SIL to the Rescue! (again)

For something I wasn't too sure I wanted, my QK Silhouette has certainly become indispensable in my crafting life. A while back I was bemoaning the lack of Martial Arts embellishments in this blog. I managed to create several with my Sil - and then Helen sent me to a site with MA dingbats. She was a lifesaver! The font is called Karate Chop. The uppercase face one direction while the lowercase face the opposite. They cut very nicely and really help me fill otherwise empty space on my pages. (Helen is like my knight in shining armor for that and other help she has given me.)

And now, the Sil has pulled me out of another bind. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am scrapbooking DH's trip to London. I have the QK England CC set which contains the Tower of London (well, a couple of towers of it), a taxi, two flags, a crown, Big Ben, Underground Sign and a telephone booth. Those are all great, but there is no die for the Tower Bridge and DH took several photos of that. QK does have that die in a special Britannia set, but I really don't want to pay $45 for four dies that I really won't use too often (I can use the dies from the CC for other things - like Epcot!) Those $45 can be used for something I would use more - say the new alpha Haunted!

DH told me to look online, and sure enough, I was able to find a few outlines of the Tower Bridge. It took several tries, but I was able to create the perfect image using the 'get outline' function. The design cut very nicely. I was able to do the same with the London Eye which QK doesn't seem to have.

So, now my pages look awesome, thanks to the Sil, and DH's book is coming along nicely. I finished the Tower of London tonight and Windsor Castle is tomorrow. Not sure how many more pages are going to fit into the Your Story album, though....

Your Story at Hobby Lobby!!!

I am so PSYCHED!!!! Hobby Lobby is now carrying the items I need in order to use the Your Story book binder and laminator the DH & the kids got me for Mother's Day. I wanted this because I really like the look of the bound books - especially for gifts. Sometimes the Bind-It-All doesn't quite give the look I am aiming for. Tying ribbons to the O-Wires can get rather tedious and not appropriate for certain people (read: guys). I haven't used my Your Story yet because I only received a couple of books with it and they didn't hold too much, so the projects had to be small. (And the 8x8 pages that came with them are not my style at all!)

Small projects are hard for me. This whole finishing an album is a difficult concept for me. I know I should, but I am never quite sure how to end them. I guess I am going to have to learn!

So, what is my first project? DH's trip to London. He was really there for work and instead of taking our camera, chose to use his iPhone. He came home with less than 100 photos, some of shaky quality, so using the Your Story is perfect. I really don't have that many pages I can make, especially since I have chosen to do it in 12x12 and colorblock it. The albums can hold up to 20 thin pages, but I like my cardstock, thus I may only get 12-14 - which is just about what I think will fit.

I have already finished six pages, with two more just needing embellishments. DH has to do his own journaling, but wants to wait until the book is bound. If I get myself in gear, that could be as soon as this weekend.

Wish me luck!

Sil Blade Change

After I posted about my lack of klutziness, I decided that it was time to change the blade on my Sil. I was a bit apprehensive - understandable given my history. I was sure I was going to cut myself or break my Sil. Trepidaciously I opened the package and took out the new blade; then I decided to remove the old blade - easier said than done.

As I was pushing the blade out, something small went flying over my left shoulder to never be found. Luckily it was an unnecessary piece. It took me a bit to get the new blade into position, but at last it seemed to be fixed in place. Hesitantly I loaded the Sil and proceeded to have it cut some titles.

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cuts were clean and no funky noises.

So, that's good, right?

Still the Scrapklutz?

So, announcing to the world that I was the Scrapklutz jinxed me. This past year has been relatively safe. No major wounds, no breaking of equipment. I almost did once pull my SIL off of my desk when I forget it was still attached to the laptop, but I have been accident-free for quite some time. It feels weird. I keep waiting for it to happen - not that I want it to, mind you - because the suspense is needling at me.

