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		<title>Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/aTcvbVqfYqE/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/08/24/scotch-brand-most-gifted-wrapper-contest/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Art & Craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[papercraft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2702</guid>
		<description>How would you like to win $10,000 for wrapping some presents? Well the 3M Company who own Scotch Brand are holding their 14th annual gift wrapping contest in December this year. Entries close 18th October 2010 and the winner of the Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper walks away with $10,000.00.&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>How would you like to win $10,000 for wrapping some presents?</h3>
<p>Sound good?   Read on . . .</p>
<p>The 3M Company who own Scotch Brand are holding their 14<sup>th</sup> annual gift wrapping contest in December this year. Entries close 18<sup>th</sup> October 2010 and the <strong>winner of the Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper walks away with $10,000.00.</strong></p>
<p>Now that would buy a whooole lot of scrapbooking supplies.</p>
<p>So if you’re someone who extends their passion for scrapbooking to off-the-page gift wrapping projects, or if you know someone who does, then <a title="scotch brand most gifted wrapper contest" rel="nofollow" href="http://scotchbrandmostgiftedwrapper2010.presslift.com/gift-wrapping" target="_blank">click over to the competition website </a>and find out more about it.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 490px"><img title="Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest" src="http://drop.io/download/public/eypxahetstlthp6lhdmc/28b3e3fe7024e62835eebe0c8dcd92817f308a78/Asset/41624687/v3/large_thumbnail" alt="Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest" width="480" height="320" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper for 2009</p></div>
<p>To enter all you need to do is complete a form telling the organizers why you or someone you’re nominating, are a gift wrapping guru and share your best gift wrapping tips. You can upload a couple of photos if you like, but that’s not mandatory.</p>
<p>And you’ll need to tell them whether the nominee is a professional or an amateur gift wrapper. I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a professional gift wrapper, but apparently a professional is someone who has earned an income as a gift wrapper at a department store. Hmmm . . . I once worked in a garden nursery and we used to gift wrap the potted plants. Does that make me a professional gift wrapper? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>Anyhoo, even if you’re not so great in the gift wrapping department yourself <em><strong>if you’re the person who nominates the winner you get $1000 for just putting in the nomination.</strong></em></p>
<p>So check out <a title="scotch brand most gifted wrapper contest" rel="nofollow" href="http://scotchbrandmostgiftedwrapper2010.presslift.com/gift-wrapping" target="_blank"> the competition website </a> This might be the opportunity for you or a friend to actually get a cash windfall from your papercraft creativity.</p>
<p>And wouldn’t that be very satisfying to point out to your significant other?</p>
<p><a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" width="468" height="59" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<item>
		<title>5 Tips for making a Great Mini-Album</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/8ycl8HQ29t4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/08/04/5-tips-for-making-a-great-mini-album/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[card making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hybrid scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mini album]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scrapbook ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2668</guid>
		<description>A mini album for someone special makes a great gift. Here's one I made for my daughter's 30th birthday. When you're used to making full sized scrapbook layouts making a mini one can present some challenges. Here are 5 tips that will maky your mini-album a fabulous project and delight the reciever.&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It was my daughter’s 30<sup>th</sup> birthday yesterday.</p>
<p>Naturally I required some intensive therapy to come to terms with this. But once I had gotten over my “where did the last 30 years go” shock I decided that I had to make something a bit special for her in the way of a card. Last year I made a <a title="concertina birthday card" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/10/02/national-cardmaking-day/" target="_blank">pretty spiffy concertina card</a> which she loved and said “Oooh, my first ‘book’ card!” That made me realise that I had never made an album just for her to keep before.</p>
<p><span style="color: #339966;"><strong>So I decided to make a mini album covering her last 30 years.</strong></span></p>
<p>Now when I make a mini-album I like to do it from the ground up; making the pages and cover rather than buying a pre-made chipboard album. I gave myself plenty of time, as I usually do. And I managed to blow most of it away leaving me with a last minute rush, as I usually do. But I was quite pleased with the finished result.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: center;">
<div id="attachment_2682" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 298px"><a title="Hybrid Scrapbooking mini album" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Seona-30th-album1.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-2682 " title="SeonaDaysAlbum" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/SeonaDaysAlbum.jpg" alt="Hybrid Scrapbooking Mini Album" width="288" height="384" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Click on image to see the pages inside</p></div>
<p> Making a mini album is a really fun thing to do. It&#8217;s great to create a whole album in one project and the smaller size helps to make the project less daunting.  If you have never made one why not give it a go? You don&#8217;t have to make the whole thing from scratch like me. You can buy premade chipboard albums that you can cover and embellish to make a fabulous album.  They make wonderful and really appreciated gifts for the special people in your life. Here are a few tips to get you started. </p>
<h2>5 tips for making great mini-albums</h2>
