tarisota_talk_feb2

Tarisota Talk
February 2007
Hello everyone, and welcome to our new look Tarisota
Collections. After an incredibly busy and exciting year and a
half, we decided it was time for a fresh, new look. Many
months in the planning and numerous designs chosen and
discarded – you are now reading from our final version. We
endeavoured to keep the format as close as possible to what
you are used to. Don’t forget to drop us a line to let us know
what you think; we love to hear from you!
February’s version of Tarisota Talk is running a smidge late – but with our new site - and
all the news, there was a danger of flooding your inboxes. That wouldn’t do, so all the
news is combined here.
Firstly, thank you to the lovely Katie Toland who was our fab Guest Designer – check out
her lovely scrap space – read on further to see what keeps her inspired. Included is
another great article from Rachel, on how to make those beautiful black and white
conversions happen. We have also showcased the versatility of the Fancy Pants
chipboard in our February Collection.
In celebration of our new look, (while I have been working behind scenes on creating
the site) all your favourite designers have banded together to produce some awesome
ideas on how to use fabric and ribbons! They feature a great new product from Strano,
called ribbonstiff, which allows you to use ribbon in a whole new way! Its dries flat and
clear and flexible, so that ribbon can be cut, punched and embossed and it won’t fray!
Cuts stay clean and crisp. We have created an ideas book, called Ribbon Redefined,
filled with ribbon and fabric fun and it’s yours for free! – along with a bottle of the
ribbonstiff. All you need to do is introduce a friend to Tarisota; have them sign up for any
Collection, except
Addiction and Ribbon
Redefined is all yours –
and theirs. We are also
offering a small number
for sale in our Limited
Editions this month. That’s
all from me! Enjoy the
new site – stay tuned for
our gallery up on the 8th
filled with bling!
Spotlight On
Katie Toland
Can’t scrap without:
Already having an image in my head. I don’t get a lot of
time to scrap, so when I do get the chance to sit down I
have to move fast! I prepare the majority of my layouts
and bag up the photos, co-ordinating papers and
embellishments, titles, journaling and a sketch in a 12x12 zip
lock bag, and when I have the time I grab a bag that appeals
to me and scrap it. I can sort all these bits and pieces at the
kitchen bench while the kids are playing, and I find I use a
lot more of my stash this way too.
Person I’d most like to scrap with:
Probably Becky Higgins. I love the ideas she comes up with for layout topics. She really knows how to
scrap the everyday moments to perfection and her style is so timeless and classic.
Favourite colour combo at the moment:
Brights! Orange, green, blue and white
Advice for other scrappers when they are stuck for inspiration:
Scraplift something, anything! I always find my inspiration comes back half-way through, and my
completed layout ends up nothing like the original.
What do you see as the next trend in scrapbooking?
Getting back to basics, including more meaningful journaling; photographing the everyday moments;
relaxing and doing your own thing - embracing your own style, rather than following the trends. Digital
photography and digital photo editing will only get bigger as more people gain access to cameras and
software, and who doesn’t want to make their photos the best that they can be.
My Scrap Space:
My scrapping space doubles as my work space so the computer is a
must. I love to be surrounded by photos of the people I love.
I scrap next to my computer (which I usually get distracted by!).
I keep my most used tools - paper trimmer, pencil case, and basket of
adhesives on the desk within easy reach.
My room is full of little boxes. I have white ones for work, and black ones for
scrapping. I keep just about everything in them from paint, flowers and stamps,
to chipboard, punches and backup photo CD's.
My patterned papers are all stored flat in the drawer of a mobile trolley, but
my cardstock is kept in makeshift paper racks. I used cable ties to turn a cheap
coated wire cube storage shelf, into paper racks and sort cardstocks into
colour groups.
We have grand plans for our study/office, including built in cupboards, 12 x 12 filing drawers and
overhead shelves. It's quite a way down the 'to do' list though, so for now, this will suffice :)
Tarisota Sketch
By Charmane Koch
By Rachel Richter
By Ngaire Bartlam
Tarisota Tutorials
By Rachel Richter
Black & White Conversions
Converting colour images to Black and White can be a
tricky process. Personally, my main objective is to achieve
dark blacks and creamy, light white tones, rather than
murky-grey. I have a few different methods I use;
I’ll demonstrate some of the differences here.
The image to the right is a straight colour desaturation
(Image>Adjustments> Desaturate) which a lot of people
favour as they don’t know any better. This would be my
very last choice for a B&W image. (notice the grey-murky
tone)
Here’s one of my most-used methods – using
“Curves” in Photoshop. (Ctrl-M or
Image>Adjustments>Curves) When the box
appears over your image, you will notice a straight
line running diagonally. At the intersections I’ve
marked, drag the line downwards for black and
upwards for white. Experiment to see your own
results. Notice how the blacks become blacker
and the whites, whiter. You’re aiming for a slight
“S” shape to your curve.
(notice the creamier skin tones, the lighter sky and
the increase in contrast)
Another popular method is to
convert to B&W and incorporate a
colour tone. The way to achieve this
is to open your image in Photoshop
and select Image>Mode>Grayscale,
Image>Mode>Duotone
Select “Duotone” from the drop-down
menu
Click on the solid box in the second
row and choose a “tone”
Here you can see that I’ve added a
blue tone and a brown tone.
Make sure to convert the image
back to RBG mode after applying the
Duotone.
Image>Mode>RGB color
Tarisota Table
Cooking with Tamar –
Chocolate Ripple Log
“The dead easy, do it in 15 minutes to take to a BBQ, when you don't have time to bake cake”
2 x packets of chocolate ripple biscuits
Apple or orange juice - Cointreau if you want for the adults
600ml cream - whipped
Dark chocolate, raspberries or strawberries for decoration
Dip each biscuit, one at a time in the juice and place on its side,
standing up on a glass plate.
Sandwich cream between each biscuit to form a log
(I use two packets and make two rows)
Then cover the whole thing in cream (I said fast, not low fat!)
Decorate with chocolate curls (I use a block of chocolate and then just peel with the potato
peeler) and strawberries or raspberries
My girls love helping make this - that's how easy it is and seriously - YUM!
Tarisota Type
– Free Fonts to suit your February Collection
http://www.dafont.com/trebble.font treble
http://www.momscorner4kids.com/fonts/cfonts.htm Color Font
http://www.simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/scream.html Scream Font
http://www.simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/last_words.html Last Words
A closer look at the Gallery
This month we are taking a closer look at how the designers have made the most out of
their Fancy Pants chipboard in this Collection.
by Tracy Wyldman
by Ngaire Bartlam
by Nic Howard
by Mel Goodsell
By Suz Doyle
by Mel Goodsell
by Ngaire Bartlam
Project of the month
By Rachel Richter
Rachel's gorgeous take on the mini
box was to pull the album apart
and put it back together the other way,
very clever!
To make, this Rachel printed out
two images onto horizontal A4 and just
trimmed it so that it was panoramic.
Have you seen that Tarisota now offers online classes?
They are designed to match your Collections - but you are welcome to join and use
your own stash. Layouts are showcased on the "Collection of Thoughts” blog.
Here is what Lisa had to say…
“I was so excited to finally finish the layout from this class so I thought I’d send it through. I changed the
theme and altered it slightly, but overall followed the class – and I LOVE it!
This was the first time I had hand-stitched on a layout and I’m thrilled with the way it looks. Thanks so
much for making it easy to learn something new (by running the online classes) – plus having the same
materials on hand as the class makes it so much easier too.”
Thanks for sharing Lisa – and for the lovely feedback!