First Spring Flower

I love watching my flowers! I am excited today to share that I saw my first Spring flower, a Crocus in my yard today. I did not get a photo of it during my lunch hour when it was open in full bloom, but this is a photo of it after work hours.

It is 10 p.m. now and 61 degrees outside. Isn't that wonderful?

I felt better today. Yesterday was REALLY rough. I have not been that sick in at least over 15 years. I was only able to stay awake a total of approximately four hours the entire day. I was so weak to stand. My whole body ached.

I am amazed I was able to go to work today after feeling so bad yesterday. I was not all the way up to par, still a bit weak, feeling a bit worse around 4 p.m. (a common thing), but maybe tomorrow will be even a better day.

I am busy tonight writing one of the "boring" tutorials I have been avoiding. It is on brush basics. A must learn, but boring to write. Many other tutorials will utilize these skills, so it is necessary to teach before I write other tutorials so that I may refer to this one. I only have a few more of these "boring" tutorials to write and I am telling myself "I can do it!" It takes self-motivation to write these "boring" tutorials.

I've gotten a good start, but I'm not sure if I will be able to get it up tonight before I wear out. I need my rest. It takes a long time to make so many screen caps, along with the writing. Thereafter, it takes me a while to import everything to the website and copy and paste the tutorial onto the page.

So, it is hopeful that you may look for the new tutorial tomorrow night.

I hope all is well with my readers! Have you really read my ramblings this far?

DigiSpiration for Today

Have you recently decorated your child’s bedroom? Extract the decorations from a photo of the wall and put them onto the layout itself.

Take a photo of your child in front of flowers and use the title: “If children were flowers, I’d pick you.”

Connect frames together using ribbons behind them.

At least my....

Yesterday at work, I kept wondering why my legs felt so weak going up and down the stairs, but I just shrugged it off.

This morning, when I first awoke, I said to hubby that I had a headache and he commented that it must be from staying up too late and lack of sleep. I shrugged it off, although I had been in a deep sleep which is unusual.

Then I got out of bed and went to the bathroom for my morning shower. Oh my! Chills ran through my body, up and down every part of it and I recognized that achy feeling in my legs that I had yesterday and realized that I had a fever! I began to feel weak and sick to my stomach, so I went back to bed for a short nap. Yep, a short nap and I could do it. Gotta go to work!

When the shower hit my back it sent shivering chills up and down my body. Oh, was I in trouble. But I can do this, yep, I'm going to work!

After my shower, I landed back on my bed and debated. Should I go? Whipped out the thermometer. Yep, it was a fever. Back to bed I went. My whole body aching. I felt so bad, I could not even get on my laptop. Now that is pretty bad. I slept most of the day.

This photo is what I see when I open my eyes. Yep, at least my dog loves me and cares that I don't feel well.

Well, this is my 5 minutes max on my laptop...going back to sleep! My head hurts.

New Tutorial Blog

I was so excited when I stumbled upon a new tutorial blog. Stephen T. Russell (with Scrapbook Max!) has created a new team blog to find information regarding tutorials, as well as tutorials themselves. It is a collective blog for all programs.

Scrapbook Tutorial Blog

Designer Technique - Terry Maruca

Today I introduce Terry Maruca to our Designer Technique! Her technique is "It's a Wrap!"

I have known Terry for about a year or more when I began communicating with her because I discovered I loved her kit styles. She is always ready to say "yes!" when I ask her for help. I have watched her as she adapts her digital scrapbooking sales to keep ahead of the fast growing market. She continues to amaze me as she continually comes up with new ideas and provides them to the digital scrapbooking community. I am amazed at her skills.

Terry has TEASED US! Isn't she fun? She wants to see comments and then she will send me another tutorial! Comment away!

You can find Terry Maruca at :
1. SCRAPBOOK-ELEMENTS
2. SCRAPBOOK-BYTES

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For the week while I am the featured designer for "Designer Techniques," please feel free to use COUPON CODE: TMARU_DOTW-20 at both SBE and SBB. Coupons expire and expire the evening of March 4.

Here are the categories in which you can use the discount….
1. SBB - 25% everything.
2. SBE - 20% off the following categories only:
--Terry’s FONTS
-- Terry’s BRUSHES

Recently, you may have seen my focus on interactive actions and brushes (example action; example brush). But for this week, you may ALSO use the coupon at SBE to get 20% discount if you want your handwriting turned into a font!
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WAIT!!! There’s more! LOL

As a kit designer, a digi tool creator, and someone with more creative ideas than time, I tend to look at kits and see huge potential to create more with what is included. So, this week, I’d like to teach you a few techniques to make unique elements so you can expand the kits you have purchased.

Technique: It’s a wrap!

We see so many curled ribbons in kits these days. But wouldn’t you just love to wrap those ribbons around something? Here are the instructions for today’s technique.

This is a sample of the finished project.

Let’s wrap ribbon around a frame!

Download the TERRY’S WRAP tech kit to give you to the slide frame and ribbon. And, I’ll teach you how to wrap the ribbon around the frame.

While my instructions are for photoshop, you should be able to translate the concept to your program of choice.


If there is any interest for another technique this week, please leave a comment on the blog. If there is significant interest, I’ll come up with something else to share with you.

Congratulations!!! I hope you enjoyed this technique. If you liked the train elements, you will find my toy train kit for sale on March 4, at SBE.
Preview of train kit, available, March 4, 2006 at www.scrapbook-elements.com:

DigiInspiration for Today

Place your title so as the first words are horizontal and the remaining words are vertical below the horizontal.

Connect frames together using ribbons behind them.

Take a photo of your feet and journal about your regular day; use the title “journey.”

Color Isolation Tutorial (PSE)

I have a brand new tutorial up for the color isolation technique in Photoshop Elements. It includes four ways to acheive this technique. There is one more way, but I did not include it because I do not like it. That is, to duplicate the layer, make the top layer black and white, and erase parts of the top layer to reveal the underneath layer. This fifth method is not good for me because it is too hard to undo any mistakes that are made.

