I've Finally Done Some Layouts!

Well it's taken me longer than I had planned but I've finally finished some layouts. I've also had to 'fiddle' and 'tweak' with my HP scanner and my old PC 'cos my new Lexmark scanner does a very mediocre job. I printed some photos a couple of weeks ago with my old HP scanner and realised that they are heaps better than the ones from the Lexmark - they actually dried really quickly also.

And I have re-discovered my ArcSoft Panorama to stitch my layouts - so I have been re-organising my PC (although I still love my iMac) for my scanning and stitching. I seemed to be loading, uninstalling, re-loading, cleaning up and so on and so on for ages - at least 2 days worth of fiddling! But it's been worth it!

So here are my latest layouts - I've decided that simplicity is much easier and quicker too!





The heart is actually a soft pink Heidi Swapp Mirror but it came out black with the scanner :-(



So until next time ...

Scrappy Weekend Wonders

It's been a busy weekend and I've managed to complete two more challenges. I am finding it good to have some 'organised' scrapping to do. It makes it easier to do the layout when there is a goal. Yesterday I spent the day at Paper Heaven and apart from having a good chuckle and gossip with my scrapping friends Dorothy, Alex and Lyn, I felt quite productive. Just goes to show what a bit of pre-planning does!!

Here are the challenge layouts I have completed:




One of the biggest problems with uploading layouts is the actual scanning. I find that getting the depth and detail is not always easy get accurately. I have found that my HP Officejet gives quite a good scan and then I use the ArcSoft Panorama Maker program to stitch the images. This is a really easy to use program, available for Windows and Mac, and it is not expensive.

Photoshop Elements 6 also has a Panorama Merge. This is also fairly easy to use if you have this program. This is the one I use with my Mac, but I'm not happy with the quality of my Lexmark scanner. It leaves a shadow and blur in the middle of the scan.

Here are some links to help with scanning and stitching layouts for you to upload:

HP Website and also Two Peas. But if you would prefer to photograph your layouts, check out this article from ScrapJazz - 'Skip the Scanner'.

This week, my goal is to get 10 Christmas Cards done - I was supposed to do 5 last week but time escaped me. I am also eagerly awaiting my new Cuttlebug embossing and cutting folders to use with my 2008 Christmas cards. The newly released range is absolutely fantastic! Check these out - Lace Tree, Christmas Ornaments, Embossing Borders - With Love and Frills and also Embossed Treetops. Hopefully, next Sunday I will be reporting my card completion goal as being achieved!

I used Sizzix Alpha Dies with the Cuttle bug on the weekend and was absolutely delighted with the ease they cut. Think I will check out some of these sets in future - the Cuttlebug Alphas are very limited. Here is a PDF file that explains how to use the other dies in the Cuttlebug machine.

Until next time ...