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Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

iPhone Photography for Rookies

Posted in Everyday Life, iPhone Photography, Personal on October 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Beautiful photos – on blogs, Pinterest, and Facebook – everywhere I look I see beautiful photos. It’s caused me to dream, to wish that perhaps one day I will also take great photos.

Believe me I know that professional photography is an art. It takes dedication and practice to learn anything well. But ever since my boys came along I’ve nurtured this wish to be at least a little bit better at snapping photos of them. For memory keeping and Scrapbooking. My point and shoot does the job, but the amount of fuzzy, out of focus and busy pictures in my photolibrary speaks of a need to learn a few things if I want to improve.

Enter the iPhone4. Yes, I’m so excited about this little phone of mine because I quickly noticed I got better photos with it.  And, since I always have it with me I actually take more photos! More memories preserved. So imagine my excitement when I came across an online class called iShot That, a class focused on improving your iPhone photo skills.  So far I have learned about several different Camera apps and this week we will be playing with more photo editing apps.

Please indulge me for just a moment!

I am learning to consider contrast and playing with abstract images.

I’m learning to get close to my subject

I’m learning to catch my subjects unaware and waaaaaaait for the perfect shot. Sitting there on the floor with my phone in their faces while they watched Cars was totally worth it. Look at their smiley faces!

I’m learning to look for strong lines and playing with fun filters. Who knew the fence in our backyard could look interesting?

I’m learning to be creative when photographing ordinary thingsI’m learning to capture everyday moments and everyday things. Very “Ali Edwards” if you ask me. I love how she tells stories about the everyday stuff. Learning to consider taking such shots is great.

All of these things are causing me to look for opportunities to snap a picture. Like this one, captured on a walk with the boys. I saw our reflection and thought it would be cool. I was a bit dissappointed when I couldn’t even see us in the original photo. But with a little bit of editing our reflection appeared. Magic!!

And this one -  a bench full of apples! As if someone put them out there just for me to practice my skilz on. Ha ha. Love this picture.

And last but not least, my sons little feet. Getting close, waiting for the shot when his little toes curled just right. Well, it makes me happy. I want to remember these things. Why not have beautiful photos to go along with it.

Though I’m far from professional, I feel like a total star when I look at what I’ve learned so far. This is for me. Photos to frame, photos that tell those funny stories. Photos that help me remember all those wonderful every day things. It is a big thing to find that I WANT to bring out my camera all the time. =) Yes, this class is a real gift I’m glad to have found.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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Magnolia Day

Posted in Distress, Personal on October 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Today I got up really early to head to the Magnolia Store in Borås together with my sister Anna and friend Malin. The Magnolia stamp company hosted their annual Magnolia Day and the first 50 visitors were promised a goodie bag for arriving on time. Well, I’m not one to say no to free craft supplies so though I questioned my decision when the alarm went off I am glad to say it was totally worth it!

Here we are wating in line (I’m behind the camera), freezing our little toes off. We had about 15  other stamp crazy ladies ahead of us. =) Behind us the line grew longer and as I learned later, some had traveled as far as from the Netherlands to come!! What?! Fun.

Along with their own stamp line, Magnolia carries a lot of fun supplies. I have to say I really like it. There are not that many stamp/craft stores in Sweden so I’m really happy I live relatively close to this one.

There were workshops to do for those that were interested. Anna and I sat down to learn how to color with Distress refills from one of the Design Team Members. The picture above shows her completed project.

Here’s my work in progress along with the cheat-sheet and my finished image. It was really fun to watch and learn how Camilla colored. She used very little water and that really helped control the intensity of the colors. I definitely learned something new.


At lunch time three very tired ladies were happy to sit down and share some lunch and a cup of coffee.

Though I’ve encountered Magnolia stamps while I lived in the States I never really used them much. Perhaps they are not my prefered style, but they are really fun to color. And the store is full of examples of really elaborate cards and projects that speak of hours of work! I’m very impressed by the artistry involved. So there’s no way I can live this close to the Magnolia Stamp company HQ and not give it a try!! So watch out. =)

And the goodie bag you say? Yes, it was totally worth it.

