Books I've Loved Recently

I am so sorry that we haven’t posted in almost a week now, both Mop and I have been super busy with school work but everything is under control now and things are going to go back too normal.

During the last weekend I worked on updating our good reads account, which you can find here, and I decided that I haven’t shared any book ideas with you in a while, so that is what I am going to do today. These books are the ones I have read most recently.

The last leaves falling. This book is about a teenage boy, Sora who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, one that has taken away all his dreams for his future and even his hopes of finishing the school year. Desperate for someone to talk to him normally, Sora turns to an online messaging forum, where he can talk to others without them knowing about his illness. To his surprise Sora makes some friends who he trusts enough to invite over. Together with Mai and Kaito, Sora spends his last few months of his life as happy as he possibly can be.

The sisterhood of the travelling pants. This book follows four life-long friends (Carmen, Lena, Tibby and Bridget) as they spend their first summer apart. On the eve of their separation the girls find some pants that magically seem to fit all four of them, despite their different body shapes, the girls agree to send the pants between them during the summer as a way of keeping in touch. The book alternates between the four girls and their summers. Following Carmen to her dad’s new house, Bridget to a soccer camp in Mexico, Lena to Greece to visit her grandparents and Tibby to the local shop for her summer job.

One. This book is about conjoined twins, Tibby and Grace. Since they were born Tibby and Grace have not known anything but being one, and they have never wanted to be separated. But one fateful day Grace begins to get very sick and there is only one way the doctors can save her life. The girls have to make what seems like an impossible choice, their lives changing forever no matter what they choose.

Hopefully you have found one of these books (at least) appeals to you. Let me know in the comments below what books you have been reading recently.

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Tips for taking the perfect picture

Hey there everyone, it's Poppy.
Sorry this post is a bit late, I had two assignments due this morning and had to spend all afternoon yesterday finishing them (bibliographies are such a pain...). Anyway today I have planned to share some photography tips with you. I'm no expert but these tips always help me.

1.Move the focus point around.
The same thing can get a bit boring, I try to have the focal object of my photos in the corner or at the bottom sometimes.

2.Try and capture the shadows or reflections.
How cool does it look when you can see the flower you took a photo of reflected in the water below it?

3. Do something different.
Does it really matter if the photo doesn't turn out how you expected? Try taking photos of some different things and you might find that you really like one of them.

4.Change the perspective.
How different does a tree look if you take a photo from the ground looking up? Have a go at changing the perspective of your photo.

5.Play around with colour v black and white.
Try putting a black and white filter on your photo, sometimes it looks really cool.

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Creating your own quote cards

Hey,
In my last post I talked about how to create photo walls and the photo walls I have in my room. Today I thought I might share a tutorial of how to create your own photo quote cards using Photoshop (if you have it ) or canva.com if you don't. You could use these cards in a scrapbook as presents/cards or on a photo wall.

1.Choose your photo
I use photos that I have taken, but you could find any image you wanted. Once you have chosen your photo you can open it in Photoshop, or upload it to canva. (using canva choose use custom dimensions, select inches from the drop down menu and type in 6x4)

2.Choose your quote
Using pinterest, or a search engine find the quote you would like to put on your photo.

3.Add the text to your photo
In canva press text, select the size (which you can change later) and type the quote. In Photoshop press the text button from the left hand menu choose the size and type the quote in.

4.Change the font and make the text fit the photo.
Choose the fonts you like and make the text fit around the photo, in Photoshop you can wrap the text if you would like.

5.Download/save your photo card.

Here is one of the photo cards I have created.

Let me know in the comments below if you have created any photo cards, or if you have any posts you would like to see.

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5 tips to help you manage peak-assessment time.

Hey,
It's just past the middle of term 3 for me and that means that all the assessment is piling up, there are so many dates to remember, things to write and bibliographies to write. Sometimes it all feels a bit too much and like you will never be able to get over the workload but using the tips and websites below will hopefully help make things a bit easier for you, and help you achieve your best. (I know they all help me a lot).

