Capturing True Emotions - photography class by Val Westover & Stephanie Adrianna

I attended Capturing True Emotions - photography class by Val Westover & Stephanie Adrianna yesterday and had such fun. I finally took out my new Nikon d7000 and had learnt lots of controls. The pictures and details are posted in my other blog if you want to check it out.
http://www.papillondigitaldesigns.com/2011/02/capturing-true-emotions-photography.html

Capturing True Emotions - photography class by Val Westover & Stephanie Adrianna

I attended Capturing True Emotions - photography class by Val Westover & Stephanie Adrianna yesterday and had such fun. I finally took out my new Nikon d7000 and had learnt lots of controls. I am presently also taking online class at karenrussell and lol have taken beginning class 1st part from Candice Stringham at Jessica Sprague too.
This was a surprise from hubby who said I should maybe go as there is nothing like being live - when the person is in front of you to ask doubts and get it cleared . How true that proved. I knew the theory but lol to turn it to practice. Nothing beats that as I learnt a lot of setting on my camera.
Also when we are in a group lots of fun things are possible. I enjoyed the "safari" part of the class a lot!
we were asked to play with each settings they asked us to do and record and then compare.
It did not matter if some shots turned dark -was blurry etc etc as the whole point was to learn how each settings affected the picture
So here are some of my shots. I will later add the camera settings. Do click on the picture to see it enlarged.

This was at the class before the play  - with 50 mm 1.4 nikon lens.

The rest was at Waterwall at Houston and taken with 18-105mm kit lens.

The Bench at the park. we were asked to take a shot with particular setting. I decided to bend and take pictures but just look how just a little bit of change in angle - changes the view a bit. So learnt an additional thing  that take more than one picture at different angles.

Same settings as previous but on water bottle

This following one was metering experiment

Now came the shutter speed & panning with slow shutter speed

Now comes higher shutter speed

Then I had an unexpected model

Then came what I call Facebook fun. Fun portrait for facebook :) . Val standing on bench and taking their picture while everyone was pointing their camera at them. It was so fun.

Well instead of just pointing I took a picture too here

While here I was the subject

Flowers, flowers & more flowers

I wanted to try making flowers so I am playing with it.
I got satin and tried lollipop flowers and then crochet and then punching strips with border and then bunching them up & also cutting hearts from MS punch(Martha Stewart) and then gathering them up.
For the satin I just sprayed with ironing starch allowed 10 mins to dry and then used a new mat and taped edges using masking tape. Then used G to place circle of 3 different sizes. the satin are caso from joann. I am going to add some feathers still and also maybe tulle in some. blade depth 5 - 6, pressure medium - 3 or 4 and speed lol - low as using G.
The art is in swiping edges in the candle flame. A quick swipe! near the base of the candle flame is preferable. I didn't want too much curve. But well that depends on the fabric. Then decorate to hearts deisre. Brads , skittle, rif raf , feathers, ribbins, tulle - have fun! I have used the clover tear drop to make a teardrop knot and then used a golden brad and stuck it in.
The crochet flowers are from watching youtube channel - catscrazycreations. I am presently making some more after watching art of crochet by teresa. These add such a depth to projects. Play some more with Mother's day Bouquet and paper blossom tool kit and you can create some more. I am also going to try shabby chic flowers from strips of newspaper printed pattern paper. Maybe from Imagine :)
Here are a few shots before adding feather

My Studio/Scraproom - Work in Progress

Well some of you have emailed me asking for pics of my craproom oops scraproom.
well - It's functional! That's all I can say. Functional with as min. expenditure as possible. Every bit of it is used up so no decoration! as it has to serve as scraproom plus studio!!
So here are some pics.
I am still reorganising and arranging.
Thanks to Okie's   "notifying" lol I had to arrange papers.
Hubby got me 2 more ribba shelves but unfortunately it was black. Well rather than returning and waiting for who knows how long I just tried alterate black & white like checkerboard.
The clip on like thingy is actually walmart's chrome shoe spinner. Yes I strong armed and removed the lower 2 baskets but I would not advise unless you do not mind filing edges or getting pricked. I am careful & so is my son - the only 2 person's to enter my scraproom but if you have kids clip on would be better. lol I have that too! Also you cannot slide the cartridges completely like clip on - just rotate - so again clip on would be better unless you leave ample place and do not mind changing a bit after it gets full. Well for about 35 dollars for me it is a good workaround!! I have to save money for the lenses don't I?
So here goes pictures, pictures & more pictures

Truly a work in progress lol

Before

After

The handy caddy (can not only be used for coffee makers). Needs 2 of these.

MB is such a resource isn't it? Thanks to Sandy & MarcJo, luvumyE&G (lol this girl hates her I ? :))  and scrappymama I have it all set. It is available now in Micheals and also in bed bath and beyond. Very helpful in pulling and pushing as then the mat won't fall pat on the ground  when pushing it back and you can pull towards you to operate the touch screen. How about that? Oh the huge thing the Imagine and cricut E are sitting on is my metal Safco File organiser 42" for my watercolor papers.

