washi tape shock

washi tape loving friends I have made a shocking discovery that I feel compelled to share with you…



yes, the big roll of tape, 10 meters I’m told, does come to an end !!! I have reached the end of my narrow, dark purple tape. 
Just as well I have plenty more washi tape.  To get over my shock I thought I’d share some washi wonderfulness.
Let me know in the comments if you would like a washi tape sampler like these (about a meter of each of 3 tapes wrapped around a piece of card)

Summer scavenger hunt–shadow

Item 11 on Rinda’s summertime  photo scavenger hunt 2012 is a shadow and should be easy, more a matter of choosing a good subject than searching for it.
But according to the weather experts, this month Edinburgh had had less than 2 hours of sunshine as of 17 July – when its not raining its overcast.  So I was unexpectedly excited on my walk last Thursday when I spotted shadows.  I decided I’d better capture some in case the month ends as it started.


and the one I will use for my scavenger hunt display

because is also tells the story of the bunting being up in town in anticipation of the festival this week.
Still keeping a look out for an angel and bride

Photoart swathed in light

For PhotoArt Friday this week Bonnie suggested images where the light draws the eye.

I had a look through recent photos and realised that I had the perfect one for this challenge – taken in a trip to a ruined castle with a visiting friend.  The stone window space created the perfect frame for the sea and massive sky outside.

Ok, I admit the one above has plenty of PSE magic applied – here is the photo that came out of my camera

The birds are a brush from ShadowHouse Creations – they are so realistic I think.

More scavenger hunting

 

I’m continuing to keep my eyes open for items on  Rinda’s summertime photo scavenger hunt list and have a few more to share.

The fountain was in a big garden centre

and I finally managed to capture a photo of a person with a ball on a walk on the beach – many previous attempts miss the ball or the person.  I’m pleased with my cropping on this one.

I’m going to display all of the photos in a double page spread inside my Project Life album.  I have the list and a header and then I’m adding a pennant with a number to each photo.  Each item has a 3 x 4 space – here are 4 I’ve already printed

 

 

 

And finally, I’m passing the book to Alison (after flipping a coin) – I have your address and will get it in the post at the weekend.

Summer of colour–watermelon doodles

The sixth week of ice-cream colour inspiration already, it went so fast.  This week the inspiration was glorious shades of deep red

Withe the gradations of the red I decided to create an ombre background and then use some doodle burshes in Photoshop elements for the letter.  This one is by far the simplest of the 6.

It provides a nice contrast in the full set

I’ve really enjoyed this series and am very pleased with the result – now I need to decide how I’m going to print and display them.

I’ve also enjoyed enormously visiting the many blogs from others participating and enjoying all the creativity there. Big thank you to Kristin for organising this inspiring event.

Lifting and passing

I was lucky enough to be the first recipient of Michelle Meisenbach’s book Lifted in Pass the Book Year 2 organised by Melissa. 

As you might guess, this book discusses different ways of scrap lifting ideas from one layout to use on a new layout.  I was particularly interested in her ideas on lifting components of a layout such as photo content or feel; or the text as well as lifting the structure.  I appreciated the number of examples with 2 lifts from each layout and notes of which components were lifted. 

I enjoyed dipping into the book and keeping the ideas in mind as I toured blogland.  I’ve been more assiduous lately in noting down layouts that grab me so that I can go back to them when I want to create a layout of my own.  I did that yesterday to create a layout about a recent visit from a good friend in New Zealand

[film strip, pennant and folder tab all from K Pertiet, papers from Audrey Neal]

I took my inspiration from a  layout by Alexa which she had lifted from a recipe page in a magazine.

I’m now ready to pass on this book so leave me a comment if you want to be in the draw.  If you’ve not come across Pass the Book before, Melissa has all the details.  I’ll make the draw on the morning of 18th (UK time).

and then it rained some more

we’ve had a lot of rain in the UK over the last few weeks – both heavy rain and many days of rain.  At the weekend the water levels in my local river rose above the banks and covered the park where I normally walk.  I was talking to a neighbour who has lived here for years who said that she couldn’t remember the water coming up so high and then as she went on her way she laughed and said ‘all we can do is grumble’.  I immediately thought that would make an excellent title for a layout with photos of the over flowing river.

