Hello and welcome to Simply A Moment in May :). Hoping you'll feel able to join me, either just reading along companionably, or by adding your own moment to the Linky below ...
Dad is home again with us, a little more fragile, but with careful medical eyes upon him and our own loving ones surrounding him. Hoping to be able to be back with you all soon ...
"Comics and bars" - that's what it was known as in our house. On a Sunday evening, once school bags were packed, shoes polished, and kit sorted for the next day, my brothers and I would settle down round the fire as Dad brought us that week's edition of the comic or magazine we'd each chosen as a regular order, along with a chocoate bar. There'd be the rustling of pages, the scrunching of wrappers and - mostly - silence for an hour ...
I realised later, of course, that it was a resourceful way for my parents to ensure some peace and quiet for themselves, but we loved it. At some point, we'd all swap. My brothers weren't so keen on Bunty or Judy, but the Dandy or the Beano was always good for some rumbustious entertainment ...
I've always loved the look of those comics; and what fun to experiment with making a page with one's own photos! A caption across the top of the frame, some sound and visual effects, the mottled and dotted effect of the background, plus some photos of Himself ...
... hello HalfTone App! Sixty-nine pence well spent. "If I'm going to star in a scrapbook comic", said Himself, peering over my shoulder, "I think I'm going to want some rhyming couplets too". I duly obliged. So for those of you who remember the opening sequence to this story, here is the sequel ...
And it printed out beautifully too. Now, cardmaking does not come easy to me, but I'm seeing possibilities!
And thank-you so much to all of you who popped in for a cup of tea last week, and to Abi for the inspiration; it was just lovely to see you! And it was especially nice that so many of you shared what you might want to talk about too - it really felt as if we were having a conversation :).
Up here, the glorious weather for a day or two has broken, but I am singing in the driving rain - for this weekend will be sparkling with the sunshine of time with our dearest daughter. There'll be photos! Looking forward to seeing you soon ...
... a cup of tea with me? That's what I'd say if you knocked on my door, delighted that you'd taken me up on my invitation. I'd take your wet coat and offer to hang it over the radiator for you, so it was warm and dry when you were ready to go, for our winds are still very cool. I'd ask if you'd mind sitting at the table in the corner of the kitchen - Himself is deep in the middle of a work teleconference on the half-landing with his headphones on and for some reason it makes him speak louder, I'd teasingly say. And I'd explain that my Dad has a carer with him right now for an hour so we might not see him, but that if the district nurse calls to visit him, I'd have to leave you for a few moments. And then we'd go through ...
On the way past, we'd stop so I could introduce you to Gladys, just on your left. You might have glimpsed her before on my blog, but you might not have seen her in all her, ermm, fullness :). You might ask me where she came from, and while we are pulling out the chairs to sit down, I'd explain about seeing her at a Flower Show ten or more years ago, and being smitten by her lovely wide-eyed expression. I'd tell you what a wonderful therapist she is: that I can just sit and tell her all about my day, and she'll unfailingly supply all the "Well, I never(s)!", or "He said what(s)?" that are needed. We might laugh together, you and me, and - being the creative people we are - come up with a string of ideas for other things she might say, especially if we'd just had a crafting disaster at the table beside her ...
And while I was lifting things off the tray for us, I'd explain how, in my part of the world, we were all trained to lay a tray for visitors with a proper linen cloth from as soon as we were big enough to carry a cup, and that this was one of my Mum's quick-crocheted-edge ones. While filling the teapot and bringing it over, I'd be hoping you'd tell me a bit about your childhood: who sewed or embroidered, glued or painted in your family, where your own crafting inspiration comes from ...
There'd be the offer of biscuits, of course, and some gluten-free ones too, nestling inside the lovely tin sent to us by our German family-in-law in December, full of wonderful traditional Advent lebkuchen, a cross between delicately spiced biscuits and gingerbread. There's still a little box left, especially for favoured visitors like you :). And as you nibbled one, we'd comment on how appropriate for a scrapbooker this tin was, and ponder the serendipity of English title, for they don't know about my scrapbooking ...
