A Slice of Life

One of Life's Curve Balls

(Photo of local farm down the road from our new home.) Today is my birthday and I am now 49. I think it was Meryl Streep who one day in an interview spoke freely about her age, noting the number of years and proudly stating that she earned every one of them. I like that. I like that a lot! But that isn’t the curve ball that I am referring to. For actually, age is not a curve ball at all. Or at least, not at this point.

Several weeks ago my husband was told that he is being transferred and, with that, we need to move. We hadn’t really ever planned on moving. We have lived in this house ( see layout of brown home: http://roses4donna.typepad.com/.a/6a010536e1ff3f970b01156f732caa970c-pi ) for almost 20 years. It is about 55 years old and we have been diligently and lovingly renovating since the day we moved in. This house holds many, many wonderful memories. The walls reverberate with the vibes of 20 years of what would probably appear to be typical family life. But, of course, it feels anything but typical to us. I look at the different rooms and I see my sons at different stages of their lives as they were growing up. And, we had so many gatherings, holiday and event celebrations, friends, family… here. Well be that as it may, it is time to move on and that is just what we are in the process of doing. Life can throw you many different types of curve balls and we have decided that we will turn this one into a positive one.  So, we put our home up for sale and found a family who wishes to buy it (or, I should say they found us). We found a new home for ourselves near where my husband will be working. With any luck we will be closing on both homes by early September and by the time October rolls around this will all be a distant memory.

Today is my birthday. Today is the day that the contracts on both our current home and newly chosen home will go to the attorneys. (What a coincidence.) This is all a remarkable birthday gift. Our new home is quite different than our current one. It is in a valley of rolling hills and is surrounded by beautiful farms (see photo of beautiful local farm above). It is in the country. Our current home is in the suburbs. The photo above is a farm that you come to just before turning onto the street for our new home. Curve ball? As I wrote on the photo “May the road of your life always lead to happiness.”  I think that is what we all aim for and right now our fortitude and determination to live by that and make it happen is being put to the test. We’re ‘taking it on the road’, folks! We’re going for a ride!

I truly apologize for the delay in my posting. Everything happened so quickly and unexpectedly…  I’ll keep you posted and I have got to scrap all of this. Plus that, I am in Jenni Bowlin’s class at BPS, Re-purpose, Re-think, Re-invent (I better get going on that). I start Nic Howard’s class, Point of View, also at BPS, on Thursday. I’m in Renee Pearson’s new digital class and I start Still More Digital Skillz with Pattie Knox at Get It Scrapped! in a couple of weeks. So many great classes just happened to be offered the same time and I didn’t know that we’d be moving…  A little bit of overload, okay, a lot. Did I mention that my new scrapbooking room will have more space. It’s like a blank slate just waiting to be decorated! I just have to keep my eye on the ball and hold it together for a couple of months and before I know it… Is it possible to click my heels together three times and…? Wish me luck. Keep a good thought! Thank you! And, may the road of your life always lead to happiness!

More Mad Digital Skillz & the Jessica Sprague CAD Challenge

 

 

The More Mad Digital Skillz class, at Get It Scrapped!, with Pattie Knox is coming to an end this week. It went so quickly. I have seriously enjoyed working on the lessons in this class as there is so much to learn about PSE. I think there is an enormous amount of potential in the Adobe program and I’m certain that I haven’t even begun to actualize its potential.

On another note (but connected in this case) Jessica Sprague is running a challenge a day for the month of June called the Create-a-Day in June Challenge (CAD Challenge). Last night I completed the Day 8 challenge which involved using a fabulous (free) template, In the Making Design, created by Linda Roos.  I altered the template slightly and made the decision not to add journaling to this particular layout. The only element I added was the circular flower shape, from Yazooy Paisley Shapes (downloaded for free from the internet). We studied using shapes and the shape tool in PS/PSE in Pattie’s class yesterday.

It then occurred to me that I had an assignment from my More Mad Digital Skillz class last week that I could apply here. Someone else in my class had created a lovely layout combining one of the Jessica Sprague CAD challenges and this MMDS lesson from Pattie Knox and it stuck in my mind. So, the second layout has the lettering from the lesson added to it. The letters were created using a photograph (the giant redwood tree slab featured in the center photo) and PSE commands. I couldn’t decide which layout I like better so I left the first one, without the lettering, in the JS Challenges Gallery and put the second one, with the lettering, in the MMDS Class Gallery at Get It Scrapped!.  I think I’ll just keep them both and let it go at that! Cast a vote if you like, though. I’d love to get some opinions on this.

