photo effects & chalk art

just a little update...i've been having fun this past week participating in ella publishing's boot camp.  it was a week long event that consisted of different exercises in journaling, design, photo tricks, etc.  i learned a lot and this is just an example of how to add a different look (vintage, urban, etc) to your photos.  i love learning new tricks, especially in photoshop.  i'm shooting with the camera on my phone and it takes OK photos, but i always have to end up editing them.  i like this look and it's super easy to do (ok, as long as you know a little bit about photoshop.  but with all those tutorials out there, it won't take long to learn a few tricks yourself!)

over the weekend we went to a sidewalk chalk art festival in our neighborhood.  my stepdaughter participated along with some of her friends from art class.  they made a very cool mural with trees and fairies (photo came out too dark!).  i brought my daughter and her friends to see her big sister in action and they were inspired to draw as well.  above is just a little bit of what they did.  it was a fun day in the sun, watching artists of all ages expressing themselves.  

been working a little bit on my september daily journal. more photos soon.  fall has snuck up on me again!  the days are getting shorter which means i gotta get my photos done earlier than usual.  where does the time go?  so long summer. see you next year! 

what i've been up to...

so, september is now more than halfway over...but i decided to start a little september daily journal just for fun!  i was inspired by elise joy and her amazingly-beautiful-yet-simple journals.  (she has a ton of super cute--and affordable--classes, too!  you ought to check them out!)  my september journal is a basic 4x6 ring-bound mini book with a cardboard cover and various paper pages.  i used my favorite scrapbook paper and printed up some 4x6 photos, too.  the great thing about the ring-bound journal is you can take pages out, re-arrange and just punch holes in almost anything to add to your book!

so what else have i been up to?  took a fun class at paper source the other night.  i really needed a mom's night out and this class just seemed like the perfect little getaway!  we decorated blank calendar pages with stamps, stickers, glitter and punched out paper shapes. so simple but so pretty.  we only finished half the calendar in class so i was at risk of not completing this project once i got home! (you know how it is--projects tend to pile up fast!) but i finished up the last few pages tonite and i like how they turned out.  you could do this on regular cardstock.  just type up the months/days in a word document (or use a stamp set) and print on white card stock.  then stamp/glue/embellish as you wish.

and last, but not least, i received a lovely package of wonderful australian ephemera, paper bits and a magnificent hand-made journal (with a fun assortment of lined and hand-printed paper!) from sue.  we were partners in lawendula's paper swap this summer and it was just so much fun, i had to share it with you.  these swaps are so much fun.  you get the chance to be matched up with people from all over the world.  how cool it that? 

hope you like the new photo format!  i'm playing around with using blog templates for a more modern look.  there are some super cool blog templates and other goodies available out there by some talented and generous designers.  all of the above templates are courtesy of pugly pixel.  she has a ton of free goodies and lovlies to pretty up your blog.  

hope you are having a nice september!  

beach boardwalk

shot_1310598148790, originally uploaded by kinueko.

having fun with my droid and "retro camera" app.

strawberry pickin'

shot_1311013882252, originally uploaded by kinueko.

our beautiful, fresh strawberries from a recent berry-picking trip.

sureya and her baby

shot_1310333716102, originally uploaded by kinueko.

my youngest poses in her kimono with her "baby".

summer photos

shot_1310333642735, originally uploaded by kinueko.

hope your summer is going well. mine is great, but it sure feels like it's flying by! i'm on vacation and finding it challenging to blog without my laptop. but i figured out how to post photos from flickr so that'll have to do for now.

this is a photo of my daughters taken in early july right before we set off for the obon festival in japantown.

they are wearing kimono-style jackets that my brother and i used to wear as kids.

Journaling page tutorial & summer photos

i thought it'd be fun to take some photos of my pages as i put them together.  i love seeing how others' journal pages come together, so i thought i'd do the same. ;)   first, i start by adding washi tape to the edges of the pages to create a fun border. there's no rhyme or reason, although i tend to use darker or bolder colors to act as a kind of frame.  i also add scraps of paper to get rid of all the white space. 

paper i like to use:  old book pages, maps, tags, tissue paper (LOVE!!), scrapbook paper, etc.

i fill in smaller gaps with tinier pieces of scraps (like the ledger paper piece on the left).  then i start to add smaller images on top like decorative tags, childrens book illustrations, playing cards, and scrapbook die-cut images.

at this point, i start to add more tape.  i'll add bits of tape to some of the tags and images (to make it look like those things have been taped in).  also, i add tape to the borders of some of the paper pieces.  

then comes the "title" or a quote in large stickers and stamps.  i like to use scrapbooking letter stickers and large letter stamps.  

i also like to include the date somewhere on the page and then i'll journal all around.  or i might stamp a quote or part of a journal entry or a list in the larger areas.  well, that concludes part one!  i'll have to finish the page and show you what i came up with in the end.

meanwhile, i have been thoroughly enjoying taking photos with my android and using fun apps to alter them to look old and artistic!  above, i've used the app little photo.  and below i've used urban camera.

urban camera is so much fun.  and it's FREE!!  you can choose from 5 different "cameras" to take your photos and you get these instant, distressed images!  you can even choose from taking pictures in black and white or color on most of the cameras.

