Susan Ewart

W = Western Salsify

1 hour ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

You did a great job with this card and put a lot of effort in! I already used to link my layers and now I group/ungroup as well. I often rename my layers but I think color coding isn't my thing.

Thank you so much Corrie.  I really enjoyed this one.  I'm going to play more with the papers in that kit.  I also thought I could have added a brick wall texture.  So many possibilities.  This P52 challenge is better than I expected.  Because it's on a small canvas with less elements, I can try more things in a shorter time.  

One more thing...I just learned I could Group all my Vectors ...I saw it in a tutorial on the Campus and tried it.  Makes life so much easier.  I used a number groups, sometimes for short period while I did something to the whole group, then ungrouped.  I linked a lot and also color coded.  Just what we have talked about in prev post (another forum post though, I think).  

P52 Week 13

Fun with blend modes!  I used: Vintage Paper Textures - Apothecary -86766159 (Creative Fabrica...I think) and chose 3 papers with a blend mode on two of them.  I am enclosing the results as that show the blend mode.  All at 100% opacity.  I made the 12x12 after the 600x900.  For the 600x900 version I pasted the papers in and then squished them down, since I welcomed any distortion in this case.  I have shown the two 600x900 and the 3600x3600 side by side so you can see how the distortion affects the smaller image. 

The font is Arissa Typeface (CF again).  I took all the strokes/outlines from the vectors and turned them gray, rasterized and then gaussian blur.  the fill in each of the Vectors done in black, rasterized then used a mask  (Layers>new mask layer) on the rasterized version of both text layers and the frame layer, to add grungy scratches in the black.  (side note: I channeled Sue T, remembering she once wrote that she likes to use a mask instead of the eraser tool - I FINALLY figured out how to do it!).  Therefore, I need the make sure the outlines were on a separate layer (grouped actually) so they wouldn't be effected and I needed to have some definition to the frame and text.  

Are we 1/4 of the way through?  Time is going too fast.  

11 hours ago, Bill Pearson said:

The good news: It is supposed to pass directly over my home. The bad news: early weather reports indicate rain Monday. This will be my third eclipse in my lifetime. As a kid in the 60's one passed over my hometown in Pennsylvania. Then I was in Nebraska in 2017 when another took place.  Attached is a photo showing the area one hour before the eclipse, during, and a few minutes after, Fascinating. When the eclipse took place, everything went so quiet. Dogs, birds, insects all went silent.

This is fascinating.  So cool to see the differences.  Thanks for sharing Bill.

On 3/31/2024 at 3:09 PM, Corrie Kinkel said:

In 1999 we didn't had a total eclipse like Doska in Germany; it was a partial one and nevertheless it was impressive. It was a sunny day and suddenly it started to get darker, the birds stopped singing, everything got really quiet and later when the light got brighter the birds started to move around, dogs were barking again. The next partial eclipse in 2025 will be visible in the Netherlands too and when by chance the weather doesn't cooperate there will be another partial one in 2026 that will be visible in Belgium and the Netherlands. But I'm still sorry that I can't watch this total eclipse on my birthday, that would have made it even more special. So I wish all of you who are able to go a fantastic one of a lifetime experience. I hope we will get some lovely scrapbook pages of it! Enjoy and have fun!

Pre-Happy Birthday Corrie.  How does one top a birthday gift like the universe is giving you.  Too bad you wont be able to receive it.  It's the thought that counts...that Universe, always thinking about us, eh?

On 3/31/2024 at 10:12 AM, Cassel said:

I have found a great site that can list all the cities in the path of totality, but also those who will experience partial eclipse. It shows what you will see in various cities:

https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/index.php

I found out that my hometown will see 99.56% totality, so we are just out of the full path, so we will drive to Miramichi, which will be close to the center of the path, where we can get 3.5 minutes of totality (weather permitting).

I tried to look at the link...me and billion other people I think, as it errored out.  

On 3/20/2024 at 3:27 PM, Rene Marker said:

I can sit in my front yard to see it. I'm in Ohio. My cousin that lives in southeast Ohio is bringing her 2 granddaughters up for the weekend and to see the eclipse on Monday. They are so excited about it.

