Hello! No, we've not gone all musical up here (though a tuneful ditty in praise of Fridays would be welcome): we're a bit more visual today. If you can see clearly, that is ...
One
I promised a photo of how my all-in-one 'This is 2011' is developing. Though the covers are still in progress (that's an optimistic euphemism, by the way), the pages are held in an open spiral for the moment. Book-rings will keep things together once the covers are ready until there are enough pages to bind. I'm not - and I realise this may be heresy for some - using any page protectors, though I may trim some into single sheets and slip them in between pages if I sense any stickiness.
Two
To make the best use of resources, the backs of the double-page fortnightly spreads also hold a layout. Here, a page was glued onto the back after printing the spread but - with careful planning - it will be possible to print onto the back of the spread should this be needed.
Three
The New 52 skinny pages are printed directly onto double-sided white, matt, archival quality A4 art paper. Made especially for fine art and digital art printing, both Fotospeed's High White Smooth Duo and Hahnemuehle's Fine Art Inkjet paper give excellent results with no bleeding through of colour from one side to the other. Additionally, it's slimmer than two lots of card, which is a bonus. When you count the cost of, say, two sheets of Bazzil card plus A4 Photopaper by makers like HP or Epson, then the art papers compare favourably. And it's a whole lot simpler ...
Four
Fuzzy photos. Not having got to grips with the SLR, I snapped these of my little grandson in winter evening indoor light with no flash and a point-and-shoot camera. Naturally, being two, he was not going to stop moving while I fiddled around! Now, I know photos like these are often discarded as not being good enough; my dilemma is that sometimes they're all I have. And so, I'm thinking - albeit a trifle fuzzily - it seems more important to have some kind of record than perhaps none at all. (And - as a protective measure in on-line work - fuzzy or blurry photos make identification harder.)
Oh, and speaking of photos ...
though hers are not at all fuzzy!, then do have a look at Kim's lovely work, tutorials and classes over here. I've just found her site, and if you are beginning in Photoshop/Elements, or would like to try out textures and photos, this looks like a great place to learn. As I am already experimenting with backgrounds, I will be doing Kim's great free class Learn Textures in Ten. (Yes, that's ten minutes!) See you there? Or back here next week? Happy photo-taking and crafting ...
The book looks fantastic even in it's early stages. Love the skinny pages. & Thanks for the link...will go and check it out. Px
Posted by: Paul B | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 09:39 AM
Looking good already Alexa. I'm doing Kim's free Skinny Mini class at the moment - such clear explanations and an easy-listening voice :D
Posted by: Jimjams | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 10:52 AM
I'm loving the skinny pages too - great, slightly different look. And as for fuzzy photos? Definitely better than no photo at all I think: can you tell I have lots? lol
Posted by: Sian | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 12:54 PM
Fuzzy photos are mainly what I take.....I'd have little left to scrapbook without them!!!!
Am also loving those skinny pages.
Posted by: Jacky S | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 01:31 PM
This is looking great already! I really need to learn how to use my BindItAll machine!
Posted by: Cheri | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 07:19 PM
Those skinny pages look great and I especially like them interspersed with the normal sized pages. I'm going to investigate the Kim Klassen Cafe :)
Posted by: Amanda | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 07:29 PM
oh my gosh... how completely sweet... thank you for sharing my site .. here on your BEAUTIFUL site... WOW...
such a nice place to visit....
xxo, Kim
Posted by: Kim | Friday, 21 January 2011 at 09:26 PM
I love how you've organized this; it looks wonderful already! I've taken one of Kim's free courses and am now taking her Photoshop the Essentials. She's a great teacher. She's presenting the material in both full Photoshop as well as PSE 9.0. I'm hoping to have a better grasp of the latter when I'm done.
Posted by: Karen | Saturday, 22 January 2011 at 01:36 AM
Liking how your book is shaping up Alexa, I love mixing page sizes - makes it more interesting! As for fuzzy photos, I have a ton. My Dad was king of out of focus photography when I was a child, so most of my childhood was captured as a blur. No second chances with wet film... But I seem to have inherited his fuzziness, as I take a mean out of focus shot too... But definitely better than no photos at all.
Posted by: Sarah Utting | Saturday, 22 January 2011 at 09:24 AM
It looks fabulous, good for you :-) And yes, definitely better to have fuzzy photos than none at all! Especially when they help to convey the constant movement of a young child xx
Posted by: Mel | Saturday, 22 January 2011 at 03:40 PM