Submerged in photo editing

Since I have some upcoming crops and deadlines, I am trying to use spring break to select and edit photos, a harder task when I am a single parent (Derick is in Colorado). Specifically, I am working on the following:

1. picking photos for Rowan and Dominic's school albums (a la Stacy Julian and Cathy Zielske)
2. editing August 2010
3. putting together a digital template for a photo collage for my Disney photos
4. finding and printing Halloween photos.

My progress? I have accomplished task 1 for Rowan through April.

I think it's time consuming because working with masses of photos for extended periods of time makes my computer turn into a 90-year-old getting ready to walk a marathon. I have a fast computer, but it has limits still. So I need patience. And a marathon of Bones on DVD to relax me.

Here's a LO I completed before my mojo got sucked into PSE 7:




I took this photo with Rowan, thinking sometime he would like to see what he cuddled with every night.

The products come from Studio Calico's February kit Candy Shoppe. I felt motivated to use that kit, since I have a lot of March still and I am about to get April. This LO is probably my last with the kit. I got about 12 pages from the kit.

The photo was taken when I took these photos:

I got the idea for this page when I saw this postage stamp:

Yes, I bought postage stamps just so I could use one on a LO. The post office should take note: they could make a bucketload marketing to scrapbookers! The stamp made me think of my blond boy with wild hair and mischievous tendencies, who also has a stuffed tiger. Perfect combo.

Project 12 February

This is day 1 of spring break. Derick is away on business. The boys have not yet driven me crazy. Yet.

I put together a list of chores for each of us to do. Dominic finished his already. There was a carrot, but a small one, but he was very goal oriented. Another Spinjitzu for this guy! (Don't click the link unless the volume is turned down.)

Rowan is on track to finishing by next weekend. Not bad, considering the state of his room.

Most of my to-dos involve editing photos, plus dusting, which I loathe, as I'm seriously allergic to dust. I'm waiting for a warmer day I can open the windows on.

What I stated doing and crossed off my to-do list was finished February Project 12, which has been languishing unfinished for weeks. Here it is:

I used my February Studio Calico kit for this LO. I had two pieces of pink paper, and since I can't really use them for any LO but one about me basically, I decided to use it here. I messed up the punch on the right, which is why I added the bling. And though I hesitated, I decided to machine stitch along the scallop. I just hand to hand-crank it the whole time. Quite a workout!

This photo of my mom is a recent favorite. It was snowing while I took it via the extend-an-arm technique.



This "Love You" I had cut out a while back and not used. It fit well here!

For the title I used some of the cool rub-ons I got at the October Afternoon Warehouse sale. Through operator error, I goofed and left an R half-adhered. To fix it, I used a brown pen. Can't hardly tell.

It took me a while to find the proper amount and type of pretty bits to use around the layout. For once I decided before adhering (heh) which made the whole process easier.

I used this sketch (click the link if it cuts off):


Like usual, I added more papers. I also moved the title location since I didn't have enough room on the right.

My kind of hybrid

I love paper. I have a bunch of digi supplies, but I love paper so much I can't go full blown digi.

Still, I love playing around with digi and incorporating it into my pages, mostly through the photos. I often print my photos in smaller sizes or templates using PSE 7. I also like using brushes on the photos, actions, and textures.

Here I used templates, textures, and brushes on a LO that is a technique I've done lately and loved. It is currently published in Scrapbook Trends Quick and Easy idea book:


The photos are from 1986--yes, that's 14-year-old me. The photos were fading, so I scanned them and played around with lighting and color to restore them. I couldn't get it just right, so I added textures to them to make it look like they're messed up because...well, because I messed with them! The brushes on the edges were there just for pretty.

Still, it's a pretty blocky design. To break it up a little, and just because I love to stitch, I drew light pencil lines onto the paper LO to "complete" the flourishes. I also connected them to the journaling card.

