CDT's Giant Squid Summer School Lensography!

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Giant Squid Summer School 2009 - My Lenses!

In June 2009, all Giant Squids were invited to participate in the Giant Squid Summer School.

Who could resist something described as "part lensmaking challenge, part networking with fellow Giants, part daily lesson plans to goose you along" - so I signed up!

This is a lensography of the lenses I made for this years Giant Squid Summer School!

Summer School 2009

1) A "lens challenge" every week for eight weeks
2) A "lesson of the day" from the experts
3) A chance to get to know fellow Giant Squids via their Summer School lenses and the Giant Squid forum

Find out more at Giant Squid Summer School!

Lensmaking And Me! 

CDT's approach to lensmaking...

I joined Squidoo in May 2007 and for the first year or so I didn't do very much!

I plodded along producing the odd lens here and there and I even set up a group, but I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I felt I lacked direction and I was sure that I could do more with Squidoo if I set my mind to it.

So I started reading the forums at SquidU. From there, I found myself visiting lenses made by other lensmasters and it finally dawned on me just what an amazingly powerful means of self-expression Squidoo can be.

Having belatedly found my feet, I was able to improve my existing lenses and start making new ones. I applied for Giant Squid status in January 2009 and was honoured to be accepted.

I still have a ponderous approach to lensmaking - I'm very much a tortoise rather than a hare!

I had 63 lenses before I started the Summer School challenge and one of the reasons I accepted was to test myself - could I really make a lens every week for eight weeks? Normally I wouldn't contemplate anything as "hasty" as that, but why not? After all, there are some lensmasters with a very prodigious output on Squidoo and they manage to make fabulous lenses without thinking about each one for weeks on end before starting...maybe I need a good kick up the bottom if I'm ever going to make the Giant 100 Club!

So, taking the view that nothing ventured, nothing gained...here's what happened when I tried!



*Photo of me contemplating my next lens used under Creative Commons from cliff1066

Summer School 2009 - Week 1 

Week 1 - make a Caption Contest lens

Week 1 Lensmaking Challenge: Make a Caption Contest Lens!

The Giant Squids got first go at trying at the brand new caption contest lens with this challenge. We were given free reign and could make a lens on any subject as long as it used the Caption Contest module.

I did mine on Funny Road signs...it turned out better than I thought and it gets a fair bit of traffic - a great start to the Summer School challenge for me!

featured lens Funny Road Signs!

Most road signs you encounter are straightforward. They tell you what to do, which direction to go in, where you are etc. Pretty mundane stuff really...but occasionally (and usually unintentionally), road signs can be funny! Here's a collection...

Summer School 2009 - Week 2 

Week 2 - make a lens about your most prized possession

Week 2 Lensmaking Challenge: Your Most Prized Possession!

We were told to make a lens on;

"...what's the one thing in your house that you are most proud of, or grateful for, or happy to own. Or think about it this way; what would you save, first, if your house caught fire?..."

I found this one hard. I wracked my brains for days over this...but after a lot of soul-searching I got there.

This is what I came up with. The most personal lens I've ever made and probably the most sentimental one you'll ever see from me...

This one got a Purple Star! A fitting tribute to one of life's Good Guys - my Dad!

featured lens Photographs Of My Father

My Dad's name was Charlie. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing him for very long, but for the short time that he and I spent together, I thought he was the most wonderful being on earth :) Let me tell you a little bit about my Dad and share with...

Summer School 2009 - Week 3 

Week 3 - Restaurant review lens

Week 3 Lensmaking Challenge: Restaurant Review

After last week's headache, I breathed a big sigh of relief that this one was nice and easy.

I got to use the very wonderful "Gone Camping" theme for the first time and it's colourful flamboyance suited the subject of this lens perfectly!

featured lens Sarastro - The Opera Themed Restaurant In Covent Garden, London!

Eating at Sarastro is an experience in every sense of the word! Situated right in the heart of London's Theatreland/Covent Garden, the owners of Sarastro describe their establishment as a "theatrical restaurant". It's a description...

Summer School 2009 - Week 4 

Week 4 - an Acknowledgments lens

Week 4 Lensmaking challenge: an Acknowledgments lens

For this one we were asked to make a lens about "...people who got you where you are, or helped with a particular project, or inspire you daily..."

