Happy New Year! Once again, I am enrolled in Ali Edwards’ class One Little Wordat Big Picture Classes, and the word I have chosen this year is:
At first, I was going to go with the word LEARN, but that’s only part of what I would like to try to accomplish in 2013. I want to learn and grow; see and accomplish, and many more things that I will STRIVE to do more of. It would be unrealistic for me to expect myself to actually meet every goal I have, therefore I will do my best to strive to work on these goals. For January’s assignment, we are asked to stamp our word onto 12 cards, expand a bit on our chosen word, and put the cards into divided page protectors. I copied a lot of what Ali did with her cards because I like her style.
These are my hopes and intentions, what I strive for in 2013. Here’s to a great year, and thanks for stopping by!
Finally! I have completed my December Daily album! I am so excited, but, now I have to finish Project Life and get 2013 started! Egad! I’ve been busy with work, getting sick, Christmas, New Year’s, and my 13-year-old’s birthday, as well as other life obligations. It doesn’t help that my computer is so darn slow. Yes, I did take it to one of those computer geek repair shops a while back, and they said nothing was wrong. It worked as fast as lightning for them, of course. Just like a car, huh? Anyway, instead of posting my DD photos here, I put them on Flickr so it would be easier (there are something like 36 photos of my album).
I used Basic Grey’s Aspen Frost collection, some My Mind’s Eye stickers, Ali Edwards’ digital Christmas files from Designer Digitals, bought some silver and gold glitter paper at Michaels to cut my own stars with either my EK Success star punches, or my Big Shot for the larger sized ones. I also bought some washi tape at Michaels as well as the bright red Chevron tape from Two Peas In a Bucket and I couldn’t tell you what brand it is. I also used various things I already had in my stash, or downloaded from Pinterest. My mom was wonderful about stamping some Project Life cards for me with stamps she received from Studio Calico (Thanks, Mom!).
Now, on to Project Life. I don’t tend to show many photos of this project here because I do such a rush job, there wouldn’t be much to see. I am going to try to do a better job this year. Hopefully.
Are you taking Ali Edwards’ class One Little Word at Big Picture Classes? I am, but I still cannot think of my word. Nothing has come to me, except maybe the word LEARN. I have a lot I want to learn, so I can grow more, personally as well as professionally. I’m mulling it around in my brain. It would be interesting to know what your word is, if you’re in this class, and let me know. Thanks for coming by, and Happy New Year!
“…Or, rather, people who make me happy”….Thus is the beginning of my journaling for Cathy Zielske’s third drill for Big Picture Boot Camp (I am way behind!). This drill is all about symmetrical squares. I love this, because it makes for easy scrapbooking! Using a grid, and using photos/papers of the same size is always fun for me; I think it satisfies that linear desire in my brain– line it up and make it look neat. The layout we were to create has a “what makes me happy” theme, and as I went through my photos in Photoshop, I started focusing on faces and decided to make my layout about the special people in my life for whom I am grateful to know.
Drill #3
Perhaps it’s the time of year, but I have been feeling especially grateful not so much for what I have as much as who I can call friend. It may be a little early for Thanksgiving, but what are you grateful for?
Thanks for stopping by! Next up: Ali Edwards’ and journaling.
Drill #2 from Cathy Zielske (Big Picture Boot Camp): Single Font Pages, as in, use the same font, any font, throughout the layout, from title to journaling, and even the date. This can give layouts a “timeless feel”, making them look “smart and chic”, according to Cathy, and to me, simple and clean. I used PT Sans, a font I got free when I downloaded the template from Designer Digitals (the link was included in the how-to PDF).
Drill #2
I like the grids Cathy uses, and those two adjectives I used above; clean and simple. Today, that’s just what I wanted, so I can just focus on the photos and the story. Thanks for the help, Cathy!
I am now finished with drill #3 of Tracey Clark‘s section of Big Picture Boot Camp. This drill was to use one of the photos we took of our ‘muse’ and do something tangible with it. Suggestions were to make a banner, decorate and hang the photo with pretty thread; make cards or a book mark, which is what I did. I just happened to be in need of a new book mark and a birthday card.
Drill #3
I put three rhinestones towards the bottom right side of the image on the card and then stamped “Happy Birthday” on the inside before signing it. My friend liked it, and I was pretty happy with it, too. I cropped the image again into a 2×6″ size and positioned it on one side of a 4×6 portrait-oriented matte card before printing it. I then folded the card in half along the edge of the photo and adhered the two sides together to make the book mark a little thicker and sturdier. I then rounded the corners and poked a round hole in the top for ribbon. Voilá, that drill completed.
Now, I went on to the next set of drills by Cathy Zielske, number 1 being to use common margins. That means make a layout with even, balanced margins all around.
Drill #1
Not every margin is equal in size, but the sides are equal, as are the top and bottom, and the margins around the photos making the layout overall balanced.
I really like Cathy’s layouts because of her symmetry and balance, and they tend to be easy to put together, too. I get her templates at Designer Digitals and use them to make a hybrid layout. I really don’t care so much for digital layouts anymore; I like the feel and texture of traditional layouts, however, digital templates make great sketches, and ensures my getting sizes and spacing correct.
Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll be sure to be back with more drills in the very near future.
