Rain Scrapbooking

What's Old is New Again

2011-04-04T16:08:00.011-04:00

It's my favorite time of year again. My sister's birthday was Saturday and the whole family went out for dinner. It was a great chance to try out my new camera app. I've all but givven up using my actual camera because it's so much easier to just whip out my iPhone. As for the quality, it's pretty good really. My iPhone is 3 megapixels and my camera is 4. Anywho. I came across this awesome retro camera app for it that I love. You get a choice of 5 different "camera's" that each produce their own uniquely awesome results.

April also brings my birthday. I've decided that this year, rather than doing the family thing and then going out with my friends later I'd just do one big get together of everyone I'd want there. Or at least everyone in the country who I'd want there. And since it's me and I love planning these things it's become a Wonderland tea party. In that spirit I've dug up a freebie that I've had buried in my portable HD for about a year now. Click here to download.

Tradition

2010-10-11T00:48:00.003-04:00

When the leaves begin to turn and there's a definite crispness in the air, before our thoughts turn to free candy and costumed shenanigans, it's time to remember the good things. Okay, so that sounded a bit trite, but Thanksgiving kind of is. It's all about tradition. Take the food served. squash, turkey, pumpkin pie all of these are foods readily available in the area at harvest time. Our diets are no longer dictated by geography or time of year yet we continue to prepare variations on the same dishes every year. It's tradition. Some of my favorite traditions are the strange ones unique to my family. They're more special because they're ours alone and came about accidentally in most cases.

Tradition 1: Several years ago I found myself home alone on Thanksgiving while everyone ran to and from lessons, stores and work. As well as our family of six we were expecting some family friends, bringing our dinner party to 10 and our prep time to nothing. I figured I'd help and after raiding the kitchen came up with a can of mixed marinated beans and a few fresh pears. Viola, 10 second salad. I've made it every years since. We all contribute a dish to our dinner now (though I think I'm the first to 'invent one :p) making it truly a family affair.

Tradition 2: My fathers birthday is a little before Thanksgiving and my Mom got him Planes, Trains and Automobiles one year. PTA is a John Hughes movie staring Steve Martin and John Candy as to travelers trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving. Every year after dinner we take our dessert into the living room to watch Dale and Neil struggle their way across the country. It's the only time we watch it and it's probably my favorite tradition.

It's my first Thanksgiving on my own, and while I am still going to be having dinner at the house with my family it's still going to be different going as a 'guest'. I'm looking forward to these traditions even more. It's nice when everything's changing, even when it's good change, to return to something familiar. I made my salad in my little kitchen with my crappy plastic dishes and I feel that same pride to be contributing that I felt at 12.

I've made the bean, pear cutouts available for you to download.

Happy Scrapping ♥

It's Good to Be Back

2010-08-14T23:31:00.001-04:00

I've got a couple LO's from my trip up on my personal blog: http://bookworm-diva.blogspot.com/

Sorry for the short post.

Happy Scrapping ♥

The Uncertain Glory of an April Day

2010-04-03T14:50:00.005-04:00

"O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day;
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away."
-Shakespeare

Ah Springtime. Is there any better time of year? Flowers blooming, birds singing and the sun shining. It's currently 21 and sunny outside and yesterday we had a high of 26. I hope it keeps up, I am so over snow. In celebration I have created a some lovely word art with the poem above. Enjoy, but save it 'till tomorow eh? Get out and enjoy the weather! I sure will.

Download

Happy Scrapping ♥

And a happy eighteenth birthday to H.

Princesses and Paperbags

2010-04-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

Good Morning to you all!

I hope your weather is as beautiful as ours. We've got a high of 21 coming up today and I just heard on the radio (z103.5 of course!) that this was a record making March due to the complete lack of snow - at least in Toronto. All very exciting, though I know we're due for at least one more blanket. It's probably coming next week, it always happens right around H's birthday.

As you may or may not know, I'm taking a not-entirely-voluntary semester off and reexamining what I want to do for the rest of my life. It's pretty clear that that is not tourism. I've always had a great love of books, and not just the stories in them either. The books themselves are every bit as sacred as the secrets they contain and this combined with the absolute meditative calm I feel in any library has lead me to believe that my future may lie in the Library and Information Sciences. Some digging has told me that the highest qualification you can get is a Masters. Now, I'm not the most scholarly, but I can get pretty awesome grade if I really really try. I had 100% in the Science Fiction class I took as a Gen-Ed last year for mopst of the semester and finished with a 95. Luckily this is not the be-all and end-all of Librarian education. I can get a library technicians certificate through College and that is what I am shooting for now, while keeping the Masters thing as a distant, idealist plan.

All this, coupled with my general love of books and reading has inspired me. I have started creating a collection based on some of my faveorite and most beloved stories. It will be a rather spread out and long-term project. I fully intent to continue adding to it and updating it whenever the mood strikes me. I have decided to sstart with some classics I, and most other Canadians (and I'm sure many of Americans as well) grew up on. Robert Munsch is a Canadian childrens writer who has created countless fun and light-hearted stories. I remember listening to many
of these stories on tape, as read by the author and I always loved the sound effects and the way he told them. Listening to them now, I still admire the way he seems to fully imerse himself into the story, much to the delight of his audience. The Munsch kit will include 3 stories at this point - Mortimer, Milicent and the Wind and, one of his most well know, The Paper Bag Princess. I had some troubl;e narrowing this list down and so I may also use the two runner-up - Jonathan Cleaned Up and Love You Forever (Which I know is a faveorite of many). I already have the Alpha done for Paperbag Princess. In fact, I think I'll make that today's Freebie.

What are your favorite Munsch tales?

More to come. I still don't have any of my usual tools and such because my portable HD is dead, so it'll be a bit slow, but I'm working on it :)

Happy Scrapping ♥

Wish Me Luck

2010-02-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

Hey all.

So, things've been a but rocky here lately (what else is new eh?) but, it looks like their begining to even out. Four weeks if job hunting has resulted in an interview tommorow at a shoe store (awesome) and I've actually managed to save some money, so hopefully I'll have my first and last months rent after my first paycheck.

Also, because bad luck comes in 3's (I think that's actually supposed to be 'good things' but, it sounded good), not only have I had to move out and spent 3 increasingly frustrating and depressing weeks searching, fuitlessly (until now) for a job but, my wonderful little LaCie 200G portable hard drive died just before Christmas. Thankfully I had a 2 year waranty but, suckily, try can't get my stuff back for me. I have to take it someone who does that and pray that they can and then sign my life away to pay for it.

Now Im sure you've guessed what I'm going to say next and yes. On that HD was everyting I own. To do. With. Scrapbooking. As well as any pictures that were not photos. So that means, all my LO's, all my tutorials with accompanying screen caps, all my 'inspiration' and quotes I want to use and hundreds of dollars worth of supplies (mostly daily freebies which I can't replace).

So now you know :). Don't feel too bad for me though. Things are looking up.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Z ♥s Supernatural

2009-12-12T21:57:00.004-05:00

Hi i'm Gen's sister Z. I just fineshed making this layout. She thought that it was good and that I should put it up. It is for Supernatural, a show that we watch together. It showes the two main characters, Sam and Dean. The show is about two brothers (Sam and Dean) who hunt demons. I am not able to watch this season because it has been moved to a later time at nigh. I am hoping to catch up on this season over the Christmas break.