I love that technique so much I decided to add it to the following, more recent LO using Studio Calico's Into the Woods kit:




The photos were chosen from the heritage photos my mom brought me last month. I found many with only a partial, toothless smile, which reminded me of why I smiled like that: I had horrible teeth. I didn't want anyone to look at them. I decided to scrap that not-so-great memory, with a wish that my boys never feel that way, especially if they inherit my teeth.

A reminder if you are interested in scrapping heritage photos: for many more creative ideas for scrapping heritage photos, check out How to Scrapbook your Personal Heritage from Ella:

Right now it's my go-to when I'm checking out my heritage photos to scrap.

What's your motto?

I have a motto: Leave the world a better place than when you got there. This sort of exemplifies me: anytime I leave a place, I try to make it as good or better as when I got there. This motto serves me well.

This next motto came to me as I was baking cookies:

I believe in big cookies.

I do. There are few things more satisfying than a big cookie, chewy too, with plenty of chocolate chips.

That thought led to this page:

The journaling says, "I believe in big cookies made with a full cup of butter and a whole bag of chocolate chips." Yes, those are my cookies. I make good cookies. I am not being egotistical when I say I am known for them. Here's my recipe:

1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter (the salt is important, and it should be still fairly solid, though not a rock)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (yes, include it)
1 12oz. package chocolate chips
(no, there is no vanilla)

Beat 1st four ingredients until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until smooth. Stir in chips. Place comfortably sized balls of dough on a cookie sheet, and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes until golden. Cool for one minute then transfer to a cooling rack. Then die happy.

(Confessions: this recipe is Betty Crocker, sans editorial comments and nuances like salted butter.)

What do you stay awake for?

Since it is apparently still winter:

(I shoveled about 6-8 inches of this wet, sloppy mess yesterday. It was like shoveling a driveway full of Slurpees. I still hurt.)

I want to comment on what terrific marketing Caribou Coffee has. Their motto is "Life is Short. Stay Awake for it." I love it. Granted, as part of my One Little Word for the year, Reduce, I've cut back on caffeine almost entirely, but I still love Caribou's marketing strategies. Evidence:

1. Every day they have a quiz question, where you can get a dime off if you answer it correctly. I bought something once just so I could say the TV show set in Sunnydale and perched over a Hellmouth is...Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ta da!

2. A while back they covered a cup with life truths. I picked my favorites from them (after I bought every size cup--there were different sayings on each!) and made this page:

(Click on the image to see the life truths.)

Design-wise, I added some grunge textures to my photos, then reduced the opacity. I like how it warmed my photo. I also added a digital frame I got taking Jessica Sprague's Good-to-Great Workflow class. (Might have been the photo effects class. Don't quote me.)

3. They recently started a new cup, this time with customer contributions answering the question "What do you stay awake for?" Note what's in the upper left:

Yes, that would be my top answer too.

Here's some of my other favorites:

• Walking down #18 on a cool fall evening with my Dad--Joel S.
• The pitter-patter of little feet as the sun rises--Abby M. (That one may not be a good one)
• Extra innings and overtime--Dana F.
• Vampire love stories--Terri B.
• Velociraptors lurking in the shadows--Mike D.
• My 3-yr.-old asking "Mommy what letter does S start with?"--Lisa G.

Of course, being a scrapbooker, as soon as I saw this cup, I started making my own list to put on a future page. Here's a few of mine, sans the obvious (scrapbooking):

• Another episode of Bones
• Domimic and Rowan climbing on my lap to hear a story
• A really big thunderstorm
• A cup of hot tea
• Baking chocolate chip cookies
• Dominic chattering to himself in bed (this is the only not-so-good thing on my list--he can do this for hours, which means for a grumpy tomorrow for him)
  
• The next chapter in a mystery book
• A cat purring by my ear
• Popcorn cooked on the stove
• Warm summer nights with a warm breeze to keep the mosquitoes away
• The smell of lilacs
• Family movie nights

What do you stay awake for? Share with me, then go to the Caribou Coffee site and look for the icon; you can submit yours to the company. (You don't have to enter your name with the initial entry, BTW. The one that says "Jennifer L." twice is me!) And I hope you turn yours into a page.

