new camera, new learnings

With the evolution of the blogging world, I've come to realize that I don't take very good photographs.  Of course, that hasn't stopped me from grabbing my camera and quickly filling a SD card.  It has, however, of late, made me realize that I just lack the education of how to take a good photo.  There must be a large part of my being that has to be in constant motion and have a sufficient level of 'overload' since I decided that I would undertake the task of educating myself on how to use my camera and how to take better pictures.  Enter, Karen Russell.

I've been hearing about Karen Russell for years.  She is local (Oregon) and has been teaching photography classes for some time.  A former scrapbooking partner once took Karen's class and came back raving "I'll never shoot a picture with my camera on auto again."  That was a fairly ringing endorsement for me.  Especially since I didn't really know that there was any other modes to shoot in!  A new scrapbooking partner also took a class from Karen and said that it changed the way she photographed.  Enough endorsements...I took the plunge.  I'm super excited to say that I'm taking Karen's class in January.  This is an online class, which is great for my schedule and I'm sure I'll be reading up on my homework assignments while I'm sitting at the pool with the kids.  I have no doubts that my photography skills will be markedly improved after the 9-week course.

If you have time, and would like another blog to read, stop by Karen's blog.  Not only is it very rewarding to read, her photographs are amazing!

Oh, did I mention that I'm getting a new camera?  I had a Canon Rebel XSi and it was a great camera...not a thing wrong with it.  But technology changes, more megapixels, etc. and I'm technology addicted.  When my dear friend Jill began talking about the new Canon Rebel T3i, I was intrigued.  I spent a little time (only 5, 6, 7 hours) checking out this camera online and I was hooked.  I'm not normally a lucky person, but in regards to this camera, the stars aligned.  I was able to order the T3i at almost no cost to me!  How did I do that, you might ask!  Well, a little gift certificate from an appreciative boss, and the sale of the XSi and I was on my way.  Now it's time to drool over lenses!  Hopefully very soon I'll be filling up my blog with new photos taken with the T3i.

Project Life!

As my card making addiction has taken over, my photos and scrapbooking any of my photos has suffered greatly.  I'm still taking lots of pictures, mind you.  I'm downloading them on my computer and there they stay.  In the back of my mind, I've been looking for a solution, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon a product called Project Life by Becky Higgins that I new there was hope for my dilemma.  Project Life is amazing and so comprehensive in all that it offers.

Over the weekend, I attend a super fun scrapbooking retreat with my girlfriends and I was able to catch up on years of photos using Project Life.  It was easy and simple and I actually journaled, which many of my friends know, I just don't do.

Tomorrow, when there is better light, I'll add some pictures of my Project Life pages.

Check out Michelle Wooderson's blog for some super fun twists on Project Life.

Halloween is just around the corner

I'm excited that Halloween is almost here.  A few years ago I began sending out cards for Halloween and although it is necessarily traditional to send a card at Halloween, I love it!  I love the different elements of Halloween and I think it's great fun to combine those elements in a card.

Here are a couple different Halloween cards I made last week:

One of my all time favorite stamps from Papertrey Ink is the friendship jar.  I just love this little jar!  And just when I thought that this jar couldn't possibly be any cuter, Papertrey designs new things to put in the jar.  I just love this spider and web combination in the friendship jar.

Another favorite friendship jar combination is the little sticks and the ghosts.  I added a bit of Perfect Pearls to the ghosts to give them a bit of that ethereal shine.  I'm also really loving twine right now.

I'm working on a few more Halloween cards, which I hope to get done this weekend, before I begin my Christmas card projects.  I've also been thinking about creating some cute Thanksgiving place cards as well.

As always....too many projects....too little time.

Thanks for reading,

n