<blockquote><p>1.  <strong>Find a theme to link your pages together</strong>. This can be a color scheme, a scrapbooking style, a specific topic or anything that gives a sense of continuity through the pages and helps the album to tell a story. Using a combination of theme ideas will also help to reinforce the continuity. In this album I used papers from the Papermania Chatsworth Collection to maintain a color scheme. I used the same font and style for the titles on all the pages and I themed all the titles by making them follow a similar pattern for my Seona Days album: Early Days, Dress-up Days, School Days, BirthDays, HoliDays.</p>
<p>2. <strong> Choose smaller, simple patterns or plains for your background papers</strong>. Now I have to admit that I didn’t strictly follow this rule. Several of the patterns in the paper pack I had chosen were a bit on the largish side. So I chose mainly simple pastels with dots for my pages and interspersed them with a few patterned papers in muted tones so they don’t overpower the photos.</p>
<p>3.  <strong>Add texture and dimension</strong>. Following on from the last tip you can make up for the lack of pattern in your papers by adding texture. The papers I chose for Seona’s album had a sort of a linen texture that I really loved. But you can add your own texture by putting your papers through an embossing machine such as a CuttleBug. And a bit of lumpy bumpy doesn&#8217;t hurt either. Generally your mini-album will only have a small number of pages. So you can probably afford to add a bit of height to your embellishing. Foam tape is my best friend. If you&#8217;re doing a digital album then try out some interesting drop shadows and bevels.</p>
<p>4.  <strong>Go easy on the embellishments</strong>. Because your mini–album pages are so much smaller than your regular scrapbook pages you need to be careful that you don’t over clutter them with embellishments. Try to pick smaller embellishments that won’t overpower the page. And I also like to reinforce the continuity by repeating the same embellishments throughout the album if possible.</p>
<p>5.  <strong>And most of all, put your love into it</strong>. Mini-albums (especially ones you do for other people) are usually a sort of capsule for an idea or an event or, like Seona’s album, a life story. That makes them a bit extra special. Let that feeling shine through in the journaling you write and the themes you choose.</p></blockquote>
<p>As usual for me, this album was a <strong>hybrid scrapbooking project</strong> where I combined <a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><em>digital scrapbooking techniques </em></a>with paper scrapbooking elements. One of the great benefits of this approach is that I can manipulate my photos and digital embellishments to perfectly fit my smaller pages and coordinate with my color scheme. I couldn’t decide on just 3 or 4 photos for the BirthDays page so I created the photo collage digitally, scanned in a background  from my paper pack and mounted the collage on it so I could keep all the fuzzy edges and just cut around the paper matt.</p>
<p>And yes, Seona loved it.</p>
<p><a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" width="468" height="59" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Canon PIXMA MP990 Review</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/-g1HOsmFXa8/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/07/14/canon-pixma-mp990-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canon pixma mp990 review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2650</guid>
		<description>One of the cool things about writing Scraps of Mind is that every now and then I get contacted to try out different products.  And so when Canon asked me if I’d be interested in trying out their PIXMA MP990 printer/scanner and all round multi function device I said I’d be delighted.&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the cool things about writing Scraps of Mind is that every now and then I get contacted to try out different products.  And so when Canon Australia asked me if I’d be interested in trying out their <strong>PIXMA MP990 </strong>printer/scanner and all round multi function device I said I’d be delighted.</p>
<p>Let’s just make a couple of things clear at this point:</p>
<ul>
<li>Canon are not paying me, either in money or in product;</li>
<li>There is no requirement for me to write nice things about them or about the PIXMA PM990;</li>
<li>In fact, there is no requirement for me to write anything at all if I don’t want to.</li>
</ul>
<p>So having got that off my chest, let’s take a closer look at the Canon MP990.</p>
<p>This beast is not just a printer it’s also a scanner, a fax machine and a photocopier. In fact if I looked hard enough I’d probably find a kitchen sink in there somewhere!</p>
<p>My main interest is in its printing and scanning functions. I tried out the photocopier but I don’t really have a use for a fax machine so that is not covered in this review.</p>
<p>First up I have to say this is a large beast, or at least it felt like that in my current restricted space environment. I guess that’s inevitable with all the different functions it provides. But with a paper in-tray at the back and the paper out-tray at the front it takes up a lot more space on my bench top than I like. It&#8217;s dimensions are 7.9 x 18.5 x 15.2 inches but that&#8217;s without the extension of the two paper trays. If space is a major consideration for you then this might be an issue for you.</p>
<p><a title="canon pixma mp990" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Canon-MP9901.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2655" title="Canon MP990" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Canon-MP9901.jpg" alt="" width="378" height="336" /></a>Setting up the PIXMA MP990 whilst not difficult was very time consuming. There seemed to be a hundred different bits to install and configure. Having said that, the Getting Started Guide did provide very clear and well illustrated steps to guide me through it so I’m very grateful for that.  Plus it was written in a way that techno-dunces like myself can understand.</p>
<p>Ink cartridges are always of interest to the printer buying consumer; because that’s usually where the ongoing expense lies. The Canon PIXMA MP990 uses a separate cartridge for each color. I much prefer this system to printers that use a single cartridge containing all the different colors in separate compartments. At least with this system if you tend to use more of some colors than of others you only have replace the relevant cartridges. And that usually translates into a saving in the long term. I always hated throwing away a cartridge when I knew there was plenty of ink still in some of the colors.</p>
<h2>So how does the Canon PIXMA MP990 perform?</h2>
<h3>As a Printer</h3>
<p>I found the printer to be significantly quicker and quieter than my own printer.</p>
