Princesses and Paperbags

Good Morning to you all!

I hope your weather is as beautiful as ours. We've got a high of 21 coming up today and I just heard on the radio (z103.5 of course!) that this was a record making March due to the complete lack of snow - at least in Toronto. All very exciting, though I know we're due for at least one more blanket. It's probably coming next week, it always happens right around H's birthday.

As you may or may not know, I'm taking a not-entirely-voluntary semester off and reexamining what I want to do for the rest of my life. It's pretty clear that that is not tourism. I've always had a great love of books, and not just the stories in them either. The books themselves are every bit as sacred as the secrets they contain and this combined with the absolute meditative calm I feel in any library has lead me to believe that my future may lie in the Library and Information Sciences. Some digging has told me that the highest qualification you can get is a Masters. Now, I'm not the most scholarly, but I can get pretty awesome grade if I really really try. I had 100% in the Science Fiction class I took as a Gen-Ed last year for mopst of the semester and finished with a 95. Luckily this is not the be-all and end-all of Librarian education. I can get a library technicians certificate through College and that is what I am shooting for now, while keeping the Masters thing as a distant, idealist plan.

All this, coupled with my general love of books and reading has inspired me. I have started creating a collection based on some of my faveorite and most beloved stories. It will be a rather spread out and long-term project. I fully intent to continue adding to it and updating it whenever the mood strikes me. I have decided to sstart with some classics I, and most other Canadians (and I'm sure many of Americans as well) grew up on. Robert Munsch is a Canadian childrens writer who has created countless fun and light-hearted stories. I remember listening to many
of these stories on tape, as read by the author and I always loved the sound effects and the way he told them. Listening to them now, I still admire the way he seems to fully imerse himself into the story, much to the delight of his audience. The Munsch kit will include 3 stories at this point - Mortimer, Milicent and the Wind and, one of his most well know, The Paper Bag Princess. I had some troubl;e narrowing this list down and so I may also use the two runner-up - Jonathan Cleaned Up and Love You Forever (Which I know is a faveorite of many). I already have the Alpha done for Paperbag Princess. In fact, I think I'll make that today's Freebie.

What are your favorite Munsch tales?

More to come. I still don't have any of my usual tools and such because my portable HD is dead, so it'll be a bit slow, but I'm working on it :)

Happy Scrapping ♥

Wish Me Luck

Hey all.

So, things've been a but rocky here lately (what else is new eh?) but, it looks like their begining to even out. Four weeks if job hunting has resulted in an interview tommorow at a shoe store (awesome) and I've actually managed to save some money, so hopefully I'll have my first and last months rent after my first paycheck.

Also, because bad luck comes in 3's (I think that's actually supposed to be 'good things' but, it sounded good), not only have I had to move out and spent 3 increasingly frustrating and depressing weeks searching, fuitlessly (until now) for a job but, my wonderful little LaCie 200G portable hard drive died just before Christmas. Thankfully I had a 2 year waranty but, suckily, try can't get my stuff back for me. I have to take it someone who does that and pray that they can and then sign my life away to pay for it.

Now Im sure you've guessed what I'm going to say next and yes. On that HD was everyting I own. To do. With. Scrapbooking. As well as any pictures that were not photos. So that means, all my LO's, all my tutorials with accompanying screen caps, all my 'inspiration' and quotes I want to use and hundreds of dollars worth of supplies (mostly daily freebies which I can't replace).

So now you know :). Don't feel too bad for me though. Things are looking up.

Happy Scrapping ♥

Z ♥s Supernatural

Hi i'm Gen's sister Z. I just fineshed making this layout. She thought that it was good and that I should put it up. It is for Supernatural, a show that we watch together. It showes the two main characters, Sam and Dean. The show is about two brothers (Sam and Dean) who hunt demons. I am not able to watch this season because it has been moved to a later time at nigh. I am hoping to catch up on this season over the Christmas break.



Happy Scrapping ♥ - Z

My version of the '52 Week Challenge'

I've noticed many Scrapbook bloggers are doing some version of this challenge whether it be daily, weekly or monthly LO's and pictures. I don't really do much on a day to day interest that would be of any interest, so what I'm going to do instead is post a pic each week and talk about it a bit. This could be a recent picture or one from years ago. Hopefully this'll keep me more on track with posting and give me a chance to show off some photos.




