Tag Archives: scrapbooking

Pony Ride

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Oct-2012-pony-ride-lo-web

I sat down and used some of the templates I have to gather together all the pictures we have taken lately.  I admit to being ambivalent about it.  Scrapbooking was my first photography love.  But I have gotten spoiled seeing the images so large on my screen. It's probably not practical to print them all ginormous however (see me still not completely reconciled to that reality lol) and I am determined to get them printed more regularly.  So I am testing the waters here.  

Jury is still out. So I will post both why don't I. There now that I have published and unpublished and republished I feel much better.  : ) 

At any rate you can click on the image to open it a little larger and see the journaling.  One thing I am wild about is the new software I have been working with. (image at bottom) It is like putting my kids into the pages of a children's book. Now THIS is like two of my favorite worlds coming together. 

Thumbs up on that. 

Here is a funny.  At least I crack up every time I see the pic of that sign on the straw stacks.  The fine print says to queue up here.  Getting queued up in England is what you do instead of standing in line.  Queued up rhymes with my new favorite British saying 'clued up' which I first heard on a escalator.  The man was asserting to his friend that, "She just isn't 'clued up' about this!"  You can bet I am on the lookout for chances to use this one.  Being as snarky as I am ashamed to admit I can be, I will probably find one. 

 If you are still reading I send you my hearty appreciation.  I peeled apples for applesauce all day, then we sat in fruh-EEE-zing weather through a football game after dark.  Brr. It's possible my brain hasn't thawed out yet.  

There you have it – my ramble for the day.

 
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Oct 2012 pony ride web
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Weekend Photography tips: all those old pictures

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A big project around here lately has been scanning all the shoeboxes of old pictures.  There were a lot of them.  I am ashamed to say we are just now doing this.  SO many disasters could have befallen them over the years.  I shudder to think.   15 houses, 10 babies, 5 states, a couple countries, and a fair number of miscellaneous crises in the intervening years kept me preoccupied.  Being the poster child for biting off more than I could chew didn't help either.  Which brings us to date and saddled with all these vulnerable pictures. 

My solution was to pay the 12 yr old to sit here and scan pictures while watching netflix. Brilliant. <g>  He was happy as a lark and more than qualified to move pictures from box, to scanner bed, to another box.  A couple movies and several hundred pictures later we are nearly done.  If you find the prospect daunting I suggest tapping your young people.  No willing workers?  There are national scanning services and many local printers or photography shops will do the job as well.

I am sharing some links with tips for scanning your old photos here and here   Basically you want to be sure your scanner is set to 'photo' vs document and at 300dpi. 

When you are done scanning consider saving copies of the files to an external hard drive.  Cpu's fail.  Hard drives fail.  One copy is unwise. 

And don't forget the whole point of having these pictures is that they are part of your story.  Tell it.  The most important book you will ever write is the one you write for your family.  What happened?  When?  Where? and more importantly – how did you feel about that? This is what I am working on now.

 It's ok to document random memories out of 'order'.  If they come to mind when you see an old picture, write it down.  If you don't have photoshop, start a photobook at Shutterfly and drag an old photo over to your project here and there as the mood strikes. They keep your stuff saved a long time.  (another back up) 


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Winter Walking with Abbie Rose

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It's different this year.  There is no more stroller in front of me. I am keenly aware of its absence I admit. For over a quarter century I have followed behind the wheels. But in place of the familiar hum of the axles spinning there is now a pair of tiny boots skipping, jumping, twirling.  There are two bitty hands reaching, digging, pointing, sharing. Treasures in hand, she trips along the trail joy-filled and breathless checking every puddle and ditchside weed.  And I am right behind, soaking it all in.

Someday – too soon – she will venture farther than I can follow. For today, though, we walk together. I am grateful for every step. 

Feb
As we walked this day I felt a coin in my coat pocket. (pictured above) It wasn't a Euro and the saint caught my eye.  When I came home I looked it up.  It is Bulgarian and commemorates St Ivan of Rila (Rilski). You can see it here.  Allen or Zach must have picked it up in Poland, Czech Republic, or Turkey is our best guess. Just made me laugh.  How crazy that this is my life!   I am grateful for this too. : )