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DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 30 2009  He finally decided to remove his band-aid last night. I couldn't believe it. I am so proud of him. And then this morning, he pooped in the toilet for the first time! He's growing up, my little one. I woke up all sick this morning. The allergies are at an all-time high and I can barely keep eyes open. I wish things would let up a little bit...but oh well. The little one is still moving and all seems to be well so that's what matters in the end.  52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 4  This tag didn't photograph well at all but I couldn't figure out how to fix it. It has a lot of techniques from my list. The bottom brown section is flocked, there's wax all over it which causes the blotches. The brown color is alcohol ink. The butterflies are embossed with glittery brown powder. And the stamping of course. To me, the tree represents potential growth and opportunity. The butterflies, too, represent future full of possibility which is what I see.  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 29 2009  This afternoon, my friend Jess came over with her son Beckett and we had a lot of fun playing together and chatting. Nice to have a friend, especially such and old and solid one. I need to do more of this. Allergies are acting up tonight and my head is just one big bubble but otherwise, all in all still quite peaceful. 2009 is great so far. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 28 2009  The ghastly headache seems to have mostly dissipated, thank God. In a funky mood today but I know it will pass so I am just trying to take it easy. Here's to a more fun tomorrow. CATALYST 46 - THIS IS JUST TO SAY  Here's my text: If I had been asked this question years ago, I think I would have ended up with a Robert Frost poem as for the longest time, he was my favorite poet. I have always loved “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and used to write it in my diaries. But that was all before I was introduced to William Carlos Williams. As soon as I read this poem, I fell completely in love. I can’t even tell you why. I think it’s because it’s so ordinary, so simple. Such a beautiful representation of something that’s a part of regular, married, loving life. this is just to say i have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast. Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 27 2009  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 26 2009  The trip back was less fun mostly cause I had an unbearable headache that drove me absolutely mad. (it's still here). DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 25 2009   that's christine, michelle, me, gabrielle, tonya, and krista. All wonderful women.  I wasn't sure if I was going to go to CHA or not until the last minute. I kept changing my mind. In the end, I am glad I went. I got to meet all these new ladies and I got to see Michelle again (whom I love) and it was fun seeing all the product in person. This year's show was considerably emptier than last year, which, for me, was nicer since it meant I could move around more easily. But it was kind of sad for the industry. We also went to the CI and SEI parties on Saturday night and that also seemed emptier and less interesting than last year, maybe cause it wasn't my first time, who knows? They did both have yummy ice cream...and the CI party had all the Star Wars characters, which mostly creeped me out. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 24 2009  The trip down to LA wasn't so painful (at least not compared to the return trip.) and I am glad we got to go and see some friends. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 3  I wanted something really shimmery so I took a purple butterfly and put pearl ink on it and then some white felt and then some white glitter just to be sure it would shine. I used UTEE on the hearts in the background (which was an afterthought, hence the not perfect pattern) and some alcohol inks with the pearl mixative on the blue in the background. here's another look:  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 23 2009  I must have still been giddy from my BPS workshop going up cause I did my third tag and three catalysts last night. Excited to create again and even though I'm exhausted, I'm looking forward to going to CHA again. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 22 2009  If you're interested in journaling, I hope you'll register for my workshop. I've poured my heart and soul into it and I cannot wait to get started! GIFT CARD MINIBOOK BY LORI GENTILE My good friend Lori has a new downloadable class at A Million Memories. It's great for birthdays, mother's day, Valentine's day or any other occasion where you give gift cards. I love this project! You can also checkout her video here! DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 21 2009  Early morning David jumped in my bed and we played together. We play this game where we tell each other how many times we love each other. Ten times! Twenty times! This morning he said "five teen times!" and then he leaned over and whispered in my ear "With all my heart." I love him so. And it's what's keeping me going right now because I've been feeling really sick and out of it lately. I am constantly tired and can't seem to eat anything at all with out feeling terrible afterwards. Considering I am almost 7 months, that's just crazy. We took out the baby stuff this weekend and one of the items was this little swing which David really likes now and yesterday he buckled his little teddy in and swung it gently. I think this boy's ready for a sibling, don't you?  