Color Isolation Tutorial

Genealogy E-mail Lists

As I stated in one of my previous posts, I have had the most success in genealogy by hooking up with other people.

I would like to share with you John Fuller's irreplaceable Genealogy Resource page. He scours the internet for genealogy e-mail list. This page is not only the lists available on Rootsweb, but other places such as Yahoo Groups.

In fact, he found the lists I opened up and run and personally contacted me to get permission and information to add to his pages.

In addition, you may join his New-Gen e-mail list to receive updates to his pages to watch for new applicable e-mail lists to your researches.

This is certainly a must-have for researchers.

YouTube and Digital Scrapbooking

Okay, I'm on a YouTube kick today since it has been so long since I have had sound.

Did you know that you can find useful things for digital scrapbooking on YouTube?

There are plenty of Photoshop Tutorials to watch. Just do a search for it.

Some of my favorites is the Photoshop TV Guys and ActionFX.

DigiSpiration of the Day

Place your title around a corner of a cut piece of paper.

Start a title with “May you never forget…..”

Make the entire background of blocks (with borders) of black and white photos (or run fun filters on them). Place the focal point photo over the background in color.

The Story of Amazing Grace

I have been having problems for weeks with my sound on my laptop and, therefore, have been away from YouTube. My sound is strangely working temporarily, I'm sure, this morning.

What better thing to watch on a Sunday morning than a beautiful video on the history of the song Amazing Grace. I enjoyed it.

Chris Tomlin's song is playing in the background. There are videos of Chris at YouTube to enjoy.



I am also curious about seeing this new movie Amazing Grace.

You Tube Stardom

Are any of you becoming a You Tube addict like me? Goodness, you can find everything over there, from your favorite music videos to television shows. What I find that may be interesting to follow is the popularity tubes. I am waiting patiently for our first hot star to get his or her start from You Tube. It's bound to happen. I keep seeing people becoming popular on the place and surely there are scouts out there looking for stars.

I also find it interesting how just because they are popular, more video responses are attached to them of hopefuls to get noticed, making them even more popular. If you want to get noticed, wouldn't you go where the most hits are?

Here's some examples.

If you go on over to the musician's channel, you will find some people like miarose and briennalauryn (who I enjoy her Christian songs) and Daniel who sit in their bedrooms and sing who may some day be found by professionals. It's inevitable and bound to happen.

Cruise on over to the comedy section. Which one will be the first to claim his or her stardom from YouTube?

Ysabellabrave has some great broadway talent in her. The Let's Misbehave song looks like she is really having fun. I wonder how much money she is really making off of that Paypal button.

I am amazed at the popularity of lonelygirl15. She talks about daily life and her videos are always at the top of the searches with the most replies, most hits, and most responses.

The same is similar for Emmalina. I'm at a loss as to why they are so popular over there.

Geriatric1927 is an older gentlemen that worked his way to the top too, as well as Lazydork.

American Idol (<---see that word?)

I just found this post about Chris Sligh on American Idol. On that post are some interesting links. One is to a forum discussing that the very name of the show speaks of "Idol," which would be against the first commandment (thou shalt have no other gods before me). Wow, why has that word never jumped out at me before? I have been watching the show, but my thoughts never focus really on what the title reflects. Rather my thoughts focus on God-given talent and analyzing who has the best talent and who may win. I have never idolized any of the winners or even purchased their music. I think that this is a good thing to reflect upon and remember God's commandments, but I'm not sure it is going to make me stop watching the show. Hmm..may have to pray about this and wait for God's answer.

Chris, on his Blogger profile, says that he is foremost a follower of Christ and then a rock star. This forum is an interesting and thought-provoking read, although I don't know what to think of it. Chris has professed on the internet to be a follower of Christ, so why the judging? His actions are between him and God.

Life's Bombardments (work together for good)

My life motto for the past few years seems to be “Why does Life have to be So Hard?”

It seems that life always bombards us and we are just victims.

Last Monday, on my way home for lunch, I got into my van, started to reach for the door, and the wind pushed the door into the car next to me. It is costing us over $400 to fix that car. This is one of those times when I am tempted to ask “why?” It was nothing I did? The wind did it. Now, it is not comparable to a tornado in greatness, but certainly comparable in the “why-factor.” My philosophy is that to as God why is like inviting the devil into your thoughts to cause doubt in your faith. I always resist asking God “why?” Instead, I ask God, “What are you teaching me through this?” At this point, I’m still awaiting an answer.

Last night, the car our 16 year old drives would not start and we had to have it towed. We were told it was the starter (which we replaced only 2 years ago). The news was that it could cost us $350. What are you teaching me through this, God? Today, I got my answer. The shop had good news, it was not the starter, it was only a wire to the starter and the car starts just fine at minimal cost. Great! The shop had bad news. He asked me, “I am sure you have heard that terrible noise?” Me, hear it? I do not drive it. The 16 year old drives it. Did he hear it? It turns out that two of my men knew about this horrible noise and yet no one did anything about it. The water pump is going to cost us about $325. However, had the car continued to be driven, chances are, the pump would have gone out and the engine would have overheated from continued driving. What has God taught me? He has taught me that he protects us. He has reminded me that “All things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” (Eph. 1:22-23). That starter wire protected us from even bigger problems and costs. God worked something bad for something good. Isn’t he an awesome God?

I’ve been watching life bombard other people for a few weeks and now it is our turn it seems. Bombardments always seem to come in threes, right? Really, in digiscrapping design principles, things in three look the best on a page. (giggle) So, what has God got in store for us next? Only He knows.

I went tonight with my Little (Big Brother, Big Sister) to a movie. We saw Astronaut Farmer and I really enjoyed it. His wife really teaches us in this movie what “submitting to husbands” is supposed to be. She supports her husband through all the ups and downs, as crazy as they are. She believes in him and loves him unconditionally. It’s a great example for both husbands and wives to reflect on as they “submit to one another.”