<p>The output was crisp and clean with good quality color. And the good news is that it seemed to be paper agnostic. By that I mean that you don’t need to exclusively use Canon photo paper to get the best results. I printed out oll of the digital scrapbook layouts from my <a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank">Step By Step Digital Scrapbook tutorials</a> on both the Canon paper supplied and also on some Kodak photo paper and I was very happy with the results on both. This is an improvement on my HP printer as it tends to reserve its best performance for HP paper.</p>
<p>I tried printing on ordinary plain paper and whilst not as good as the print quality on high resolution photo paper (only to be expected) the quality was still very good. Let’s face it, you’re likely to be doing most of your printing on ordinary paper, rather than more expensive paper so this is pretty important.</p>
<h3>As a Scanner</h3>
<p>Once again I found the scanning function of the Canon PIXMA MP990 was significantly quicker than my own scanner (which is also a Canon). The scanning control panel which comes up on your computer monitor includes some very handy features under the Advanced tab which let you adjust the quality of your image before you scan it. This is especially useful with old photos which have grown dark with age. If you adjust the lighting on the image before you scan it you will bring out a heap of detail in the photo. That means you don’t lose this detail in the scan and you can then refine this more in your photo editing software.</p>
<h3>As a Photocopier</h3>
<p>I’ve never really bothered about a photocopier before as I have always just used my scanner. But it can be a handy device to have. If you’re intending to make a print out of a hard copy page it’s much quicker to use the photocopier function than to scan and then print. And even quicker if you need multiple copies.</p>
<p>I must confess, working out how to use the photocopier function was more challenging than I expected. However once I discovered the instructions on the back page of the Getting Started Guide it all worked out happily. Photocopying was quick and quiet and the output was clear and crisp. That pretty much covers it for photocopying.</p>
<h2>In a Nutshell</h2>
<p>So taking everything into consideration I would have to recommend the Canon PIXMA MP990 as a good buy for a multi-function device for the home. As long as you have the surface space for a chunky sized home printer it’s a great machine. And of course it does come with all the other functions as well.</p>
<p>It’s a bit of a time consuming and fiddly exercise to set it up but once that’s done you can enjoy excellent quality output and a quick and quiet operation.</p>
<p>Having each colored ink in its own separate cartridge I saw as a distinct bonus and I was particularly impressed with the quality of printing on non-Canon papers.</p>
<p>So if you’re out there looking to upgrade or replace your current printer and you want a machine that can do more functions than just print &#8212; and can do them well – then you really should take a good long look at the <em>Canon PIXMA MP990.</em></p>
<p><a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
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		<title>The Cat and the Celtics</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/zQ0zxbogZ0Y/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/06/29/the-cat-and-the-celtics/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cat Stevens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilmore celtic festival]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2635</guid>
		<description>The Cat in the title doesn’t have four legs, doesn’t meow and is in fact the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens.
The Kilmore Celtic Festival is where Allan and I rug up warm and head up the Hume Freeway to spend a day immersed in Celtic music of every flavour.&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Cat in the title doesn’t have four legs, doesn’t meow and is in fact the singer/songwriter formerly known as <strong>Cat Stevens</strong>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/catstevens.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2640" title="catstevens" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/catstevens.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="298" /></a>My daughter Seona has been a humongous fan ever since she was 13; fourteen years after he gave up his singing career! So when I found out that he was doing some concerts in Australia I knew that tickets to see him would be the perfect birthday present for her.</p>
<p>With the help of her partner Phil we arranged that I should fly up to Sydney on the night and meet her for dinner before the show as a surprise. There were a few hiccups in the plans along the way (not least when I accidentally on forwarded the two tickets to her) but through a web of lies and deceit we managed to keep her in the dark and the surprise was wonderfully successful.</p>
<p>She was totally wound up for the concert; having loaded her iPhone with his entire catalogue and spending the last two weeks revisiting every song he’s ever recorded. So I was a leetle bit nervous that the actual show might not be able to live up to the high expectations.</p>
<p>Fortunately my fears were unfounded. We both had a fantastic time and Yusuf (as Cat Stevens has been known for the past 30 years) put on a magnificent performance with two hours of solid quality.</p>
<p>Seona was totally melted when he sang Sitting (the song that first got her into Cat Stevens). All the favourites from the old days were there and also some new stuff which we both enjoyed too.  Amazingly his voice doesn’t seem to have changed at all over the last 30 years. He sounded exactly like his recordings.</p>
<p>Plus his interaction with the audience was brilliant. You really felt that he wanted to be there and was putting on the show just for you. He laughed and joked in a relaxed way with just enough chat between the songs to keep the flow going.</p>
<p>The light show was wonderful with some magnificent art work and Yusuf gave us a taster of a musical show he’s written called Moonshadow which we’re very excited about and are keeping our fingers crossed that it’ll come to Australia.</p>
<p>It’s always risky going to see someone that you have been a big fan of as often your expectations can be impossibly high and it’s easy to find yourself disappointed with the reality. But fortunately all expectations were met by Yusuf last week, and then some.</p>
<h3>The Celtics</h3>
<p>Long time visitors to Scraps of Mind may remember that the last weekend in June is when I get my annual Folk Fix. <strong>The Kilmore Celtic Festival</strong> (14 years and going strong) is where Allan and I rug up warm and head up the Hume Freeway to spend a day immersed in Celtic music of every flavour.</p>
