I ♥ the 80s & more

Do you love the 1980s? Or do do you at least remember the 1980s? I was a kid during that decade. A very neon and pastel loving, awkward, chubby kid. I had the Mary Lou Retton crop meets Charlie's Angels feathered hair. I hated that my mom didn't allow me to grow my hair out. Granted, I did refuse to wash it most of the time, but as a kid, you don't think like that.

This photo is from a summer trip to Denmark, my mother's native land. I'm with my Morfar (grandfather) and cousin at Legoland. While I could have focused on a lot of stories, I went with my first reaction to the photo: I can't believe that's me. I wish I could tell her how rockin' her style was on the second trip to Denmark.

The page's title in Danish. Translated "stil" is "style". The words on the paper strip say it's my cousin and mother's father at Legoland. It's a way for me to record my Danish heritage is a part of me even if it's not the page subject. Sometimes I ask my mom how to say something and sometimes I use Google Translate and what I know of the language.

Despite my awkwardness, I love the colors of this kit. The rubber-ish and plastic elements remind me of the trendy toys and baubles I love as a kid. The kit makes me nostalgic. I wanted the page to channel 10 year old me. I used handwriting fonts and too many colors. I grounded and organized the page with the black elements while controlling the flow with the rainbow lined paper and pocket squares on a "T" composition.

Did I mention that the kit is newest installment of Just Jaimee & Mommyish's Real Life in Pockets series? That's kinda important to know.


Just Jaimee & Mommyish Designs: Real Life in Pockets- Old School; Fonts: Too Much Paper!, Pea Sunshine, DJB MOUSEKATEER KIM, DJB Truly Creative

You're going to notice eventually that I've been using a lot of Fonts for Peas. Stephanie Semple turned me back onto them after seeing it on one of her pages.

Also new today is Jenni Bowlin's Bright Travels paper pack created by the talented Lisa Dickinson. I love the happy colors! Last week, I took a photos on the way home from our dinner. It's a whole series from the car (as a passenger of course) documenting the route we travel regularly. You take those sights for granted in the moment, but as a kid, I remember the route from my house to D.C. fondly for some odd reason. Or the route to the grocery store.  I even remember the first time I took to back roads to our first home in Delaware. Those routes changed and morph over time.

But I didn't scrap that yet. I had intended to, but the story of the ritual my husband has of stopping for drinks before going home emerge in the midst of scrapping this page and wouldn't let go. That's normal for my process. I start with an idea for a story and it takes me somewhere unexpected, but perhaps more important.



Jenni Bowlin Studio: Bright Travels Paper Pack, Mini Deck Great Words, Vintage Bling, Die Cut & Perforated Paper Collection, Flags & Stars, School Days Alpha; Fonts: Serial Sue, Albertsthal Typewriter

You'll probably be seeing more photos from the series on pages.

Speaking of process, I'm thrilled to tell you that I'm a guest teacher for next month's Masterful Scrapbook Design: Process Play. It will be live May 7, 2014 and I'm super excited about it!!

Also, interNational Scrapbooking Day is quickly approaching. I have a treat planned for my readers. Get It Scrapped is having a live crop with sponsors and prizes. Get the details on the blog and in the forum. I'm not sure what's in the works for the stores, but I'm sure it will be awesome and prize filled, too!

September Photo a Day: The Final Half

Hello Interwebz!

I finally finished my Photo a Day, brought to you by Get It Scrapped. Enjoy! 

Backtracking to a prompt from the beginning of the month:

3. The Joy Luck Club

These are my guys in their natural state. They're probably agreeing to plot against me in this photo.

15. Divergenet
























I don't think I've served a hot dog in 3 years, which makes these chili cheese dogs a huge treat.

16. Outliers


















One of Thor's favorite activities is looking at the world outside. I'm pretty sure he'll be harness trained, but for now, he'll just have to chase the bugs and birds in his dreams.

17. Happy at Home


















The view from what I have affectionately dubbed 'The Jungle', which is actually my garden. It looks large in this photo. It's not. It's tiny, but it's one of my favorite things about our home. And because it's so loved, we have the largest crape myrtle and oriental grass on the block.

18. “May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.” from The Hobbit























A photo taken by my hubby at 6 am. Here are some less talked about things about autism:
a) kids with autism don't sleep well
b) kids with autism often have ADD or ADHD or some other co-occurring issues
c) the medications to treat those co-occurring issues coupled with lack of sleep often cause midnight snacking

d) midnight snacking is, at times, extremely messy

19. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie


















I like to call this a 'kitten pile'. All the kitties love each other, so we see cuddling quite often.  