This was another headache. My family are my inspiration but I really didn't want to make a lens mentioning too many details about them as I know they're not comfortable about that...so eventually I picked someone who I admire and identify with in a lot of ways (although she's got MUCH more money than I have!).

featured lens Deborah Meaden - Common Sense Rules

Deborah Meaden is the only female "dragon" on the popular BBC TV series "Dragons' Den". Renowned for her straight talking approach to would-be entrepreneurs, Deborah Meaden is an extremely successful businesswoman herself. D...

Summer School 2009 - Week 5 

Week 5 - make a "how-to" lens

Week 5 Lensmaking Challenge: How-To!

This was another straightforward one. I chose a subject that fitted in perfectly with several of my existing lenses - I own a driving school and lots of my lenses are about learning to drive in the UK - this lens supplements them beautifully and it will be the first in a series of "How-To" lenses for aspects of the UK driving test.

This lens has picked up a surprising amount of search engine traffic in it's first few days...Nice one!

featured lens How To Do A Turn In The Road

The turn in the road (often called a "three point turn") is one of the manoeuvres that you might be asked to perform on your Practical Driving Test. The aim of this manoeuvre is for you to turn the car round to face in the opposite direction by usin...

Summer School 2009 - Week 6 

Week 6 - make a focused lens using only 5 modules

Week 6 Lensmaking Challenge: It's all about "Space"

We were given the remit to "...pick 5, just 5 modules and make a stellar lens. Think about how you can make a useful, interesting, meaningful, very focused lens using a very small space"

I decided that a small focused lens needed a small focused subject, so I wrote about my (very interesting and historical) local pub!

featured lens The Ostrich Inn, Colnbrook, Berkshire

The Ostrich Inn is situated in my home village of Colnbrook and for many years, I worked in the building next door to it. The Ostrich is said to be the third oldest inn in England and parts of the building date back to the 12th century! The infamou...

Summer School 2009 - Week 7 

This week we were asked to write a book review...about a book we hadn't yet read!

This is one of the few Neil Gaiman books I haven't yet read (soon to be remedied!) and goes very nicely with all my other lenses about Neil Gaiman and his works!

featured lens The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book is a fantasy novel for children by award winning British author, Neil Gaiman. The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens (called "Bod" for short). At the start of the story, Bod is a toddler who witnesses the murde...

Summer School 2009 - Week 8 

The final asignment was to produce a lens on the topic of your favorite Summer entertainment destination.

I wrote about a great favourite when my children were little - a family theme park that's very close to where I live...Legoland Windsor!

...and I was over the moon when this lens received a Purple Star!

featured lens A Guide To Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor is a family oriented theme park situated in Windsor, Berkshire, approximately 20 miles to the west of London. The park is aimed primarily at children aged 2 to 12 and the attractions are themed around the popular Lego range of const...

Conclusion - Was Summer School 2009 Worth It? 

CDT's musings at the end of Summer School...

Ready for Summer

Buy at AllPosters.com



So school's out!

Eight weeks and eight new lenses later, was it all worth it?

The answer is a resounding YES!

Not only am I eight lenses closer to the magic 100 needed for the Giant 100 club, but at the time of writing, one of my Summer School lenses has reached Tier 1 and 3 are in Tier 2!

Nice one!!!!!

I enjoyed Summer School heaps more than I had anticipated and managed to produce a new lens every week with no problem, despite my initial reservations that I wouldn't have either the time or the inspiration.

If there's another Summer School next year, I'll have no hesitation in signing up!

My Purple Star Summer School Lenses! 

2 of my Giant Squid Summer School lenses received Purple Stars! w00t!!!!! How fab is that!!!!!!!!


I'm very proud of the fact that two of the lenses I made for Summer School 2009 were awarded Purple Stars!



featured lens Photographs Of My Father

My Dad's name was Charlie. I didn't have the pleasure of knowing him for very long, but for the short time that he and I spent together, I thought he was the most wonderful being on earth :) Let me tell you a little bit about my Dad and share with...

featured lens A Guide To Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor is a family oriented theme park situated in Windsor, Berkshire, approximately 20 miles to the west of London. The park is aimed primarily at children aged 2 to 12 and the attractions are themed around the popular Lego range of const...

