Snow

I have not seen snow for a few years, but my family members got a little bit last year. I grabbed some pictures from my sister-in-law off Facebook. Technically, this should have gone into my 2013 book, but I overlooked these pictures when I had that book printed. So they will go into the January section of my 2014 book. I know it's not ideal, but I can live with it because I love getting those big ol' Blurb books in my hands.

All About the Frame Templates by Scrapping with Liz; Winter Sparkleland by Scrap Orchard designers
StraightLine Stitched White No. 3 by Anna Aspnes

I'd like to give a little shout-out to Anna Aspnes and Vicki Stegall at Oscraps. I bought some stitches in Anna's advent sale the other day, and just as I was downloading I realized I bought stitches I already had. And the really ridiculous part was that I had my Anna Aspnes folder open when I went shopping, so I would make sure NOT to buy stitches I already had. Oops! I sent off an email to Anna, and within an hour Vicki Stegall had written back to me with a coupon for a replacement product. They even made sure I bought my new product with a coupon, instead of a direct link, so that I would have a valid record of the purchase, in case an issue comes up in the future. Thanks, Anna and Vicki!

Other Good Things

I'm sharing a scrapbook page that depicts fun at my brother's house in the country. The horses aren't his; they are my dad's and step mom's. But my brother does have goats, and chickens, and lots of land with a creek and wilderness and a tree fort. The kind of life I always pictured for myself, but life didn't turn out that way. I ended up with other good things.

I struggled with this layout for a while, but in the end I love how it turned out, and it's my new favorite page.

Cloudy with a Chance of Happiness by Amanda Yi and Cornelia Designs;  Life Quotes N. 5 by Sabrina's
Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 3 Templates by Anita Designs; Gold Foil Text Styles by Mommyish

Thanks for stopping by.

My Rainbows are Mushrooms

We have had a nice bit of rain out here in northern California, and more is on the horizon. Aw, how I love the rain. The sound, the smell, the mushrooms. The only thing I don't really like about rain is having to drive in it. We went on a little nature walk, and I found LOTS of mushrooms.

Squirrels & Nuts by creashens; A Story Captured Vol. 9 by Anita Designs
flower from Autumn Days by Amanda Yi

Note: The scientist is only pretending to eat that mushroom. He is a smart scientist in that regard.

I think it is really fun to have a "thing" that you like to photograph. For me, right now, that thing is mushrooms. A couple years back, when my mushroom photography project was just starting, we went camping with family. My sister-in-law was spotting banana slugs left and right, and she took a few pictures of them. When we saw our family at Thanksgiving, they told us about another recent camping trip they took, and they took pictures of banana slugs again. She had said, "I'm like Tiff with the mushrooms!" It was definitely a fun thing for them - finding slugs and snapping pictures. Do you have a thing you like to photograph?

Thanks for stopping by!

News and New Layouts

My scrapbooking news is that I have a creative team spot at the new The Digital Press. My spot is more of a trial/guest CT position. We'll see how it goes and if I can keep up. I also, coincidentally, stepped down from a team. The Etc. by Danyale team is a wonderful little family, and it was sad to go. I cried just like my last day teaching before I left on maternity leave. I hate endings.

Here are some layouts I've made this week. First up, the Christmas tree. We have had real trees the last few years, but with the scientist traveling a lot for work, I decided to pick up a fake tree to make things simpler. I got this tall skinny "pencil" tree and I love it. It's the perfect size for a small home. I even decorated it with ornaments! (The last couple of years I only did lights and beads). I love to look at it all day, every day.

Colorful Christmas - The Digital Press collaboration; So Selfie Photostrip Freebie by Scrapping with Liz

We have had a couple of rainy and cloudy weeks here in northern California. Mushrooms are alive and fruiting. Bliss! Several weeks ago, a patch popped up right outside our front door! I'm on the look out everywhere I go.

Hello Love by Creashens

And here was some Thanksgiving fun with family.

Selfie by Sabrina's Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 9 Templates by Anita Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

Apples

The Fuji apple has been my go-to apple for years. The skin varies from green to red, and they can be lopsided, but they are usually always nice and crisp and sweet. I find it to be an apple that you can count on. It is in stores all year long.