20. The Scarlet Letter























Not exactly a letter, but certainly scarlet. A magnetic shape. We keep them on our dishwasher so when the kitties are bored, they have an exciting activity. Really.   

21. Orange is the New Black























My son has two orange shirts and I'm pretty sure he's worn them almost exclusively for the past 6 months. A green or red shirt may be thrown into the mix occasionally, but not often.

22. The Perks of Being a Wallflower


















Butter's is a shy cat and not nearly as aggressive when he plays with the other kitties. He copes with this by playing in paper bags. James, his brother kitty, always rips some leg holes in the corners of the bags for Butters. It's very entertaining.


23. Fifty Shades of Grey























A car hit a telephone poll and split in the 3 pieces, which cut of power to our entire town for over 12 hours. Thankfully it was a cool day and I had some ice packs in the freezer that kept the fridge cool. Also, votive candles and lots of baby food jars (from transition the kitten from formula to solids). We played board games and read ghost stories and the kid camped out in the living room. He loves power outages as long as they aren't too often.

24. Great Expectations























I was trying to get the kitties to look at me so I could get their faces in the photo, except James thought I was calling him to give him some utterly wonderful cat reward. Boy, was he disappointed!

25. Rot & Ruin
















I call this #failcake and it seems to be my specialty. While I am a proficient cook, I suck at baking (except cookies- I can rock out some cookies) and this is why. I have a ton of photos of #failcakes. Since this one did not land on the floor, it's edible.

26. Twilight


















My dad always liked to be in bed when the sun went down. Apparently it's hereditary, but skipped a generation. Also, my son has 50 pillows, but only one seems to ever have a pillowcase on it no matter how many pillows I put them on. They are magic pillows.

27. Little House in the Big Woods


















This would be a gorgeous photo of the field next to our house, except for that dumpster. I really hate that dumpster.

28. Miss Perigrine’s Home for Peculiar Children






















I have strange cats and I am kinda obsessed with them. I'm sure you can't tell at all. We joke that our house looks like kitten preschool, so I probably don't need to explain the relevance of this prompt to the photo.


29. The Birds



















The little seed pods on the oriental grass have opened up. Soon they'll drop and the birds will come. Lots and lots and lots of birds.


30. Reading is a Gift























I created a book from the collection of all the pages I've made about our three cats that have passed.

All 30 prompts finished. Some of the photos from these two months of Photo a Day have already inspired pages given me ideas for even more stories to tell in the future. August and September were very busy, so there wasn't time to do much scrapping, but I have the PAD that captured micro bits of our lives for those months.

Doris has an October challenge up on the forums which I may take a stab at later. Also, I may do a challenge for December, but until then, I'm on a Photo a Day hiatus. Hope you've enjoyed.

 ♥ Carrie

August Photo a Day: Week 2(ish)

I have been enjoying this exercise so much! If you want to play along with us, see this thread at Get It Scrapped. This is a no wrong way, guilt-free challenge to get your creative juices flowing and fall in love with your camera again challenge.

Some back tracking:

6.  Full Plate




Thor is obsessed with the dishwasher. I have no idea why, but it makes doing dishes a little challenging.


8.  Gobbledygook



At the base of my hubby's monitor. Lots of dust, a few wires and a WoW authenticator (sp?).


9. Apple of My Eye



A rare relaxed shot of my kiddo. This was a huge deal. I asked if I could take this photo, he obliged, then he began to do this pose, but corrected himself going into to rigid mode. I asked him to just snuggle with his blanket. He did and this happened. When it was over he said, "Wait a second, Mom. You tricked me!" The kid likes to act like he hates having his photo taken.


10. Shadow Dancing



I love the starburst pattern my neighbor's garden lights make. This challenge was a great way to capture it without anyone thinking I'm weirder than I already am. (cause I'm that crazy cat lady in my 'hood)


11.  Bloom Where You are Planted



Cat mojo in action. Normally, Butters is afraid of everything including flowers. Here he is being a curious, confident cat.


12. Framed



I was gonna ask the kid to frame something. Then this happened.


12. Get to the Point



My favorite hair accessory: a chopstick from China Wok. Yes, that's a restaurant. I always get chopsticks so I can keep them in my kitchen. You never know when the urge to put up your hair will strike. Also, they double as a cat toy. Or is that triple? I probably shoulda put some product in my hair before I took this photo. Oh well. It's my authentic, crazy, wavy, simmer-time hair.

That's it for now. Wanna see Week 1? Click HERE. Wanna see if your favorite scrapbookers are participating in this challenge and the full list of prompts? Click HERE. Join in, share your links!!

♥ Carrie

August Photo a Day

Photo a Day challenges are awesome! We have a fun list up at in the Get It Scrapped forum so anyone can play along. I'll be sharing my here each week.

