Interim TRAKking for March & April '08

I posted this in our main chat thread but wanted to post it here for easy finding/reference. NOTE: DON'T FORGET: BRENDA'S INCHIE BWC & JESSE QOW ARE RIGHT UNDER THIS POST! So don't let this big ol' blog entry of mine distract from them, check 'em out!!

SO I've been doing some interim tRAKking for March/April & it's been a great resource for me to note participation. Mind you, it doesn't hold a candle to QueenMel's precise, detailed & helpful tRAKking (not to mention her ultra-cool tRAKking of optional BWC & QOW responses) but since she's on hiatus (temporarily, I hope) this is just a snapshot that's been tiding me over, so maybe you'd benefit from seeing it to. Before I post this, a note to our beloved QueenMel: I hope you realize I am NOT trying to step on your toes by doing this, I was only doing this for my own benefit & thought I'd share. I miss you terribly (not just your tRAKking, YOU!). Please let us know you're OK when/if you can.

OK some explanations - well, as you all know, there are 3 guidelines to being in this group - posting 2 scrafty projects a month (hey we're a critique group, we gotta have stuff to critique!), critiquing others' works & checking in weekly. I didn't track everyone's critiques of works but chose a random one from late March (my "Egg's Nest/B&B" LO posted on 3/31, smackdab in the middle of the March/April period), as everyone gets 7-10 days to critique a LO & that gives people an ample grace period to do so. For myself, I used Christy's Christmas 2007 LO, posted 4/5. Not very scientific but since I didn't track LO critiques from inception the way QueenMel did, that was the best I could do. AND I didn't track weekly posts, I only posted everyone last post if it was in April, & then spelled out May (because that's technically outside of the tRAKed period of March/April, but shows you are super up-to-date on posts)!

That'll do until QueenMel's return... I hope we don't have to deal w/ this but if she doesn't return, we'll revisit the RAK part of the tRAKking. I just can't deal w/ that right now but want to add some incentive eventually if... Also, Jess is included on this, because she was a member during March/April (& because I'm in a bit of denial that she's leaving!). OK without further ado...

SHCG Interim Ad hoc TRAKking for March/April 2008

1. blushpea = Sharon
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – May

2. X3Jessicalouise = Jessica
March 2 LO submission – No
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – May (leaving group)

3. cmeinstlouis = Christy
March 2 LO submission – No
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – 4/24/08

4. Fiery Redhead = Melissa
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – 4/16/08, also does continuous blog updates/work

5. twinscrapbee = Brenda
March 2 LO submission – 1 LO
April 2 LO submission – 1 LO
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – May

6. whenscraphappenzz = Tiffany
Gave group advance notice of schedule conflicts
March 2 LO submission – No
April 2 LO submission – 1 LO
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – 4/27/08

7. ~Alma Scrapera~ = Nitza
March 2 LO submission – 1 LO (informed group she’d only have 1 this month)
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – 4/27/08

8. WendyGirl = Wendy
March 2 LO submission – 1 LO
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – 4/25/08

9. Gelidy Gelato = Lisa
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – May

10. Eat Sleep Scrap = Melissa
March 2 LO submission – No
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – 4/6/08

Pledges:
1.Janet28rn = Janet
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – May

2. Vanessajd2285 = Vanessa
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – 3/25/08
(may be absent due to medical reasons)

3. Scrappychicdesigns = Nicole
March 2 LO submission – 1 LO
April 2 LO submission – No
Critique of random LO – No
Last board post – May (absent from early/mid March through 4/21)

4. Scrappin Kitty = Amanda
March 2 LO submission – 1 LO
April 2 LO submission – 1 LO
Critique of random LO – No (this surprised me because you seem to regularly critique!)
Last board post – May

5. *jesse* = Jesse
March 2 LO submission – Yes
April 2 LO submission – Yes
Critique of random LO – Yes
Last board post – May

Note, I'm not trying to be the Scrap Police! Obviously Real Life takes precedence sometimes. But this group has been through a lot & decided as a group on these participation guidelines to keep the group active & moving forward. The above tRAKking is so you all can note your participation. I hope you find this useful!

QueZZtion of the Week, 05/04/08

Posting this for our fabby pledge, Jesse!

You can suddenly be a celebrity... what do you want to be famous for & why? Would you want to be an Oscar-winning actress or start your own scrapbooking line that is highly sought-after? Silly OR serious answers welcome; silly AND serious answers encouraged!

Sounds like a fun one! Have at it, grrlzz!

BWC #9: Inchies!

Before we inch along to the next challenge, don't forget to see how Sharon and I measured up to her own previous challenge.

BWC # 8 - Movie Quotes

Carnegie Deli '05 (SHCG "Movie Quotes" Challenge)
by Blushpea
Scrapbook.com

Elementary My Dear Watson
by Twinscrapbee
Scrapbook.com

And now...

My First Inchies
by Twinscrapbee
Scrapbook.com

Inchies are 1"x1" squares that are sort of like ATC offspring. These are totally doable and the possibilities are absolutely endless. My idea to help get the creative wheels turning again is to challenge you to create an inchie (or a few) inspired by one of your los or scrafty projects. Do you still have scraps from one of your pieces, poor quality photo prints, old stickers, leftover alphas, or unused packs of embellies? Use them on an inchie. Share your mini-masterpieces. Beware, the inch-worm can be contagious!

QueZZtion of the Week, 04/28/08

I'm posting this on behalf of the excellent, quick-draw Amanda, who answered the last one first in the body of our main thread:

How do you store your
- PP
- CS
- Embellies
- Ribbon
- Tools

or any other sb organisational tips that work for you?

Queztion of the week 4/20/08

I'm a day late, sorry gals!

Now I know all of you are darned near perfect, BUT:

Name one, non physical item you would change about yourself. I'm not talking plastic surgery here, I'm talking self improvement. If you are perfect, tell us why you think you are!

Eliminating dust and scratches on photos in Photoshop

Photoshop has a neat filter that will eliminate most dust and scratches. The Dust and Scratches filter looks for spots that differ from their surroundings in color or brightness then blurs the surrounding color into the spots to eliminate them.

• In Photoshop open your image and create a duplicate layer.
• Working on the duplicate layer, choose Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches. A Dust & Scratches pop-up window will appear.
• Use the radius slider to control how much you blur.
• Then use the Threshold slider to restore the grain. The Threshold slider fine tunes the blurring to only the very different spots.

To prevent a photo that is just too blurry there may be some large spots left after applying the filter. These can be corrected using other methods. And there may be spots blurred that you actually want like highlights on jewelry. These can be restored by erasing the blurred area so the original layer below shows through or by cut & pasting the area from the original layer.

The filter is fun to play with. Additional layers can be added of the trouble areas and filtered even more. Sorry this web browser doesn't let me put images that are detailed enough to really show off the dust removal but hopefully you get the idea from these...

Now you see it Now you don't

Quezztion of the Week 4/14/08

After reading Sharon's fabulous bi-weekly challenge, I was inspired to ask all of my scrafty ladiezz this quezztion:

What is your all-time favorite movie? What makes it your favorite? Why would you recommend it to someone?

Frankly Scrafterzz, I DO give a damn, so let's here them...