More Mad Digital Skillz

 

 

I experienced the strangest coincidence yesterday. In the class I am currently taking at BPS, Everyone Can Write a Little (see other posts), we worked on digitally creating a layered template with a nine photo grid. I decided to use one photo for the entire grid (see the Mushroom layout above). This will go into a heritage/traditions/recipes album I recently started. I did, however, struggle with finding an easy way to get the one photo split up into the nine masks/layers. One of my fellow students and Cathy Zielske , our teacher, explained how to achieve this. Then, yesterday, I went into the classroom of another class that I am currently taking to pick up the latest lesson assignment. The class is called More Mad Digital Skillz and is taught by Pattie Knox (from Designer Dgitals)  at Get It Scrapped! (see post further below). As it turns out the assignment is to manually create a grid type photo collage (see the San Francisco layout). This will go into a Places We Go album.  What an incredible coincidence! It’s funny how these things happen. I was thrilled to learn yet another way to do this and look forward to completing the other two parts (challenges) of my digital lesson very soon.

Digital Materials: Overlays; Spot Dots Brushes-n-Stamps No3, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals; Overlays Volume 1, Kim De Smet, www.oscraps.com; Worn Photo Edges No 2, Lynn Grieveson, Designer Digitals; Distressing Kit, Nancy Rowe Janitz, ScrapArtist.com; Texturize This!, Veronica Ponce, Two Peas in a Bucket. Corner Flourishes, Vintage Glittered Corners, Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals

A Wonderfully Simple and Familiar Connection

Today marks the launching of the new site Write.Click.Scrapbook. by The Inspiration Collective. The list of names of the people involved may be very familiar to anyone who was a reader of Simple Scrapbooks magazine. This is a wonderful surprise and I am looking forward to all that this talented and dedicated team will be sharing with us.

Design Your Life Class/Typography

 

 

During week 11 of Cathy Zielske’s Design your Life class we studied typography. Cathy taught us about the different types of fonts and their uses. We learned about the practical applications of typography such as sizing, leading, and alignment. We also learned about using type as a design element for visual impact and interest.

Typography can be a very dynamic way to create interest on a layout. There are so many fonts available and many of them are free. In the first layout I have utilized similar, sans serif, fonts in contrasting sizes for interest and impact. In the second layout, I have used two different fonts and several sizes and colors in addition to placing one over the other as a design element. You can have a lot of fun with this, particularly if you are working digitally.

Digital Materials: Every Day - Papers, Evening Air, Jen Wilson, jenwilsondesigns.com; Medllion; Shall We Dance Brushes, S.Nuckles, scrapgirls.com; Flowers & String, Twiggy Kit, Paislee Press. LO (alt.) design concept by Cathy Zielske, DYL class at BPS. The Wizard of Oz - Papers, Cardstock Pack, Traci Turchin, 2peasinabucket.com; Catch a Rainbow, Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com; Crafty Evergreen, Victoria Greenlees at Chirpi Creative; Tag, Harvest Cards, Beads, Bead it or Knot, both by Jen Wilson at jenwilsondesigns.com. All other PSE7. LO design concept by Cathy Zielske, DYL class at BPS. I had fun here with the symbolism of the two ‘ruby’ beads/the ruby slippers as well as their serving as a visual triangle with the red script repeated text. The patterned paper picks up on the pattern on my dress. I also enjoyed using the Jen Wilsons scarecrow journaling tag which picks up on my husband’s scarecrow costume. This was just great fun all around – the Halloween party and the scrapping of the event.

Everyone Can Write a Little Class/BPS

 

I was thrilled to find this bonus assignment in our classroom weekly download section and immediately got right to business. Cathy created two (8.5x11 and 12x12) PSD templates for us to use. It was just the thing I needed as I was in a bit of a scrapping slump for a few days for some reason. It’s rough when that happens. This is a layout based on one of my Twitter or Facebook tweets. I am seriously blown away by modern technology and can’t help but wonder what other kinds of things we will see in the future that are nonexistent now. In one of my tweets I ask how you might explain some of our technology to an ancestor who never experienced any of these things. Can you imagine?

I slightly altered the 12x12 template. Digital Materials: Line; Title Line Brushes-n-Stamps, Jesse Edwards, designerdigitals.com. Corner Flourishes (altered); On the Edge Flourishes No4 Brushes-n-Stamps, Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com. Layout design (altered) by Cathy Zielske. All Other PSE7.

