The first day of December

It is strange to post on the blog without the responsibility of keeping our challenges going. At first, I thought it might be pointless. But then I am reminded by the blog title to declare all that is good in my life.

So I want to share a photo I took this morning of the winter wonderland that met me:

Everywhere I looked was a world crystallized. My Amanda turned to my husband and said, "I wish it could be winter all the time." For a gal like me who's spent the majority of life without experiencing snow, I absolutely agree with Amanda.

The other day I made a banner for my friend's Etsy website. Simple but cheery:

Check out her handmade goods at www.silviavictory.etsy.com - she's got some great stocking stuffers at great prices.

My latest layout to share:

credits

paper - Lori Barnhurst of Little Dreamer Designs for the Color Matters Collaboration (with fresco filter and "hard light")

fonts - Old Typewriter, Artistamp Medium

based on Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Friday 2006 #5

quote

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." -Carl Jung
journaling

2.10.07

There are times that I as a stay-at-home mother wonder if I am just spinning mywheels... I wake up, round up you and your sister, run around a bit, come back home,eat, sleep, do it over again. That’s when you and your sister remind me in your gentle way: my calling is to be your mother, unabashedly, wholeheartedly. I look into your face full of contemplation, witness your growth, revel in your joy, and resolve not just to dream, but to awaken. Thank you for teaching me, Amanda. My heart sings with gratitude for you, your sister, and Daddy. My cup indeed runneth over.

Join us at the new Yahoo Group

This group is branching out a bit - join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/upandrunning/ to continue the challenges. From now on, you'll be able to post your own LOs, make comments on anything you'd like, etc. Many thanks to Nicky (senovia).

{Update: This Yahoo!Group is no longer active - have moved onto a different forum! Thanks for hangning out - it was fun!}

Ann's (pinewoodtoo) LO for practice - the digi fiend!!!!

credits
Paper - Amy Teets' Modernn Twist
Word art and elements - Amy Teets' He said She said kit

Angela's (angela2932) LO for the 11/25 challenge

credits

Papers, stamps, frames - Jen Wilson Designs' Affirm ReJenErate Kit

Template - Kissed Studio

Font - Vivaldi, Impact

Heather's LO for the 11/25 challenge

I took a photo of my DD#2 (moments after birth) that was not the best quality and desaturated it with the rest of the page for a vintage look. Can you tell I'm not a huge fan of pink?

credits
Paper - Pam LeForsDesigns' Morning Mist Kit
Frame - Aja Abney's My Wish For You Kit
Ribbon - MyAngel236
Font - AquilineTwo, dafont.com

Ann's (pinewoodtoo) LO for the 11/25 challenge

credits
Paper and ribbon (twine) - doro_One Moment in Time
Journal block - JWilson_Journaling Pieces
Alpha - Kpertiet_acrylic
Flourish - JWilson
Frame - Vera Lim Design All Framed Up
Stitches - BBoone_In Stitches 2
Font: Impact

Angela (angela2932) brings you another challenge - 11/28/07

Angela writes:

"Hello everyone!

I think Heather's doing a wonderful job of challenging us to keep adding to our skills! Here's my challenge for 11/28. It's a 3-parter, and feel free to just do whatever parts you want. I'm posting my layout so you can see an example of the part 1 and part 2. The first is the most difficult:

1. Here's a link to a Jessica Photoshop Friday. It creates a hand-tinted look to a photo, and is Photoshop Friday #5 ('06; #5). http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/imported-archives/2006/5/12/photoshop-friday-issue-5.html
(In a search on Jessica's site, some of the posts refer to a "dreamify" action, which I suspect we might get in the 2nd class.)

I had some trouble following it, only because the labels to my layers, and the order, were different than Jessica's, but it all seemed to work the same. My "layer 1 copy" was called "Background". "Layer 1 copy 2" was called Background copy 1, etc. Just make sure your "color photo,soft light blend" is on top, with the "desaturated copies" underneath, whatever they are called. The very bottom layer (mine is the background) is the original colored photo, and I click off the "eye" so it is not visible.

This sounds complicated, but really isn't. In step 6 of Jessica's tutorial, just make sure your layers are in the same order as hers are, no matter what they're called.

2. Here's the 2nd part of the challenge, and is really just a cute thing I played with in PSE5. This builds on the challenge in which we created a scallop frame. (Teri's challenge, 11/21: http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/2007/7/6/photoshop-friday-26-make-a-scalloped-frame.html) I had so much fun with this, I just kept playing. Instead of using a hard, round brush, I loaded another brush, and this is what I'm challenging you to do. Pick any other brush, and then set everything up exactly the same way as you did before, except use another brush. I used a snowflake brush around the frame in my layout.

Then here's the fun thing I added. Go into "Artwork and Effects" section of your layers. In my PSE5, this is the second section down, under "Undo", above "Navigator". In "Artwork and Effects" make sure the little box on the left says "layer effects" in the drop-down menu. The little box on the right should have the "bevels" option selected in the drop down menu. Now you'll see several kinds of bevels available, like "simple outer" , "simple inner" "emboss", and "simple pillow." Pick "simple pillow" (who could resist a name like that?), click on it, and click on "apply" and POOF! You've pillow-ified whatever you wanted to change. I pillow-ified my snowflakes, but you can do this to text, or whatever you feel like playing with. (I haven't tried it on people, but I bet it's not good.)

(Besides, if we're going to have "dreamify", then we should also have "pillow-ify".)

3. And the third part is just a reminder of something that Jessica sent us during the Up and Running class. At one point she sent us her "de.li.cious" settings, or bookmarks. Here's one I want to remind you of, because I find it comes in handy when I'm wishing I could remember where to go to find something wonderful, like Jen Caputo's templates. (I could always google it, but this is a nice resource to have.) It's the list of designers and their sites: http://digitalscrapbookpreviews.com/designermemberlist.html "

credits pending

Debbie's (Dschroeder) LO for the 11/21 challenge

credits
Amy Teetes whitietighties Paper # 5
Anne Langpap 2 Peas NovFreebie 2005 Purple Floral Paper
Anne Langpap 2Peas NovFreebie 2005 Stripes Paper
Anne Langpap 2Peas NovFreebie 2005 Yellow Floral Paper
Sandie Krieger A Little Pizzaaz So Cute
Anne Langpap 2PeasFreebie June07 Purple Floral Rubon
Anne Langpap 2PeasFreebie Jun07 Spiral Flower Image
Anne Langpap 2PeasFreebie Jun07 Leafy Flower Image
Title Font: CropAddict.com Michon Kessler's Vintage Vellum Alpha Monograms
Date Font: MVBDesign.com SacreBleu

Shari's (Shari Z) LO for the 11/25 challenge

credits
Template - Hummie Template 5
Paper - Stone Accents Fall Mega Kit
Ribbons - Gold, Raspberry Road; rust, CanDesigns; beige, Digitreats; green, Marie Stone; striped, Dsmith
Accents - Janidee Designs
Word art - Brit-ish Designs