<p>Once again Kilmore imported the weather directly from Ireland and Scotland for the event. I realise that the cold in Australia may not be of the professional standard of cold that some of your homes may achieve, but let me tell you Saturday in Kilmore was plenty cold enough for me. Still when the craic is good and the wine is flowing (sorry, I&#8217;ve never come to terms with Guinness) what do a few frosty fingers matter?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Kilmore-2010.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2641" title="Kilmore-2010" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Kilmore-2010.jpg" alt="Kilmore Celtic Festival 2010" width="360" height="360" /></a>Several of our favourite acts were there again this year. <strong>Bhan Tre</strong> returned with a new and excellent fiddler from Dublin who&#8217;s backpacking her way around Australia.  And of course what would Kilmore Festival be without <strong>Ced le Meledo and Bric a Brac</strong>; always a great act to watch and listen to. And the Breton/French music adds some great variety to the Scottish and Irish tunes.</p>
<p>Our new band to watch this year is called <strong>Shannachie</strong> and they&#8217;re from the <strong>Lake School of Celtic Music.</strong> This place seems to be producing some great future talent. They&#8217;re still a bit unpolished in their stage presence but we definitely liked what we heard.</p>
<p>And we got a double helping of <strong>Braemar</strong> this year. Braemar always bring out the Scottish in me, even though there’s really none there (I’m Irish t’be sure). Eddie has the perfect voice for those Scottish laments. This year Eddie and Marc were joined by a couple of friends on the fiddle and the uilleann pipes.  The sad thing is that it was Braemar’s final year at the Festival as they are disbanding in the next couple of months. So thank you Eddie and Marc for all the great Festivals we’ve enjoyed with you and we wish you the very best for the future.</p>
<p>As the day drew to a close we head south a few kilometres and called in at my sister Elaine’s place. Also now a tradition for us. A warm and toasty evening with yummy food was the perfect end to another great Kilmore Celtic Festival Day.</p>
<h3>Other Related Articles:</h3>
<p><a title="kilomore celtic festival" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/06/29/kilmore-celtic-festival-2009/" target="_blank">Kilmore Celtic Festival 2009</a></p>
<p><a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" width="468" height="59" /><br />
</a></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Step by Step Digital Scrapbook Relaunch</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/AUR4uhrnu2k/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/06/16/step-by-step-digital-scrapbook-relaunch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital scrapbooking tutorials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2548</guid>
		<description>I’m very excited about some big changes that are happening over at my Step by Step Digital Scrapbook website and I can’t wait to share them with you.
If you’re a regular reader here you may recall that I started Step by Step digital Scrapbook a couple of years ago to help newbies who wanted to [...]&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I’m very excited about some big changes that are happening over at my Step by Step Digital Scrapbook website and I can’t wait to share them with you.</p>
<p>If you’re a regular reader here you may recall that I started Step by Step digital Scrapbook a couple of years ago to help newbies who wanted to get started in Digital Scrapbooking.</p>
<p>One of the things I offered was a mentoring program to help newbies develop their skills from absolute beginner to advanced digital scrapbooker  through weekly video eClasses. Each eClass demonstrated the creation of different scrapbook layouts using different techniques.  And each weekly class came with a complementary digital scrapbook kit.</p>
<p>Well over the past year or so many visitors to the site requested that I make the tutorial videos available to more than just newbies.</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff00ff;"><strong>So I have decided to change the site from a membership mentoring  program to a more a-la-carte style.</strong></span></p>
<h2>A-La-Carte Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<div id="attachment_2628" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 370px"><a title="step by step digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-2628 " title="Step by Step Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AdvTut1.gif" alt="" width="360" height="360" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Example: Advanced Tutorial 1 Package - Making an Animated Layout</p></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p>Now, instead of joining as a beginner and working your way through the program, you can pick and choose what interests you.</p>
<p>You can still start at the <a title="beginners digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/BeginnersTutorials.html" target="_blank">beginning</a> and work your way through if you wish. But if you already know the basics of digital scrapbooking and you want to learn some more advanced techniques and tricks you can browse through the <strong><a title="Intermediate digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/IntermediateTutorials.html" target="_blank">Intermediate Tutorial Section</a> </strong>or the<strong> <a title="Advanced digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/AdvancedTutorials.html" target="_blank">Advanced Tutorial Section</a></strong> and select the ones that tickle your fancy.</p>
<p>Each tutorial is presented in <strong>two videos totalling between 30-60 minutes</strong> and demonstrates all the steps to creating the pictured digital scrapbook layout. And each Tutorial comes with a<strong> complementary digital scrapbook kit</strong> so that you can jump right in and make your own version of the demonstrated layout. <em> </em></p>
<p><em>In fact, pausing the video whilst you create your own layout step by step is a great way to learn the techniques.</em></p>
<h3>AND BEST OF ALL . . .</h3>
<p><strong>With this change comes a 50% reduction in cost!</strong></p>
<p>Check it out for yourself and see what you think.</p>
<p>Step by Step Digital Scrapbook <strong><a title="beginners digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/BeginnersTutorials.html" target="_blank">Beginners Tutorials</a></strong>, <strong><a title="Intermediate digital scrapbooking  tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/IntermediateTutorials.html" target="_blank">Intermediate  Tutorials</a></strong> and <strong><a title="Advanced digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/AdvancedTutorials.html" target="_blank">Advanced  Tutorials </a></strong>.</p>