Ready! Here's the first round:

1. August

I like starting these challenges with a creative photo from a calendar.


2. On Cloud Nine



We had some gorgeous blue skies with a dotting of puffy clouds that were perfect for this prompt.

3. If the Shoe Fits



My kid has a ton of shoes and they are in piles around my house. The funny part is that he hardly wears shoes. He's just like his mom.

4. New



A piece from my hubby's antique medical collection. It's never been opened so it's technically new.

5. Ant's Eye View



This is our cat, Butters, who decided he was going to help me get this photo. I put the camera on the floor in order to get a shot looking up. Butters decided the camera needed to capture up his nose.


6. Full Plate

Opps! I missed this one. 

7.  Architecture





















This photo isn't a literal interpretation of the prompt. These are words from an activist in Zimbabwe torn from an article in National Geographic. What Mazvarira said really spoke to me. It's these sort words that are the architecture of change in a society... and for women globally. 

If you want to join in the fun, feel free. This is not a rigid challenge- you can take all 31 photos daily or pick the prompts that inspire you. You can do an entire week in day. There really is no wrong way or any cheating. The idea is exercise your creative muscles and photography skills. Come share with us on the GIS Forum.

Five tips for photographing your four legged family members

I'm going to start this post by saying that I am in no way a professional photographer. I have a point and shoot camera and still have a lot to learn about taking photos. That is my disclaimer, however, I've spent the past year photographing my kitties with success.

unedited kitten photo

Firstly, we have to define what I mean success. To me it's about capturing the essence of a pet's personality-- the photos that tell their story. Also, good photos don't need a lot of editing. For the photo above, I spent a couple minutes tweaking it:

I used crop, auto adjust, clarify and depth of field

The point is the original is really good enough by itself. I only edit photos that will end up of scrapbook page. And that's the point really. You want to take photos you don't have to go crazy editing. That can feel impossible with pets because they don't react to cameras like people. How do you deal with photographing pets then?

Tip #1: Turn off your camera's sound.

You want your pet to act like your pet, not like your pet reacting to the noises your camera is making. 

Tip #2: Turn off the flash.

Animals eyes are more sensitive to light than humans. We all know how blinding flash can, so imagine what it must feel like for Fido or Fluffy. I would even dare to say it could possibly be damaging to such light sensitive eyes, especially for young pets. 

What do you do instead of using a flash? Two things: have good natural light and/or use your camera's manual mode. I use manual a lot on my camera, normally at +1 or +2 exposure and use the auto ISO setting. You can read more about manual mode HERE. 

Tip #3: Get down on their level.

When I'm taking photos of my kitties, I'm normally on the floor. I often set the camera on the floor to stabilize it. I think it gives you a feel of the world through their eyes. If they aren't on the floor or ground, then adjust, but don't take a photo from above unless you have a very good reason. Sticking to their eye level or below gives you better, more interesting images. 

from above

at his level and unedited

In the first photo of James Q, I took the shot standing over him. It isn't terrible, but it's just another photo of a cat looking like he's having a camera held over him. The second photo is a really authentic representation of who James Q is and what he's like. He isn't looking at the camera. There is also context. You can see his toy, which he also has in the first photo. You can see where he plays-- he loves to play under the table. That context will jog memories 20 years from now. 

feathers are fun!

Tip #4: Make it a positive experience. Here's what you are going for: Camera = Quality Time with Human. 

The advantage of being on your pet's level is getting to interact with your pet. Your pet will love it and not mind your shutter-bugging. You may even want to give your pet a treat or two after each photo session. Play with them and their favorite toy with one hand, snap photos with the other. You'll get photos of your pet in a way that is authentic while and your pet's reward is some form of play or love. After awhile of including the camera during these times, you may find your pets love your camera! 

ready to play

toys are important for pets 

Tip #5: Take a lot photos.

Don't wait for the right moment to snap a picture. Animals move quickly, often without warning, so taking a lot pictures and not worrying about the 'right' moment will give better results. There are so many times when I took a couple photos of my kittens that I thought were going to be awesome, but were blurry because I took them one second too late. Now I just click away on the camera and when I'm done I normally have one or two really awesome photos to work with out of fifty. 

Here's a series of photos I took of Thor, our baby. I thought photo two would be 'the one', but turns out the third photo was better: 

 

 

photo 1-- okay but not quite right

photo 2-- wanted it to be awesome, but it is a little blurry

photo 3-- this is sharp, clear, and won't require much tweaking

There you have it. My secrets are now shared. You may find that it's more fun to photograph pets than humans from this point forward. :)