Monday, Monday

Happy Monday, Creative Friends,

How about a flower delivery to start your week off in the pink?

Take time to smell the roses!

Don't you hate for the weekend to end?  I sure did this weekend.  I had a longtime friend visit and we celebrated her birthday.  We ate and drank well and even managed to listen to some good music.  It was so good to see her.  One of our traditions when we get together is to have show and tell.  She makes some fabulous quilts and machine embroidery that you can see and purchase on her etsy shop.  Here is a handy link if you want to take a look. http://itsawlgood.etsy.com/

I gave her a few "happies" and so I thought I would share the presentation packages with you.

Handmade birthday cardI love to make cards for people who give cards.  They always seem to appreciate the effort.

Eiffel Tower image decorates this package.

Audrey is in love with all things Parisian.  I wish this gift could have been two tickets for a trip to France since she loves to travel over there.   We can dream anyway.

Paper mache box with insert in the lid makes it easy to decorate

One of my favorite things are these sweet little paper mache boxes.  I love to decorate them and find little treasures to go inside.  These have the insert in the lid which makes it easy-peasy.  Here is a hint though:  If you cover the sides of the bottom of the box with paper or fabric, the lid will no longer fit.  Trust me, I have learned this the hard way.  Several times.  The last time I did it, I thought wrapping paper would work because it is thinner than scrap book paper.  Alas no!!

Laughter is good medicine. Laughter with good friends is even better.

Mixed media tag with flowers serves just as well as a bow.I never know what to put on a tag.  Do you have that trouble?  So my default tag items are dictionary words, flowers and rubber stamps.  It think this one is cute with the floral paper.

My friend loved all her birthday happies and I enjoyed trying to make them special by making the presentation special too.  Do you decorate your packages?  I try to, but I am also a gift bag and tissue girl as well.

Have a creative week.

Hugs, Diana

Feeling Bookish?

Google Art Project



You may already know this but I didn’t and I am just about to pop to share this with you.
Do you remember when Google sent their Street View camera crews up and down your city and took a photo of your house with your neighbors garbage can blown over in your drive way and posted it on the web for the world to see?

Well, Google has sent those same cameras to 17 art museums around the world and this time they let them know they were coming and oh boy, you’ve just gotta see some of the results!

I am including some of the videos at the end of this article and you can check out how it works at www.googleartproject.com .  The project is a boon for folks who might not be able to get across the ocean for a visit or who seldom change out of their pajamas.  Selected works are highlighted and some are even a part of a new technology that photographs so close that you can see the brush stokes in the piece at a way you can bet you haven’t seen from behind the velvet rope.

You are also able to have control of how you view the inside of the museum and Google has given you extra goodies, like info from the museum and the ability to share your discoveries with others to make the experience even better. 

I’m sorry.  I can’t linger here. I’ve got at date with an artist at a famous museum!

Happy Valentine's Day Video

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Hello Creative Friends,

I made this video for you and I thought if you didn't have time to make your own you might want to get the code here and put it on your own site.  It is my Valentine to Creativity.   The size is 408 pixels wide.

Here is a link to get the code:

https://energizeyourcreativity.squarespace.com/download/

I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed creating it.  I made it at One True Media and you can make one too.  I wrote the post below to tell you more about the process if you are interested. 

There are so many possibilities to use this system and you can do it for free!!!  Now to be honest there is a preimum that you might consider since it is $3.99 a month.  And you could do a ton of them in a month or two and cancel if you decide you have done your share, but I forsee this as a great tool to whip out a family reunion, a thank you video, a birthday gift or a change up from scrapbooking.

You can also buy a DVD of your masterpiece.

As you can tell I am jazzed about the whole dill-e-o.  There are more tips on the blog post below this one.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Hugs, Diana

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Here's How to Make a Cool Video

Hello Creative Friends,

I recently discovered One True Media, a great easy place to make vidoes like the one I am posting for Valentine's Day above.

Create Your Own Video the Easy Way

There aren't a lot of directions on the site but if you can get your photos or video to one spot on your computer you can probably do this.

Here are the basics:

1.  Think of  theme or topic you want to highlight or show off and select your photos to support it.  Artists, here is a great opportunity to show a montage of your work.  The possibilities are absolutely endless.

2.  Collect your photos in one place on your computer for convenience.  I like to use my desktop and then put them in folder when I am finished.  It is good to get more than you think you will need, but you can always upload more later if you need them.  You also can delete the ones that didn't make the cut.  (See, I am already talking like a film director.  You will too!)

3.  Go to One True Media.  (This is after you have visited there and played around, looked at other people's creations.  You can also open one of the sites montages and edit it yourself to see how it works which is great cause you can screw up all you want to and get the feel of how things work.)

4. Find a tab that says:  Create.  (One of my favorite words.)  That page will open and you will see another big green Create button.  Click and you will be sent to an upload page.  Skip the "Select A Theme" button.  You have much more creative contol when you edit everything yourself.

5. Upload your photos from your desktop.  Hint:  If you hold down the control button while you make your selection with your mouse, you can upload more than one photo file at a time.  Repeat the process until you have uploaded all the photos and/or videos you want.  Click the the done button.

6. This will take you to the edit console.  This is where the fun begins.  Immediately OTM (One True Media) shows you what your montage will look like, including music. 

7.  Depending on how savvy you are with these kinds of things, you can feel your way through to make a great video.  Like most computer programs there are more than one way to do things.  I naturally did it the slowest way possible the first time around so here are some tips, but you will figure out things your own way.  It is kind of hard to mess this up.

• Get your photos in first.  Use the numbers under each slide to put them in order or click and drag the cross under the photo.

• Create text slides and move them into place.  You can edit how they look and preview until you get them exactly as you like.

• You can add effects till you don't even recognize your photos.  Caution:  This can become too much and take away from the effectiveness of your message or the look you want.  But try it all.  It's fun.

• When you open your montage, OTM appoints you a song.  Don't like it?  Change it.  Before you finish, be sure your song is as long as the time it takes to show your creation.

• Once you finish and save your montage, give it a title and go to the Share Button.  You can upload it to Youtube, Facebook by following the easy steps.  If you want to email it to all your friends, press the easy button.  Get the html code from that same page page and embed it to your website or blog.  WooHoo!

• BTW, a friend of mine could not access it from her Ipad, so there may be an issue with Apple products.  The only bummer I could see.

I have not given you step by step directions.  Be brave.  Click on everything.  Hit Preview and see if you like it, if not, no problem, don't click save or better still find some other way you like better.

Give this a try but just know that it can become addictive.  Beware, you may have just discovered another way to be your creative self! 

Hugs, Diana

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