trimmingthesails

Happy Birthday!

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

 

Creativity on the Move: Keynote 05 (Design It Yourself)

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 map

Creativity 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)

What I learned at the weekend ...

And I think this probably says it all ...

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?

Creativity on the Move: Keynote 04 (Using Colours)

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!

Simply A Moment (April 13)

 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 ...

An ad, a page, and a reminder ...

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 ... :).

Creativity on the Move: Keynote 3 (Shapes)

Hello and welcome! Whether you're very, moderately or only slightly interested in using your iphone or ipad to scrapbook or record your memories, I hope there might be something in here which piques your curiosity just a little! Today's post and pdf is all about Shapes: where to find them, how to style and use them, and how to do things with them which the originators of Keynote never dreamed of - my favourite part! And, as always, the shots you see here and the pdfs were created totally in Keynote on the iPad and iPhone.

Some of the quick uses to which Shapes can be put include ...

• making tabbed journalling blocks by combining two rounded rectangles of different sizes
• popping a photo onto a coloured background in a jiffy without needing complex layering skills
• creating shaped journalling spaces, with or without borders or fills, where the text adjusts itself as you type
• turning photos into a mini-layouts by adding text- or colour-filled shapes
• devising striped, dotted or squared 'papers' or 'borders' to suit your page in just a few taps
• adding fast-and-easy shadows and reflections for a graphic design look

And, of course, stretching your own creativity enjoyably as you find new ways of using the tools provided! Please help yourself to the detailed pdf of instructions; the previous ones are also included below. As always, the pdfs can be downloaded to your computer, then emailed to your iPad or iPhone; or downloaded directly to your iPad. You can also upload them to a cloud facility like Dropbox, and then download them to the iPad later.

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)

Today's pdf:
Download KNAlexa03Shapes (pdf)

Hoping you enjoy them (and all feedback and comments welcome!) :). Next week, it's exploiting colour to maximum effect in Keynote. Might you pop back?

 

Monday Musings ...

Morning Monday! Or at least it was morning when I started - hoping I might just squeeze in this post before Monday shoots off into Tuesday. And it's ...

goodbye to ...

• agonising over how best to organise my scrapbooking (for now, at least)
• dustsheets, stepladders, and multiple coats of paint in the bathroom (is paint really as opaque as it used to be?)
• our one sixth of an allotment which, with some sadness. has been handed over to a new owner. I'd show you some photos but I wouldn't want you to feel burdened by its bedraggled neglect ...

hello, on a brighter note, to ...

• the return of Himself, complete with photos, marzipan and hugs
• falling over the piles of plant pots, green mesh tunnels and bags of compost which don't yet have a home
• quick mini-scrapping - an iphone photocard, a receipt and a café-advert popped together to form a layered pocket holding a journalling card and tag. Dad and I have, student-like with books and pens and paper, been indulging a rapidly-forming café-habit :).
  
  

And that is as good as it gets at this point in the week, my friends: it feels a triumph to be vertical and breathing. I might even have five minutes while the kettle boils to prop myself up against the kitchen work-top, thumb through cookery books and wonder just how they got that lemon drizzle cake to be so soft and crumbly ... Any helpful chefs or alchemists out there? All insights gratefully received!

 

Month In Numbers (March 13)

I nearly missed it, and am a week late :(, but my Month in Numbers are safely tucked up in my journal ...

 ... aided an abetted by a lovely little piece from a children's old book, happily purchased from Julie in one of the pretty packs from her Etsy shop, and whose wonderful inspiration is the Month In Numbers series.


The meterological rumour up here earlier in the week that we are going to have above freezing temperatures at night this weekend is, sadly, untrue according to the latest forecast - but there is sunshine and birdsong in the air today, and the return of Himself tomorrow from a week with the Littlies and the Biggies to look forward to. I'm hoping for photos and marzipan in equal measure! See you the day after?

 

 

 

The Return of Colour, and Creativity on the Move (Keynote 02)

You've probably got one too, lurking quietly and well hidden from view. Rarely a thing of beauty or a joy forever, they're not usually by the front door where the visitors come in. My grandmother used to call hers The Glory Hole (which Grandad referred to, with a surreptitious wink behind her back, as The Gory Hole). But for us, bereft of attic, cellar or garage, ours is out of sight - and usually out of mind too. However, a hint of a thaw and a blink of sunlight this morning encouraged me to don my wellies and head off to peep round the ramshackle door into ours. Now, I do love a challenge, especially if it's one of Paula Gilarde's lovely graphic ideas over at live.scrap.repeat, and I wondered if I could interpret her Inspiration Challenge 89 on the iPad ...

I really like what you can do with taps, swipes and the occasional two-fingered twirl for rotating shapes! And the daffs have made it back up the garden path to a place of honour on the kitchen table :).

Having explored how to get photos onto the iPad or iPhone last week and use them in Keynote, this week's help is all about text and how to style it. The overview looks like this ...

... and the pdf is just below, so please do help yourself. It can be downloaded to your computer, or emailed to yourself on your iPad or iPhone. If you have GoodReader (free from the App Store), you can download it directly to your iPad, and peruse it there. I do hope you find it useful and fun! Next week, we'll look at at all the things you can do with Shapes in Keynote.

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)

Today's pdf:
Download KNAlexa02Text (pdf)

Hoping you've enjoyed a bit of a break, if there were Easter celebrations your way, and are easing gently into a new and warmer (or cooler, if you need it!) week ahead. Having made an initial foray, I am determined to set off for More Exciting Adventures In The Lean-To. Well, possibly. If the temperature rises. And the sun shines again ... :).

(Pdf for strictly personal use only. No copying, adapting, extracting, re-distributing or selling allowed. All images, files and text are copyright and belong to Alexa, www.simplyalexa.typepad.com/trimmingthesails. All rights reserved.)