The older I grow...let me re-phrase that...the more mature I become, the more respect I have for life. Perhaps it is because I now have more knowledge of life and its wonders. More so because I've reached the age of what I think is more than half of my life years. I don't know if I'll reach the age of 60, 70, 0r 80. For sure, I'll never live to double my age today.
I've seen 3 generations replacing me. My generation having their own kids, our kids having their own kids, my generation getting old, the generation before me (our parents') being OLD-er, and the generation before them... now gone.
Young ones don't think about being gone. There isn't an inkling of any thought that life will someday stop. Right now it is the enjoyment and the going forward, which is a natural, healthy attitude.
I always say to those who care to listen: There is only one life. You may be given an extension of what you have now, but you cannot buy, borrow, steal, ask, be given, find, create another one to keep you going.
I've known a long time ago that living things around me are not permanent fixtures. Sooner or later everything goes - back to being dust, becoming one again with the cosmic particles floating in this space we call universe. It's sad to see [and hear] about someone's life being snuff away at an any age because of carelessness, or misunderstanding, or fighting for reasons they believe is right. This does not apply to humans only. I believe that animal and plant beings also have the right to be here. The ant, the icky worm, the yucky housefly, the spider, the squirrel, the cayote searhing for food in urban backyards, they only have one life, some may live for years, others live for a day. If they don't bother you or hurt you in anyway, leave them be and let them fulfill what it is they were here for.
Respecting people's lives is not just letting them eat and breathe. It is also respecting their personal space, their work, their thoughts, their beliefs. Respecting life is being patient.
As I mature more, I'd like to have more patience and more understanding of the whys and hows of life around me.
Happy birthday to me!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Mind Your Manners....hrmmm... I mean Layers
I think the thing that confuses a digital newbie most is how to get to each element after they've been dragged and dropped on the canvas. There is this wonderful box that shows you all the elements and how they are chronologically arranged on your canvas.
Imagine having a sheet of 12x12 scrapping paper on your desk; you place your photo on top of this sheet of paper [that will be layer 1], then you add a frame on your paper, whether that frame is on top of your photo or on one side of your background paper, that will be layer 2. Then add another thing on top of your sheet, that will be layer 3, and so on.
In digital scrapbooking, mind where the layers are. Is layer 2 above layer 1 but below layer 5 and 4? What you want to position the flower peeking out from behind the picture?
Highlight the flower [LAYER 3], drag it with your mouse and put it between the photo [LAYER 1] and background paper.
You can rename your layers if you want to. Renaming them is especially helpful if you have more than 10 and more than two of the same kind of element (for example 3 flowers), and also if you cannot identify what the layers are because the previews are too tiny. To rename, double click on the name of the layer.
If you don't want to rename them, you can play the game hide and seek.
If you have 10 tiny flowers and you now don't remember which layer is the one you want to move around or delete, click on the eye icon [layer visibility]. Watch your canvas when you do this because whatever element disappears from your canvas is the layer you clicked. Keep on clicking until you find the correct layer. [Now's the time to name those layers!]
The next picture shows you how to add notes to your digital layout. I use this to take note of who the digital designers are so that when I upload my LO in my gallery, then I have the information at my fingertips.
To add notes, click on the NOTE icon in the TOOL BOX. Add the notes as soon as you drag an element on your canvas, or before you close your digital supplies folder so you won't forget.
Imagine having a sheet of 12x12 scrapping paper on your desk; you place your photo on top of this sheet of paper [that will be layer 1], then you add a frame on your paper, whether that frame is on top of your photo or on one side of your background paper, that will be layer 2. Then add another thing on top of your sheet, that will be layer 3, and so on.
In digital scrapbooking, mind where the layers are. Is layer 2 above layer 1 but below layer 5 and 4? What you want to position the flower peeking out from behind the picture?
Highlight the flower [LAYER 3], drag it with your mouse and put it between the photo [LAYER 1] and background paper.
