every day!

We will be doing this for one week. If you post a comment on EVERY blog at least once during this week, become a follower of the blog, AND like our FB page, you will be entered into our GRAND PRIZE drawing! And believe me.. you don't want to miss it. It's a great mix of digi and physical scrap product :D

So.... Start at my personal blog and follow the links from there. If you get lost, Check back here for the Master List of Blogs.

Happy Blog Hopping! And to start the fun- here's a blog hopper button from us. Post proudly on your own blogs and spread the word of all the fun going on here at LP!

BLOG HOP!!!

Starts tomorrow!!! We will have a special blinkie badge for you to strut around- so check back in here for that and A LOT of other goodies and freebies starting tomorrow!!!

Blog Hop coming soon!

We will start our first official LP blog hop starting this sunday!!
THere will be lots of giveaways, prizes, and RAKs through all the blogs.
Spread the word and join in the fun.. you won't want to miss it!!!

Shaker Card - Technique post

Today i'm going to be showing you how to make a shaker card.  Some of you might already know how to make one.  This has to be on of my favorite type of cards to make.  

The materials i'm going to use are:  

Chic and Shabby line for paper and some embellishments from Lollipop Press.  

image- cake and roses from paperfacesdesigns.

 I colored the image using Paint.net.  

Your going to start by picking the size of card that you would like to make.  Then you will be printing the paper, embellishments and image that you would like to use.   

I started with my cardbase.  I used at 6x6 Cardbase. ( i know the picture shows a standard base!!) I then cut my image to 2 7/8" square. Make sure that your image is toward the middle of the cardstock so that you can see it through the window. Instead of printing out a digital image you can also use a stamp set and stamp your image. 

Next you are going to want to make a "window" with another piece of cardstock. The same size as your image. You can make the window a shape or just a square, anything you want!!  i just used a square. I then cut out the middle leaving a border of 1/4 inch all the way around.  Make sure that your foam 3d tape will fit on your border. Increase the size of your border to the size of the foam tape your using.  Or you can just trim your foam tape to fit.   Instead of using cardstock you can just use the Digi paper that you just printed out.  I wanted my card to be a little more sturdier so i'm just going to cover the white border with the Digi paper at the end. 

 You will now need a piece of acetate, or window sheets.  I went to Office Depot in town here and got a whole box of them Qty 100 for $20.  You will need to cut it to the same size as your window.  I cut mine to 2 7/8 square.  At this point add some adhesive to the back of your "window" and stick the acetate to it. now on the same side that you stuck the acetate to your window you will now add 3d foam around the entire window.  Making sure that there are no holes. If there are holes you will get the glitter everywhere!!

Now your going to add some sparkle!!  any type that you would like to use.  I just used CTMH Prisma Glitter. Just pour some onto the window that you just created!

Now just take off the backing of the foam tape to expose the sticky.  Then stick your image onto the foam tape. Now you have your shaker window.  TAADAA!!!

Now you will just design your card just like you normally would.  

My Finished product.  

   

New Month- New Kits!!!

It's that time again!
Because of a deal we have with Gingerscrap Street, I am not allowed to show you the pictures of the 2 new kits yet. BUT, they are up on the website for purchase!!!
So head on over to the website and hurry and get them!

You can also view them via the Gingerscrap Street article on us.

Happy 1-1-11

Happy New Year!!

I am so excited for what this new year is going to bring! Hope you all had safe and wonderful holidays!

We have a very important month this month, so please stay tuned to the excitement.

We have an awesome article that is now out in the Ginerscrap Street Magazine and will be starting up a Blog Hop on the 16th that will include a free kit!!



If you are joining us for the first time, please Follow us and Like our FB page! You can also check out our amazing design team creations!



Keep checking back for the amazing things we have in store!