Tuesday's Misted Sassy Canvas

Hello everyone.  It's me again, Cher, from Cheryl's Window and I am really excited to share my project with you today, and I'm going to share it with you with a mini blog hop.   Today, I am so honored to be a guest designer at She's a Sassy Lady as well as at Tuesday Treats.  My assigned dates just happened to coincide, so with the OK from both Sheila and Pam, we decided to make this a little fun and turn it into a mini hop, basically a bounce!  

This was an exciting project for me to create and I truly hope you find some inspiration from it.   It all started because I was really drawn to some of the popular subway art out there, but I knew I wanted to do something just a little different and I wanted to add some color and pop.   I was able to achieve this with my Gypsy, some vinyl, a canvas and some Glimmer Mists.  

So bounce around these three blogs today to see my final project come together.  

We will start here at Tuesday Treats with my design work.

I started with an 8 x 24 canvas purchased from Joanns Fabrics.  Did you know that their everyday canvas is now always 40% off?  I see more canvas projects in my future.  

Using my Gypsy, I changed my mat size to 12X24 and then created a rectangle using REAL DIAL size and sized it to be just slightly smaller than my canvas at 23.50 x 7.75.   This rectangle base became its own layer for me to create the remainder of my design within. 

My next layer was designed to be my background.  I just chose random images I had available on my Gypsy that I was drawn to.  I sized them as desired and rotated them into position to fit on my 'canvas'.  I chose images that I thought would work well as stencils.   You'll see why soon. 

The next layer were the words that were all about me.  I did ask for some opinions from those who know me best, and these were some of the words that we felt best related to me.   I chose to use different fonts from different cartridges as well as sizing these all at different sizes.   Some were more suited to welding.   Some words were stretched wide or tall.  They were all rotated to fit on my canvas once it was turned portrait in rotation.    The kerning was also adjusted on many of these so that, agan, these would fit in the desired 'canvas' template.  It was fun playing through all the cartridges and looking at fonts I haven't used in a long time.   To speed this up just a bit, I did choose to only view LINKED CARTRIDGES while designing.   I didn't use any fancy Gypsy techniques here at all and since this would really be a personal project, yours would have different images and different words, I haven't even linked my Gypsy file.  I hope you are inspired to use the ideas behind it though and create your own.  

So, the design work is done.   Now, it's time to start cutting some things out and putting my project together.   So, follow me over to She's a Sassy Lady to see what comes next. 

Gypsy update (0206:0214)

I am making this post again as some of you read via email. I always make changes to post lol so better to read on my blog. I know I am impatient and just post and then go back and add and edit even though I have an editing blog. Sassy keeps reminding me to use it. But.... as I said I am impatient!
Well anyway here is the gist of the update again as this update is causing some confusion as seen in the MB
so here goes
"
First keep your G connected to power.
It should first download data files and green bar moves to 100%


and then it says updating or uploading and then again another green bar - 100% .
At this point check if G says connected.

After that 2nd 100% if nothing happens after 10 mins then close cricut sync. It's ok to do so. Then restart cricut sync.

But if message says do not power off G (and G says connected of course) then allow it to continue. This will take anywhere from 10 - 15 mins.

After that cricut sync goes to show files.

At this point close the cricut sync (only then G will show the icons again or else will show connected) and check G's version should say 0206:0214.

Also try opening cricut sync - just because ! lol
 It should now show - no updates (or something like that)

Then check if some of the new cartridges are there and you are good to go!

I had to try 5 times before I got it.

When traffic is less you will have better luck sometimes
 
"

G & Imagine content update!

The update is out - still the content only I think and not the firmware where G can add Imagine.


If you are updating Imagine keep checking on Imagine Mb as Chris from PC posts the latest info on there. you can also do just the content update and that way you can be safe lol

I asked Chris as he had written that 0096 firmware people not to do the update & he said yes - just do the content.

btw those who got the infomercial cartridges (dvd) you can link your cartridge I think.

Also while updating I kept getting contradicting messages on cricut sync - please reconnect or restart G but the green bar was moving - so if green bar moves - don't try stopping - ignore message and let it complete. And then it shows updating while on G side it does not show connected!