The first 50 all very generously received a bag full of stamps, flower embellishments, paper, brads and a die that I think adds up to a worth of almost $75!! Seriously! Very generous indeed.

Now that’s two Scraptastic Saturdays in a row…it’s gonna be hard to top that.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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A Fun Filled Weekend

Posted in Personal, Scrapbooking on October 3, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday than to get together and Scrapbook and make cards all day!! October 1st marked the second time I got to participate in the Vårgårda Scrapmara, a Scrap-a-thon hosted by none other than my wonderful sister Anna and her two friends Eva and Malin. These gals do an AMAZING job making this day a special event. From 10am to 10pm all I did was participating in Scrapbook and Card challenges, visiting with other like minded paper crazy ladies, shop in the store on site and eat lovely food. Scrapfabriken brought a ton of stuff and I really enjoyed meeting Helen, the owner.


I’ve never really done much Scrapbooking before but since moving here I have met some really awesome paper crafters such as Rimna and even a couple of Americans!! They have certainly played a role in building my interest for keeping memories in a more artful way. Couple that with having children and you have a really good reason to make sure you write all those sweet stories down somewhere.

So much fun, so much FUN!!! I hope for sunshine tomorrow so I can take photos of the layouts I made.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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You’ve Been So Sweet

Posted in Cards, Personal, Prisma Coloring on July 25, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Sometimes I think I find it hard to compose a post because there are so many different things I could write about. How do I choose? How do I decide what’s “blog worthy” content and what isn’t? Do I write about

  • my sister’s 3 1/2 week long June visit?
  • my 11 year wedding anniversary?
  • my becoming an American Citizen after living here in the US for over a decade?
  • one of the many things I did together with my little boys over the past couple of months?

There are lots of choices, all of them wonderful experiences and memories to me. But how do I tie them to the card I just made?

Perhaps I don’t. Perhaps I should just stop thinking and start writing. Because my hope is that you’ll get to know me and hopefully I’ll get to know you by hearing back from you.

So today I’ll simply share this; I wish it was June still! That is how great of a time I had with my sweet sister, my best friend. If you had the chance to meet her you would wish she was your sister too. =) Really. She is that great. And perhaps I will simply dedicate this card that I’m sharing with you to her. She really is very sweet.

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Yes, I think I’ll leave it at that for today. Just a few of my thoughts and a card that I really like. =)

What are you thinking about lately? What stops you from posting? I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

Card Supplies: Stamps, Cardstock and Ink all PTI. Prismacolor pencils and OMS was used to color the image.

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My First Digi Page

Posted in Digital Scrapbooking, Personal on April 21, 2010 | 5 Comments »

I did it!! I finished my very first Digital Scrapbook page!! That would be my first one ever!! Just wanted to make sure you heard me correctly. =)

I've been wanting to do something with my digital photos for a looooong
time. After my two boys were born the photos began to accumulate in my
computer, unshared and untouched. That didn't seem right so I began to
think, read and research ways I could get these photos into albums in a
way that would be fun and creative

As a crafter I'm a card maker first, but after following Ali and Cathy's blogs for some time, looking at their digital/hybrid pages, I've been inspired to get creative with my photos too. I saw that the important thing is not the photo but the story. I like that and I like the way these amazing artists achieve the goal of telling it.

So I took the plunge tonight. Look!

Week1-Layout_WebFriendly 

I completed the first lesson in Jessica Sprague's class "Up and
Running with Photshop". This class made the intimidation I felt for PSE8
dissipate immediately, and that says something since I haven't even opened the program until tonight! I had so much fun I can't even believe it! The
stuff I learned was very basic; how to open files, add layers, crop,
type, opacity, save for print and save for Web. The kit that came with
the class made it a piece of cake. 

I must add though that if my sweet husband hadn't bought me that program those few months ago there wouldn't be anything to share here today. So I am so thankful that he is so supportive in my endeavor to learn something new. So much so that he gave me a much needed kick in the rear end. =)

I know there's A LOT more to learn and that I have barely scratched the surface, but at least I have started. I'll be sharing my progress with you here on my blog and hopefully you'll see some of my own pages in the near future.