Happy Scrapping ♥ - Z

My version of the '52 Week Challenge'

2009-12-08T15:07:00.003-05:00

I've noticed many Scrapbook bloggers are doing some version of this challenge whether it be daily, weekly or monthly LO's and pictures. I don't really do much on a day to day interest that would be of any interest, so what I'm going to do instead is post a pic each week and talk about it a bit. This could be a recent picture or one from years ago. Hopefully this'll keep me more on track with posting and give me a chance to show off some photos.

In High School I was on the Green Team, or as our school named it the North Environmental Awareness Team (NEAT). It was a big part of my life at the time and I have many fond memories of events, weekly recycling rounds and the members themselves. I even had got to be VP in my final year with my friend as President. This picture was taken as a promo for our Hug-a-Tree-athon to raise money to get David Suziki as a Guest Speaker at the school. I remember it being bitterly cold (not quite cold enough to close the schools, but enough to be a little painful on exposed skin) and having to more or less bully everyone into coming out. Even so, we only got about half of them out there. It was also 'Fake Injury Day', hence the bandages and such. In the end we never did use the photo's, but it's a great memory and the crisp blue sky against the frozen snow looks great.

Happy Scrapping and remember to ♥ the earth.

Post-It Tuesdays (on Wednesday)

2009-12-02T16:50:00.004-05:00

This looks awesome. Check out the original post and join in! Here's my first stickie. Late, of course.

M's been driving me nuts by using me makeup despite have recieved lots of quality stuff from me last Christmas in an attempt to rectify this very problem. Apparently it's not good enough and she would rather use my $4 eyeshadow than her $18 good stuff. W/E
:).

Who Needs a Fix?

2009-12-02T15:00:00.013-05:00

Making a poster for M's Hot Chocolate fundraiser next week and I had to create a few things myself. I really like how they turned out, so I've added a few more coordinating things and zipped it all up for you. Morning Coffee is a mini-kit with only a few items in it and no alpha, but it's cute and fun. I also put in some things from my Friends Like Them kit, so if for whatever reason you did not download it, you now have a little preview. For the most part I used the Caffienated kit from Scrapgirls (♥) which I love.
Last night I learned a new trick. Actually I technically learned two. I'm so excited about how easy this technique is and how awesome it looks! I used it a lot in the creation of today's freebie, and in my poster. So today I have a tutorial for you.

You will need:

Photoshop (I'm now using CS2)

2D image of a coffee cup like this one:
I just google 'coffee cup' and then covered it with MJO_ChildhoodMemories_12x12_DotLines to give it a christmasey look.

Tools Used:
Burn Tool
Dodge Tool

All Aboard? Alright, let's begin.

Open your image. If you downloaded mine, find where you put it and get it up there in Photoshop.
Easiest way to remember which tool to use when, is to think about a piece of paper that has been burnt. The edges are darker than the rest of the page, because that's where it was burnt. Dodge does the opposite. We'll start with Burn. It can be found in the second section of your toolbar. Mine was originally set to the Dodge tool, but yours may already show Burn or show Sponge which is also under that menu.
This part is very much like regular brushwork (the kind you would 'paint' with rather than 'stamp' on). Simply run the tool up and down the edges of your cup until you are happy with the look. Obviously it wont look 'quite right' until you've added the lighter part in the middle. I like to make a 'J' like hook near the bottom to add some extra realism. BTW, the dots are my way of showing you how to do it. It wont actually look like that :).
Once your done with the edges, select the Dodge tool (same menu as burn) and go up the centre, until your cup looks sufficiently rounded.
That's it. So easy, so you do it completely to your personal tastes.

Click the poster for the Morning Coffee download link.

Remember to leave a little love for a chance to win.

Happy Scrapping ♥

I ♥ Comments! (and freebies)

2009-12-01T18:30:00.007-05:00

I have a request for you. As I've mentioned earlier, I love comments. Well, that should be work out just great, as you all clearly like downloading. Unfortunatly, somethings missing in that equation. I know my stuffs being downloaded, but I'm not getting comments. Don't get me wrong, I love that you're all liking my stuff enough to download it. The thought that my creations are being used in your memories is amazing! It's nice though, to get some feedback. A simple 'thanks!' or some constructive criticism or suggestions is all I ask. I know it's a pain, especially for those of you coming from Digifree or Creative Busy Hands. If you're like me, you have about 15 different tabs open at one time just waiting for 4shared to finish counting down. It can be overwhelming, but each one of those tabs contains a lot of work, and care and pride put in by someone who, no doubt, would like to know that that effort is being appreciated. And so, as an incentive to you all to leave comment, I'm going to be creating a special 'Commenter Appreciation' gift. For each post I will randomly select a few commenters to recieve this kit. There is no minmum length or any other condition. Just leave a comment and some way for me to send the gift should you win.

I also have a new freebie kit available that I literally, thought of and created within 24 hours. A record for myself, who took 3 months to complete 'Captain Quarters'. It's called 'Asphalt Gretzky' and was inspired by a Road Hockey game I passed on my way home from class last night. I have never participated in one, however Z will enjoy a game or two in the driveway when she can find someone to play with her.

Enjoy the new kit and please remember to comment. This is the seaon of giving after all. Why not take a second to make someones day?

Happy Scrapping ♥

Christmas Traditions

2009-11-30T21:23:00.003-05:00

I was reading today's Scrapgirls newsletter and was reminded of some of my favorite Christmas traditions. There's the basic ones, like when we put up the tree and It's A Wonderful Life and Christmas dinner, and then there are some that are completly ours. Others may not understand them and many came about more by accident than anything else. For example, for as long as I can remember we always opened one gift on Christmas eve, then one year us girls all got matching pajama's and every year it has been the same. Santa always leaves a new set of ornaments on our tree, something going back to when we used to spend Christmas with my paternal Grandparents before my Grandmother passed away. Often these are gorgeous feathered birds which we would look foreward to putting up each year. Though not 'traditional' ornaments I thought they were the most beautiful things I had ever seen and always made sure to put the prettiest near the top. Then there are my personal traditions, like buying a new role of paper each year just for my gifts and my new book ritual. This started when, angry at being sent to bed when I wanted to play with my new gifts, I decided to spite my parents by reading 'this dumb book about a wizard'. That book turned was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The rest is history.

So I have a proposal for you all. What are your favorite Christmas traditions? You can make an LO or just leave a comment. I'd love to hear about them :).

Bank Boredom

2009-11-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

In line for the bank and bored out of my mind. This is why I don't come inside unless I have to. The machine is so much easier! More polite too sometimes.

So it's a new week and definitely the holiday season. This past weekend we had our local Santa Clause parade and the weekend before was the Toronto parade. I think I'll think up a Christmas themed tutorial for you all. Look for that by tommorow night :)

This post is mostly just an update. Like I said. I'm bored. And in the time it has taken me to meticulously type this out on my iTouch the line hasn't moved once. I have overheard some interesting conversations though. I really need to get out of this town.

**Bank Update**
30 minutes later I'm finally free and off to get a much needed London Fog.

Happy Scrapping ♥

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style

2009-11-18T13:45:00.001-05:00

Ah Christmas shopping. Is there any better time to be in the mall? Unless of course it's December 24th or a you happen to be in a Toys R Us when schools out. That's not a good scene. I went to drop off some resumes and pick up a new planner for myself (same brand as 09 ♥) and ended up spending several hours. I probably shouldn't have, in fact I definitely shouldn't have, nut it's just so festive. I actually didn't buy much in the end and still had a blast. Here's a freebie for you inspired by the Sears Wishbook.

I'm also toying with the idea of creating some freebies specifically for those following the Twitter feed. Get over there now just in case :).