You can rename your layers if you want to. Renaming them is especially helpful if you have more than 10 and more than two of the same kind of element (for example 3 flowers), and also if you cannot identify what the layers are because the previews are too tiny. To rename, double click on the name of the layer.
If you don't want to rename them, you can play the game hide and seek.
If you have 10 tiny flowers and you now don't remember which layer is the one you want to move around or delete, click on the eye icon [layer visibility]. Watch your canvas when you do this because whatever element disappears from your canvas is the layer you clicked. Keep on clicking until you find the correct layer. [Now's the time to name those layers!] The next picture shows you how to add notes to your digital layout. I use this to take note of who the digital designers are so that when I upload my LO in my gallery, then I have the information at my fingertips.
To add notes, click on the NOTE icon in the TOOL BOX. Add the notes as soon as you drag an element on your canvas, or before you close your digital supplies folder so you won't forget.
So here, I have a finished, simple LO. This file is in PSD format, therefore it is a fairly big sized file. To shrink the size of the file and to be able to upload it in your gallery, save your file as BMP or JPG. I save mine as JPG with a resolution of 72 dpi.
Take note that when you save your document as JPG, you'll lose the note. I usually shrink my PSD file in a smaller sized-file by merging some of the documents. See this tutorial.
If you have questions or comments about this tut, please let me know. TFL!
Credits: Do It Digi July Inspiration Kit - Summer Romance by BrokenJar Creations www.digitalscrapping.com
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Newbies to Digital Scrapbooking
I learned using photoshop on my own, with a little help from a former officemate. I am no expert but I will share with you what I know and how I do things. I'm pretty sure that there are other ways to do things and perhaps they are the correct ways or the ways that make more sense, but until I discover them or until someone shows me the better, easier way, I will stick to what I currently know.
A couple of friends, an officemate, and three people who found me in the tangled web of the internet have asked, "how do I make a layout? Where and how do I start? How do I put things together? Shall I pick the picture and build around it, or shall I pick the supplies then pick the picture?
There really is not just one correct way to start an LO, whether it is traditional or digital. You might find beautiful papers and embellishments and want to use them right away then find the perfect picture/s to post; or you might have a beautiful picture and scrounge through your scrapbooking supplies for the perfect papers and embellishments. Either way works. It is easier if you have a theme. If you have a photograph on or of the beach, look for supplies pertaining to the beach; if your supplies are bright and happy colors fit for a birthday or summer celebration, then look for a photograph that would go with those colors and emotions.
Check your resolutions - if you are like me, armed with an old computer, I suggest changing your pictures' [that doesn't just pertain to photos] resolutions and make them all the same - see here. I found out that if I do not use elements of the same resolution, one would be bigger than another when it's not supposed to [for example, a bling shouldn't be bigger than a flower]. True, I can re-size the flower, but by doing so, re-sizing might make the flower fuzzy or blurred - because remember, you are increasing the size of the element but the resolution of, say 72 dpi is not enough for such size.
Putting your elements together - It is easy to put elements together in one LO. Start with a simple LO first until you master the art of finding things around your digital work area (^.^) Scraplift a simple traditional or digital LO. As with crediting digital suppliers, please don't forget to give credit to the person you scraplifted from.
A couple of friends, an officemate, and three people who found me in the tangled web of the internet have asked, "how do I make a layout? Where and how do I start? How do I put things together? Shall I pick the picture and build around it, or shall I pick the supplies then pick the picture?
There really is not just one correct way to start an LO, whether it is traditional or digital. You might find beautiful papers and embellishments and want to use them right away then find the perfect picture/s to post; or you might have a beautiful picture and scrounge through your scrapbooking supplies for the perfect papers and embellishments. Either way works. It is easier if you have a theme. If you have a photograph on or of the beach, look for supplies pertaining to the beach; if your supplies are bright and happy colors fit for a birthday or summer celebration, then look for a photograph that would go with those colors and emotions.