We'd turn it round and round, oohing and ahhing at its vintage feel and thinking of uses for it when the edibles are all gone. Fill it with mini-books? Make a thick journal for it? Photograph the sides and make digital cards? And I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts and ideas ...
We might keep talking about scrapping and what we each like and enjoy about memory-keeping. I'd explain how I wasn't really a digital scrapbooker: I just like to use what the computer offers to produce something I can hold and touch, and turn the pages of. I'd rest my elbows on the table and cradle my cup in my hands and would be keen to know what is exciting you in the scrapbook world right now or what leaves you cold, and how you manage to weave your creative pursuits into your days ... As we paused companionably to look out of the window at the rain, I'd tell you how glad I
am to see the budding leaves on the little maple, and how anxious I have
been that in the long and searing cold it would not survive. And how that speaks to me ...
And as we poured some more tea, I might - if I knew you were following along with Ali Edwards' One Little Word - ask you how you were finding it, what it was meaning for you. And I might, in turn, tell you a little about how mine, 'Sail', is helping me navigate my own life. I might even share with you how much I am enjoying my 'log-book', with its pockets and flaps, fold-out pages and hidden bits,
receipts, tickets, photos of texts, copies of emails, and slivers of
doodles, drawing and painting. And what a surprise it has been to find myself at
this point, for the injunction from my primary school days of never starting a
sentence with "I" still rings loud in my ears. I (!) might say something about my
iPad and how it is
enriching the way I work, but there'd be a hesitancy in my voice and a tentativeness in my observing in case it really
wasn't your thing. And I'd wonder aloud: if I popped into your home, what I might see on your own work desk? Would it be like mine, or very different? Do tell me more ...
Suddenly we might catch a glimpse of the clock on the wall and realise you needed to go. There'd be a flurry of coat-putting-on and bag-and-phone finding. I would tell you how pleased I am that you came, how much being able to connect like this has meant to me, and we'd smile and hope to arrange to meet up again as we stepped over the threshold onto the paving stones outside the front door. Your eye might catch the box of daffodils and yes, I'd say, they're the ones I found a few weeks ago in the lean-to and planted out, and aren't they lasting well?
We'd wave goodbye out on the road, as you set off again in the damp sunshine. I'd turn again to look, just as you went, and raise my hand and smile, full of gladness that we'd met and been together for a little while ...
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With many grateful thanks to Abi, at Creating Paper Dreams, for her lovely invitation to share a cup of tea with her once a month, and for her own delicious writing and sharing. Do pop in and see her if you'd like another cup!
Yes, it's someone's birthday - Julie has been Letting The Days Roll By for two years old today! Welcome to Pass The Page Blog Hop (the scrapbookers' version of Chinese Whispers) which Julie has wonderfully organised by way of celebration. I'm delighted to wish her well, hope for many more happy years of posting, and am enjoying taking part :).
Have you arrived here via the talented Mel? Mel very kindly let me have a sneak preview of her page as inspiration for mine. You'll see that her clever clustering of hexagons caught my eye, and acted as a focus for my own photos; and I've placed my journalling and title lettering in the same area of the page as Mel did. I loved Mel's subtle checked background which blends so well with the photo, and the vertical strip of blue which neatly echoes the arm of the windmill; I choose a pale distressed look to tie in with the documents in my photos. And although I couldn't match those three artfully constructed paper windmills of Mel's, I made sure there were three whole hexagons of the same size to the right of the main picture. We also both have little black and white drawings/stamps of modes of transport on our layouts, appropriate to our themes - have you spotted them?
Well done! Now, I am not wanting to be discourteous (I really, really am not) and you are most welcome to stay for as long as you wish (and I hope you will), but - whispering very quietly in your ear - haven't you got somewhere else to go? Like Jo's? I think she'll be waiting for you ... :) And I will be hot on your heels, looking forward to seeing what has caught Jo's eye from here. Catch you there!
And thank-you so much, Julie - it has been a lot of fun :).