Happy Scrapping ♥

Pumpkin Spice Freebie

2009-11-16T12:35:00.006-05:00

With Thanksgiving coming up for so many of you, I thought I'd put up this great autumn themed alpha. It's a full set of Capitals and several bits of punctiation. I've also thrown in a little surprise :)

I'm fully in the christmas spririt thanks to the Toronto Santa Clause Parade yesterday afternoon and as a result I expect I'll have many seasonal freebies, tutorials and even a few quick pages for you in the coming weeks. Check back often and to be sure you don't miss anything you can now subscribe to my Twitter account! (On a side note, the background on my twitter page is a modified version of the one I've been trying to get up on the blog).

Happy Scrapping ♥

Leisk #7

2009-11-14T23:06:00.002-05:00

I am proud to present Jack. A 6month grey striped Tabby and the latest addition to our family. Zoe got him for her birthday Wedneswday and today he finally has a name. He's absolutly adorabe and tiny and incredibly fast. Alsway underfoot and still exploring the house. I'm definitely in love.

The Best, Softest, Easiest Cookies Ever & A Freebie

2009-11-07T01:35:00.007-05:00

These are the greatest cookies ever. My mom showed me this recipe. Incredibly soft and chewy and ready in a half-hour tops you'll never bake anything else. You can make any variation you want, so long as you have the cake mix.

Ingredients:
1pkg. Cake Mix 2 Eggs 1/3c. Oil Chocolate Chips/Dried Fruit/Sprinkles/etc. (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix Cake Mix, eggs, oil and add-in's in mixing bowl until dough forms
Drop evenly spaced onto greased cookie sheet
Bake 8 - 10 minutes
Remove from oven and let cool before removing from baking sheet. Cookies will be very soft.

Can be stored in an airtight container for a few days, but the softness doesn't last long in the open. Which is why is good these are so easy.

I made this adorable little recipe card to go along with it using the Dinner Party set from Shabby Princess, but can't offer it as a quick page or anything of the sort because it's not my stuff. I'd love to see some other recipe cards though if anyone has their own design.

And finally, here's the aforementioned freebie:

A New Fanaticism, Freebies and WTF Suri?

2009-11-04T14:13:00.011-05:00

Hey all,

Yes, yes it's been months. I'm sorry, but absence makes the heart grow fonder...or...something like that.

In the time that I've been not blogging for my non-existent readers, I've been working and in the time I've not been working I've been getting addicted to a few new shows. Sex and the City (which really started last summer when L from the Del had a few seasons), Gossip Girl (I love the clothes and actually prefer it to the books), Chuck (adorable super-powered nerd anyone?) and finally...True Blood. I'm working my way through season two right now and O-M-G. The only negative is that I pretty much have to watch when no one else is around as there is just enough nudity that anyone who walked in the room at the wrong moment would probably be like WTF are you watching and that could get awkward. Same holds true for SatC, but I'm not supposed to be watching that anyways apparently.

So today I was browsing the Peices of Flair application on Facebook - which is an Office Space reference, which I love - for True Blood flair when I found this:

I love it because it's about Lafayette, promotes True Blood and bashes Twilight*. So, needless to say I added it then I made a DP for MSN and a new desktop background (side-note does anyone call them 'wallpapers' anymore? 'cause I have been and no one seems to know what I'm talking about). So if you want 'em:

Of course, I mean no copyright infringment, I don't own any of this.

In other news Suri Cruise, in true celebutot fashion, is wearing heels. Or at least she was in Boston. They're not even those fake little plastic Disney Princess ones, which really, aren't supposed to be worn out. They're for dress up. As in put on them and Mommies old dress and feed baby from an invisible bowl of cereal. Now I don't know the first thing about the very-young and fabulous set, but I heard about this through my cousins Facebook. This distubs me for a few reasons. I love heels as much, and maybe more than the next woman (or man. Whatever floats your boat), but I'm 20, not 3. First we'll start with the health issue. It is no secret that high heels are damaging. It has been proven time and time again. There're the obvious blisters and pinched toes, but then there's the long-term damage to knee's and ankles, but we do it anyways because as women that's our perogative. Key word being women. Not toddlers.

Secondly high heels have always been associated with...well sex. Not outright, but have you ever noticed how in those movies where the girl gets made-over she ends up in heels? I mean they make your butt look smaller and force you to walk with a bit of a sexy sway. Would it be ok for a 3-year old to wear a shirt with a promiscious slogan on it (or dress like a Bratz doll)? My final words on the matter? This is wrong and potentially harmful to such a young girl. Love the rest of the outfit though. She really is adorable.

That's all for today, Happy Scrapping ♥

*Disclaimer I loved the book Twilight and somehow, in a bizzare fit of telepathy or foreshadowing or whatever knew that if my sister read it, she would get all obsessive and it would ruin it for me. It's happened before. Well she read it. She loved it and it actually wasn't so bad. Then...everyone else read it. Then everyone elses sister read it. And now it's this media-whoring, pre-teen exploiting, tabloid feeding typhoon of OMG's, squealing and obnoxiousness. just my opinion, if you're a rabid twi-hard (even the name sounds dirty...) please don't hurt me.

Captains Quarters Freebie

2009-07-17T10:43:00.009-04:00

My latest kit is inspired by one of my favorite fashion trends this season - the Nautical look. Captains Quarters, as I've dubbed it, contains 7 (!) papers, a full alpha set with both capital and lowercase letters as well as several pieces of punctiation. I am in love with this dress by Dolce & Gabbana.

Unfortunatly I could never afford if without promising my first-born or something so I've designed these adorable little sailboats instead. It helped - a little. Not much though LOL.

Here's a close-up of the glitter detail on the boats.

There are a bunch of other things in there too so get downloading! And don't forget to comment.

Happy Scrappin ♥

Vacation Memories QP

2009-06-22T21:52:00.006-04:00

I promised long ago that I would put up a kit designed by my sister. Unfortunatly, that is yet to be completed. In the mean time I have this awesome QP freebie that she just made. It's perfect for any vacation or summer photo's and has plenty of space for your own creative expansion and journaling. There's an overlay for the photo to give it a bit of a vintage feel, so make sure you place your photo below the layer named "Overlay" when your doing it.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Some New LO'S

2009-06-20T00:10:00.007-04:00

After the business with Facebook's policy regarding uploaded content I decided to remove all of my Layouts. As a result, I have a couple which have yet to see the light of day and I thought I'd put them up here. I love sharing them, and this is now the only way I can do that.

Journaling: Forget the show!The bus trip to Toronto for Dane Cook was eventful enough to last a weekend! Jackie nearly demolished her ticket before the transfer in New Market, which we missed only to be shouted at by crazed-carnies, frightened by drunken bus station patrons and befriended by Travis the (presumable) gay Body Shop employee. Then, finaly on the second bus, Sarah found that leaning into the aisle to talk to us put her face in a rather interesting location in relationt to the guy standing there.

Here at Last!

2009-05-26T16:37:00.006-04:00

I've been promising it since March at least (maybe February?) and here it is. Finaly. My first complete kit - Friends Like These.

It started as a tribute to possibly my favorite TV show ever, one which holds many memories of watching it on Thursday nights with my family while growing up and I think it's perfect for any photo's of friends and family members. I am especially proud of the newsprint coffee cup and the paper I titled "The Times".

The kit includes:

6 papers (12x12)
2 Word Arts
1 Frame
1 Taxi Cut-out
1 Newsprinted Coffee Cup Embellishment
1 Central Perk Plaque & Screws
1 Poloroid Template

So what are you waiting for? Go get it! And don't forget the .

