101 in 1001: The First Week

I'm going to try to update my 101 in 1001 list with my progress each Sunday. I've also decided that I won't be updating the page I created (that's the one linked at the top of my blog) except to mark off goals I've completed. If you're confused at this point, don't worry about it. It's just that the post and the page are two different things, and it's kind of a hassle to have to update both each time I want to change something.

Anyway, I think I got off to a good start for my first week! These are goals I've started working on:

10. Clean out Google Reader: only leave most favorite blogs. I started with 180 blogs, and I've cut back to 136. I think I still need to do some purging though.
13. Shred documents in office once per month for six months. Pictured above. If we're being perfectly honest though (as we should always strive to be), I only did a small portion of the shredding that ended up in that large garbage bag. Henry did most. But I did help.
15. Spend 30 minutes each Saturday reviewing my schedule for the coming week for the rest of the 2010-2011 school year.
21. Photowalk around neighborhoods in Austin (South Congress, Downtown, South Lamar, Hyde Park, Campus, 360 area, etc.). I want to devote new posts to each neighborhood I visit.
33. Keep a family calendar for 2011.
47. Read the entire Old Testament (1184 pages). This one is slooow going.

48. Read the Book of Mormon as a family in 2011.

      50. Study topics for Sharing Time one month in advance in 2011.            

      51. Do something, anything, to have Family Home Evening each week.

57  57. Exercise twice a week every week for 3 months in 2011.     

     72. Compile a family birthday list.

     76.  Don’t use credit cards for anything other than gas + food + medicine in January and February 2011.

     77. Pay off all student loans by mid 2011.

     86.  Read 10 nonfiction books. Started Blink.

        I have four more goals I'd like to work on this month too, but I'm not sure if I'll get to them. My niece who is four months older than me (unusual family) is getting married the first week of March, and it is time to really move into high gear for planning her wedding!

Paying it Forward

I have a confession. And a request. What seems like a long, long time ago, I jumped aboard this thing called "Pay it Forward." Now let me assure you, at the time I had every intention of making something cool for Whitney when she commented on that post, but then {insert excuses}, and I'm sure the year in which I was supposed to complete the project came and went.

Luckily, she has given me a second opportunity to help her out. You see, she's a grad student {I remember that all too painfully well} and she is collecting data for her thesis. And guess what her thesis is on....blogging!

If there's anything I like more than blogging it might be talking about blogging.

If you would like to help her, you can visit here. And please do it. Send in your questionnaires. Remember, I'm trying to redeem myself. I know I'm no cjane, but 12 more responses is 12 more, right? {Even if I am one of them.}

Digital Scrapbooking: How to Get Started

On my last post, Thais asked how I learned how to digital scrapbook. I thought I would answer her questions in a new post in case someone else is curious.

What software do you use to scrapbook with?

When I first started, I used Adobe Illustrator. Now I use Adobe Photoshop CS2 (PS). It seems like most people use either Adobe PS or Photoshop Elements (PSE), which give you a lot of flexibility with your layouts, but of course you don't have to use those. According to the Designer Digitals website, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Digital Image Suite, ACDSee Systems Photo Editor, and LumaPix FotoFusion Scrapbook Essentials are other common photo-editing programs.

And how the heck did you learn it? Books? Tips? Anything. I REALLY want to get into it.

I learned mostly by trial and error. I used a few online tutorials, which I will get to in a second, but for me, the biggest thing was finding out where to get free materials. A friend pointed me toward Two Peas in a Bucket, and I found other freebie sites on my own (see my "Goodies" sidebar).

Once I had materials, I just started layering things on top of each other in Illustrator. There are tutorials out there that will walk you through each step of making a digital page, like this first digital layout tutorial from Designer Digitals.

One of the most important things I did learn through a website was how to use a template. I think it's safe to say that 99% of the layouts I've made in the past year were created using templates. They are just so easy to use...once you know how!

This seems like a pretty good tutorial on how to use a PSD template. If you don't have PS or PSE, you'll need to use a software that can work with layers to use a template.

Here's an example of a page I made using a template I downloaded for free.





I made the lemon meringue pie page using the Circled Template 2 from Fei Fei's Stuff. Easy as pie, and the results are so pretty (in my humble opinion).

So, the main thing is purchasing a photo-editing software (or you can try trials of PS and PSE) if you don't have one already, and then, once you learn a few things you'll be right on your way!

Heads Up

For all of you who like digital scrapbooking, especially digital scrapbooking for free, I've got some news for you.

Last week Oscraps held a contest as part of their birthday celebration that involved going around to designers' blogs to obtain a secret word. While the official contest is over, many of the freebies are still available if you are willing to do a little blog hopping. I just downloaded about 15 scrapbooking goodies for free!

That's something I love about digital scrapbooking. So far the ONLY money I've spent was to buy an album to put my pages in. If you're wondering how I've been able to do it, you should check out all of the links in the "GOODIES" section of my blog. Each of the sites listed there has freebies available for download.

Anyway, back to the blog train. Here's what you need to do:

Start by going here.
At the bottom of that post you will find a link to Sue Cummings' blog, which has another freebie. She has a link to the next blog, which has a link to the next blog...and I think you get the idea. It's a blog train.

You might have to scroll down a bit to find the freebie since the posts were written last week.

Happy hunting!

Pay It Forward

Well, I've managed to come down with a cold (this happens during every break I have from school), so the 12 dates are postponed until I start feeling better.

In the meantime I thought I'd share two layouts I made for a Pay It Forward I participated in.

This first one was for one of my blog friends. I put it in a black frame and mailed it out (on time) back in October.


Credits:
Fonts-Unnamed Melody & Trajan Pro

The second one didn't make it into its owner's hands until last week. Thankfully it was for one of my best friends, so she didn't complain that it was two months late.



When I handed her the gift she thought it was an empty picture frame. Imagine her delight when she actually opened it and saw this!



Here's a close up.