Black & White Photo Tutorial

I can't believe I forgot to come back here and let you all know that I got second place in the DSA Designer Apprentice!!! I still can't believe it. :) Keep an eye on my blog and my Facebook fan page to see when I'm starting my guest spot at ScrapMatters.

I've posted a tutorial on how to get better black and white pictures. I used a few of my sister's engagement pictures I took last month as my examples. I love how great the pictures turned out. I can't wait to show my sister the rest of them. Here is my page with the finished results. 

click for credits

geniaBeana Anniversary Blog Train

Welcome to your last stop on geniaBeana Scraps' Anniversary blog train! 


geniaBeana Scraps is celebrating her 3rd year Designerversary AND 1 year ScrapMatters Anniversary all at the same time...and you get the presents! Make sure to check out her store because it's all on sale until Sept. 18. Also if you haven't already done so make sure to stop by her blog and pick up the BEAUTIFUL Mini Kit she has created to celebrate. 




Don't forget to get your application in for her CT Call which ends on Monday. 



And now for your goodie! :)



Download here or here.

You should have come from Digital Scrappin Rocks. If you have gotten lost along the way or are just getting started head over to GeniaBeana Scraps blog for the full list.

Girly Girl Elements

Well here it is...The fifth and final challenge installment for DigiScrapAddicts' Designer Apprentice. We were to make element to go with either our week 2 or week 4 paper packs. I decided to go with my paper pack from last week. We had to include at least 6 layered elements and 4 basics. I knew this week was going to be very busy with getting everything set at school for preschool starting next week. I wanted to get started on this challenge as soon as I possibly could but ended up not getting a chance to really sit down and start creating until Wednesday. It was slow going at first. I had all these different ideas in my head on where I wanted to take this but didn't know where exactly to start. After starting and stopping on several elements I finally got in the groove. After that all the pieces just feel into place.

Going into this contest I did not expect to score as high as what I did. The first week that the scores were posted my jaw about hit the ground when I seen what I had gotten. That also meant the pressure was on. I wanted so badly to continue to do as well as that first week. I just about didn't sign up for the contest because of just getting this new job as a preschool teacher and knew that would take up a lot of time getting the room ready and preparing my curriculum. I am so glad I did take a chance though and go for it because over the last 5 weeks, I have learned so much. Not only about designing but also about what I'm capable of personally.

So without further ado...here is the preview for my elements. Hope you like them. You can find the download link in the DSA gallery.



Until next time...Happy Scrapping!

Girly Girl Paper Pack

Wow what a week! I didn't know if I was going to get this week's challenge done or not at DSA. The kids started school on Monday and I thought that would mean I'd have more time during the days to work on it. I think I actually had less. lol.

The inspiration for this week's paper pack came from my youngest daughter. She is such a girly girl. Definitely more than her sister. She loves all things girly.

You can find the link to download this paper pack in the DSA gallery.

DSA Challenge #3

This week we needed to make three alphas that coordinate with our mini kit from the first week. You can find the download link for them in the gallery at DSA. :)

DSA Challenge #2

Well now that we have finally started to get into the routine of having my husband home every night, we've decided to change things up again. lol. :) I got a job as a preschool teacher 2 mornings a week. So after 8 years of substitute teaching in the elementary school, I finally have my own classroom! I'm pretty excited, but nervous, too. There is a lot to get done before it starts the day after Labor Day. I went in to take a look at the room today and start getting it set up today. It got moved from the room it was in last year, and it looks like whoever moved it just took the stuff and threw it in boxes and brought it to the new room. There is stuff all over and mixed up. This might take me awhile to get it the way I want it. Not only do I have the room to get ready, I also have to start making my lesson plans and looking for ideas for that. I'll also be helping with the after school program and the school-age summer enrichment program. Thankfully the curriculum that they use is one that I did a presentation on in college, so it's not completely new to me.

Got my paper pack for the second challenge at DigiScrapAddicts posted! One of my friends put in a request for a school kit that wasn't primary colors. Since she has all girls their back-to-school clothes usually don't match the colors in most of the school kits out there. And since I tend to have that problem with my oldest, too, I was happy to oblige. I'm hoping to expand this with elements and more papers eventually. Just have to find the time to get that done. lol. ;) It probably won't be until after I get into the swing of the school routine, though.



You can find the download link for it in the gallery post at DSA.

Until next time...Happy Scrapping! :)

Designer Apprentice Challenge #1 Kit

If you are here for either the ScrapMatters' blog train or the Blog Train Blog train scroll down a couple posts. :)

Whew! Finally got my kit done for the DSA Designer Apprentice challenge #1 done. (with a few hours to spare even.) I'm supposed to be camping right now but had to sneak home to quickly get it posted since I didn't have it quite finished before we left yesterday. lol. You can find the links to download it in the gallery at DSA here. Now to wait and see what kind of challenge we get tomorrow for next week. :)