June is here, that means Summer is here! This is the time of year when the days are getting longer, and the kids are out of school. Time to pull out all those activities and crafts to keep the kids busy. We here at Graphic Central would like to wish everyone a Happy Father's Day.

Congratulations, to Kristina who just had her third baby boy, Benny! He was born May 17, 2009 6lbs, 11oz, 20 in.
Welcome back, Amanda! Who has been on a much deserved vacation.

A special thanks to, Tiffany (Glitter Girl) for the great summer graphics!

A friendly reminder ALL hosts on Graphic Central are required to check-in on the Leaders Board once a week.

Remember that we are always here to fulfil your siggy, blinky or glitter needs anytime. Maybe you would like something for Summer?

Our Get-To-Know-You question this month is: What is your favorite summer activity? Please share. Please, all hosts answer this question in the Community Leaders board and leave your P&P email address so you get your points. Thank you.

*remember to answer this question as your monthly check-in in Community Leaders! When answering, please let me know your Points & Prizes username.

Each month we try to enclose a hint or tutorial written by one of our hosts. This month’s tutorial is written by Amanda.

TUTORIAL FOR ANIMATION SHOP - MAKING AN IMAGE TRANSPARENT
HOW TO MAKE AN IMAGE TRANSPARENT USING ANIMATION SHOP.


Sometimes you get graphics or clip art which have a white back ground, this can be frustrating especially when you are making something to go onto a colored background or if you are adding further images to your work.



First select your image and open it with Animation Shop


Click on the animation tab up top then select the replace color option


Make sure the selected frames option is checked
Old color - click on the little color box next to it and then use your pen to touch the background of your image - this will select your color.
Tolerance - well this depends on how many colors there are which are close to your background color - I use about 6 usually but you can play with this number to get yourself a nice crisp edge to your graphic.

then select Transparent Opacity



Click OK and you will find your image is now transparent.



VARIATIONS of this method can be used to add or take away any color in your image. You can also make an entire multiple frame animation transparent by selecting All frames instead of selected frame.



Almond-Ginger Fruit Salad
Ingredients:

* 1 yellow grapefruit, peeled and sliced into rounds
* 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
* 1/2 cup honey
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
* 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds, roasted

Directions:

Divide grapefruit rounds onto 4 small plates, layering slices attractively. Top each stack with about 1/2 cup sliced strawberries. Combine honey, lemon juice and ginger in a small bowl, and drizzle over each salad. Sprinkle with almonds and serve. Serves 4.





Craft Of The Month is Design Your Own Flip Flops

Flip Flops Template here

You will need:

- An assortment of card, paper, wrapping paper (gift wrap), craft foam, etc
- Ribbons and braids (or pipe cleaners for younger kids)
- Scissors and glue
- Decorations such as beads, plastic or silk flowers, stickers etc can be used if you like.
- Template

Instructions:
Print out the Flip Flops Template and cut out the individual pieces. Younger kids will just need the bigger pair of flip flops; older kids will want to use both.

For younger kids -
Using the larger two templates, draw round them onto the craft foam and carefully cut out. An adult should pierce three holes in the flip flops where shown on the template (we used a pencil, but you could also use nail scissors or a metal skewer or bradawl). Use two pipe cleaners per flip flop, as shown in the photo above, bending the pipe cleaner backwards on the underneath of the flip flop to hold it in place.

We further decorated our flip flops by cutting a small circle of craft foam and threading the pipe cleaners through that as well, and also by threading beads onto the pipe cleaner before pushing it through the second hold.

For older kids -
Use two different materials for your flip flops, cutting the larger templates from one and the smaller templates from the other. Pierce three holes in the smaller template, then thread pieces of ribbon or cord through the holes (we found it easier if we pushed our ribbon through the holes with a sharp pencil). Use sticky tape to fasten the ribbon on the underneath of the flip flop, then glue the top of the flip flop to the bottom, sandwiching the ends of the ribbon in between.

If you like, you can cut the flower shapes out and use them to finish off your flip flops. Alternatively use beads, plastic flowers, hearts or butterflies or even pompoms to decorate them!





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Special days

1 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins
2 Rocky Road Day
3 Repeat Day
4 Hug Your Cat Day & Old Maid Day
5 World Environment Day
8 Best Friend Day
11 Hug Day
14 Flag Day
17 Eat Your Vegetables Day
18 Go Fishing Day
19 Juneteenth
21 Father's Day & First Day of Summer
23 Pink Day
24 St. Baptiste Day
27 Sunglasses Day
29 Camera Day



Month Long observances

Aquarium month, Candy month, Dairy month, Fight the Filthy Fly month, Gay Pride month, National Accordion Awareness month, National Adopt a Cat month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables month, Rose month, Turkey Lovers month

We thought maybe you might have a question about something that goes on here at Graphic Central. We have lots of forums here...Photography, Signature Fun-which includes, Blinkies, Glitter Names and Custom Signatures and Graphics. The hosts have added tutorials in each category if you would like to learn any of these graphics arts. Please read through the tutorials and have a go at making something new. And please show us what you make, we'd love to see. We are also very open to having volunteers and/or Hosts in our requests forums. Please inquire within about becoming a volunteer if you know how to make blinkies, glitters, siggies or graphics of any kind. If you have any other questions, something you would like to know about any of these fields, please let us know and we will give you the answer in the following newsletter next month. Just leave us a post

Question - how do I get in touch with the staff at Graphic Central?
You can either email or PM ...

Community Director - Amanda aka crisantemo amandamcwhinney@aol.com

Assistant Community Director - Pamela aka PamelaT Pamela_Tingle@yahoo.com

Would you like to have a special anniversary, birthday, or celebration you would like honoured in the monthly newsletter? Just let the Community Director know before the 25th of the month to get it into the following month's newsletter.