Fuji Apple

Sometimes I like a Pink Lady. They are tart and light, and dry if that makes sense, but I can't always find them. They often look a little bumpy and uneven. My store did not have any today, so I've go no picture for you.

Last week, my grocery store had two types of apples on sale: Honeycrisp and Envy. I decided I'd be adventurous and try both.

I quickly located the Honeycrisps in the large apple display, but did not see the Envy. I asked the grocer where they were. He proceeded to tell me that the Honeycrisp is the best apple. A big knife magically appeared, and with two flicks of his wrist he had cut a slice of apple for me to try. I tried it, and it was nice.

Honeycrisp Apple

I said, "I usually buy Fuji apples." You should have seen the sneer on his face! This man clearly had a low opinion of the Fujis, my go-to apple! I was about to buy the Honeycrisps, and pass on the Envys, when the grocer asked me if I still wanted to try an Envy. I almost said, "No," but then I thought about it: I already knew that the two of us have very different opinions of Fuji apples. Maybe I would like the Envy despite his abhorrence of it.

Another two flicks of the wrist and I had a huge (the Envy apples were very large) piece of Envy apple to eat.

Envy Apple

I tasted. I liked. I liked it a lot. I liked it better than the Honeycrisp! It was crisp, it was sweet. "It's nice," I said. The grocer was dumbfounded and walked away.

The End.

Actually, that's not the end because I LOVE the Envy apple. It is my new favorite, and I'm going to keep buying it as long as it is available. Or until I get a bad one. The Envy apple even has its own web site. They are grown in the northwest U.S., my favorite part of the world (yeah, it's the only part of the world I know).

If you see the Envy apple in your store, give it a try. I'm glad I did. Maybe it will be your new favorite too.

Goodbye, Liz (the lizard)

I'm sure you've figured out by now that I was not the Cropped champion. Nope, it was not to be. After a little recuperation, I'm back to scrapping, though.

The current obsession is lizards. Several poor little lizards have been caught by Miller and the scientist. And one named Liz was held in captivity for a couple of weeks. He was a cute little western fence lizard. I'm sure he is happy to be back in the wild fending for himself and blazing trails. Or rather, beefing up and finding a place to hibernate.

Climbing Trees and Falling Leaves by Etc. by Danyale; Autumn Watercolor Nature Papers by Dawn Inskip
Kriss Kross Stitched Overlays No. 2 by Anna Aspnes; Sahlin Studio Sept. '14 Template

Thanks for stopping by!

DSD 2014 - What I Bought

I've noticed some trends in the digital scrapbooking "holidays" (Digital Scrapbook Day and National Scrapbook Day) sales. I don't see designers releasing as many products as they used to. I saw a lot of designers who only released one new product, just like a regular week. As a customer, I guess that is a little disappointing, but I think I can understand as well. DSD came the day after Halloween this year, so I'm sure that made things more stressful.

What I have been seeing more frequently are pick-your-own bundle offers - like pick 5 products for $10. Those are really fun, especially when it works out to grabbing several kits for just $1 or $2 each. Sometimes the designers even give you a while to make your selection, so you might have the option of grabbing some of their future releases, depending on the deadline.

Since some of my favorite designers seemed to be taking it easy this holiday, I decided to use DSD as a chance to try out some new-to-me designers. I have seen Dawn Inskip products being advertised/promoted at some of the digi sites, and I picked up some of her things:

Red Ivy's kits have been catching my eye the last several months. I bought her new kit, and I participated in her Scavenger Hunt to get the Add-On.

And then I decided to buy some stitches from Anna Aspnes. I have a few similar sets of hers already, but after seeing some fun stitching in layouts recently, I wanted some more.

I picked up the blog-train collections from The LilyPad, Pixels and Company, and the Digi Scrap Parade.

I didn't do any scrapping on DSD, but I did finish up a couple of Shutterfly books for Christmas presents. I had other responsibilities over the weekend, so I didn't get to relax as much as I would have liked. But it was still a fun "holiday." Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped Round 5

Yes! I made it to the fifth and final round. There are10 finalists, and only one will be crowned the champion. Yikes. In the last three rounds, statistically, any contestant was more likely to move on than to be cropped, but not this time!!

