Change is good
Well, it really has been a very long time since I posted! My sincerest apologies for not updating, as my life has been crazy hectic for the last... 8 months or so? Most of the hectic stuff has been good; a few bumps in the road along the way but that is to be expected in this crazy game called life.
I am still scrapbooking like crazy, although the recent changes in the industry (and individuals involved in the industry) have caused me to be much more cautious about the choices I make in regards to whom I design for, whom I associate with, etc. I will try to post some recent work very soon! :)
Life with teenagers in the house has become very interesting. There is never a dull moment to be had with a new driver, an independent 14 year old girl, and a talkative 9 year old that keep me on my toes. I got my insurance adjustment in this month after adding Matthew to it (he got his license in December - look out Frisco!) and HOLY COW it is nuts! Good thing he is getting the good grades discount, drivers ed discount, etc. or else I am afraid I would have to get a second job just to pay the additional premiums!
Here is a layout I did a while back highlighting the kids' first day of school this school year. Unfortunately the picture is a little wonky and a scan wasn't possible, due to the lumpy junk I added, but you get the idea. I wanted to take several photos on the morning of their first day back and form them into a collage with notes about each photo, so I came up with this.
Alright, I know this is a short update, but it is late (early? Y'all know me!) and I need some ZZZZzzz's. I promise to update more often!
Peace.
I have been so busy lately, but I wanted to pop in and give some updates about me and my family. :) Matthew had all four of his wisdom teeth taken out on Saturday, so he has been in a lot of pain for the last couple of days. Today is the first day of school that he has missed this school year, and he won't be going tomorrow, either. Luckily next week is Spring Break for the kids, so he will be able to heal. No trumpet for him for the next two weeks.
I remember having my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago. I never got any wisdom teeth in until I was 27 and oddly enough, I only had two! Both teeth on the left side of my mouth - one on top and one on bottom. The surgeon said it was very strange that I didn't have any on the other side, and they even did extra x-rays just to be sure. So at least I only had half the pain, but I would gladly endure childbirth all three times before ever going through the pain of having wisdom teeth removed again. That was terrible, but I am a complete wimp when it comes to pain.
I received a wonderful box of American Crafts goodies! Here are a few of my favorite items from the shipment:
These felt letter stickers are awesome! Here is my favorite sheet of new patterned paper:
And these ribbons are pretty cool, too:
I also got a box of new CherryArte! I am in love with the "Alien Invasion" paper - it looks like Space Invaders, and of course the Retro lover in me thought that was the coolest ever! :) Here it is:
The color scheme is awesome. There were many others that I loved too, so just check out all the new releases if you haven't done so already. Can't wait to dig into their new stuff!
I am finalizing my projects for the Canada Crop for Kids event in October. I finished up another project for BHG last week and have a few other surprise things that I have been working on, so I will share more with you when I am able!
Before I go, I will share yet another deal with you for free prints! You know how I love those free photo deals! CVS is offering 30 free prints, just click here! Order your prints and pick them up at your local CVS store in just a few hours. Offer is good for existing CVS photo members as well as new members, so go get those free pictures!
Here is a layout I created for the new February Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine. It is about my mom and me when I was three years old. :) I used Imaginisce papers and some of their embellishments released at Memory Trends last fall. The magazine has some tips about how to restore color to a faded photograph; I hope it is useful to you! :)
I have received several new calls for upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul books, so I will post them here in case you see something that you would like to contribute a story or two for. Chicken Soup stories that are accepted pay $200 per story.
I am off to work on another BHG project!
Here is a cool thing to put in your scrapbook(s)! The White House will send out personal greetings signed by President Bush and Laura for the following events. Even if you are not a Bush fan, it is still a neat keepsake to receive. I did this a while back when Alex was born and the card came within a month or so.
BABY'S BIRTH GREETING
A baby birth card will be sent within a year of the birth. Please make your request after the baby is born.
BIRTHDAY GREETING
A birthday card will be sent to individuals celebrating their 80th (or greater) birthday. Please make your request at least 6 weeks in advance of the birthday.
WEDDING GREETING
A wedding card will be sent to couples after the event. Please make your request after the wedding.