In the big photo – that tree is usually surrounded by grass and those black things sticking out of the water are the tall plants in the flower beds.

And I decided to use the photo with the bright coloured barrier as my take on ‘border’ in Rinda’s Summertime Photo Scavenger hunt – it shows an artificial border erected to stop the water; the border of leaves showing the high watermark and the border between water and grass

and this is what it usually looks like – the water really did rise above its normal position

it seems from news reports that unseasonal weather is common at the moment – are you experiencing it at the moment?

Summer of colour–wild snorkelling

Another spectacular ice-cream palette from Kristin for us to play with this week

As soon as I saw this one I thought of the wonders of the underwater world when snorkelling and used this as my inspiration for my ‘T’ block.

Even though I use Photoshop Elements a lot I was surprised and delighted with how well I could make a translucent letter that was still easily visible. I’ve been enjoying this challenge so much and sorry that I’m about to work on the last palette for this year.

Check out all the wonderful pieces that others have created using these colours.

Counting June

The end of the month heralds another round of ‘my month in numbers’ hosted by Julie.  I love this ritual – how could I not?  I love numbers, I love summaries, I love playing with Photoshop Elements.

I’m enjoying the chevron fashion although the ones as the top are messing with my eyes – I think they look smaller on the left than the right but I know that they are all the same size.

Have you fallen for chevrons?

Summertime photo scavenger hunt–come walk with me

When I was in the centre of town last week to visit the labyrinth I chose my route so that I could capture some of the other items on Rinda’s photo scavenger hunt list.  Come walk with me, first past the central library in a wonderful old building

then along the road to find a nice view of the castle which is an historic landmark

which I took standing at the top of a staircase

although it is easier to see looking up from the bottom

and luckily at the bottom was a man playing several musical instruments

and I could also her the distinctive skirl of the bagpipes and spotted this man

then walking on the bridge over the rail tracks I captured 2 trains in the station

I knew I’d be able to capture a building of worship on my walk and the first that I came across was the city mosque

So that was a satisfying 7 items (including he labyrinth) on one walk. 

Summer of colour–all the fun of the fair

The fourth ice-cream inspiration from Kristin mixed pastel pinks and yellows

After letting the colours percolate in my unconscious mind for a day I was hit with the idea of balloons, candyfloss (cotton candy), flashing lights and all the fun of the fair.  That was the inspiration that I needed and I then had lots of fun creating my fourth piece

And I’m pleased at how different my letters look in style as well as colour.  One of my aims with this challenge is to move away from the digi techniques I’ve settled into using recently and to play with some of the other vast range of techniques available in Photoshop Elements.

I’m also loving the variety in creative pieces that others are posting – you can see them all on Twinkle, Twinkle

Storytelling Sunday–unusual souvenir

Sian’s suggested theme for this month’s stories and I knew I would have some stories to tell.

I decided a blog was not the place to share the stories of unusual souvenirs of the gastric variety, and the time my nephew brought a pocketful of seeds across the border is best left in the dimness of memory. 

Instead I’ll share with you how the colour scheme of the room I’m sitting in as I type was my unexpected souvenir from a family trip to Africa 5 years ago. 

We went on a fabulous safari holiday, in Zambia and Malawi.  On the drive back from the Zambian park we stopped in at Tribal Textiles and collectively bought up a storm – table linen, laundry bags, shoulder bags, toiletry bags. 

Fast forward three years when I was staying with my sister and planning the decor for the flat that I had just bought.  I knew I wanted colour on the walls and was looking for inspiration.  I was drawn to the laundry bag that my younger nephew had chosen – pale green background with hibiscus flowers in different shades of dusky pink. 

I decided this would make a good palette for the room that serves as my office, craft space and guest room. Three walls are green, one is a lighter pink and the trim of the shelves are a darker pink.  I also have pink hibiscus decal on the walls above my computer.  And my sister found a place to order their products online and got me a cushion of the same design

The photo has ‘browned’ the wall – it is actually the same green as the cushion – which is posing on a high shelf for this photo.

Looking forward to reading all the stories shared this month – just what I need on another rainy day.