It's A New Day

Merry Christmas

 

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love, and the New Year be filled with joy and blessings for you and yours.

Cookies And Milk

 

Guess what I did today? Baked cookies would be far too simple an answer...there's much more to it than that. 

Like made a mess. Well, more than the usual mess I make when cooking. I swear, if I had twice the counter space, I spread the mess out twice as far. But this was a mess of a different type. I had just started the first batch of cookies this morning by measuring the brown sugar into the mixing bowl and was in the process of reaching for the white sugar when I knocked the mixing bowl off the counter. Not only did the metal bowl make a loud racket as it bounced around on the tile, but the sugar went everywhere. Needless to say, I hadn't planned on sweeping the kitchen floor first thing this morning.

And ate too much sugar. The cook has to taste the results, you know...quality control and all that. They passed inspection. LOL. But there haven't been a lot of sweets around the house these past few months so the baked goodies seemed especially sweet. I don't start baking until just before Christmas since the kids take most of the cookies with them when they leave. Wayne and I will enjoy a few and be happy to send most of them on to Georgia in a few days.

And checked one more chore off the list. Tomorrow it's pies and cake and assorted other last minute things before the family arrives mid-day. They'll barely get the car unloaded before they crack open the container of cookies. But then, that's why I made them.

Done...I Think

The floor around the tree is crowded with colorful packages. I'm giving myself a pat on the back...that's usually my Christmas Eve chore so I'm ahead of schedule. But only slightly.

This rather loud paper was the choice for Kayla's gifts. It's bright and fun and a funky twist on traditional Christmas colors...perfect for a 15-year-old. When the kids were little (and there were more packages to wrap), I subscribed to the any-ol'-wrapping-paper-will-do theory. And then I changed to use all the same paper so the tree looked perfectly coordinated. Now I use a different paper for each family member. It eliminates the need for gift tags plus it's just fun to see Kayla (and sometimes other family members) try to snoop and not know where to start.

I think I'm done shopping and wrapping...but then there are still two days left before Christmas. One never knows when divine inspiration will strike and we'll make a last-minute trip for one more gift.

Just Another Boring Monday

It's Monday. Well, despite the fact that the clock has circled around past midnight, it's still Monday to me. And even though it's only days before Christmas, it was a Monday just like every other Monday. Washing clothes. Cleaning house. Afternoon walk. You get the idea...productive but boring.

There was one thing different about this Monday: It's the Winter Solstice. It was kind of a surprise to me when I realized it was December 21 already. Intellectually, I know Christmas is on Friday but I hadn't really paid much attention to the actual date lately. Time is flying by too quickly...I think I missed a few days somewhere along the line.

The good part about December 21 is that after months and months of the days growing progressively shorter, the sun's arc across the sky is about to change. Maybe it's all the extra rain and gray days we've had lately, but I'm glad we've finally reached the shortest day of the year. Even if it's only mere minutes, I like knowing that the days will be growing longer now.

The bad part is it's the first day of winter, my least favorite time of year. I've already started counting down the days to spring.

What's That?

Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. What's that...has the big guy in the red suit decided to start his rounds early this year? I kept on walking as the jingle-jangle sound grew closer and closer. No, it wasn't Santa; just a fellow neighbor out for a little afternoon exercise, but the bells on her shoes made a happy sound as she jogged by.

A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a Winter Wonderland. What's that...are there carolers strolling street singing holiday tunes? Not quite. The builder's crew was working a rare Sunday on a new home under construction and they'd left the radio playing in their truck. It's a Christmas song but with a decidedly country twang.

Grrrrummmmmmm. What's that...is there really a Winter Wonderland and someone's running a snow-blower? It only sounded that way. All this rain has put the farmer behind schedule and he's had to work on Sunday too. The cotton field almost looks snow-covered though as the bolls are full and bright white. The picker was just on the other side of the trees from where I walked...I don't think I've ever been that close to one before.

Chirp. Chirp. What's that...do we have a partridge in a pear tree? There are plenty of pear trees although they're Bradford's and never bear fruit, but the chirping comes from a pair of bluebirds flitting across my path. In the late afternoon sun their blue feathers seem all the brighter and I caught a fleeting glimpse of the red on their chests. Mother Nature gave them beautiful decorations that last far beyond Christmas.

Pop. Pow. Pow.What's that...is the huge snowman on the corner really packing heat? Nothing says Christmas like an 8' inflatable snowman wearing an orange hunter's hat and a camouflage vest with a giant rifle in his hand. That would be the featured decorations in the yard down the street. In this case, however, the gunshots came from the woods beyond the power lines where real hunters (or maybe those who just think they are) go for a little target practice.

Crackle. Snap. Crackle. I know that sound...Wayne built a fire in the fireplace to warm up my fingers and ears. The sun was still bright when I left but it was later than I intended on these short days in December, and the temperature drops quickly when it gets low in the sky. The chill disappeared as I watched the flames dance over the log.

Just some sounds of the season from my afternoon walk.

Silly Bird

 

This is the Santa that hangs on the back door. Thanks to thee wind and rain of the past few days, his beard needs a little attention but with his twig candy cane base, I still think he's cute. Until recently, I wasn't sure anyone else found him charming.

 

This is Mr. Backyard Mockingbird. He normally hangs out on the gutter at the corner of the back porch where he can survey his domain. Well, either there or the neighboring azalea bushes where he suddenly flies out right in front of you when you're walking by. I'm sure he's laughing from the crepe myrtle trees at the scare he gives me when he does that. He's a little camera shy and wouldn't let me get closer.

I'm no longer the only one who likes the Santa; Mr. Mockingbird also thinks he's pretty cute. Well, it's not actually Santa he's interested in...it's the red berries that are all around him. Wayne looked up from the breakfast table to see the mockingbird trying to find a place to land on the door and when that didn't work, he hovering in the air and plucking the berries off from there. According to Wayne, the bird was clearly puzzled by the fact that these seemingly ripe berries weren't edible.

He's not much smarter than Mr. Frontyard Mockingbird. That one can regularly be seen sitting on the windshield wiper blade of the neighbor's truck, pecking at his reflection in the windshield. Silly bird.

More Paper Play

For years the sofa table in the family room was home to a large Christmas arrangement. It was really pretty but when it began to show its age, I salvaged the two large ceramic angels that were part of it and pitched the rest. Those angels plus several more have flanked the nativity scene on the sofa table these past few years but something else was needed. I've been looking for some tall, skinny trees to add to the corners of the arrangement but haven't found any that spoke to me yet.

