The World's Gone Digital

Canon announced that they will no longer produce new models of SLR Film cameras. They will continue to produce their current models, as supply demands, but we will cease to see any new technology from Canon in film cameras. Canon follows Nikon's announcement of the same information earlier this year.

An article from Yahoo News stated "Japanese camera makers sold a combined total 64.77 million digital cameras last year globally, compared with 5.38 million film cameras, according to industry figures." Article

It is obvious where the industry is headed. Digital is easier, and appeals to the NOW attitude so prevalent today. People want instant gratification. I'll admit, seeing my photograph seconds after I take it has a definite appeal to me. And yes, I was one of those 64.77 million last year.

But could this be to the detriment of the fine art of photography? There are still those die hards who steadfastly stand by their film methods and claim there is no match in the digital realm. Is that true? With all the recent advances in digital? Could even the trained eye tell the difference between a photograph taken by a digital vs a film camera? Perhaps. But it's getting ever more difficult, and technology is a freight train that cannot be stopped.

Dearly Departed...

I'm feeling very sad today. During my trip to Jamaica, my kitty escaped to the big wide world. I'm afraid he has not returned. I fear that the local coyotes have taken another prize. This comes just 7 months after losing my other kitty to the same sad demise. I'm just heartbroken. How does one become so attached to a furry critter? I guess it doesn't matter how, but that I was. And I miss them both so terribly.

I can't help but feel guilty for bringing them out to the country, where terrible things could happen to them. And yet, I know how happy it made them to prowl in the grass, chase bugs and mice, roll in the dirt and bask in the sunshine. My only reprise is that they had a good life, and were happy with us for their time here.

Paradise Found!

Well, the wedding is finally over, and so is the honeymoon. (large, collective "awww")

Jamaica was incredible! What an amazing, and much needed, trip. We were pampered like royalty. Great food, plenty of fattening pina coladas, massages, scuba diving, beach lounging... Paradise.

Here are just a few pictures of our fabulous trip.

The Tutorial that Saved My Life!

well... not literally, but this tutorial and site have saved me many a time. And after putting Layout Blueprints in the works, and seeing/hearing how many are afraid to stitch layouts, I realized I HAVE to share this with everyone. So here it is. Please, read it, learn it, use it. It will make your life so much easier. And if you don't use Photoshop, they have other fantastic tutorials for other software programs. Just search the site.

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=162

Addicted to Submitting?

I have been

CRAZY

BUSY

lately.

I am now just two weeks away from my wedding, and all the little details are about to drive me insane. Seriously, they will have to commit me to the funny farm after this.

What I've noticed in the past few weeks, is that my focus in other areas of my life has caused me to sacrifice scrapbooking, and in turn, submitting. As calls go out for all the Design Teams, and magazines, and contests, I feel my heart sink slightly. Oh, I'm excited for those who got the call, but it is also a reminder of what I'm missing and how much I NEED to scrapbook.

Yes, NEED. It has gotten to that point. And that is when I realized.... I'm a scrapbooking, submitting, addict! Oh my gosh! Between that and the digital photo addiction... I'm desitned for an intervention. Let me tell you, though, nobody will stand between me and my scrapbooking!

Just two more weeks... no, wait... THREE! Aaaagh! I have a honeymoon to go on, too! Oh no. I don't think I can make it that long. I seriously need some alone time with my supplies. I'm craving it. I need it to keep me sane. Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day!

Animals

I seem to be doing a lot of animal related layouts lately. Maybe because they are like kids to me. Maybe I just need kids! haha These are two of my favorite most recent layouts. They just happen to both use primarily 3 Bugs in a Rug papers and products.

Meet Dusty. He's my future Mother-in-law's horse. He never gets ridden, or brushed, or anything. And it just breaks my heart (being the horse-loving Montana girl). He's just like a dog. He'll follow you anywhere, loves to be pet, and acts silly to get attention.
Meet my special needs child, Indy. My fiance's black lab. He's a handful, but a good dog, and loves to have his picture taken (if he can sit still long enough). I usually get nice blurry action shots of him.

Self Promotion: Tip #2

Last time we talked about putting a resume together. Second in the self promotion series and perhaps even more important is Tip number 2.

Set goals. Without a clear goal, you will be floundering in the industry with no direction, throwing your work at anything that moves. This is both unproductive and inefficient. When you set clear goals, you have a destination. You have something to reach for.

Let's say you decide you want to be on a Manufacturer's Design Team. That's a lofty goal, but attainable. So, what steps do you need to take to get there? You should try to get on a LSS team, or an online store team, and gain some experience. Set goals to meet the requirements of your larger goals.

That Photo Bug

I just love taking pictures! I always have. But since I got my Canon Digital Rebel, I can't seem to stop.

I love zooming. I'm addicted to it, really. I just love the look of those close-in shots. My favorite close-in shots are the candids - the ones they didn't know you were taking. THAT is why I love my zoom so much. I can be the stealth photographer, lurking in the shadows. SNAP! SNAP! Another hapless victim to the crazed digi chick. Mwahahaaa!