My Little will be moving out of state on Friday, so this is our last meeting together. I wonder what the future holds for me now. How soon will I be matched with another Little? How will that go? What path is God going to take me down next?

My first local digital scrapbooking class, I hope, went well. I believe I overwhelmed them. I was nervous and talked fast and do hope that next week I can feel more relaxed. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long and am thankful it is finally here. Basketball season is finally over and I am also looking forward to a more relaxed personal calendar.

Well, that’s it for my personal post to keep my family and friends informed. Till next time!

Tinting Tutorial (with converting black and white)

I thought this would be easy to get back up. It's an old tutorial again that I never got back up. It was one of my first tutorials. However, I spent forever tweaking it today. It's amazing how much I continue to learn about this program.

Tinting Tutorial (with converting black and white)

There are 3 ways to convert photos to black and white and 7 ways to tint the photos in this tutorial. I like to be comprehensive, but I know I've probably left something out!

Updates are inevitable to these tutorials. For instance, the last one, I found a screen cap on my desktop I missed and need to get back in there and update it.

Have fun!

DigiSpiration for Today

Pregnant women are beautiful. Use the title "Baby Bump."

Do you have someone who loves to control the remote? Use the title "Hogging the Buttons."

Place a metal tag with text on a ribbon or rope.

Use photo corners to draw attention to a title (even if the title is not on a mat).

Photography Cartoons

Have you been reading the What The Duck cartoons since I last shared them with you? The current string of them is on a photography class which is so applicable to my interests and they are really cracking me up. Here's a few (as they give permission to share them on the website).

ScrapSpiration

My boys were so little crawling and learning to walk. Use this title "Tiny, but Tough."


Put each word of a title on a different journaling strip and tuck them in a line under some stitching. Use a custom drop shadow to make it appear that the edge away from the stitching is lifted off of the page. Utilize the same stitching as grounding by running it all the way across the page.

Use a brad to hold the end of an arrow down.

Reality T.V. Geek

Stop here and read no further if you do not like spoilers!

Ah, you will come to realize that I'm a reality t.v. geek. Yep. I think the suspense of who is going to win and trying to analyze who will win is what keeps me a reality t.v. geek.

There's a lot going on right now. I could ramble about my opinions on the shows, but have no time. Sorry.

Of course, my all time favorite, Survivor, is on tonight. I am blessed with tivo and will be watching it late (after teaching my first class at local school on digital scrapbooking).

Check out this page for spoilers on tonight's Survivor.

American Idol is in full swing. I've picked out my favorites. Have you? I want to share with you a fun site to watch that I have witnessed as having a big impact on the show. Vote For the Worst picks the worst contestant and requests that everyone vote for the worst just to keep them in the game. I have watched them make some really bad people in the past go far. Careful though, that site has some ugly stuff on it too that I do not care for (giving fair warning).


All Stars Amazing Race has begun too. I thought the first show boring and was ready to stop watching until I read this spoiler. Now I have to watch just to see if the spoiler comes true. Can you imagine Romber leaving so soon and Charla and Mirna making it so far?

All Stars Teams ( elimination order?)
John Vito & Jill
Kevin & Drew
Mary & David
Rob & Amber
Teri & Ian ( 7th place finish?)
Bill & Joe (6th place finish ?)
Uchenna & Joyce ( 5th place finish ?)
Danny & Oswald (4th place finish ?)
( Final 3 )Charla & Mirna
Dustin & Kandice
Eric & Danielle

Of course, I am really enjoying the Apprentice. I have no links for you though. I just do not have time any more to hardly watch t.v. My tivo mostly catches them for me and I watch them later. However, even my tivo was full the other day and did not record something I wanted to see. Oh well.

Here is a FOX On Demand Site. Miss an epeisode? You can watch them here.

Dancing with the Stars is due to start on March 19, although I just cannot get into this show. I usually do not watch.
Here is the new cast of Dancing with the Stars .
• Laila Ali, the daughter of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali
• Country music star Billy Ray Cyrus
• Paul McCartney's soon-to-be ex, Heather Mills
• Former NBA star Clyde Drexler
• 'N Sync alum Joey Fatone
• Miss USA-turned-GSN hostess Shandi Finnessey
• Entertainment reporter Leeza Gibbons
• Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova
• Ian Ziering - 90210 (the blonde arrogant guy)
• Sopranos alum/Sirius Satellite Radio host Vincent Pastore
• Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno

Custom Shadows Tutorial

This tutorial was a lot of fun to create. I love doing tutorials that challenge people to be creative.

Custom Shadows Tutorial

Topics covered are:

Zero-distance shadows
Irregular drop shadows
Highlight
Changing the color of a custom shadow
Balanced drop shadows
Curled up corners

Have fun! I would love to see some of you share your layouts with me. Leave a link to a gallery in the comments.

Digi Inspiration

Use this as a title starter: "This is the face of…."

Cut a ribbon (that matches your papers) into small pieces and arrange them in a circle for a flower element. Plop a button down in the middle.

Use two small pieces of ribbon held together by a brad or button as an element.

Whats Its Color

Sally first shared this site with me and I have yet to test it. When I finally had time, it was down. But it appears to be back up.

You can upload a photo to this site and it will give you a primary and a complementary color. This could be very useful for coordinating a layout. Or maybe I could take a photo of my kitchen curtain and use it to find a better color for my kitchen cabinets?

I understand that you must use a reduced size image or errors and frustrations will insue.

Have fun!

Whats Its Color

Ash Wednesday

Today's Ash Wednesday forcast:

Today: Partly cloudy and mild. Highs should range from about 57 north to about 64 south. Winds NW 5-10 this morning becoming SW this afternoon.

Goodness, the weather is so nice this week, reaching into the 60's. The sun is shining right now.

This weather always makes me begin to purge my freezer and shelves of winter meals. For instance, I am one who will not make chili in warm weather. Yesterday's dinner was that chick'n dumplings in the crock pot.

This got me thinking about how purging might be applicable in my spiritual life.

The definition of purge is to "to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify"

Of course, my cold days meal planning is not "impure," it is just becoming more undesirable as the weather warms up.

I looked up "purge" in the Bible and all instances of the word are in the Old Testament relating to "purge the evil among you." I thought it interesting that the word did not occur in the New Testament. Why is that? I would think that it is because Jesus Christ (in the New Testament) came into the world and died on the cross to purge all of our sins. I never thought of His Grace in this way, using the word "purge." Interesting. I kind of like the word. I thank God for getting rid of whatever is impure and undesirable in me by washing me clean through Baptism and forgiveness of sins.

On Ash Wednesday we have the Imposition of Ashes to remind us that "dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). We enter the season of Lent for six weeks of prayer and repentance until we celebrate the risen Lord on Easter morning. I have always found this rather odd. Not bad, just odd. For me, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter are celebrated, all three, on a daily basis. Why spread it out over six weeks?

Pardon Me

Pardon me while I work through computer frustrations that take up so much of my valuable time.

Today's Scrapping Ideas

How does the person in the photo make you feel? Use the title: "You make me ..."

Borrow from a paper scrapbooking technique and cut your photos into fun shapes.

Look for your favorite layout and scraplift yourself, but flip the design (sketch).

Scrapbooking Inspiration

Make a layout for each of your children and journal the top 5 (or 10) things you love about them.

"Life is too important to be taken seriously" would make a great layout for your humorous subjects.

Put a title "I love my ...." in a heart shape.

Use this as a title starter: "Sometimes, we just have to stop and ....."

Collecting

I read something this morning that got me thinking.

I love to collect things. I have a doll collection from my youth, as well as a coin collection. I have a collection of snow globes.

Today, I realized that I am also big into collecting memories. I cling to memories. I have collected things of my grandparents that remind me of them. I have collected things of my ancestors to learn more about what makes me who I am. I do digital scrapbooking to collect memories. I enjoy genealogy to collect memories.

Why do I do this? What is my purpose in collecting memories? I will have to focus on those questions for myself.

I seem to run from one addiction to another. I am having so much fun digital scrapbooking that I am thinking about it all the time.

Addictions are okay unless they take your focus off of the Lord. It's like when someone puts t.v. over worship and makes t.v. an idol. Psalm 31:6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD. Will you watch your favorite t.v. show or go to Ash Wednesday service tomorrow night? Of course, tivo makes that choice easy.

I need to watch myself so that I do not cling to my memories, but rather cling to the Lord. Which am I putting first?

Psalm 63:8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Some ideas

As I look at old photos of my sons, I wish I could reach into them and kiss them. Journal on a layout using the title: Be Forever Young

My men are so goofy. Do you have goofy, silly photos? Try this title: Life is to short to be ordinary

Take a photo of your child's shoes from behind and make a layout journaling about where those shoes travel in a normal day.

How precious are photos of sleeping babies? Use this title: Sometimes I look at you and have to catch my breath.

Go ahead....Bloom

Some of you may know that I enjoy analogies, especially in nature.
I began doing layouts some time ago of my thoughts as I walk through my flower gardens in my own yards. You can find them here.

I had this photo and I just could not find an analogy that worked until today when it all fell together. I have looked and looked and thought and thought, but it was worth the wait on God's timing. All I could ever think of was "why would something want to call attention to itself and stand out?" That is not being humble. However, I realized today that there is one good reason to have attention; and that is to shine for Jesus.

I made the bent photo myself in PSE and will be writing a tutorial on how to do this soon. The paper and ribbon I made and you can download them here.




Is there anyone else out there that enjoys journaling about God's nature? If so, I'd love to have you leave me a link to see the photos in the comments. I would enjoy seeing them.
Hosted on Fotki

My Day

I read something the other day about how one must continually re-fall in love with their spouse. I thought that since I am always posting about "my men" frustrations, it was only fair to share how sweet they can be too. Saturday morning, I stayed in bed all morning writing the tutorial and my hubby was so sweet to bring me lunch in bed!

Today was a wonderful day. Church was a blessing. In the afternoon I took my Little out (Big Brother Big Sister). We first had plans for a movie and she changed them to bowling, but neither of those happened. The sun was so beautiful and the temperatures and wind were not quite so cold, so I just wanted to be outside. I love being outdoors and I felt so refreshed after our time today. We found this pond of ice. It was fun using sticks to poke the pieces of ice around looking for the huge gold fish underneath.


We found this heart melted through the ice. Had someone else made it with a stick before us?




Then we found this leaf was making an impression in the ice as it was half melted into the ice. Was the leaf conducting heat from the sun? I just love God's wonders.

We traveled to view the river. I could not get a good photo with my phone and so wished I had my camera as there were these beautiful white gulls gliding around. Watching them, I could almost feel as if I were soaring over the waters.

We crossed the railroad tracks and walked along the rocks. I SO love exploring and walked in nature. I am always up for an adventure.

We found a waterfall. Oh, what a perfect ending to a wonderful morning and afternoon. God's world is a wonderful place.

I always hear that people get depressed during a long winter with no sun and that a little sun can change people. That is so true. I actually feel charged up and ready to go to work tomorrow.

PS. I think you can click on those images and they will open up larger ones if you want to see them closer.

The Love of Color (new tutorial)

Because it was Saturday, I went after another boring, long, and difficult tutorial. I only have about 4 more of these to do and I am anxious to get them behind me so I can do fun techniques.

This one I have had planned to do since 2005, but just never have gotten to it.

There are so many tools with terms regarding color in PSE that it does get confusing. This tutorial will show you how to take a photo to obtain a Color Table from it and then use it as a Color Swatches.

Color Swatches vs. Color Table vs. Color Picker

There are three links to download Custom Color Swatches I made.
Have fun learning!

Try These!

Write a letter to a loved one and use the title "Message to Heaven."

Using a circle shape, place a photo in a half circle shape on the top and journaling on the bottom half.

Sing it with me! "Life is a highway!" Use this title to journal about busy days, busy lives, or even a child playing with cars.

Do you have any photos of a young child mimicking a parent or sibling? Maybe they are side by side? Use the title "Copycat."