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 20 2009  David and I watched together this morning and he made sure his Wall-e was watching too.  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 19 2009  I mistakenly thought it must be a good idea to try to get off the medication again two days ago and it turns out I was wrong again. I have severe allergies and was unable to function all day today. Yuk. Back on the medicine, sadly. And a fully wasted day. Last night, I had such a surge of love for David that I almost woke him up just to give him a hug and tell him I loved him. It took all my strength not to wake him up. It's really amazing how very much I love him. Here's a shot I took while we went out for ice cream this afternoon.  Big day tomorrow. See you then. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 2  With a new baby on the way, I decided change is inevitable for us and I might as well embrace it. Hence the heart and the clasp over it. I used UTEE to stamp "laugh" and grunge board for the heart and the clasp. I put a little glossy accent on the heart swirls just to have them stick out a bit.  CATALYST 45 - OPPORTUNITY LOST  Here are my words: I actually wrote books for a while and this is a poster I made in a design class I took. This poster is for the first book I wrote. It’s about a girl who goes back home to take care of her mother with whom she has some deep issues and reconnects with her highschool love. In the book, the mom has lupus which is called the butterfly disease, hence the butterfly on the cover. I love reading mainstream fiction and about strong characters and their connections to each other and those are the kind of books I’d like to write. I don’t dream of many many things in my life but writing a book and getting published is a lifelong dream. I yearn to write and to write well. Maybe one day… DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 18 2009  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 17 2009     DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 16 2009  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 15 2009   Doesn't it look so inviting? It made me want to sit down and do some art. But I must say the first thing David noticed were these gymnastics pieces and he wanted to play immediately.  while that one made me smile, this one made me realize our skateboarding days are not too far:  which scares me quite a bit. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 14 2009  Still way too tired. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 13 2009  Here's a shot of the little one cause I am trying to make sure I have many of those:  The tree is finally down. I guess I really was ready cause I don't feel so sad about it anymore. David was ok with it, too, though he was a bit bummed. Still more tired than I'd like but things are improving a bit. So far so good in 2009 and I am managing to stay peaceful which makes me feel happy. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 12 2009  Busy day at work today, maybe I'll post it as my photo of the day tomorrow. Otherwise, feeling good about the bunch I accomplished over the weekend though I have a lot more to do. Will finally take the Christmas ornaments down today (I think I might be ready at last) and Jake will have to chop up the tree this week. Still really exhausted but I'm starting to make my peace with it I think. 12 MONTHS OF PHOTOSHOP - PREP AND MASKS I wanted to put some time into my Photoshop project this weekend, too. So here's what I've done so far: Read all the David tutorials for this month as well as the prep ones: Digital Workflow: all four parts, Creative Workflow, Portraits: part 1, Masking: part 1, and Lanscapes: creating dramatic skies I will need to reread them again of course, but it was some good reading for now. Here are a few lessons I learned in general (they're all over the place, mostly for me to remember):
So I wanted to put a little example of what magic masks can be. Be forewarned that this is a quickie so it's far far from ideal and the original wasn't RAW so that hurts the process, too. Not to mention I over-saturated for effect. So with all that.... Here's a photo I took last year in Pismo Beach:  As you can see it's really flat so if I were to do some basic curves to try to mess with the white point and some highlights and lowlights, here's what I get:  It makes the image a bit more full of contrast but now my sky is completely blown out and you can see no detail at all. If I were to use masks and do my saturation/curves using masks, here's what I can accomplish:  Yes, it's over-saturated, but look at the detail in the sky and the detail in the sea. You can have your cake and eat it, too. More on masks next week. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 1  The technique I used for this week is the Mini Misters and I took my inspiration from this tag by Tim Holtz. I've been playing more and more with his products and loving every moment of it. CATALYST 44 - AT HOME  Here are my words: Ever since I can remember, I’ve made career and life decisions such that I could stay at home when I had children. Even back when I was 10, I wanted to study computers because I knew it was a career I could pursue from home. And yet, here I am, working at a large company, spending a lot of time in meetings, and not at home with my wonderful boy. With another little one on the way, this is the largest way that my life is out of sync with how I wish it were, so I know I need to find some solutions. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - COVER  DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 11 2009  Quiet day for me. I worked on the tags last night (photos coming next) and four catalysts today. I also got my CK kit finally so I put all the cards in for all the days and decided on a routine: - daily photos taken and posted on the blog here with notes - weekly updates of the journaling cards, written in pen - monthly ordering of prints to put in the album (not sure where yet.) Things are starting to get organized a bit. Off to do some Photoshop reading. Happy Sunday. