Supreme Team 18 - Round One

GoDigitalScrapbooking.com is holding a "scrap-off' (my term for it) to find members for their Supreme Team 18.  The Supreme Team is that group of digital scrapbookers who act as their "design team."  A design team is a group whose members create pages, the sample pages, that get posted with new kits as they become available in the shop.

     During a Supreme Team contest, contestants (anyone who signs up to try) post a digitally scrapped layout to that week's gallery.  Contestants are provided with a kit to use.  The kit for Round One is one from Maria Designs called "Sew Beary Scrappy."

     It is a wonderful kit!  For the variety of pages I've made already from the kit, I have not recolored anything except a title using the alpha that is part of the kit -- and that was mostly to make it stand out from the background more than it did in the original color.  Actually, I did not "recolor" the alpha.  I used a feature of my scrapbooking program* and "filled" the selected item (the letters of the alpha) with a paper in the kit.

     Each week a few contestants are dropped and the rest go on to the next round until in the final week, the next Supreme Team is announced.  Members of the Supreme Team then spend the next four months as the Design Team for GoDigitalScrapbooking.com.

     GoDigitalScrapbooking.com is a great digiscrapping site.  The forums, the challenges, the galleries and the shop are all wonderful and delightful.  GDS, through the forums, has a Daily Download that is free.  And there is a program that gives discount codes to get a "Daily Download Rewind" item based on the number of comments you leave for your fellow scrappers.

Pop on over and check out the other entries in the Round One Gallery (ending time 9 AM ET, Monday, September 8, 2014).  Round Two is to be announced on Tuesday, 9/9.

Here are a couple other layouts I made using the "Sew Beary Scrappy" kit from Maria Designs at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com:

*  A note about the scrapping software that I use --

It is StoryBook Creator 3 from Creative Memories.  However, in 2013, when Creative Memories went into its second bankruptcy and the company was redesigned to go ahead into the future, they dropped the digital side of the business.  StoryBook Creator software was first produced by a company called Caspedia, but as the programmers came to producing version 4, they became Panstoria.  Panstoria released version 4, 8 or 9 months before Creative Memories introduced version 4 of StoryBook Creator.  In my mind, this was very bad business practice -- ethically -- though probably good in terms of profitability.  Nor was it very ethical that their price for the full version was about half or less than CM's and only slightly higher than an upgrade version from CM.

At that time, I downloaded the trial version of Panstoria's "Artisan" scrapping software.  I decided I really did not like or need the "improvements."  These are basically color coordination features.  I uninstalled it before the trial time was up.  I was and am more than satisfied with version 3. 

When Creative Memories finally released StoryBook Creator 4, since I was a CM Consultant at the time, I did get a copy of the upgrade to 4.  I eventually installed it figuring I would just ignore the features I did not want to use.  Then I could, at least, help customers if they used version 4.  However, while using it one day, while it sat there thinking about what it was doing, I accidentally hit the mouse button and the Windows message came up asking if I wanted to end the process.  Apparently, I chose the wrong option there and the program eventually shut down.  BUT it did not shut down.  Every time I tried to open up SBC4, I got an error message that said it was already running on my system.  Using "End Process" on the Task Manager did not end the process nor did shutting down the computer and restarting.  It stayed running, somehow, in Task Manager.  In the end I had to, not uninstall it (it would not uninstall since the computer thought it was running), but delete it.

I never got around to reinstalling it.   

While Panstoria did handle key codes for CM software and art packages for a while, it is too late to reinstall now (as far as I know).

The only truly downside to this -- I had given my husband a copy of his own of the software and a couple of page and art packages as a birthday gift a few years before that.  He created wonderful pages and books of his own fabulous photography.  Due to the need to take his hard drive back to original condition, the software needed to be reinstalled -- and that did not get accomplished in time.  If he wants to go back to creating his own pages again (he says he does not but I'm fairly certain he would love to, he just does not want to admit it) -- we would have to get the Panstoria version.  **sigh**

Creative Memories is now totally gone -- their reorganization did not work out in the end -- and there is no hope of them ever slowly going back into the digi-scrap side of scrapbooking.  In the near future I will put up a post about some wonderful options still out there to take the place of Creative Memories and their strap-albums for the traditional scrapper.  It is something I have an opinion about ...

Good Gracious! August is almost over and ...

... And Jake and Kitty are out enjoying this hot summer day.  That leaves me to upload the August card for the 2014 Christmas Challenge (from DigiStamps4Joy).

Still having trouble with the printer -- rrrrggghh! -- so ...

Anyhow, NOW is a great time to get to work on your handmade Christmas cards if you have not already.  And if you have not already become part of the monthly challenge over at DigiStamps4Joy, it is not too late!  Just let Desire know that you want to join in the fun too!