So glad you stopped by,

Sara

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Closing Shop Beacause of New Stampin’ Up! IDA

Posted in Personal, Stampin Up on September 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »

I recently became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, so I find it a bit disappointing that the new Independent Demonstrator Agreement (IDA) will adversely affect the plans I had for my new business.

I've enjoyed using SU! products for many years, but never thought to become a demonstrator until recently. I learned that Stampin Up! would be providing their demonstrators with the ability to allow customers to purchase stamps and supplies online while still retaining the commission from such sales. In my opinion this was about time. I felt there were many opportunities to grow a business using online social networking, blogging and Web 2.0. I was curious to find out if SU's typical sales model could be transplanted to the internet, becoming a virtual platform for electronic commerce. My curiosity was peaked and I decided to give this a try. 

With so many demonstrators, I realized the importance of differentiating myself from the competition. Using the typical SU! sales model, each demonstrator has a corner on their local market that they are physically located in. However, using the internet demonstrators compete with each other on a national level. Three ways of differentiation in this new paradigm are branding, technology and sales models.

My thought was to make Papers and Plums a personal, friendly, digital persona of myself. By sharing my craft and a bit of my personal side I had hoped to attract new friends in the same way I've been attracted to so many other friendly, open, creative people on various social networks. Through these new connections, which are analogous to new acquaintances made by holding workshops, I would differentiate my business by using an alternative sales model and technology.

That was my vision, and everything was going according to plan until the new IDA was announced on September 1. The statement effectively forbids me from using  "e-mail, personal blog, web site, Twitter, Facebook, other social media and the like" in a way in which I could realize my vision. The reason this new agreement is causing me to close shop is because the only persona that I'm able to project that abides by this contract IMO is that of a pushy car salesman. It also restricts my ability to generate leads via interconnected linking from non-compliant sites. This limitation would prevent me from differentiating myself and successfully creating a strong brand.

If I was an employee of Stampin Up! this contract would be expected. But as an independent contractor, I pay my own taxes, operating expenses and capital investments. Therefore I see this as too restrictive of an agreement to continue being a demonstrator. My global online presence has more facets to it than just Stampin Up!

In my view, Stampin Up! won't survive if they continue to fight the internet.

Thank you for stopping by today. Please come back soon and check out my next project. A special gift for a special friend. =)

Sara


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Butterfly Art

Posted in General, Home Decor, Personal on February 28, 2009 | 8 Comments »

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 A few weeks ago I ran into this really great idea on Ali Edwards blog. She made this fun piece of framed art using only patterned paper and paper punches. I thought to myself, even I can do that, how fun!  =) So I filed it away as an idea to try out….soon. My walls are very bare so I've been wanting to come up with ways to decorate them by doing some of it myself. Just for the fun of it.

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A couple of days ago I was again reminded of this project from this blog. Lolly Chops made a slightly different take on it and I really loved the result. She even has a picture tutorial on the process so how could I go wrong? So, last night I went to work on my own version. I think I must have punched out twice or three times more butterflies than I needed but once I got started I just couldn't stop!! The patterned paper I chose is from Basic Grey.

I proceeded to pick out the colors and sizes I wanted to use and spaced them on a white 8"x10" piece of card stock. I loved how lolly clustered hers in the collage she made, so I went with that idea. Using foam tape I then attached the butterflies one at a time. This was so easy and a lot of fun to make. I will be hanging it on one of my bare walls today. =)

Cards 2009-1
 
This is what I love about blogs. There are so many great ideas out there to be inspired by. This project fulfilled a desire I had to make something for my home. So thank you Ali and Lolly for the inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

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Survey to Help get Prospective Business off the Ground

Posted in Personal on January 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

My DH and I have been kicking around the idea of starting a stamping-related business for a while now.  We’ve come up with a number of ideas, but don’t want to sink our savings into something unless it has a good chance of succeeding — our son’s might need braces one day after all. =) To this end, we’ve put together a short survey of questions to help gauge whether our idea will meet an actual need/desire out there in the stamping community.  If you can do us a favor and take a moment to complete the survey, we’d really appreciate it.

Click here to complete the survey if you’re viewing my site directly or click here instead if you’re viewing this in Google Reader or some other aggregator.

Thanks,

Sara

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