<p><strong>You can’t go wrong!</strong></p>
<p><strong><a title="step by step digital scrapbooking tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
</a><br />
</strong></p>
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		<title>Hybrid Scrapbooking a 50th Card</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/WDBsehoaZY4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/05/27/hybrid-scrapbooking-a-50th-card/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 May 2010 18:30:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Scrapbook Freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[card making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[50th card]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cardmaking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hybrid scrapbooking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2613</guid>
		<description>I’ve just made this 50th birthday card and I thought I’d share it with you. It’s a Hybrid scrapbooking card made using both paper scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking techniques and combines the touchy-feely satisfaction of working with paper with the convenience, versatility and virtually unlimited paper and embellishment options of digital scrapbooking.&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I’ve just made this <em>50<sup>th</sup> birthday card</em> for my brother and I thought I’d share it with you.</p>
<p>It’s a <strong>Hybrid scrapbooking card</strong> made using both paper scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking techniques and I must confess, this is my absolute favourite form of scrapbooking. It combines the touchy-feely satisfaction of working with paper with the convenience, versatility and virtually unlimited paper and embellishment options of digital scrapbooking.</p>
<p>I’m pretty chuffed with how it turned out. What do you think?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Michaels-50th.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2619" title="Michaels-50th" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Michaels-50th.jpg" alt="" width="360" height="256" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Michaels-50tha.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2620" title="Michaels-50tha" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Michaels-50tha.jpg" alt="" width="360" height="270" /></a></p>
<p>I’ve used this template before when I made a <a title="hybrid scrapbooking 50th wedding card" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2007/08/13/50th-anniversary-card-and-template/" target="_blank">50<sup>th</sup> Wedding Anniversary card</a> for my Aunt and Uncle. And if you want to try it out <a title="50th anniversary card template" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/media/50thAnniversaryTemplatebyKarooch.zip" target="_blank">you can download the template here</a>. If you want to use it for digital cards just delete the white background and clip your digital papers to the outline shape.</p>
<p>When I make hybrid scrapbook cards I usually do the design on my computer first so I can play around with ideas. Even if I’m not intending to use digital papers I’ll usually pick a digital paper that’s similar to the ‘real’ one that I intend to use for the purpose of the design. And I’ll use digital elements to stand in for the ‘real life’ ones I’m planning to use. Things like brads and ribbons etc.</p>
<p>Once the design is done I work out which of the digital elements I’m going to use on the card and then print them out. It’s easy to change the color of them if they don’t quite coordinate with my other elements.</p>
<p>On this card I clipped the patterned digital paper I wanted to use (Cheryl Barber’s Etc Collection) to the template and then printed out the whole of the digital design on satin finish photo paper. Then I glued it onto cardstock which I’d printed with the template shape. I cut a slit in the card to thread the ribbon through on the inside before I glued the designed card to the card stock. If I was going to use ‘real’ brads I would also have fixed them to the papers before gluing onto the cardstock.</p>
<p>Then I printed several of the elements of the card separately onto satin photo paper, cut them out and adhered them to the card with foam tape to add further dimension. This worked particularly well with the focal photo because it meant I was able to run the real ribbon over the frame and under the photo.</p>
<p>Like I said earlier, I love the way hybrid scrapbooking combines the best of both of the scrapbooking worlds I love. If you haven’t tried it yourself I urge you to give it a go. It’s the perfect scrapbooking marriage.</p>
<p>And if you’re nervous about the idea of the digital scrapbooking part, just click on the banner below and check out the selection of <strong>Beginner Tutorials</strong> from <a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank">Step by Step Digital Scrapbook </a>to help you get started.</p>
<h3>Other Related Articles:</h3>
<p><a title="hybrid scrapbooking 50th wedding card" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2007/08/13/50th-anniversary-card-and-template/" target="_blank">50<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Card and Template</a></p>
<p><a title="What is Hybrid Scrapbooking" rel="bookmark" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2007/08/30/hybrid-scrapbooking-whats-it-all-about/" target="_blank">What is Hybrid Scrapbooking?</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_blank"><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" width="468" height="59" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Life Word Art Freebie</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/7HkH_dhQRZk/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/04/12/life-word-art-freebie/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:24:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quotes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbook Freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[card making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free word art]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2534</guid>
		<description>Life is Wonderful!
And as some comedian once said: It beats the hell out of the alternative!
I love life.
Everyday brings something good . . . even if sometimes you have to search a little to find it.
Anyway, for no reason in particular I’ve decided to celebrate Life today with some free Word Art.