Remember to leave a little love! Happy Scrapping ♥

Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend

2009-05-25T18:08:00.005-04:00

How's everyone enjoying the weather? It finally feels like May and Summer is in the air. I cannot wait. Despite the gorgeous weather, the closest I got to nature today was the wonderful breese blowing through my open window as I loaded up on fabulous kits, elements and other goodies.

I found the most amazing kit. It's called "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and I got it from the Digiscrap Addicts forum which I just joined. I love the newspaper textured elements. I've added Monica's blinkie to the side and the link to the kit is above.

Happy Scrapping! ♥

As promised...

2009-05-14T21:44:00.004-04:00

I said I'd have something fabulous ready when I was all up and running again, and my word is good. Here you are - Apple of My Eye

Happy Scrapping ♥

Fun with Fonts

2009-05-14T14:50:00.016-04:00

I've realised I have a problem. It started out innocently enough. A couple minutes here and there browsing and clicking. Then minutes became hours, and files became folders. I love fonts. I love how they're named, how they instantly jazz up any layout, powerpoint or assignment when used strategically and appropriatly and I love how a slight font tweak can take a page from 0-60 instantly.

Many of you have (or really should have) several 'decorative' fonts already on your computer wheather they came with it or because you've done some poking about already, but listen, there is so much more! First thing you've gotta do, before you can even conceive the end product is get your hands on some the raw materials.

The first website I want to mention, Font Diner I stumbled across when doing an assignment for an eleventh grade project. I had decided to use a retro theme for the title page and headings and such.

Most of their fonts are for sale, however there are some really awesome ones available in their freebies section's free silverware'. is one of my favorites!

Awesome site number two is Free Digital Scrapbooking.com. It offers lots of usefull (and free) supplies and a pretty varied Fonts section. I've been going there for ever and only recently realised they had fonts!and are the two I'm most excited to use right now. They have them organized by category (Grunge, Cursive, Patriotic etc.) and I encourage you to click through and look at them all.

Most of my fonts come from whatever google turns up for me. Ussually 1001 Free Fonts, Font Freak and DaFont. These are (for the most part) pretty interchangable. They have different ways to search and view (alphabetical, grouping, author etc.) and a preview. 1001 offers a custom preview if you're having trouble picturing the end result. If your into Dingbats there's plenty of those to, though I don't get it. I'll just google the picture, I don't want to go through the alphabet to find one. LOL.

To install new font's (in Windows) open the "fonts" section of your control panel. Start>Control Panel>Appearance and Themes>Fonts (in the sidebar under See Also) OR My Computer>Control Panel>Fonts. You now have a choice. You can copy and paste the new files into this section (good if they're spread out) or you can install them by going to file>install new font then browse through the folders to find the one you saved your fonts under. After opening each folder the fonts in it will show up in List of Fonts section. You can Select All or just the ones you want. Then it's just OK and you're done.

Now on to the fun part!
When making Powerpoint presentations and title pages one thing that drives me ab-so-lutly nuts is to many fonts. However, with scrapbooking, if done right, multiple font's can look really cool. For example:

and

The first LO uses 19 different fonts, including the letters at the bottom. The second technically only uses 2, as the "m" and "y" are alphas, but it shows the effect you can achieve with vaired types.

So when should you use fonts as opposed to alphas? Personally, I use fonts anytime I'm writting anything longer than 4 or 5 letters. It's so much easier than searching for, opening in Photoshop, resizing and positioning each individual letter. If I want to be able to put the letters at different angles, resize them or add lots of effects I'll use an Alpha set.

Any questions? Feel free to comment!
And as always,
Happy Scrapping ♥

Um...so

2009-05-01T17:45:00.001-04:00

Internet: Check!
Working Computer: (mostly) Check!
Boatload of new supplies and ideas: Check!
Photoshop: ......

In order to fix my small internet problem, I was told I would have to reinstall my operating system. I managed to get all it files backed up, and now I have Internet, but I have to reinstall everything. Which may take some time. Bearwith me and I will be sure to put together something by way of thanks :D

Happy Scrapping ♥

All who pass, Ye be warned.

2009-04-25T17:02:00.001-04:00

I come today with a cautionary tale. A tale of woe. Of regret. Of lost things. I come with warnings.

There once a maid, who toiled day after day. Imputing, upkeeping and preparing. Though far behind, as the deadline loomed she did not dispair quite yet. Rather he forged on with nary a thought to preserving the fruits of her labour. Then, one fatefull April day, as the month waned, tragedy struck with all the brute force of mother nature. The skies turned dark and the heavens seemed torn open as flash after flash, roll after roll. Shook the earth. And when at last, the fury subsided and all became deceitfully calm oncemore, the fair maid wept for her wasted toil.

And so I leave you with this. When the skies pour down and the sun shies away, save or all may be lost.

it's thunderstorm season and mother nature doesn't wait. Happy (saving &) Scrapping ♥

A Celebration of Sorts.

2009-04-16T11:06:00.005-04:00

Today I bring you a double-celebration.

First the obvious. Today marks the 20th anniversary of my birth. Which is a fancy and pretentious sounding way of saying it's my 20th Birthday (which I'm sure you figured out). Meh.

Now that that is out of the way, the really awesome news! I have my first comment! Yay!
So a big thank you to Jen Graham of Graham Like The Cracker. I love her stuff and am just so excited I got a comment. I've only just noticed it now because my Internets been down and I've been browsing almost exclusively on my iPod for the past month and a half and only just sucked it up and paid for an application that will allow me to use blogger with my iTouch.

Here's a celebratory freebie for the occasion. Enjoy!Happy Scrapping ♥

Spring: Redux

2009-04-09T20:51:00.002-04:00

Didn't we play this scene already? The patches of grass through the receding blanket of white, the rivers of sand in the gutters. For those who don't already know (and let's face it, that's probably most of you. I haven't exactly been faithful with the posts) We've been experiencing some 'roller coaster weather'. Just last week (the 2nd to be exact. It was H's birthday) we were enjoying some +20 sunlight and dry pavement. Now, the only sign we didn't imagine it, is that the grass, now slowly reappearing, is the bright, healthy green of April and not the sickly yellow of March.

It's coming though. Slowly but surely, and not a moment too soon. Only 1 week until my birthday!

♥ Happy Scrapping

Phoebe and a Tutorial

2009-03-09T23:36:00.006-04:00

The first order of business: I have a tiny preview of my upcoming Friends inspired kit up in the shoppe. It is one of the papers I will include. This one is inspired by Phoebe. I plan to do one paper for each of the "friends" as well as a bunch of cool extra's. And of course everything I do is free.

The second order of business will actually have to wait because I'm tired, have school in the morning and it's past midnight.

Happy Scrapping ♥

2009-03-02T14:25:00.001-05:00

I know I just posted earlier, but this how it goes. It never rains, but it pours.

I've been watching alot of friends this past week. I love the show and have all 10 seasons on DVD plus a couple of those themed DVD's like "The One With All The Birthdays". This has inspired me so I an here to announce a new kit coming soon inspired by the show. I already have the frame (a necessity) and a paper I think I'm going to call Monica because it reminds me of her. It's the same colour as her apartment.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Me v2.0

2009-03-02T12:10:00.002-05:00

So lately I've really been thinking about making myself over in a way. I've started taking more care of my appearance and dressing nicer everyday instead of just when I really needed to or had the time. I've also started taking better care of my health and keeping my personal space tidier.The only thing I can't seem to change is my school work. I just don't want to do it. Even though that's really the most important one at the moment. I'll get there though.