ANNIVERSARY GREETING
An anniversary card will be sent to couples who are celebrating their 50th (or greater) wedding anniversary. Please make your request at least 6 weeks in advance of the anniversary.
Here are the restrictions:
U.S. CITIZENS. The White House will send greetings only to United States citizens for special occasions as outlined below.
NUMBER OF REQUESTS LIMITED. The number of requests you can submit per day is limited. Institutional requests for multiple greetings must be submitted by fax or mail on official letterhead with the required information listed above.
WHEN TO EXPECT YOUR GREETING. For birthdays and anniversaries, greetings will be mailed from the White House approximately 14 days prior to the event. Wedding and baby's birth greetings will be sent after the event.
So go get yours! :)
This is what my laundry room is beginning to look like. Nope, not out of laziness, but because my washer is BROKEN! The stupid thing stopped draining water, so we called out Maytag and the pump went out! This thing is only a year old! And that, my friends, is why we buy the three-year extended warranty! So it won't cost a dime to have it fixed, but because the parts are on order, my laundry is piling up in the mean time. More time for scrapbooking, right? HEHE!
Here is a page I did for the December issue of BHG. I used a dingbat that I found online for the gingerbread "cookie", then mixed artist's gesso with acrylic paint to make the "icing". I sprinkled glass beads onto the gesso while it was still a bit wet to mimic the cookie sprinkles, then let it dry before adhering the gingerbread man to the layout.
I am starting on some more projects for the May/June BHG issue and some layouts for Chatterbox for CHA! Whew! When I can, I will post some more projects!
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that this is your best year ever! Here at the Hanback house, we celebrated at home by making tons of snacks, toasting with juice at Midnight, and throwing lots of confetti while we watched Dick Clark on TV! It is what we do every year and I wouldn't have it any other way! I have to admit, though, that when Dick Clark started speaking, my heart fell and I almost cried. It is just so strange hearing his voice the way it is, after his stroke, especially since we have all grown up watching this guy do the New Year's thing every year. I guess it is almost like a realization to me that an era is coming to an end. When he is gone, our kids will hear someone else do the Rockin' Eve. I don't know, I am strange. It just brought tears to my eyes.
I haven't really made any New Year's resolutions; I try not to do that because I feel like every day is a reason to try to be the best that I can be - I shouldn't have a specific "day" to try to decide to make positive changes, if that makes sense. I am always trying to find ways to improve myself, my relationships, my life.
Here are a couple of Christmas ornaments that I created for the December issue of BHG. I hope you like them!
(above) This one is my favorite! I used Chatterbox grafik rub-ons and adhered a round one to the top of the glass ball, then another round rub-on from the bottom of the ball.
(above) For this one I used Pearl-ex inside the ball and then swirled it around, turning it upside down in an empty egg crate to let the excess drain out and to dry. Once the inside was dry, I embellished the ball with Chatterbox grafik rub-ons and a jewel.
(above) This one was made by punching out lots of 1/2" circles then adhering them to a glass ball ornament using Mod-Podge. Once the ball was completely covered, I gave the entire ball a good final coat of the Mod-Podge to seal. These can take some time to dry thoroughly, so let them sit (or hang) for a few days to eliminate any tackiness from the Mod-Podge. Then, I embellished the top with a ribbon, a brad, and some colored wire spirals.
(above) This ornament was so simple - I just cut 1/4 inch x 6" strips of patterned Christmas paper and inserted the strips one by one into the glass ball. Once it is filled to your liking, just put the metal collar back on the top then add some ribbons. I also adhered a "Merry Christmas" button with a glue dot. See? Easy peasy!
(above) This one would look better if I had taken the time to iron the wrinkles out of the ribbons. *ahem* Anyhow, simply cut strips of cardstock into 1" x 6" strips and roll them up tightly, then insert the rolls into the glass ball. Embellish with a rub-on and some ribbons and Voila! An ornament in maybe 2 minutes tops! The cool thing about making these is that you can color-coordinate them to match any theme, etc.
I am working on several different projects for BHG right now, but will continue to post here! I hope to share some more stuff with you soon!
And would somebody please take away this bag of pretzels I keep eating?!? Good grief, I am gonna gain a ton because I keep snacking on them!!