Click here to download [...]&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Life is Wonderful!</h3>
<p>And as some comedian once said: It beats the hell out of the alternative!</p>
<p>I love life.</p>
<p>Everyday brings something good . . . even if sometimes you have to search a little to find it.</p>
<p>Anyway, for no reason in particular I’ve decided to celebrate Life today with some <strong>free Word Art</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ToLife.png" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-2542 aligncenter" title="To-Life" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/To-Life.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="172" />Click here to download the full size PNG file.</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/LivingOutLoud.png" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-2540 aligncenter" title="Living-Out-Loud" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Living-Out-Loud.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="167" />Click here to download the full size PNG file.</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Live-Large.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2538 aligncenter" title="Live-Large" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Live-Large.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="108" /></a><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/LiveLarge.png" target="_blank">Click here to download the full size PNG file.</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: center;">And here’s an extra one that epitomises my philosophy of Life.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="free word art" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/as-you-ramble-through-life.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="122" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/as-you-ramble-through-life.png" target="_blank">Click here to download the full size</a><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/as-you-ramble-through-life.png" target="_blank"> PNG file.</a></p>
<p>Hope you’re enjoying your Life today.</p>
<h3>Other Related Articles:</h3>
<p><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/07/09/free-summer-and-winter-word-art/" target="_blank">Free Summer and Winter Word Art</a></p>
<p><a title="free word art" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/06/04/word-art-freebie/" target="_blank">Word Art Freebie</a><br />
<a href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target=_top><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" width="468" height="59" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials"><br />
</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>AZZA Scrapbooking</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/wfaho40hwtA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/03/09/azza-scrapbooking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:47:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Scrapbook Freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbook Layouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AZZA Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital scrapbooking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2440</guid>
		<description>I was intrigued by the AZZA scrapbooking style and thought I’d like to give it a try. I wasn’t all that keen on all the photo cutting (I knew from the outset that that way there be dragons). And I wasn’t keen on the expense of buying the special templates. So the obvious choice was…

Digital AZZA Scrapbooking!&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Have you heard of AZZA Scrapbooking?</h2>
<p>Well I hadn’t until a few months ago when my friend Marla (who isn’t even a scrapbooker) worded me up about it.</p>
<p>Seems <strong>AZZA</strong> is a European style of scrapbooking. The AZZA heartland seems to be France and Belgium. And its focus is all about the photos and less about the embellishments.</p>
<p>Typically AZZA scrapbook layouts use multiple photos which are cut into shapes that fit into each other neatly. Often special templates are used to create the shapes needed for a pleasing design.</p>
<p>Usually there isn’t any embellishment other than a border which is mostly drawn with a pen or paintbrush. Simplicity is the key and all attention is given to the photos. And the photos themselves become the design of the layout.</p>
<p>It’s an interesting style and makes quite a contrast from the American style of scrapbooking which most of us practice. And I do confess that whilst I’m not a heavy collage scrapbooker, I do like my embellishments and accents.</p>
<p>But I was intrigued by the AZZA scrapbooking style and thought I’d like to give it a try. I wasn’t all that keen on all the photo cutting (I knew from the outset that that way there be dragons). And I wasn’t keen on the expense of buying the special templates.</p>
<p>So the obvious choice was . . .</p>
<h2>Digital AZZA Scrapbooking!</h2>
<p>One of the joys of digital for me is that you can replicate pretty much anything that you can create in paper scrapbooking at little or no cost. And mistakes are fixed by just a click of the reverse button.</p>
<p>So I decided to give digital AZZA a try and use it to create my album for the trip I took last November, cruising across Europe by river.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<div id="attachment_2530" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 370px"><a title="Scrapbook Freebie" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/SoMAZZATemplate.zip" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-2530 " title="Bratislava" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Bratislava.jpg" alt="Click on the layout to download the PSD template" width="360" height="360" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Click on the layout to download the PSD template</p></div>
<p>I made some digital templates in Photoshop Elements and dragged my photos on, positioned and resized them and then used the clipping mask layer to crop them to the size of the template.</p>
<p>I made the borders by choosing a shape from the cookie cutter and then Ctrl-Click to select the layer and doing Edit&gt;Stroke Outline on a new layer. Simply delete the original shape layer and you’re left with the outline border which you can resize and manipulate however you want.</p>
<p>The templates were quite easy to make using the Cookie Cutter shapes and the Marquee Tool for the more geometric shapes. And the spaces between were created using the same Edit&gt;Stroke Outline technique around the photos, Selecting the border layer  and pressing the Delete key on the relevant layers to create the space.</p>
<p>I then just added a small shadow to the photos so they look like they’re stuck on the page; a low key title, some journaling and we’re done.</p>
<p>I quite like how they’re turning out. <strong>And best of all, it cost me nothing!</strong></p>
<p>So I think I’ll be doing more of this Digital AZZA Scrapbooking, although I can’t see me becoming a total convert. I couldn’t bear to give up my flowers and brads… both digital and real.</p>
<p>How about you? Have you tried AZZA Scrapbooking before using traditional paper techniques? How do you like it?</p>
<p>And what do you think of <em>digital AZZA scrapbooking</em>? Is it something you ‘d like to try?</p>
<p>You can download the template I made for the layout above by clicking on the layout above. The template is in PSD format.</p>
<p>Let me know how you go.<br />
<a title="digital scrapbooking video tutorials" href="http://www.stepbystepdigitalscrapbook.com/Tutorials/ConsolidatedTutorials.html" target="_self"><br />