So all this change got me thinking about scraps-of-me. When I started it last year I really had no name for it, just the idea that I'd really like to do this. So I thought for a bit and finally settled on Scraps-of-me as a temp name. Now it's been over a year and even though I don't actually have readers, I'm enjoying this immensely. I'm thinking I'll rename the blog, though the adress will remain the same. I'll think about it some tonight and thet you know in the next few weeks what the new name will be and if I'll change anything else.

I'm also working on a new freebie based on paint smears right now, so look for that as well.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Lern 2 Type n Speek Rite

2009-01-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

I have bin thinkin n i am forceddddd 2 cunclude tha we have a prob.

I don care how fast U cn type. The real Skillz lyez in bein able 2 type wile still manetanein sum rezemblnce 2 the enGlisH langwage. This iz Y i hav creeated the:

Skewl 4 Ppl Who Dont Type Good!

or
SPWTG

This 5 week course will, through repetition and careful use of large bat, help you radically improve your typing skills. One student reported that after our course, the people she was chatting with actually understood what she was saying!

Week 1: Basic typing skills.
* The use of all 10 fingers to type comprehensively and quickly

* Relearning the alphabet and locating all the letters on the keyboard

Week 2: Spelling.
* The use of S and Z – are they really interchangeable?

* Why using the letter “u” rather than “e” all the time makes you seem stupid

Week 3: Capital Letters
* Other ways to denote emphasis or urgency

* When to use them – proper nouns etc.

* The letter “I” when referring to your self

Week 4: Abbreviations and Short Forms
* When they’re acceptable

* Why making up your own doesn’t work

Week 5: Punctuation
* Proper use of the period

* Where and when the exclamation point belongs

And for only $9.95 you can also participate in our workshop: Internet Safety for Idiot’s

Topics covered include:

* Personal Information – why Doobies website for Gamez may want your credit card number, and why they shouldn’t get it.

* Social Networking Sites – how adding anyone and everyone to your “friends” list makes any security features you have on there pointless.

* Pop-Up’s – Why they want you credit card info in order to send you your free Plasma screen TV and why you always seem to be the 1,000,000th visitor.

Life in the Short Lane

2009-01-14T16:22:00.001-05:00

It’s not easy being short. At 5 feet and a quarter, I am constantly shadowed (literally) by my almost 6-foot younger sisters and my father. I used to be one of the tallest kids in my class, and maybe if things had gone the way they were heading I would be. But my mother and I have learned to adjust. For example, the Blind Soup Grab in which the cans in the pantry are stacked above your head so you reach for one blindly and hope it’s not cream of broccoli. Or the scaling of the book shelves to reach the DVD’s and then there is the great Pilates worthy stretch for the mousse in the bathroom cupboard. It’s not only at home either. The other week, my search for cheap martini glasses to use as party favours brought me to the glass isle of Dollarama. Of course, being the dollar store and 9 o’clock on a Friday night, there was no one around to help me. Every nerve in me was tensed for the great crash I was sure would come as I stretched as high as I could to reach my prize, always careful not to use the shelf for support. My efforts thankfully were rewarded and I left unscathed, glasses in hand. Life in the short lane has its perks though. I can wear heels (my “chocolate”) without worrying about low-flying aircraft and there’s room at the end of my bed for my two Build-a-Bears which, at nineteen, I am probably too old for anyway. In the end I am happy the way I am. Maybe I’m missing a few inches vertically and maybe I have a surplus horizontally, but I’m OK with that. In the words of Dale Griffith “I like me”.

2 Awesome Alpha's

2009-01-13T23:30:00.004-05:00

Well I'm starting to get all the kinks of the store ironed out. I have two fabulous Alpha sets up right now - Gel and Block Letters. You can get them in the store :). And of course it's all free.

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T10:25:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a great holiday and that you're still going strong with those resolutions LOL. As It is currently snowing crazily outside and I still have a half-hour until my first class of the day, I thought I'd make a post (though honestly I don't know what it'll be about). Maybe a tutorial? Now I just need a theme...hmmm...selective recolouring? Nope already did that. Oh! How about....

Grunge Look!

Now there are all kinds of products, actions and tips out there for how to do this, but I'm going to show you the easiest way, using nothing beyond what you already have.

What You'll Need
Photoshop
Photo (or other item you want to "grunge")

Tools Used
Brushes

OK, Hold on tight...

Open your photo. I'm going to be using this picture I found on the internet of a band I like.
Next you want to desaturate the image image>adjustments>desaturate or ctrl+shift+U.
Open your brushes and select the brush called Dry Brush on Towel. You may need to load a different brush set to find it. This can be done by opening you Brushes Menu and clicking on the small triangle button on the top left. This should open a new menu - select Wet Media Brushes.
I'm using plain white (ffffff), but you can use any neutral really depending on the look your going for. Using the colour you've selected "stamp" your brush along the edges and especially in the corners of your photo. The trick to to keep it from looking to uniform.
If you wanted to, you could also add some tiny tears using the Polygonal Lasso. Just make a vaguely triangular shape starting from the edge of your photo and delete the area you have selected.

Shoppe Update

2008-12-16T12:15:00.002-05:00

I currently have a new (rudimentary) version of the Shoppe up. This time it's on Blogger which should make it easier to manage, and keeps a fairly consistent look. If anyone has any comments, suggestions or ideas please feel free to let me know.

http://s-o-mshoppe.blogspot.com/

Cocktail Creations

2008-12-16T11:19:00.004-05:00

I'm putting together a 19th birthday gift for a friend of mine and I decided to make up some nice recipe cards with different drink recipes to give it some extra detail. After looking at several other designs at my favorite place for inspiration - Scrapgirls (♥) I decided to just wing it. It started out as a clean, elegant design and then morphed into a more urban hip-feel with Polaroids and masking tape. Here's the end result with the list of supplies. And no, I did not take the photo's I googled them.

Paper - ScrapChicStudio_OnTheMoveFreebie_Paper1.jpg
Tape - Masking Tape (available in the shoppe)
Clip - ScrapChicStudio_OnTheMoveFreebie_BinderClip.png
Polaroid - Polaroid (available in the shoppe)
Brush - Urban_Scrawl_by_InvisibleSnow.abr (twofish.psd)
Font - Freestyle Script

2008-12-09T12:45:00.001-05:00

I just designed myself a new winter-themed signature with the intention of using it with my emails, but aparently I can't do that with hotmail, so I'm just going to use it on the Dis Boards and Scrapgirls.

Shoppe Issues

2008-10-29T17:59:00.002-04:00

So, immediately after my last post, I went to go and upload the new alpha set, only to find the the site I had been using to upload my files, is gone. I already have a new site and I am in the process of re-uploading everything from shop. It should be up and running again in a day or two. My apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Shoppe Update

2008-10-29T17:47:00.005-04:00

Halloween's coming and for some of you, so is Thanksgiving, and the best way to get in the spirit is by designing some new supplies!

So for your enjoyment, I present the Pumpkin Spice alpha set. This set would look great for place cards at your Thanksgiving table or in a beautiful fall layout. I hope you enjoy.

Happy Scrapping! ♥

P.S I've added a little something special as well. Trick or Treat? You'll have to find out...

Tuesday Tutorial - Refrigerator Chic

2008-10-28T10:47:00.012-04:00

It's been a long time. Too long really, but now, I proudly announce the return of
*drum roll*
The Tuesday Tutorial!