I don't usually work with figures (unless they are fat-legged children) in my stamping and digi-stamping.  However, this month's image was so much fun to work with, I may end up reconsidering and begin to add a few big-eyed gals to my collection.  :-)

Skin-tone and hair can be a problem for me.  But a few YouTube videos later, they don't daunt me quite as much as before.  Sorry, I don't remember which videos they were or I would share the links (if I find them again,I will gladly share!  :D).  In one video, the artist was "painting" a portrait using Prismacolor pencils.  She was laying in the blonde hair and made two very interesting comments as she worked.  First, there was no yellow in the blonde hair!  Second, she did not draw lines to put in strands of hair but used layers of color and uncolored space to create the hair.  It was wonderful!  [Hmmm ... I think I will go try to find that video and come back and edit the post to add in the link ... in the meantime, join in the 2014 Christmas Challenge!]

{Edited a bit later}  FOUND IT!  Here is the link to the YouTube video for drawing a face (or coloring in one) using colored pencils:   http://youtu.be/1OL6sPi2-p0
Plus one more just for the sheer amazing-ness of it!  Drawing Jack Sparrow using ballpoint pen:  http://youtu.be/VC6kABusOJQ
(Sorry, tried to have the title of the videos as the text for the YouTube links but blogger here would not behave for me ...)  Enjoy both videos,though :-D

Christmas in July :-)

Yep, July is just about over and here I am getting my card for the 2014 Christmas Challenge posted at the last minute.  **Sigh**

This month's image is really cute with the three kitties in or under the tree.  And all of this month's entries are really well done.  :-D

Join the fun!  Email Desiree (you'll find her email address at the challenge website) and let her know you'd like to join in the fun.  It is a wonderful way to work on holiday cards all year long, and have them ready to address and mail early in the holiday season.  This is a big boon to me!  So, come on -- join the fun too.

Wordless Wednesday is back ...

but ...
I didn't know.

Maybe it never went away.

I just couldn't find it.

I found it, today.  A "day late" -- but I hope I can add this to the Mr. Linky.  If not, next Wednesday.

Anyhow, I rarely go out, anywhere, anymore.  So, for now, I will seek out photos in my archives to share. 

Thanks for visiting today!

June's Christmas Challenge card ...

I almost missed this month's 2014 Christmas Challenge card!  June got away from me.

I LOVE this month's image.  Ever since I was a small child, I have loved snow globes.  Some people think of them as kitsch -- but I am quite willing to admit to enjoying kitsch and all its plebeian connotations :-D

Once I realized I had almost missed getting my card made, I discovered another printer problem this month -- almost out of ink.  **sigh**  So, I had to resort to something I am probably not supposed to do -- coloring in the image with a  graphics program and then building the card in a different graphics program.

If I had the new cartridges of ink to replace the empty ones, it would have been oh so much easier to print off the image and hand color it with my colored pencils.  As it turned out, I ended up using PhotoShop Elements 6 to color the image.

In the past, I had a fabulous graphics program -- Micrografx's Picture Publisher 7 -- that I used for everything  (it came free bundled with a scanner I bought at Sam's Club over a decade ago ...)  Using that program and its built-in brushes, I could make anything look like it was truly colored in with pastels or colored pencils.  PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements use a macro to convert a colored area to look like it was pencil stroked that do not look real, or realistic, to me.  Picture Publisher looked "real."  I am very disappointed that as Microsoft upgrades operating systems I end up losing the ability to use programs that work wonderfully and get stuck using "make do" software.

I ended up laying strokes of color and then using Gaussian Blur to sort of get a decent color;  and added some kind of texture or other filter on top.  I'm not totally happy with the results and will print the image and hand color the rest for my collection of cards.

I love the Challenge because it is allowing me to get ready all year long for the Holiday season instead of panicking at the last minute to get all my cards made, addressed and mailed.  Are you following along with the 2014 Christmas Challenge?  Go to http://digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.com/ and join in!

There isn't much time to join for June, but it is not impossible!  It is a really fun image this month and easy to color in.  Contact Desiree and get the image -- upload to your blog or email the final card to her and then get the July image.  Or, if you don't want to panic to finish up a card by the end of June, contact Desiree and let her know you want to join starting in July.

Since I could not print off the final colored image ... I put it into my scrapbooking software to build the card.  I use Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator 3 as my digi-scrapping software program.  Creative Memories no longer supports or sells StoryBook Creator, and had upgraded to supporting version 4.0 before their reorganization.  I had loaded version 4 but determined it was not for me at that time and went back to my version 3.  StoryBook Creator was produced by another company for Creative Memories and is now selling it as Panstoria's Artisan software.  I've tried a lot of the digi-scrapping software on the market.  And a lot of digi-scrappers use the Adobe PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements programs. or the free Gimp PhotoShop clone.  However, in my opinion, except for my old Micrografx Picture Publisher 7, StoryBook Creator (aka Artisan from Panstoria) is the absolute best available.  (Though I really can't comment on the color manipulation options available in SBC 4 and Artisan.)

