Graduation Thank You Cards and Bookmarks

Do you have a graduating senior in your home?  Do you know a graduating senior? Are you planning a celebration open house?  A special dinner? Lots of activities are coming for your senior.  Now is a good time to start thinking about thank-you cards or note cards!

Katie provided our sample.  She choose three of her graduation shots for the front of her 4" x 5.5" postcard.  She created a text box and colored it yellow.  Then she opened another text box and added her name.  The back of her post card has "Thank You" centered at the top.  She has plenty of room to write her thank-yous.  She can either mail the postcard, or enclose it in an envelope.

Katie also created bookmarks.  She plans on handing these out to her guests.  Nice job!

Freeze Frame Publishing's software for cards, post cards, calendars, and posters is every bit as customizable as our photo book software.  Pictures and captions can be added anywhere.  Font, font size, and font color can be customized, too.  There is also plenty of clip art available in the software.

Please visit our web site for more information on our products and services.  If you have any questions, please contact us. We're here to help.

Laura
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Take Better Photos in 5 Easy Steps

Spring is the perfect time to learn something new. That holds true for the promise of spring, too!

I have been learning how to operate my camera in the hopes of taking better pictures.  Our family has three high school graduations and two weddings to look forward to this spring, summer and fall. Plenty of picture-taking opportunities await!   

This Photos by Jay   blog post might be helpful.  It certainly has all the ingredients I like: not too many tips at once... and the word EASY in the title. With a little practice, Jay's tips will become second nature.

Please visit our web site for more information on our products and services.  You can also sign up to have our blog posts emailed to you.

Enjoy the impending spring season; take lots of pictures!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

-Laura
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Digital Photography for Beginners

Winter Wonderland.  Late-February.  A good time to learn a few more tricks with our cameras.


Digital Photgraphy School  has another great blog post to help us in our quest for taking better pictures:
 Digital Photography Tips for Beginners

Something to shoot for 124 "Best Photos of 2009"    Freeze Frame Publishing will have our first "Best Frames of 2010."  We invite you to send us your best picture of 2010. We will assemble and share your works early in 2011.

And while you're at it, Save My Memories has a great post on labeling your photos for storing on your computer.

Keep your cameras handy and your batteries charged! Visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Graduation Cards and Photo Books Ideas

Graduation is fast approaching for high school and college seniors. Graduations, like weddings, mark the end of one of life's chapters and the beginnings of new chapters.

The winter is a good time to begin planning for open houses and graduation parties. Here are a few posts that appeared in our blog in the spring of 2008.

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Pre-Building your graduation photo book
Part 3:  Announcement Page
Part 4:  One Last School Memory
Signature Photo Book

Check back for more tips and ideas for customizing memorable gifts for your graduates.
Please visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your graduation memories forever! If we can be of any assistance, please contact us, we're here to help.


Laura

 

Start Planning for Spring and Summer Weddings!

January is a perfect time to begin your planning for spring and summer weddings: attending bridal shows, sampling caterer's fares, choosing photographers and DJs, selecting wedding and reception venues, not to mention choosing a date!

All of these wedding planning details are picture-taking opportunities, too!  Keep your cameras handy and your batteries charged!

Our first wedding series ran in 2008. Our previous posts might be helpful as you begin your wedding journey.

Part 1: Guest Books
Part 2: Attendant's Gifts
Part 3: Pre-Wedding Memories
Part 4: The BIG Event
Part 5: The Honeymoon
Part 6: Remember I Do

If you have tips and suggestions you'd like to share, please contact me, we'd love to post your suggestions.

Keep checking for tips and ideas to help you freeze time and frame your WEDDING memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions,
-Laura

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Portrait Taking Tips from Digital Photography School

Did you get a new camera for Christmas?  Do you want to learn some of the tricks the pros use to take pictures?  19 tips for taking better portrait pictures are available on the  Digital Photography School blog. 