Some of my favorite layouts are made to look like something other than a scrapbook page. It could be a page out of a notebook, or a photo on the fridge. In order to do this I have often had to create some of the elements myself. Not because it doesn't exist out there, but usually because I was to impatient to search for it, or to cheap to purchase it. One of the easiest and most versatile is the magnet.

What You'll Need:
Photoshop
Small item that could be made into a magnet (optional)

Tools Used:
Drop Shadow
Bevel/Emboss
Text

Please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times...

Open a new image in Photoshop. Any size you want. I'm going to be using a 12"x12"(864 pixels x 864 pixels) image because that is the size I use for my layouts.
Take the text tool and type the letters A, B and C with each letter on it's own layer. Blocky, basic fonts work best if you're going for the classic Alphabet Magnet look. I'm using Turkey Sandwich which can be found here. I will post a list of suggested fonts as well.
Now colour your letters. I'm using the primary colours, because once again it lends a very basic Alphabet Magnet feel to it. (DB0808, 192BD7, EFFC27). Highlight the text you want to colour and double click on the coloured box in your text toolbar (across the top) to bring up your colour picker.
Next you want to add a drop shadow add layer style (select the stylized f from the bottom of your layers pallette)>drop shadow and the bevel and emboss effect add layer style>bevel and emboss. Tick the box for contour under Bevel and Emboss on the left of the add layer style window.
Repeat step 4 with the other two layers and there you have it. Alphabet Magnets.
If you want to make magnets out of an object, simply open the image, and do step 4 on it. Feel free to play around with the drop shadow and Bevel and Emboss effect untill your magnet is to your liking.

by rotating the 'magnets' slightly, you can get a slightly haphazard

A Budding Scrapper

2008-04-03T12:56:00.002-04:00

At (almost) 19, I am the oldest of three sisters aged 10, 16 (as of yesterday!) and 15. Recently the youngest - Zoe - has shown an interest in what I "do all day". So I've been showing her somethings on Photoshop and having her test run the tutorials as someone with no experiece to ensure they can be followed. She's getting pretty good and it's making me proud ( :) ). Yesterday we went over brushes and she made some things so I'm going to collect them all up and make them into a pack so stay tuned for the very latest from this up and coming scrapper!

Happy Scrapping ♥

J/K

2008-04-02T13:20:00.001-04:00

So yes, the last post was a joke. I will not be abandoning this blog for any reason and if I were to, I would most definitely not be blogging bout cleaning supplies.

April Fools ♥

Mr Clean to take over Scraps-of-Me

2008-04-01T12:20:00.002-04:00

Due to lack of interest, I have decided to take down this blog and replace it with one dedicated to household cleaning supplies. This new blog will feature reviews, deals and tips on how to make your cleaners clean more! I am very excited about this and I know you all are to.

Stay Sanitary ♥

2008-03-31T11:53:00.007-04:00

Hey guys!

I've been doing some creating lately and it appears I have Disney fever! I recently bought eight and a half HOURS worth of Disney music and I'm also writing a Disney themed story. So here are the results of my condition and check out my other blog "A Case Of The Mouse" if you get a chance.

And of course, it's all available in the shoppe

Spring

2008-03-25T21:46:00.005-04:00

Yesterday: Birds sang, there was dry ground to be seen and I walked home at 5:00 in full sunlight. Spring was finally on its way. The today it began to snow. And it hasn't stopped. Huge flakes the size of feathers that in December would have been beautiful and had me humming "Winter Wonderland" instead had me searching desperately for the brightest most springy paper I could find. I settled on a beautiful green one, added flowers and butterflies and voila! A springy tribute to a great friend. Anything can be inspiration. I wish you all lots of April showers and May flowers and as always,

Happy Scrapping ♥

Tuesday Tutorial - Organizing

2008-03-25T20:58:00.003-04:00

Today's tutorial is accutally something a little more practical rather than creative. I spent the long weekend organizing my supplies as I have so many now that I crash my computer if I try to open some of the folders.

What You'll Need:
Blank CD's/DVD's (preferably rewritable)
OR
Several USB keys
Your supplies
A burner

On your computer:

Set up a separate folder to keep your supplies, ideas and completed LO's in. I named my Scrapbook
Within this folder set up 3 new folders Layouts, Supplies, and Zipped. I also have a folder called Miscellaneous where I keep copyright info, contact sheets and other misc. files related to my scrapbooking.

Layouts: This folder is where you will save all of your finished Layouts. Within this I also have a folder for inspiration (LO's by others for ideas and inspiration) and one called gallery thumbs where I put all the shrunk images for uploading to the Scrapgirls Gallery.

Supplies: This is where you will keep all your supplies. More on that later.

Zipped: Often when you download scrapbooking supplies or any kind of large file, it will come "zipped". All you need to get at the files inside is a program like Winzip. I use Just Unzip It. Whichever program you use you ought to be able to right click on your downloaded zipped file and click extract or unzip. This folder is where I keep all of those left over Zipped folders once I've extracted from them, just in case something goes wrong and I need to do it again. When zipped the files take up less space than unzipped so you can probably fit many in here.
In the Supplies folder you're going to want to divvy up your supplies to make them easier to find. I have mine separated into Alphabets, Brushes, Embellishments and Papers. You may also want an extra folder for Tools of Add-Ons if you gather enough of them. For now I just keep those things in the main Scrapbook folder as I don't have many yet.

Inside the Embellishments folder I have things further broken down (because I'm anal like that). So I have Frames and Tags; Ribbons and Edging; Buttons, Brads and Fasteners etc.
Some people organize their papers folder by colours or themes, but as many of mine are multi-coloured I find it easier to just leave them alphabetically.

I started burning my supplies to CD's and DVD's, but as I get new supplies pretty much daily and I don't have many rewritable (when they even work right) I've decided to switch to USB keys. I only have one at the moment so I put all my Brushes on it, thus freeing up about 500MB. I also put all my papers on a CD because I gather embellishments faster than papers. A good idea if you're going to be using CD's is to put your kits onto CD's together. I did this out of necessity as my Shabby Princess kits seem to be crashing things more often than my other supplies. So I now have a CD of all of my Shabby kits labeled with the date as well as whats on it for quick reference. Proper labeling is important because when your deep in the "flow" of things you don't want the frustration of loading up CD after CD or folder after folder to find that one pink staple you needed, especially if you have a slow computer.

Happy Scrapping ♥

2008-03-17T14:59:00.003-04:00

What is it about women and shoes? Now Im not being stereotypical. I believe all (ok not every single on, but enough) women like shoes more than other articles of clothing. Whatever form they may be. Whether you're like my friend who loves running shoes and converse (are they running shoes?) or me with a small wardrobe of shoes in my locker so I don't have to wear Canadian Winter Proof boots all winter, us females have an attraction to shoes. I love looking at them, comparing them, shopping for them and wearing them. Have you ever spent more money on the shoes for an outfit than the rest? Do you have more awesome looking sneakers than warm weather days to wear them? Maybe not, but everyone has something. My favorite pair? The Orange ones pictured above. I got them for $7 at Suzy Shier and the only pair happened to be my size. I have yet to wear them out anywhere but I got them out when my friends came home for Christmas and everyone had fun trying them on.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Hey! A tutorial!

2008-03-17T13:35:00.016-04:00

Look! Its a new tutorial! Woohoo!

[Monday] Tutorial: The "Poloroid Effect"

So today boys and girls we're gonna learn how to make your photo's look like old school photo's. Sound like fun? Well I thought so.