In High School I was on the Green Team, or as our school named it the North Environmental Awareness Team (NEAT). It was a big part of my life at the time and I have many fond memories of events, weekly recycling rounds and the members themselves. I even had got to be VP in my final year with my friend as President. This picture was taken as a promo for our Hug-a-Tree-athon to raise money to get David Suziki as a Guest Speaker at the school. I remember it being bitterly cold (not quite cold enough to close the schools, but enough to be a little painful on exposed skin) and having to more or less bully everyone into coming out. Even so, we only got about half of them out there. It was also 'Fake Injury Day', hence the bandages and such. In the end we never did use the photo's, but it's a great memory and the crisp blue sky against the frozen snow looks great.

Happy Scrapping and remember to ♥ the earth.

Post-It Tuesdays (on Wednesday)

This looks awesome. Check out the original post and join in! Here's my first stickie. Late, of course.



M's been driving me nuts by using me makeup despite have recieved lots of quality stuff from me last Christmas in an attempt to rectify this very problem. Apparently it's not good enough and she would rather use my $4 eyeshadow than her $18 good stuff. W/E
:).

Who Needs a Fix?

Making a poster for M's Hot Chocolate fundraiser next week and I had to create a few things myself. I really like how they turned out, so I've added a few more coordinating things and zipped it all up for you. Morning Coffee is a mini-kit with only a few items in it and no alpha, but it's cute and fun. I also put in some things from my Friends Like Them kit, so if for whatever reason you did not download it, you now have a little preview. For the most part I used the Caffienated kit from Scrapgirls (♥) which I love.
Last night I learned a new trick. Actually I technically learned two. I'm so excited about how easy this technique is and how awesome it looks! I used it a lot in the creation of today's freebie, and in my poster. So today I have a tutorial for you.

You will need:

Photoshop (I'm now using CS2)

2D image of a coffee cup like this one:
I just google 'coffee cup' and then covered it with MJO_ChildhoodMemories_12x12_DotLines to give it a christmasey look.

Tools Used:
Burn Tool
Dodge Tool


All Aboard? Alright, let's begin.

1. Open your image. If you downloaded mine, find where you put it and get it up there in Photoshop.
   
2. Easiest way to remember which tool to use when, is to think about a piece of paper that has been burnt. The edges are darker than the rest of the page, because that's where it was burnt. Dodge does the opposite. We'll start with Burn. It can be found in the second section of your toolbar. Mine was originally set to the Dodge tool, but yours may already show Burn or show Sponge which is also under that menu.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. This part is very much like regular brushwork (the kind you would 'paint' with rather than 'stamp' on). Simply run the tool up and down the edges of your cup until you are happy with the look. Obviously it wont look 'quite right' until you've added the lighter part in the middle. I like to make a 'J' like hook near the bottom to add some extra realism. BTW, the dots are my way of showing you how to do it. It wont actually look like that :).
   
   
   
   
   
4. Once your done with the edges, select the Dodge tool (same menu as burn) and go up the centre, until your cup looks sufficiently rounded.
   
5. That's it. So easy, so you do it completely to your personal tastes.
   

Click the poster for the Morning Coffee download link.

Remember to leave a little love for a chance to win.

Happy Scrapping ♥

I ♥ Comments! (and freebies)

I have a request for you. As I've mentioned earlier, I love comments. Well, that should be work out just great, as you all clearly like downloading. Unfortunatly, somethings missing in that equation. I know my stuffs being downloaded, but I'm not getting comments. Don't get me wrong, I love that you're all liking my stuff enough to download it. The thought that my creations are being used in your memories is amazing! It's nice though, to get some feedback. A simple 'thanks!' or some constructive criticism or suggestions is all I ask. I know it's a pain, especially for those of you coming from Digifree or Creative Busy Hands. If you're like me, you have about 15 different tabs open at one time just waiting for 4shared to finish counting down. It can be overwhelming, but each one of those tabs contains a lot of work, and care and pride put in by someone who, no doubt, would like to know that that effort is being appreciated. And so, as an incentive to you all to leave comment, I'm going to be creating a special 'Commenter Appreciation' gift. For each post I will randomly select a few commenters to recieve this kit. There is no minmum length or any other condition. Just leave a comment and some way for me to send the gift should you win.

I also have a new freebie kit available that I literally, thought of and created within 24 hours. A record for myself, who took 3 months to complete 'Captain Quarters'. It's called 'Asphalt Gretzky' and was inspired by a Road Hockey game I passed on my way home from class last night. I have never participated in one, however Z will enjoy a game or two in the driveway when she can find someone to play with her.


Enjoy the new kit and please remember to comment. This is the seaon of giving after all. Why not take a second to make someones day?

Happy Scrapping ♥