Once you have your pictures, download our FREE software for photo books, cards, calendars and posters and start framing your memories with Freeze Frame Publishing!

Please visit our web site for more information on our product offerings and services.

If I can be of any assistance to you, please contact me at laura@freezeframepublishing.com or info@freezeframepublishing.com.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura
 
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Ideas for Freezing and Framing Your Memories

"Smile!" Click. Flash... "Look this way," Click. Flash... Click. Flash... "gottcha!"

Our digital cameras will be clicking and flashing a lot over the next few weeks.  How will you FRAME all of your great pictures?

Cool Photo Ideas has plenty of ideas for you.

like this great photo wall display

or this great photo tree display

They give step-by-step directions for these ideas and lots of other ideas. Perhaps you will be inspired to create new photo displays using your best shots!

Now... about FREEZING all of those cherished digital memories.  We've talked about the necessity of backing up all of your digital picture files before. Here's another article from Page2Pixel that you might find helpful.

Thank you for visiting our blog.  Please visit our web site for more information on our products and services.  If you have any tips or ideas that you would like to share, please contact us with the details! 

Charge your batteries. Clear your memory card. Start clicking!

-Laura

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HELP! Where did my pictures go?

With one week remaining in which to create and order photo books in time for holiday giving, we are receiving a few calls for help regarding the mystery of the "missing picture file" and picture resolutions registering at 0.

So, what's going on?  Is there a grinch in your computer ? A Scrooge "bah-humbug"-ing your attempts to create the perfect, personal, heart-felt holiday gift of a photo book custom created by you?

I think I can help you:  Create a folder specific to each photo book, card or calendar project you are working on! Put copies of all of the pictures you wish to use in that project in that folder.  Our software operates differently than online photo book companies where you upload your pictures to a folder in cyberspace.  Freeze Frame Publishing's software resides ON your computer, there is no uploading of pictures required.  Our software looks for your pictures to be in the same place each time.  For example, if your pictures came from a CD or a flash drive and you remove the CD or flashdrive you will get an error message of "Missing picture file" because your picture files are no longer in their original place.

By creating a specific folder for each photo project you are working on, you will never get a "missing picture file" message because your pictures will remain in the same place for the software to "find" them.

Hope this helps.  If you have any questions please contact us, we're here to help.  And if you have a question about a process, chances are someone else has the same question!

Please visit our web site for information on our products and services or to download our FREE software for photo books, cards, and calendars.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Building Your 2010 Calendar--July

We've had lots and lots of hummingbirds in our yard this year. Ken spent a half hour one afternoon snapping pictures of the hummingbirds at the feeder on our porch. We have two different hummingbirds on our July calendar page.

It's not too early for you to start your 2010 calendar! Here are a few tips to help make your year-long calendar building experience a good one:

1. Create and label a folder for your calendar pictures. Add pictures you wish to use in your calendar. You can continue to add pictures throughout the year.

2. Reminder: Keep your calendar pictures in a folder and keep the folder in the same place! Each time you open any saved photo project, the software looks for your pictures and expects that they are in the same folder in the same place on your computer. Should you receive a "missing image file" warning in one of your saved projects, check that your picture and picture folder have not been moved to a different location, or deleted altogether!

3. Open the calendar program; drag your calendar folder to the picture tray on the left side of the screen. To add new pictures to your calendar picture tray, open your calendar folder, click and drag the new pictures you wish to add. The example below illustrates how to add new pictures.


Please see our past blog posts on building our 2010 calendar for more tips and ideas. Type 'calendars' in the search bar at the top of the screen from our blog page.

Linkable results will follow.


Please visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time... and frame YOUR memories forever!

Enjoy the rest of your summer! Take lots of pictures! Be thinking about holiday gifts for your friends and family using your digital pictures and Freeze Frame Publishing's FREE downloadable software!