Here's what I made with a little scrapbook paper today:

 

I found the directions here. I don't normally hang out at Martha Stewart's website...in fact, I'm not sure how I got there this time but when I did, I was intrigued by the trees. They're really simple: folded circles on a stick a with something to anchor it in. I knew I could find all those things in my stash so I decided to put some together.

The directions aren't very clear on the folds so I played around with some printer paper until I had it figured out. Here's what I came up with: Fold the circle in half and crease the fold with a bone folder. Fold it in half crosswise, lining up the creases from Fold 1to make four pie-shaped sections. Folds 3 and 4 will divide those in half, leaving you with eight pieces of pie. Then you flip the circle over to the other side and repeat the process, making four more folds dividing the eight pie-shaped sections into sixteen.

 

When you get done, you kind of cup it up so you have eight "mountains" and eight "valleys, and it should look like the photo above. It's basically an accordian fold but in a circle. The circles I made for the photos were cardstock, and it was a little harder to fold than the paper I used on my trees. Scrapbook paper would clearly be less frustrating. Two of the papers I used had flocked patterns on them, and they look really cool all assembled.

One more thing...my trees are much shorter than Martha's. I started out with the lengths she suggested but ended up cutting several inches off my sticks to make the trees look right. I used some chopsticks from the kitchen but anything comparable would work...even a pencil. Once I understood the folds, the rest of the directions were easy to follow and the trees went together pretty quickly. I think you could even cut more circles in one-inch larger increments for taller trees, too.

I'm not sure these trees are a permanent part of my nativity and angel scene but they really are cute. And at one sheet of 12x12 patterned paper per tree, you could easily afford a whole forest of them.

A Warm Blessing

It’s no secret that I hate being cold. Give me the heat…I’ll take sweating over shivering any day! Even my summer wardrobe contains sweaters to ward off the winter-like temperatures in restaurants and buildings as business crank up the A/C in the warm weather. This is one customer who’d be happier if it wasn't so cold. And even though I live in Florida, it’s the “other” part of the state where we have experience with freezing temperatures and winter coats. Don’t let that thermometer fool you; I’ve been colder in Florida at 50 than I was in the mountains in California at 30.

No wonder then that I have a real appreciation for things that take away the cold on a chilly, winter night. I feel warmer already just thinking about a big mug of hot tea, the steam swirling around me in a hot-as-I-can-stand-it shower, and my fuzzy electric blanket. Every night when the local news wraps up on the television, I beat a path to the bedroom…not to turn in for the night but to turn onthe electric blanket. That way the sheets will be toasty warm when I crawl in much later. And no leaving that dial down on those low numbers either; I crank it up for the pre-heat and then lower it back to a more moderate setting for sleeping.

Could I manage without an electric blanket? Sure…but I’d really miss it. The extra warmth relaxes me and whether it’s true or not, I think I sleep better with it. If it were up to me, I’d probably leave it on the bed all year long. Is this the most meaningful blessing I have in my book? No, but with nighttime lows dropping again, I'm grateful knowing I'll soon be snuggling into warm covers thanks to my electric blanket. 

Here’s the layout I made:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Archiver’s and Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned Papers: Deja View and Making Memories
Ribbon: American Crafts
Letter stickers: Making Memories
Tag: Avery
Mini Brad: Karen Foster Designs
Paint: Golden Paints
Colored Pencil: Prismacolor
Font: Eras Bold, Microsoft

There were two objectives when I started my design. First, I wanted to use a scalloped circle as the base of the page. I bought several of these some months back and while they’ll be easy to incorporate into a full-sized layout, I wanted to use one in as a page in this project. Dry-brushing some white paint on it, particularly on the edges, gives some depth to the flat, smooth finish.

The second objective was to use letters that bleed off a geometric element. Every time I see the Alltel logo, where the “a” is there but is also part of the background, I remind myself I want to play around with that idea. I made red text boxes and used a font color the same as my background but there are other ways you could achieve a similar look. Using a cutting system to die cut letters from cardstock then punch or trim them into a shape, cutting away part of the letter too. Or add letter stickers to circles or squares so a small part of the letter extends off the edge then trim the excess off. This would be particularly effective with white or black letters on a white or black background, respectively. The New Facebook font also gives a similar look, but it didn’t have the warm and cozy feel I was looking for on this layout.

Allowing elements to bleed off the edge creates a sense of movement and intrigue. We’re drawn into the page more because we’re mentally completing the missing pieces. Maggie Holmes had a perfect example of this concept on her layout on page 98 of the January issue of Creating Keepsakes. Her navy blue circles bleed off the edge of the page, and they not only keep the eye moving but also serve as a home for her journaling.

I like my letters although the small size of my page didn’t let me do everything I wanted to with them. I’m keeping them on the “things to try” list for a full-sized page.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

You'd Think I Was In Charge

With the end of the year just around the corner, it's time for Pantone to announce its color of the year for 2010. Pantone is the be-all-to-end-all of color forecasting, and what they say carries a lot of weight in home furnishings, fashion and even advertising. And I like seeing how their choice shows up in those places throughout the year.

Last year's choice was Mimosa, a sunny yellow that was supposed to help us brighten up our attitude in the middle of an economic depression. Sure enough, I saw plenty of yellow in the racks of clothes and in the rooms being restyled on the home decorating shows. It's even the attention-getting color on one of the cellphone company's ads now appearing on television...everyone in the commercial is suddenly decked out in bright yellow when they get the right cellphone plan.

So what's the choice for 2010? Cue the drum roll!

 
I did a little happy dance when I saw the choice...you'd think I had a hand in the selection as it's my favorite color.

Turquoise has universally positive connotations, the folks at Pantone say. It's inviting, soothing and even slightly invigorating. And because it reminds us of tropical lagoons, it represents relaxation and an escape from the troubles of everyday life. No offense Pantone, but tell me something I didn't already know...those are the very reasons I chose this color as the dominant one in our house. So they did. Turquoise is also thought to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and the color of faith and truth inspired by water and sky. I like it even better after hearing all that.

It won't happen on January 1 but before we'll start to see turquoise showing up in all kinds of places. I can't wait! 

My Own Hallelujah Chorus

Here's a chorus of of things that made me shout Hallelujah! today:

1. I started my Christmas shopping yesterday. That in itself is worth celebrating, but even better is the bargain I found. I scored one of the items on my list at half-price by driving to a neighboring city. Not only did the trip make for a nice escape for Wayne and me, but I saved enough to buy another gift. I'm still relishing my good luck.