I used a digi-paper and a saying from a Creative Memories' kit called Candy Cane to create the card.  I think, once I have the ink to print the image, I will probably print off this paper and saying in 4x6" panels to use on my finished cards but will print the line image and hand color it -- I'll be happier with both the sky and fence.  I'm just not all that skilled with mouse or pen tablet to draw my lines (for wood texture) where I want them, and it is much easier to layer the various blues for atmospheric perspective in the sky using colored pencils instead of the options in PSE 6.  Besides, if I do it by hand, I can add in a small postage stamp in the letter to Santa :-D

Come and play along -- join in at http://digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.com/

**Phew** -- Just In Time -- The May Card

**Phew**  Just in time -- Finally, I have my May card for the 2014 Christmas Challenge, over at digistamps4joy, ready to share.  I had already colored this month's image, ("Time To Go"), a couple of weeks ago but had not figured out the best way to turn it into a card.  Then I saw a partially completed doodle on the desk and decided to use that somehow as the background.  At the last minute almost.  This morning ...
     Starting with a few colored pencils in a variety of blues, the area around the circle was colored.  A blending stump helped smooth out the pencil lines somewhat.  Using assorted glitter glues (from WalMart's Studio M line of glitter glues similar to Ranger's Stickles), I randomly filled in the circle ... then I had to wait for it all to dry.  And wait and wait and wait.  After hours of waiting, it was dry but not flat.  [In the scan, the glitter glues look more like desert sands as the glitter does not show off its shine.]
     A slightly smaller piece of cardstock was added to the back of the panel which is 3 3/4 by 5 3/4 inches.  A 4x6" index card was called into service -- with a border of Smooch inks, which I got from Paper Wishes years ago and have almost never used until today -- maybe a splodge here or there but (I think they are the next "search" I do at YouTube, the Internet's second most popular search "engine" or so I have heard) ...  The panel was attached with just a small amount of glue in the center to hold it in place while I applied strips of packing tape.  The tape adds a gloss and glisten to the finished panel but also, where it wraps the edge, helps hold the pieces together.  Since the top panel had flattened out quite a bit but was still a little rippled, I thought this sealing layer couldn't hurt.
     Still not quite completely flat, I used Alene's Tacky Glue in the pen applicator to attach the panel to the card front.  Once again, I've chosen to attach my 4x6 panel to a Strathmore Photo Mount Card with an embossed frame.  The frame makes placing the panel easy, and the embossing around the frame adds just a small touch of elegance to any card.
     Since the Alene's Tacky Glue is so strong, I decided that would be the best way to attach this month's image to the glossy surface of the background panel.  However, I just noticed that the camel's head is already coming loose from the background.  I may need to use something like Glossy Accents or Close To My Heart's Liquid Glass to attach the image to the packing tape.  I believe that kind of sealer can be used as an adhesive on a slick surface.
     Usually Jake and Kitty would present the monthly card, but this card needed to be scanned since it was not flat and because of the packing tape which would have caused glare.  Not to worry, though, Jake and Kitty are digging around the desk here to see what they can get me to share with you next so that they can play "model" once again ... **grin**

If you have any suggestions on how to flatten out panels or how to attach them so they flatten out or how to attach something on top of a glossy surface, PLEASE leave me a comment below.  THANKS!  [Over at my book review blog, I am offering a pdf file of a bookmark and bookplate for comments -- if you have an idea for "comment bribes" I can offer here, please leave those ideas in the comment section below too.]

Oh, yes, once again, I encourage you to join the fun at digistamps4joy and the 2014 Christmas Challenge (click on the link to the monthly Christmas Challenge at the top of the page).  There are other challenges at the blog too.  Check them out!  I think you will enjoy them!

{Now I am off to figure out what happened to the post about the April Card -- I opened it to get the link to digistamps4joy and **poof** there is just the picture of the card and half a sentence.  I know I goofed and had only "previewed" the post before I added the link over at the digistamps4joy blog, but I did "publish" the post and had at least one comment ... well, if I can't find the missing bits, I'll have to 'wing it' **sigh**} 
{**double bigger sigh** I just finished the "publish" of this post, and instead of looking at the list of posts, I hit the button to "View Blog" -- and when I scrolled through there, the April Card post is all there.  I AM SO CONFUSED!  What's new, eh?  LOL!}

I Am ...

Today's piece of art isn't very large but Jake wanted to share it.  His uncles decided to get in on the act, too.  And, of course, Kitty had to be involved (where Jake goes, Kitty tries to go too).  :-)