2009 - The Summer Of Squid!

Giant Squid Summer School Graduation 

Meet the 47 graduates of Giant Squid Summer School 2009 and check out some of their lenses!

featured lens Giant Squid Summer School Graduation

For the past 8 weeks the Giant Squids have been busy in Summer School! Each week they were assigned a new lens topic like: What's your most prized possesion? or Do a restaurant review. Then from mid June until early August 70 Giant Squids went on to...

Summer School Soapbox! 

Yay...it's the Guestbook!

Did you take part in the Giant Squid Summer School? Share your experiences here....or just pull up a sun lounger and say hello - everyone is more than welcome!



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CDT On Squidoo 

My main lensography

featured lens CDT's Lensography!

Hi, I'm CDT. Welcome to my "lensography"! If you're not familiar with Squidoo, you may be saying to yourself "Lensography? What's one of them?". Put simply a "lens" is a webpage on Squidoo - a webpage writ...

CDT's Squidoo Accolades 

Squidoo stuff I'm particularly proud of!

featured lens CDT's Squidoo Accolades!

Hi, I'm CDT! I joined Squidoo in May 2007. To be precise, I stumbled into Squidoo quite by chance! I run my own business and I was looking for places on the internet where I could publicise it by means of links and I came across a Squidoo page...

CDT's Squidoo Blog! 

Ramblings about what I get up to on Squidoo!

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CDT? Who? 

I hide my light under a bushel...I do it deliberately because I'm shy...but since you insist, here's a bit more about what I get up to on Squidoo...

Lensmaster CDT has been a member since May 25 2007, has rated 407 lenses, favorited 128, and has created 81 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Gothic Clothing, Fashion And Make-Up - How To Get The "Goth Look"!". See all my lenses

My Bio



Hi! I'm CDT :) I'm female, British and a Giant Squid :D

I'm honoured to have been awarded 6 Purple Stars for the following lenses;
Gothic Clothing, Fashion & Make-Up
A Guide To Legoland Windsor
Photographs Of My Father
Lurchers - 40MPH Couch Potato Dogs!
How To Reverse Around A Corner
Fuzzy Dice

In addition to my lenses, I am also the Groupmistress for three Squidoo groups;
British Literature
Heavy Metal Headquarters
Driving Schools On Squidoo

If you have an appropriate lens, then please join us!

I work in the UK driver training industry, I LOVE Heavy Metal in all it's glorious forms, I waffle about British Literature a lot and I'm into some "alternative" stuff too...why not have a look at my stuff and see what makes me tick

Lensmasters - get great pictures for your lenses & make money at AllPosters or Art.com!

Webmasters Make $$$
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Join SheToldMe.com with CDT as your referrer!

Check out these great lenses...

lens image
Gothic Clothing, Fashion And Make-Up - How To Get The "Goth Look"!
Gothic Clothing...Gothic Fashion...Gothic Style...the Gothic "Look" ! Rich jewel colours, sensual textures such as velvet, satin and lace combined with leather and PVC; Antique clothes worn with bondage gear, Fishnets, thigh boots, chains and sp... view lens
lens image
Driving Instructor Training
We've all seen the glossy TV adverts for driving instructor training from Red Driving School, The Instructor College and BSM, featuring smiling driving instructors, nice shiny cars and the promises of earning lots of money, meeting "great&qu... view lens
lens image
Funny Road Signs!
Most road signs you encounter are straightforward. They tell you what to do, which direction to go in, where you are etc. Pretty mundane stuff really...but occasionally (and usually unintentionally), road signs can be funny! Here's a collection... view lens
lens image
The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book is a fantasy novel for children by award winning British author, Neil Gaiman. The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens (called "Bod" for short). At the start of the story, Bod is a toddler who witnesses the murde... view lens
lens image
CDT's Lensography!
Hi, I'm CDT. Welcome to my "lensography"! If you're not familiar with Squidoo, you may be saying to yourself "Lensography? What's one of them?". Put simply a "lens" is a webpage on Squidoo - a webpage writ... view lens

 

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by CDT



Hi! I'm CDT :) I'm female, British and a Giant Squid :D

I'm honoured to have been awarded 6 Purple Stars for the following lenses;
Gothic Clot...

(more)

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