2. I've started chipping away at the mountain of e-mail that needs to be answered. I couldn't follow Torm's lead; she deleted hundreds of backlogged messages with the click of a button, figuring such a long time had passed people would have forgotten they'd written her. I still have a long way to go but I've made a start. Now if the holidays don't throw me for a curve, maybe I can catch it all up soon.

3. The weatherman is promising sunshine tomorrow. It's been raining for days; no, wait...I think it's been raining the whole month. The thunder and lightning seems out of place in December and the heavy fog that followed was kind of cool but overall, I'm tired of gray, dreary weather. I need my sunshine and apparently I'm going to get it. Unfortunately, it's not going to last; there's rain in the forecast for Thursday and Friday.

4. Wayne fixed Orange Beef for dinner. It was sooo good, in fact, that it probably needs an extra Hallelujah! A little juicy steak, a lot of colorful crisp vegetables, a little heat, a lot of flavor...I think it's my favorite meal right now. We didn't have a recipe, just sort of winged it the first time we made it but it's definitely a keeper. I should try to figure out the measurements next time we make it so I can share.

5. There was almost no ironing this week. Cool weather means we're wearing lots of sweatshirts, turtlenecks and jeans, and they don't need ironing. And while I made the wrinkles disappear on the few pieces I had, I watched the debut of Gordon Ramsey's Cookalong Live. It was fun and fast-moving...and they didn't have to bleep him once.

I'd say I'm singing the praises for this day.

This Makes Me Smile

Wayne sent me the link to this video a few days ago and I just now got around to watching it. It's worth sharing.

The backstory: What would you do to fill the empty hours between doctor appointments? If you're Frances and Marlow Cowan, you'd play the piano. Well, play is too mild a term...you'd entertain others in the same situation with your considerable talents. It stands to reason; they were in Vaudeville back in their youth. Now at 84 and 90, respectively, they're still performing at churches, nursing homes and senior centers in Iowa where they live. Marlow was getting a thorough work-up at the Mayo Clinic (he thought it was time since he hadn't seen a doctor in eleven years), and when they saw the sign on the piano in the atrium encouraging anyone who wanted to to play, they did. And when they did it again and again over several days, someone made a video and put it on YouTube. The Cowans are so cute...they had no idea what YouTube was.

If you've seen the video, watch it again. I have...and it makes me smile every time. Oh, to be so full of life like this at 90.

 

Check One More Thing Off The List

Outside my window it's raining cats and dogs, the lightning is flashing and there are big bangs of thunder. It's not exactly your typical mid-December weather.

 

But I've taken advantage of the un-December-like weather to cross a very Christmas-y task off my list. The letters are written, the cards are signed and the envelopes need only a stamp to be ready to go. The process was not without its own challenge, however.

When I was shopping for cards the other day, I found four different designs I really liked. There's no rule that says all the cards have to be the same so a box of each went in the buggy. I guess I was so busy appreciating the cute designs and checking out the greetings inside that I failed to notice that the envelopes in one box were gold. It's a lovely, deep gold that goes well with the card but I was afraid a handwritten address wouldn't show up on it. If the USPS machines can't read the address, it either won't get where it's supposed to go or they'll want extra postage to hand-process it.

So my cards have address labels this year. I'm not wild about that...I like the personal touch of handwriting better but getting them sent out is a step ahead of last year so I'll live with it. And I learned something in the process. Wayne usually prints all the labels around here but since he was gone, I had to figure it out on my own.

Tree done. House decorated. Cards address. It's been a productive week. With rain in the forecast again tomorrow, I wonder what other Christmas chores I can accomplish and mark off the list.

Creepy Crawlies

I don't drive Wayne's truck, loving referred to as Old Blue, very often. Truth be told, Old Blue doesn't venture out of the garage very much anymore...it's just too easy and comfortable to go in the car. But Wayne and the car were off in Pensacola the other day, searching for a cache or two or three and I needed to run an errand so Old Blue it was.

It wasn't far to my destination and as I climbed out of the truck when I arrived, something moving caught my attention. There, crawling over the knee of my jeans, was a big ol' caterpillar. I feel quite sure he'd hitchhiked his way out of the woods via my favorite geocacher and had spent the previous night inching his way around the truck's interior...I was just his transportation out. Good thing I don't have bug-phobia! A quick brush of my hand returned Mr. Caterpillar to some more natural surroundings, but I took a good look around the truck before I got back in.

That experience would have been quickly forgotten if it had been the only incident but it wasn't. I didn't make a conscious effort to inspect the car before I got in it some days later but I saw the bug as soon as I opened the door. A really BIG bug! You can bet I made a quick pivot and headed back into the house to get the really BIG bug catcher. I don't think Wayne believed me at first, especially when I attempted to show him just how big the bug was but he skeptically followed me back to the garage. He was more willing to make a closer inspection than I had been, and it turns out the unwanted occupant in the car was a banana spider who, like the caterpillar, had gone from the trail to the car via Wayne. After being coaxed onto a piece of paper, the spider was deposited in the nearby bushes.

I love nature but I don't think I like creepy crawlies in the vehicle with me.

Unwrapping Memories

While I lament the effort and mess associated with getting the house ready for Christmas, I actually love the result when it’s all done. Twinkling lights in the main rooms and outside the front door bathe everything in a magical glow, and the house just looks…well, festive. It’s clearly all dressed up for a special occasion.

Unwrapping those decorations as I pull them out of the box is like a walk down memory lane as there are stories and people associated with so many of them. The first ornaments on the tree every year are two sprays of woven Kansas wheat made by my mother, and soon thereafter the crocheted balls from Grandmother Arnall are hung. I’ll arrange the sleigh crafted by my brother, ornaments painted by Kayla, and a sparkly glass ball decorated by a friend, all in the course of decorating the house. And the Santas shown in the banner are placed where I can see them frequently throughout the day. I still marvel at Mother’s talent to sew them from canvas and bring them to life with her painting skills.

There are reminders, too, of places we’ve visited. Somehow we seem drawn to Christmas items as souvenirs but I love remembering the cute little stores where we found our treasures…or in the case of Bronner’s, the really big ones, too. Reindeer from Canada sit side by side with ones from Santa Fe and Salt Lake City, and the Phoenix Santa looks right at home next to the one from Michigan. But mostly I remember the good times we had on those trips and the amazing scenery we saw.

We even enjoy the decorations that aren’t here…like the two large green angels that adorned the mantle the first Christmas we were in this house. Apparently they took wing in the ensuing year because they’ve not been seen again. And while I regret not having them, I love that each year Wayne (and his parents, too) ask if I found the green angels when I unpacked the Christmas decorations. I guess none of us have given up hope they’ll be found someday.

