::ANNA::

Project 366/365 + 1 | Week 2

Digital Supplies: FotoInspired Layered Templates No. 1, Days2Months No. 1, Project 366 WordART No. 1, ArtPlay Palette Everyday 

Project 366/365 + 1 | Week 1

The first week of 2012 is done.

I had 4 photos for this week.  Definitely easing into the New Year.

The process was quick and simple:

1.  Make a bee-line for the "4 Fotos" folder within the FotoInspired Layered Templates No. 1, select one of the templates from this folder and clip photos to the framed masks.  I like how the mix of mask orientations work well with both portrait and landscape photos as well as the Instagram photos taken with my iPhone 3G.

2.  Fill the background with a pre-made artsy paper from ArtPlay Palette Friend and adjust the color to coordinate better with photos.  Adjust the Hue and Saturation levers to achieve the preferred coloring.

3.  Add transfers from ArtPlay Palette Scholarly behind the images and finish with the Project 366 WordART and text.  I will be releasing a second set of WordART to include the number strip across the bottom of my layout.

The leaf embellishment was inspired by this layout from AnnaTeamer, Fiona Kinnear.

Project 365 and Life

I have fallen quite a bit behind on my Project 365.  I've completed May but haven''t posted my pages yet.

I'm trying to cut myself a little slack as I have quite a lot going on at the moment with a new store launch in less than 10 days.

I'm hoping to catch up a little in the Fall, when my parents have gone home and there isn't quite as much going on, but the reality is that my life will always be busy. That's a choice I make, and I probably wouldn't be happy any other way.  

If I wanted life to slow down, I would make a conscious effort to make that happen.  Nothing changes unless you make it happen.

So today while Ella was in surgery to have a hernia repair, I downloaded the Project 365 iPhone app in an effort to help me get back on track.  I have no clue how to use it yet, but it's the little steps that count.

I'm moving forward.

Ella incidently is doing very well after her surgery.  Thank you for the prayers and kind words of support. The gift of youth combined with modern medicine is a wonderful thing and we expect she'll be back with her class mates no later than Thursday.

Project 365 POTD | April

Project 365 just happened in April.  

I kind of found a balance in just picking up the camera when I felt like it, or thought about it, and snapped a few shots with both my Canon 20D SLR and my iPhone G3.

There was no stress.

The pages were put together at the end of the month basically because April is a busy time.  I love half my month to Ella and Luke being home on Spring Break for 2 weeks.

I discovered this month that I prefer to do my pages weekly.  Not only does it break the task down but I remember more of the details to go with the photos.

I was also missing some photos for a few days, but I have absolutely no problem borrowing some photos from other days in my month, especially those inanimate photos that change very little from one day to the next, like the signs on Ella's bedroom door and the tulips in the garden.  

I'm also open to using screenshots of personal emails, blog posts, newspaper clippings or other scanned memorablia, even stock photos.

Here are my pages for this month using 365 Template No. 2.

All my 365 POTH Layouts can be found in my Flicker gallery.

Project 365 POTD | March

It's been a tough month with Project 365.  

My enthusiasm for the project remains, however, I had a harder time this month keeping focus and making the effort each day to take photos.  Life just seems to have got in the way on occasion.

I have to admit I did miss a couple of days and chose generic images from other days to fill those spots. For example,  I drink decaf coffee after my dinner every day, so to me, I don't mind if the coffee photo was taken the day previously.  It still represents the same event.

I'm making the effort to refocus in April and use some of the daily prompts and the April List provided by Katrina Kennedy at Capture Your 365.

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The template I am using for my 2011 Project 365 can be found here.

All my 2011 Project 365 pages can be viewed in my Flicker gallery.

Past and Present

Digital Supplies:  SnowFlake Bokeh ArtPrints, AnnaBlendz Artsy No. 1 BrushSet, Painted Edge Overlays No. 3, Children WordART No. 3, ArtsyBlendz Snow Elements.

As fascinated as I am with change, I'm equally as interested in the small things that don't change through the passing years, like making snowmen.  My Mum was making snowmen when she was a child, and more than 50 years later, my children are doing the same.  

Journaling:  In more than 50 years not much has changed. Except for maybe the attire, the Broncos hat, the expression on their faces, and those dang poles/trees in the background of each photo.  Good to know the photographer back then had the same problems as we do now.  

Making comparisons, or in this case, finding commonality, between photos and stories from different eras are among my favorite pages.  Even amongst vast change throughout the years, exists a level of consistency, and for me that is very comforting.  Comforting to know that we belong.  

