trimmingthesails

Digi-Dipping (Part 2)

 Hello! On this special day - in the UK at least :) ... Thank-you to everyone who left an enthusiastic response to Digi-Dipping (part 1) on Wednesday. Here, as promised, is the pdf. for hybrid scrappers: help with printing out the text of the template and the photos. I've made it landscape so it's easier to read on your screen. You'll also find the Additional Help for PSE users which, if you visited on Wednesday before midday, you might not have seen.

AlexaTemplate02Hyrid.pdf
PSEAdditionalHelp.pdf

And this is how my own hybrid attempt turned out. I am often quite happy to print the whole page onto photo-paper (which can be cheaper than card), trim the top and bottom (we have A4 paper here) and slip into an 8.5x11 page protector. My page is a quarter of an inch narrower, but that does not bother me unduly. Sometimes I will back it onto card. Having an aversion, however, to using lots of it up unnecessarily, I often simply cut slim strips and attach them from the back. I've done that here, because it seems to echo nicely the vertical wooden beams on the front of the building in my smaller photo.

If you decide to use the template in some way, then do let us know on here so we can all come and visit!
And to those of you who are popping in from the States, especially the tornado-striken ones, just to let you know that despite the happy celebrations here, we are mindful of your difficult situation  and are holding you warmly in our thoughts.

See you Monday?

Digi-dipping, Part 1 (and WOYWD)

Ready ...
Welcome! Bienvenu(e)! ¡Bienvenido/a! to today's desk, and some things to play with. Here's the former ...

Steady ...
And here's the latter: some things to play with, as promised ... 

Go!
And here's where you can download them ...

• Each page of the pdf has, on the left, a Quick Guide; and there is Additional Help and Tips on the right. Experienced users will probably need neither. If you have a little bit of experience, the Quick Guide may be enough. The only thing I am assuming is that you know how to open your copy of Photoshop/Elements, and can download/save/open the Template and two photos. If you're not sure how to do any of those, or get stuck at any point, please email me, and I will do my very best to help.
  (Edited at 11 a.m., as my PSE Elements arrived today!, to include a quick pdf. of Additional help for PSE users.).

           AlexaTemplate02HowTo.pdf
           PSEAdditionalHelp.pdf

• These layered Photoshop/Elements templates are 8.5 x11 in size. If you want to a purely digital 8.5x11, choose the first. If you want to print a hybrid version from it (post coming this Friday) and this is your usual paper size, then choose the one ending in HB (Hybrid). You'll see it has a white border around it to allow for the fact that most printers do not allow you to print edge to edge.

          AlexaTemplate02@8.5x11.psd
          AlexaTemplate02@8.5x11HB.psd

• This layered Photoshop/Elements template is A4 in size. If you want to do a hybrid version (post coming this Friday), this is the version you'll need. You will notice that it has a white border, so that you can print the text out on A4 card, and the photos onto A4 photopaper. It can then be trimmed and slipped into an 8.5x11 page protector, or mounted onto card/paper first.

           AlexaTemplate02@A4HB.psd           

My page ...

Thank-you for visiting! if you'd like to see a whole raft of wonderful desks across the world, then head over to the very creative Julia at The Stamping Ground. Hoping that there has been something of interest here for you, and wishing you all a happy Spring/Autumn day!

Skinny-dipping in digi, anyone?

Seasoned digital scrapbooker, jumping in without a care in the world? Or interested in wiggling your toes in the digi pond, without commiting yourself to the full monty? Wondering what the attraction of it is anyway but prepared to come to the water's edge for a dekko? I might have something for you this week ...

Inspired by this magazine page to the right, here's how the skinny-dipping will unfold!

Wednesday

• a sample digital page
• a downloadable template for Photoshop/Elements
• a pdf. of simple instructions with screen-shots and additional tips if you're new to digital

Friday

• a sample hybrid page
• a downloadable pdf. showing how to use the digital template just for printing the text (photos, papers, embellies added separately), and/or the photos if you print them at home

Hoping you'll pop back ... No participation required: you can stay fully-clothed and just watch from a safe distance! :)

And today's loser ...

And today's loser is ...
... yours truly. I've turned it off, and I've turned it on. I've taken bits out and put bits in again. I've sworn and wept and stamped my feet but to no avail: all my camera screen will say is 'Memory Card Error'. "That's not going to help" observed Himself, sanguinely. "You need a new one", he added, looking up from his computer screen where, apparently, browsing The Register counts as paid work for the Working-From-Home-Alone IT employee. "They'll be less than a tenner in Argos. Oh, and can you bring some milk when you're coming." There wasn't even a question mark at the end of that sentence, I thought bitterly. I'd have liked to have flounced off with a witty remark, but wit was in short supply and it's hard to flounce in jeans.

So, alas, there are no pictures of my desk today. But perhaps, by way of apology, I can send you to people who clearly do have a photographic apparatus in working order. So it's off to:

• feast your eyes on Alisa Burke's glorious Easter Eggs. She uses scraps of fabric and watercolours too. But for a simple soul like me, these are just the classiest ...

• flex your fingers at Patricia's "A Little Hut", for some flower-making fun.

• feed your printer, with Scrapbook Printables. A very generous graphic designer makes things to download for free, resize if wished, and print out onto paper or card. Scroll down to April 1st for a lovely retro-look bingo card.

• frolic with Sketch Support's recent series on two-page scrapbook layouts: keep moving down the page for some stylish interpretations.

• find time for five minutes of fun with Florence and Dougal in The Magic Roundabout, where Dylan is trying to be creative. In comparison to today's fast-paced children's programmes, you might think it's terminally slow. But as a youngster, I loved it. Still do. :)

• flip over to It's A Creative World, where Julie is guesting today, with some fun little friends.

But today's winner ...
of the draw to receive Creative Time and Space is ...

 
...  Miriam, who was the first one to request a place in the draw - congratulations, Miriam, and if you can email me your address, it'll be on its way to you! And thank-you to all who entered - I'm just wishing I had copies for everyone.

Right, off to get ... Now what was it Himself asked me for? I think I might just have a Memory Card Error of my own. :)

In the spring ...

 ... a young man's young-at-heart woman's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love scrapbooking-related matters. Mmm, lacking a little something in the lyrical line: Alfred Lord Tennyson would not be impressed! But it is now Spring up here, as the haze of soft green begins to encircle the branches, and the streams lie still in the gentle sunshine ...


And as for the scrapbooking thoughts, I'm thinking, actually, about here, about what brings me, what I hope to share ... I've tried dressing it up in lots of fancy words, but truthfully, I think it's just this: a simplicity of process and design that helps our photos and stories shine.

And wondering: is there anything you think I could share with you that would be useful to you? If you have time, I'd be glad to know. Thank-you. :)

And may there be warm sunlight, a soft wind at your back and an easy road for your journey today ...
(D'you think I'd get any brownie points from Tennyson?)

This is 2011 (March 1-15)

OK, so I'm a trifle behind!  but valiantly attempting to catch up. These pages from my "This is 2011" album are mostly about our visit to see our lovely son and daughter-in-law and their two little ones: the highlight of the whole month.

I could probably have made half-a-dozen scrapbook pages of this trip, but this year I am experimenting with keeping it simple, and the album manageable in size. Blending some photos together was a trial, in more ways than one, but an alternative to lots of smaller ones. I'm not totally sure about it, but it's staying as testament to my fortitude! The paper is a digital one, and the flowers are mine. As a lover of pockets and flaps and hideaways of all kinds, I'm going to find space within these two pages for additional photos and journalling, but without adding too much bulk. and will share the results on here - though it may take me a week or so.

In the meantime, here it is. In reality, it's a little brighter than this, but I'm having difficulty getting it to reproduce more accurately: the greens are either slightly subdued like this, or an eyeball-hurting neon.


Oh, and the green in the big photo is there because that's the shade of the wall behind DD and DGS. My son is not afraid of bold colour. Perhaps it was all those years of living with his mother's obsession with white at home - or her lack of creative imagination!

Here's to a happy weekend for us all ...

WOYW (13 April)

"She Art"? mused Himself. "An online class? Just when, exactly, my love, are you going to fit that in? Is there one for the male of the species too?" I wasn't going to be drawn and resolutely ploughed on chopping onions. (Not on my workdesk, you'll be pleased to note - though there are some interesting arty possibilities in onion rings.) I've not made huge progress with Christy's class but, in my defence, it only began yesterday. However, I've got as far as this: a bit of tearing and stamping for the beginning of a background and a whole heap of mod-podging. Goodness knows how it'll all turn out. If the worst comes to the worst, I've heard that a quick coat of gesso will sort it  ...

You'll also see a copy of the lovely Creative Time and Space. It is time, alas, for me to pass it on - and very many thanks to Cheri, whose generosity sent it on its original way. So if you'd like to be in the draw next Wednesday, please let me know in the comments below - I will happily post it anywhere in the world. Here's a glimpse of the contents:


My favourite parts? I really enjoyed the sections about time which (as you'll see from above) is A Bit Of An Issue in my life at present: about the artistic richness of keeping the creative brain gently nourished and actively ticking over all day long, about how our brain loves stories, working to our inner rhythms ... A great read and very nicely produced - a book where the pages are lovely to look at too. So do bid for it. :)

And if you'd like more desks, pop over to Julia at The Stamping Ground - there are some proper artists over there! Right, back to those onions - they should be nicely charred at the bottom of that pan by now ...

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you just have to take a break ... I wish I could tell you that I am going to be looking at this:

but in reality, it will be a computer screen, a pile of files and a bundle of books, as I get some study for work completed. I will still be popping in, as a welcome and uplifting distraction, to read your blogs! and hope to be posting again in a week.

Warm regards to you all,
Alexa.

Knit-picking ...

I will own up now - I am not a knitter. Not a natural one. (Sometime, when the shame factor is not too great, I will show you the evidence littering my cupboards).  My Mum, on the other hand, is. It was on her bedside table that I spotted this library book: Knitting Through It. I nearly didn't pick it up because, truthfully, there are only so many times I can bear to feel inadequate when faced with text like: "*wyif, sl 1, yo, bring yarn back to front, p1; repeat from * across: 33 [39, 45, 54, 60] sts."  Remonstrations such as  "DO NOT turn work, pm and join work into the round being careful not to twist the sts." reduce me to a quivering jelly. Please don't shout at me, I implore: I wasn't even thinking about turning the work (whatever that means). However the blurb on the inside cover of this one was kindly and in English:

"Most knitters know: Getting through a difficult time means knitting through it."

And if you're a die-hard knitter, you'll be putting the kettle on, finding a rug, and snuggling into a chair - for if you like stories, this book is full of them. Knitting together the experiences of young and old across the centuries, it wends it way through adversity with needles and yarn - and some wonderful photos.

Oh, and should you like to be educated as well as entertained, then you'll be off to google the stilt-walking Tchankats (or you can start here: scroll down below the photos), one of whom walked from France to Moscow and back on his stilts, knitting as he went. (Yes, the male pronoun is intentional!).

I'm thinking: there must be room somewhere for a book called "Scrapping Through It" ... No?