New Photographing Tips

Yesterday, on Paper Crafts Magazine's MB I posted a nosey poll to find out how everyone photographs their cards. I received a few suggestions and here is what I did.

I didn't have black foam board like Angela suggested...but one of my file boxes is black. So I used the lid for the bottom and the box for the background. (You can even see the kitty hair in the pictures..I will have to clean it off better.)Then for the actual pictures...I placed the stuff on my bedroom floor. In front of my windows. (It is late morning here.) Then I took my halogen floor lamp that has 2 lights and turned them both on. One can be moved around like a spotlight so I tried to flash it on it. (It is still about 4 feet away.)

Then I did the camera w/o flash. Set the aperature to 2.6. The timer for 2 seconds. And put the camera on a tripod. Just took a bunch of pictures. I didn't do too many....took me a few minutes.

Then I went onto photoshop and the only thing I did was sharpen the pictures a little. And did some brightness/contrast on the Flower Lady. Then I cropped them and resized them. Added my blog name. (I will have to work on the watermark next. But this works.)


Thanks to everyone who gave me advice yesterday. It is amazing the difference with natural light.My dh gave me the sharpening tip....if you have photoshop and have never done it....it is so funny. Because if you do it then hit the undo button and keep looking at the before and after...the before looks so blurry.

Almost Organized

As a picture I posted on the PC Gallery last night stated...I keep talking about being organized but have I shown it. Well here is what my craft studio looks like now. Not too bad. :)

I have also included a picture of all the boxes and things that I pulled out and then had to put back into my room. Pretty much none of the shoe boxes came back in. They were a nice try but didn't really work. They took up too much space. They are still sitting in the living room until we decide if we want them for any other project.

It feels good to be a step closer. The next projects are filing the papers into the filing cabinet, cleaning out the closet, and figuring out inside the cabinets.

Sassy Women Swap

This is the collage that I made as my sample. It is a 4x4 collage. I guess it can be considered a mixed media design.

I don't know if this is the direction I want to go with for this swap. :) I only have one dream catcher...and like how it turned out. I used matt board for the background.

Covered it in painted paper towel (USed acrylics--2 blues, pearlescent white, gold, and used dyes...purple, green, pink). Then I layered a gold heart (I cut for a Valentine's project I never used) a star (came with some buttons I bought) a purple flower....then I used a safety pin to do the dream catcher...my dh's mother bought me that for Christmas. I used an image of a ballet dancer I found on NY Libraries images. Added a quote that I printed and inked the edges and some crystals.

Is it Sassy enough?

New Projects

I have been feeling pretty creative lately. :) Probably has something to do with wanting to procrastinate on school. But, I have been doing good so far this semester. Had my first test in Biology and made an A (with a 6 point curve). Been doing my workouts for Weight Training and Health & Fitness. So I am on track. Not only am I getting grades...but I am getting fit. I have done pretty good about keeping on track with my eating plan. Not perfect but a heck of a lot better than before.

So here are some projects I have made:

One I love the most....is this rendition of weedsgalore flower lady card. I put my spin on it. But overall everything is her idea. I just loved it and wanted to make the card.

Second is a card I made for Papercrafts contest...using products packaging. I used a sales tag from a stuffed animal. I think it is darling....and I have my oldy but goody Fat Cat Stamp.

Next, I made this fun Santa card. I used a pattern for a quilted tree runner in a Christmas decorating book.

Lastly, I have a few swap projects that I made.

Today's weight loss...

I hope I don't become overly obsessive with my weight loss. However, I want to take the time right now and see what I can do.

I am basically considered a sedentary person....so for my height and weight that means I need 1900 calories a day to survive.

I am trying to do 1200 calories a day. (Not including extras of veggies (squash/zucchini/peppers...stuff like that....and fruit.)

Today, so far....I have had 750 calories....plus, I worked out and burned 252 calories. Yeah....so hopefully that helps towards the weight loss.

I will be back with more.

Here we go...