Christmas comes wrapped in a lot of memories. I could rattle off a string of mine and be grateful for everyone one of them. This week, however, I’m most appreciative of those triggered by figurines and decorative balls and pencil angels…and the stories attached to them all.

Here’s the layout I created:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: Deja Views and Scenic Route Paper
Christmas card and envelope: International Greetings
Mini brads: Bazzill Basics Paper and Making Memories
Tab accent: Heidi Grace Designs
Chipboard accent: SEI
Digital frame: Ali Edwards for Big Picture Scrapbooking (modified)
Ribbon: May Arts
Magnetic snaps: BasicGrey
Pen: Staedtler
Font: Avenir

I love how inspiration comes from the strangest places. I had paper and a design concept all fixed in my head when I started on this project this morning. But when I walked into the kitchen to get the memory card from my camera, I saw the boxes of Christmas cards I purchased yesterday. Why not use one of them? I said to myself. And self said, Good idea!

The plan all along had been to incorporate an envelope or create a pocket to hold a list of some of these special decorations and the people/places/stories behind them. Someday I’m going to do a mini-album around that but not today; today is just a list. Using the card gave me an instant color scheme and overall feel for the layout; all I had to do was take it from there.

I left the face of the card as it was but added some patterned paper and other decorative elements to the green envelope that came with it. A magnetic snap on the flap serves two purposes: it keeps the flap in place while the envelope is being viewed like a page and it raised the flap slightly to accommodate the pleated ribbon underneath. The white chipboard accent is adhered to the flap only so it will lift up with it.

Where’s the photo, you ask? It fills the back of the card, and the journaling will go on the facing page. There’s no red or green in our Christmas decorations so I wanted to separate it from the colors in the card. Some blue papers for the journaling page will compliment the photo and there’s enough blue in the red paper I can accent with it and tie them all together. At least that’s the plan.

I’ve used greeting cards for journaling on layouts in the past but I don’t believe I’ve ever used one as the page itself. I like the idea of having one of this year’s cards in the project…to remember what style appealed to me at this point in them. And it was just fun to work from a different starting point.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Today...Briefly

House...clean.
Porch...swept.
Rugs...washed.
Door...fixed.
Plants...watered.
Bills...paid.
Dad...called.
Time...flies.
Cards...bought.
Errands...ran.
Shopping...avoided.
E-mail...overwhelming.
Page...planned.
Well...sorta.
Miles...walked.
Weather...shirt-sleeves.
Dinner...yummy.
Friends...treasured.
Glee...delightful.
Sudoku...worked.
Newspaper...missing.
Cokes...two.
Me...tired.
Good...night.

It Was A Three-Coke Day

I've been pretty good a cutting back on caffeine. The cache of empty cans that accumulate next to the sink until I haul them out to the recycle bucket is down since I've reduced my Diet Coke consumption to just two a day. But not today.

I blame it on Christmas...or rather, the getting ready for Christmas. If only all the decorating went as quickly as the cool video of the tree that Wayne put together yesterday, but I know before I start that it takes much longer than that. I made good progress yesterday...the tree, the front door, the mantle and the garland in the dining room. Those areas look all Christmas-y and pretty. The rest of the house, however, looks like Christmas exploded everywhere.

There doesn't seem to be any way to do it other than drag all the boxes out of the various closets and go from there. Go to the family room with boxes; go to the dining room with boxes. It seemed everywhere I looked there were boxes...and ladders...and sweepers. Despite spending all day decorating, it was hard to see the progress at bedtime last night given all the clutter.

It was time for desperate measures today. I didn't start out thinking an extra dose of caffeine would keep me motivated; it just turned out that way. I un-boxed and arranged and fluffed and hung like a mad woman. And three Diet Cokes later, the last light was lit and the last box was returned to the shelf.

So the schedule for the rest of the week? Clean house on Wednesday, gratitude page on Thursday, and maybe by Friday I can begin to think about Christmas cards and shopping. I see more three-Coke days in my future.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Brenda is the artist in this household so I'm more than happy to help get all the boxes down and the tree up. But when it comes to decorating that's her job. I am a lot more help after Christmas when in comes to un-decorating.

I've been looking for an opportunity to try out the interval timing feature (time lapse) on her D300 but just had not found the right subject. (A pretty sunrise or sunset would be a good choice.)The decorating of the tree seemed to be a great chance to experiment.

I set up the tripod and selected a wide-angle lens to get all of the tree in the picture. Using the camera menu I chose "Interval Timing" and the following options: The time to begin taking shots, the interval at four minutes and total photos to take one-hundred. You want to make sure your memory card will hold all the shots you plan to take and that your battery is fully charged as the camera will be on for several hours.

Taking a photo every four minutes you get fifteen per hour and I ended up with fifty-one in the three plus hours it took Brenda to finish the tree.

I chose an ISO of four-hundred to make sure the flash would not fire. As the lighting conditions changed throughout the day you get a little different look, which added to the time lapse feel.

When the tree was done I simply turned off the camera and started the post processing of the pictures in Photoshop. The first thing I did was to copy all the pictures into a new folder.

The D300 takes high resolution pictures much larger than you want in a video so you need to reduce the resolution, I used 100 ppi. Because you had the camera on a tripod you can crop every picture the exact same way, so it is a perfect place to write a Photoshop action.

You create an action by recording a series of steps on a single photo. I opened the first photo and applied a crop reducing the resolution at the same time. I also made a level adjustment and saved the cropped image to a new folder. You don't want to change your original just in case you need to redo this step. You stop recording your action at this point.

Using Photoshop "Automate" you apply this same action to all the photos in the folder. In just a few seconds I had fifty cropped and corrected photos ready for converting to video.

I used Microsoft's Photo Story a free editor that will convert a series of photos into a video. I'm sure lots of other software would do the same thing. I selected a one second time frame for each photo and created a musical background sound. It really is quite simple to do.

Once you have the video prepared Brenda suggested I try out the "Vimeo" basic video upload site. This turned out to be real easy and the only problem I had was how busy the site was and it took a few hours to get it converted. (They sent me an email when it finished.)

So here is the results of playing with time lapse photography, hope you enjoy: - Wayne

 

Time lapse of Christmas tree 2009 from Wayne Arnall on Vimeo.

 

Creative People

I'm waaay behind on my Internet wandering (and e-mails and journaling pages and...well, you get the idea) but despite the lack of time to surf, I've still found some interesting things to share. Nothing like hanging out with creative people, even if it's only virtually.

