Upcoming classes...

Hi scrappy friends!! I have two classes coming up on March 26th at the Scrapbooking Studio in Moline, IL...call the store at (309) 736-7242 to register...here's the DEETS (details)...

Saturday, March 26th, 10 AM-12:30 - Fast, Fun and Fabulous Layouts, Spring 2011 edition...

Join ME for the Spring Edition of the Fun, Fast and Fabulous Layout class...this time it's all about rain showers, clouds, flowers and spring break!! Learn how to make some handmade paper flowers, textured clouds and an umbrella accent from punched shapes. Each class participant will receive all the precut papers to assemble the pages and a full sheet of letter stickers to customize their page titles...this class is 2.5 hours, $24 and you will leave with 5 pages!! (1 single page layout, 2 double page layouts). Bring your standard kit to class (wet/dry adhesive, trimmer, scissors, journalling pen). Cost is $24

The 2 page layouts in this class are based on Allison Davis and Doris Sander's book, Sketches  for Scrapbooking, vol. 3

 

Saturday, March 26th, 2-4 PM, Fast, Fun and Fabulous PHOTO EDITING

You spend hours on you pages to make them perfect, why not learn how to improve you photos in under 5 minutes? This is an introductory photo editing class where participants will learn how to organize their photos, straighten images, crop images, selectively highlight images, convert to black or white/sepia and fix minor exposure issues. Participants are encouraged to bring thier laptops to class with the latest edition of Adobe Photoshop Elements (30 day free trial is fine) downloaded. The store has a limited number of laptops available as loaners, but please call ahead and reserve them if you need to. Images to practice editing techniques will be provided. Cost is $20.

 

 

More vacation photos...

I'm back to posting some more vacation photos...still holding off on the wedding photos as I want to research the whole wedding ceremony a bit more and better understand for myself what I witnessed and photographed....but here's some more (other) photos from the trip...

In Hyderabad (northwest of Chennai) I went to a handmade craft bazaar...love all the colors and handiwork that was on display...

Even saw this gentleman practicing his craft, right on site!

Visited Charminar, which is a memorial built in 1591 to celbrate the end of a plague...climbed every one of 149 handbuilt (and very uneven, sometimes more like double steps than regular) steps...but the view was worth it...

Luckily my daughter got a 'ride to the top' and she enjoyed every minute!

Hyderabad is known for its 'bangle street', where there's seemingly hundreds of shops selling fashion bangles...all prices negotiable...I picked up one for about $17 US and it was a big hit at the wedding...wish I had a picture...the city is also known for it's quality pearls.

We went to a night sound and light show at the ruins of Golkonda where I learned of some of the area's history...Hyderabad is approx. 45% muslim (versus about 10% muslim further south in Chennai) and you can definitely see the mongul influence in much of the city's architecture...

When we returned to Chennai, we visited a vegetable market...I am still in awe of the variety of fruits and vegetables that are available there...here are some yummy pictures...

Maia and Devon had fun playing on the bicycle powered delivery cart:

and here's the owner of the market (on the right), with my father in law (on the left)...

There are still a ton more pictures to share...hopefully I get some more posted this week...Toodles all, thanks for stopping by!

Some family fun...

Had a busy day today...Devon had his 2nd piano recital (and we got the video proof this time)...He played "we wish you a merry christmas" and did very well...here's the video proof....

I took the dress up oppurtunity to get some pictures (of course)...

AND...Devon scored his first basket in a basketball game!!! His team is REALLY GOOD this year...the boilermakers is their name and they practice 1x a week...it definitely shows!!

Good job Mr. D!!!

 

Halloween 2010...

Happy November, blog readers!! Here's a quick photo recap of Halloween 2010...

The costumes--Maia was Elmo, Devon was a magician (though I'm thinking with a beard, he could've been Abe Lincoln...maybe next year!) and my dad...was...well, embarassing...

The carved pumpkins...Devon wanted scary with teeth and hair and Maia wanted happy....I think I carve happy pumpkins better...

here they are, all aglow:

That's it for now...off to create a BDay page...toodles!

 

Maia's 3rd birthday...

Here's some photos of the birthday girl and her family gifts...still sorting through the party pics (thanks Sharon!!) and will try and post some of those later in the week...

She wouldn't cooperate and hold up 3 fingers, so I made a sign...

This look is pretty typical (minus the flower in her hair)...

 

Of course, baby Elmo received the first meal at the new doll table and chair set...

Toodles...and Happy Halloween...what a wonderful weekend for pictures!!

A day at the pumpkin patch...

Today was the day for the pumpkin patch...Devon has been asking for weeks and I've been saying 'in October'...well today I had no excuse...and thankfully the Pride of the Wapsi was open...here are the photo highlights...I even make an appearance, thanks to a helpful fellow wagon rider...

Isn't she cute!! It was a FUN day...even if it was a tad chilly...even for this displaced Canadian!! Thanks for stopping by!

a photo challenge....

I found the site I {heart} faces through another scrapping photographer's blog...sorry, can't recall which one, apparently I blog stalk ALOT!!! Anyways, the site offers a weekly challenge and this week's theme is "SURPRISE", so I'm entering one of my all time favorite snaps of my daughter....she was shocked at how cold the can of cola was...

 

I even turned into a belated birthday card HERE....make sure you check out the other (much more professional) photos at:

Toodles...thanks for stopping by!!

Some photo editing...

I'm taking a little bit of a creative break...I usually do after the CHA project rush...though I've got some new Pink Paislee on my crafting desk calling my name, I'm just piddling around with it, going slow, not committing...hope to have some things to share soon...but until then, I thought I'd share some photos and my edits...today I'm starting with this pic...taken at the Niabi zoo...

 

Loved my niece's pose in the water droplets and wanted to highlight her....hated the background noise with the yellow wallabies on the fence....so in about 5 minutes, I had this...

I could take it a step further and remove the wallabies completely, but for now I'm happy...the photo is scrap worthy and it took barely any time at all!!

Toodles...thanks for stopping by!!

Some weekend photos...

Had some fun this weekend...went to a party yesterday, complete with fireworks and spent most of today outdoors, having 'family time'...here's some photographic proof...

the kiddos...stuffin' their cookie-loving faces...with cookies!!

waiting patiently for the fireworks...this lasted for 5 seconds...

 

AWESOME fireworks!!

 

 

my fave 'blurry' shot of the evening...

you know you're a redneck when....you sit on the trunk of your car and watch the neighbors...

'swimming' in the backyard pool...

 

that's it...hope your 4th is as fun as ours!!! Toodles...

A photo ebook...

I've been hanging around Ella Publishing lately...they have a fabulous free ezine and sell ebooks focussed on the paper crafts and photography....I bought this ebook today....AND LOVED IT...some of the other photo tip books/magazines I've read have been a tad bit elementary...this one offered plenty of tips for the 'average' amateur as well as the beginner and more experienced amateur out there....check it out...I'll be reading mine a few more times!!!