Hey everybody! Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a special day full of food and fun. We stayed here in Frisco, but we enjoyed opening presents, eating way too much food, and just being thankful for having full stomachs and a roof over our head! What a great day! I will post some pictures tonight.
I got one of these for Christmas:
I am so excited - I have been wanting a Wishblade for the longest time! It is backordered, so I don't actually have it yet, but it is supposed to be shipped on the 29th so I can't wait to get it. Now I won't have to end up with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from all the hand-cutting of letters and shapes using my exacto knife. YAY! LOL!
The kids had a great Christmas. They are upstairs playing with all of their goods and I haven't heard nary a peep out of them since they opened their presents! It is so funny how kids open their gifts then hibernate in their rooms with all the goods.
I bought Noel a Playstation 3. Yes, I know it is frivolous, but he is a big kid at heart and loves to play video games! He lost his PS2 in the hurricane, so this was a cool gift. I found a guy who had bought one for his family but then needed the money for Christmas so he decided to sell it. It had never been opened and he had the receipt too, so I bought it. He has been in the living room playing Call of Duty.
I am really excited about the upcoming Scrapbooking Crop for Kids in Canada next October! I will be joining some other really fabulous teachers and will be teaching for this fundraising event. If you haven't already checked it out, please do so. It is a very important fundraiser and I cannot wait to be a part of it!
Ok, off to clean up some Christmas mess and work on some projects for BHG! I will post some pictures here in just a bit!
I had written this little how-to a while back, but thought I would repost it here since someone e-mailed me a few days ago and asked me exactly how to make one of these little accordion albums.
Creating a tiny, handmade scrap album is very simple, using materials you already have. You can decorate them in an endless amount of ways, creating a super gift idea for friends, family, and loved ones. They make wonderful gifts for any occasion, including holidays. These albums are also extremely inexpensive to make.
Start with a piece of 12 x 12” cardstock. A sturdy, kraft-colored cardstock will give excellent results. You will need to cut a strip of the cardstock into a piece that is 12” wide and 3” tall. One sheet of 12 x 12” cardstock will make four tiny albums!
Once you have cut the strip of cardstock, you will then measure 2 “ increments, and fold the cardstock every 2 inches, back and forth, accordion-style. This will give you your “pages”, as you will be decorating the front and back of this “accordion”. Using a bone folder to create the folds is strongly recommended, as you want them to be very crisp, so the album will not only look better, but also the pages will lay nicely when it is folded.
Cut a piece of chipboard into two 2” x 3” pieces. The chipboard will reinforce the front and back cover of your miniature album. Next, glue one piece onto the front of the accordion, and the other piece onto the back. You should have something that looks like this:
Again, this is an older album that I created a while back, but the design steps are the same for the actual album itself. :)
Have a great Wednesday!
When the finished album is folded up, you will see the “Love” cover, and the journaling will be the back cover. Finish your album by tying a pretty ribbon or piece of twine around the whole album. This keeps it flat, and also keeps it closed. You may even want to give the album in a gift box, and it will also fit into an altered Altoids tin. You can experiment with different colors and textures of cardstocks to get the results you want.
This album will fold up flat when completed.
Now you are ready to begin decorating the pages! Keep in mind that you will want to keep lumpy embellishments to a minimum, as the album will not lay flat if the pages contain many three dimensional items.
In my example album below, I used a red, white, and black theme. (***DISCLAIMER*** I told you I wrote this a while back, so no making fun of the "old" supplies! LOL!) I adhered red cardstock and 7 Gypsies papers to the front cover, and then applied Mod Podge with a paintbrush to seal it. This adds even more strength to the front cover, and helps protect it from fingerprints. I carried the color scheme throughout the album by using more 7 Gypsies papers, KI Memories Time paper, and red cardstock. I used Adler font, and also the Making Memories date stamp. On the back cover, I printed my journaling onto white cardstock, then adhered it to a piece of red cardstock that completely covers the back, and I Mod Podged over the entire back cover to strengthen and seal.
Here is my finished album!
