Double Dipping

Sometimes I really love my job.

I was working on a graphic for user interface prototype, and needed a technique I’ve seen used in scrapbooking to pull the graphic together.

So, I did a google search on some keyword, and started surfing digital scrapbooking sites. After a few minutes, I found detailed instructions for the technique. About 30 minutes later, I had mastered the technique.

Two for the “price” (time) of one: a technique I can use professionally AND in my hobby.

Inked Edges

I’ve been searching for the “perfect” technique to ink edges digitally. I’ve been searching for about 6 months now, but nothing I see fits my criteria. I’m probably too picky, looking for look-alike ink edges.

I’m sort of picky with my real inked edges, too. They have to be messy, irregular, sometimes with oops areas where I lose my grip on the pad and it goes flying across the paper.

Just how do you create that digitally? Or create a script that runs that effect.

I keep reminding myself that Google and Delicious are my friends. I’ll figure it out — I always do. Maybe I just need another 6 months of searching and playing.

Coming Home

Note: I vaguely recall this. I experimented with a different free blogging host — a local company — and didn’t like the program at all. I wrote this post to announce I was keeping BlogSpot as my home blog host. And then 3 years and 4 months later, I wound up moving everything to BlueHost after a very long scrapbooking hiatus. The rest is history. Carol Anne 8/11/2019

I’ve been messing around with a different blog in a different blogging software. I’ve decided to come home to this blog — where I have all my old stuff and can continue to do my new stuff. And I have more flexible features.
So you’ll probably see more action over here in the future. I’ve just finished transferring over posts from my other blog. I’m glad to be back home.

TGI-GMail

I had to send some large files last night via my MSN account. Unfortunately, the files weren’t zipping smaller, and I couldn’t get what I wanted using a third-party file transfer program.

On a whim, I flipped over to my one and only GMail account and … no issues with file size. While I’m not in the mood to test the limits of GMail and it’s file transfer protocol, I am very glad that it fit my needs right now.

Double Dipping — Part 2

I had another opportunity to learn a scrapbooking technique in the course of work. This time I learned how to make torn pages. It saves space to just show a portion of a repetitive report as an example graphic.

Now, I didn’t ink the edges. That would have been too much.

In the course of looking for a torn-edge tutorial, I found at least four more PaintShop Pro tutorial sites that I have never seen before. My Delicious tag list for PSP is up to 17 entries now.

PSP Plaid

I took some time out from grading to play with a beginner PSP (PaintShop Pro) tutorial. Because of my scotties, I decided to try the tutorial to make a swatch of plaid.

I used some really bright, obnoxious colors. I wound up with a really bright madras plaid. Not at all Scottish. Here’s a link to the tutorial.

http://www.whisperscorner.com/tuts/basicplaid/index.html

It’s pretty easy, and with a little extra thought, it could be translated into a (gasp!) Photoshop process.

Quality vs. Quantity

Note: This is the first incarnation of Design Your Life. It was quite detailed. I never finished it. I have all the materials. It goes on my scrappy bucket list, I guess. I had more success with Cathy’s DYL 2.0, which was six weeks in length in the Spring of 2017. Carol Anne 8/11/2019

Spent some time today working through the first two weeks’ assignments in Cathy Z’s “Design Your Life” class. I’m a month behind in the class, but that’s life.

I like what I’m learning so far. As a technical writer, I need to consider design when I craft documents for work — especially when I am creating graphics. The design principles Cathy describes are universal. They apply to scrapbooking, web design, photography, newsletter design. Anything that is visual.

So right now I am concentrating on balance and symmetry — not two of my strong points right out of the box. What I find interesting is how difficult I find applying this concept to scrapbooking. But, if I am working entirely with text or widgets, it comes naturally to me.

Perhaps the solution is that I need to look at all the things that I put on a scrapbook page as widgets or funny-looking paragraphs of text.

I use to play with placement when I first started scrapbooking — moving things around before pasting it down. I stopped playing around as my crafting time got more limited.

Perhaps that’s where the actual issue lies: I am limited by the clock. I can’t produce as many pages as I use to a sitting, because I have less time to actually work. And that is impacting the quality of my work because I’m trying to produce the same quantity that I had in the past.

I think I need to explore my quality/quantity dilemna.

Big Day

I’ve been awake since 3:30 am. I blame that partially on the time switchover this weekend, and the other part on my nerves about today.

Election Day is here.

My things are packed and ready to go out to my car for the two block ride to the precinct where I register voters. It’s going to be a very busy day. In 2004, we registered over 100 voters on Election Day. I’m expecting the same type of numbers today. My head judge, in his wisdom, has assigned me a helper.

My nerves aren’t so much about what is going to happen today. This is my third presidential election that I have served as an election judge. November 2000 was my first election as a judge. I’ve worked every election since then. I know my job well. John and the girls drilled me for a 1/2 hour last night on “what if” scenarios — I had solid answers for everything. I know what I am doing.

I’m nervous because I don’t know how this will all come out. I know I would like a broad Democratic victory across the country, starting with Barack Obama. It would be the perfect birthday present (I turn 50 today).

I have a big bottle of Pepcid packed, along with an even bigger bottle of Advil. I bought for myself a huge bouquet of flowers: red, white, and blue with a pop of Autumn. The designer at Johnson’s did a wonderful job – the flowers are fragrant and triggering my allergies. Thank God for Claritin and Zyrtec! I have a book and a magazine to read at lunch break, cookies, towel paper, and my lunch. And my tiara. A birthday girl’s gotta celebrate as she can when she’ll be working at 17+ hour day.

Time to do a last check of the hair, put on the earrings and lipstick, and head to the rec center to set up.

P.S. – Sarah if you read this: happy belated birthday!!!!! Send me your address, would you?