As some of you may already know, I have a thing for Big Picture Classes. I love them; I have fun, explore, learn new things and play to my heart’s content with paper and photos. My latest class? I’ve decided to go to Boot Camp! That’s right, my latest class is Big Picture’s Boot Camp, taught by 4 experts in photography, design, storytelling and creative living. It’s a 12-day-long class with each expert teaching 3 days of class. I don’t know about you, but I could use this creative kick in the rear! The first 3 days are about photography with Tracey Clark; day 1: we choose a “muse” or object we love and photograph it from many different angles obtaining different perspectives on it. Day 2: try a new photographic technique. Here are my takes:
Drill #1
Drill #2
On this second photo using Photoshop, I layered a black and white image over the exact image in color, then erased the labels to reveal the colors from underneath. I also darkened all around the borders to enhance the vintage feel, something I don’t usually do. These may not be the best photos ever taken, but I’m learning and having fun at the same time. Next, I’m off to tackle drill #3, and I’ll be back! Thanks for stopping by!
Finally! I completed my sketches for my 28 Days of Sketches class, and I couldn’t be happier! I didn’t like being so behind, and I really don’t like unfinished projects sitting around, so I got down to brass tacks and finished the last four sketches. Whew! Here you have it, ladies and gentlemen:
sketch 25
This, I shamelessly scraplifted from Sasha Farina (I loved her take on it so much).
Sketch 26
Here again, I borrowed some ideas from Jenni Hufford‘s take on the sketch. I love her work.
Sketch 27
This is my “I-just-want-to-get-this-over-with” sketch that took maybe 30-45 minutes. Not the greatest, but I got the story on paper which is an accomplishment in itself.
Sketch #28
The photos and journaling are not centered as they should be, hence the edge embellishments being where they are.
I also haven’t been up-to-date on my One Little Wordclass, so I took some time recently to get caught up there, as well. I can show you June, July and October assignments, but the rest are a little too personal to be shown here, please forgive me.
This is June’s assignment, creating mini canvases…a chance to be creative and artistic, and I was not feeling particularly creative or artistic. I did my best!
July’s assignment, putting lyrics on cards that represent our word. Mine is serenity. I had trouble finding lyrics, so I opted for poems, and one haiku.
For October’s assignment, I found nine more photos which best represented my word, serenity. The dark photo in the bottom right hand corner is supposed to be the blue moon behind some clouds one evening back recently when the blue moon made its rare appearance.
Wow, I feel so much better, now! Being caught up means I can relax a little more….after I finish getting caught up on Project Life….(there’s always something.) Thanks for stopping by!
Being off work today, I had a little time to do a couple more sketches from 28 Days of Sketches. I’m really enjoying using sketches; it takes a lot of pressure off me to know how to start and where to begin. I’ve also seen some pretty nice sketches on Pinterest lately, and I think I’ll try some of those I’ve been seeing elsewhere, as well. Here are my takes on sketches 23 and 24 (I’m getting there!):
#23
Wasn’t entirely crazy about this sketch, but that, I’ve discovered, is part of the fun of it: take a not-so-great sketch, and see if I can make it a really great finished layout (okay, so it’s not really great….). It’s a challenge.
#24
Okay, so this sketch was also not-so-great, but I admit that this layout is even worse. Really. I had a lot of difficulty with embellishing both layouts; it seems I’m looking for things I don’t have, and discovering that I really don’t have the time or the inclination to make my own embellishments….I’m trying to save money by not buying anything new for a long while, and use only what I have. I do have a lot of things, just not what I wanted or had in mind today! Picky, picky. I’m just glad I had a chance to accomplish something and document some stories.
I hope to have something better in the near future, and thanks for stopping by!
Life has been very busy for me lately, so I haven’t had the opportunity to do much scrapping lately. I signed up for28 Days of Sketches at Big Picture Classes, and I only had a chance to do maybe a quarter of the sketches. I didn’t stress, though, I can still access the classroom and get the sketches when time permits, and this past weekend gave me the opportunity for that time (finally!). I only completed a few more layouts, but I at least there was progress. Just for fun, here they are.
I do find it helpful to have a sketch to work with when I have a blank piece of paper in front of me and no idea where to begin, and I can tweak the sketch any way I like to suit me. I have never used sketches before, but now I really like the idea of using them. I don’t have a way of showing the original sketches here, but I pretty much stuck to the sketches as they were. And I forgot about one more layout I did a while back that I never showed you:
I don’t much care for the yellow ribbon down the middle, but the color worked for me, and hey, I’m not submitting it to Creating Keepsakes anyway. I’ll be back when I can finish more layouts. Until then, thanks for your patience in waiting for a post!
I loved getting ready for back-to-school when I was a kid, and now it’s my turn to get my daughter ready. This is her first year in junior high, so for both of us, it’s a big deal. I took as many photos as I could, but it was hard because she gets so tired of my photographing everything going on! I can’t help it; this is my only baby, and the older she gets, the more important it is for me to document her growth because before I know it, she won’t be around for this kind of stuff, and she’ll be all grown up! I always thought the “milestones” were for babies and toddlers, but I am now realizing that they don’t stop! Here’s today’s sketch/layout:
I did this one rather quickly, but that’s okay; I was busy today, but still not too busy to do a layout worthy of this blog. Very important. Thanks for stopping by!
At first, I was going to go with the word LEARN, but that’s only part of what I would like to try to accomplish in 2013. I want to learn and grow; see and accomplish, and many more things that I will STRIVE to do more of. It would be unrealistic for me to expect myself to actually meet every goal I have, therefore I will do my best to strive to work on these goals. For January’s assignment, we are asked to stamp our word onto 12 cards, expand a bit on our chosen word, and put the cards into divided page protectors. I copied a lot of what Ali did with her cards because I like her style.
These are my hopes and intentions, what I strive for in 2013. Here’s to a great year, and thanks for stopping by!