Holy daffodils, Batman!

We have had a big heap of snow here in Minnesota since November. Now that it's starting to warm up, and we've had some rain, the snow is going away. It completely vacated my back garden this past weekend, and while I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I looked out and saw these:



Those are my daffodils, coming up strong. Hello, spring. I wasn't sure you'd make it to the party. (In the center ring is a big peony; I split it last summer, so I look forward to seeing what it looks like this year.)

In addition to the daffodils, my backyard hosted a robin fiesta:

There were at least 10 robins feasting on worms. Looks like spring is finally coming.

I say coming, not here already, because it's supposed to snow tonight. The state basketball tournament starts tomorrow (Go, Maple Grove Crimson!), and that usually means snow here in Minnesota. Spring here is a bit of a tease. Guess we'll have to wait a bit longer.

Winner! and a new contest

Using random number generator, the winner of the Ella ebook is Sara!

Sara said...

Love the paint! I enjoy my cup of hot tea, talking to my Mom, reading in bed. So many things! :)

March 21, 2011 4:41 PM

Sara, please email me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com so I can get you your prize! Please email me soon; if I don't hear from you by Friday, I will select another winner. Gotta get people scrapping the everyday!

By the way, I loved reading what made everyone happy in their daily lives. A challenge to you: make a scrapbook page about those everyday things that make you happy! Take some pictures, yes, even of yourself, and make that page. I am going to do this page myself.

And another contest to let you know about:

GCD Studios has a contest right now, partnering with Fiskars, celebrating spring and using the chip art tool, which you can get at several locations. The prizes are AMAZING. You can find info on the GCD blog. There are a couple weeks left, so I encourage you to enter!

Ella blog hop!

Welcome to the Ella Friends Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Monika Wright's blog, and your next stop with be Valerie Mangan's blog.

We are celebrating the everyday, in particular this book recently published by Ella Publishing:


Scrapbooking the Everyday, written by two of my favorite designers Elizabeth Dillow and Tina Cockburn. I love scrapbooking things from my daily life. This book gives me new ideas for incorporating the little stories rather than just the big events. Here's a page I did using the ideas from the book:





I've actually scrapped these photos before, but I have a new story: Art is helping Dominic negotiate the world, so I used these pictures to write about his everyday life as an artist. Like I often do, I added the Pioneer Woman Boost action to the photos. (Side comment: I am amazed at how clean my cabinets and floors look in these photos.) In case you can't read it, the rub-on from Daisy Bucket says, "That's the wonderful thing about crayons - they can take you to more places than a starship." It's from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Perfect in so many ways for this dude.

Design-wise, I thought it would be appropriate to paint a little on this page about art. To scruff up the paint a bit, I also stamped on it with a grid stamp. The blue ribbon was a rub-on I got with my February Studio Calico kit Candy Shoppe. I put it on white paper, cut it out, and adhered it with dimensional adhesive to look like a real ribbon.

Thank you so much for visiting! If you liked the visit, please stop by again; sign up to follow, which makes it even easier. And now for the prize:

If you want to win a copy of Scrapbooking the Everyday, leave a comment on this post, telling about some everyday thing in your life that makes you happy. From the comments left today, I'll draw a winner!

Your next stop will be to visit Valerie Mangan. If you missed any of the other friends, here's the hop in its entirety:

• Brenda
• Donna
• Jennifer Hufford
• Monika
• Jennifer Larson
• Valerie
• Lee
• Francine
• Diana
• May
• Keshet
• Mary Jo
• Brenda

What you may have mist

Yesterday there were two of my pages out there, one at Sketch Support:



The sketch this week was an add-on, a cupcake, which made me scrap my boys loves of all things cupcake, but most of all the frosting. I used Pink Paislee's Daily Junque, plus some older paper that said "Sweetness." Proof it's good to look through the stash now and then.

The other was my post on misting at Ella's ezine! Here's the link: Misting Magic. The post contains one of my favorite pages lately:

Scrapper's secret: I put the tie around the letter because I'd run out of h's. This was an N and a cut apart K.




