Use Order and Text to Give Life to Your Scrapbook
July 23, 2007
There are no specific rules stating that all photographs or mementos must be placed in chronological order. Therefore, it is completely up you the order you wish to place your items and embellishments. You can place your items in a formal chronological order. You can also group items into formal or informal categories such as similar colors, events, activities, individuals, or families. Items can also be placed into random, abstract, or collages.
Each order has its own place in scrapbooking. For instance, chronological order might be useful for an anniversary scrapbook. Pictures and mementos of the couple’s years together could be placed from the first day they met through the wedding day to the present day with each time period on a different page. This presents a feel of as time goes by.
However, a scrapbook for a parent might just have a collage of pictures and drawings. In this case, a collage lends to a feeling of overwhelmingly being loved.
You may or may not want to add text to your scrapbook page. You may want to just write captions below the pictures. You may want to add your own stories or poems. You may want to add journals describing the day to day life of your baby or your child’s accomplishments. Text can be used as either a focal point or simply as a supporting piece.
Ive Learned
July 22, 2007
You cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
No matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back.
It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
It’s not what you have - it’s who you have in your life that counts.
You can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
It’s taken me a long time to become the person I want to be. You should always leave loved ones with loving words - It may be the last time you see them.
The people you care about most in life are taken from you MUCH too soon…
We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. Either you control your attitude or it controls you.
Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for what we do.
Maturity has more to do with experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them- and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
Get The Most Out of Your Digital Camera Today!
July 21, 2007
Point and click. The new life of digital cameras gives us all the opportunity to capture images as we go. Whether you simply hit the shutter button to take pictures of your friends and family or if you want to have your camera with you at all times in order to capture the beauty of life wherever you find it, getting the most out of your digital camera can be easy.
Let’s imagine ourselves with the perfect set up of digital camera and a few accessories to make things just right. My personal and professional recommendation is that we start with memory. Get more today. If you only have one memory card for your camera it is time to add to the collection. If you have more than one then good job! The more memory you have for your digital camera the less likely it will be that you get stuck wanting to take more pictures and have no more room on the storage. Memory is relatively cheap, takes up no space in your kit and gives you total control over creativity.
Desire is the First Step
July 20, 2007
When a member of a species determines it wants something a thought is born, which triggers a desire and thus starts the brain into a cycle innovation and strategy. If it is hunger in a Bald Eagle it means flying over the river to catch a Salmon. If it is a tourist who is cold it means going in and buying a sweatshirt. This comes first and is the reason we must first discuss the flow of thought before we attempt to discuss any other issues in our society.
You see a species and this includes mankind will attempt to solve the problems or fulfill that which it desires. We cannot change that it is human nature. We must recognize this fact before we attempt to fix anything else in the World we live. We must make sure that we allow for the free flow of thought and of course the freedom of thought. We must value thought and not underestimate the desire instincts of our species. A penny for your thoughts, is a very good price, you should be buying, that is definitely a buyers market so take all you can get. Yet we do not. Different cultures feel different about the flow of thought. And even we are worried about the past freedoms, which were taken in other civilizations and have pondered what would happen with the thought police.
The Art of Cutting and Cropping for Your New Scrapbook
July 19, 2007
Often photographs aren’t quite the right shape and size or the photographic image is improperly centered. Having oversized or off centered photographs creates an air of unprofessionalism.
Carefully cropped and sized photographs, on the other hand, enhances the overall look and feel of your scrapbook.
There are two ways to solve these problems.
The low tech way to solve these problems are to manually crop and shape the photograph using a pair of scissors or an exacto knife.
If you are manually cropping and cutting pictures, make sure that you mark the outline you want with chalk (or eye shadow if you don’t have chalk) before you cut.
Remember the old saying, measure twice and cut once.
To manually change a distracting or cluttered background simply cut out the background and replace it with a with a new paper background. This allows the eye to focus on the people instead of the clutter behind them.
The high tech solution to your photograph woes is to use modern computer programs such as Photo Editor.
Using these programs, photographs can be magically darkened, brightened, sharpened, enlarged, and cropped without ruining your original photograph.
The Truth about Mistletoe
July 19, 2007
You can call it the emasculator of the old king, a sexual symbol, latent with fertility or a good luck charm for a dairy herd. It’s been used as an antidote for poison, a fire suppressant, a protection against evil spirits, a pain reliever for rheumatoid arthritis and as a gift of peace between warring neighbours. This parasitic shrub with sticky white berries has somehow shrugged off its shady past to become a tradition of our Christmas. But this is, after all, a season of myth, legend, and make believe.