<img src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Banner468x59animated.gif" border="0" alt="Full length Digital Scrapbook Tutorials" width="468" height="59" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Culture in the Colonies</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/IjcdsiN1IU4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/02/16/culture-in-the-colonies/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:16:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Theatre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terry Pratchett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Met]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Sun Theatre]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2436</guid>
		<description>There’s a great scheme going on with some of our independent movie theatres over the last couple of years where they do direct live broadcasts of operas from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
I’ve been going for the last 18 months and the experience is fantastic. Not only do you get a fabulous high definition [...]&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There’s a great scheme going on with some of our independent movie theatres over the last couple of years where they do direct live broadcasts of operas from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.</p>
<p>I’ve been going for the last 18 months and the experience is fantastic. Not only do you get a fabulous high definition up-close-and-personal  viewing experience of the production (and The Met productions are seriously over the top), but you also get to see what’s going on behind the curtain when the scenery is being changed between acts. And that has to be seen to be believed. And on top of that, the whole thing is presented by a leading opera star, such as Placido Domingo or Renee Fleming, who catch the lead performers as they leave the stage at the end of an act and chat with them.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://nkurtzman.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/garanca-carmen.jpg"><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="carmen 2010 at the met" src="http://nkurtzman.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/garanca-carmen.jpg" alt="" width="287" height="260" /></a>A couple of theatres in Melbourne subscribe to this broadcast but my venue of choice is <a title="the sun theatre yarraville melbourne" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.suntheatre.com.au/" target="_blank">The Sun Theatre </a>in Yarraville; a beautifully restored art deco theatre with intimately sized theatres and comfy armchair style seating. The last opera production was a couple of weeks ago. Bizet’s Carmen, a well known story and a truly magnificent production.  And because it’s broadcast live and has plenty of close-up camera work, you get to see all the little prop malfunctions and how the performers  deal with them in such a way that the people in the ‘real’ theatre would not actually see.</p>
<p>Just recently The Sun have branched out in this area and are including ballet performances from the Russian ballet as well as plays from the West End of London. These aren’t broadcast live but they’re recorded live and are presented within two weeks of the actual performance so there’s a feeling of currency about them.</p>
<p>I went to my first play on Saturday: Nation by Mark Ravenhill based on a book by Terry Pratchett (nothing to do with the Discworld Series of which I am a huge fan). It&#8217;s a production from the National Theatre, London.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01493/p_terry-pratchett-_1493582c.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="Terry Pratchetts Nation" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01493/p_terry-pratchett-_1493582c.jpg" alt="" width="414" height="259" /></a></p>
<blockquote><p><span style="color: #808000;">&#8220;A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau’s village and left Daphne shipwrecked on his South Pacific island, thousands of miles from home. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress; neither speaks the other’s language; somehow they must learn to survive. As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe’s fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.&#8221;</span></p></blockquote>
<p>I wasn’t sure how I would go watching a stage play in a movie format. And it took me about 15 minutes to get my head into the right sort of place. But once I was there I truly enjoyed the experience.</p>
<p>The production mixed projected film and puppetry in an unlikely combination with the ‘organic’ performance in a way that worked wonderfully. Speaking as someone who likes a story to be delivered pretty straight and not given an ‘arty’ treatment I was a little nervous of how this was all going to come across. But it worked brilliantly.</p>
<p>I’m always fascinated by stage productions and how so many different places, moods, times etc. can be created ‘live’ in front of your eyes without all the ‘trickery’ that’s available with cameras. The Nation production was a minimal scenery production (not usually my favourite option) and performed on a revolving stage that centred on a dome that represented the Asia Pacific region of a globe of the world, and doubled as the deck of a ship and a South Sea island.</p>
<p>All the performers did a wonderful job and the script explored some interesting corners of the human psyche, whilst still being a fun and entertaining story.</p>
<p>Because they had only received the file from London that day, the Sun team hadn’t had a chance to give it a run through to test it and sure enough, we had a couple of glitches. We lost the last couple of minutes before the Interval and, more importantly, the curtain came down two and a half minutes before the end. Things were looking ugly in the theatre when the management came to apologise for what had happened and said that if we could hang on for about 10 minutes they’d get it sorted and we’d get our ending. Then they gave us all a complementary pass to sooth ruffled feathers and all was well.</p>
<p>So if you’re fortunate enough to live in or around London and you’re looking for something a bit different (without being off the wall) to see, I can highly recommend Nation.</p>
<p>And for everyone else, why not check out your local independent cinema and see if they participate in this worldwide broadcast scheme. It’s a great way to try out something different without buying expensive tickets.</p>
<h3>Other Related Articles:</h3>
<p><a title="melbourne opera don giovanni" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2006/05/15/no-longer-an-opera-virgin/" target="_blank">No Longer an Opera Virgin</a></p>
<p><a title="turandot opera" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2006/12/04/turandotor-mastermind-chinese-style/" target="_blank">Turandot &#8230; or &#8216;Mastermind: Chinese Style&#8217;</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Cuttlebugs and Creativity</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ScrapsOfMind/~3/db_cpY3-bes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2010/01/30/cuttlebugs-and-creativity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:06:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>karooch</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Art & Craft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artist Trading Cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrapbooking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[card making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cuttlebug]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.scrapsofmind.com/?p=2421</guid>
		<description>Well Summer is in full swing here in Oz. And I’ll be honest with you; I haven’t done much in the scrapbooking line for a few months.
