Using Photos In Crafts And Design
Ideas for using photos to create craft projects and designs.
Personal photos are great for creating all sorts of things. Of course, you don't want to use the original for applications unless it can be easily reprinted.
I have gotten the most enjoyment from using old photos. I just love the look of them. Sometimes I even take a newer photo and create on older look with different photo effects in Photoshop or other programs.
This is an example of simply changing an old black and white photo to sepia color.
I have gotten the most enjoyment from using old photos. I just love the look of them. Sometimes I even take a newer photo and create on older look with different photo effects in Photoshop or other programs.
This is an example of simply changing an old black and white photo to sepia color.
Of course you can do this using color photos as well. I made a set of photos for my mother by changing an assortment of photos all to black and white with a sepia tint for a matching display that she wanted.
This idea is very useful if you are wanting to make a collage or a photo quilt and you want the photos to have the same tint.
This idea is very useful if you are wanting to make a collage or a photo quilt and you want the photos to have the same tint.
Coloring Pages Made From Photos
I use photos to create coloring book pages also. This is a vintage photo of my mom posing in a western scene and my niece in pole bending at the rodeo. Most of my family has their own coloring book page now.
Some of my photos are used for the basis of making a design. Below is a black and white photo of me running barrels at the rodeo. I made this into a coloring book page, then a plastic canvas sewing pattern for coasters and also a greeting card.
This vintage cowgirl photo of my mom from the 1940's has been turned in to several things as well. With all of the background removed, I added other background elements to create some fabric to make a curtain for her kitchen.
I used one of my dancing photos to create my logo.
Designing For Products
A lot of the designs I put together end up as merchandise in my Zazzle Stores. Zazzle prints designs to many different products such as home decor, clothing, greeting cards and lots more.
Photo prints of textures like burlap, barnwood and barbed wire are what I cut together to create a western pillow. A photo of denim and a leather belt went into the can koozie.
My Toughest Design Challenge So Far
Leggings made to look like blue jeans with a belt, belt buckle and cowboy boots.
These started with this template and I added all of the elements of my design for the front and back. In the end the fabric is printed and sewn together. .
I took pictures of some jeans then started whacking away in photo shop to get each element separated for use on the template. I needed the waistband, pocket stitching and belt loops.
A very high resolution denim print was put down first then I started building. I admit that I had many do overs because of having my layers in the wrong order.
I used leather print to make the belt and top of the boots. Created a new belt buckle in photo shop from an older buckle photo. Bronc rider clip art was the final touch on the boots.
I guess all of that was the easy part. Just trying to get every thing to line up where the seams will be when the leggings are sewn together so the design makes a complete picture was the hardest part.
I used leather print to make the belt and top of the boots. Created a new belt buckle in photo shop from an older buckle photo. Bronc rider clip art was the final touch on the boots.
I guess all of that was the easy part. Just trying to get every thing to line up where the seams will be when the leggings are sewn together so the design makes a complete picture was the hardest part.
Using Public Domain Photos
I also use many old photos and movie posters that are available in the public domain since their copyright has expired. The original cowgirl photo used here had to be cropped then I added a picture of a lariat rope and flowers to create a frame for it. This is how it looks on the fabric I made.
A great place to get public domain photos is at Wikimedia.