Do you have any dolls from when you were little? Line them up, snap a photo, and journal your memories about them. What were their names?

Having trouble choosing a title? Read your journaling and choose some words from the journaling. Make certain words in the journaling larger so as to reflect a title, but still read within the journaling.

Digiscrapping Finds

Simple Scrapbooks Magazine has a call open for layouts for their new digital magazine. Hurry, layouts are due March 1st (although the top of the page an incorrect date). By their three suggestions for submissions, they must be working on 2007's back-to-school/fall issue.

As everyone is anticipating the arrival of the new digital scrapbooking magazine in our snail mail boxes, the website for the magazine is finally beginning to be updated. It is my understanding that if you signed up for the first issue, your subscription bill will be with the first issue in your mailbox. If you try to log onto the site and it indicates that it cannot find your account, do not panic. This means your magazine is on its way and that your account is temporarily suspended until you make a payment.

Monica Larson has a great blending tutorial on her website. Click on the icon in the upper lefthand corner.

Dividing/Slicing Photos Tutorial

This tutorial was fun to create and to brainstorm a varity of ways to apply this technique.

Dividing/Slicing Photos Tutorial

In this tutorial, learn how to utilize the grid in Photoshop Elements.

Disk Talk Radio

This makes me happy! When this site first opened, I was excited, but many of the radio shows (which are actually heard online) were for paying members only. Look at them now! We can listen to all of the shows for free to all registered users. The subscription rates for the other benefits at the site have been lowered.

I really like this site and I hope that these changes bring more people to the site in order to keep it as a great asset for this hobby.

Now, if I could only find time to go and listen!

Designer Technique - Doris Castle

Please welcome and thank Doris Castle as our next Designer Technique. Doris has chosen to share with us some techniques about shadows. I love the tips she has shared and I feel it shows her high level of skills and why she is such a favorite designer of many. I have a few of her kits and just love them. Her kits and generous free samples on her blog are always of the highest quality.

You can find more products by Doris Castle at Studio Doris at ScrapbookGraphics.com
Learn more about Doris at her blog, Scraps of Life, where you will enjoy the FREE For All's!
Doris is also a designer at CottageArts.net, StoryTellers Club and ScrapWow.

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Tip from Doris - From the Shadows comes Realism!

I personally like to have my layouts look like they've been created with paper, so that once printed, people just need to touch it and be sure it's flat. To do this, a sense of realism is very important. To achieve this sense of realism, I rely heavily on the correct use of shadows. I also am sure to remember to use something to attach everything, as it would need to be if paper scrapped (such as brads, staples, tape, etc). For the majority of kits (unless specified), the elements included do not have shadows so that you can create custom ones that relate to your layout as needed.

Think Distance
With most graphic programs, shadowing can be done with a click of the mouse quite easily and this makes for a great effect. To enhance this effect, it is great to get into the options and adjust the settings according to what it is you are applying the shadow too. For example, if you are applying the shadow to a heavy thick element such as a chipboard you would want a darker shadow with a bit of distance. If you are applying a shadow to a paper, you would want it lighter and closer because it would lay closer to the page

* Layout Credit: Sweet Decadence Kit.
Notice that the shadow on the chain is smaller than the shadow on the thick heavyflower. The shadow is especially dark on the flower to show the added distance of being above the chain.

Think Color
Another important factor in shadowing that is often overlooked, is the color of the shadow. Most programs default to making the shadow in black and you can adjust the opaqueness. If you are able to adjust the color, it is sometimes good to make it be the color of the element that is creating the shadow - especially if it is partially opaque.

Notice that the shadow is very soft and subtle due to the fact that it is made with the color brown instead of black. Below you can see the difference. The first the shadow is black. The second, the shadow is brown.

First: Shadow in Black

Second: Shadow in Brown

Think Shape
Not everything lays flat in the real world, so to make something look even more real, it is sometimes important to add a bit of imperfection to the shadows. Photo Lifts/Bent Photos are a popular trend right now and they show this beautifully.


Notice that the shadow on the ribbon isn't straight but gets bigger and smaller as the ribbon bunches up.
* Layout Credit: Sentimental Sophisticate Kit and Album.

What's your favorite kit? It's hard to say what my most favorite kit is, because there are many and like a child to a mother, each and every one is special to me. But if I have to choose, I would have to say my favorite is My Hearts Delight Kit and Album. I love the fall season with the brilliant and natural colors. And since I love flowers, I just had to include a big sunflower.

Circle Text Tutorial

I am happy that this tutorial only took me about an hour to write. I need more like this to keep me going.

Circle Text Tutorial

I remember when I learned this technique back in November of 2005. Goodness, does time fly. I had not seen any directions for this anywhere until angleigh shared with me at ScrapGirls in this thread. However, the text was backwards and I had to play to figure out how to turn it. Once I figured it out, I created a tutorial and put it on my website. (I am just now getting it back up, with graphics this time, on my website). I remember suddenly seeing lots of tutorials for it popping up in various places thereafter. I remember back in 2005 when it seemed as if I would mention something in the yahoo group or post a tutorial and then suddenly I would notice responses. For instance, I remember posting that I would love a dog kit and suddenly, lots of dog kit ads went through p4d. There seemed to be a lot of designers lurking and looking for ideas for inspiration and something new. It seemed many of my ideas were inspiration. It has been a while, though, since I've seen this happen.

As I am reflecting, it seems that this hobby has grown temendously since 2005. It is not the same digiworld I remember. It is much more saturated and most of the "info" and "ideas" are out there. To come up with something unique at this distance into the history of this hobby is something I would suggest is a great honor. For instance, these backside staples are very unique as I've never seen them before. Kudos to Jenn Patrick!

A Night Out

Our local Mexican restaurant has the best service I have ever had consistently at any place. We love to go there just for that reason. We always get the melted white cheese sauce with our chips. It used to be that before we sat down, they had the sauce in their hands. Is that service or what? That waiter is gone now.