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 10 2009  The rest of the day has so far been quiet. I came home and fell into a long nap and have just woken up to my relatively long to-do list. It's looking at me and I'm looking at it and not sure where to start. On we go. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 9 2009  Just when I thought I wanted to crawl into bed and have this week be over, I noticed my diamond bracelet sparkling in the bed. And then I went to visit Big Picture Scrapbooking and saw that my Projects Now! class Change in Plans was finally up and my day just did a 180! Teaching at BPS is my biggest scrapbooking dream. I am very passionate about teaching and BPS is exactly where I wanted to teach the minute I heard about it two years ago. This truly is a huge huge dream come true so I am really excited and had to make it my photo of the day. If you download it, I hope you send me an email and let me know how you liked it. And I will leave you with a photo of David from this morning at school.  2009 PROJECTS - PROJECT 4 - 12 MONTHS WITH PHOTOSHOP Ok. Here's my final planned project for 2009. As you will notice the numbers go down: 365 photos, 52 tags, 52 catalysts, and now 12 areas of focus. I want to make sure these projects are realistic and no more than I can handle in one year, especially on a year when I'm expecting a baby. As I mentioned a few days ago, I'd like to learn to use Photoshop better. I've been using Photoshop since 1992 and while I've learned a lot over the last sixteen years, I really haven't learned as much as I could have and I've never spent focused effort to improve my knowledge. Obviously, the main area of focus on Photoshop for me is the digital photography since that's my business. But I'm also interested being able to make brushes and overlays, and basic things to help me do more hybrid scrapbooking. This list might change over the year and I learn and explore more but here's main areas of focus I've chosen so far:
This project will include finding and doing workshops related to each area. Ideally, at least one a week. As I do them, I will post links to workshops and any examples I produce. And, this will also mean that I will finally work my way through David's amazing tutorials especially since I'm already a member and receive them all. Just because I need to be ultra-organized for things to actually happen, here's the order in which I plan to do his tutorials: (this may also change if my focuses change)
As you'll notice, these end in April because that's when the little one comes. I figure after that things might get blurry for a while and by the time I have my sanity back, David will have put up a whole bunch more so I can add them to my list then. Well there you go. If you know Photoshop very well and have some advice on how to revise the list above, what to add or remove, all advice is welcome. I plan to start this weekend so let's see how much progress I make. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 8 2009  Things have been hectic in 2009 already. Working on a big dream I had that is so far promising to come true before the little one arrives. Christmas tree is still up and I just decided I am not ready to take it down yet, so there. Other than that life is same old same old here. I am really exhausted the last two days, not sure if it's the pregnancy, the hours of work I'm putting into the aforementioned dream, or the fact that David's been waking up in the middle of the night and requesting hugs and kisses. Either way, I am glad the weekend is coming soon. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 7 2009  The Christmas tree is still not down here but we've already gotten back into the routine of things. I generally start my day by checking my mail, reading AMM, and my RSS feeds. I make breakfast for David and then jump in the shower. We then both relax as we eat our food. I make David's lunch for school and we both get ready and we're out the door. I drop David off at school and get to work and our days begin. It might sound boring or tiresome but I love routine and I love this one, especially on a morning like this when I miraculously woke up before David and he slept all the way to 8am. This never happens. I have a lot of work today for both my job and a scrapping project I am working on so I needed the little bit of extra sleep and the quiet time in the morning, so I feel extra blessed for the tiny break I got. Well, off to start our day. May yours be a wonderful one. 2009 PROJECTS - PROJECT 3 - 52 TAGS I know I should stop adding new projects to what promises to be an already very full year but after this one I only have one more in mind so I think I'm close to the end. For this project, I decided to combine my own version of Julie's Project 52 with Emily's 52Q. I wanted to spend more time trying new techniques, exploring and seeing what I like so I made a list of all the techniques I could think of (almost all of which doesn't require me to buy any new supplies of any kind.) I ordered manilla tags so that I can do a tag a week using Emily's questions as my prompts and a tehcnique from my list. I used Excel to randomize my list (I am a computer geek afterall) and I'm only allowed to go up or down 4 in the list each week for my technique just so I don't spend too much time picking one. Since the tags are still on order, this might take another week to start or I might just make my own tag for this week, we'll see. But here's the list of all my techniques.