A friend of mine asked me to create a printable calendar template for her so that she could create custom 6" x 6" calendars as Christmas gifts for her friends and family, so I made this template for her to use. Feel free to download it and use it for your own projects! I left blank space at the top so that you can create a title - either printed with some cool fonts or you can even use letter stickers, chipboard letters, or whatever else you dream up. The squares are blank so you can customize them for any month. Just click on the image and it will pull up a full-sized image for you to save.
If you create a calendar using this template, send me a picture/scan! I will send a goodie package to my favorite calendar!
Have fun!
Here are some colors that are predicted to be big in fashion for the upcoming 2007 Spring/Summer fashion lines. As most of you know, scrapbooking usually takes many color/style cues from fashion and home decor lines, so it will be interesting to see how many of these colors actually end up flooding our paper and embellishment lines! I am predicting lots of purples mixed with neutral colors, such as black, grey, and white. What are your predictions? I am loving the peachy-salmon colors - those are my favorites!
I hope that some of these colors inspire you!
Just a quick Christmas card I made for Scrappers Bliss using Three Bugs in a Rug's Holiday line of papers and rub-ons. The star at the top is Fancy Pants chipboard that has been painted with a red leafing pen by Krylon.
Working on an assignment from BHG, so I will post again soon!
Here is a layout that I created for Scrappers Bliss using the "Laguna Guy" line of papers by Junkitz. I love the Heidi Swapp chipboard letters - they are addictive! And yes, that is a coluzzle template that he is looking through in the middle black and white photo - he is a silly kiddo!
Thank you to all of you who chatted with me last night at Creative Crafts and Stickers! It was great to "meet" some of you!
Just posting a layout that I created for the new challenge posted over on the "Designing with Color" blog. Love the "DW" girls! What a great challenge; and I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!
Sorry it took so long, but a few people requested more time for the ad challenge that I posted here. I received all sorts of awesome and inspiring layouts, but the winner is.....
Here is her layout and the magazine ad that inspired it!
Thanks to everyone for playing! Ok, Julie please send me your address so I can send you a goodie box! :)
I think I have sent out all of the links for the mystery shopping companies to everyone who has requested them. If you have any more questions about mystery shopping, let me know!
I am off to work on a couple of projects for Scrappers Bliss and BHG! Peace!
And this is how my scrap studio looks after I have created a layout. Pretty messy! I confess to being a "piler". Sometimes I even create pages on top of piles of paper and embellishments! Usually, I will clean up completely before starting a new project, because I dislike working in a messy area, although from the looks of this picture, I am sure you will beg to differ with me. LOL! I have been working on several projects this past week, including my first assignment from BHG as a Creative Team member, an article and layout for Chatterbox, and a few other surprises I have up my sleeve! One of those surprises involves travel to a place FAR away, so I am really excited about that!
I am waiting for pizza to arrive so I don't have to cook tonight (bad, lazy mom! LOL!) and I keep staring at this mess on my counter top, knowing I should clean it up. Maybe after a couple slices of pizza I will be more motivated. Alright, who am I fooling?
I am going to be a guest designer for a kit club web site next month, so that will be fun! I love kit clubs, although I don't belong to any of them. Leave me a comment and let me know who your favorite kit club is! You can be my enabler!!
I got some really good scrapbook related news today from a dear friend of mine and I am so excited for her. I can't spill the beans, but she should be able to, soon! When she does, I will link you to her great news. You know who you are - I am SO PROUD OF YOU! You are going to rock the house with your work!
So how was your Labor Day? Mine was great! The weather here in Texas today is gorgeous and it hasn't been as hot as it normally is. I was told that it actually rained here over the weekend! We haven't seen rain in what seems like forever. Fall is my favorite weather, so we are finally getting close to the crisp, cool days that call for sweatshirts and sneakers. My favorite!
Matthew came home yesterday with his latest "dilemma" - he has 3 different girls wanting to go to Homecoming with him! He has given it great thought and has finally figured out who he is going to ask, so cross your fingers that she says yes! I will keep you updated. This year is going so well for him so far. It is nice to finally see him genuinely happy and feel "at home" once again.
Ok, I really am going to clean up this mess, now. I will update again later!
Ciao!