Every Wednesday, all day and night, this restaurant offers marguaritas for 99 cents! They come around with pitchers of it refilling your glass! I had about..oh..let's not say!

My hubbie's beer was huge! The photo only shows about 2/3rds of the glass and we were guessing that it probably equalled three bottles of beer. One of those is enough! We do not drink very often, but we do enjoy it every once in a while. We have wanted to go on a Wednesday to our favorite restaurant to try out the drink special, but just never have. It was a good thing that Valentines Day was on a Wednesday. Which, of course, is a hard thing. How do you do much for your valentine on a work day? My valentine does not get home from work until 7 p.m. and then he is full of dust and has to shower. By then it is too late to do anything.

By the way, here is a photo of my valentine! The glass has distorted his face and he looks funny. We talked about how God must have put us together. I'm not sure anyone else would have put up with me for twenty years!

I was reflecting on the past. My Grandpa had told me that history always repeats itself anyway. His wisdom was so true.

At his funeral I learned that the traits I and some of my relatives have that we considered "certain surname" traits were not actually what we thought they were. They were actually the wife's traits, not the husband's. That made me reflect on that particular set of great-grandparents of mine as I've seen them in photos and I realized that it seems that the two of them and me and my husband are similar pairs in personality! History repeating itself. God sure does know how to put two people together.

Typing Speed - What's Yours?

I am unsure as to how accurate this site is and would love to have some other people test it. How Fast You Can Type
I know I can type fast. I know I can type over 100 words per minute, but after about five attempts, this site told me I can type 121.42 words per minute with zero (0) errors. Really?

When I am instant messenging, I often have to slow down as people cannot communicate as quickly as I do.

I think when I send out a lot of e-mails to the yahoo group, people must wonder when the reality is that I type very fast.

I wonder if I keep trying how fast I can get, especially if I'm not sitting incorrectly at my laptop, in bed, with my legs crossed indian style, but sitting correctly at a normal keyboard. I think I could be faster in better conditions.

So, please post a comment and tell me how fast you type on this page.

Out of Bounds Tutorial

I may be tired tomorrow (okay, it is already tomorrow), but I will feel good knowing I got another tutorial done! This one was rather long.

Out of Bounds Tutorial

After you learn these techniques, visit this site at worth1000.com to be inspired by even more ideas to try to acheive!

Earthquake Kit

I have no knew tutorials to share today, but my house is a little cleaner, as well as my dog! Her fur felt so good this morning.

I also cleaned out my purse yesterday and I found this tag I had stuck in there back in October. Okay, come on, admit it, how often do you clean out your purse? It was only four months, right?

Back in October, our office moved to a new building. In the stairwell was an earthquake kit. Yes, this is something we do here in Southeast Missouri. I have one in my basement. I thought this would make something great to blog about and stuck it in my purse and that was where it stayed.

We also keep 5 gallon water jugs in our basement as part of our earthquake kit. Because of this, I know that we are supposed to put new water in the jugs every so often because water does not stay uncontaimentated for ever. Therefore, I was curious about the water jugs in the stairwell and picked up one to read the expiration date on it.

Can you believe this? The expiration date was January 28, 1999! This water is eight years old! Would you drink it? Would you drink it even if you had no other water in the event of an earthquake?

Amazing how the former owners of the building put it there and never thought twice about it again. How often do we do that? Just like the things in the bottom of my purse. I put them there and how long do they stay there? Doesn't it make you want to do some Spring cleaning?

This earthquake kit reminded me of Iben Browning. You can read more about him here and here and here. It was because of his prediction that we all started creating earthquake kits. So, even though his prediction was stupid, something good came out of it. Isn't that the way God works?

I remember those months very well at the end of 1990. I was pregnant with my middle son who was born in November. Iben Browning had predicted a major earthquake on December 3rd.

I remember being very pregnant and beginning to walk into my good friend's home to drop off my oldest son so she could watch him while I went to work. I was in the threshold of the doorway when I heard a huge boom. It made me stop in shock. Immediately thereafter, I remember looking up at her two story home, up the stairs, and seeing the whole thing swaying.

We immediately went outside onto the front lawn where we stood and felt the ground shaking under us for what seemed like forever.

I remember exclaiming how if this had been the big one, I could not have been in a more perfect place, with one child in my belly and one in my arms, in a doorway. Of course, it was not one that did much damage, but it was the only earthquake I ever remember seeing and feeling and hearing.

That earthquake, though, made us all wonder if the upcoming date of December 3rd really would be true. Could this earthquake be one of those that come before the big one?

We all held our breath on December 3rd and I kept my newborn son and 5 year old son close to me, but nothing happened that day. However, it did teach us to be aware and to be prepared.

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? Do you have a kit at your home? Leave me your answers in the comments.

6 New Video Tutorials

I came across the Photoshop Tutorials Blog today sharing 6 free videos. Enjoy! I'm off to watch them myself.

Politics

Everyone will soon come to know how much I hate politics. However, I feel I am forced to make myself educated so I can be an informed voter.

I have no idea if the candidates utilized the web in the past, but this time around, I am glad to see they are reaching out to us with this medium. I am more likely to read on the web than I am to read the newspaper or watch them on t.v.

You may remember my post about Ms Clinton using Yahoo Answers. she also has a website.

I found today a website for Barack Obama. There is a video.

I am sure their peoples are monitoring everything that goes up so it's most effective for campaigning. I notice that Mr. Obama's blog is not written by him. I wish every word the candidates said were more impromptu and really showed me them and not their peoples. Or am I just imagining this?

Do you want to know who else is running? Check out this webpage.

So far, every time I've mentioned either candidate to people, I get squinched faces. Seems no one likes either of them. Don't worry, you will never know my opinions as I like to read with an open mind and decide for myself and keep that private.

I just wanted to share with those who did not realize that these websites were up so that they may also be informed. If I find more sites, I will share again. Or just google their names yourself as I have found many other sites already.

Already, as I recall all the t.v. ads from past elections, I am becoming thankful once again for my tivo with this upcoming 2008 election.