Today mistletoe, while not exactly decking our halls, is hung over doorways to entice a couple to exchange a kiss. And we have forgotten even the meaning of its name.
The name is perhaps derived from the ancient belief that mistletoe was propagated from bird droppings, a belief related to the then-accepted principle that life could spring spontaneously from dung. It was observed in ancient times that mistletoe would often appear on a branch or twig where birds had left droppings. “Mistel” is one of the Anglo-Saxon words for “dung,” and “tan” is “twig”. So, mistletoe means “dung-on-a-twig”. Not a name that would normally encourage thoughts of romance.
The Use of Color and Photographs in Your New Scrapbook
July 18, 2007
Color coordination and contrast will highlight and accent your scrapbook. A well thought out color scheme can help define the theme of a page, attract attention to specific items, or detract away from mistakes. Poorly chosen color schemes, on the other hand, can cause your scrapbook page to look gaudy or mismatched.
Background colors can either be matched, coordinated, or contrasted with the colors in your photographs, mementos, or embellishments. Matching colors add to the continuity of the color scheme. Coordinated colors add depth to scrapbook pages. Contrasted colors focus the eye. In this way, color can be used to create the effect you desire.
A great way to see how colors look together is to collect and compare color wheels from your local paint or hardware store. Paint wheels are usually available free for the taking in nearly any paint department.
Most scrapbooks will contain photographs. Even the most disinterested reader of your scrapbook will glance at the photographs. Pictures really are worth a thousand words. Therefore, it is important to choose photographs that are of good quality and clearly illustrate your scrapbook theme.
Reduce Waste This Christmas
July 17, 2007
- Christmas is responsible for more waste and consumption than any other holiday. North American’s trash increases by 25% over Christmas - which equates to 25 million extra tons of garbage going to the landfill. By recognizing the incredible waste that is generated the urgency to do something becomes apparent. A truly useful or environment friendly gift is a better ecological choice. Here is a brief list of ideas to inspire you.
- For the homeowner - thermostat control that automatically turns the heat down at night. A low flow shower head attachment. A draft cozy (placed in front of doors to prevent drafts) and tubes of caulking or weather stripping. Dimmer switches or compact fluorescent bulbs. Hot water tank and hot water pipe insulation kits.
- For the gardener - subscription to an organic gardening magazine or a membership to a seed organization. Bird, bat and butterfly houses, baths and feeders ? or the patterns to build them. A composting worm bin or a membership with an environmental group.
- Tickets to a performance, restaurant gift certificates or services such as lawn care, diaper, cleaning, music lessons, exercise or dance classes, tune-up or tire rotation services ? all support local business.
My hero, my best friend, my Grannio (a.k.a my Grandmother)
July 16, 2007
She raised me like I was her own daughter from the day I was born 32 years ago.
She loved me like nobody else has ever loved me in my life.
She stood by through the most difficult days I’ve ever known.
She showed me more unconditional love and support than I’ve ever imagined.
She taught me how to live, how to love, how to be a lady, how to be a mommy and how to survive.
For 78 years, she had always been as healthy and stubborn as a mule.
About a year ago she stood by my side and fought tooth and nail to help me survive a bitter custody battle and win primary custody of my wonderful two year-old son, who is her only great-grandchild, and the love of her life and my life.
After fighting with everything she had inside of her and seeing me prevail in court, she suddenly became deathly sick. Within days she lost her ability to walk, eat, dress herself, or even get out of bed.
How to Shoot Video of Your Kids Sports Team So That Anyone Else Will Watch It!
July 15, 2007
Break out that video camera, there is a game this weekend! 1. You bought a video camera 2. You want to shoot sports of your kid 3. Here is how to do it right!
What a wonderful age of technology we live in. You can buy the greatest gadgets now days to record video and music and play them in all sorts of ways on other great technology gadgets from computers, DVD’s, MP3 players, VCR’s, and many more. It is all great stuff. But they all come with thick owners manuals that do not always get you going the right direction. You may eventually learn to use your great new camera for instance, but that does not mean you will necessarily take pictures that are worth looking at down the road. Rolling tape in your camera is one thing and creating video that is high quality and interesting is another thing. The goal of this product is to bring you up to speed with using your video camera (whatever format, and whatever brand) to get the best results for recording those precious moments of your kid’s athletic achievements.
