CALENDAR OVERLAY WITH INVISIBLE BACKGROUND

A friend of mine was wondering how to put a picture in the background of a calendar page and was wondering if I knew now.  WelI I didn't!  I went and watched a You Tube video and then tried it on my own.  It worked out so well that I decided to share the file. I used Photoshop Elements 8 for this project.

This is an example of what I did.  I am not going to explain this in too much detail.  If you know how to use a graphic program this will be very easy.  Especially if you know how to use layers.  Even if you are not real familiar with those programs this Calendar page has an invisible background and anything will show through it if you put it over the top of it.  You could even have a collage of words for a background or a scanned sheet of paper or fabric.  Just call up this file as if you are adding a photo to the picture you already have as a background. 

In my photo, I made a layer with the lilacs and a layer with my dog.  I then pulled the blank calendar over the top of all of it.  Now I can add numbers that will fit the month and I can also add the name of the month above it and also add events, birthdays, anniversaries etc.

This also works in Microsoft Word.  Just bring in your photo and then bring in the Calendar file and lay it over the top.   


I haven't added the numbers on my calendar yet.  I was just experimenting with it.



Download the BLUE calendar grid HERE.




Download the PINK Calendar Grid HERE



Download the WHITE Calendar Grid HERE.

Download the BLACK Calendar Grid HERE.

There are no days of the week on this one in case you like to make your Calendars starting with Monday.

Download the BLACK Blank Calendar Grid HERE.

(Thanks to my friend Dennis for such a great idea!)

Uno Dos Tres

OK...I didn't take that much Spanish in college but I got by. If you are like me you probably don't know a lot of other languages either.
No, Pig Latin is NOT a language and neither is ibba dibba talk.

I have a Google tool bar. I love it...I do all my searching on Google BUT I am not here to advertise that, I am here to tell you about a couple of the buttons it has and the first one is called "Translate" and it can be your best friend. I used it today while I was trying to figure out what the heck this Spanish lady was doing with a particular craft project. Well now I know! It translated it fairly well. Oh, there were a few mistakes. I am almost positive she did not mean to say what she did. No, not on a craft site...unless she is more crafty than I thought!

The other fun button on the Google tool bar is AutoFill. Oh, I love that one too! You know when you get to a website and you really NEED to buy something and you have to put in all information? Well, one click of that button and WALA it does it all for you. You can also password your credit card number in there so if you want to put in your credit card number, put in your password and it will fill in those zillion numbers they request. We are talking speed shopping!

Anyway, give it a shot and see if you like it. Not sure if all tool bars have that but I know my Google does. Here it is...try it out!
http://www.google.com/toolbar/ie/install.html

How to Take a Screen Shot

This is for those of you who have Windows XP and want to take a screen shot and are not sure how to do it. If you have Windows 7 you are already set with the Snippet Tool.  This works great if you see something on a website or want to share something in a program with someone. This is one way to do it. For those Cricuteer friends of mine, it is also great for showing everyone what you have drawn in Inkscape, MTC or SCAL or any program for that matter. This is a pretty easy way to do it.

I got this from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/screenshot.mspx, Just in case you want to go there and look at a better explanation. I added a few of my own tips on here.

1. Click the window you want to capture. Press ALT+PRINT SCREEN by holding down the ALT key and then pressing the PRINT SCREEN key. The PRINT SCREEN key is near the upper right corner of your keyboard. (Depending on the type of keyboard you have, the exact key names on your keyboard may vary slightly.)
Note: You can take a screen shot of your entire desktop rather than just a single window by pressing the PRINT SCREEN key without holding down the ALT key. At this point, it doesn't look like it did anything but wait!
2. Click Start, click Accessories, and then click Paint. Personally, I have a Paint icon ready to go at the bottom of my screen. I use it a lot!
3. In the Paint window, click Edit, and then click Paste. (I just do a “Control V” to paste it)
4. When the image appears in the Paint window, you can decide if you want to keep the whole window or just cut out what you want to show. If you want to cut out a particular part, just use the upper left icon, a box type thing, and pull a line around the part you want and do a “Control X” this will take it out and put it on the clipboard. Go to “File”, “New” and you will have a new Paint screen. (I just do a “Control N”.) Next do a “Control V” which will paste just that selection you wanted on to the window.
Now go to “File”, and then click “Save As”.
5. In the “Save As” dialog box, in the File name box, type a name for the screen shot, and then click Save. (I would recommend saving in GIF if it is a special photo it will look nicer than a JPG)

You can now print or e-mail the saved screen shot just like you would any other picture.

I would recommend reducing the size of the window just a bit because it does such a nice job of capturing the screen that it fills up your Paint screen.