Facebook & Twitter Class/BPS

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy Zielske’s Everyone Can Write a Little class (see posts below) is well underway at BPS. In her Design Your Life class, Cathy blazed a trail for us with her design element instruction as related to scrapbooking. In her newest class, she is leading us through the maze of the newest craze of social networking services  commonly known as microblogging. I hadn’t really thought much, and knew very little, about social networks like Twitter and Facebook until I read about Cathy’s new class. She has masterfully combined writing in little snippets, capturing bits & pieces (Cathy's blog) of our daily lives, with scrapbooking. And, we are learning how to navigate our way through the world of microblogging.

Microblogging is very new for me and I am just finding my way. It is comforting to know that there are a lot of people just like me. We’re determined to reach out, to learn and grow, in this area of technology. This brings me to the other area of technology that is being taught in this class. In addition to microblogging, Cathy is teaching the scrapbooking aspect in digital format using Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Many of the students are learning to digitally scrap for the first time.

I well remember the sense of excitement that I felt as I completed my first digital projects. I still get that same rush as I work on and complete digital layouts. There is an incredible sense of accomplishment that digital projects bring. It is a great challenge as there is so much to learn. It feels like there is a never ending list of new tasks and strategies to be learned and applied.

The class has been a wonderful experience in so many ways. I would include in this that I have enjoyed seeing, and being reminded of, the thrill involved in learning to complete those first digital projects. And, learning to maneuver through Facebook and Twitter I feel so much more ‘with it’ and current. I’m having a great time!

The above layouts (6x6) are altered renditions of Cathy’s class assignments and were completed using PSE7. Digital Materials: Digital Paper, Clementina's Closet  Kit by Quirky Twerp for We Are Storytellers. Facebook Pages - Rhonna Designs Floral Brushes (altered) from Funky Flowers Brush Kitz by Rhonna Farrer for Two Peas in a Bucket. Butterfly from the Sketching Spring Brush Set by Valorie Wibbens of Spotted Dog Designs for We Are Storytellers. Twitter Pages - Sketching Spring Brush Set by Valorie Wibbens of Spotted Dog Designs for We Are Storytellers. I altered the colors and added the grass and paint to the flowers.

Design Your Life Class/Color

 

During week 10 of Cathy Zielske’s Design your Life class we studied the design element of color. As Cathy stated, the study of color would normally be a design class in-and-of itself. In addition to this week spent on color study, we had special color layout assignments each week during the course, which I will begin to address very soon. During week 10 we looked at layouts with Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Split Complementary, and Triadic color schemes. From there Cathy discussed pulling colors from the photos and using a system of proportion (a gallon, a pint, and an ounce) of the colors. This is further explained in Cathy’s book Clean & Simple Scrapbooking. We also learned about the alternative of using black and white photographs as a way of increasing the selection of color choices of papers.

The above layout demonstrates the strategy of pulling colors from the photos and utilizing the proportions mentioned above. Brown is the dominant color, the gold tones are the pint equivalent, and blue is the smallest amount of color used. The first layout featured below utilizes the strategy of using black and white photos and having free choice of color/patterned paper(s). The third layout is a bit of a take-off on our third assignment. Here I used a digital layered template. Instead of utilizing patterned papers I used ‘pieces’ of the photograph and the dotted strip above the photo.

 

 

Digital Materials Used:  First Layout - Papers; Bookworm(alt), Erica Hite, scrapgirls.com; Leather Basics,Melanie Wilmann, melgendesigns; Medallion, Kitchen Stool Designs, Jen Wilson, jenwilsondesigns.com. LO concept by Cathy Zielske, DYL class at BPS. Second Layout - Papers, Twiggy, Paislee Press; Brush, Stamped Moments, Katie Periet, designerdigitals.com. LO concept  by Cathy Zielske (alt.). Third Layout - Template (altered), Press Plate no.3, Paislee Press. All other PSE.

Everyone Can Write a Little Class/BPS

 

Whew! Class has begun. Everyone Can Write a Little (see post below) with Cathy Zielske began yesterday and, as suspected, I’m having fun already! My scrapbook is now prepared and ready. Cathy put together an absolutely fabulous video! I’m not at all sure of the number of people in the class but the message boards are hopping with activity and excitement. Everyone seems to be totally motivated. I think we’re off to a great start! I'm off to gather my photos.

Materials Used: The papers and diagonal words are digital. The flourish stamp is not. The stamp reads: 'live life to the fullest' and there is a little bird there. Digital papers are from Clementina's Closet Kit and Sweetness Kit by Quirky Twerp for We Are Storytellers. Font is You Are Loved, internet. The cover wrap was designed for the class by Cathy Zielske.

