Friday happy Friday!!

WOW, this week just absolutely SNAILED along for me. I'm exhausted !! And am welcoming the weekend peace with open arms!! I am glad to say that I said goodbye to my old co-workers today and popped into my new job for a quick look around. BRING on monday's training!!! If you live in QLD, close to Cooperoo, please drop by and say 'hello'. The store is just behind the Coles there :)


I am feeling like some scrapping tonight, not sure if I'll get there though but am hoping!!!


Here is a quick layout I can share today. Photo of Katie and her precious friend Sabrina. I had to mellow down the bright colours of the photo as I wouldn't have been able to scrap it otherwise haha.



IF you are feeling like using a sketch as your inspiration, here is something for you!! Upload your layout based on this sketch to Scrap Fever and you could win yourself a neat little voucher for their store!!

And some photos to share from a quick photoshoot today. How cute is Katie blowing kisses :) Totally adorable!!




With the 1st of JULY just around the corner, make sure you keep Paper Trunk's blog addy close to hand. I can tell you that there is a party happening on there and the prizes - O.M.Goodness!!!!!! So jeaulous that I can't enter!!! There are challenges GALORE and not all of them involves scrapping, some are so EASY and the prizes way to generous!!! So jot it down!!!!! it will be a BIG one!!

Have a gorgeous weekend!!!

Happy Happy Monday

Well it isn't often that I call Monday happy, but am so excited today. I resigned from my current job today and will be finishing up there on Friday. I am looking forward to the new job , can't wait to get started!!


On a scrappy front, I have a few to share.


This layout is made from Paper Trunk Goodness. Throw in some florals from Scrapbook 'n' Bits and you have a rustic layout perfect for a horsie layout.

The layout is based on Sketch 90 from Pencil Lines. The girls have outdone themselves and wowser for guest designer Debee Compos!!! Hop over and check it all out and why not have a go yourselves!!


More Paper Trunk Goodness on this layout!!
And a last one to leave you with :)

Have a happy week everyone! I'm not scrapping today but going to lounge out with 'Fool's Gold' to watch :)

4 days and counting at my old job whoooooppppeeeeeeeee!!!

xx
Jolene

Fun day at the city today :)

Just sharing shome shots of our trip to the city today. Me and my Mum and Dad took Katie for a walk on Southbank and ferry ride all the way to the last stop close to the Gateway Bridge. She just LOVED it!!




























Not sure what tomorrow holds for us, am feeling exhuasted tonight so just lounging out watching King Arthur!

Enjoy tomorrow!!

xx
Jolene

WOOOHOOOO it is FRIDAY!!!

Wow, I have had a full on and pretty tiring week. But the week has ended in a good way as me and a very good friend - Liz, got a job that we applied for a while back and guess what ......

it will be working in a brick and mortar SCRAPBOOKING STORE!!!! Isn't that UNREAL!!! I will be working as a sales girl and also be teaching classes, I'm SO excited, SO thrilled and totally and completely CAN'T wait to get started!!!


It is a part time role. I will be working 2-3 full days a week while Liz will be covering my Saturday shifts. The store is a bit of a drive from me -35- 45 min- But I know the drive will be worth the job :) We are both so excited and looking forward to making a start there soon.

On other news, I can share a few layouts from here and there that I created ages ago.
This one below is using the Batik Range from Paper Trunk with some bling and glitter dust for a soft touch for Katie.


This one was my entry for the Scrapbook Creations Colour competition. As you can see I went for the yellow and orange colour scheme, but didn't get lucky this year though. Congrats to all the winners!!


And this is the gorgeous yummy pink paislee goodness layout that I taught at Scrapbook 'n' Bits earlier this week! I SO cannot wait to see what Pink Paislee has instore for their new products!!


Some more on the photography front!! I got asked recently if I am trying to become a professional photographer. Before I got pregnant with Katie my dream was to become a travel and landscape photographer, I was even lucky enough to have some photos and articles published in one of Austrlia's travel magazines!!! But the dream disapeared when the bubs arrived. While I'm not seeing any near future in this area, maybe one day eventual I'll get back to it, I won't do portrait photography though, but get back to travel and landscapes. And until then I'm just having fun and practicing and getting to know the capabilities of my camera :)

So here are two landscape ones that I took late last week. Some photoshop editing tricks with my multiple exposure piccies and TADA! not too bad lol.



