Pets and Fireworks do not mix!!

by Rom@in



OK people of Brisbane, Australia .... tonight the amazing fireworks spectacular that is  Riverfire  will be lighting up the sky over our beautiful city.  While we all 'ooohh and ahhh" at the millions of dollars going up in smoke, please PLEASE, please, don't forget about that member of your family who will probably absolutely freak out with all the noise.
Your dog, cat, guinea pig, bird .... whatever pets you have, need particular care and attention this evening - even more so if you are intending on leaving the poor little bugger alone at home to experience 'the end of the world' on his or her own.

Please take a look at  the RSPCA's Facebook page   which has some great ideas for how you can keep your pet calm and safe this evening.

 

Touching Base

Hi all,
Just thought I would pop on over to my blog and update you with my goings on.  My lil' Graphic Design business Papier Mouse is now up and running, hence my absence from my trusty blog  over the last few weeks.  
I hope to start a Papier Mouse Blog in the near future.  I really want to create a place for creative people to visit and share information about all aspects of creative design.  I'm planning on offering up to date industry relevant information,  as well as some FREE downloads for people.  
One thing that I have really valued in the past couple of years, as I have traveled on my creative journey, is the support and overwhelming positiveness that I have experienced from fellow crafters - both professionals and newbies alike.
I am so looking forward to being able to take a running leap into 'becoming creative' that I can't wait to have more time to spend actually making things and sharing them with you all.
At the moment my number one priority is my studies.  I am over half way through my Diploma of Graphic Design at BNIT, and I have learnt so much over the past year! I have some wonderful teachers, and a great bunch of fellow students to bounce ideas off.  My one regret is that my time management skills are not what they should be, and I tend to let myself get overwhelmed with assessment items.  I am a perfectionist, and I don't apologies for that, but it really saps the energy to 'do my best' in every subject all of the time.  I know I need to learn to prioritize, and this is a goal that I am working towards every day.

So thanks for hanging around, and visit my website (which will be overhauled in the near future, hopefully) and see what I have been up to.

I'd love to hear from anyone out there who can give me some pointers in free-lancing. I'm open to all suggestions :)

cheers
G

Adobe Roadshow hits Brisbane

I spent the day being totally blown away by the guys from Adobe at their CS6 Rocks Roadshow today at the Sofitel in Brisbane.

It was great to see new and upcoming applications such as Muse and Edge, as well as some great timesaving and mind-blowing improvements to the already fantastic Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and InDesign.  

My head was spinning with the ease that these guys used these programs to highlight the features, so much to go through in only one day meant it was a matter of 'blink and you'll miss it'. I certainly can't wait to get my hands on CS6 and have a play for myself.

Meanwhile I'll just plod along on my CS5.5 - which until today I was extremely contented with.

Talk about dangling the carrot Adobe!!

My "Flash" New Site!

Hi there, I thought it was about time I showed you what has been keeping me away from my little blog.  I've been completing a number of tasks for TAFE and this is a pic of what I've been working on today. 

This is the home page for another website that I am creating using Adobe Flash - which is a fantastic animation and multimedia application.  There will be 4 or 5 pages in total, and they will be animated to swipe off the page when the navigation (signpost) is activated.  My process starts of by creating each page as a separate layer in one Photoshop document. I then export it to Flash and add animation and coding to make it interactive - pretty cool huh?

The Home page of my Flash website.

I am constantly amazing myself with all the new skills I am learning at TAFE - but I have to admit that sometimes my head runs out of 'memory space' and I have a bit of trouble locating the files in my head from last semester! I wish I could upgrade my own memory a couple of RAM...:)

I also have another website under construction that will contain heaps of relevant information regarding Online Marketing Tips for businesses. The content of the site will be a combination of information gathered by my TAFE class. 

Well, back to work... I must admit to being very busy, but absolutely loving it!

G

*bespoke* Issue #7

I am so thrilled to be a part of the current edition of  *bespoke* magazine which will start appearing in stores next week.  I received my copy today in the post and it looks simply amazing!! I will definitely be devouring this before I head to bed tonight!

You can find my article '"We Love Ipswich"  on page 27, where I chat too the lovely ladies from cultiver  , The.Gift.Tree, Mimmis and The Handmade Markets .

These four stores are all located in and around the Ipswich region and are just part of why I love this town.  The creativity we have here constantly surprises me. If you live in South East Queensland and love quality handmade crafts then Ipswich is definitely a place you must visit.

Check out my article in Issue #7 of *bespoke*, or visit the individual links to the stores mentioned for locations and contact details.

Cultiver

The Gift Tree

Heading Home....

Just a short note while I am sitting at Newcastle airport.  Heading home after a fantastic weekend visiting friends and family.  Every time I come down to this area of NSW it reminds me of how much I love it!! And now that my sis and best mate are down here, it makes it so much the better :)
I discovered Warners Bay on the Sunday morning.  A gorgeous town with beautiful parkland and a bike-way right along the edge of the lake.  I don't think I have ever seen so many cyclists as I did on my drive from Newcastle to the Central Coast!
Who knows maybe if I move here I could get fit too? It certainly is a beautiful place for walking and cycling.

Action!!!

Well, Adobe Flash using Action Script 3 to be precise. In my first lesson of Commercial Web Design today we created a (very) short video.  It is a Flash animation, and while it looks very basic I'm so pleased that I understood what I was supposed to do.  Enough so that when I got home from TAFE I kept fiddling with it and added extra bubbles and seaweed all on my own.

My next step is to create one of those annoying little ads that we all choose to ignore on web pages.   I call them 'Digital Junk Mail' but my lecturer assures me that studies have shown them to be an effective form of advertising.

Personally, I am thinking Blinkies .  We have all seen the flashy, sparkly ones... but I am going to try my hand at creating something with a bit more style, just like the ones at The Shabby Shoppe  which I think are super sweet !