Lollydoodle Scrapbook Layout Using New CTMH Stamps & Embellishments + Lots of Photo Tips!

I am taking a break from Artfully Sent posts to share this cute scrapbook layout with you today. I just adore these photos of Kailyn and our dog, Oslo. 

She was between 7-8 months old here and on the verge of crawling. She can’t get enough of her doggie! He loves her, too, but loved her more when she couldn’t chase him and crawl on him. LOL! Her “thing” now is to lay on him and give him a big, sweet hug, but he still doesn’t like it. He’s a good sport, though. 🙂

The paper is from the retired Lollydoodle paper pack but I used several current stamps:  Hopscotch alphabet, Owls (“you & me”), Happy Birds (“Happy” on navy cardstock), and True to Life (“Way Cute”).

I have become a self-proclaimed expert phone-photo-editor because I have more time to use my phone than my computer. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite photo apps with you.

Photo Editor: My favorite photo editor is PicTapGo. It’s $2.99 and worth every penny. I have tried TONS of photo editors and this is the easiest and best I’ve found for straight editing. I think its best feature is “lights on,” which does a great job of lightening photos that are too dark. It also has lots of filters, which you can use as intended or at a % of filter “strength.” You can also use more than one filter for a very customized look, and you can save your “recipes” to use later. For example, if I have a dark photo, I can use “lights on” to lighten it, and I can even try “lights on” again to to even lighter, then bring it down 50% if the 2nd time was too light. Then I can warm it up and auto-color. Check it out.

Collage: I like to make photo collages to text to family and post on Facebook so that they can see a string of photos in one snapshot. Then I started ordering prints of those collages, like in the scrapbook layout above. It’s a fun effect and a great way to include several smaller/similar photos from an event. My favorite app for collages Is called Photo Collage. There is a free version but I got the pro version for $1.99 because I got tired of the ads. You can make 4×6 or square collages.

Ordering Prints: I found an app called FreePrints, which is made by PhotoAffections.com. Through the app you get 85 free 4×6 prints per month and you can pay for additional prints and sizes, then just pay shipping. I like the quality of their prints and the app is SUPER easy to use!! They kind of make up for the “free” prints with shipping, but they don’t charge a crazy amount. I think I paid more on Shutterfly and I like these better.

FreePrints is really easy to use. You can zoom/crop your photos by just pinching on your screen, you can choose various sizes really easily, and then order easily. You can do limited editing, like crop, rotate, and turn to black & white, but that’s ok with me because I edit in PicTapGo first. I have ordered from them a couple of times now and the quality is great. I like matte finish because it looks more professional.

The thing I liked best about this app at first is that I could load my square photos into the app and order a 4×6, and it wouldn’t automatically zoom/crop the photo to a 4×6, it left it as a 4×4 square with an inch of blank space on either side. This is a HUGE plus for me! You can even upgrade to 5×5 square prints for $.49. That’s what I used on the scrapbook page above.

Use code jmalme1 if you get the app and I’ll get more free photos per month–but I’m not sharing this with you just for the code! I truly love this app!

Here’s another tip: Use a collage to print photos for Project Life & Picture My Life!

When you make a 4×6 collage you can choose portrait or landscape orientation. Then add 2 (or more) photos to the 4×6 collage and once printed you have the right size for your 2×3 pockets.

I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

What photo apps do you love and recommend?