That time of year..........

busy, busy, busy

Amanda has a birthdya in a couple of weeks. Made her invites. Very easy - printed out on cardstock (2 to one A4), rolled up like a scroll, ribbon and twine and a tag (used Kaisercraft gorgeous Miss Nelly) and a bracelet lolly. They got the thumbs up from Amanda and her friends! Looking forward to her party - I am hoping the sleepover part goes well!

Made some Xmas decorations - angels. These are so cute. Found the instructions here:
http://www.beadhold.co.nz/FREE+Projects.html

Better get on to the Xmas Cards.

I have scrapped..........

Spent the weekend with some very cool friends at a fabulous retreat organised by Louise Willians. I broke my scrapping drought! It was good to get back into it.

 My first layout since July! Felt so good to just play.

 One of my reflection shots I did for my portfolio.

 Using the challenge pack which was Halloween themed.

This photo is actually a reflection in a puddle!

I havent..........

scrapped since June and I havent blogged since about then either. Not that I havent wanted to. Time has flown. Working 30 hours a week and doing part time study on top of family and home is keeping me out of mischief! Here are some photos I have taken over the last few months...............

I should be...........

working out why my moon isnt glowing in my photoshop assignment! Sigh!

Instead I'll share some photos I took for last weeks photo assignment. It was all about focus.

Subject at extreme edge of frame

Action Shot

Multiple Reflections

Selective Foucs / Bokeh

I need to shoot my photos this week - all about composition. Weather hasnt been too co operative, neither has my creative thinking! Better get on to that and my moon!

Proud

of my boy who had his first official school production performance last night. The production is called Scheherazade and it was really really good. And of course Simon was absolutely awesome. He had one of the bigger speaking roles.So proud! Makes for a busy week though with family coming for dinner and then the show last night and again tonight and I am off again to the show tomorrow night.

I thought I would share some of my last Kaisercraft assignments. Havent scrapped since my last assignment because I just havent had time but I am starting to get itchy fingers! Want to play with the few things I got from SENZ. Must make some time to play this weekend!

Have to remember....

to not to suggest things. LOL. Amanda has a had a student teacher for most of the year and she is leaving today so I suggested to the teacher I could make her a mini album. This was on Wednesday, got the photos yesterday and it had to be ready for school this morning. Put in the mix, having to bake for the cake stall fundraiser on Wednesday and the shared lunch today, lets just say I have been busy. LOL My assignments havent had a look in yet this week. My task for this evening and the weekend.

Here are some photos I have taken for the first two weeks.

My fav from week 1

And my photos for last week which was about exposure. Had to do one with a fast shutter speed, a slow shutter speed, one with backlighting and one getting the exposure right on a white peice of paper.

Excited today to receive my stamps with my image from the photo which got into the top 30 for Auckland Photo Day. Was a little dissapointed that they had to crop it but very cool non the less.

My favourite photo mag is Practical Photography and the last one had an article about this guy. LOVE his stuff.
http://www.clarklittlephotography.com/gallery/

I have my last kaisercraft projects to share but I will make that another post.

I like emails

like this.... (not that I have had one like this before!)

"Dear Lesley

Your photo, Another Grey Wet Day has been selected as one of the Top 30 from 1350 entries in Nikon Auckland Photo Day 2011.  Congratulations!!  You will receive one set of 20 personalised NZ Post stamps displaying your winning image.  The full Top 30 winners will be available to view on our website later this week."

http://www.photographyfestival.org.nz/photo-day/index.cfm

This was my photo - ANOTHER GREY WET DAY. A bit depressing isnt it! LOL

Here are some others I took that day...

If you look carefully in the glass ball you can see Amanda sweeping leaves.

I am procrastinating.....

and it is week 1 of my course. In the notes about sucessful study for online learning it said that one of the skills is to rarely procrastinate. Didnt tell them procrastination is my middle name! LOL And it is not to say that what I have to do is hard or boring or anything like that, it is just that I seem to be very good at working right up to the deadlines. I really am trying to break that habit! I do hope the weather is nice tomorrow so I can take my camera for a walk.

I had to do a creative card post for Kaisercraft and this is what I came up with. Love doing this sort of thing. Just creating instinctively without any real idea of how I want it to end up. My tutorial can be found here
http://www.kaisercraft.com.au/blog/creative-cards-little-works-of-art/#comments

Off to listen to a photoshop tutorial and try and establish a workflow for raw images.

Life is Good

It certainly has it's ups and downs but it is definitely good.

Totally enjoyed myself at A Country Affair last Sunday. This was my class I designed with Teressa Collins goodies.

Later in the week I found out I didnt make the Kaisercraft team. Yeah I was dissapointed but hey you got to move on. I really loved my projects I created and will share them in a few weeks afterI have blogged them on the Kaisercraft blog. I have had a fabulous year with them and I wish the new team all the very best. I can't wait see what they come up with. It really does look like a superb team.

I am very excited to start a Diploma in Digital Photography on Monday through SIT and distance Learning. Can't wait even though I know it is going to keep me busy!

It was Auckland Photo Day yesterday and we had a busy day out but I took my camera with me. I didnt get to do the photo I had in mind for the day but I got a couple which I like enough to enter.

A Nice Suprise

I love nice suprises!

Someone made this for me. I love it and it is now in my craft room holding a variety of distress stains and stuff.

I am looking forward to the long weekend and definitely looking forward to this.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=216682951694090

Altering Paper Flowers with Alcohol Inks

It occured to me that I could alter paper flowers with alcohol inks if I covered them with Glossy Accents first! And it worked and I love the effect.

I have also altered the chipboard letters in the same way. The application of Glossy Accents provides a barrier so the alcohol ink doesn’t soak through.

1.       Take some white paper flowers. Paper Flowers Snow (F601)

2.       Partially stamp some of the flowers with a script background clear stamp. Clear Stamp Script (CS752)

3.       Add a blob of Glossy Accents in the middle of each flower and smooth all over the flower with paintbrush or finger. Let dry.

4.       Apply several colours of alcohol inks to an Ink Applicator (with a felt pad). Stamp the inked Applicator all over the flower. Use some blending solution if required. Stop when the desired look is achieved. Alcohol ink dries very quickly. I also used gold mixative with the inks.

5.       Add pearls to the centre of flowers. Pearls Chocolate (SB792), Pearl Brads Chocolate (EM935)

6.       Use your finished altered flowers on your project.

“S’mores” by Lesley Cooper

  

Material List: Paper Flowers (F601); Kaisercolour Turquoise; Clear Stamp Script (CS752); Pearl Brads (EM935); Pearls (SB792);  Other – glossy accents, texture paste, ink, chipboard letters, cardstock.