I picked tags cause they are small and make this project more manageable for me. This will be my version of an art journal this year. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 6 2009  I also decided I want to learn a lot more about Photoshop this year and concentrate on bettering my photography as well, something I constantly strive to do. It's good for my business but it's good for me. I love taking photos so why not be better at it? And here's a shot from the tree which will probably start coming down today. I honestly am still not ready to take it down yet.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!  For being our mom and dad Daddy, for always being a kid with us Mommy, for never putting up with our acting spoiled For accepting your son-in-laws as if they were your own kids For always giving love without expecting it in return Daddy, for being the most fun grandfather Mommy, for always showing us the cup's half full side For putting us first in your life For raising us with the right values Daddy, for putting on unforgettable parties for us Mommy, for teaching us to be thankful every day For always managing to stay young at heart Daddy, for explaining us the values of our roots Mommy, for always putting up with us Mommy, for teaching us not to worry about penny-accounting Daddy, for teaching us to never hurt anyone Daddy, for staying with us with love each time we got sick For being the best grandmother Mommy, for teaching us to save money Daddy, for quitting smoking even though it was incredibly difficult for you Daddy, for never hurting our feelings Mommy, for your creativity and always being an example to us Mommy, for being near us under every condition as we became mothers Daddy, for watching movies with us for hours when we were little and translating every word Daddy, for teaching us math with games For always urging us to do anything we wanted in life For always sharing every topic we were interested in Mommy, for warning us that true friendship is rare and hard to find Daddy, for taking the time to save our memories For an unbelieavable and unforgettable Disney World trip For teaching us honesty and integrity Mommy, for teaching us the importance of standing on our own two feet For getting remarried (to each other) For encouraging us to learn foreign languages from a young age For emphasizing the importance of sisterhood For telling us family is more important than anything else For giving us the opportunity to see different countries and meet different cultures For your unlimited patience and understanding For accepting both your daughters as who they each are For reminding us the importance of love every minute of every day We love you because for 40 years for each other, for 38 years for yona, 35 years for Karen, 15 years for Jake and Isaac, 10 years for Axel and Jeff, and 4 years for David, you were by our side for each joy and sorrow and we cannot imagine a life without you. We love you.  Love you both madly. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 5 2009    Love this boy. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 4 2009  At the end of their dinner, we used the wonderful iChat to connect to them live so Jake and I could wish her the best birthday. David was excited about the idea but got shy in the last minute, so he didn't come to the screen. It was really special and for a few moments I felt like I was there with them. Happy Happy Happy Birthday Omamika, to many many many more!!! In case we couldn't make a connection I'd prerecorded a message to her and then we also made a movie the three of us. here's that movie. It's quite funny. Just so you don't think I'm not taking photos of the little boy, here's a shot of David watching Winnie the Pooh on his little DVD player.  Happy Sunday! CATALYST 43 - PEACE  My text is right from the blog entry a few days ago: Anyone who really really knows me would know that I am not peaceful. I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I’ve always felt different and not in a good way. Like something’s wrong with me. Like I don’t belong. Like I am not good enough. And will never be. This is not tied to any particular achievement. I’ve achieved a lot in my life. I’ve been really lucky and blessed to have a great education, fantastic career, amazing and loving husband and truly the best kid in the world. And that’s just a few of them. But this feeling of not measuring up (to something undefined) doesn’t go away. I compare to others constantly but only in ways where I feel like I am not as good. Not as intelligent. Not as pretty. Not as nice. Not as talented. I can go on and on. So this year I decided to work on the most important concept of all (for me.) Achieving peace and blooming into my own. This is my year to discover and embrace who I am. Be the best of me and love it. Relax and not criticize myself. Not compare myself to anyone. Not worry about being not good enough. Stop and appreciate the truly amazing things in my life. Be thankful. Shed the past and be open and welcoming to the great future. But mostly be in the present. God willing, I will have another baby this year and I want to make sure my kids have a peaceful mom who is happy with who she is (flaws and all). I want to make sure my husband has a wife who is happy. If there’s one thing I’d like to teach my kids, it’s that it’s ok to be whomever they are. And how better to teach it than by example? DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 3 2009  This is what Project 365 is for me, capturing our daily, ordinary life for a whole year. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 2 2009  Another quiet day in the household. David and I spent the morning relaxing in bed while I read a book and he watched Thomas on the DVD player. Then we read some books together on the couch and I caught up on my email and blogs. I have bit of a list of chores to do today like getting groceries and doing laundry and cleaning up my scrap space which has gotten completely out of control. But nothing urgent and it's nice to know that I can just take the day to relax and read and enjoy my life. And, yes, my Christmas stuff is still up. I decided I won't take anything down until the next garbage day which is Thursday next week so I can enjoy my tree for another few days. 2009 - THE YEAR OF PEACE AND BLOOM  I can't remember when I gave up making resolutions but I have. I decided I don't want to wait until the first day of the new year to be a new me. Why not do it today? Not that I stuck to them when I used to make them. I have realized over the years that I will never be as thin as I want to be or do as many things as I'd like to get done in a day or year. The books won't really get written, until they do. I won't learn as much, be as much, read as much, give as much as I'd like to. Until I do. And when I do, I will. The first day of the year won't change any of these facts and why tie it to something so random? What I am trying to do instead is have more focus areas for myself each year. Sort of aligned with Ali Edwards' word of the year, I am picking themes for myself and trying to make sure I focus on it all year long so it's ingrained in who I am by the end of the year. Last year, my word was "journey." I wanted to focus on enjoying the journey that is life and not always the destination. Enjoy the little moments. Appreciate life. Stop. Breathe. Look Around. I think I achieved some of it and, of course, it will be ongoing work but I do feel it to be more a part of who I am now. I decided on this year's word a few months ago when I was preparing a class I taught (which is when I made the calendar photographed above). Anyone who really really knows me would know that I am not peaceful. I don't feel comfortable in my own skin. I've always felt different and not in a good way. Like something's wrong with me. Like I don't belong. Like I am not good enough. And will never be. This is not tied to any particular achievement. I've achieved a lot in my life. I've been really lucky and blessed to have a great education, fantastic career, amazing and loving husband and truly the best kid in the world. And that's just a few of them. But this feeling of not measuring up (to something undefined) doesn't go away. I compare to others constantly but only in ways where I feel like I am not as good. Not as intelligent. Not as pretty. Not as nice. Not as talented. I can go on and on. So this year I decided to work on the most important concept of all (for me.) Achieving peace and blooming into my own. This is my year to discover and embrace who I am. Be the best of me and love it. Relax and not criticize myself. Not compare myself to anyone. Not worry about being not good enough. Stop and appreciate the truly amazing things in my life. Be thankful. Shed the past and be open and welcoming to the great future. But mostly be in the present. God willing, I will have another baby this year and I want to make sure my kids have a peaceful mom who is happy with who she is (flaws and all). I want to make sure my husband has a wife who is happy. If there's one thing I'd like to teach my kids, it's that it's ok to be whomever they are. And how better to teach it than by example? So here we go, the year of peace and bloom. DAILY PHOTO - JANUARY 1 2009  So this morning they put it on and watched half of it. And then we met friends for breakfast in San Fran, came home, took naps, recorded a quick video for my grandmother's upcoming 90th birthday, and then they sat down to watch the rest of it while I did some art. All in all, the best way to start the new year. 2009 Projects - Project 2 - A Year of Photos  So I like this idea of a photo of a day with a little story each day. Sometimes it will be just David. Sometimes me, sometimes Jake. Sometimes all of us. Sometimes about the new baby. Sometimes about some other bit of life. I have a feeling it will end up quite wonderful. I am hoping I can keep up with it and I feel optimistic. Like last year, I'll post the photos here, too so it can keep me honest and my family and friends can watch along. |
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