Monday, November 14, 2011

Questions and Answers

You've got questions, I've got answers.  
Q: Do you just wing it when you print the sentiment directly on the card, or does it come out exactly where you want it? -Maria


I wouldn't say it comes out exactly where I want it every time, but some tricks help me get it good enough ("Perfection is the enemy of the good").
1) Make a rectangle the size of your card in MS Word (I draw one, resize it on the drawing tools ribbon, then holding ctrl and shift, I drag it below.  The ctrl makes another copy and the shift makes it stay aligned.  
(You may be asking why I don't make my page landscape and print on half the paper.  The answer is my printer has really wide margins, so it's just easier for me to waste some paper rather than having the bottom half of the sentiment not print.)
2) Add a shape (oval, circle, rectangle) that best represents your stamped image and resize it to the dimensions of your stamp.  
3) Add textbox and move around until it looks good.
4) Delete the stamp shape, but keep your card lines (I print them in light gray) in case your printer doesn't print straight.
Of course, I usually try it on scrap paper first, too!


Q:  I wish I knew how to make photo collages like this-Crafty Math Chick


I'm probably shouldn't show you this, because when you find out how easy it is, it will be like I told you how they saw the lady in half.
Using Picasa (free!), select the photos you want in your collage and "pin" them using the green pushpin (top left button above the red circle).  Once you have all the photos you want, press the "collage" button (3rd from left)
Tada!  It will give you some options (I chose mosaic) as well as allowing you to shuffle the pictures (you can't drag and drop them exactly where you want them, though, like you can in picnik).  Then click "create collage" and voilà.


Q: Are you seriously holding a koala bear in that top picture? - Cute Animal Lovers
A: HELLS YEAH.  


Q: What is this word, voilà? - People Who Need Some Spelling Help
A: It is the word you are thinking of when you type "wal-lah" or "viola."  In other words of note, you go shopping down an aisle and you go vacationing on a isle.  A good way to remember this is that it is a pain in the a** to go shopping. 


Q: Have any more HYCCT favorites? - No One, Really, but a Good Segue
A: I do!  These were two faves that were way outside my normal card style:
This was for the collage challenge.  I actually made one collage and it turned out like crap, but fortunately I missed reading that it had to have pink, so I ended up making another one and this I actually like!  I stamped the leaves first and embossed them using Amuse Satin Pearl embossing powder, then used some text and medallion stamps to stamp over it. I used a 1-inch square punch because I seriously cannot cut 9 one-inch squares so that they are all exactly one-inch square.  That's why God created punches.  
This one just made me happy because it so unlike me!  I mean, look how girl and flowery and busy it is but I sort of love it.  The stamp is from Waltzingmouse, the paper from Webster's Pages.


Q: Have any good movie recommendations? - Me, because I feel it is my duty to spread the word about this movie
A: Yes!  Crazy Stupid Love.  Go ahead and buy the DVD because you will want to own it after you rent it, if only for the New Balance jokes.  


Q: Did you seriously not realize that segue is the word that everyone is saying when they say, "after talking about movie recommendations, she then "segwayed" into talking about the awesomeness of Friday Night Lights" until last year? - I Though You were Smart
A: Totally.  I knew what "segue" meant when I read it and I knew what "seg-way" meant when I heard it, but I never put the two together.  Thank you, "You Were Doing It Wrong" thread on Metafilter! (also Texas Forever!)


Q: What have you been up to crafty-wise, movie-wise, or grammar-wise?  -Meg
A: Leave it in the comments! 

8 comments:

Lindsey said...

Q. Are you sure you're a math teacher, and not a languages instructor? (English AND French lessons in the same post!)
Q. How did you keep yourself from bringing that koala home? Or did you consider corgi feelings?
Q. Could these two cards BE any more awesome?
A. NO!!! The collage one is gorgeous (and a technique I want to try, but know I'll fail miserably) and the girly one is absolutely beautiful!

Angela said...

I've spent my evening trying to get a good photo of "other cat." Guilt-fueled, entirely. It's hard to get a good shot of an all-black cat in a poorly lit room on a grey day, lemme tell ya.

No movies lately. My attention span is shockingly short these....what was I saying?

I love those cards, as un-Meg as they may be. Never woulda pegged you as a Webster's kind of gal.

Whenever I use a commonly-misspelled word in class, I try to write it on the board as I'm speaking to head off "viola" and "segway" at the pass. It works...sometimes.

I have another story, but it'll have to wait for email ;)

Texas forever.

Jessi Fogan said...

OK, so first, I got happy mail from you - and omg, did I ever laugh!!! Thank you from the very bottom of my heart :) THe kids got such an enormous kick out of Abby's card - and so did my hubby. And my very own telephone? That's just da bomb :)

I can't wait to make my own photo collage - I've marked this post so I can come back since I know I'll forget how. Woohoo!

I think it's awesome that you pushed yourself outside your craft-comfort zone. These cards turned out beautifully! Also, I need a square punch now.

Movies...well, the other day I discovered TWO of my GOOD FRIENDS have never seen Dogma. That's just, well, wrong. So if you haven't seen that, go get it. It came up after a toilet adventure in which Rob & I kept talking about battling our own Golgothan. (sp? don't know) Right now I'm 7 episodes into Season 2 of True Blood, and wow. Weird, but actually a lot of fun to watch.

Crafty-wise I have a big sale coming up on Friday night, so I'm Christmas card-ing my brains out. Also, an anticipated baby arrived & I'm quickly getting a blue blanket made up (thus the True Blood marathon). (That's what I get for making a too-girly one when nobody knew what kind of baby was on the way...lol) And grammar-wise, um, butchering it as usual. Nothing new there :)

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Hi!
Thanks for answering my question!! Huge help!!!
Loved all the other info you gave out too :)

Sorry I've been MIA! Won't be around until after Thanksgiving!

I liked the movie Horrible Bosses!

OK - have a great Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

Maria

Emily Leiphart said...

Meg, I seriously think you could make a living as a comedian. I'm so happy to know you! Thank you for showing another one of your collages... or have I seen this one before because I love your photos and your family could not be any cuter!! Seeing 'viola or wallah' just makes me cringe. Glad you think so, too. ;D

Sue from Oregon said...

Fun post Meg!

Anonymous said...

super cute and fun post! tfs. ;)

FerrellGraph-x said...

Beautiful!
Kindest regards,
Jennifer