We welcome your comments and suggestions,
Laura

Building Your 2010 Photo Calendar --January

One of our new blog series this year will be Building Your Photo Calendar Month by Month. It may be easier to build next year's calendar month by month, instead of waiting until December and frantically searching for pictures highlighting the year! One post a month will be devoted to building my own family calendar. January has just ended. Most of the pictures I've taken this year are still on my camera and the current January calendar page is still handy. It was easy to find "January pictures" and I can easily add January '09 dates to my January '10 calendar.

I have chosen three pictures that capture the snowy winter we've had. Freeze Frame Publishing is located in West Michigan. We've had an extremely cold and snowy season. I didn't have to go far to take these pictures. The pine trees are in my front yard; the weathered fence surrounds a dilapidated cabin on a little lake a mile from my house. My calendar project is saved on my computer; it'll be there next month when I build February.

One month finished...11 more to go!

Our calendar program is easy to customize to fit your style. Our calendars come in a variety of sizes: 12 x 18 top-bound; 11 x 17 top-bound; 11 x 17 center-bound; and 8.5 x 11 top-bound. You are able to add text, graphics and pictures throughout.

Please visit our web site for more information on our products. You can download our free software and start building your own 2010 calendar!

Thank you for visiting our site. We hope we can help you freeze time and frame your calendar memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Customized Valentine's Cards

There's still plenty of time to create and order your Valentine's Day cards from Freeze Frame Publishing. The children in your life may have fun customizing their Valentines for friends and family. A quick trip to a local dollar store and you can find all kinds of inexpensive embellishments for their cards.


For our examples today, we purchased a package of doilies, spread them out on a table, took a picture and used it on the cover of our 4 x 5 greeting card. We left the inside of the card blank so that each card your child makes will truly be one-of-a-kind.

In this example we took a picture of a doily placed with a favorite pooch statue. The red heart area can hold a special hand-written "I Love You" message which can be added when your children decorate their cards. We left the inside of this card blank as well.

While we were at our local dollar store we purchased peel-and-stick foam letters and hearts along with glitter pens and letter and number decals. We chose white letters so that they could easily be "glittered."

Customizing cards can be a fun afternoon activity for you and the children in your life, especially during the winter months!

Adults enjoy customizing cards, too. Many wonderful embellishments can be found at your favorite scrap booking store.

Freeze Frame Publishing currently has a card special: Order any box of 24 cards and receive an additional 12 cards FREE! Please visit our web site for more details.

You can also sign up to receive our blog updates and promotions emailed right to your in-box! Please download our software or request a disc with our software on it and give us a try.

Thank you for visiting our site. We hope we can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Hot Nights; Hot Cars: Community Events Photo Books

Community Events make great subjects for photo books! Last week thousands of people staged themselves along 28th Street, from Wyoming to Kentwood, Michigan to catch a glimpse of cars from bygone eras. Cars from the 50's, 60's and 70's cruised 28th Street as onlookers in their 50's, 60's and 70's remembered their youths, their first cars, their stories.

Luckily, we had our camera on hand to snap a few shots. The left page, in the example above, uses a picture of the official sign as the background with three small inset pictures of T-shirts sold commemorating the event. The right page showcases a few of the hood ornaments.


Community Event photo books make great thank-you gifts for the sponsors of the event.

Thank you for visiting our blog. We invite you to visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Background Ideas for Photo Books

Almost as important as the pictures in your photo book are the backgrounds. Our photo book program has many backgrounds from which to choose. They come in different colors and themes, all able to fade back as you choose.

Have you considered using your own pictures as backgrounds in your photo book? We hope the following examples will spark your creativity and help you look at your surroundings a bit differently.

We've all witnessed beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Many of us have taken pictures of just such events. What do you do with that beautiful sunset from this year's vacation? Try using it as a background for your pictures.

This two page spread is of a sunset in Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. We placed photo boxes along the side and bottom of the pages to illustrate that other pictures, perhaps of the people experiencing the sunset, can be used on the page as well.

This is the same two page spread with the background faded back 33%.