But I haven’t shut up shop entirely. My Tuesday night craft group ensures that I still keep projects on the go.
Last year I introduced Marla to the concept of  [...]&lt;p&gt;a&lt;/p&gt;</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well Summer is in full swing here in Oz. And I’ll be honest with you; I haven’t done much in the scrapbooking line for a few months.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Soar1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2426" title="Soar1" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Soar1.jpg" alt="Soar1" width="191" height="261" /></a>But I haven’t shut up shop entirely. My Tuesday night craft group ensures that I still keep projects on the go.</p>
<p>Last year I introduced <a title="Christmas card making" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/07/20/christmas-card-making-in-july/" target="_blank">Marla</a> to the concept of  <a title="Artist Trading Cards ATC" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/10/27/artist-trading-card-atc-swaps/" target="_blank">Artist Trading Cards </a>and I’ve never seen someone embrace anything with as much enthusiasm as she has with ATCs. She’s joined several swap groups and in a few short months she’s built up a huge collection, filling two binders already. She makes beautiful ATCs as you can see<a title="Marla's ATCs" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpa_32" target="_blank"> here</a>.</p>
<p>At the moment she’s got a couple of swaps which she’s organising herself, so in a fit of buddy support I’ve volunteered to contribute to them. Here’s one of my efforts on the theme of ‘birds and feathers’. It’s called Soar.</p>
<p>Like many of my ATCs it&#8217;s a hybrid of digital and paper/scissors techniques. I find this approach especially useful when I have to make 7 cards all the same. I can design the backgound, duplicate it and print out 7 identical versions. Then add the cut outs and three dimensional stuff. In many cases I&#8217;ll print out digital elements, cut them out and mount them with foam tape, mixed in with &#8216;real life&#8217; embellishments, as I&#8217;ve done here.</p>
<h2>Cuttlebug Crafting</h2>
<p>The group has recently clubbed together and purchased a communal Cuttlebug. I wasn’t that excited until I gave it a try myself.</p>
<p>What a bunch of fun it was! Quite ordinary looking card or paper embossed a gorgeous patterned texture which looks fabulous in card or scrapbooking projects. Or you can create embossed embellishments using card or papers that coordinate with your scrapbook layouts. Here are a couple of cards I made for my niece’s  birthdays and one for another niece&#8217;s engagement. I just love the effect.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Bonny-Ruby-Birthday-2010.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2425 aligncenter" title="Bonny-&amp;-Ruby-Birthday-2010" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Bonny-Ruby-Birthday-2010.jpg" alt="Bonny-&amp;-Ruby-Birthday-2010" width="288" height="231" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cuttle-Card-1.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2424 aligncenter" title="Cuttle-Card-1" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cuttle-Card-1.jpg" alt="Cuttle-Card-1" width="288" height="279" /></a></p>
<p>If you are a user of one of these babies and have some cool ideas for ways to use it, I’d love it if you could share them in the comments below. Often something that seems quite straightforward to one person can sound like a revelation to another. We’re all still pretty new to the world of Cuttlebugs so we’d welcome any suggestions that help to get the most value from it.</p>
<h2>What is your favourite scrapbooking tool?</h2>
<p>And whilst on the subject of scrapbooking equipment&#8230;do you have a favourite piece of equipment that you just love?</p>
<p>Even though I’m in love with the Cuttlebug at the moment, I think I would have to say that my fine cutting scissors are really my favourite piece of scrapbooking equipment.</p>
<p>I love my little embroidery scissors but I recently bought a funny looking pair that have now taken first place on my scrapbooking ‘must have’ tools list. They have no normal handles and you work them by squeezing the single handle which works a spring which works the blades. They really take the effort out of cutting and there’s no more red indentations on my thumb and fingers when I have to do a lot of cutting. And best of all, they make doing really fine and detailed cutting so easy.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Scissors.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2423 aligncenter" title="Scissors" src="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Scissors.jpg" alt="Scissors" width="360" height="87" /></a></p>
<p>Well as you can see, I seem to be drifting back to the more tactile side of papercrafting, after spending the last 18 months immersed in the world of digital scrapbooking. I still like to combine the two wherever possible. Most of my cards and ATCs are hybrid creations. And I think that I’ll always prefer the freedom that digital gives me when creating scrapbook layouts. But I’m really enjoying getting back into the ‘glue and paper’ stuff again.</p>
<h3>Other Related Articles:</h3>
<p><a title="Artist Trading Cards ATC" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/10/27/artist-trading-card-atc-swaps/" target="_blank">Artist Trading Card Swaps</a></p>
<p><a title="Christmas card making" href="http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2009/07/20/christmas-card-making-in-july/" target="_blank">Christmas Card Making in July</a></p>
<p>a</p>
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