Tim Holtz is half-way through his 12 Tags of Christmas and I can't help but shake my head in amazement at the magic he is able to work with stamps and ink. The tags are miniature works of art but what I love best about them (besides the detailed instructions on how he did what he did) are the "aha" moments I always seem to have when he does these. Like on the first tag. I loved seeing the rock candy crackle finish and how he used the Stickles to create the icicles but it was the simple little trick that made me slap my forehead and say why didn't I think of that! He used double-stick tape to put a thin wire between two pieces of ribbon so it would retain the shape he wanted. No wired ribbon? No problem...make your own. Clever man! He's giving away lots of stuff, too.

I don't have an electronic die cutting system...mostly because I haven't convinced myself I'd use it enough to justify the cost and then I'd have to figure out which one. But if I did, I be marking my calendar for the free year-long class Nichol Magouirk will be doing at Two Peas in a Bucket. I know, I know...the Cricut isn't listed but I'll bet you'll still get a ton of inspiration you'll be able to adapt to your machine, if that's the one you have. Nichol is super-talented. And there will be more free classes announced soon.

How about a free idea guide? Even better, how about one every quarter? That's just what Jessica Sprague is offering over at her class website. You don't have to use digital elements or create hybrid pages to benefit from her guide, although I'm sure Jessica hopes you'll be inspired to do so. Look at the color scheme, the photo arrangement, the clever ways they fit in the journaling or the arrangement of the embellishments. Just scroll down on the home page until you see A Year's Worth of Inspiration: Free Idea Guide for the download. Jessica is awesome. Psst...all her classes are 20% off until the end of the month, including the new one on getting the most out of your Wacom tablet. I'm tempted.

Instructions for a blurry photo sound like they should be written tongue-in cheek, right? After all, who needs instructions for a result we don't usually want. But that's just the look Autumn Baldwin was after and it produced a pretty cool picture of a Christmas tree. Cool enough, in fact, that I'm anxious to try it out. You'll find the instructions here. And if Write. Click. Scrapbook. isn't on your regular lap around the Internet, maybe you'll want to consider stopping there. Lots of creative people there.

Now I'm inspired...I just need some time to do something about it.

Shop 'Til You Drop

We spent the weekend in Georgia celebrating the last few hours of having a fourteen-year-old in the family. I'm still getting used to the idea of grandmothering a fifteen-year-old...the talk these days is all about learning to drive, end-of-semester projects and exams and text messaging her friends.

When she was here at Thanksgiving, I told Kayla we could see a movie or go do something fun together when we came...in addition, of course, to taking her out for a traditional birthday dinner. So what activity would a fifteen-year-old girl choose? Why, shopping, of course. And not just any shopping...she wanted to go to Atlanta. I laughingly told her she didn't inherit her love of shopping from me but I know from past experience it's far more entertaining to follow her around while she shops than it is for me to shop, and I'm always game for Atlanta.

And it wasn't just mindless wandering in the mall; she was on a mission. It seems she has been coveting a pair of Ugg boots, and by combining birthday money from several sources with some money she had saved from babysitting, she was ready to make them her own. So off we went to Atlanta in search of some boots. I was afraid it would be crazy with all the holiday shoppers, and it was by the time we left, but we actually parked reasonably close to an entrance and didn't encounter hordes of people except at the food court.

One thing about Kayla...she's a girl who knows her own mind. We walked in the door of the first store, went straight to the shoes and in less than a minute her foot was nestled snuggly into an Ugg. She knew the color she wanted and the size she needed; the only question was whether to buy the shorter style or the taller one. In the end, the taller one won out as she thought it would look better with a skirt or dress. Of course, that didn't stop us from spending several more hours covering all levels of the Mall of Georgia. I confess, I spent time in stores I've barely noticed as I walked by them in the past, but it was fun to see what appealed to her and her fashion sense.

 

Here's the birthday girl in her Uggs. It's not hard to tell the weather had gotten colder by the time this was taken but I'm sure her toes were nice and warm in the fuzzy boots. We had such a good time...just her and us, laughing and cruising the mall and talking about all kinds of things on the road there and home. It made her birthday special for us, and I hope for her as well. 

A Grand Blessing

She took my breath away when she walked through the door at Thanksgiving. It was one of those moments when all that I’ve been used to seeing gave way and suddenly I saw something new. It’s happened before…like when I looked expecting to see a toddler and instead found a little girl standing before me. This time I saw the young woman she is rapidly becoming.

She shows every emotion on her expressive face. Her eyes twinkle with mischief when she teases her grandpa, spark with determination as she battles Dad over the wishbone, plead for me to intervene when Mom insists she needs milk to drink with her pumpkin pie….and dance as if to say but you know you’d like to when I tell her I can’t overrule the decision. And she’s right.

She is my favorite photography subject and my most willing too. Even at her first birthday she would stop opening presents and pose whenever the camera was raised. Now, however, she wants to see the results and have a voice in which of the resulting shots should be shared with far-away family. I’ve missed creating pages with her photos; it’s time to change that.

She turns fifteen next week. Fifteen…how can that be? It seems like such a short time ago her dad was calling us in the middle of the night, telling us we’d better hurry to the hospital if we wanted to see our granddaughter make her entrance into the world. Now she stands almost as tall as me. And while it hasn’t been long since we last saw her, I swear she’s grown an inch in those few weeks.

If you had tried to explain what being a grandmother would be like…what it would mean to me…before she came along, your words would have been woefully inadequate. Nothing could have prepared me for the blessing of this special relationship. She hung the moon and the stars and fills the days with sunshine.

She owns my heart.

Here's my layout:

  

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: BasicGrey, Deja View and Junkitz
Brads: BasicGrey and Making Memories
Chipboard letters: Heidi Swapp for Advantus
Pen: Staedtler
Font: Downcome, Internet
Other: Fabric

You could probably count on one hand the number of layouts I have where the color orange figures prominently in the design, and now I’ve made two in a row. And I tried going in a different direction, but no other color combination made the photo shine quite like orange and blue so it’s the same-song, different-verse this week.

This layout uses four different patterned papers from three manufacturers, and they all work together for a unified design. There aren’t really any “rules” about what patterns to choose or how many to use, but here are a couple of suggestions that will make mixing your patterns easier.

Start with something bold as the main pattern. I found the orange paper with the graphic blue elements first, and not only did it give me a color palette, it also set the scale for the patterns in the other papers. Two or more big patterns would compete with one another so we’ll stick with just one and let it make the design statement for the page. And to make that statement, it’s the largest piece on the page.