Check your resolutions - if you are like me, armed with an old computer, I suggest changing your pictures' [that doesn't just pertain to photos] resolutions and make them all the same - see here. I found out that if I do not use elements of the same resolution, one would be bigger than another when it's not supposed to [for example, a bling shouldn't be bigger than a flower]. True, I can re-size the flower, but by doing so, re-sizing might make the flower fuzzy or blurred - because remember, you are increasing the size of the element but the resolution of, say 72 dpi is not enough for such size.
Putting your elements together - It is easy to put elements together in one LO. Start with a simple LO first until you master the art of finding things around your digital work area (^.^) Scraplift a simple traditional or digital LO. As with crediting digital suppliers, please don't forget to give credit to the person you scraplifted from.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I'm a Digital Freebie User
Among the MANY things I collect are digital supplies that are free. It's like having a feast if I find them one after the other! I'm like an anteater not knowing which ant to eat first before they all run away. Sometimes I spend more time downloading the freebies than making digital layouts. At the end of the downloads, I am always guilty I wasted my time downloading than creating.
But I can't help it! I can't afford to buy digital supplies all the time. And the designers... they are so talented and generous! I love them all. I thank them all for sharing their hard-work with me. Their work is so beautiful, I just got to have 'em! I will have nightmares if I miss anything that is sooooo awesome! and the freebies...some of them don't last long - the link expires. So I got to get them while they are free!
Why do they give out freebies? Just because. They are kind-hearted. They are proud of their work. They want to be known. They want to make friends. They want to make a living. And all they want in return is a "little loving" and respect for the TOU.
I know what a little comment can do for someone. When I get one it makes me happy. I admit that sometimes I don't leave comments, especially when I'm downloading [on the sly] from the office. But I do leave comments most of the time. Sometimes it's just "x-x-x-x-x-x". No, it's not a border or an end to my comment. It means, "thank you so much for sharing, I love you!!!!"
Most of the designers have an on-line store and give out freebies to attract customers. Sometimes I feel guilty downloading all or most of the freebies I see in a store. To ease my guilt a little I'd purchase a kit here and there.
I have so much I don't even know where to begin, which one to use first, in which disc I've saved a particular one, blah-blah-blah, blah-blah.
The question now is what shall I do with all the freebies I collected? I can't give them away. I can't share them. I can't sell them. I can't claim anything I've altered. And if you look closely at those TOUs, some say you can't alter them in a way that it changes the original art, and that if you do, you have to mention you altered something [like re-coloring, adding another swirl to a swirl, for examples). Which makes sense, because what if you messed up a beautiful design by altering it? Don't want to blame the designer for an ugly design ;-)
Most of the layouts I make are that of my family, especially that of my daughter because there's always something happening with her and her friends and she takes lots of pictures. She's beginning to get interested in digital scrapbooking and has revised a few layouts I made, especially the journaling part. If she continues this interest and I let her use the supplies I have to decorate her album, or if someday, among other things, the discs were handed down to her, I would be SHARING. Would this scenario be against the TOU?
Family members land friends love my digital scrapbook pages and want copies for themselves, especially if they are on the pictures also. Would it be against some rule GIVING away copies of layouts made from freebies? And if they post copies of these on their own galleries, how can they give credit to the designer when they don't have that information? Will that be breaking the TOU?
Some say they'd pay me if I made a baby or Christmas or first school year album. Would that be against the rule? Can I say that they're paying me for the time I spent and the layout design I made by putting all the elements together, not the freebie? Would this be considered SELLING the freebie?
I really have to pay close attention to the TOUs. I swear I saw this statement in each freebie: PERSONAL USE ONLY.
Even the supplies I bought, the TOU states "for personal use only", and something like, "commercial use available, contact designer". OK now, I thought that if I paid for it, it's "mine", like a dress, or a purse, or a pair of shoes...
But I can't help it! I can't afford to buy digital supplies all the time. And the designers... they are so talented and generous! I love them all. I thank them all for sharing their hard-work with me. Their work is so beautiful, I just got to have 'em! I will have nightmares if I miss anything that is sooooo awesome! and the freebies...some of them don't last long - the link expires. So I got to get them while they are free!