Finished up a layout for Scrappers Bliss tonight so I thought I would post it. :) This one is about the pink Converse shoes that Domonique got from my dear friend Thena last November for her birthday. If you click on the layout, you can read the journaling.
Well, we got through the day! We did not turn on the TV. Thank you so much for the calls and e-mails; it really warmed our hearts. We were going to plant a tree today in our back yard, but when we went to Home Depot to look at the trees, most of them were dying from the extreme drought we have been having, so we decided to wait. It was a gorgeous day, here - clear skies and the temperature was in the upper 80's. We took Alex to the park, Domonique went to a football game with some friends, and Matthew played in a community band up at the high school (he gets community service hours for it, too!) so we all had something to do.
I am working on my first assignment for the BHG creative team, so I am really excited about that! I am also working on an article and layout for Chatterbox, so when I can, I will post them here.
Peace!
Here is the link to the newspaper story I promised. I forgot all about it. LOL! Sorry! There is a photo in the actual print copy of the paper, but not online.
Thanks for all the hugs and encouraging words. Definitely counting our blessings, and praying for those in the path of Ernesto.
Ok, this may seem like a simple layout, but I created it for the sentiment and wanted to keep it clean and graphic. The "swirls" are dots of white puff paint. If you click the layout, you can see the journaling better. Again, I am a firm believer in flowers for boys/men, too. HAHAHA!
Tonight I had a great talk with Matthew after he got home from the mall/dinner/movies with friends. First of all, now that he is in tenth grade, he has really started settling in better, here, and is making all kinds of new friends. I am so relieved that he finally seems happy again. I know that 9th grade was a tough time to go through losing your friends and changing schools, and that changes can be very hard to accept, but let me tell you - our whole experience has really taught us a lot about accepting changes, learning tolerance, and not passing judgment against others unless we truly know what it is like to be in their shoes. This was a good portion of our heart-to-heart talk that we had tonight, and it is one of those conversations that you hope to have with your teenager; one that makes you walk away and feel as though no matter what has happened or will ever happened, you have done something right. :) He really is a great kid. I am very blessed and I don't take these three kids for granted for a second.
My mom just left after stopping through on her way to Nebraska. When my stepdad passed away, she put most of her things (and his) in a storage building. Here it is three years later, and she finally felt as though she had the strength and means to go through the items and get rid of a lot of stuff that she was ready to part with - you know, things like his old clothes, tools, and just general things that she doesn't want to haul around and store anymore. She brought me some things that she wanted me to have, but one of the best things of all - a huge stack of framed pictures of my kids that I lost in Katrina! I had given her copies years ago when the original portraits were taken, but she selflessly gave me hers so that I would have them again. I cried. It is the most incredible thing! Also, she had some of my things such as a copy of my senior announcement, some of my childhood letters, toys (my original Care Bear!), school certificates, one of my old diaries, and numerous other things. She gave me letters that I had written to her when I was little, cards I had made her, and so many other priceless things. This time I want to scan them and scrap them and not sit around wasting time like I did before!
When I was in Idaho, Melody (Ross) told us Chatterbox girls about how she makes prints on a regular basis of the snapshots she takes of her family. The ones that she doesn't scrap right away, she puts into albums and leaves out where her kids and others can look through them any time they wish. It made me feel horribly guilty, as ever since I went digital I have just been hoarding all these photos on my hard drive; not sharing them with my family or making them accessible. I swore when I got home, I would start ordering prints as I could and do the very same thing. Well, you know how time can slip away and our intentions fall aside to make way for other priorities. Alas, I haven't yet ordered any prints. However, after this visit with my mom and looking through her photos/mementos, I realized (again) how important it is to have these photos out where my kids can view them, laugh about them, relive the experiences, and just reminisce - good times and bad. So this week, I am ordering prints.
Oh - and the Tahoe - well, we got it out of the shop but it is still blowing hot air worse than a crotchety old lady so we are taking it back to the mechanic Monday morning. They think it may be a "bad compressor from the factory". LOL Whatever! Just fix it already! So there is the vehicle update. Thanks for all the hugs! I sure needed them! Y'all rock. Again, I am so blessed. Thank you.