Here is the prompt: "Round Five is Dessert, and we think it's the perfect way to finish off a great meal, and our contest. This week's challenge is to go all out... Make your "dessert" layout luxe, rich, decadent, sugary sweet, and over the top. Whether that's through your subject, your journaling, your embellishments, your techniques, or all of the above, now is the time to go all-out. Don't forget to include the 4 Mystery Basket Ingredients."

And here is my entry:

Cropped Round 5 Mystery Basket, Cardstock Essentials 3 and Life Story April Glitter + Gloss by Karla Dudley;
Punchfetti No. 1 and No. 5, Twinkles No. 1, Brushies No. 2, Oscar Alpha, iLove Alpha, Hei Hei kit, Head Over
Heels Kit, and Torn Bits 4 by creashens; Gold Foil Text Styles by Mommyish

This one was quite a challenge for me, because of the whole blank canvas/wanting to use a template thing. Once I came up with my idea, I searched and searched for a template at P&Co, but just couldn't find one that seemed perfect for my idea.

I started with a split-page design with one photo on the left and one photo on the right, but I just couldn't get the text to fill in the middle in a way that worked. So I grouped those clusters up and just started moving them around, and I finally decided that placing them toward the middle worked best.

I think I've got the dessert idea covered from a few different angles. I love the story here and how it spans across the years. My journaling refers to a piece of paper that I've saved for about 15 years - a true scrap! I like how that harks back to the more historic roots of scrapbooking, before it was a commercial industry. Part of the message is a little bitter-sweet, with the mother's dilemma, but my son's response ("Mommy, I'll always come back.") keeps it on the sweet side.

And I think I've created a decadent page. All that glitter and sparkle reminds me of sugar, and I think the use of the confetti is a bit "over the top" by using so many of them. Plus, the punchfetti is laid over the top of the photo for a more literal translation. And the bright white background makes me thing of white butter cream frosting.

Some of the mystery basket items I've used in a more straightforward manner, and some I used a little more creatively, by working them into the glitter and gold.

To be honest, even though making a page a week for five weeks straight is "a lot" for me, I'm kind of sad for the contest to end. The winner will be announced soon. Wish me luck?

Cropped Round 4

I made it to Round 4! So I've made it further than last year, yay! Here is the 4th challenge:

"Round Four is Entrée, and many would say this is the most important part of your meal... It's where you get your sustenance, and most of the time, the rest of the courses are planned out just to complement it. So, in the world of Cropped!, that can only mean one thing: JOURNALING! Whatever your subject, we want you to tell us all about it, in all it's glory."

And, of course, to use the mystery basket.

I went with something lighthearted, and my journaling is fantasy based, just for fun. I "discovered" Star Trek in the last couple of years with the new movies. Netflix has the first three seasons from the '60s in their streaming service, and we've been watching that as a family. I had the idea for this page stored away in my "Things to Scrap" folder. I even had a photo collage already picked out.

This is my favorite of the four pages I've made so far. One of the things I like about it its minimal use of scrapping supplies. Besides the four mystery basket ingredients, there is only a single additional paper used for the background. Technically, there is one additional thing - the gold foil effect, but that only changed the look of things, it didn't add any pieces.

I applied a radial blur filter to the starry background paper to give that sense of fast motion, similar to the effect on the TV show. I also applied some kind of warping or pinching (I don't remember exactly what I did) on the brocade overlay. I think it nicely reinforces the "warp" idea, also taken from the show. I applied an angle gradient to its layer mask, which I thought had a retro modern feel.

Normally, when I use full justification on text, I use the "Justify last left" setting. With that setting,  the last line of the paragraph is left alone. On a whim, I tried the "Justify all" setting which caused the words to be spaced out to fill the line. I thought it actually looked good and again contributed to that feeling of movement.

There are great pages in the Cropped gallery. I really hope I make it through to the next round. I feel better about this one than I did last week, but you just never know. It is kind of "out there." Here's hoping.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped Round 3

I hung in there another round. If I remember correctly, Round 3 was where I got cropped last year, so .... well, we'll see.