Choose a second pattern that is smaller and tighter than the first but still has some repetition. The colors should complement the original choice and ideally include some new ones. My first pattern has large irregular circles, some of which are tone on tone, and for the second pattern I chose smaller dots with minimal spacing between them. The blue and orange from the first paper is present but so are darker shades of those hues and the background has yellow overtones.

For the third paper, use a contrasting pattern to balance out the similarities in the first two. Stripes are a good choice since they also serve to tie the colors together as well. Here the lines are small and close together with some distressing at the edges, making the design very subtle. In three papers the patterns have gone from big to little to almost non-existent.

Solid color from the cardstock gives the design some cohesion, and a strip of denim ties it all back to the photo. And I couldn’t resist the little strip of half-circles…its medium in terms of scale and repeats both the colors and shapes found in the other papers. With all these patterns, the page doesn’t need much to be complete.

If you’re unsure about mixing patterns, work with papers from the same line. The manufacturer has done the hard work of matching colors and setting the scale for you…all you have to do is experiment to find the look that fits your eye.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Fresh From The Tree

I've been enjoying some satsumas so fresh they literally went straight from the tree to my mouth. As I was heading home from my walk, Mack hollered at me and asked if I wanted some satsumas. I've known Mack for years; he was the client contact in a case the firm I worked for handled...the one that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That was years ago but it was a pleasant surprise when he and his wife moved into our neighborhood after his retirement so we see him regularly around the golf course now.

Mack just rolled his eyes when I said I'd never eaten satsumas. Come here, he says as he got up from his chair in the driveway. And after rummaging around in his garage for a minute, he produces a pair of scissors and starts cutting the bright orange fruit off the bushy tree next to his house. He didn't have to work hard doing it...the tree was heavy with fruit. If you ignored the fact that the tree held shiny leaves instead of needles, you could almost imagine it as a Christmas tree decorated with orange balls.

So off I went with my sack of satsumas...and now that I've eaten one (O.K., two), they're pretty good. They peel super easy, are really juicy, and taste sweeter and less acidic than a regular orange. A fresh mandarin orange is the best analogy I can make, I guess. The trees do well here because they're more cold-tolerant than regular citrus.

Apparently it's been a good year for satsumas, so much so that there have been unofficial satsuma contests going on up at the golf shop. Mack and a couple of other guys showed up one day with satsumas plucked from the trees in their yards, vying for neighborhood bragging rights. I'm told Hiram ate all three but I'm not sure who walked away with the honors for the biggest or best satsumas.

If there was a neighborhood contest for the biggest lemons, I think I could win the prize. Just look at the size of these lemons I picked yesterday! When I lay one in my palm, all you can see of my hand is the tips of my fingers. I put the tennis ball in the photo for a size reference.  The tree didn't produce as many this year but it more than made up for it in size.

It's really fun having fruit so readily available. I know I'll be in the market for my own satsuma tree to add to the yard.

Happy Birthday To Them

What do you do on a cold and rainy day? Run off for lunch with your best gal pals. Well, that's what I did anyway. Truth be told, the lunch was planned last week before we knew the weather wouldn't be fit for any outside activities but we were patting ourselves on the back for what a good decision it turned out to be.

I think the fact that we don't do lunch very often makes it special by itself but there was a purpose for our mid-day escape. There were three birthdays to celebrate. The fact that my three closest friends all have birthdays within a 11-day span must say something, especially in light of the fact that two of my dear friends from high school also have birthdays in that same time frame.

So off we headed to a little deli near downtown Pensacola, laughing and talking all the way. And while it slowed a little to allow for eating, it certainly didn't stop. You'd think we hadn't seen each other in a long time as much as we had to say but that's the way it is with good friends...there's alway something to share. And I think it was all the more relaxed because we chose an informal spot for our lunch. Some years we've had a really nice meal at a more exclusive location but today we knew just being together would make the event a special occasion. And it was.

Maybe we need to enlarge our circle of friends so we have an excuse to do this more often.

Outside The Window

On one of my many trips out of the laundry room today, I made a detour into the kitchen to make a phone call and I couldn't help but look outside. There are big sliding glass doors in the family room that's just beyond the kitchen, and I'm constantly looking out them, seeing who's on the golf course, what the weather is like or if the squirrels are digging in the yard...again.

Today's result? The squirrels were digging, it had stopped raining and the golf course and our back yard were full of robins, not golfers. There were gobs of the fat little feathered guys with their red breasts in every direction I looked. We don't have robins here most times so it was fun to see them as they ran a few steps then stopped and cocked their heads before plucking a bug from the grass. I don't think they were telling me spring was here, although the warm temperatures and rain showers made it almost seem like a spring day. It's more likely that they're passing through on their way south. I'd like to think it won't be long before they'll be back again going the other way.

The view out the window the other morning was more representative of why the robins are southbound. We had a heavy frost that left the ground sparkly white...or so Wayne told me. Needless to say, the morning sun had made it disappear by the time I got up, but I could admire the photos he was inspired to take.

The frost was heavy enough it almost looks like snow on the golf course...except, of course, there's nothing on the trees.

 

Like robins, we don't get much fall color either but the golden light from the rising sun made what color there was seem more luxurious. I think the photographer liked that that same sun cast a really long shadow on the frosty ground.

 

This one makes me laugh. It's his footprints in the frost where he walked down the hill to take the pictures.

Robins. Frost. The only thing missing is a picture of the camellias that are starting to bloom. Looking out the window, it's a little hard to tell what time of year it is.
 

The Joint Was Rockin'

We had the best time at the concert on Friday night. It's a little over an hour from our house to Mobile, and while we initially worried that we'd encounter heavy traffic with Black Friday shoppers, I think they'd either all run out of money or energy by then. The interstate wasn't busy at all.

   

It was totally worth the trip. Despite buying tickets at the last minute, we had seats on the second row of the lower balcony so we had a great view of the stage. A cell phone isn't the ideal piece of equipment to use in a dark concert hall but I wanted a photo to remember the night.

At the piano on the left is David Benoit. You don't have to be a fan of smooth jazz to know his music...he's the piano genius behind all the Charlie Brown specials you've seen (and heard) on television. And next to him with the sax is Dave Koz, the tour organizer and emcee for the evening. Not only is he amazingly talented, he just looks like he's having a great time doing it. The lone female there in the middle is vocalist Brenda Russell. I have to admit I couldn't have told you much about her before the concert but once she started singing, I was very familiar with some of her hits. And the guy wailing on the horn is Rick Braun. I could leave his website playing in the background on my computer just to hear his latest hit which plays on it. He played it for us Friday night...much to my delight! The last star on the stage is guitarist Peter White. Now I have a dilemma because I love his new hit too and it as well as more of his great songs play on his website, too.