Everyone Can Write a Little Class/BPS

Cathy Zielske’s new Big Picture Scrapbooking class, Everyone Can Write a Little, begins tomorrow! I absolutely can’t wait. Cathy will be guiding us in using Twitter and Facebook to work on journaling our everyday experiences. We will be creating a 20 page hybrid 6x6 (cute size) scrapbook throughout the 4 week class with an emphasis on short, little stories or anecdotes. Now, keep in mind, if I’m not mistaken, that Cathy started out as a journalist. So, aside from her dynamic personality and great artistic talent, I’m thinking that she brings a lot to this project!  I had an incredibly wonderful experience in her Design Your Life class, as is evident by the work on this blog, and am looking forward to learning and having a great time in her new class! Tomorrow won’t come soon enough! Maybe I’ll ‘see’ you there! More to come…

Design Your Life Class/Elements

During the ninth week of Cathy Zielske’s Design your Life class we studied the design elements of line and shape as well as reviewing the design element of size. Cathy discussed horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curved lines in design. She talked about the use of line, explicit or implied, in layouts as a design strategy to unify and organize elements. We also reviewed the use of common margin space to further contribute to this design strategy.   

The 12x12 layout pictured above utilizes intersecting horizontal and vertical lines. This creates a strong, solid, unified design.  I love this dynamic and fun looking layout design. You can play around with patterned papers, embellishments, and photos which can all easily be placed in the various sections.

This second layout (also seen with my welcome post further down) features a strong horizontal line. This well organized two page 12x12 spread is a fabulous layout design for multiple photos. Papers, embellishments, or more extensive journaling could easily be substituted in any of the areas. The curves in the photos, subtitle, and journaling block provide some balance to the strong horizontal and linear quality of the layout.

The third design assignment, also 12x12, incorporates a strong horizontal line as well as vertical lines. This was part of our weekly Real World Color design assignment. We were given both a specific layout design and a color assignment to work with. I selected lightened versions of the colors given. This is a very adaptable layout design and is great for showcasing a single important photo.

Digital Materials Used: Layout #1: Paper, Natural Papers (alt), Eclectic Designs by Gabi; Brush, Scribbly Flowers Set 2, Gypsy Chick, scrapbookartist.com; Date Stamp, Double Dates 3 (alt), Kellie Mize, designerdigitals.com. All other PSE7.Layout #2: Tree, North Woods Country Christmas, Karla Marano; Journal Tag (alt). All other PSE7.Layout #3: Butterfly Brush, Tia Bennett, twopeasinabucket.com. All other PSE7. Layout designs created by Cathy Zielske for BPS.

 

  

Mother's Day

 

All I am or can be I owe to my angel Mother. 
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

Mother's Love
Her love is like
an island in life's ocean,
vast and wide
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind, the rain, the tide.
'Tis bound on the north by Hope,
By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South
And on the East by Rest.
Above it like a beacon light
Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro' the changing scenes of life
I find a haven there.
Author Unknown


Follow this link to learn some interesting facts about the origin of Mother's Day along with some other interesting information about it.

Digital Materials Used: Vintage Embroidery, Valorie Wibbens, Spotted Dog Designs: Border, Drawn Stitches No1, Katie Pertiet, DesignerDigitals.com.

Old Photos

 

My father was a man of great patience and intelligence. He put a lot of time and effort into photographing our family and documenting our family gatherings. There are so many wonderful photographs and slides that he left for us to enjoy and to spark our memories. I smile every time I think about it and am so grateful for the time and care that he took in doing this. Before he passed away, several years ago, he scanned hundreds of photos onto disks for my brothers and me.

My father encouraged me to scrapbook digitally. He was very good with technology. I tried, but not being very technologically oriented, I didn’t do very well. I wasn’t very successful at it until about six months ago when I enrolled in Jessica Sprague’s beginning digital scrapbooking class Up & Running. Then, a few months ago, I enrolled in Jessica’s Now We’re Rocking intermediate class and her Digi in Deep advanced class. Whew! What a great education. Jessica’s classes are absolutely fabulous. I’ll never stop being amazed at what I have learned to do as a result. I absolutely love digital scrapbooking. I’m still also a traditional scrapper but, I do more digital scrapping now.

As I mentioned though, I am so grateful for all of the time and care that my father put into his photography and memory sharing. I have been going through the numerous photographs and using them in scrapbook layouts, mostly digital. I am also scanning other photos that he didn’t get to.

 I recently enrolled in some online digital scrapbooking classes at Get It Scrapped!. I received an email about their More Mad Digital Skillz class with Pattie Knox, a designer from DesignerDigitals.com, and decided to enroll. It begins on May 25th. I then decided to also enroll in her Mad Digi Skillz (the first class), which is now offered as a self-paced class. I want to be absolutely certain that I am up to par when the More Mad Digital Skillz class begins. I’m learning some new things already and can’t wait to ‘meet’ Pattie and for class to begin on the 25th. I’m sure it’ll be great fun!