Why do they give out freebies? Just because. They are kind-hearted. They are proud of their work. They want to be known. They want to make friends. They want to make a living. And all they want in return is a "little loving" and respect for the TOU.
I know what a little comment can do for someone. When I get one it makes me happy. I admit that sometimes I don't leave comments, especially when I'm downloading [on the sly] from the office. But I do leave comments most of the time. Sometimes it's just "x-x-x-x-x-x". No, it's not a border or an end to my comment. It means, "thank you so much for sharing, I love you!!!!"
Most of the designers have an on-line store and give out freebies to attract customers. Sometimes I feel guilty downloading all or most of the freebies I see in a store. To ease my guilt a little I'd purchase a kit here and there.
I have so much I don't even know where to begin, which one to use first, in which disc I've saved a particular one, blah-blah-blah, blah-blah.
The question now is what shall I do with all the freebies I collected? I can't give them away. I can't share them. I can't sell them. I can't claim anything I've altered. And if you look closely at those TOUs, some say you can't alter them in a way that it changes the original art, and that if you do, you have to mention you altered something [like re-coloring, adding another swirl to a swirl, for examples). Which makes sense, because what if you messed up a beautiful design by altering it? Don't want to blame the designer for an ugly design ;-)
Most of the layouts I make are that of my family, especially that of my daughter because there's always something happening with her and her friends and she takes lots of pictures. She's beginning to get interested in digital scrapbooking and has revised a few layouts I made, especially the journaling part. If she continues this interest and I let her use the supplies I have to decorate her album, or if someday, among other things, the discs were handed down to her, I would be SHARING. Would this scenario be against the TOU?
Family members land friends love my digital scrapbook pages and want copies for themselves, especially if they are on the pictures also. Would it be against some rule GIVING away copies of layouts made from freebies? And if they post copies of these on their own galleries, how can they give credit to the designer when they don't have that information? Will that be breaking the TOU?
Some say they'd pay me if I made a baby or Christmas or first school year album. Would that be against the rule? Can I say that they're paying me for the time I spent and the layout design I made by putting all the elements together, not the freebie? Would this be considered SELLING the freebie?
I really have to pay close attention to the TOUs. I swear I saw this statement in each freebie: PERSONAL USE ONLY.
Even the supplies I bought, the TOU states "for personal use only", and something like, "commercial use available, contact designer". OK now, I thought that if I paid for it, it's "mine", like a dress, or a purse, or a pair of shoes...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Now You See It, Now You Don't
Ever had the experience of taking a photo of something, like a view of a garden, the horizon, or the beach but there are people walking across in front of you thus blocking the view or adding unnecessary noise to your photograph?
You wait patiently for people to get out of your way to take that perfect picture. Some see you and move away with an apologetic smile. Others.... they see you but just take their time and won't budge at all!
Well, this happened to me during my yearly Mother's Day visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We didn't really get to go on Mother's Day because it rained. We went the following weekend. I wanted to take lots of pictures and practice using the Nikon D80. DH has been nagging me about learning how to use it. I was content with my Olympus but learning how to use a different one is OK.
In this picture there was this woman and a child who blocked my view. They were not aware I was behind them so I waited patiently. The little boy went to the side and the mother followed suit. HA! My chance, I thought. But alas! not quite out of my view. I took the shot anyway as DH said there are more people coming our way. Wouldn't this have been a perfect shot?
You wait patiently for people to get out of your way to take that perfect picture. Some see you and move away with an apologetic smile. Others.... they see you but just take their time and won't budge at all!
Well, this happened to me during my yearly Mother's Day visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. We didn't really get to go on Mother's Day because it rained. We went the following weekend. I wanted to take lots of pictures and practice using the Nikon D80. DH has been nagging me about learning how to use it. I was content with my Olympus but learning how to use a different one is OK.