Three Digital HotSpots

As Luke was adding some finishing touches to his *All About Me* poster for school yesterday morning, I began thinking about a few current favorites of my own:

1] Evernote is a free application for your computer that allows you to compile lists, save your ideas and thoughts, as well as all the things you like, the things you hear, and the things you see, all in one place. All this information is completely searchable and can also be made accessible on your phone or mobile device.  I am a list maker and so I have multiple lists on the go at any one time.  I also tend to lose these lists.  I am really loving this application and ease of use so far.

2] Capture Your 365 is a new website and digital community developed by friend, Katrina Kennedy, a professional photographer who fully believes in using her camera to document the every day.  The new site a great place to meet others taking part in Project 365, exchange ideas, obtain valuable resources and remain motivated throughout the year.  

3] Pinterest is an on-line community designed to store and share visual inspiration with other creative souls.  I received an invite last week, and having heard much about it throughout the digital community, I decided to check it out.  It's is just pure eye candy.  You can pin images to your boards while surfing the net or repin images already within the community.  My inspiration boards can be found here.  I gather you need to be invited to Pinterest by members.  If you would like an invitet, please email me.

Project 365 POTD |February

As February comes to a close today, it's time to show you my Project 365 POTD (Photo Of the Day) layouts for this month.  You can learn more about this project in this Project 365 Plan post.

Still going strong with the project, and very much enjoying it, to my surprise.

I'm finding these pages are enriching my scrapbooking and providing a different angle to my every day scrapbooking.  It's just a very cool thing to have a snapshot each day of the month to represent my every day life.

I have also updated my Flicker account with these layouts as well as a few other MePhoto snapshots.

Instagram Love + Reminders

Instagram is a free iPhone app that allows you to quickly snap photos wherever you go, apply fun filters before sharing them on-line.  I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks now.  If you follow me on Twitter, you will have seen some of my snapshots posted as tweets.

Love this app, primarily because it's easy, fun and is really helping me to stay on track with Project 365. I have the 3G and so my iPhone photos are not always of the best quality.  The filters really help with that. See top right photo in the following 365 layout (week 5).  

Digital Supplies:  AsianART Print Paperie.

I used a collection of Instagram snapshots to create the following layout tonight as a form of ArtTherapy.  I often use scrapbooking as a means of dealing and coping with challenges, as well as effecting attitude adjustment.  I'm working really hard this year to look at the glass half full, instead of half empty.  This week as been one of those weeks in which obstacles have been hurled into my path one after another. It's all part of the ebb and flow...  Seriously ebbing at the moment though.

Journaling reads:  "Random everyday moments.  Beautiful snapshots of a less than beautiful week. Proof that beauty can be found everywhere even in places you’d never expect to find it.  Week of 02/07/11"

Digital Supplies: Easy Torn Edges No. 2, ArtsyBlendz Origins Paperie, Sketchy LoopDaLoops No. 1, 8 1/2 X 11 Stitched by Anna Borders No. 1, Heart FotoGlows No. 1, ArtPlay Palette Barren Sunrise (flower and photo turn), ArtPlay Play Palette Fall No. 1 (Tape), ArtPlay Palette Weihnachtsbaum (staple), Time WordTransfers No. 1.

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Quarterly Sale Event Chat Reminder

Looking forward to my chat tomorrow at 10.00 am EST at DesignerDigitals. I'll be talking about Adding Flair in digital scrapbooking and giving away MagicSparkle Sampler freebie.  Hope you can join me.

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The Best of Digital Scrapbooking GiveAway

Last call to enter to win The Best of Digital Scrapbooking magazine.  You can find all the details about the magazine and the give away here.  I will be announcing a winner later today.

365 POTD Progress

Can you believe if is February already?

I'm sticking with 365 POTD. So far so good.

I'm really liking how simple the pages are to put together.  

• I pick a photo based on a variety of criteria.  It could be random, the best photo of the day or one that represents my day most strongly.  
• I use the same template for all of my pages. 
• I "clip" my photos to the masks in the template.
• I embellish the remaining mask with a paper and/or element.  I seem to be leaning toward my ArtPlay Palettes.
• I add my text describing each photo along the bottom.

The biggest benefit to this project so far is getting at least one page done per week.

I've also noticed that my photos are getting downloaded from my iPhone a lot more frequently and sorted into their appropriate date folders.  And I'm not minding the addition of this process to my week.

I've created an account with flicker and have added a badge to the sidebar with the following January POTD.  I'll add to this as year 2011 progresses: