Hello! I'd love to wish you a happy new year, but a) it's already April, and b) we certainly had devastating start to 2009 didn't we? I sincerely hope that none of you were affected by events in Victoria and Queensland. We send our deepest heartfelt condolences to those who have lost family, friends, animals or property in either flood or fire. The news footage and radio interviews were harrowing, but it’s been touching to see the bad matched by the good with incredible generosity.
Many of us have already made donations to Red Cross appeal, but I would also encourage you to make a donation to Wildlife Victoria. They have a mammoth, heartbreaking and ongoing task of caring for the many injured and burnt native animals. If you haven’t seen their website, it is:
http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/ .
There’s also a lovely poem called ‘Thankyou carers’ on their News, Photos and Stories page.
The quote I’ve adopted as my personal mantra for this year seems more appropriate than ever:
To give beyond reason.
To care beyond hope.
To love without limit.
To reach, stretch, and dream,
in spite of your fears.
I hope the rest of 2009 brings positive and exciting things for us all, and of course lots of opportunities to scrapbook!
Kind regards,
Alison
20% off Birds for April !
This month, all of our bird-themed products – papers, stickers, embellishments and chipboard - are 20% off.
And get a further 5% off your entire order by entering the voucher code CC2009 at checkout. These offers are valid until 31 April 2009.
20% of all items in 'Birds'! |
|
Our latest favourite website!  If you haven't heard of Wordles, you're sure to have lots of fun on www.wordle.net. This website is good for hours of fun!
Wordle is an internet application that makes 'word clouds'. You can create as many wordles as you like by adding your own text and changing fonts, layout and color scheme - all for nothing! The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like...you can print them out, use them in cards or scrapbooking or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
On the right is an image of a wordle I created of some of my pets names since I was very little.
Please note: Wordle cannot censor the site due to the thousands of wordles created every day. The gallery may sometimes contain wordles that are not suitable for childrens viewing.
Click to visit wordle. |
|
How to photograph pets  Photographing pets can be a bit tricky, but there are several ways that you can improve your results. This is the start of a 3 part series:
1. Start with Your Pet’s Personality
Ask yourself ‘what sets my pet apart from other animals?’ Think about what type of personality it has and then attempt to capture some of that in your shots. For example if everyone knows your pet as a sleepy, lazy or placid little thing set up your photo shoot around it’s bed or where it goes after a meal to lie in the sun and you’ll have every chance of capturing a shot that sums your pet right up. Alternatively if your pet is hyperactive, inquisitive and always on the move it might be better to do your shoot at a local park where it’s racing around, jumping for balls or playing with other animals.
2. Think about Context
In choosing the location to photograph your pet you might want to consider a variety of other factors also. For starters choose a place where your pet will be comfortable and at ease. Also consider the familiarity of the location and the emotions that it will evoke in you as the pets owner. For example you might have a place that you and your pet have had some special moments together that will mean a lot in the future as you look back over your shots. Lastly consider the background of your shots. Ultimately you don’t want your backgrounds to be distracting from your photo - sometimes the best locations are the plainest ones - a large patch of green grass, a well lit room with white walls and plain carpet etc can be ideal. Of course this can also be too plain and sterile - my motto is to it avoid background if it doesn’t add to the shot.
3. Get in Close
Pets come in all shapes and sizes but in most cases they are smaller than a human and as a result they tend to end up getting a little lost in photos unless you make an effort to get up close to them. Of course getting close is not always easy, especially if you have a pet that likes to move around, but it’s worth making the effort as the detail that can be gained and the personality that can be captured by an up close and personal photo shoot with a pet can really lift a photo to a new level. If you can’t physically get close to your pet, try to get or borrow a camera with a zoom lens.
Part 2 next month.
Article used with permission Digital Photography School. |
New and featured items
We’ve received a shipment of cute new papers, plus a top-up of some of the papers that just gallop (or fly, run, hop or swim) out of our store!
Here are a few samples.
click here |
|
Quote of the month The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
Samuel Butler
click here |
Creature Features
This is where we feature our animal layouts – as always, please feel free to send us your creations!
1. Jungle Cat (left above)
My sister, Melissa did this layout for our trip to the Melbourne Pet & Animal Expo in February 2008. It proves that our “Leafy Lizard” paper can be used for all manner of other jungle creatures. This one features Gus, my cat. The leaf was folded in two, which added extra dimension to the layout. This got lots of great comments at the expo and inspired several people to recreate it themselves.
2. Mousetrap (centre above)
This layout features our prize mouser “Mousetrap”. His job is to keep the stables as ‘snake-free’ as possible by mousing but he doubles as general entertainer/ joker. He’s always great for a laugh, and when he’s in the mood, he loves a cuddle (on his terms!).
I used “Kitty Words” by Carolees Creations (#173) and the Cat epoxy stickers by Art Warehouse (#270).
3. Just like daddy…(right above)
The Moo paper (#235) by Creative Imaginations was perfect for a layout of our little poddy calf – Rambo. We used foam tape (thick double sided tape) to raise the thought bubble and add dimension.
Rambo is a pure-bred texas longhorn bull calf, who was born a twin. His mum chose to raise one healthy calf rather than compromise them both, so we had to raise this gorgeous little fellow by bottle. If he does grow up like his daddy, he'll have a pretty impressive set of horns!
click here |
That’s it for now – we’ll be back soon with more products, specials and layouts!
Until then- happy scrapping!
Alison & Ida
|