So keep constantly checking on both the G and the cricut sync - as long as green bar moves and G shows connected then it is fine. I am getting personally on y cricut sync some contradicting messages. If G does not show connected then close cricut sync and then try again. And remember to always have the G connected to power when doing this as u do not want to run out of juice
I will edit in here and add the G update version as soon as I am done as I am on my 3rd or 4th try.
Always check by going back and reopening cricut sync for mine went to 100 and then stopped and when I opened (not check update as that didn't do a thing) cricut sycn again after closing it it showed - content.
So after the dang thing gets updates I will post G version and maybe will try Imagine - content only tomorrow or over the weekend.
I think Imagine will update content on to 0020 (Doing it tomorrow). Imagine will have 2 nos according to Chris
on firmware side (for those not updated to beta) 0096 and 0097 as there are 2 pcb types on Imagine. So do not stress if yours says updated and does not show 0097

Ok - G finally got updated after 5 trials. It first updates data files upto 100 and then updates till 100 and then says do not disconnect (all the while G should show connected) and finally it gets updated.My G is now version 1.4 (206:214).
But whew - the memory jumped up from somewhere around 4% to 19% in one content update!!

A VICTORIAN STYLE FLAT SHOE BOX

Hello, everyone!!!  It's Audrey and I'm back with another project I hope you'll like.  And a big thanks to Pam for having me!

First, don't you just hate when you see and are inspired by a project but you can't do it because you don't know how it was done; can't find any directions, cut files, or patterns for it?  Well, I've been seeing this flat victorian shoe project (sometimes being used as a box) all over the internet, loved it and couldn't find any directions for it.  So, the last time I saw one, I really looked at it and decided it didn't look difficult at all and that I could probably make my own version of a cut.file and pattern.  I did and I'll be sharing it with you -- as always!  Here it is:

Although this tutorial is picture heavy, this project is really simple and easy -- you'll see once you've done it.

The materials I used for the shoe box:

1 - 12"x12" sheet heavy cardstock (for shoe's main sole, backstrap, and front top cover)

1-   6" x 10" sheet of white scrap cardstock (for bottom sole cover)

Aleene's Thick Designer Tacky Glue

I began by cutting the two page cut.file pattern pieces (main sole, backstrap, top front sole cover, and bottom sole cover) from my cut file:

To start I began with the long narrow strip (the backstrap) from the first page cut.file.  I scored it along the straight edge about 1/4" in, bone-folded it along the scored edge, and then snipped cuts all the way across the length of the fold up to the score line.  See the pictures below for examples:

I then located the dart near the middle of  the main sole, this one:

This dart is where I started gluing the backstrap along the edge and around the back (the rounded edge) of the main sole until it reached the dart on the other side.  I made sure the sole was glued on the top of the scoreline on the backstrap and the slitted tabs were glued to the bottom.  See picture below for example:

I then folded in the tabs on the shoe's top cover and glued it, just along the edges, to the upper/top portion (the pointed end) of the main sole and glued the tabs beneath the main sole.   EXCEPT:  do not glue the cover to the sole along the scalloped top edge as this will be the opening pocket for your shoe/box:

After I glued on the backstrap and cover, this is what the shoe looked like (I added the scissors so that you can see the open pocket -- and where you don't want to glue.  (Remember, glue along the edges only):

This is what the shoe looked like at the bottom once the backstrap and cover are glued in place:

Next I took the bottom sole cover from the second page of the cut.file and glued it to the bottom of  the main sole to cover the tabs:

Because I didn't like the shoe as flat as it was, I decided to add a small heel (this is optional if you do this shoe, you can leave it flat).  To do the heel, I cut about 1.50" from a toilet tissue tube and covered it with some of the leftover scraps; cut slits halfway down all around one end of the tube, folded the slits/tabs toward the inner part of the tube, and then glued it to the bottom back of the shoe's sole.  Pictures below show examples:

Because I decided to add a heel, I had to adjust the shoe by bending it across the center at the beginning and end of the backstrap for the shoe to align properly.  Like this:

To keep the shoe front from being so flat, I added a little batting to the inside toe of the shoe using the end of a stick to push the batting in place (also optional):

The shoe itself is done!!!  Now it's time for me to show you how I decorated my shoe.  First I premade my matching flower and assembled my embellishments and adornments.  I also had ready the little gift I wanted to tuck inside my shoe (a small box of bath salts and a small bottle of roll-on perfume).

Okay, here I go -- the fun part!  I first applied a coordinating color of Stickles to the top and the edges of my shoe and let it dry:

Then I glued on my ribbons and flower:

I tucked my little toiletry gifts in the inside of shoe's front pocket, and of course you just have to have a strand of beads draping from any victorian style box.  Finally, popped on the label in the back and -- VIOLA -- done!!! 

You can find my George and Sans Serif carts cut.file at the bottom of this same post on my blog.  Also, I have added a .PDF file of the pattern that can be printed out by those of you who do not happen to have these carts.  You can directly link to my blog by clicking my name at the top of this post.

Please note:  I love sharing, however, I basically do these cut.files for myself, and usually huriedly.  Therefore, this version does not include the scoreline or slit cuts on the backstrap, please refer to this tutorial if necessary for that.  Otherwise, it's really only 4 pieces to put together, then decorate.  It really is E-Z!

I hope you like it; I'd really love to see what you can do with this!!!

As always, it was fun.  Thank you for joining me, and I'll see you next month!!!