mbarbaletcaptures

It's been along time coming...

2010-02-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

I am adding GSD files to my Etsy store. I love using my Silhouette but the Silhouette design store doesn't always have what I'm looking for. A lot of the times I end up creating my own "elements". This is the first item for sale. URok card kit.

and to celebrate the expantion of my Etsy store I'm also giving away a freebie: Posted Punches

I used some of the elements for this card thank you card.The card stock is printed from papers in Designer digitals Botanic Gardens Kit

Feel free to send pictures of your cards to me. I would love to see them and share them on my blog. Happy Scrapping!

2010-01-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

Camera…check. Formatted SD card…check. Clean and structured workflow…check, 365 here I come.

Last year I made it to April? This year I hope to make it all the way. I really love looking back through the daily shots of last year but I still wasn't completely gung ho on the idea of doing 365 agian. Then my photo guru ( see side bar for links) came out with a very handy tutorial on capturing a photo a day.

There were three that I am really taking to heart. The first is to keep my camera with me at all times. It's not always easy lugging around a Nikon D60 (sometimes with both lenses) but I understand it's importance in a successful 365 project. The more comfortable I am with my camera the more I will use it. The more I use it the better I become as a photographer and that for me is the whole reason for the 365.

Another helpful tip was to format my SD card. All of a sudden a light bulb turned on in my head. I was always pretty good at formatting my SD card, but only after I got frustrating errors. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's afraid to delete photos. I will have photos on a CD, EHD, my main computer and the SD card and I still won't want to delete them. Now I will format my card, as suggested, as soon as I put the SD card in. Goodbye duplicate...triplicate photos!

Lastly…workflow. Ugh! My workflow was such a mess. I've never been a tidy person, clean yes tidy noooo. I love to organize but then time passes and I slack off. I really think that workflow and formatting my SD card played a huge part in my failure at last years 365.

So with all that said I have my camera in my handbag, a empty SD card in it's rightful slot and a clean and tidy workflow waiting to be filled with this years pictures. Here is this first...

The Challenge

2009-12-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

To read 52 books in 2010. 2009 was a dismal year for reading books. Now 52 books does seem like a lot but I know I can do it. I just need to give up other luxuries and hobbies. I could definitely cut back on a reality show or two. Of course there are rules involved. No book will be over 300 pages (unless I really, really want to read it.) No re-reads (that means you Ms. Austen) and finally, at least 13 books have to be non-fiction. But as rules go they are meant to be broken. I've already started the first book and it's over 300 pages. However, I will take my time and finish it in 2010 so it will still count. It is "Louisa May Alcott; The woman behind 'Little Women'.

I reluctantly allowed Tom to pick a few of the titles that I'm sure I'll regret. I can handle Dawkins but Gould too…I want to be successful, I don't want to sabotage myself. We'll see. To make it official there is a layout, of course…there's always a layout.

Feel free to recommend any book within the 'rules'.

This is so tinsel...

2009-12-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

I am always on the lookout for new Photoshop tutorials and recently came across a really cool tinsel tutorial on 'Humbug Graphics Galore'. It's really easy to follow and the results are an incredibly realistic strand of tinsel. Here is a layout I made using the tinsel I created from the tutorial.

The best part of the tutorial for me is that it showed me a different way of creating a Photoshop brush. In the past my brushes have been mostly "stamps". The brush in the tinsel tutorial utilizes the scattering technique which opens the use of a Photoshop brush to much more possibilities. I messed around with a few of my own and created a brush to make messy glitter piles. I put together a real quick example:

Enjoy!

2009-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

The evolution of a scrapper.

It started with paper and quickly moved to digital. It evolved to hybrid and has always been about the photos. The question now is where do I go from here?

I have been digitally scrapping since 2007. During that time I have stayed constantly loyal to one site. I recently compiled most of my Layouts from that site into a 68 page Shutterfly book. It's quite amazing to see the difference between my first layout to my most recent layouts. My first layouts were quite simple but large and clumsy. My current layouts are more detailed but organized. I have learned so much from that site I can't help but wonder if I would learn even more by widening my horizons.

So I decided to put out the call to Facebook scrappers for some digital inspiration. Who knows what can happen…I will keep you posted.

Until then; current projects. I am working on "December Daily" pages. Huge commitment that I was totally ready for. I have a bunch of UFO's in the works as well, i.e.; "Oklahoma hybrid" and "Genealogy" just to name a few.

Plus I have all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season to look forward to. Believe me I'm not complaining. I love it. Homemade gifts…baked goods…Christmas cards…oh man, I better get going.