i think these make my photos look so much better! especially since the quality on my phone camera isn't the greatest.

it also saves me hours of time in photoshop or iphoto trying to get my photos to look "just right."

and it's just too much fun! :)  i'm going to print them out to see how they look.  i recently purchased a pogo portable printer (EEE!!!) and so far they print out really nice!  (i'll share my experiences with the pogo in another post soon!)

so fun and mysterious! i love it.

hope you are all enjoying this fabulous summer (or winter, if you're in the southern hemisphere!) :)  here's to another whole month and a half of warm weather, sun hats, cute bathing suits, flip flops, swimming, watermelon, and everything that is fun about summer! :)

life is good!

we are in the midst of summer!  the weather is really kooky this summer... hot, cold, hot, rain, cold, hot.  but we are enjoying all of it!  hot days mean more time in the pool, running through sprinklers, journaling in the shade, ice cream and eating out (too HOT to cook!) :)  the rain and cooler temps come just in time to rescue us from the heat.  and then it starts all over again!

been journaling up a storm, too.   above is a journal spread i did without any glue or adhesive!  all i had was my japanese masking tape and stickers and labels! but i did my best and a wonderful grid appeared! it just goes to show that you can do wonderful things with limited supplies!  just use what you have. ;)

i've been asked about my journaling method and i'm thinking it would be fun to do a whole tutorial blog post about it.  i've taken a lot of online courses that really helped me just get started.  i've taken several classes with hope karney and she really helped with fun prompts and ideas for layering and using fun materials like tape, labels, old paper, etc.

when it comes to what i journal about...usually i just spend a while creating a spread in my journal, not worrying about what will go where.  then i just start to free write.  usually just all about my day, what i'm doing or thinking at that exact moment.  nothing too complicated!

i journal a lot about my girls!  my journals have become a lot like scrapbooks (without photos--i'm working on that, though!)  i find it's just fun to document my everyday life.  it's the little details that we tend to forget over time.  

i must have a million different journals, too!  when i get bored or stuck in one, i move onto another.  so sometimes there are big gaps in between journal entries but that doesn't bother me.  and some journals get filled up really quick! i picked up the new smashbook by k & company.  it's spiral bound with a hidden spine and hardback cover.  it lays flat (a must for me!) and it comes in several different color schemes/themes.  they are loaded with all different kinds of paper and vintage inspired images.  it also comes with an awesome pen/glue stick so you're never without one or the other! :)

my older daughter loves to journal with me.  i picked her up a matching smashbook and signed her up for "kidding around" on big picture classes.  she wrote the note below for me to put in my journal.  so sweet!

summer is also a great time to take colorful photos.  there is so much daylight to enjoy and plenty of afternoon (de)light to take advantage of.  our outdoor picnics often include a cold, fresh fruit snack! yum!

what else can i say? :) life is good!!

camera phone crazy (and a journal page)

i am really having too much fun with my camera phone and the little photo app.  it takes your original photos and turns them into instant works of art! it makes them mysterious, moody or just plain fun.

so here are just a few photos documenting the first few weeks of summer.  we've celebrated birthdays (above, a friend of mine's son just turned two!)

we've gone for walks. (and gotten a few cuts and scrapes along the way)  this photo was altered in iPhoto on my mac.  i just played with the contrast, saturation and some other buttons. randomly switched them to the left or right.  just to see what would happen.

we've hung out in the park in the shady grass and had picnics and played in the water.

even my sweetheart came out to join us one day!  this one reminds me of those old tintype photos or really any photo from the late 1800s that are starting to fade away.  (i wonder how our photos and scrapbooks will hold up over time?)

 

   

here's sureya in the sun, soaking wet from running through the fountain.  just wanted to compare the original with the two different altered versions.  

 

i LOVE this one!  the colors remind me of partially-exposed film photos from the 70s.  

love the antique look of the light here.  you know, you don't have to have an app to do all this funky stuff to your photos.  you can also use photoshop and just tweak all the buttons (like for exposure, contrast and the hue, saturation, etc.  just randomly start moving the buttons around and see what happens!)

oh, and, yes. i have still been journaling a little each day.  i'm still in love with summer. except today we had a little falling out.  it was 95 degrees in the shade here in super-humid san jose.  so i went from loving summer to almost wishing we were back to spring.  but i know when the leaves start to change and the sun starts to set earlier each day, i will be wishing for my summer to return once again!

i'll have to do a separate post on portable printers and other fun alternatives to digital cameras.  thanks to my readers for some great suggestions! (follow up post coming soon!) :)

phone photo fun (say that 3 times real fast!)

ok, i was a little slow to jumping on the smartphone bandwagon, but now that i've discovered the free app "little photo" for my android, i totally GET it now.  and i LOVE my phone. it is my new camera.

(above is a shot of a box full of vintage sheet fat quarters from a recent swap i did with the vintage sheet patchwork swap flickr group!)

it can take regular old photos and age them, make the colors all funky, make them look like they were taken by an old camera, etc.  fun fun stuff.  i will be experimenting a lot more in the near future and posting my results on the blog! 

now i just need an awesome, mini portable printer so i can add my photos instantly to my journal! any recommendations? ;)

also, be on the lookout for an upcoming mail art swap...i'll make some examples and post the info and take signups soon!