Here is the prompt:  "Round Three is Seafood, and similar to last year, this one is open to a little bit of interpretation. For this round, get creative in showing us what you "see". Whether it's a layout about something you see every day, or where you see yourself in ten years, we can't wait to see it, and we want you to be creative in the way you show us! This is also the one round where photography will be heavily judged." And of course, to include the mystery basket items:

I gotta say, this mystery basket was really intimidating. But I basically made the page I wanted, and then figured out how to add the pieces into the page. In the end, it wasn't that bad, and I think that if we all managed to handle this basket, we can handle whatever else they throw at us (if we make it to the next round).  Here is my page:

Zephyr Templates and Solid Papers by Karla Dudley; Autumn Days by Amanda Yi;
Be Kit by creashens; Round 3 Mystery Basket

Going into this, I had two different ideas for a page. My other idea involved a funny octopus video that Miller found online. I thought there were lots of ways that fit in with the prompt, and I even wanted to put in a QR code for the video. It's a page I've been wanting to make for a while, but I had always envisioned using a beautiful creative commons photo of an octopus. Although the Cropped rules did not say you couldn't use a stock photo, I felt it was a little poor form for this particular challenge.

I did, though, try to build my octopus page anyway, but I was getting nowhere with it. So I switched over to the hummingbird idea. I do see hummingbirds every day, and I try to photograph them, as you know if you read my blog. So I still think this is a great page for the challenge, even if the octopus one would have been better.

Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed!

Overlay Tutorial

I made this layout last week with one of the pictures of Miller's Halloween costume in progress. I wrote a tutorial about it called Mini Multi Overlay Tutorial over at the Scrapping with Liz Blog. Head on over there if you want to know all about it.

Punkin Papers and Elements by creashens; Multi Mini Templates by Scrapping with Liz

Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped By The Numbers

I used to be a person who worked with numbers all the time. I thought it would be fun to look at the numbers for the Cropped competition, and compare this year and last year.

First, I compared the number of contestants participating in each round. For 2013, I counted 95 Round 1 entries in the gallery. For 2014, there were 109 entries in the gallery, but a few were play-alongs (I don't know the exact number). I estimated 105 contestants for 2014.  I found the number of contestants graduating to each successive Round on the P&Co blog: here for 2013 and here for 2014. Here is the graph I made:

What interesting things to do we see?

1. 2014 had about 10 more contestants than 2013, but both are right around 100. Over in the P&Co Forum, Gennifer said that there were actually 172 people who registered in 2014. So quite a few registered but weren't able to participate, or maybe they only registered to get the free kit.
2. In 2014, more people get to play in each round. For instance, both years started with about 100 contestants. In 2013 only 32 moved on to Round 2, but in 2014 50 moved on to Round 2. So it's more fun for more people in 2014!

I also considered the percentages of people getting cropped in each round. Since I know the number of people graduating to each round, I can use that to calculate a probability of being cropped.

For example, in 2014, 20 of 50 people from Round 2 will be cropped, so that represents a probability of 0.4 of getting tossed out of the competition. BUT that's assuming the 20 are chosen randomly. In reality, we are being judged based on how we complete the challenges, and that isn't random at all. The probabilities I'm calculating don't factor in the actual challenges, a scrapper's strengths and weaknesses, experience, photography skills, etc. So you could argue that these probabilities are meaningless.

But still, if you go just on the numbers alone, you can get a "baseline" expectation of how likely you are to be cropped in each round. Here is my graph:

What do we see here?

1. In both years, contestants in Round 1 have a relatively high probability (more than 50%) of being cropped because there were a lot of contestants at the beginning and that first round narrows the field a lot.
2. The probability of getting cropped in 2014 is generally lower for most of the Rounds because more people get to stay each time.
3. In 2013, in each of Rounds 2-6, exactly half of the contestants were cropped each time. So based just on numbers alone (not on your actual layout), you would have a 50-50 chance of getting cropped in each of Rounds 2-6 (in 2013).
4. But in 2014, they are keeping more contestants in each round. In Rounds 2, 3, and 4 you have only a 0.4, 0.4 and 0.44 probability of being cropped. That's better than 50-50! That means, in each of those rounds, based only on the numbers, you are actually more likely to stay than to get cropped.
5. BUT then there is Round 5. Round 5 will have 10 contestants, and one of them will be chosen as the winner. That's a 90% chance of getting cropped in Round 5 and a 10% chance of being the winner.