The above layout is a combination of the result of some of the early lessons in the Mad Digital Skillz class and my continued effort to scrap photos that my father took (this is a photo he took of me many years ago). I miss my father quite a bit. When I’m working with his photos and digitally scrapping I feel such a strong connection to him. He would have been thrilled to see the progress that I have made with technology and he would have really enjoyed my digital layouts (especially the ones with his photos). Miss you, Dad and THANK YOU!

Digital Materials Used: Paper; Waterpaper (alt.) and  Overlay, Floral Fantasy Overlays,  Mary Ann Wise, DesignerDigitals.com: Sparkles, Scatterings No2, Katie Pertiet, Designerdigitals.com: Embroidered Flowers, Vintage Embroidery Vol.1, Valorie Wibbens, We Are Story Tellers. Plaid Paper, Coreen Silke, atomiccupcake.com: Butterflies, Spring Wings Brushes-n-Stamps No2, Katie Pertiet, DesignerDigitals.com.

Color Challenge/DesignerDigitals

I opened an email from Designer Digitals (one of my favorite digital materials shops) and found this exquisite color challenge from Anna Aspnes. The top photo is from the latest Crate and Barrel catalog (a fabulous source for color inspiration, by the way). Anna created the background paper and photo/Foto clipping mask to download and use for the challenge. I just couldn’t resist the beautiful colors and the challenge of doing something a bit different than usual. It is definitely out there for me. I was drawn to a photograph that I had taken while on vacation at the beautiful Atlantis, on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. I like the way it works for this layout. The water running under the bridge happens to be the same color as the background paper. I had a lot of fun putting this layout together and posted it in the designerdigitals.com color challenge gallery (my first time there). I think that I may look to do this again and will check out future challenges. It always feels great to try new things!

Digital Materials Used: Background Paper and Photo Mask, Anna Aspnes: Inked Edges, SA Distress Kit, Nancie Rowe Janitz, ScrapArtist.com.

Design Your Life Class/Emphasis

During weeks seven and eight in Cathy Zielske’s Design Your Life class we studied the design concept of emphasis. We learned about the dynamic energy that emphasis can bring to a layout by leading attention to a certain starting point and directing and guiding the viewer through the page. The design controls the viewing experience and is an aggressive design strategy as opposed to the quieter one of white space, for example. With emphasis, the idea is to create a strong and dramatic focal point that makes a visual statement. This contrast can be achieved through the use of such elements as size and proportion, placement, color, embellishment placement, typography placement and contrast, density, and isolation. Cathy explained the drama and visual tension that is created in this type of design as we examined many wonderful examples of layouts utilizing the technique.

 

 

The dogwood tree and antique plate layouts are very simple examples of emphasis using size. The proportion of the larger photo to the smaller one(s) makes it obviously dominant at first glance. I should mention several things here. The wonderful antique plate photos were taken by my sister-in-law (thank you!). And, one of the many nice things about scrapbooking is that information about family heirlooms can so easily be shared.  While there often may only be one object, there can be as many scrapbook pages portraying and sharing that object as you wish. This truly is a great way to share those wonderful family treasures along with the stories behind them!

 

 

The Georgia layout features absolutely beautiful photos taken on a recent trip by my sisters-in-law (thank you!). The large photo matte and size of the tree photo directs your initial gaze in that direction and subsequently toward the other photos. The California layout utilizes the same format with some modifications.  Here, I have added journaling and a second photo in addition to a panoramic photo in the upper right portion. The journaling section provides an additional example of emphasis in that I chose to emphasize key words within the story. I also chose to use a darker photo matte to further emphasize the larger photo due to the busier nature of this group of photos.

 

Finally, the house layout utilizes a favored technique used in the magazine and advertisement industry. The wow factor of sheer size as impact provides unmistakable contrast, emphasis, and visual tension. Positioning the larger photo on the left side, following the natural flow of reading, further contributes to its dominance.   

The above featured layouts were assignments based on layouts designed by Cathy Zielske at Big Picture Scrapbooking for her Design Your Life class. All digital layouts were created using PSE7. Additional digital materials include: Dogwood LO; Ornamental Scrolls, Internet. Plate LO; Paper, Garden Treasures, Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com; Line, Title Lines, J.Edwards, designerdigitals.com; Medallion, Shall We Dance Brushes, S.Nuckles, scrapgirls.com. Georgia LO: Brushes, On the Edge Flourishes N^o4, Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com.