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Jessica Sprague Oh Shoot! Digital Photography Classes // GIVEAWAY

2 · Mar 5, 2013 · 145 Comments

Digital Photography Class// Last week, I posted about my faux slate (chalkboard) photo background and asked if any one was interested in more photography posts. The response was overwhelmingly YES!! It seems that many of you would love to learn more about everything from how to use your camera, all the way through staging, editing and preparing your images for your blog and especially Pinterest.

Well, I am thrilled to announce I am starting a new series to touch on all aspects of my photo process, tips and tricks that I've learned over the past two years of blogging. I, however, am NOT going to dive into the world of teaching you how to use your camera. I would have to spend hours and hours, days, weeks even… Developing posts that would do the subject justice. I am going to leave that to the professionals at Jessica Sprague. They have spent way more than hours and days on developing some amazing photography classes. They actually have a teacher, Candice Stringham, who went to school for years to learn how to be a photographer. She KNOWS HER STUFF!! Not only does she have a BFA in Photography they invited her back to TEACH photography at the collegiate level. Yea, she's legit!

My first word of photography advice is… STOP USING AUTO friends!!! Oh Shoot! the beginning photography class at JessicaSprague.com is perfect to learn how to really use your camera. You won't believe the difference. This class will teach you how to do just that. You won't have to be scared of all those dials, buttons and numbers on your camera… It really demystifies your camera and the whole photo process. I took the class and actually learned several new things that I'm sooo excited to start incorporating into my photography. Oh Shoot! is perfect for beginners and even more advanced photographers. The nice thing is once you sign-up for the class, you will ALWAYS have access to the class material. You will be able to refer back to the material or take refresher class whenever you like for years to come. Most online photography classes don't have that available for their students indefinitely. That's just one of the many things that set Jessica Sprague apart from the rest.

Each class has a video, MP3 of the class material and a PDF of the material. Below are a few snippet's from the first class on Shutter Speed…

All of the material is professionally created, easy to read and understand. You won't feel like they are speaking photography greek. The class is limited in number so you will feel like really are a part of a small group, rather than a little fish in a big pond. You will also have the ability to chat with your classmates and instructor via the online chats and email for even more personalized help. It really doesn't get any better than this, REALLY!

The 2013 session of Oh Shoot! starts on March 11th and runs through April 21st. It is an instructor led class, but don't worry… You will have access to all of the materials even if you can't make the live chats. This is truly a valuable experience that shouldn't be missed. The class is $130 and well worth the money. The spots are limited so run out and grab your seat for class TODAY!! I have one spot to GIVEAWAY to one of you, my favorite friends!!

Jessica Sprague Oh Shoot! GIVEAWAY

All you need to do is follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter box below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Flair Features

0 · Mar 4, 2013 · 10 Comments

Friday Flair Features // Happy Monday everyone! The sun is out this morning here in Lincoln, and I am loving the little signs of spring that are starting to arrive. I've enjoyed our first real winter here in Lincoln after moving from Las Vegas but, I have to say… I'm ready for things to start warming up. We had a fabulous weekend spent watching Hales a.k.a. Lil'Whip in her school's production of Grease and are coming down from our Theatre high. Who knows what we will do with all the extra time we will have now that the show is over. We'll never mind… I tend to find all kinds of thing to fill every second of the day. Speaking of which, it seems like you guys have the same idea… judging from last weeks Friday Flair, you guys are finding all kinds of fun things to fill your time. Here are a few of the fun posts that caught my eye…

gift wrap hair bow // sweet rose studio

sewing table turned cooler // sweet C's Designs

monster hooded towel // crazy little projects

strawberry shortcake cupcakes // the lady behind the curtain

little boy bow ties // carissa miss

rice krispie treat flowers // the lily pad cottage

map pendant necklaces // anna nimmity

heavenly hot chocolate // all things simple

guinness braised beef stew // a pretty life in the suburbs

easter bunny canvas // clean & scentsible

flourless chocolate fudge truffle cake // butter, with a side of bread

st. patrick's day breakfast // the 36th ave.

st. patrick's day cookies // lizy b bakes

rustic wood planter box // make life lovely

geometric table runner // girl loves glam

spring wreath // the scrap shoppe

mini molten lava cakes // i knead to bake

geometric triangle ladder necklace // minted strawberry

I can't wait to give some of these projects and recipes a try! You guys are so creative!! Thank you to EVERYONE who linked up last week. I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for this week's Friday Flair.

Friday Flair Link Party // Folding Chair Makeover Edition

1 · Mar 1, 2013 · 33 Comments

Friday Flair Link Party // Morning my friends!! It's finally Friday and I'm super excited for this weekend. Hales aka Lil'Whip is performing in her High School production of Grease and I've been playing the part of proud theatre Mama. This is her first show so it's been super fun. Each night we've been feeding the kiddos dinner for the last two weeks. Tonight I'm making my favorite White Chicken Chili (Em's favorite chili) for soup night backstage. You can follow me on Instagram for all the fun if you like.

Soooo… My post early this week about my faux slate (chalkboard) photo backdrop was a huge hit and it looks like many of you would like some more post about some fun photo secrets that I've learned. Well, you've asked and I will start working on several more posts that I think you will like, stay tuned!