September 4, 2007
Today’s food diary

Weight
191.4

Breakfast
1 Slice Pizza Hut Pizza with Pepperoni & olives 360
Dr. Pepper 100

Lunch
Peanut
Butter & Jelly Sandwich (Whole Wheat Bread) 274
Dr. Pepper 100

Dinner
Turkey Italian Sausage (1.5) 270
Red
peppers, yellow squash & Onions 75
Dr. Pepper 100

Dessert
Weight Watchers Cookie Dough Sundae 170
Water

TOTAL 1449

Today’s Goal:
was to eat 1200 calories. Sheldon
and I purchased diet soda. So no regular soda for the week. That
should reduce my calories somewhat.

Tomorrow’s Goal:
Exercise at the gym---30 minutes on the elliptical. 30-40 minutes of
weights. Eat 1200 calories.

Stamp Shelves

Yesterday, Sheld & I met my parents in Greenville, SC. We had lunch at California Dreaming and my stepdad gave me the shelves he made for me. I told him a few months ago that I would like some shelves to store my stamps. The finished project is fantastic. They look like something that would be in a store. They hold all my stamps (except for my stamp sets)...with room to spare.

Sheldon was nice enough to hang them last night. I was also pretty creative in figuring I could put skewers into the dowel holes to hang my ribbon.

Halloween Time

Yeah!! Halloween is just around the corner. Growing up, I loved getting to go trick or treating. Then in high school (I hated) my mom would drag me to look at all the kids coming to the door. She loves Halloween.

Since moving to Georgia...we have bought candy every year. But, we haven't had one single kid come to our door. I guess everyone here goes to the mall. I will still buy some candy, just in case...I don't want any tricks.

The last couple of days have been hard...so I have been wanting to keep busy. I used my new corner punch that my friend Cheryl sent me and I love it. I want to use it on every project. And I have used it on everything I have made. Which is these two Halloween inspired swaps. One is Halloween cards and the other is Halloween Tags.

Yeah....creativity is back!

I think my creativity came back just in time for me to procrastinate on school work. :) I made a couple cards for Paper Crafts Magazine's monthly contest. I haven't won one yet...but I am hoping to one of these times. Some of the cards that people submit are amazing.

This month's challenge is Journaling Blocks. The first card I made... I hand drew the journaling block. But, I think I like the second one better. I used Microsoft Word. (Gotta love word...just have to make sure not to smear everything.)

Latest Creations

I haven't been feeling too creative lately. I have been really tired. 2-3 hour naps a day isn't good. But it is pretty bad when I am still wanting to go to bed at a decent time. Usually if I nap I hardly ever sleep.


I joined a kitty swap contest...the hostess sent each of us the images and then we get to create using them. It is fun to see what everyone else comes up with.

I created a photo frame using canvas. It is 8x8 and I also used some beads. I scraplifted it from an advertisement in a magazine.

I joined a Hello Friend Summer Card RAK. Here are a couple of the cards that I made.

Here is also the card I made for my Summer Secret Sister. I was trying to make something different from what I normally do....It is cute

Not too much going on. Sheldon is gone for the day so I think I will see if I can get creative.

The Aquairum

After leaving my aunts house...Sheldon and I stopped in Chattanoga. We went and visited the Aquairum. I heard it was a wonderful place to visit...and it was.

We saw....otters, penquins, snakes, butterflies, lots & lots of fish, sharks...and a lot more. We even had the opportunity to touch sharks.

We didn't stay too long...we still had to drive back to Athens. But it was a lot of fun....2 whole buildings of animals to visit.

Visit to Tennessee

Sheldon and I went and visited my aunt and uncle this week. We were invited---well actually I inivited us to go. We haven't had a chance to visit their new house since they moved down to the South. My aunt and uncle are starting a small farm. They have done a lot and it is going to look wonderful when they are finished. But, with something like this one is never finished.

While there--Sheldon wanted to do some coin hunting and metal detecting. I guess there used to be an old inn on their property. He gave up on metal detecting. I think it was too hot for him. Yesterday, was supposed to be 101. However, he did good on the coin hunting. He found a few banks that had some good finds.

I had fun hanging out with my aunt. We went to some antique and craft stores. Plus, she took me out to lunch with a friend. The best part was just hagning out and catching up.