What You'll Need:
Photoshop
Picture(s)

Tools Used:
Square Marquee Tool
Fill Tool (paintbucket)

Allrighty then, pens and paper ready?

Open a new image. Mines going to be 12x12 because thats what I use for scrapbooking. I'm also going to use a paper to so I can see what Im working on better.
Open the photo you want to work with and drag it onto your new document. I'm going to use the is picture from Coronado Springs resort in Disney World.
I usually turn my photo so it's on a bit of an angle because it gives it a natural careless look that I think looks really good. You can do this by hovering over one of the photo's corners until you see a curved arrow with two heads. Once you see that you can click and drag your photo in the direction you want to turn it.
Next go to your layers pallet and ctrl+click on your photo. This will produce a marquee around the photo, saving you a lot of trouble.
Without deselecting, create a new layer (ctrl+n or file>new layer). This new layer should be the exact size and position of your photo.
Now make click on the new layer in your layer pallet, but make sure you keep the original selected. Next get you fill tool (the paint bucket in your tools panel) and fill your selection with white (colour code ffffff).
On the layers pallet drag the new layer down so it is listed below the original, this should put it underneath that layer.
Now you need to drag the edges of your new white layer out to give your photo a border. Don't make it too wide, just a small one will do. It's not going to be perfect and will probably take some adjusting until you get a look that works for you.
Now add a drop shadow and your photo is complete!

For a poloroid photo:

you'll need to add a wider border at the bottom. Often this looks odd with longer or wide photo's, so if you want this look you may need to do some trimming like I did here. Ultimately you want your photo to be a little more square.
Next add a smaller rectangle to the white space you now have at the base of your photo. Use a different colour while positioning it so you can see it better, you can change this later. Place the rectangle in the centre of the white space.
Add a soft bevel layer>layer style>bevel emboss (Style: inner bevel; Technique: Smooth; Depth: 31; Direction: Up; Size:5)
Fill this smaller rectangle in with white and add a drop shadow

Happy Scrapping ♥

Update, News and Changes

2008-02-04T18:02:00.002-05:00

First off I want to apologize for the lack of tutorials in recent weeks. School has gotten really crazy, which is an excuse I would only like to use once, but it's the truth. So, I have decided that I will not be doing regular weekly tutorials until things smooth out a bit. If I happen to have the time I will definitely do one, but not every Tuesday.

Second - I have decided that this blog needs more substance. So, I have decided that as scrapping is a way of life - and a large part of mine - I am going to be posting more stuff about my life in general. Many times I'll even have an LO to accompany the post, so everything will still relate.

And finally, I have made some more stuff for the shoppe so head over and check it out. Nothing like the smell of free supplies to start your week.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Customized Google

2008-02-01T15:32:00.001-05:00

I'm sure you all know the you can now customize your google homepage to the nth degree with a google account. Now though there is this great new site - Groovle, which lets you add your own picture to a google search page. It's not iGoogle so it wont have all the fancy applications and add ons, but if you just want a search engine it's fun. All you do is upload a picture, select the format you want (stretch, tiled or framed) and if you want to make it your homepage enter your email so they can send you the URL. They also have some pre-made ones to choose from but as digi-scrappers I'm sure you can all do a better job.

I'd be interested to see any LO's you might create specifically for Groovle.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Caffeine for the soul

2008-01-18T01:03:00.001-05:00

The strangest thing happened to me today and I am not sure how to describe it, it was almost like an epiphany. It was nearing the end of the day and I was feeling icky. I thought I looked bad, I was feeling run down and I really could think of nothing to look forward too. And to make matters worse I began to feel overheated while in the Tim Horton's line. I mean really overheated! It was overall just a bad scene.

However I began to feel better almost as soon as I got out of line, and I realised I didn't want to take the bus today. So I set out across the parking lot and all of a sudden this feeling came over me, I felt wonderful. Flashdance flooding through my busted MP3 phone, a Iced Cap in -20 degree* weather on the half-hour walk home, I had never felt more alive. I wanted to dance and I had a new bounce in my step. I was confident and happy, no excited with what lay ahead.

So that's the story behind the inspiration for my latest layout. Its the fist one I've done entirely about me, and not a particular event.

*Iced Cap - short for Iced Cappuccino. One of Tim Horton's better selections; -20 degrees Celsius

Happy Scrapping ♥

Even more stuff!

2008-01-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

Lots of great new stuff in the Shoppe!

I'm getting organized now, so expect more to come. Happy scrapping ♥

Edit: The shoppe is acting up right now, so all my display images looks the same. They're not, I swear. There are different products. I'm trying to fix it, but in the meantime, bear with me please.

Tuesday Tutorial: Selecting

2008-01-08T23:52:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! How was your holidays? I hope you and your family enjoyed them as much as I did (hence the lack of tutorials). As a welcome back we're going to go over how to select things in Photoshop and I also have some new products available in the shoppe.

What you'll need:
Photoshop
A photo or image or some sort

Tools Used:
Lasso
Polygonal Lasso
Magentic Lasso
Magic Wand
Marquee's

OK, here we go,

Lasso Tool

There are three types of lasso's in Photoshop 7. The original lasso, the polygonal lasso and the magnetic lasso.

The original lasso works much like an exacto knife might. You drag it along the edge of an object until you've selected the area you want.

This can be tricky to do though, which is why I prefer the Polygonal lasso. With the polygonal lasso, you click somewhere to make a starting point and when you release, there is a line extending from where you clicked to where your cursor is moved. Click again to make a corner and go a different direction. You can even do rounded edges this way, by making lots of "starting points".

Finaly the Magnetic lasso tool will "stick" to all the pixels of a certain colour. First click to make your starting point then move your mouse around the edge of your object. When you come to a sharp corner, or if your line begins to bow in on you, simply click along the edge to make
another point.

With all three Lasso's, double click when you get back to the beginning. If you double click before this photoshop will automatically connect the start and end points with a straight line.
Magic Wand
The magic wand is one of the easiest to use and perhaps the most annoying. It will select all the pixels of a single colour (and colours very close to it) with a single click. However this does not work well with photographs or anything else with blending and subtleties to it as you are likely to end up with lots of area selected that you didn't want. To use it, you simply click on a spot that is the colour you want to select, all the pixels that Photoshop recognizes as the same or very similar in colour will be selected until another colour gets in the way.

Marquee's
Marquee's are very straightforward. You just pick the shape you want, then drag it out until the area you wish to select is contained within it. This works well when you wish to simply chop things off or select big chunks.

New Product!

2007-12-24T00:53:00.001-05:00

I'm rather proud of these. They're name tags with fun little sayings on them, you may remember a similar thing from McDonalds ads about 4 years ago. The ads showed women in T shirts that had name tags on them saying things like "Hello I'm ... Amazing" and holding salads. I really liked them and wanted a shirt like that, this is my compromise :). I hope you like them, my personal favorite is "Hello I'm ... Up Here" lol.

Tuesday Tutorial - Selective Desaturating

2007-12-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

This Tuesday, we're going to go over how to make part of you photo's black and white, but keep the rest coloured or vice versa. This technique is great when you want to bring attention to a certain part of the picture only, such as the colour of something or someones eyes.

Tools Used:
Polygonal/Magnetic Lasso
Desaturation

What You'll Need:
Photoshop
Your picture

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines...