In this picture there was this woman and a child who blocked my view. They were not aware I was behind them so I waited patiently. The little boy went to the side and the mother followed suit. HA! My chance, I thought. But alas! not quite out of my view. I took the shot anyway as DH said there are more people coming our way. Wouldn't this have been a perfect shot?
I didn't fret. I knew with the use of Photoshop I can re-touch this picture... so here you see it, now you don't....
I used PS8 for this tutorial. What I did: I cloned the areas to the right side of the woman to erase her from my picture. In my picture, I copied a portion of the tree to replace the woman's head and torso, the ground underneath the tree to replace her hips, and the grass to replace her legs. Then I carefully copied the edge of the walkway to replace her shoes.
Zoom in to the area you want to re-touch. In the Tool Box, choose the CLONE STAMP tool, it is the 5th box down in the first column. Make the diameter/size of the stamp tool manageable [small or big enough to copy the pixels next to the area you want to clone]. Press ALT key [notice that the cursor changed shape- like a target or bull's eye]. Bring the cursor to the area you want to clone. Left click while depressing the ALT key. Then release ALT key and bring the cursor to the area you want to erase or replace. Left click and move your mouse around to clone the area you selected [notice that the cursor changed into a small circle and a plus sign. The plus sign is where you are copying, the circle is where you are replacing.]Here are other pictures where I used the Clone Stamp Tool. Original picture below, the ball was cut-off the camera's view. I looked for another picture with a complete view of the ball, merged the picture side by side so I could clone the ball.
In so doing, I also cloned some areas of the backdrop.
I didn't stop there. I cloned another ball so N. will have her own. Take note that the brand name of the ball is on top - that's because I rotated the clone so it will look like it's a different ball!
The possibilities are endless! So go ahead, clone yourself a twin!My New Hero
This is old news. And you probably have seen the video many times over and over again. Did you laugh? Does it still make you laugh? Every time you play it, does it still make you roll over in laughter?
I admit that the first time I viewed it with the caption/trailer, I laughed. I played it again and I laughed again, this time, the second time, I laughed at the facial expression of the lady judge. She was just staring at the contestant in disbelief! Everytime I watched the video clip, it is this judge's expresion I laugh at.
I played it several times more. The song caught on - the singer's version, that is. Without you, sang by Harry Nilsson a long time ago was one of my many favorite songs. I still know the lyrics, to the surprise of my teenage daughter, who thinks it is a brand new song! But I like Valentina's version better.
I have high respect for Valentina. She is my new hero. She stood there in front of the judges and thousands of people [knowing that there will be millions more who would be watching her] with utmost confidence! CONFIDENCE! something I lack. When the judge asked her if she meant to sing "Without You", she confidently replied "No." She gave her heart and soul singing that song.
I admire her sweet innocence of the English language. Why should I laugh at her again? She did the best she could, the way she understood how words were pronounced, the best she could in her Bulgarian accent.
Way to go, Valentina! My hero!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo
I admit that the first time I viewed it with the caption/trailer, I laughed. I played it again and I laughed again, this time, the second time, I laughed at the facial expression of the lady judge. She was just staring at the contestant in disbelief! Everytime I watched the video clip, it is this judge's expresion I laugh at.
I played it several times more. The song caught on - the singer's version, that is. Without you, sang by Harry Nilsson a long time ago was one of my many favorite songs. I still know the lyrics, to the surprise of my teenage daughter, who thinks it is a brand new song! But I like Valentina's version better.
I have high respect for Valentina. She is my new hero. She stood there in front of the judges and thousands of people [knowing that there will be millions more who would be watching her] with utmost confidence! CONFIDENCE! something I lack. When the judge asked her if she meant to sing "Without You", she confidently replied "No." She gave her heart and soul singing that song.
I admire her sweet innocence of the English language. Why should I laugh at her again? She did the best she could, the way she understood how words were pronounced, the best she could in her Bulgarian accent.
Way to go, Valentina! My hero!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo
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