My poor nephews will never again see my face. It will forever be hidden behind the lens. At least they are old enough to distinguish that it is only a camera, and not actually a large penetrating black eye protruding from my forehead at them. Whereas if they were younger, they may never recognize that fact.

*SIGH* Hello, my name is Amy. I'm a digi-addict.

Wedding Histeria

Yes, I've finally entered it. I have 33 days left, and it's just now hitting me how fast that will actually go.

I have so much to do, and so little time. There are so many demands on my time this month. Holy smokes. I'm so relieved that I don't have any Design Team work this month. Boy did I time that right! haha.

Well, better get to it! I'm a busy lady!

Why I Love This Art

This is a freeing artform. Truly. It allows me to indulge so many aspects of my creative being. From my love of writing, to my love of color expression.

This is not a new realization for me. Not by any means. Rather, this is a reminder that came out of a fun little project I did recently. I had such a great time putting this little faux purse together, and realized that I really need to work in 3 dimentions more often. I've been too constrained to that 12x12 paper lately.



3 Bugs in a Rug papers, L'il Davis Key, Architexture rivets

Self Promotion: Tip #1

This is a tough industry to break into. So I've decided to offer a bit of help to those struggling to get that foot in the door. Not that I'm an expert, but we can all grow together, right?

So Tip number 1 is:

Put together a resume. Yes, a resume. If you don't have any published work, write a bio and add some of your current work, your best work, to it. You can include things that are relevant to your goals. If you want to be on a design team, include experience you have that's relevant. Like a job where you had to meet deadlines. Explain the relevance (important, because some may not understand why you listed your experience as a paralegal on a scrapbooking resume).

Try online resume services like www.scrapbookresume.com, or sign up for a free Blog, or build and host your own page. But make sure to link to a gallery of some kind so that people can see your talent and what you have to offer them.

Finding Your Style

Can you look in a magazine or online gallery and recognize certain scrappers work by their style? Have you ever wondered what “your style” is? Me too. Sometimes I feel so eclectic that I can’t put my finger on a particular style. Maybe it’s because I’m too close to my own work.

Here is something I have found to be helpful in “finding your style”. First, cruise online galleries, take notes on things you like or don’t like and ask yourself WHY you like or don’t like them. Write it down. Thumb through magazines and do the same thing. Now, sit down with your own scrapbooks, and try to look at them objectively with the same eyes. Take notes. Write down what you like and don’t like. See if you can find some of the same elements in your work that you liked in the work you reviewed in galleries and magazines. You might be surprised at the results!

Tired Titles

Do you ever get tired of seeing the same old titles for scrapbook pages? Personally, I'm worn out on the "*fill in the blank* Fun" titles. Water Fun, Summer Fun, Pool Fun, Beach Fun, Snow Fun. Though I've been known to use them, there are several "tired titles" out there. So what can we do to become more creative with our titles, so that we don't see the same things over and over again in the magazines?

1. Dig deeper. We can see that you were at the pool, and it was fun. Can you dig a little deeper for us? What was the thing that stands out to you, that you tell everyone when you show them the photos? Was it that your child loved playing with those silly foam "noodles"? Well, then let's get a little more creative:

- Wet Noodle
- Water Skipper
- Wet & Wacky

2. Use a song as inspirtation. How many wonderful songs can you think of that have key words in them that will go with your page theme? Summer, for example:

- Hot Fun in the Summertime
- Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy
- Summer Breeze (and the list goes on)

try this site (and many others) for song titles that inspire http://www.allbutforgottenoldies.net

3. Take inspiration from quotes, poems, and stories. I'm not saying you need the whole quote, poem, or story on your layout, and it doesn't even have to have anything to do with your layout. Just take a piece, any piece, that fits your layout's mood. Sometmies just hearing certain words put together can inspire.

- From Shel Silverstein's "Rain" ; Slishity-Slosh (great for rainy day, mud photos)
- I know you little, I love you lots - from Shel Silverstein's poem of the same name (great for new baby)

I hope this offers some ideas to help you gather inspiration for your next page title. Good luck in your title endeavors!

Lessons Learned

In going through a recent book publishing effort, I came to this realization: When you submit for publication, but don't get your layout picked up, it is not necessarily because they "didn't like it". What I noticed repeatedly happening in the choosing process was that layouts we DID like didn't make the cut due to things like, page space, too many of that particular theme already, maybe we'd seen too much of a particular paper line already, and so on. It was numerous things. But what I learned from that was; Don't let it discourage you. Keep submitting, and your work WILL get picked up. It just has to hit the right person at the right time for the right article/subject/book.

What an interesting industry this is!

Relief is a Completed Invitation

Several months ago, I got engaged. Since then, planning this cockamamy wedding has been one big disaster after another. I know, I know, every wedding is difficult to plan, but I'm telling you, this is a nightmare.

First, the place we decided to host the wedding sprung a new "agreement" on me that was not included in the contract I signed. And this "agreement" was so poorly written that it was left open to interpretation by the horrible woman who worked there as the event coordinator. So, long story short, she made it impossible for us to host the wedding there. And I moved on to Plan B with only 4 months left to plan this wedding, and no PLACE to have it.