Shoreline rocks and water, also taken in Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, are the subjects of this background. The right page background has been faded back 33%.

A sandy beach is the subject of this background. Again, the right page background has been faded back 33%.

Beach chairs on a sandy beach are the subjects of this background. The photo boxes on the left page have been arranged in a whimsical fashion. The right page background has been faded back 33%. Our photo book program makes it easy to let your creativity shine through.

Our final example of a background page is a map. The map shows the route taken on this vacation. Pictures can easily be added, as illustrated above. The right page background has been faded back 33%.

Thank you visiting our blog. Please visit our web page for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

VACATION! Photo Books Part 4: The Vacation

The vacation is over. The memories, like the sand in your shoes, linger. Now is the perfect time to create your Vacation Photo Book.

After you have decided what organizational structure you will use (chronological, topical, etc.) and you have sorted your pictures accordingly, it's time to think about page backgrounds. Our photo book program has many backgrounds from which to choose. But you might want to consider using some of your pictures as backgrounds in your Vacation Photo Book.

Here is an example of a two-page spread using a picture of shoreline rocks underwater as the background. This photo was taken in Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It captures the rocks and water that were present throughout this vacation. This background is neutral enough to use on several pages. It can also be saved and used as a background in future photo books.


Here is an example of a 'sand shot' used as the background for the opening page of a North Carolina ocean vacation taken this summer.

Here is an example of a background that is available with our photo book program. This background is textured and comes in several colors. This background complements the photos on this page.

Another idea is to use a group picture as the background and place candid shots highlighting the activity along the side. A caption completes the page.

Please visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your vacation memories forever.

We welcome your comments and suggestions... and vacation stories!

Laura

Wedding Photo Books Part 1: Guest Book Photo Books

The summer months are the most popular months for weddings. If you, or someone you know, are planning a wedding you are aware of all of the details that go into making your wedding day special.

Have you thought about your Guest Book? Photo Books make great wedding Guest Books!

With a little pre-planning you can create a personally customized Guest Book. In addition to having a record of all of the attendees you will have a memorable record of some of the items used in the wedding as well as places where the events were held.

What pictures to include and how many are up to you. Perhaps you'd like to have a picture of the place where you exchanged your vows. A picture of your rings. Your champagne glasses. The garter. Your wedding invitation. Leave plenty of space for your guests to sign and have plenty of fine-point, Sharpie-style pens available.

Our photo book program allows your creativity to show as you design your Guest Book. Pictures can be large or small, full page, faded back. You can add titles or phrases on pages or leave them blank. The possibilities are endless.

We hope this suggestion has been helpful. Please visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your wedding memories forever!

We welcome your comments, suggestions, and wedding ideas.

Laura

Pics of My Pets: Part 4: Cut Outs

We've been showing different photo book page options to showcase your favorite pet. Today we'd like to show you another option: cut outs (and not the sugar cookie variety, either!).

This picture of Sparty in her beach gear makes a great two-page centerfold in your photo book.

This picture would also make a good "cut out" suitable for framing. Another idea is to put magnetic tape on the back and post the picture on your refrigerator.

Please visit our main web page for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

Thank you for visiting our blog. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Laura

Pics of My Pets: Part 3 "Centerfolds"

Do you have pictures of your pets that capture their unique personalities? Maybe you have a series of pictures surrounding one event. These pictures may be just perfect to create a full two-page spread of your pet.

We have built a sample two-page spread of Clara. We have built it two different ways to show you some of the possibilities available to you when using our photo book program.

In the above example, the two-page spread has one central picture and four smaller "series" pictures. The central picture has been faded back 33%. The four surrounding pictures have not been faded.

In our second example, the two-page central picture has not been faded back. The four smaller "series" pictures are accented by different colored frames.

Please visit our web site for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

Thank you for visiting our blog. We hope you return often for more tips and ideas in creating your own photo books.

We welcome your comments, suggestions... and of course pet pics!