Here is a CherryArte layout I did for Scrappers Bliss. Yeah, yeah, I know, lots of flowers on a boy page. Nothing wrong with that, right? Am I convincing you or myself?!? HEHEHE
The newspaper reporter came to my house yesterday to do the article/interview about me for the Frisco Enterprise newspaper. The story runs tomorrow, so I will post the link once I get it. :)
Be back later today!
Alright, I don't get overly excited about stuff very easily, but this product was such a terrific idea and I loved it the moment I saw it at CHA. It is the "Lazy Letters" tote! It won't start shipping to stores until October or so, but man, I am drooling over it in the mean time! It holds all those chipboard letters that we have a hard time storing! The tote comes with alphabet/number stickers to label each container. The containers come out of the tote individually, and they have a unique way of sliding together! Complete with a shoulder strap for easy carrying. You have to check it out!
Ok, it has been like Christmas around here! Stuff has just been rolling in from various manufacturers every day! So here are a few cool new things I received from the wonderful folks at Imaginisce:
These are just some of the different goodies they sent me! Then I received a terrific package from Piggy Tales, a huge stack of paper, stickers, and ribbons from American Crafts, and here is my favorite sheet of new paper from American Crafts, by the way:
Isn't this the most yummy piece of paper ever? I love the colors!
I also got a huge box from Krylon that includes almost every single paper crafting paint/paint pen/enamel that they make! Everything from webbing spray in various colors, sheer stained glass colors, the "Make it Stone" sprays, leafing pens, and much more. I can't wait to play with all of it! Click this Krylon link and you can order a free idea brochure so you can brainstorm on including their acid free products in your scrapbooking!
Got some school shopping done today for Alex since they all start back to school this coming Monday. Went to The Children's Place and found some great duds for him! Such cute clothes there. Found him a great pair of OP shoes at Rack Room shoes (can youbelieve this generation wears OP? Like I wore that in 8th grade!) so I have just a few more things to pick up for him and I will be finished. I braved the mall the other day and purchased some Abercrombie and Fitch shirts for Domonique. She is hilarious - she was "in love" with the cute guy on the shopping bag. *sigh* So not ready for all that! I still have to finish her and Matthew's shopping before Monday. At least the school supplies were bought early!
I received a request to be spotlighted by Scrapscene (a "who's who" industry blog) so please check it out in the next week or so. It is a great listing of celebrity scrapbookers and their blog sites.
Someone send us some rain! The other day, we had storm clouds and some lightning, and can you believe not a drop of rain here in Frisco! It has been so dry. Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and hot with a high of 104. I think we moved from one extreme to the other. HAHA!
Downloaded a cool song - if you like Kylie Minogue, download "Red Blooded Woman". It rocks!
Ok, off to finish up a project I started about three days ago. I have got to be the slowest thing ever, lately. Peace out!
So Noel and I were in the office working on some projects and there was a noise coming from the kitchen. Next thing we knew, Alex came around the corner carrying this "tray" (cookie sheet!) containing two slices of toast with cinnamon butter and two glasses of ice along with our favorite beverage - Diet Pepsi! Yes, that is a Zelda hat he is wearing, albeit a homemade version. he loves the game Zelda, and he asked his grandma to sew him a hat just like the one that Link wears in the game. This kid wears that hat everywhere - even falls asleep with it on sometimes! So here is our breakfast surprise from Link himself. What a lil' sweetheart! The caffeine was just what we needed to start the day.
Summer is flying by. Matthew started band camp this morning and will practice twice a day for the next two weeks, in order to get ready for marching band season. Alex and Domonique are busy trying to squeeze in the last few weeks of summer by swimming, socializing, and sleeping in late.
I received a phone call tonight from one of my lost long best friends! I haven't talked to him in nine years, as we lost contact. It was awesome to hear from him and see how he has been doing. I had so much to tell him about things that have happened over the years.
I have been thinking a lot lately about karma. Yes, that old adage that pretty much says what goes around comes around.
I firmly believe that you should do unto others the way you wish for them to do unto you. If you wish ill will toward someone, I believe that it will return tenfold. Gossip and nastiness not only can consume a person, but it can also create negativity around its originator. I try to think positively about those around me, even if I don't agree with their ideals, their views, or their attitude. I believe that you get what you give, not only in the creative industry, but in real life as well. :)
Well, what do you expect - it is late, and I do tend to turn philosophical in the wee hours. LOL! Have a great night! Peace.