Color Wheel and Color Schemes Tutorial

Oh, this feels so good! I worked hard writing this tutorial. These things take longer than you can imagine. It feels good because it is the last tutorial in Course 1 that I have plans to do. Other than editing the organizing tutorial, I'm finally done with Course 1! Many of these tutorials were boring, but necessary, like this one. I am anxious to go forward to fun tutorials.

Most often when I start a layout, I put my photos on first. I observe one or two key colors on the photos and pick up my inexpensive color wheel to find a coordinating color. Thereafter, I go searching for a kit that works with my photos.

Of course, this knowledge about color wheels and color schemes is also utilized in designing coordinating papers and elements.

Color Wheel and Color Schemes Tutorial

I am hopeful that many of you will learn something new with this tutorial. If so, please leave me a comment.

Have a great Sunday!

Playing with Designing

I needed a break from tutorial writing and, since I had not designed anything in quite a while, I made a few things for Spring layouts. I want to make some more. You can find them here.

I am always in awe of the grungy solid color backgrounds, but never seem to be able to make them like all the great designers, so that is what I am practicing now. I think these turned out a little better than my last attempts, but I still have a lot of practicing to do!

Paperclip Tutorial

I'm on a roll and it feels good! Today I am sharing the new Paperclip Tutorial. This is an often asked how-to question by newbies. May you learn something new today!

Never in the Same Place Twice

My computer began acting up today and I finally realized it was the batteries in my mouse. So, I go to get some new batteries and what do I find? I find the empty package yet once again! Henceforth, my gripe session post has evolved!

Living with four men is quite a challenge. We have a shopping list on the refrigerator and I've taught them all that when you use the last of something, just write it on the paper. Can any of them do that? No!

Wanna know what I did? I went and took batteries out of the X-box controller. Boo-yah!

Every single time I need batteries, they are gone. I guess I am going to have to do like I did with the scissors. The scissors, for years on end, were never returned to the desk drawer. I've bought a bunch of scissors over the years and they always seem to disappear into a black hole. My men use them and never return them. Searches of bedrooms do not even turn them up. So, one year, I bought myself a pair and put them in a kitchen cabinet and announced that they were mine and that they were off limits, bought them three pairs and put them in the desk drawer. It wasn't long before they came complaining that they had no scissors. I pointed out that I still had mine and that I could not help it if they did not put theirs away after use, leaving them hopeless. I thought that the scissors would reappear based on supply and demand. Nope. To this day there are no scissors in the desk drawer and mine are safe and sound.

I guess I need to add some batteries next to my scissors. The things I don't have to do to live with four men

Now, I know not all men are like this, but my men seem to be totally incapable of putting anything in the same place twice. This drives me nuts as a person who has a place for everything and everything is in its place.

This sure is a lesson in patience for me.

For instance, on the middle shelf of our kitchen cabinet, the smaller pots all stack very nicely together and fit perfectly on the left side, while the two larger pots stack very nicely together and fit perfectly on the right side. Will my men ever put the pots back in the same place twice? No! They are always trying to shove them in stacking them in the oddest manner, pushing and shoving, until they get them in the cabinet. When I go to cook, it takes me forever to un-shove them from their position. It drives me nuts!

They will even take the large pot on the bottom shelf and shove it into the middle shelf somewhere, leaving a big open available spot on the bottom shelf (which is the way I found it right before fixing it for this photo).

So, as I often do, one day, I wrote a note and taped it up between the shelves. Yep, that's right, my men will read notes. Amazing, huh. I've learned over the years that they will tune out my voice in an instant, but they will read notes. So when I get desperate, notes begin to go up around my house! So, there was this note that said small pots to the left and large pots to the right and it worked! For a few months, my pots were going where they were supposed to! So I took the note down.

Sigh, as is always the case, for some reason, after a short period of time, my men seem to forget what they were previously trained to do. What is it with their brains? Suddenly, after a few months of successful pot placements, the shoving and misplacements began again. Why? Do I need to put up another note? Maybe a little bit of mom-overload-exclaiming will do the trick. Of course, timing is the key as it must be done while all four are present. Sigh. That's nearly impossible. Where's the tape?

It's just like the towels. This happened several years ago. Each man has his own colored towel which gets hung up over the shower door to dry after the shower. After so many uses, it gets put in the hamper and a new one is taken out. This has been the system since they learned to take showers themselves. Suddenly, one day, all at the same time, they all forgot the system. What causes them to totally forget something that they've been doing for the past, oh, twelve years? I'm flabbergasted! Was there some kind of scientific wave that raced through the house erasing certain towel-system brain cells in all male inhabitants? So, I had to have a pow-wow and re-train all four of them!

Well, thanks for reading my ramblings. It sure does help me to just complain. I'm sure they appreciate you for reading too as it helps me maintain patience for a bit longer.

This is the end of another post in the series of Life with Four Men.

New! Designer Techniques

I am excited about this new feature on my blog. As I continue to try to find interesting things for my readers, I have decided to post a weekly (or thereabouts) Designer Technique.

It is my hope that you will be inspired by the designer's favorite technique as well as to get to know the designer a bit.

I thought about interviewing designers; however, let's all do a reality check, how many of us really read the interviews in detail and how many of us skim through them? For me, personally, I feel I am more likely to stop and observe a layout or a technique than I am to read details. I think that is because I realize that I would never remember all those details anyway, but I will remember how a designer makes me feel, especially if they have been helpful to me.

With this post, I am creating a new label above called "Designer."

*******
The following is a list of scheduled designers. If you would like to contribute, please do not hesitate to contact me.