The tour is billed as a smooth jazz Christmas and the show opened with several Christmas numbers, but we got plenty of the music these recording artists are best known for...and I loved that. Hearing any of them would be a treat but to get the best and most recent songs from all five was icing on the cake. It was the first show for the tour, and the Saenger Theater in Mobile was a great setting...big enough to accommodate a show like this but small enough to make it feel like an intimate gathering. That doesn't mean we weren't moving and grooving in our seats, however. We got a chuckle out of the guy at the end of the aisle in front of us. He was obviously a musician as his head was bobbing, his foot was tapping and he was fingering imaginary keys or strings in time with the music.

We don't get many recording artists of this caliber...the market just isn't big enough, so I relished the chance to see and hear these talented musicians in a live show. And we both agreed on the way home that we need to find more opportunities to do this again.

A Traditional Blessing

Perhaps my senses have been sharpened by eleven months of focusing on gratitude, but I found much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. At the forefront of my thoughts as the day progressed was how much of it is steeped in tradition.

There’s the food, a menu that never varies. I tried a different sweet potato dish one year, much to Brad’s chagrin, so I’ve stuck with the expected. There’s a level of comfort there, knowing the Thanksgiving meal is going to contain the same foods it always has since the days of your youth. Wayne and I feel it, too. We talk of Grandmother Arnall while preparing and enjoying the cranberry jell made from a recipe in her handwriting. And of Pa and the green beans. The dishes on our table don’t look that much different from the ones on the tables Wayne and I sat at as kids and the ones spread before our boys growing up. Now they are firmly entrenched in Kayla’s memory too…one facet of what Thanksgiving is all about.

And there’s the table. We’re pretty casual around here as a rule, but Thanksgiving is one of those special occasions when the good china and Grandmother’s crystal comes out. And that’s just what it does…make the occasion special. I enjoyed many a holiday meal served on Grandmother’s beautiful dishes and Wayne has had far more. It’s another tradition we’re passing on to our children and grandchild.

Most importantly, however, is the gathering of family. Before we moved to Florida, we ate two Thanksgiving meals…one at Wayne’s grandparents at noon and another one with my parents in the evening. Sharing the day with those we loved was too important to choose one over the other. It’s a sentiment that’s extended to the next generation and beyond. I knew without asking that Brad would be here and in hearing the excitement in Kayla’s voice about coming, I can see this need to be among family on Thanksgiving has become a tradition with her has well. My only wish is that the rest of family living far away was here to enjoy it with us for that would make the blessing complete.

So this week I’m grateful for the traditions that surround the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving and going right on through the New Year. They give us a sense of belonging….of connections to the past and the comfort of knowing that despite all that happens around us, some things never change. It’s a visual reminder of all that our hearts hold dear.

Here’s the layout I created:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny, Graphic 45, My Mind’s Eye, and Pressed Petals
Punch: EK Success
Heart frame and waxy flax: Scrapworks
Gems: Heidi Swapp for Advantus
Brads: KaiserCraft and Making Memories
Sticker: 7gypsies
Rub-on: Making Memories
Chipboard letter: Maya Road
Paint: Golden Paints
Ink: ColorBox, Clearsnap
Pen: Staedtler
Font: Luna Bar

I had such fun creating this page, in part because it’s a design I’ve been itching to try. The biggest source of my delight, however, was the challenge issued by my friend, Donna. A few days ago I received a package in the mail from her, and among the contents were some scraps of teal and gray patterned paper left over from one of her projects. It was a color combination she had found appealing and she wanted to see what I would do with them. My creative juices started flowing immediately.

I started with the blue pattern since the gray is a neutral. I was curious about what other color I could add to make an interesting combination so I went online to Color Scheme Designer for some inspiration. Here are some screen shots to step you through the process.

 

I began by clicking on the color wheel in the blue area to match the patterned paper. The black spot I've circled the initial color I chose.

This is a good start but the two shades in my paper are closer together in tone so by clicking the tab marked Adjust Scheme at the bottom the program will take me to some additional controls. In the dropdown menu for Presets (circled above the two adjustment graphs), I could choose Less Contrast and diminish the difference between the two shades.

 

Better, but they’re still too bright so I used the same dropdown menu and changed the Preset to Pastel.

 

Holding the patterned paper up against the screen, I could see I didn’t have quite the right shade of blue. There’s no need to start over; you can adjust from here. Click the Hues tab below the color wheel and make any adjustments needed. In my case, I eased the selection dot on the wheel slightly to the left to add more blue.

Now to add more colors. I started with just one, looking for a background for my page. Selecting the Complement icon above the color wheel gave me a nice pumpkin color…one I might not have chosen on my own.

Choosing Triad added a rose to the mix but changed my pretty pumpkin to a more golden hue. You can hover your mouse over the selection dots for the extra colors (circled in the upper half of the color wheel) and move them closer together or farther apart for some interesting variations.

It's really a matter of playing around with it until you find something that "fits" your eye. And there's an Undo button if you don't like the results. I decided to stick with the pumpkin but added a little piece of a pinkish paper with blue flowers that matched the other blues in the color scheme. From there it was simply a matter of choosing little extras to embellish my squares and complete the theme.

I owe a big thank you to Donna for the inspiration and creative boost she gave me with her challenge this week. I’m already digging through my stash to find some papers to send her way and return the favor. If you’ve got a scrapbooking buddy, I highly recommend you try this as it will put a new spin on your creative process.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Grateful

I'm grateful for a lovely Thanksgiving. Good food shared with people you love is an unbeatable combination. It was late by the time the last bone was picked and the last pan washed so I crashed without doing a blog entry.

And I'm grateful unexpected surprises. While cruising the interstate last week Wayne and I talked about attending a Dave Koz concert in Mobile but decided we'd forgo buying tickets until we saw how all things Thanksgiving went. The kids have gone different directions now and since there were still good seats available when I looked last night, we're heading to Mobile in a few hours. Nothing has quite the same delight as spur-of-the-moment plans.

I'm not counting these as my "official" blessing for this week...although my choice is closely related to Thanksgiving. The holiday has thrown me a bit behind but I expect to post my gratitude entry tomorrow night. Somehow I have the feeling the closer we get to the end of the year the harder it will be to stay on schedule but that's just a reminder what a full...and blessed life I have. Here's to living it.

From Our House To Yours

 

May the blessings in your life, large and small,
and the love of your family, one and all,
be all that you see today. 

