Month: May 2011

Fun with Chinglish: Let’s Afforest Together!

Published by Sula H.

I love the new signs our school has put up recently all over campus! What would life be without the little tokens of amusement we find all around us? This one reads: “School likes our home. Let’s afforest together!” I’m just glad, no one really cares about this suggestion, or we quickly wouldn’t find our way home with all the trees popping up everywhere! Note: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to show disrespect towards anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great signs & documents!

Hybrid Hub: Card No. 7 – Rainy Day

Published by Sula H.

To many people, rainy days mean gloom and melancholy. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. In places where rain is rare, precipitation means a chance for new life to spring up. To me, rain usually is welcome, and therefore I made a rather happy rainy-day-card. For this particular card, I used a collab kit by Heather Roselli and MandaBean, called “Weather the Storm” (available at SSD). It comes with lots of beautifully patterned papers that are perfect for any bad-weather occasion. I also used another really easy-peasy paper piercing pattern from scrapbooketc.com. (By the way, if you’ve been wondering about how to turn pdf files containing paper piecing patterns into photoshop usable clipping masks, I’m planning on posting a tutorial for the how to’s here, soon!) Anyways, I’m hoping you’re all feeling like sunshine on a rainy day now, and maybe – if you haven’t done so already, you’ll soon start to discover the joys of paper piecing, too!

Around Town: Rainy Days

Published by Sula H.

Rain has been rare since last fall, so any kind of precipitation these days is welcome. The good news with rain is that oftentimes after the “bad” weather has passed, usually the air is a lot of cleaner, which means: a day of rain many times is followed by a day of clear skies that sometimes even resemble the color of blue – something I still appreciate even after years of having been in this country! Therefore it is my stance to say: Yay for the rainy days!

Enable Me: Story Board (LYM)

Published by Sula H.

Have you ever been in need for some journal inspiration? If yes, I great place to find prompts and ideas for your journaling is the Log Your Memory Story Board. On a regular basis, the staff of LYM will provide journaling prompts, and layouts focusing on that idea to get your mojo going again. Check it out, for you might just find the inspiration you need over there!

Food Corner: Beans & Tofu

Published by Sula H.

Cold dishes on the side are a very common addition to every proper meal here. Usually, various kinds of vegetables, nuts and tofu are offered in all different kinds of variations. These, for example, are beans combined with a kind of tofu. Tofu in China comes in many different ways, and the tofu here has the texture of bread.

Behind the Scenes: It’s All Black & White

Published by Sula H.

Today, I’d like to share a little  about black & white photography. Monochrome photos are timeless. They add emotion and drama to a picture, and sometimes an otherwise rather boring photo can gain momentum and become quite capturing when turned into a black & white image. Almost any scene can be turned into a black & white image, though when working with these kinds of photos, it’s good to know a few things about black & white photography to enhance the quality of your pictures significantly. Contrast Without color, the various shades of gray in black & white photography become rather prominent. Therefore, it becomes very important to make the subject of your photo stand out from the rest of the photo. A light subject against a dark background, for example, will accomplish that, but including various shades of gray also can make a big difference, since they will add depth to your photo. Shape & Form Without color to guide and lead you through the photograph, shape and form become very important aspects of your …

Knowing Another Language

Published by Sula H.

Found a cute little story on the internet the other day, and since I’m a language teacher, I just have to share it with you here: Two mice sat in their hole watching Cat lurk outside. “I know how to make Cat go away,” said the first mouse. “How?” the second mouse asked in surprise. “Watch! Bow, wow!!!” barked the first mouse. Peering through their hole in the wall, they saw Cat running away in fear. “Ah, see the benefit of knowing another language!” Found at http://www.eleaston.com/

Chinese Corner: Interesting

Published by Sula H.

  Lesson #4: Interesting   有意思 – yǒuyìsi   you = have yisi = meaning youyisi = have meaning – interesting (If you can’t see the Chinese characters, because you don’t have any Asian languages installed on your computer, don’t worry about it.)

Monday Highlight: What’s Happening

Published by Sula H.

Ah, NSD and all its excitements! Are you glad it’s over, or did you fully enjoy all the games and contests and scrapping that took place all over digiland this past weekend? For me personally, NSD doesn’t hold that great of an excitement anymore, since with the monthly portfolio at SSD (and various other stores), I get my personal NSD every month on ‘sweet rewards day’ lol. Today is SR-day for me, and with various coupons and free kits I’ve received over the last weekend from SSD and some designers, I’m having a real flood of new products that I can’t wait to play with. One of these new products I want to highlight today – a kit by one of my favorite designers ever: What’s Happening? by Fee Jardine I love Fee’s sense for colors and patterns. Her papers usually come with a great range various designs. The patterns she uses are a mixture of ornate swatches and large, sweeping designs – perfect for both, the white-space scrapper, and the full-page scrapper. Fee’s embellishments …

Treasure Sunday: Too Fast

Published by Sula H.

I hope you’re all enjoying iNSD! I for sure do – have got myself some little something with a coupon, and participated in some of the challenges over at SSD. On top of that it’s Mother’s Day in many places of this world, so “Happy Mother’s Day” to all you moms! But with all the excitement going on, I don’t want to forget that it’s Treasure Sunday here at mistyhilltops.com. I already skipped last Sunday, but I have a new layout I found in the galleries for this week: “Too Fast” by Tronesia I love the cluster she created with this Mini Kit, all the leaves, flowers, and buttons. The photos are adorable, and the little wordstrips just add the perfect little extra to this place. Thanks for sharing this page with us, Tronesia!