Gallery post format: no photo glue or decorative scissors required!

Posted in Blogging, Entertainment, Events and Courses, Hobbies, Tips and Tricks by Marci

The other day, as part of the Zero to Hero program, I published a post in a “new to me” format. The new format was a gallery post, which arranges a bunch of pictures that you specify in a grid that is attractively laid out to highlight your photos. Today’s post is a follow-up to that post, which (if you remember) was called Kitty Derps, starring my cats in their most candid moments. Awwww! So cute! I really liked the gallery format, so much so that I used it on my new page, My Fuzzy Family, to feature my pets that are gone but not forgotten (in addition to the presently living ones, of course).

The reason that I chose to explore the gallery format is because I’ve always been drawn to layouts and organization in print media. I used to be a cartoonist, and after that, I had my own ‘zine (the Goyal Talk Times). I LOVED arranging panels and pages to make eye-pleasing visual arrangements featuring both text and illustrations. More recently (oh, the last fifteen years or so), I ventured into scrapbooking, and then went all-digital the past several years. I use Photoshop Elements to design my pages, then get a hard-bound book of my pages for each year printed through Shutterfly. Everything is organized and arranged just so! I go through phases of digital scrapbooking mania (it takes a lot of creative energy), but I’m always happy with the product. Want to see a few of my favorite pages? Well shucks…here you go, then!

So there – you’ve learned another little nugget about my anal-retentive personality – graphics have to be done just so, and when things aren’t arranged perfectly, it really bugs me. That’s why the gallery format post is so wonderful – you don’t have to line anything up yourself! Just pick out your photos and they are all sized, spaced and placed just how you want them. Just like magic!

And you don’t even have to lug around a big craft tote full of paper, templates, scissors, glue, stickers, glitter and all the other madness that scrapbooking entails (unless you’ve gone digital, of course)!

11Nov2012

Hello, 2008 – Remember Me?

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel, Vacations by Marci

Wow – I’m FINALLY done with a scrapbook about the backpacking trip that Cecily and I took to Arizona’s Chiricahua wilderness area back in November 2008. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, obviously, so I’m happy that it is done! If you’re so inclined, take a look and see what I was up to (ahem) four years ago this month!

Cecily and Marci in the Chiricahua Wilderness

Click HERE to view the Shutterfly Album!

5Sep2012

Finally done! And it’s not 2019!

Posted in Entertainment, Hobbies by Marci

Hurray! I’ve finished my 2011 scrapbook! I’ve been putting together 12×12 scrapbooks for each year (and additional books for various trips, cruises, etc.) since about 2001, and switched over to digital scrapbooking for my 2005-to-present books. I hate calling it scrapbooking, because it brings up images that don’t quite describe me. But that’s ok – my move to digital rectified most of my issues there. I simply GAVE AWAY most of my scrapbooking supplies, tools, totes and everything else; I think I sold my largest tote packed with supplies for only $90. I’d probably spent over $1000 on all that crap, too.

But doing digital layouts is much better – you don’t have to lug supplies around, get everything out, clean everything up, deal with paper, stickers, glue, and things that don’t quite match. I use Photoshop Elements to create all of my pages, and EVERYTHING can be resized, recolored, reshaped and replaced just the way you want it. It’s still time-consuming, but all you need is a laptop and your digital pictures! Yay!

Anyway, I did finish 2011. I’ve even started on 2012. I used to try to catch up on the oldest years, but I decided to just work backwards instead. So, I still have to do 2007 – 2010, but that’s not so bad, right? Right??? Riiiiiiiight.

So I’m happy to share my 2011 book – feel free to check it out on my share site! You can look at it full-screen (keep in mind that it’s not full resolution, but it still looks pretty good). Click here http://marcikoski.shutterfly.com/27 to see!

27Apr2012

Slight Hiatus

Posted in Entertainment, Hobbies by Marci

Well, hello there! It’s been a while, huh? I’ve taken a bit of a break from blogging (duh), but that doesn’t mean I’ve just been lazing about with my thumb up my butt. No sir-eeee. I’ve actually been catching up with my digital scrapbooking, which is something that I *really* fell behind in (and you thought I was bad at keeping up with this blog!). So I’ll tell you what I’ve accomplished:

– Entire scrapbook of our honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean – DONE!
– Entire scrapbook of our cruise up to Alaksa – DONE!
– 2006 Year in Review scrapbook – DONE!!! (finally)
– 2012 Year in Review – I’m working backwards, and have 6 out of 10 pages DONE!
– 2011 Year in Review – I’ve got 9 out of 41 pages DONE, and am motivated to keep going!