So that last Round will really be the nail biter. But I think it is nice that it isn't just a one-on-one thing there at the end. It will still be a group of scrappers having fun, competing, winning prizes, scrapping layouts, learning new things, and supporting each other.

Cropped Round 2

Well, I passed Round 1, and was happy to move on to Round 2. The challenge was based on Appetizers and how "their entire purpose is to whet our appetite, and visual appeal is key. For this round, focus on the use of typography/word art to convey the message of your layout, as well as add to the visual design." And also to use the four mystery basket ingredients.

When I read "typography/word art" I immediately thought Karla Dudley and dug into my stash. Here is what I created.

Cropped Round 2 Mystery Basket; Wired Number Essentials and Cardstock Essentials 3 by Karla Dudley;
Love Actually by P&Co Designers

I've used those wire numbers in several layouts over the past year or so, and they are definitely one of my most favorite digital possessions. Here I have used the accompanying clipping masks as well. The numbers sort of count out the "little moments" referenced in the title. I was also going for a "2-4-6-8. Who do we appreciate?" kind of rhyme. My journaling about needing to head in to make dinner reinforces the idea that these pictures, and the act of taking them, are just one of the many moments that make up the day.

I thought I remembered that the prompt said appetizers are meant to leave us wanting more. But now that I look back, I actually can't find that wording anywhere in the prompt. I guess I made it up in my mind. But it does make sense that an appetizer should get you looking forward to more food. I think a layout with a stark white background and very minimal embellishment would definitely leave the typical scrapbooker "wanting more."  Ha ha ha. I always err on the too little side. Let's see if I move on to Round 3. (I hope I do.)

Better Bird Photography Part 2

A while back I wrote that I might get better pictures of the hummingbirds if I took down that hanging planter that was fooling my camera into focusing on IT instead of the birds. Here is that planter in the background.

And here are some pictures I got after I took down the planter. I definitely was able to get better pictures with less trouble. I'd never been able to get pictures with those tail feathers spread out before.

Now, I have to admit, I think part of the reason the birds were flashing those tail feathers was because they were a little distressed by what was happening on my side of the sliding glass door, which was this:

But I'm learning that a photographer has lots of tricks like that. Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped Round 1

I entered the Cropped competition again at Pixels and Company. There are some changes this year that seem really exciting. Only 5 rounds instead of 6. That's nice. And it looks like the final (5th) round will have ten participants (only 2 last year), so more people get to go further into the competition. And if you want to play along for fun, or after you have been eliminated, you can win random prizes. Oh, and everyone who registered received an amazing collab kit (which was awesome, considering the requirements of the first challenge).

Here is my Round 1 entry. The challenge was to use the 4 mystery basket items, and also to "mix things up, and include items from at least ten (10) different P&Co designers."

I have to say that I really struggled with this one. I LOVE Scrapping with Liz templates and use them for most of my pages. But I can't use her templates in this contest. Boy did I flounder around. I really prefer using templates! Of course I could use templates from Pixels and Company, but it's usually only Liz's templates that I really want.

Cropped Round 1 Mystery Ingredients; Heart Art: Whitewashed by Sugarplum Paperie; Neutral Basics by
Robyn Meierotto; Bermuda Triangle by P&Co Designers; Something Wonderful by Wishing Well Creations and Mari Koegelenberg; Collaborate by P&Co Designers; Everyday Storytellers No. 3 by Karla Dudley; Pocket Journal Card
Templates - Framed and Shapely by Simply Tiffany Studios; Krafternoon Delight Add-On by creashens; Wildwood
by Celeste Knight; In Good Company by P&Co Designers

I decided to "mix things up" by using different concepts to hold my photos. Specifically, I mixed up the plastic pocket with a more traditional paper-type pocket. I also mixed color photos with black and white. And I "mixed up" my journaling by using the present tense voice, which is something I rarely do.

I feel like round one is very intense because there were no specific "design" type instructions. Using 10 items is a very loose basis for judging each layout against the next. It feels like each person's natural style is being judged. I'll know if I made it to Round 2 in a couple of days.