Laura

Signature Photo Book

There's still time to make a Signature Photo Book for your graduate. Create this photo book with a few pictures and lots of room for signatures and words of wisdom for your graduate. Below are a few sample pages of a Signature Photo Book.

Remember to have colorful pens (Sharpie fine points work well) available for your guests to use as they leave their words of wisdom for the new graduate.

Perhaps you'd like to have a special page for the siblings of the graduate.

Enjoy the season. Enjoy the moments. You are creating new memories to share. Congratulations, graduates! Congratulations, parents!

Please visit our main web page for more information on how Freeze Frame Publishing can help you freeze time... and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments.

Laura

Mother's Day and Photo Books

While Mother's Day is "officially" recognized on Sunday, May 11 this year, we all know that moms play a special role in all of our lives every day. Mother's Day is a nice reminder to do something special for all the moms in our lives...










... and a nice reminder to be thankful for all of the children who make us mothers.

There is still time to make a special photo book for your mom. You need not be limited to using pictures, either. Do you still have some art work you created when you were in elementary school? Awards and recognitions stashed somewhere? A favorite card you made just for mom? Chances are your mom cherished and carefully saved those items for you. Why not surprise her with a photo book containing pictures of those memories too?

Need Assistance? Freeze Frame Publishing is ready to help you create a special Mother's Day photo book for your mom. Please check our web site for more details on special promotions as well as our product offerings.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Thank you, Collin, for making me a mom!

We welcome your comments and suggestions... and "mom stories."

Laura

Draft Your Book; We Can Build It!

What are doing with all of your pictures? Are they still on your computer? In your camera? Let Freeze Frame Publishing help you create custom photo books to store and share your memories.

Pick a theme for your photo book, select the pictures you wish to put in it and give us a call. It's that easy!

If you know what pictures you want on each page and what captions, if any, you'd like to use, why not make a mock-up book? Ann, from Michigan, had an idea of the layout of her book. She pasted copies of her pictures in a word document and printed them. She then taped them on a blank page and noted other pertinent details. Her pictures were not full scale. Ann chose to number her pictures and captions and type them on a separate sheet for her design consultant.


Another way you can draft your book is to number your pictures on your CD or flash drive, enclose a page explaining what pictures you want on which pages. If you want to add captions, make note of that as well. You do not need to print any copies of your pictures at all!




You can also let our consultants design your photo book. Please see our Services section and our Products and Pricing section on our main web page for further information. We're here to help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Laura

Load 'em on. Back 'em up!

Digital cameras make taking pictures so easy these days. What do you do with all of the pictures you have taken? Many people load their pictures onto their computer hard drives. This is a perfect place to store them for future use.

What happens if your computer crashes?

We at Freeze Frame Publishing want to take a moment to encourage you to back up your photos! Burn your favorite pictures to a CD. If you have pictures already backed up, check the CD to make sure it loads and reads properly. It may be time to re-burn an existing CD.

Now that you have your pictures backed up, why not consider building a custom photo book! Let's face it, it's difficult huddling around a computer screen to view last year's vacation, or that summer wedding you attended.


Photo books are great ways to store and show your favorite pictures. Please contact us, we're ready to help you freeze time and frame your memories forever!

Thank you for visiting our site. We welcome your comments, suggestions and stories!

Laura

Photo Books and Insurance Providers

I recently read an article in Business Idea of the Day from BusinessKnowHow.com on the importance of keeping good records for insurance purposes. The article, by Jane Attard, reminds us that an insurance company's mission "isn't to pay as much as they possibly can. It's to save the insurance company as much as they can." Attard goes on to suggest that people document what they own regularly and to "periodically take video or still photos" of your possessions.

Hmm... this could certainly be another use for photo books! A photo book of your family's possessions is an easy way to document and store the information for later use, if necessary. Storing your "possessions photo book" in a different location from your home might also be a good idea.

We welcome your comments.
Laura