Anyways, I really should be doing other things ... isn't that always the way!!!

So I'm off to go and get a few things done before zoning out and relaxing on our friday night :)
AH weekend bliss!!! BRING IT ON! :)

Have a gorgeous one!!!

xx Jolene

Scrappy bits and pieces :)

Back to the happy snappy world of scrapbooking today :)


PAPER TRUNKS UPDATES:

The newest Trunk Times Newsletter is out. I have two projects in there, so do pop over and check it out :) Also Carrie has released images of the NEWEST collection and also the NEW embellishments :) Click HERE!


PENCIL LINES UPDATE:

A gorgeous new sketch is up ladies!!! And so are the most boootiful creations from the Team!!

Pop over to check it out!
This is my take on the sketch, I did this layout for my gorgeous friend Liz. This is Katie's favourite friend to play with, they are just adorable together!!!


SCRAPBOOK 'N' BITS:

I got too play with some yummy papers from Scrapbook 'n' Bits. These papers are soooo yummy, bright, happy and fun! A combo here of G C D and also Carolee's creations. Karen also has 40% off selected stock atm for the stocktake sale, so loads of special going around!!


I'm off to teach a class at Scrapbook 'n' Bits tonight.

Nothing yet from the job :( So keep holding your thumbs for me!!

xxx
Jolene

More photos from today. I know my family will enjoy these and am hoping my scrapping friends won't mind ;)


I was keen to go out to a new spot for photos today but hubby was being a lazy bumb and mentioning the price of petrol, so I resorted to new measures and created a little 'studio' in my backyard.

Som e of you have been asking what setting I'm taking my piccies at. I'm by NO means close to professional photographer and know I have a lot to learn, BUT this is my step to taking photos.


1. I pop my camera on auto - Zoom in really close to Katie's face and check to see what settings my camera recommends. I have an SLR and it tells me what ISO and also what Apperture it would take the photo.

2. Pop your camera onto the apperture manual setting and set in your values. i also update my white balance setting in my menu to 'shade' as I normally take my photos in complete shade to avoide shadows and harsh highlights.


3. Once again I zoom in really close to her face, hold the exposure lock down and zoom back out and take the photo. Review your photo and change your exposure compensation if you need too ;)


I always do post processing in photoshop too, very handy to fix up some bits and pieces ;)


Here are my photos from today :)


Don't you just LOVE this expression on her face haha.
And in this shot, she covered her lower body with the linen all by herself, so that face is saying 'aren't I clever' haha.


I actually asked her to 'sleep' for me when I took this shot. Which is why she has such a twinkle in her eye as she thought I must be compelety insane haha.


She couldn't stop playing with that little vest of hers doh! So this might be a fashion status lol.

And this cute pose was for hubby. When he came out I asked her to show Daddy a 'pose' and this is what she did lol. I guess that seeing as my 2.5 yr old knows how to pose that you can see I love taking photos, poor darling!!

And I couldn't resist these adorable little feet, when she had them positioned like this.



This was my little set up, not at all professional, but hey it did the trick. I used the inside from a doona that is white at the bottom and simply used a white bed sheet that I pegged on the wall.


Afterwards I was surfing the net while Katie watched 'Fairies' and came across a video of a guy doing a VERY similar thing.

He had a bit of side lighting coming in which gave some nice highlights. He also used the shutterspeed setting to help prevent blur as he was more 'indoors' than me. I LOVE the idea of the balls and throwing it at him to help keep the focus on him, what a great idea!!!! You can watch it here.

He also shows a bit of what he does to his photos in photoshop and you can watch that here.