Halloween Costume In Progress

Can you guess what he will be? Do you think he is excited?

Ahhhhh ... I love making Halloween costumes.

School Portraits

I'm a big fan of school portraits. They are so fun. I love the anticipation of seeing what you get. I love giving out little wallet sized pictures to everyone I know.

Miller's old school used Life Touch School Portraits, which I think is a big business that does portraits at lots of schools. Like a school portrait machine. His new school used a local photographer. Miller said this guy was fun and actually told jokes to get the kids to smile. I could tell the difference in the pictures - his smile looked like a real smile.

The photographer gave the option of purchasing the digital image on a CD with copyright release instead of a print package. The cost was just a little less than most of the print packages that he offered. I decided to go with that option to see how I liked it.

Did I like it? I have mixed feelings. The image he gave was unprocessed, so I was a little disappointed in that. I have to say there is something in having all the work done for you. But I do like that with the copyright release I can make whatever prints I want. I've already ordered some from my favorite print shop. With the added shipping cost, I probably paid a little more overall than if I had just selected a print package from the photographer. But the image is mine to do whatever I want.

I went ahead and scrapped a page with it.

 

There is something about opening that envelope to reveal that handful of prints, and you know that is all you get - whatever they look like - dorky smile, no smile, poor choice of clothing - what you see is what you get. And the prints that you bought - that is all you get too. All of that is the charm of the school photo. I have to say I kinda missed that. I'm not sure what I will choose next time - the prints or the digital image (I'm too frugal to do both). Luckily I have a whole year to think it over.

A Better Bird Photograph

I gave up on photographing hummingbirds for a little while. My pictures were all looking the same, and I wasn't getting that bright iridescence in the feathers that I wanted.

Here is a cute one of a bird trying to get the nectar from the side of the feeder.

 

The other day, I thought: I should search on the internet for tips about photographing hummingbirds. It turns out you can find lots of articles about it. Some of the tips were surprising: like using flash (as many as 5 flashes at the same time) in the bright daylight to either freeze the wing motion or help bring out the colors.

There were other tips regarding props - like using a feeder, but closing off all but one of the holes so that you forced the birds to a known spot. Or strategically placing potted plants in the background to achieve a more natural looking environment.

And there were other tips like setting your camera to continuously focus while you have the shutter button depressed, or limiting your camera to focus just in the center of the field of view.

The thing that impressed me the most was the concept of the photographer setting up this deliberate environment, tweaking everything so it is just so ... but the photograph itself doesn't reveal any of that! I had mixed feelings about it - on the one hand it seemed very clever, and on the other it seemed like a dirty trick.

Anyway, I did try to play with my focus settings, and I did try to change things up a bit to better compose some of my pictures. Even if I didn't use a lot of the tips, at least I was out there trying again. The following pictures might not have the best exposure and focus, but I think better composure than some of my old ones.

 In the following two pictures I've stepped outside and am shooting back toward the window.


In these next two I've stepped to the side so that the trees are in the background as the birds approach the feeder. It's harder this way because sometimes the birds don't come if you are out there, especially, I've noticed, if you are wearing a black shirt. White clothing doesn't seem to bother them as much.

The following pictures I took from indoors, but I waited for a better time of the day - in the late afternoon when the sun provided a better light for catching those colors in the feathers.

This is the type of shot I've been wanting all along - with those bright colors showing up on the throat and the feathers clearly in focus. Still not the amazing picture that I really want, but getting there. I think one thing I could do to improve things is to remove that hanging plant. The camera likes to focus on those chains.

There has been a lot of action at the feeder lately, even multiple birds trying to feed at the same time. I've seen as many as four birds swooping and diving all around. Sometimes I think there might be two different birds who think they "own" the feeder.

I've noticed some patterns in the behavior of multiple birds at the feeder. If two birds approach the feeder at the same time, there is a good chance both will settle down and drink. Also, if one bird is already at the feeder and a second one approaches, there is a good chance that both will drink together. BUT if a bird is "guarding" the feeder from the tree about 30 feet away, he doesn't let anyone drink, so the feeder sits empty.

I'll end with this funny one. It's almost a throw-away shot, but this is what two swooping birds look like, if you are fast enough.

Thanks for stopping by.