Here are a few examples of my work so far, just so you can see what these pages look like (from 2011 and 2012). Each one is quite a bit of work, considering that I have to choose photos, do any artistic photoshop alterations, pick a color theme and related art, and figure out a layout that will work. They’re 12″ x 12″; some of them are single pages, and others are doubles:

Chris and I went to see Bela Fleck in Reno for our one-year anniversary. I love my camera – it takes really great pictures in low-light situations and the zoom is awesome!

You can’t have five cats and not make fun of them with a scrapbook page.

This is the first page of a two-page spread about the Halloween Party we hosted last year. This is one of my favorites; the second page is good too because I got pictures of everyone in their costumes!

Anywhooo…that’s all for now. I’ve got to keep chugging along on 2011. When I get a chance, I’ve been reading The Walking Dead graphic novels – did you know that The Walking Dead TV show is actually based on a graphic novel saga? Yes, it’s true. There are like 30 books or something, and the show has only covered the first two. I’m on book 5, and so far it has held my interest. Oh – I’m also reading “Before I go to Sleep”, which is the book I chose for our book club to read this month. I was hoping it would be more of a thriller (it’s about a woman who wakes up every morning not remembering the day before, like in the movie “Memento”), but so far it has been a snooze. Oh well! At least it makes me go to sleep quickly in the evenings!

21Jan2008

New Year Update

Posted in Me Me Me!, Updates by Marci

Happy New Year, everyone! I know it’s almost the end of January, but not a whole lot has been happening. I’m trying to get over a cold that I’ve had since before Christmas – it keeps flaring up every week or so and I have to take a day or two off work. I’m anticipating that my boss will call me in some point soon to ask me what’s going on, suspiciously inferring that I must be “faking it”. Unfortunately, my accrued sick leave is taking the brunt of my actions – my coworkers think it’s stress-related, and I tend to agree.

Zoe is doing well – she’s pretty stable, and has resigned herself to the fact that she must get pills shoved down her throat twice a day. She’s not gaining any weight, but she’s not losing any either. And, her last round of acupuncture went relatively well – she resembled more a pin cushion (and the vet resembled less a bloodied puncture-wound victim of feline fury) than her previous visit. I’m not sure the acupunture and herbs are doing her any good, but Zoe seems pretty content and happy for the time being.

I’ve mostly been trying to catch up on my scrapbooking – I’m finishing up 2005, which was a challenge because 1) 2005 pretty much sucked ass and who wants to revisit that; and 2) half my pictures were film, and half were digital. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m doing all my scrapbooking digitally, so I’ve had to spend a fair amount of time scanning photos and other mementos during my lunch break. I’ve got a pretty good handle on Photoshop Elements now, so making pages is easier, but still time consuming. Anyway, it’s coming along.

That’s all for now – I finished watching Season 2 of The Office and am looking forward to seeing how the Pam and Jim cliffhanger turns out in Season 3. Okay, I’ll admit that I have a bit of a crush on Jim too – he’s a perfect match for Dwight’s evil Machiavelian (is that how you spell it?) tendencies, and he’s kinda cute, too.

3Jul2007

Cuteness

Posted in Animals, Cats, Entertainment, Hobbies, Non-cats by Marci

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 5.0 so that I could start digitally scrapbooking. I’m kind of behind in my scrapbooking and part of the problem is that I’m so perfectionistic and making pages using paper and adhesives and cutting stuff out and all that takes so long to do – I haven’t started any pages recently because it’s just too much of an undertaking. So I decided to go digital and have my pages professionally printed – it’s actually quite cost effective, and is fast and easy to do. Plus, since I’ve been using my digital camera exclusively, I don’t have to print photos out and cut them up – one more step I can skip.

Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to write about. I purchased Elements and have been trying to learn how to use it. And the best pictures to start practicing on, I’ve found, have been pet pictures! So here are pictures of Zoe, Jesse, and Teddy – I’ve lightened and warmed them up, increased the contrast, and used a glow filter. Cute, huh?