1.Make an assessment calendar! This is a super simple and easy way to know what is coming up. Assessment planners are pretty much a calendar of the term or semester in which you write all your due dates, tests, exams and distribution dates. To make one simply create a table with a row for each week of school you have (plus one extra) and 6 columns. The way I organise mine is to have the weeks down the right hand side, and the days of the week across the top. (That wasn't a very clear explanation so I've added an image below). You then add the dates (like a calendar) and fill in the assessment.

2.Use a diary/planner. A diary or planner gives you a chance to record all the things you have to do for each day, the classes you have and assessment that could be given out or due.

3.Start as soon as you get the task and work on it steadily. You've probably heard this a million times before but starting the assessment as soon as you get it makes a world of difference the night before it is due (you get that amount of time to do it for a reason). But make sure you do a little bit most days (or starting early will be pointless)

4.Break the task into mini-tasks. I find this a great way to make the task a bit more approachable. The day I get the task I usually spend about half an hour working out 'mini-tasks' and creating ',mini-due-dates' for the tasks. This helps me see how far along I am and how much I have left. It also helps you to not panic about how much you have left to do.

5.Use some of these websites. I use all these websites for pretty much all my assignments and they make things so much easier. Hopefully they will help you too.

Wunderlist- wunderlist is super useful for point four, it lets you create folders for different assignments and break the assignment into chunks. You can create due dates for each chunk and even break your afternoon up into sections (more about wunderlist coming up next week)

Cite this for me- I'm sure you've all heard of cite this for me but it is soooooo useful I couldn't leave it out of this list. Basically it creates a bibliography for you, all you have to do is copy and paste the website url.

Instagrok- Instagrok is like a search engine mind map. You type in a key word and it brings up heaps of relevant information in a mind map format.

Grammarly- grammarly isn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped but it still works pretty well and can really help push your grades up.

Hopefully these websites and tips will help you as much as they help me. Don't forget to let me know in the comments if you have any other tips or websites that might be useful.

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Photo Walls

Hey,
Does any one else take heaps and heaps of photos and spend ages looking through them and editing them but then does nothing with them? Until a few weeks ago that was the way I worked. I'd take photos (on my camera, phone and instax), edit them and then they would just sit on my computer gathering 'dust'. But then I discovered photo walls.

Today I am going to share 4  different types of photo walls and what I think about each one.

1.String photo wall
This is the kind of photo wall where some string (or fairy lights) is strung across the wall and photos are pegged to it. I did try this method in my room but I found that the string/lights kept falling down. Make sure that you have strong hooks to tie the string to.

2.Instax photowall
I have one of these photo walls in my room and I love the way it looks. It is pretty much simply sticking all your instax photos onto a wall. I have a kinda triangle shaped wall in my room and this is where I have my instax photos. It looks pretty cool!

3.Digital camera photo wall
I'm in the process of building one of these. Basically it is covering an entire wall with your favourite digital photos.

4.Scrapbook wall
This idea really just occurred to me but why not use my photoshop tutorial and create some scrapbook pages to hang on the wall?

Really you can do anything you want. Perhaps a quote wall or inspiration board? Let me know what you think, or the ways you display your photos in the comments.

Have a great week

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Olympic Tag Post.

Hey there,

Vivian from day dreamer, night thinker has created this Olympic themed blogging tag post. In the post she shared she tagged 6 other bloggers, and we were one of them. Today I am going to be sharing her questions and tagging some other bloggers, enjoy.

Team? Australia

If you could compete in an event, what would it be? Probably volleyball or swimming (even though I am not a swimmer).

Favourite event to watch? I love watching the synchronised swimming and diving.

Olympian you most admire? I have no idea, they are all so good!

What sports do you currently play? I play netball

Summer of Winter Olympics? I don't really know. I love watching the skiing at the winter Olympics but the summer Olympics are really good too.

Ever been to see the Olympics in person? Unfortunately no, but hopefully one-day.

A sport that should be in the Olympics? Definitely netball, I'd love to watch the professions play.

What do you think would be going through your head right before you were about to compete in the Olympics?

I would probably be really nervous, but also really excited. I would probably be trying to remember all the last minute coaching points, and things I have to do as well.