Julie jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com
Alison alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com
Fay beautifullilysramblings.blogspot.com
Ruth chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
Jemma just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk
Miss Smith journalofcuriousthings.co.uk
K kscraftycorner.blogspot.com
Mrs Wookie mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.co.uk
Mel ispeakmelsh.co.uk
Alexa simplyalexa.typepad.com/trimmingthesails
Jo curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.co.uk
Jacky scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com
Welcoming you warmly! If you're a user of an iPhone or iPad and like to scrapbook - whether hybrid, digital or paper - then this is the place to find out more about using your devices to enhance your scrapbooking and memory-keeping. Should you just be popping in for the first time, all the previous links and downloadable files and pdfs are just below at the end of the post. And today, we're doing a quick whizz around some of the many ways you can use Shapes swiftly and easily in Keynote to do things which are more complex and time-consuming in Photoshop ...
This is but a fraction of what you yourself might come up with while you stand in queues, sit in waiting rooms, or lean up against the worktop waiting for the kettle to boil ... And unlike your computer keyboard, the iphone and iPad are not bothered by sticky, dirty or floury fingers - a quick wipe and they're fine! The Keynote tools will happily respond as far as your imagination and willingness to play in any spare moments takes you. And don't forget that Keynote helpfully saves automatically every thirty seconds, so you don't need to keep clicking. Pick it up, play, put it down - as often as you want. And next time you're putting a page together, you'll have lots of things just sitting right there waiting for you :).
Next time, we'll look at resolution and printing - whole pages, mini-layouts for Project Life, or toppers for cards. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy experimenting! and here in Week 07 is the pdf for today, as well as previous pdfs and presentations below ...
Creativity on the Move: Keynote 05 Design It Yourself
Download KNAlexa05DesignItYourself (pdf)
On Sunday, there is a Very Special Celebratory Blog Hop popping through here - a kind of Pass The Page. So I am hoping you'll hop or pop back here then :).
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Previous Weeks Links, Pdfs and Keynote Files are below:
Creativity on the Move: the mapCreativity on the Move: managing your photos
Download COTMManagingYourPhotos (pdf)
Creativity on the Move: Keynote 01 Photos
Download KNAlexa01Photos (pdf)
Download AlexaShapedMasks (key)
Creativity on the Move: Keynote 02: Text
Download KNAlexa02Text (pdf)
Creativity on the Move: Keynote 03: Shapes
Download KNAlexa03Shapes (pdf)
Creativity on the Move: Keynote 04: Using Colour
Download KNAlexa04UsingColour (pdf)
Download KNAlexaColourSwatches (key)
Download KNAlexaColouredText (key)
You'll find the lovely and talented scrapper and teacher Emilie Chamel over here - and she really knows her inks and stamps! (And, if I dare say the words again, thank-you to The Simple Things magazine's back page for the design inspiration for the above.) Oh, and by the way, that's crafting friends off- and on-line ... :).
Hoping to be back on Wednesday after the great Unpacking of Craft Stuff, and the gi-normous Catch-Up-Of-Things-I-Really-Should-Have-Done-At-The-Weekend-If-I-Hadn't-Been-Bunking-Off. Oh boy ... Anyone got a few fairies to spare?
Welcome to Creativity on the Move and using Keynote for scrapbooking and memory-keeping on the iPad or iPhone. Today is all about colour, with a couple of downloads below, so please do help yourself :).
Themes and Colours
Keynote offers twelve 'themes', each of which has its own corresponding colour palette. There are always twenty-four plain colours, plus six gradients and six textures of some kind. Here's the one for Chalkboard, for example:
Expand the colour range with the opacity sllider
As layering is so easy in Keynote, you can take advantage of the Opacity Slider in Effects to generate further shades or hues you want, using the palette of colours inside your chosen theme:
Borrow colours from other themes
Keynote for the iPad and iPhone does not (yet) have a colour picker -
annoyingly! However, there are easy ways of expanding the colour range of the
theme you've chosen to work in. You can open any theme you choose, select a shape, pick a colour from its range (see Keynote 03 Shapes), then
copy and paste it into the current theme you're working in. There, you
can further change its size, border etc.