Now for this week's inspiration… It comes to us from Design for Mankind and it's a project that I've been dying to do myself.

img source // folding chair makeover from design for mankind

I have three old grungy folding chairs that I would love to makeover and I can't wait for the weather to warm-up to do just that. I love what erin did with her chair and the way she styled her photos. You should head over to her site and check out her magic!

Now let's get the link PARTY started!

Silhouette Studio Designer Edition Video Tutorial // Silhouette Portrait Giveaway

6 · Feb 28, 2013 · 24 Comments

Silhouette Portrait GIVEAWAY // I have so many treats in this post, I don't even know where to start!! Well, here are the three major components…

1. I'm giving away a Silhouette Portrait!!!

2. I have an amazing deal on your choice of either a Silhouette CAMEO, Silhouette Portrait, both with the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition OR a smokin' deal on the software alone.

3. A video tutorial on how to convert a PNG file to a cutable image with your Silhouette Studio Designer Edition Software.

All three of those things are pretty awesome in my book! Let's start with the tutorial and work our way up the list…

Silhouette Studio Designer Edition Video Tutorial

I have been wanting to create this video for you guys since DECEMBER! Man-o-Man does time fly. We're knocking on the door of good ole' Saint Patricks Day and I'm finally getting around to it. Remember my post around Christmas time about my Winter White Wreath along with the cute Rudolph Silhouette sign? Let me refresh your memory…

I actually converted that image from a PNG file from Rhonna Designs that looks like this…

They look pretty different, right? Now, I know we aren't looking to recreate Rudolph right now, but this is actually a good image to show you what the software is capable of. You can select any PNG and the same techniques will apply. Here's a video on how to convert a PNG file into an image that you can use with your Silhouette products.

How cool is that? I'm totally digging this video tutorial stuff. I think I am going to work on more of those for you guys.

Silhouette March Promotion

Now that you've seen what you can do with your Silhouette Studio Designer Edition, You kind of want to get it… Don't you? I totally understand. The software is normally $50 but for the next little bit, you can grab it for only $24.99! Click here to visit the Silhouette Store for all of the amazing deals this month.

Silhouette CAMEO with Designer Edition Software $269.99 (msrp $348.98)
Silhouette Portrait with Designer Edition Software $179.99 (msrp $249.98)
Silhouette Studio Designer Edition Software $24.99 (msrp $49.99)

Make sure you use WHIPPER at checkout to receive the smokin' hot deal! This deal is good February 28th through March 8th.

Silhouette Portrait GIVEAWAY

Feelin' lucky? Would you like to try and WIN a Portrait of your very own? Well, follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below and see if the luck of the Irish is with you this month!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY Faux Slate Chalkboard Photo Background

74 · Feb 26, 2013 · 103 Comments

DIY Faux Slate Chalkboard Photo Background // When I first started blogging, one of my main goals was to learn how to take good pictures. If you were to go back to the beginning of WhipperBerry from the summer of 2010, You can see my photos were not exactly Pinterest worthy. Luckily Pinterest hadn’t opened it’s virtual doors quite yet.

One of my favorite things about bloggin is that I am constantly learning and developing new skills. I am constantly dissecting photos that I love, to figure out how I can create the same effect. Now, with Pinterest as a major player in our social media world… Photography is EVERYTHING. One of the easiest ways for a post to go viral these days is for it to be pinned and repined on Pinterest. A post can develop some strong legs on Pinterest and really bring in some major traffic for your site. The bottom line is… If you don’t have a good photo, you are missing a huge chunk of the successful blog post equation.

One of my favorite styles of photography right now is, the dark slate chalkboard look. We’ve seen it everywhere on Pinterest. Not only is this chalkboard look popular for printables, it’s super popular for pictures as well. Here are a few examples of photos that I’ve created for WhipperBerry with this look…

I love how the black backdrop helps to make colors pop and it also has a bit of texture which in turn helps the image have more depth. It also creates a fun chalkboard look when adding text to your image. I just love it!!

Want to know how I made my background? It’s super EASY and cheap! Here is what you will need…

Supply List

Black foam board – Any size will work, I have a couple of sets of various sizes. They range in price from just a few dollars for a small board up to about $15 for a large 20×30 depending on where you purchase them. Still nothing to sneeze at when compared to other photo backdrops.
Chalk
Old rag

Chalkboard Photo Background Instructions

Now, this couldn’t be easier. Take your foam board and a piece of chalk…

Take the side of the chalk and gently rub circles around the surface of the foam board. Don’t press too hard, it will dent or scratch the surface of the foam board and you don’t want that to happen.

Once you’ve covered the entire surface of the foam board with the chalk, take an old rag and use it to blend the chalk over the surface of the board. This will give the board the look of slate when photographed.

Here’s how it should look once you’ve blended the chalk…

Because they are so inexpensive and easy to make, I’ve made several of them of them and use them for not only the background but the base of my photo set-up. I’ll let you in on a little secret, Here is how I photograph all of my photos…

This is actually my daughter’s bedroom, but she has graciously offered to share it with me as my photo studio as well. It has the best natural light in the house and with windows on two sides of the room I have all kinds of fun playing with the light. This set-up was for yesterday’s Campbell’s post, here is how the picture turned out…

I am just in love with this look right now! So… I’ve been thinking about doing a few more posts on how I create the images for WhipperBerry, but I’m going to leave that up to you. If you are interested in more posts like this, leave a comment on this post and tell me what you would like to learn about. If there is enough interest, I will work up a whole new blogging series… So ask away!