Bloggers I tag:

The girls from Jeckles

Fox and wolf from fox and wolf

Fizzy from quirky girl studio

Sky highlights blog
Maya from mini and me blog
Olivia from liv's findings.
If you've been tagged you need to:
-Post your post with your answers to the above questions
-Use the blogging Olympics image (or create you own)
-Thank the person who tagged you and list the rules
-Tag others!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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5 ways to relax.

Hey,
It's coming up to the middle of the term here and that is always peak assessment time! I can often find it hard to find time to relax or even ways to relax after a stressful day, or lots of studying/homework. Today I have put together a list of 5 ways to relax, hopefully this can help you find time to take a break and be at your best for tests.

1.Bake Something.
A cake or some biscuits are super easy/quick to make (unless you choose something super difficult) and give you a break from working, as well as providing a snack for while you are studying.

2.Excersise.
Playing a game of netball, going for a run, yoga and any other exercise you can think of is a great way to give your brain a break and body a go.

3.Do some colouring in.
I love colouring in and I always find that it makes me heaps more relaxed. Find yourself some free printable colouring pages (or buy a book of colouring pages, I have the Johanna Basford ones.

4.Jorunal
According to this website journaling is a great way to relax and unwind.

5.Read a book.
A lot of the books many people read are for school, or to learn something but taking the time out to read a book that you want to read can help you feel relaxed and calm. Check out these posts for some book suggestions and ways to find new books.

Next time you are feeling particularly stressed or worried try one of these techniques. Let me know in the comments below any other ways you have to relax. All of these can be a great way to calm down before going to sleep as well.

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5 ways to find a new book

Hey,
It's Poppy once again.
Finding a new book is always a struggle for me. There is so much to choose from and I never know where to start or what I even want to read. Today I've put together a list of 5 ways you can find your next favourite book.

1.Look at books similar to the one you've just finished, or recommended books for next. -on the Kindle it automatically recommends similar books when you finish one that you have just read, I find that there is usually a good book or two in this list. If you don't have a kindle you can look up similar books on the internet.

2.Look at more books by that author- assuming you liked that book this is a great way to find another different yet similar book. Simply searching an authors name will bring up books that they have written. And if the author hasn't written any other books keep checking to see if they publish a new one.

3.Ask your friends- ask your friends or some people who have similar interests to you what they have been reading and if they are liking it. This is a great way to find a new book.

4.Ask an adult- ask your parents what they read when they were your age, or go to the book store and ask one of the staff members for a recommendation.

5.Read blogs/goodreads- blogs (like this one) often have lists of books to read, or book reviews and goodreads has heaps and heaps of different book suggestions and reviews.

Hopefully this list will give you an idea of where to start next time you finish a book. You can see all the posts we have written about books here. Let me know how you find a new book in the comments below.

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How to use Digital Project life with Photoshop CC

Hiya, It's Poppy here.

Hope you are all having a great week. On Wednesday I shared a review of digital project life which I have been using for the past week. I mentioned  in the review how hard I found it to find a tutorial for creating a scrapbook page in photoshop cc. So I'm going to share how I did it.

1.Download the cards and templates from beckyhiggins.com and 'unzip' the folders. To do this select the folder and press 'extract' you then have to select a new folder to move it to and press ok.

2.Open photoshop cc. You will see a screen that says new, open and has a list of previous documents. Simply click open and find the folder where you saved the templates from before. Click on the template you want to open and press open. The template I have open is template A the original version.

3.A new photoshop document will then open with the template. The first thing I do is save it. Go into the file menu and press 'save as'. I create a new folder for each of my scrapbooks and name the document the page number. So this document will be called 1.

4. Go back to the template in photoshop. You can see a welcome message.

5.On the right hand side of the screen there should be a tab open with a list of the layers.

If you cannot see the layers menu go to the windows tab at the  top of the screen and select layers from about 2/3 of the way down the list. From the layers menu press the eye next to the introduction layer. This will make it invisible.

6.You can then begin to insert cards and pictures into your page. Before you do this it is best to change the layout of the page if you want to. To do this select the item you want to move and hover just outside the selected item and it should let you rotate. Then press the tick at the top of the screen.

7. To insert a image or card press the move tool from the top of the right hand menu and select the space you want to replace 8.Then click file and open.

