Summer is over, what have you done

Tonya — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:59:18 +0000

Well, summer is over. I was off work all summer, and really luxuriated in the laziness of it. I took a photography class, and posted some of the pictures on the photography section on day 1 of class, day 2, more from day 2, my favorites from day 3, and then some extra pictures from class. The cool thing about taking the class was that our time was devoted and carved out specifically for taking pictures and editing them. We spent all day every day photographing and editing pictures. You have to spend the time in order to get better. Another great thing about the class was its location. We were in Northern California on the coast near Mendocino at the Albion Field Station, which is owned by Pacific Union College. The coastline is wild there, and we were camping in a little valley on a river/estuary, so there was wildlife galore. There were deer passing through camp daily, osprey overhead, owls next to our camp each night. It was awesome. We were very tired by the end of the week because we started photographing a 6:30 every morning, and we weren’t done until 9 each night. Long days, but pleasant. It was cold there too. We were there mid July, and I don’t think that it got above the 60s every day. I never took my sweatshirt off. Here is a picture of our camp.

Then there is boating on the estuary.

Finally, Here are the cabins that were for rent to camp in. You still had to bring your own sleeping bag and linens, but you got a bed and shower.

So, after our lovely trip to the wilds of Northern California, my daughter had surgery to have her tonsils out. We then spent a lot of time at home recouperating and I spent more time on the computer with my pictures and editing software. I decided to list some pictures on Etsy, and made cards and bookmarks out of my pictures. It has become quite a hobby.

Here is a sample of some of my cards.

I also love this picture that I messed with and made more like art. Here it is in my shop.

Now I am back to work, and I have not completely organized my house like I was planning to do when the summer started. I wonder if my house will ever be completely organized or is it important to always have that to strive towards? I completely ignored my therapy blog once I took the photography class this summer. Now that I am back at work doing therapy, I will have to start updating the therapy stuff again. It seems that life is going to be very busy for a while. Looking forward to Thanksgiving break and Christmas break.

digital scrapbooking

Tonya — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:42:00 +0000

So, I have enjoyed doing digital scrapbooking. It is not as messy as regular scrapbooking, and I can make multiple copies of my pages to give as gifts. If you have an interest in it, I learned about how to do it at the digital scrapbook place. I will put some other scrapbook links on my page too. You can get free background pages to download at many digital scrapbook sites.
Here is an example of my pages. This was a trip we took in our travel trailer for spring break the year before last.

I use Photoshop Elements to create my pages. I have downloaded many free background papers and elements, and then I arrange everything using photoshop. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you catch on to it, it is not too hard. You can also buy a cd that has backgrounds and elements on it.

Here is a scrapbook page that Megan did of a 4th grade field trip to Sacramento.

This one is one that Conor did of a trip to Yosemite.

Smart Mommy Solutions» digital scrapbooking

Summer is over, what have you done

digital scrapbooking