Now, this meant also that I had to put everything on hold because I couldn't very well plan other things if I didn't even know where the wedding was going to be. (I'm talking, I didn't even know what state it would be in.)

In the meantime, our florist went out of business, two caterers backed out on me because of the awful woman at Place A, and our honeymoon destination got wiped out by a hurricaine.

So I plodded forward with this "special needs wedding" as it came to be called. I checked in on my Plan B. The gal I spoke to initially had left, and I had to speak to someone new. Turns out they changed the policy about weddings, and had decided, much to my dismay, that if we were to host the wedding ceremony there, we'd have to rent the ENTIRE hotel, all 78 rooms of it! I cried, right there on the phone.

Now what? I moved on to try to find a Plan C. Plan C materialized rather quickly, but when I got the initial contract from the place, it was written under the assumption that I was hosting the reception there as well. At $95 a head... I don't THINK so! So I made them aware of the changes I needed to have made, and they informed me that I no longer took priority because they weren't making as much money off me. So the contract would go out when they got around to it. At that point, I was only 112 days away from the Big Day. They put me off for another 3 weeks.

Last week, I called and cried to the contract lady that I only had 80 days, and that I couldn't plan anything else until I got the contract from them so that I knew for sure where my wedding would be. I also threw in that if I did not get a contract STAT, that I would take this as a sign, and consider myself UN-marriable and decide to live in sin for the rest of my life! (That seemed to get her attention)

I received the contract last week, and finally was able to get around to making my invitations (which, 6 months ago, I had plenty of time to do!). I recruited my future mother- and sister-in-law to help, and we completed the main part of the invitations this weekend. It's such a relief to have that done, and know that, after 6 months of frustration and not being able to plan anything, I am finally on the home stretch.

Thank God for small miracles!

Of Fish, Chipmunks, and Divas

I was so excited this past Friday to be leaving for Eugene, Oregon and a weekend-long retreat with my wonderful scrapbooking group, the ScrapDivas. I embarked on my merry 2 hour drive with a song in my heart, and layouts in my head. Little did I know what was to come.

I arrived at my retreat just in time to take a lunch break. Good thing. I wouldn't want to be too productive. Then I unpacked my stuff, and proceeded to "scrapper stare" for about an hour. Finally I got out some photos. More scrapper stare. This proceeded, without much progress, for about 4 more hours. Finally, I declared I was hungry, and set off with 3 other Divas to dinner at a fish house.

Dinner was good, but during my meal I got a strange scratchy feeling in my throat. Hmm. Seemed a bit strange, but I plodded blindly on. When our meal was finished, we returned to the retreat just in time for my massage. Whew. I wouldn't want to miss that!

During my massage, I started feeling funny. I peered through that tiny face hole thinking to myself, "My face feels funny." I determined it was due to the tiny face hole, and thought nothing more of it. When the masseur had me roll over, he was quite taken aback at my appearance, and asked if I was OK. I assured him I was fine, and had no idea what he was referring to.

So I finished up and proceeded, in my ultra-relaxed state, downstairs to inform the next massagee it was their turn. When I entered the room, all the other Divas seemed surprised by my appearance as well. In fact, several of them expressed concern and asked if I needed to see a doctor. Surely they were joking!

I reached up and patted at my face. My heavens! I was all puffy! What on earth had happened? I gladly took an antihystemine from one of the other Divas, and excused myself to my room. Well, when I glanced in the mirror, I was greeted with the reflection of a chipmunk! I burst out in laughter and could hardly control myself because I looked even sillier laughing than I had before.

All said, it took about 18 hours for my face to return to normal, and I got very little done at the retreat. But at least I got to hang with my Divas! And now... to figure out what exactly I am allergic to...

CK Hall of Fame Hopefuls Unite!

The road has been long, and riddled with excuses, but I have finally submitted an entry for the CK Hall of Fame. It has been since the very first HOF contest since I've entered. The industry has changed, heck, the RULES have changed. Has anyone seen that list of assignments and rules? Talk about intimidating. Not to mention the sheer pressure of it all. It's making me sweat just talking about it!

Sorting through the many innuendos, subtleties, and interpretations of said rules was probably the most difficult part. And people seemed to read way too much into those rules. My goodness. When they say no larger than 6"x6", that's pretty much what they mean. I don't think they meant exactly 6x6, but just not any larger. Don't read too much into it.

Now that I've waded through the muck of the rules and all the panicked and stressed out competitors' message board posts, I'm feeling confident that indeed, I've done my due dilligence, and I've sent my package off. Hopefully to the right address... Great! Now I'm stressed about that! Ha!

Artistic Awareness - The Meaning of it All

Sounds like a noble cause, right? It's not a cause at all. It doesn't have a ribbon, or a bumper sticker. Although if it did, I'm sure it would be a colorful one.

Artistic Awareness is the feeling that you've got artistic talent, and knowing that you're "good enough" to break that seemingly impenatrable ceiling of the Scrapbook publishing world.

I know it's hard sometimes. We're all so hard on ourselves and so wrapped up in what others are doing. This is my statement to the world that "I'm good enough, darn it!" And so are you!