Open you photo. I'm going to use this photo of red tulips outside of my high school.
Next select the area you want to remain coloured (or if there is more coloured than black and white, select the area you wish to desturate). The easiest way to do this is using the magnetic lasso tool. This will automatically "stick" to the edges of a shape based on the pixel colour. However sometimes it gets confused and can be frustrating so you may want to use the polygonal lasso.
With both tools, you simply click at your starting point then guide the line around the shape. With the Polygonal lasso you will have to click again at any corners as it only does straight lines. Double click when you get back to the starting point.
Create a new layer of what you have just selected. edit>copy, edit>paste or ctrl+J If you selected the area you wanted to destaurate, rather than what you wanted to keep coloured, invert you selection first. select>inverse or ctrl+shift+i)
Select the original image in your layers palette and desaturate it image>adjustments>desaturate or ctrl+shift+u
Last step is to merge the two layers. layer>merge visible (or merge down) or ctrl+shift+E (ctrl+E)

Perfect!

Here are some examples:

Tuesday Tutorial - Easy Recolouring

2007-12-11T12:34:00.001-05:00

So for today I'm going to show you how to quickly recolour something without having to paint over it.

What you'll need:
Photoshop
Object you wish to recolour

Tools Used:
Hue/Saturation adjustment

Lets begin

Open your object in photoshop. I am going to be using a paper EHI Destinations paper blue, a past Scrap Girls freebie.
Open the Hue/Saturation menu image>adjustments>hue/saturation You can also do this by hitting ctrl+u
Using the Hue slider, find the colour you like. The Saturation slider will adjust how much colour your adding, making it brighter as you slide it to the right and the Lightness slider will lighten or darken your image.

That's it :)

Tuesday Tutorial - Text with Pizzaz

2007-12-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

This week I will be showing you how to take regular old text and make it stand out. Sure you can change the font, add some colour maybe position it better, but what about when you want to make it REALLY POP?

What you'll need:
Photoshop
clipart/picture of a small gem

Tools Used:
type
drop shadow
bevel/emboss
texture

On your marks, Set get, OG!

Open a new image. Any size and background you desire.
Using the type tool (T on your sidebar) create some text. I wrote Smile using the font Gigi, F71595.
Add a drop shadow. Layer>layer style>drop shadow
Apply the Bevel/Emboss setting and texture. Layer>layer style>Bevel Emboss Layer>layer style>Bevel Emboss>Texture
Open your gem picture and delete any background by using either the eraser of Magic Wand selector if it is a solid colour. I found my picture on google.
Drag the image onto your image with the text.
On your text image, resize and position the gem over the dot in the 'i'.
Add a drop shadow to the gem. Layer>layer style>drop shadow I used the default settings.

And your done. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................

Scraps-of-Me Shoppe

2007-11-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'm working on getting my new shop up and running. Currently everything is still free and will reamin so for some time now. Don't worry, I will give ample warning if I decide to begin charging for any of my supplies (there will always be some freebies though). It's going to be called the Scraps-of-Me Shoppe and can be found here. It may take a bit for me to get it fully up and running, but theres some stuff up there right now including a really neat scotch tape emby that cause me a bit of trouble. keep checking back for updates and enjoy :D.

Glitterizing

2007-11-27T18:48:00.000-05:00

This weeks tutorial is rather short due to excessive homework. I'm going to demostrate how to make something look glittery, like with the Squiggly Tree's.

What you'll need:
Photoshop (I use 7.0)

Tools Used:
Custom Shape tool
noise filter

And we're off...

Create a new transparent layer, with dimensions of your choice.
Create a shape using the custom shape tool. right-click shape icon>custom shape>(shape of your choice). I used the Fleur de Lise shape and made it gold (#D5AB2C)
Rasterize your new shape right-click layer>rasterize
Add some noise filter>noise>add noise. You can adjust this to your liking, I used 22.3%, Gaussian. Make sure that the monochrome box is checked.
All done! You can now add a drop shadow if you would like and do what you like with the finished product.

New Files

2007-11-23T13:08:00.002-05:00

I've been busily making things (when I probably should have been doing school stuff, but ah well) and so here's a few. Let me know what you think please!

Squiggly Tree - Download Squiggly Tree.png (68kb)

Flourish Paper - Download Flourish copy.png (135.4KB) The words won't be there when it is downloaded.

Tutorial: Dew Effect

2007-11-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

This weeks tutorial is how to create a dew or water droplet for a picture. Water droplets are great for close ups of flowers and plants.

What you'll need:

Photoshop (I use version 7.0, but others are very similar too)
A close-up photo of a plant, preferably a clear one.

Tools Used:

Layers
Eliptical Marquee
Drop Shadows
Filters
Dodge Tool
Gradient Tool

All set? OK, here we go:

Open your image in Photoshop (I will be using this picture of a leaf from last spring) and save a COPY of it file>save as "(picture name) - dewdrop
Use the Eliptical Marquee tool to create a circle. Make it whatever size you want your dewdrop to be, and don't worry, you can resize it later too.
Keeping the cirlce selected make a new layer. This can be done by clicking the icon at the bottom of your "Layers Palette" (usually on the right of your work area) that looks like a page being turned. It's next to the trash can.
Apply a "grey to white" gradient to this new layer (the circle) by first selecting the gradient tool from your sidebar (if you can't find it, right click the paintbucket and a smaller menu should pop out. It's there). Then click just above your circle and drag the line that appears down to just below the circle.
Add a drop shadow. There are a couple of ways to do this. Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow or you can use the little f icon at the bottom of your Layers palette. You can fiddle around with the settings to make your shadow face where you want and be darker and such, but I set mine to: 13% Opacity, 5px Distance, 0% Spread and 5% Size.
Use the Dodge tool to add a small point of reflection to your drop. The Dodge tool is located in your side bar (looks like a little pin). Just select it, then click the upper left quarter of your 'drop', make sure to leave space towards the edge though. You may need to do this a couple times to get the right look.
If it is not already, add a marquee to your droplet by holding ctrl while selecting the layer from your layer palette. Add the filter Gaussian Blur. Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set the radius to 6
Make sure you still have your marquee on the circle and select your original picture from the layers palette. This will give you a selection of the photo that is the exact size, shape and in the same place as your new dew drop. Now were going to warp that area so that it looks the way it might if you saw it trough a drop of water. Got to Filter>Distort>Spherize and set it to 100%.
Your done! You can now move, resize and adjust your drop anyway you'd like. You can also make more droplets quickly by selecting that layer in your layers palette and pressing Ctrl and J together. This copies the layer. Copied layers are automatically named (original) copy, but you can rename them to avoid confusion by right clicking the layer in the palette and selecting properties.

Preview of Puffy Clouds

2007-11-19T14:01:00.002-05:00

Quick Update before class.

Got a couple of my layouts up.

Uploaded part of my freshly-created "Puffy Clouds" pack. It's free and you can get it here:

Paper 1: Download Puffy Clouds - Kite copy.png (1MB)
Frame: Download Puffy Clouds - Frame copy.png (40.1 Kb)

Uploading LO's

2007-11-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

OK, so I am now going to *attempt* to upload a whole whack-load of LO's before my class at two. We'll see how well this goes... *fingers crossed*

Welcome!

2007-11-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

This is my brand-NEW blog, dedicated entirely to scrapbooking. I do both Traditional and Digital scrapbooking, but mostly Digital as it involves less mess and cost. I have been trying my hand at making some embellishments and papers myself, which I may put up here and if you like them, you can have 'em. Eventually, I would like to have my own store, but I have to get ALOT better first, and I have to make sire there is a demand.

Most of my LO's (layouts) will be put up here, but as many of them involve other people, some may not, it all depends on whether or not they want to be on the internet.

Thanks for reading, and I'll post again soon.