Meaningful Photo Projects

While you're thinking about your new year's resolutions, have you given thought to your photo projects for 2013? I'm sure you've heard of Project 365 where you take a picture every day. I have to be honest - I found that too hard to complete and rather than taking pictures that were important and relevant, I was LOOKING, sometimes frantically, for something to take a picture of. Seriously, did I really think a picture of a door knob would be something that would knock my socks off? I'd look at it and say, "Oh yeah, 2012 was an awesome year! Just look at my door knob!" Or my cup of coffee? Ah, the memories. You get my point.

So I offer you a challenge: instead of taking 365 new pictures, why not use the pictures you already have? You know the ones I'm talking about. Those that are either sitting in boxes in your basement or the digital images still stuck on that memory card in your camera. DO SOMETHING WITH THEM. Get them in albums or scan them and create a digital album to share with family and friends. Whatever it takes, just do it! You can grab a picture a day and get caught up on that back log. (If you need help getting a handle on it, give us a call!)

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't take pictures in 2013. I'd probably go into cardiac arrest if you told me I couldn't take pictures! I'm suggesting using what you already have as inspiration. Don't just point and shoot (promise me there will be no door knob pics!). Challenge yourself to get a little creative and make your pictures for 2013 meaningful, like recreating a picture that was taken years ago. My husband's cousin and wife, who were high school sweethearts, recently did just that and told me I could share it here:

What a beautiful couple! Their daughter posted this picture on Facebook and typed, "You kind of have to believe in soul mates when this picture exists." Exactly. And now their children have a wonderful keepsake of their parents. I can see this picture taken again in 20 years and again 20 years after that! See the meaning? Of course you do!

We'll be posting more suggestions and ideas for photo projects in 2013 in the next week so be sure to stop back for more ideas!

Homemade Calendars Are The Best!

I uploaded MyMemories V4 and have played just a smidgeon with it.  I know.  I know.  Just a smidgeon?  Yes.  You see, I'm getting ready to go on vacation with my family so there's a LOT to prepare for that.  But I'm giddy with excitement and I think you know why...I'M TAKING MY LAPTOP WITH ME and I'll be by the pooldiving in!  Not the pool, mind you.  I'll be diving in and out of V4 learning all the new and exciting features and I'll share them here!

What I did quickly see brought a giggle of happiness.  I LOVE calendars.  Just love them.  But I was tired of buying the kits that had the dates for the upcoming year already there.  WHAT A HASSLE if you wanted to make a calendar the next year.  Grrrrr.  So my giggle escaped when I saw the "calendar" feature in the tool menu.  What Smarty Pants thought of that?  Because all the comments I've sent in to MMS with ideas for upgrades, that one never made it on my list.  Duh.  I'm gladsomeone was thinkin'!

Back to creating calendars!  I made one page that took less than 2 minutes to complete.  I didn't use any of my own images at this point, but I just wanted to show you how easy this is!

Open MMS V4, select "Design Your Own" and select the shape you prefer:  portrait, landscape or square.  Then size.  I chose an 11 x 8 1/2  landscape for this example.  Before you go ANY further, I recommend turning on the page guides.  To do this, in the top menu bar, select: View, Guides and the Trim Area you prefer.  Generally, I select the large trim area when I work on any project larger than an 8 1/2 x 11 up to 12 x 12s.  I'll choose Small Trim Area when I work on 8 1/2 x 11 or smaller.  This is just to be safe in knowing all of your page content will be printed once the bleed is taken into account.  What is bleed?  Please refer back to our recent blog post describing this printing phenomena here.  =)

Once your blank page is open you can choose your background paper.  This is where creativity is endless!  Select a simple background or choose a purchased paper that's decorative.  I wanted to see the new backgrounds that came with V4 so I chose one of the decorative papers. Fun!  You can also use an image set as the background or anything that strikes your fancy.  If you're making a 12 month calendar, you'll have 11 more to go so keep that in mind if you're choosing a theme.  Otherwise, just sit back and have creative fun!

Add the calendar by selecting from the right tool bar "Calendars".  From that drop down menu, you can add a single month or the entire year.  I created a single month.  Once it's added to your page, you can drag from the four corners to enlarge to the desired size.  Remember, if you re-size from the middle, it'll change the aspect ratio of the picture making it look like a picture on silly putty being stretched out (did you ever do that with the comic strips when you were younger or did I just show my age?) or super squatty and pudgy if you push it in from the sides.  Four corners only. Make that your re-sizing mantra.

Be sure to use your align tool if you're like me and require continuity.  I can't live without it.  On the top menu bar, select:  Arrange, Align, and then Center Vertically On Page and Center Horizontally On Page.  Of course, if you're going for an artistic quality being off-centered or simply to the side, eye ball it!

You can go back and select the font and size of the month and numbers on the calendar by going back into the Calendars menu and selecting Edit.  You can also change the size and color of the lines (you can even select NO lines if you want!) as well as the location of the numbers (i.e. top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left).  You have a lot of options for calendars!

Before you finish, if you're anal like me, you can go in and add text boxes and add special days and birthdays.  For this sample, I didn't as that would have taken a little longer, but while I'm on vacation, I'll be making a calendar for the year and I'll take the time to add all those special birthdays and holidays before I print.  I think I'll also grab our Cinch Bindery Tool and bind my calendar (if you do this, just remember to leave a little extra space at the top for the "binding" area).  If you're interested in a Cinch, I'll be talking to Mary to see if we can add those back to our inventory in our shop.  I'll keep you posted on that one.  Until then, here's my simple 2-minute calendar page:

As with any project you create in MyMemories, please have fun and enjoy yourself because, well, isn't that what scrapping is all about?  Happy Digi Scrappin'!