Scrapropos

Mr. Ellie Pooh-Elephant Dung Paper

As you can probably imagine, a lot of my email focuses of paper crafts in some way. Being that I use gmail, there are sponsored links on the side. The link for Mr. Ellie Pooh-Elephant Dung Paper comes up on the side of pretty much every email I read.

I love elephants, so of course I had to check out the site. As the name implies they offer paper products made from recycled elephant poo. As a teenager I volunteered at a zoo and had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with the elephants. This time included a fair share of poo shoveling. I can confirm from my personal experience that the elephant’s waste is mostly plant matter and pretty nice stuff as far as the material goes.

The home page tells about the plight of elephants in Sri Lanka:

The elephant is running out of space in Sri Lanka. Most of
the protected areas inhabited by elephants are small, less
than 1000 sq. Km in size (900 sq. Miles). Nevertheless,
elephants, especially the bulls, may range over hundreds
of square kilometers in the course of a season. Their sheer
size and gargantuan appetite mean that elephants and
people cannot live together where agriculture is the
dominant form of land use, unless the damage they cause to
farmers can be compensated.

and how the idea of making paper from the elephant’s waste was born:

Since an elephant’s diet is all vegetarian, the waste produced is basically raw cellulose. Thoroughly
cleaned and processed, the cellulose is converted into a uniquely beautiful textured product, marketed
as “Ellie Pooh Paper�. This acid free, linen-like papyrus-type paper can be formed into art and
construction projects, notebooks, cards and assorted gift items where the only limitation is ones
imagination. These products have proved extremely popular among many in the local population and
among foreign tourists.

A visit to their store brings a surprise for scrapbookers. They make their acid-free elephant poo paper in to what looks like some fun products made just for us scrappers including albums and cardstock.

Looking for some fun scrapbook reading? Check out these blogs:

Scrapjacked - Every 1st and 15th they post a new featured artist and one layout for inspiration then hold a challenge for the best “jacked” layout.

One Little Word - Another challenge site. They post a word and you create and post your layout inspired by that word. The current word is “Simplicity”.

Pencil Lines - Sketches, sketches, and more sketches

Scrapscene - The self proclaimed Who’s Who of scrapbooking. Always lots of good information here.

scrapbook, scrapbooking, journaling, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook projects, freebies, free scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking freebies

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

– Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I recently came across a post at a great blog called Scrap Smack 2 which led me to a related article at another blog, Scrap Bizzness. Both are discussing the types of scrappers that people tend to be.

So, what type of scrapper are you? I am not talking general style here. I do not mean Shabby Chic, Freestyle, Classic, or any of the other trendy names borrowed from the home dec world and assigned to scrapbookers today. The classifications I am thinking of and are referenced in the two blog links above are more general with only two categories:

1. The fashionista collector type that wants the newest and most trendy. Often has a stash that she treasures. Thinks “I need Basic Gray and Cosmo Cricket”.
2. The average scrapper that likes to make theme pages and use whatever is available that fits the theme. Thinks “I need some good zoo themed paper.”

I am absolutely smack in the middle of these two, probably leaning a bit towards the average scrapper. And “average” here does not mean talent just the that the type of pages you make fall more into the making a birthday themed page rather than a using that cool new paper for something page.

In terms of style trends, I do like the more design oriented looks that are popular with publications. However, when I am doing a page about one of my kids dressed as a pirate I want pirate themed paper (I have some cool stuff too). Personally, I think both types of scrappers are great and bring variety and life to the hobby.

Think about what kind of scrapper you are. Pick out a layout of yours that is a favorite (or two if you are stuck in the middle with me…ha, ha that song will be going through your head all day now), and email it to me with your name or screen name so I can give you credit. When I have enough I will be doing a showcase post.

I am also looking for some scrappers to interview for new guest artist features. If you are interested drop me an email and I will send you my questionnaire.

Digital scrapbooking set! at Printables 4 Scrapbooking

Here is a cute digital set for some Summer time bloom pages. Make sure to take a look around the rest of the linked blog too for more scrapbooking goodies.

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Coffee is real good when you drink it it gives you time to think. It’s a lot more than just a drink; it’s something happening. Not as in hip, but like an event, a place to be, but not like a location, but like somewhere within yourself. It gives you time, but not actual hours or minutes, but a chance to be, like be yourself, and have a second cup.

- Gertrude Stein

He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.

–  Thomas Jefferson

The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money.
- David Richerby

My birthday!–what a different sound
That word had in my youthful ears;
And how each time the day comes round,
Less and less white its mark appears.
- Thomas Moore

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head
together and your body starts falling apart.
- Caryn Leschen

Thirty five is a very attractive age;
London society is full of women who have of their own
free choice remained thirty-five for years.

- Oscar Wilde

We know we’re getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it.

~Author Unknown

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.

~Author Unknown

Couture Fonts

If I could sing little song about how much I love fun fonts I would (trust me, you do not want to hear me sing). This site has some seriously cool free fonts to download and use in your scrapbooking.

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A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s
birthday but never remembers her age.
- Robert Frost

I have used lots of different programs to make digital scrapbook pages. I am also always willing to try out new one (yes, that is a hint to any companies that want me to review their product…lol). Somehow I always end up going straight to GIMP when I want to create a special project. I like the functionality, which is as powerful as Photoshop once you learn the program, and, like most people, I do tend to open the program I am most familiar with, which for graphics is GIMP.

GIMP, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a free open source graphics program. Yes, I said free. It does not cost anything to download, use, upgrade, or alter, and it runs on most operating system platforms, even older Windows machines.

I sat down today to write up a tutorial on getting started using GIMP for digital or hybrid scrapbooking, but before I started writing I did a Google search. I found this site full of great Tutorials for using GIMP for scrapbooking. I have no desire to reinvent to wheel so to speak, so I will direct you there for instructions.

Here is a page I made with GIMP using the Moody Blues Digital Kit from Shabbyprincess.com :

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ShabbyPrincess.com :: DigiScrap downloads, Free downloads, Digital scrapbooking, Computer Scrapbooking

There are so many gorgeous freebies to download at this site! I am speechless!

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When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.
- Mark Twain

scrapbook, scrapbooking, journaling, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook projects, freebies, free scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking freebies

I ordered this canvas a couple of weeks ago and it arrived today. It looks so nice I had to share right away.

As part of my studio overhaul, which is still ongoing and turning into a bigger job than originally planned, but worth it, I want to upgrade the art on my walls.

Using GIMP 2.o and some digital papers and elements from scrapgirls.com, I made a 16×20 image at 300dpi. I will warn you in case you try to do this yourself. It was a HUGE file when I began adding all of the layers that even my brand spanking new computer choked at it a bit. I kept each individual graphic and photo on a separate layer until I was happy with the whole layout, then added a subtle drop shadow to each element to give the illusion of layers. Then I flattened the image and saved, as a still large, but manageable jpeg.

I was very nervous about how it was going to come out. Some of the small photos were taken with an older digital camera that was somewhere around 1 megapixel and there was nothing even close to what I was doing in the sample gallery on the canvas site. When I opened up my package today I was thrilled. It is perfect. The old images are so clear, much clearer than I expected.

Right now it is sitting on my pellet stove. When my husband gets home, I will have him hang it up for me.

I wrote a full review of the website I ordered from on my personal blog : Mind Of A Mom if you are interested in more information.

scrapbook, scrapbooking, journaling, scrapbook layouts, scrapbook projects, freebies, free scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking freebies