All the schools in the area built the day off into their school calendar. The buses would be on the roads during the time leading up to the actual almost 4 minutes of the eclipse. My town is also expecting up to 70,000 people coming to see it (traffic nightmares for a town of 9,000). Estimates for the county are up to 130,000. The county only has 45,000 in population. The reason my town is expected to be the place to be is because it is the hometown of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. We have a museum in town that is all things space and actually looks like a moon! The town is going all out with various events scheduled from Thursday to Monday. The city and county officials have put out lots of information about what to expect with the influx of people in town. They also suggest that we do all our grocery shopping, getting gas for the vehicles, prescriptions refilled etc before the weekend. Another thing they have talked about is the fact that the cell towers will be swamped with people trying to connect so service could be intermittent. They did say that if you can, we should connect our phones to wi-fi so that we would still have access in case of emergency. It really is interesting everything that the officials have been doing. They've been working on this for over 2 years to make sure they have everything covered.

I can't wait!!!

Here is a layout I did for a challenge at The Lily Pad in January that shows the path through Ohio.

This is so exciting for you Rene.  Your town sounds very on top of matters.  Wish I lived there.  My province probably calls it "fake news" and my city is probably finding some way to tax me on it.  hahaha.  kidding.  You town sounds wonderful, very proactive.  I can feel the excitement in your words, I'll be there in spirit.  Beautiful layout.  

27 minutes ago, Rene Marker said:

I use grouping a lot when I have a bunch of layers that I want to resize proportionately. But it only works when they are all together in the layers palette since all layers in a group have to be next to each other.

When I have layers that are separated in the layers palette that I want to move together on the layout (like a cluster that might have layers above and below a paper mat/photo layer) then I use the linking layers options. That works well for that. Another way I use to show what layers are "connected" to each other is to use the color coding in the layers properties.

I've been color coding lately too, makes it easier to find stuff, especially if I have a lot of layers or copies of a layer and I want to know which one is the original.   I link for moving and use grouping for resizing, even if I have to temporarily move a layer into the group and resize and then ungroup and move it back to where it goes.  

a question for you.  when you rename layers, do you leave the word "raster" or "vector" then add the name you want or just add the name and get rid of the word raster or vector because you can can tell what the layer is by the icon. 

On 3/30/2024 at 6:27 AM, Sue Thomas said:

I sit with then in the stable and outside, when they are sitting down, there isn't a day that goes by when I  bury my face in their coats and wrap my arms around them. They are probably the most handled horses  in Canada. 

that gave me goose bumps.  Hubby and I used to go sit in the one of the fields at lunch (on a T.B. breeding farm, LOTS of mares and 6 T.B and 1 Standardbred stallion).  They always came  up to us and then they'd stay close and munch away on the grasses.  Good memories for me.

On 3/30/2024 at 8:13 AM, Sue Thomas said:

I too use grouping.  It is as easy to group and ungroup,  multiple times when needed. keeping  many layer together. 

I do this too.  

1 hour ago, Anne Lamp said:

I used the search on the other 11 with no trouble.  For some reason I was not using the right search words, but I did finally find it.  Thanks.

me too, this is the one I decided to use other words than I should have.  

4 hours ago, Anne Lamp said:

I have found all but # 10. I will try again later.

The Who is

in the clue.

You are the "One" 

to get it done!

You got this Anne!

Remember Carole's clue:

The clues are meant to be easy. Use the search feature on the blog. Most clues refer to article titles. If you are really stuck, you can always ask questions in this thread in the forum.

That was fun and I downloaded some blogs with techniques I keep forgetting and that I dont want to forget.  This time I'll print them and start a binder so it's easier to find.  

Woo hoo, this is the one time you want all your eggs in one basket!  

4 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

Finishing up March with Week Thirteen - photo by William Panuska of The Hudson Valley in Pictures gallery. This is called "early sail downriver." The copper hues really grabbed me.