1. Glenda Ketcham (Feb 9, 2007)
2. Doris Castle (Feb 16)
3. Terry Maruca (Feb 26)
4. Jeri Ingalls (March 3)
5. Tina Williams (March 9)
6. Misy Cato (March 17)
7. Lena Brandenburg (March 23)
8. Amanda Rockwell (April 1)
9. ShelleyRae (April 6)
10. Amy Wolff (April 13)
11. Amanda Stevens (April 19)
12. Kathy Moore (April 30)
13. Kim Higueria (May 4)
14. Eugenia (May 12)
15. Rachael Giallongo (May 25)
16. Microferk Designs (June 1)
17. Darcy Baldwin (June 22)
18. Mona Minnie (July 6)
19. Katy the Scrapbook Layd (July 20)
20. Barb Speck (July 27)
20. LaWanna Desjardin(August 10)
21. ksharonk (August 31)
22. Kim Hill(September 7)
23. Sara Ellis (September 14)
24. ChristinaRenee (September 21 - never followed through after waiting weeks)
25. Faith True (October 5)
26. Blythe Evans (October 5)
27. Betty Jo (October 12)
28. Monica Larsen (October 19)
29. Arti-bytes (October 26)
30. Lie Fhung (Nov 2)

***********
Information for Volunteers:

I want to allow the designer’s interests and talents to show through and not inhibit them, so I want to keep the questions simple. I have written these as following and, thereafter, you may expand or provide whatever you want, even freebies. Keep it simple or go for the gusto…but for some uniformity, we will start with these two and then you can add to it if you want. You can send me your writings and jpg’s whenever you get them done and I’ll put them on my blog when your turn comes.

1) Share with us a layout with your favorite technique or special technique, describe the technique, and give instructions.
2) Share with us a preview of either your favorite kit or your most popular kit and links to your store, site, and/or blog.

Please remember that this is just a technique for a layout shared by a designer, not necessarily a technique to make designs. These are techniques to utilize in layouts for scrappers. However, techniques to design are welcome too.

Please send them to me with .jpg's as separate attachments and please indicate where the .jpg's are to be placed. My e-mail is in the side bar.

Secretary of State Resources

Have you been researching genealogy for a while and are in a rut? I would suggest searching the Secretary of State's website for the states which you are searching in for some new inspiration to give yourself a jump start. Many of them have links to resources in the state. For instance, since I do a lot of research in Missouri, here is a page full of links for Missouri. Many of these areas, such as museums, I did not ever think of as a resource before. The recources are listed by county as well as some national links.

I also found today a site called Myrootsplace. It's free to join and, although I have not cruised the site yet, it looks to have some helpful resources.

Four Selection Tools Tutorial

Another new tutorial for you! Here is a tutorial on the Four Selection Tools. This tutorial teaches the basics. These skills are utilized for many other techniques, so be sure you understand them well. Now, go get those marching ants!

Photo Cube

Check out the post at Instructables for a fun way to print and display layouts into a cube.

This looks like something I would attempt to do before I became time inhibited.

It would make a nice gift or even a thank you gift.

Changing Colors Tutorial

I am so excited about sharing this tutorial. I am anxious and hopeful that it will be one that many will learn something new. It took me a very long time to write. Please check out the new Changing Colors Tutorial for PSE. I welcome comments if this tutorial has taught you something new.

Rounded Corners Tutorial

I'm back trying to write for everyone again! Are you happy!
I put up a new Rounded Corners Tutorial. I hope that it helps new people to digiscrapping. Have a wonderful day!

Walmart Movies

I read tonight that Walmart now has a beta version of downloadable movies. They are sure to give the other main companies a run for their money. I have never paid for and downloaded a movie, but I certainly feel more comfortable trying the first time from a company I shop at regularly rather than a new-to-me company. Another reason I have never downloaded a movie is the possible hassle of transfering it to DVD and thereafter finding a way to store it. Besides, I rarely have time to watch t.v., much less download movies. Still yet, I will want to give it a try some day.

New Trend - Bent Photos

I have been observing a new trend in the digiworld. That is the technique of bent photos. I first saw it on this post at the DIP blog. They also have a second set.

Next, I began seeing it done by other designers.
Here's some by Andrea Burns.
Here's one by Khristy Schmidt.
Two by The Digi Shoppe here and here.
A few by Jen Caputo.
A few by Nancy Comelab.
MaJaMa has one.

Of course, me, the analyzer, doesn't want to purchase these things, but rather figure out how to make PSE do it. When I have time, I will share my attempts with you.

Down Memory Lane

This post is in honor of my two sons and their acheivement of Eagle. Their ceremony is tonight. Now I can give glory to God for having three Eagle Scouts! He is good!

This week is National Scout Week and I would like to recognize and congratulate all Scouts, Boys and Girl, who work hard, as well as the adults who commit their time to shaping our youth.

There are 33 layouts in the strip, but I still have 19 more to get done! I did not reach my goal for tonight. Sigh.

Slideshow Removed...thanks to all who saw it and commented!


Credits on these layouts are mostly to Jeri Ingalls (I love her stuff!) I also used stuff from Tina Williams, Amanda Rockwell, Lilach Oren, and Cottage Arts.

I love you Grandpa

My Grandpa passed away last night. I love him so much. Here's a few photos of him taken during WII. He was in the Battle of the Bulge and eventually he was removed from the field due to frozen legs.

Edit: Now that I believe most of my family and friends have read this, I have removed it from my blog for privacy. I thank everyone who took the time to comment on the blog or in private.

People Finder

When I get time, I want to share some better genealogy helps with you. This is an interesting site. Not all categories, such as marriage records and birth records, are available for all states, but you may find the state you need so it's worth a peek.

This is another one of those scary sites that contains information on living people too. Of course,you have to pay for the entire record, but when I put in my name, the details that were available without pay were scary to me to know this information is available on the internet.

PeopleFinder.com

Snow Day & My Mail

Wow, finally, we get snow and a little accumulation! Too bad it isn't enough to be pretty. With all the grass poking up, it just looks ugly rather than a clean white.

Can you believe they closed the schools today for this much snow?

Last week our mail was flooded with flower catalogs and tax forms. There must be some kind of analogy in that, but I'm not sure what. Do I dare look at those magazines? When I look, I buy. And I don't want to spend money. Oh, there's the analogy! I have to do my taxes so I can get money back so I can buy flowers! [giggle] It's got me dreaming of warm weather again.