I used one of the Crafter's Workshop's hot new templates that I got at CHA. It's gorgeous. I used a few colors to mist the page; you can read more about it in the article!

There's only a few more hours left in Ella's 17-hour sale, so head on over and explore some of their hot ebooks!

Terrific news!

Last Friday I was blessed with a phone call by none other than the super-talented Heidi Sonboul of GCD Studios. I had applied for their design team a few weeks prior, and she was calling to let me know I'd been selected!

I am honored to be a part of this talented team and so excited to work with their fabulous products! Their booth at CHA required repeat visits, it was so cool.

If you want to see the link for the announcement, go to the GCD Studios blog here.

Celebrating my son

I love Stacy Julian's book The Big Picture. I got so much inspiration from it and her approach to scrapping my life. I took special notice of the LO she made about her son with ADHD. She noted that it is her job to celebrate his strengths, since his disability doesn't normally lead to many kudos. (I don't remember her exact words, sorry. That was the gist.)

And so I remember this when I scrap my sons. My younger boy has both ADHD and autism, a double difficulty for him, particularly in school. This year's been tough, so I made this LO to remember what his strengths are (thanks, Stacy):


I used Studio Calico's February kit Sweet Shoppe. I added the stamped honeycombs with the original idea of printing the words, then pasting them on the patterned paper, but that was too much work, so I handwrote his strengths. The photo used a PSE action called Teeny Tiny World from Coffee Shop; this action blurs the background and focuses in on the center of attention, not that Dominic needed any help with that in this photo!

I have to admit, I was nervous about stamping on this LO, mainly because I was masking out part of the stamp, which can go awry. It was OK, but I try not to let fear get in the way; there is no such thing as a mistake in scrapbooking, only an unplanned opportunity for more creativity.

I think I make a page like this for both of my boys every year. I like that I do. Hopefully they'll always know that even though we're trying very hard to improve their behavior and focus, we know very well that they are fabulous kids. I don't remember who said this, but I'm using this quote as my mantra now: We don't grow up, we only learn how to behave in public.

Me right now

On my birthday this year I took the boys to taekwondo. Dominic had been having a tough time at school, so I did what I usually do when he has a tough time: I make a list of what I'm grateful for. Since I turned 39 this January, and that night was my birthday, I made a list of 39 things I was grateful for. That list sat in my notebook for a couple months until I pulled it out and made this LO (click on the images to see them larger):



I pulled a photo of myself to pair with this page. Actually, Dominic took the photo as we were waiting for his recital a week after I made the list. I discovered that night the best way to break him out of a funk is to hand him my camera and let him take pictures. Derick did that the other night with him on his way to violin lessons. He handed over his iPhone and let Dominic take pictures, inlcuding this one, which Dominic called the "Explosion" picture:



I think it's gorgeous. I hope that by taking pictures, he can get a sense of the world from a variety of perspectives.

Fishing

The page at Sketch Support this week was for a two-pager. Here's what I did for my older boy's album:






I used January's Studio Calico kit called Who's Who, which interestingly had the perfect color combo for autumn fishing. Before I printed my pictures, I again used Pioneer Woman's Boost action on them. It intensified the hue and darkened the photos a wee bit, which was good since the photos were so bright. I like the look of the Studio Calico notions on this; they are geometric enough to look good on a boy's page. I squished them too, which made 'em a little rough.

In case you were wondering, I have scrapped these photos before on this page I made for my dad:


I also used some of the same photos for a page in my younger boy's album--can't show it, it will be in an upcoming publication. I am also planning a page for the family album with these same photos, which I haven't done yet.

I rarely do multiple layouts of the same shots for everyone's album. In this case, the fishing trip was special--we don't go much!--so I thought it was warranted. I didn't want to make the same layout for each, so I've given myself about a month's rest in between each layout.

I'm finishing some layouts I started last weekend. I'll share two tomorrow, plus a rarity for me--some cards!