Okay I'm off to go and scrap. Pop over to SnB if you are in the mood for a cybercrop :)

xxx
Jolene

Just some quick random piccies today :)

Just a quick photo share day today. I have been fiddeling on a few layouts this week, but it is for SnB and Scrap Fever DT's, so can't share them JUST yet, hopefully soon!! :)


Interview yesterday went well. The owner of the store is just such a delight, I know I would be able to work with her easily and happily :) We (me and Liz will be job sharing) have to wait till Tuesday as she has one last interview on Monday. So it is a bit of a stressful but exciting wait, can't wait for tuesday to arrive :)

Not much planned for the weekend here, might pop over to a scrap crop on sunday, hopefully get more time to play with photography stuff. I just bought a book from Amazon that all the photographers have been raving about - Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital by Bryan Peterson. So here is hoping it arrives real soon and gives me some more insight into things :)


In our backyard :) I pulled her sandpit to the fence so I can get photos while she plays, as that is ALL she does outside these days, play in the sand .... and honestly I only want that many sand playing photos haha.At our local park, Katie wasn't impressed that there weren't any other children to play with so asked to go to another park where she could play with the kids, so sweet!



We have a few farms on the edge of Eagleby and the farms are just SOOOO beautiful. I wish they would allow some of use eager beavers to make use of some absolutely perfect photography scenery. We stopped and I got Katie to pose by this farmers fence hehe, and then we checked out their absolutely gorgeous and friendly horsies :)


Hope you all have a gorgeous weekend !! :)

xxx
Jolene

More Photoshop Actions :)

My previous Adobe Photoshop decided to crack on me :( but in all good things, hubby ended up uploading Photoshop CS3 for me, so I got an upgrade.

But boy oh boy did the new bits and pieces frustrate me as I had to relearn bits and pieces, but now that i know where to find what, I'm just loving it :)


Anyways, I thought I would share another awesome FREE action. Just for something a wee bit different and unique :)



This one is called 'Urban Acid' and you can download it for free here

I used a different lens with this photo and oh my gosh it was so hard. It was a lens from my film Nikon and cause I was using it with my digital it lost it's autofocus and cause it has such an AMAZING blurring capacity - i mean check out that background!! but unless Katie stands still so I can work on the focusing, my photos just about all came out blurry doh!!

With this photo I used the *FREE* Boutwell Magic Glasses from Totally Rad Actions as well as the 'Colour Pop' action that you can buy from Maggie Holmes Photography ($15 for a set of 4 actions that I use alot :)

Here are some more photos that I want to share :) I'm trying to build up my skills on using manual settings and it is just all trial and error and sometimes frustration. If anyone wants to share what process and settings they go through when taking photos, please do and share a link in the comments ;)


This one below is a self portrait photo, not too bad :)

This action below is pretty cool in mimicking the lensbaby lenses without the costs associated haha.


Doesn't she have the most gorgeous eye lashes :)


Loving the colours in this one :)


Have a gorgeous day ladies. I'm off for a job interview tomorrow, so wish me luck :)

xx
Jolene

What an awesome day at the convention!!

I have had a gorgeous weekend too, not much happening, but did go to the Scrapping convention yesterday and had the best time doing two making memories classes. Of course my layouts look just about nothing like the originals but I had so much fun with all the yummy product.

I only got up at 11 today, my body needed loads of rest after a full on week and luckily hubby was happy to look after Katie and give me a sleep in

have to write an article for SC today, but further I just want to do nothing hehe.

I thought I would share my layouts from the MM classes yesterday and then of course give you the monday pencillines update.

MAKING MEMORIES CLASSES:


I changed this layout a lot to suit my style, don't you just love those yummy colours :) Photos of Katie and Leon from last weekend when we went to Welling Point for an outing :)

This kinda does not look anything like the one we should have done haha, but I do have the pocket and decorative paper hehe. And then added stock from my own stash and lots more from the yummy goodies they gave us in class :)

I kept this layout similar to the one in the class except for all the stamping in corners and the blue decorative strip on the bottom. Katie-Lee standing on tippie toes to look through a tuscany style window at Roma Street Parklands :)

This is very minimalistic for me, it is pretty much an exact copy of the layout from class except that I changed the colours to suit me a bit better :) We were learning how to use the MM tag Maker and then have a collection of glittery tags from their boxes :)

PENCILLINES UPDATE:

Adorable Fairy ~Pencillines sketch 88~
This week's sketch was a bit hard for me, but I just ran away with it in the end. Did another little fairy layout, so cute :)

Have a great week, so glad it is a shorter than normal one for us in Australia!

xxx
Jolene