Doing that, however, depends on knowing or remembering which shades and hues are available in each theme. To avoid having to open each of the twelve themes and do the steps above, my solution (available to you too below) is to have all the colour palettes available in just one presentation called Colour Swatches. Into these I've copied and pasted coloured rectangles of all the colours from every theme. Open the presentation, scroll down the twelve slides on the left, and you'll see the colour palettes for each theme at a glance. These are not just for visual reference: they are active and 'live': you can tap to select and copy any coloured rectangle, then go back to your own presentation and paste it onto your slide - much quicker! (And if you want a different shape - like a circle - you will know which theme to open up.)
Coloured Text
Within each theme, there is always the same option for text of white, black and several shades of grey. In addition, you can colour the text using any of the colours available within in that theme. As with coloured shapes (see above), you can borrow coloured text from any theme, but you will need to go into that theme, type some text, choose a colour, copy, paste etc. My quick workaround is here for you to download: a presentation with boxes of text in colours from all the themes. Just tap, copy and paste into your own presentation and type in your own journalling. (Remember, you can also use the opacity slider on text too).
Previous posts and files:
Creativity on the Move: The Map
Creativity on the Move: Managing Your Photos
Download COTMManagingYourPhotos (pdf)
Creativity on the Move: KN01Photos
Download KNAlexa01Photos (pdf)
Download AlexaShapedMasks (key)
Creativity on the Move: KN02Text
Download KNAlexa02Text (pdf)
Creativity on the Move: KN03Shapes
Download KNAlexa03Shapes (pdf)
Today's files:
Download KNAlexa04UsingColour (pdf)
Download KNAlexaColourSwatches (key)
Download KNAlexaColouredText (key)
Hoping these are useful to you, and please do let me know if anything is unclear or you have any queries and I will do my best to help. Next week, I'll show you how to combine and use shapes in Keynote to create some quick and easy scrapbooking elements which you might think can only be done in Photoshop :). in the meantime, happy exploring!
Hello again! And you are most welcome to April's Simply A Moment: a midmonth chance to pause, be present, notice and jot down what is around and within you. And if you would like to share yours, there is a Linky below open for another fortnight - we don't rush here :).
Simply A Moment can come in many shapes and sizes: a journalling entry, a blog post, a photo, a sketch, just a few words, a scrapbook page: whatever suits your own life best. And if recording one is not for you, perhaps you might enjoy a gentle skip around the world reading the moments of others? And a chance to let them know in your comment that you stopped by. I find myself touched and enriched by the glimpses in other worlds and ways of experiencing which others so generously offer. I hope you will too ...
Thank-you for visiting, and wishing you gentle warmth and ease of living today wherever you are ...
You probably know how much I love a good advert, especially one with plenty of 'white' space; and when this fell out of the middle of a magazine, how could I resist?
It was just perfect for the photo of our rather tatty rhubarb, the only plant we brought back from the allotment-which-is-ours-no-longer. (Though quite why we choose this specimen I am not sure - I remember my brothers and Dad and I lawnmowering over the rhubarb patch one spring in the hope it would take the hint. It didn't. Mum was pleased.) The ad inspiration made a great cover for a little page inside with some and rather sad photos, and a dollop of hand-journalling ... A similar technique gave extra journalling space for a photo of all the wonderful gluten-free products my lovely daughter-in-law sent back with Himself for me.
Combined with the Lemon Drizzle collage, the page now looks something like this ...
I confess to enjoying 'keeping up to date' - despite all the voices in my head about it not being necessary! Oh, and washi tape makes a wonderfully un-bulky hinge ...
On Monday, I'll be stopping for a mid-month moment again, and you are most welcome to join me again, or for the first time, for Simply A Moment. It will probably be Tuesday before I am able to post, with the linky as usual, so please remember there is no rush - it'll be here for a fortnight!
Wishing you a lovely weekend, full of happy things ... :).