Is it skill or is it avoidance? I am getting better at opening packages (of course, since I have a ton of dies and a Sil, I am also buying fewer dies), my Squeeze is in the closet and only came out the other night so I could cut something downstairs while watching tv with DH. The Fastenator (heel puncture) has been put away, it really didn't hold DD's interest. Liquid dies and stencil crayons have been replaced by chalks and small ink pads. Craft knives rarely come out because I truly rarely need them now. My desk is level, thus things cannot just tip off like the Squeeze did.

Hence, begs the question: if I am no longer klutzy, am I still the Scrapklutz?

Reflections on Year One of Scrapklutz Life

Has it really been a year since I began this blog? Oh wow, time surely has flown - and I have NOT kept my promises. I have not posted as often as I had wished and promised. Not sure why that happened. Could be laziness, could be dedication to my hobbies - or too much websurfing, but definitely not enough blogging.

Well, whatever it was, I need to get rid of it. I need to post more. As of yesterday I finally figured out how to post photos properly, so maybe I could post more of my work. I could also talk about my experiments with the SIL - something a year ago I never imagined I would purchase. I certainly do not regret buying the SIL, but it has taken me in a whole different direction and I have really not mentioned that.

I touched on switching up my scrapping style, but have posted nothing to show. What was I thinking? I fell in love with a new paper line, but nary a mention here on my blog. What was I thinking? Or is the question: what was I NOT thinking?

So many changes, so little that I have actually blogged. Not really what I started out to do.

Thus, I need to change, to work on being the blogger I had planned on being.

Wish me luck!

Color Select Studio ROCKS!!!

I LOVE Color Select Studio!!!! It's a program that I picked up at GASC and haven't really had a chance to play with. Well, today I finished titling all the photos from DS's BD party and decided to play around.

The absolutely best thing about CSS is that it automatically turns the photo B&W for you. No playing with hues, it imports the photo as B&W. (You can import it in color and then turn sections B&W - but I like the reveal better.) Then you choose your brush size and paint over what you want returned to its original color. In a matter of minutes, you have a masterpiece. Okay, well, the above photo is of a reptile - not the first choice for most people- but I think it turned out great. Makes the lizard pop! (Photo was from the party and what was at the top of my mind when I started to play.) The ones of the albino python are awesome, but probably too freaky for this blog.

DH thought this was a bit of a frivolous purchase because Adobe Photoshop does the same things. Yeah, after a few steps. You have to have layers and opacity and then remember to save it correctly. CSS is much quicker - except that you can only save in ttf or ttif. Our photos are all jpeg. Luckily, it only took me a few minutes to figure out how to put them in jpeg. Best part, I didn't have to call DH. I love being married to a computer guru, but sometimes I really need to figure out stuff on my own. And the kicker? CSS cost me $15 and so easy that DD & DS can use it.

There are all sorts of uses for this program. The photos I did today were to highlight some of the best reptile photos for the gentleman who brought the reptile show over as a thank you. DD did the Hidden Mickey Hunt at WDW and this will be a fantastic way to highlight the photos; leave all but the actual figure in B&W. I am anxious to try this with some Martial Arts photos and see how they turn out.

Oh, this is going to be so much FUN!!!

DT Ambivalence

Last year at this time I was nervously working on my submissions to for the Remember When Design Team tryout. I was so excited - and then thrilled and totally shocked when I was chosen. I had a lot of fun and was rather sad when I was not chosen for the next team. I know that those who were chosen truly deserved it and have showcased the newest QK dies in spectacular fashion, but my pride was a tad dented.

Now it is time again and I am feeling rather ambivalent about the whole thing. I still love QK, but I have been playing around with the SIL so much lately that I have not been using my dies at all. A big part of that has to do with the fact that I have been working on Martial Arts pages that require embellishments that QK doesn't carry.

Another part is that I truly feel that the DT needs to showcase the best of the best - and that is not me. I am an average scrapper, not showcase material at all. It was wonderful to be chosen, but my projects always paled next to the much more polished items of the other members. I had trouble incorporating the items that were sent to us from the TBC and I still feel guilty about that.

So, part of me feels like I should at least attempt my items, but I just don't know. I need to think about it. A lot. But not too much, the items are to be posted next week.