Ca-rot Top

I've been wanting to scrap this page for a long time now.  The only problem is the quality of the picture.  The back lighting from the bathroom window probably caused the extreme shading of the photo.  This is really disappointing, but was done before I began working on my photography "skills."  Don't think the same mistake would be made today, or at least would hope not.

The page is about a silly idea we came up with after cutting the top of a carrot that had greenery left in place.  The thought was that if we planted it, we would have a nice carrot at then end.  It got really bushy and healthy looking for about 2 months, but suddenly wilted.  The time was right for my helper to harvest.  After a hefty tug, all that came up was a green bunch of wilted leaves.  No carrot.  No roots.  The whole episode turned into a very fun memory... hence the desire to document the event despite the lousy photo.

Entering contests on CSI.com's site has opened me up to using colours in a way I might not have thought before.  I still lack real courage, but this is a learning process! 

About six months ago I stumbled upon an adorable pet-themed paper pack on sale.  The pages were absolutely adorable, but until this project I had no clue where to use the paper.  Now unleashed, there's many, many projects that come to mind using this paper.  This is how it goes with most all the paper pads bought along the way. As a side note... although the camera doesn't capture it, the rabbit is actually flocked.

I created the flower and carrot sign for embellishments.  The banner in the top right and the title located at the top left are commercial products.  The carrots are the crowning achievement on this page.  I used the Cricut to cut the shape, but the paper I wanted to use wasn't large enough to accommodate the full shape I had to start with, so in the end had to trace and manually cut the actual cutout onto paper originally planned for use; all done with very satisfactory results.  I then generously inked the carrots and leaves, and if I don't say so myself, did an excellent job on shading.

My Carrot Job

The most demanding aspect in presenting scrapped pages into digital images is capturing the true colours.  For that, I'm still experimenting with lighting techniques.  Too much light and the photo turns out washed; too little and all is dimmed (as in this case).  I believe setting up a shoot in diffused sunlight works best.  I may have found the solution for taking perfectly square photos for cropping.  There is an adapter to the tripod that extends an arm that in turn holds the camera directly over the center of the subject.  The centering is most critical for cropping; any deviation in angle distorts captured lines.  These devices run anywhere between $35-60, but Martin thinks he can build one for under $10.  The question at that point is when he'll have time to get to do it.  I'll give him two months after the promise, but if there are no results, it's off to the store for the extension bar.