I agree, this coppery color is amazing.

5 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

It's Friday once again.  Good Friday for those that celebrate Easter. Just when I thought the snow was practically  all gone, Mother Nature had other ideas. It  lightly snowed throughtout the night, and it is still snowing.  My other girl Meg,  Nell is in the backgoround.  Week thirteen, and the last photo for the month of March. 

Don't you just want to go and wrap your arms around her neck.  I did that when I worked with horses.  they were so tolerant and in the winter so warm to hug.  She a beautiful snow-kissed girl.

7 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

I didn't win anything, I haven't taken any photos, and I have not dropped off the face of the earth! Just haven't had much time to play/work with PSP. I do check the Forum and enjoy seeing the creative work and effort that go into the layouts.

I made an Easter greeting card for folks I won't see over the weekend. And I made a baby layout for a friend for whom it's the first great-grand. She needs cheering b/c her daughter-in-law died rather suddenly around the same time as her granddaughter gave birth to the child. It's a bittersweet time for their family.

Happy Easter to all! Hope there's lots of chocolate in your weekend!

So sad Julie, for your friend.  I love the baby's expressions.  As always, a very beautiful layout.  Happy Easter to you.  and I've been meaning to ask, how's your eyes?

9 hours ago, Rene Marker said:

Yeah, with my shaky hands at times, paper cutting like this is a big no for me. I do have an older cutting machine that I could use if I wanted to do something like this. My handwriting has also gotten worse in the last 10 years. My formally pretty cursive handwriting is no longer pretty. So I do very little of anything with my hands that need precision!

Ageing is so cruel isnt it?  When our "headspace" is finally at it's best, the rest of the body is falling apart.  

13 minutes ago, Sue Thomas said:

Has anyone done Paper cutting?   Several weeks ago I bought a Paper cutting kit from Amazon.  It is an ancient chinese art.   I started out practicing on the butterfly, then I got a bit adventurous, and did the  easter eggs.  I have a long to go before I'm competent at it.  Especially when it come to cutting out circles.  At present I'm using cheap phopt copy paper.  Once I'm happy with what I can do, I'd like to do some cutting out on cards.   It's a bit late  now, s winter will soon be over.  But I'm looking forward to spending more  on it next winter.

Wow! they look fabulous.  I have in the past done cutting sort of like that, for a 3D element inside a Christmas card (in various years).  Nothing as elaborate as this though.  It must take a steady hand to do such tiny intricate details that the eggs have.  

15 hours ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

So far I could only come up with the quote in different colors on a spiral. I put it on a T-shirt just to see if it would work. It is not very original, but I have more pressing things on my mind at the moment. As no one else has posted something here yet I want to give it a start, maybe somebody else will follow. Depending on the outcome of eye tests tomorrow in hospital I'll try to come up with something else. Hopefully my eye only needs a laser treatment which will be the best option, otherwise there is something seriously wrong and my trip to my daughter is in 3 weeks...... Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Oh no Corrie.  I hope laser is the treatment you get to have.  Sending you positive vibes (and a hug for good measure) for your appointment.

18 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

I don't know about anyone else, but I will often use techniques, layouts, even get inspiration from  previous workshops, when showcasing photos.  As a diamond member  you  can access these workshops at any time for a refresher of any of the techniques  etc used.  Lovely photo of the brown rabbit, it resembles the little brown rabbits we get, and not a hare. The ears are the main giveaway. 

It's funny, I know I have access to the workshops and yet I still wait for them to come around.  I guess I like doing it with a group.  But I think after the Build A Kit it might be a good idea to have a go at the Text Workshop again.  

20 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

I bumped into this layout that I created last year when we were studying in a Text Workshop. I'd like to do that class again, as a refresher. 

Me too.

49 minutes ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Don't mention programs that won't cooperate! It is so annoying......... but we learn to live with it and "pray" to the fontboss that they will work the next time we need them. Your layout hasn't suffered and it is lovely to see the daisies on the cup replicated in the font.

Thank you Corrie.  It's all about compromise isnt it.  ....and lots of praying!