9.Find the file you want and press open.

10.It will open in a new window

11.Select it and drag it over to the tap with the name of the template, that tab will open and you need to drag your mouse over to where you want the item to appear.

12.It will then appear in the template, as a new layer.

13.Drag it using the move tool so it is on top of the place you want it.

14.To make sure that the edges line up you need to create a clipping mask. Make sure that the image/card appears above the orange/blue card you are replacing in the layer menu.

15.Select the image/card layer that you are adding from the right hand layer menu and right click it, you can then select create clipping mask and the layers will combine.

16.Continue doing this until you have filled the template.

17.Click save in the file menu

18.Open the file menu and click save as.

19. Save it as a jpeg file- THIS STEP IS REALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE PRINTING IT.

20.You are done!

Hopefully this tutorial will help make a bit more sense using digital project life. Remember there are free templates you can download from beckyhiggins.com and you can trial photoshop for free. So you can give this a go without having to pay any money!

Have a great weekend, and let me know if you had a go at this and how it went!

 Here are two pages that I have created using the inspire edition full collection, photoshop cc and the A template. (click on them to enlarge them)

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Review//Digital Project Life

Hi there, it's poppy again.
Today I wanted to share what I thought of digital project life which I have been using this week.
Project life is a scrapbooking brand created by Becky Higgins. It is basically albums and sets of cards and stickers that mean you don't have to do any cutting or gluing- simply put the card you want in the spot, print out a few photos and you are done! Recently they have expanded into digital forms using apps and photoshop. This week I downloaded some cards to use in the photoshop version. You can find our more about project life here.

When I went to look at the different cards to choose from in the digital project life version of the website there were heaps to choose from and even some free ones you could use to experiment with. I ended up downloading their free kit and the inspire edition full collection. I already had the full version of photoshop installed on my laptop so I didn't need to purchase photoshop elements.

The tricky part was when I began to try and use the templates. I'd never used photoshop before and I found it quite difficult to navigate the different menus and work out how to do things without a tutorial. The only tutorial for digital project life I could find was for photoshop elements, which was different to the photoshop I had. Eventually I managed to work out how to add my cards and photos to the program. Once I'd worked out the basics it was quite easy to use and customise the layout of the templates.

I really enjoy being able to create my photo pages using digital project life and on the weekend I will share a tutorial for the full version of photoshop.

Let me know if you've ever tried any kind of project life and what you thought of it. Don't forget to take a look at the photo-a-day challenge

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August Photo-A-Day Challange

Hey, it's Poppy!
Today is the first of August- the start of a new month, the last month of winter. I was home sick today and I have been thinking about ways to make my week at home a bit more interesting (which is hard) and I only managed to come up with a few things (which is for another post). One of these things however was an August photo-a-day challenge. I did some research and there are some other challenges out there but I decided seeing as I have some extra time I may as well make my own.

How does it work?
Simply complete the daily challenge. You could then upload it to Instagram with the hashtag #poppyandmopphotoaug and share your amazing photos with everyone. If we get enough people interested we will probably share some of the photos here. We will only share your photo with your permission.

Requirements?
Really there are none- just take a photo every single day for the next 31. Just make sure they are your own photos. You don't even have to share it if you don't want to. Interpret the challenge any way you want- there is no wrong answer!

Challenge
1- Something you love
2- Something hot
3- Something that is cold
4-Something green
5-Something made of wood
6- Something that is related to reading
7-Something that makes you smile
8-Something colourful.
9-Something from outside
10-Something you couldn't live without
11-Something that reminds you of a holiday
12-Something that is your favourite colour
13-Something that you have in your garden, or just outside your apartment.
14-Something music related
15-Something that you see everyday
16-Something blue
17-Something that has a number in it
21-Something you can eat.
19-Something from above
20-Something red
21-Something that only has two colours in it.
22-Something from below
23-Something soft
24-Something that is shorter than you.
25-Something that is only one colour
26-Something sweet.
27-Something from an unusual perspective.
28-Something that is taller than you
29-Something that casts a shadow
30-Something really small
31-Something that you've had for as long as you can remember.

Enjoy

QOTD: Fruit or Veggies?
AOTD: Fruit.

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