Ok, I always get a zillion e-mails asking me how I resize my layouts for posting online or for submission purposes, so here are my steps:
To resize your images to fit most publications’ submission guidelines, please follow these instructions:
Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements
To resize your images in Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, simply follow these instructions:
Step 1: Save your original file and make a copy (File > Save As > “Filename-copy.jpg”). You will be prompted to choose image quality on a scale of 1–12, or low, medium, high, or maximum. Save your file at the highest image-quality setting, and work from this copy. If you mess up, you’ll still have your high-resolution original.
Step 2: Lower the resolution to 72 dpi. Go to Image > Image Size and change the resolution to 72 pixels.
Step 3: Reduce the image dimensions. While still in the Image Size menu, check the width and height of the image. Make sure it’s no higher or wider than six inches. Click “OK.”
Step 4: Sharpen the image. When you shrink an image, it automatically seems to become less sharp, but this can be fixed. Choose Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. Use the sliders and check the preview box to see when your image is as sharp as the full-sized version. When you’re satisfied that you’ve sharpened your image enough, hit “OK.” (Others may find that simply selecting the Sharpen filter does the trick).
Step 5: Compress the file. If done right, this will bring your image down to under 100K without changing how it looks on screen. Do another Save As, but select a lower-quality image setting. We found a middle setting of 5–6, or medium, to be sufficient, while also cutting file size by a factor of 10–20X.
Step 6: Check file size. Your file should be under 100K! If not, it’s probably very close; go back to the original, and try compressing further. Still too big? Resize the image a bit smaller.
Hope this helps!! If you have any more questions, please send them my way! :) Have a great Friday!
Here is a layout of mine that was hanging in the Basic Grey booth at CHA. It is one of my favorites. The first and only time I have ever created anything with Basic Grey, and now I am hooked! Just got the new Gypsy and LilyKate lines in the mail (thanks Amy - you rock!) so I am chomping at the bit to tear into those packages and create something!
I am so not ready for school to start. Domonique has been begging me to teach her how to put on eyeliner. I am not ready for this! EYELINER! Geesh, seems like yesterday I was changing her diapers. The time goes by faster than I can keep up. They will go back to school in less than three weeks. School supply shopping = done. School clothes? Now that is another story! Found a great sale on True Religion jeans and Juicy Couture, so Domonique is all happy about that! Back to Nordstrom's in the next two weeks to pick up some cool clothes for them. Still need to find out where the Mavericks get their shoes so I can get Matthew some more skiis for his feet. HAHA!
Well, the BHG stuff is finally starting to sink in a little! I am really excited about starting some assignments. My legs have recovered from walking the floor at CHA (finally!) and now I am ready to dive into some new projects headfirst. Thank you to those of you who sent me such kind words and encouraging e-mails as well as your congrats on making the BHG team! I came home to several hundred really cool e-mails! If I haven't answered you yet, I will very soon! Still catching up.
So what are you listening to? I am in love with "Far Away" by Nickelback and "Me & You" by Cassie (my phone's ringtone, by the way - LOL!). I have also downloaded some more 80's stuff (as always!) and some cool remixes of old favorites. There is an awesome cover of "Wicked Game" by a band called HIM that sounds great - check it out if you like the old Chris Isaak favorite.
Ok, cereal time. My late night snack. Frosted Mini-Wheats this time. Yummy! Later!
Here is a photo from the BHG get-together we had tonight during CHA. This is only a few of us. From left to right: Janna Wilson, Melissa Inman, Shannon Zickel, me, Amy Licht, and Amy Howe in the front. We had a great time! I have some more pictures, but am too tired to post them so I will do it when I get back home.
Sandi Minchuk - it was great to meet you today! Glad you got your photo with Melody Ross! ;) I hated to see Courtney and Leah have to go tonight, but they left early. I go back home tomorrow night, and although the show has been a blast, I am tired and ready to go. :) Rhonna was such a hoot, and Shannon Zickel totally cracks us all up! Wendy