Wishing you a blessed day of thanksgiving.

It's Beginning To Smell A Lot Like Thanksgiving

Okay...so that's not exactly how the lyrics go and it's not the right holiday either, but you get the idea. The aromas of Thanksgiving are floating out of the kitchen these days.

The cornbread is made and all cut into small pieces, drying so it can soak up the turkey juices and become dressing. I guess we're really only half-Southern as our sausage and cornbread dressing has an equal amount of white bread...a throwback to our Midwestern roots, I suppose. One of the most mouth-watering smells came from the stock I made today. I threw a package of turkey wings in a pot with some vegetables and herbs in order to have some extra broth on hand, rather than buying ready-made chicken stock. Boy, did it make the house smell good!

The best smell, however, might have come from the Chocolate Pumpkin cupcakes I made. I saw the recipe before Halloween and wanted to try it but never found the time so I decided to add these to today's cooking chores. The photo isn't the greatest but the cupcakes sure were. I can't taste the pumpkin in them but it adds a tasty depth to the taste of the chocolate.

I can't take credit for the recipe...I found it somewhere online, but I have to admit, I misread it when I made it. The recipe calls for a cup of canned pumpkin and I used the whole can. Even though that would be almost double the pumpkin, they still turned out great. I made cupcakes instead of layers and just watched them closely as I knew it would take less time. In my oven it was 20-25 minutes.

They're topped with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting...just your regular cream cheese frosting with some cinnamon added. It's a spice that's perfect with both the chocolate and the pumpkin so it's a delicious combination.

I shared my cupcakes with friends...just a little way of showing them how thankful I am to have them in my life. And if I could reach through the screen, I'd share them with you too. But since I haven't figured out how to do that, I'll just have to settle for sharing the recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cups cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups butter (softened)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk

 1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottoms of two 8-in cake pans with parchment paper and lightly butter.

2) Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Stir the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Beat the butter and sugars together using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in the flour and buttermilk mixtures in thirds.

3) Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a tester, inserted in the center, comes out clean—about 35 minutes. Cool layers completely before icing.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1) In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.

2) Add the sugar and beat on low speed until incorporated.

3) Add the cinnamon and increase the speed to high and mix until smooth. 

It's All So Real

Tonight was the final of Dancing With The Stars. Of course, those who are fans already know that and like me were avidly watching each shimmy and step-ball-chain. I suppose the fact that I was among those watching classifies me as a fan...and that's a bit of a surprise.

I watched one season, the year Emmit Smith won, but since he grew up in Pensacola, it was simply a matter of supporting the hometown boy. And when the next group of "stars" rotated through, it was without me cheering them on. Once and done, so I thought.

My best buds, however, are clearly fans, watching every season. They can even rattle off the names of the professional dancers; me...I'm lucky to identify the celebrities. And since they are such fans, it's a topic of conversation each week when we eat out. I started watching so I'd know what they're talking about; now I'm hooked.

Unfortunately, it's not the only reality show that reeled me in this year. Far too many of them really. Want to know who won Project Runway or The Next Iron Chef? I can tell you because I was watching. I'm one for two rooting for the winners, in case you're interested. The percentage will go up soon though...I like all the finalists in Top Chef Las Vegas and Amazing Race. And while the voting for the winner is still several episodes away, I'm loving this season of Survivor.

In fairness, Amazing Race and Survivor have been favorites for a long time but all these others are new. I think I'm addicted.

Better Late Than Never

Last Sunday was National Clean Out The Refrigerator Day. It doesn't surprise me that there's a day set aside for this task as I've read through those lists of obscure holidays and remembered that it fell in November. Appropriate, isn't it, since you need all the room you can find for the extra food associated with the holidays.

I didn't celebrate last Sunday...assuming you can call digging into the far recesses of the refrigerator for UFOs (Unknown Fuzzy leftOvers) celebrating. New life forms can develop in refrigerators, you know. But I did get around to it today. The grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner had been made and shopping was on the agenda; it was now or never.

It wasn't all that bad. Probably because I try to stay on top of it, parting company with shrived vegetables and never-to-be eaten leftovers on a regular basis. It's like cleaning closets...it's easier to do it a little all along than be faced with one big project.

And with the shelves all tidy and mostly empty, we proceeded to fill them up with the makings of a traditional dinner...good things like turkey and cranberries and fresh vegetables. We hit the store earlier than usual for us and got in and out before the crowds got crazy. I might be late celebrating last week's holiday but I'll be on time celebrating the one this week. Let the cooking begin!

Giggle Giggle

I don't have any little people to read to any more but when I saw the video promotion for Josie Bissett's book Tickle Monster I wished I did. As I watched, I found myself smiling as the the giggles flowed from cute little kids as they were being read to and, of course, tickled at strategic points in the book. There's that delightful anticipation on their faces as they know the Tickle Monster is coming, and they love it...maybe as much as they love trying to escape it. The laughter is just contagious and I could totally imagine reading this book with a child.

Kayla's still ticklish but entirely too big for this book but maybe you have a special little person on your Christmas list. Check out the video here and see if it doesn't make you giggle too.

Blessings By The Bucket

Seeing the shuttle race into the heavens earlier this week was an awesome experience, one far more emotional than I ever expected. There was the awe factor…the fact that ever-so-imaginative people could dream of sending men into space and ever-so-smart people could make that happen is just mind-boggling, not to mention the ever-so-brave men and women who are willing to trust their lives to be in that space vehicle hurtling upward at speeds I cannot fathom. I literally was trembling as the shuttle soared skyward, and when I mentioned it to Wayne, he said he was a well.

And what a sense of patriotism there was among the crowd. The early rounds of cheers when the weather status changed to green and again when the last built-in hold expired and the countdown resumed were probably based more on the idea we were going to see what we’d came for, but those that came as the smoke began to billow and the shuttle began its skyward journey were of pride in our country and what it can accomplish. As the shuttle grew smaller and smaller, the chant of USA! USA! grew louder and louder.

Mostly, however, I was filled with gratitude…in part for the opportunity to witness such a spectacular event but more for the chance to see Wayne witness it. It’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time. We held tickets once, some years ago, but the mission was delayed and we couldn’t return on the new date. And we were close a few months back until sea breezes blew in too many clouds as the launch time neared. He’d tried so hard to get tickets to this launch, sitting by the computer when they became available only to be disappointed when they were gone in less than five seconds. But patience and effort are ultimately rewarded and here we were, finally taking in this amazing sight.

In the hours leading up to the launch, the local media circulates through the crowds interviewing those watching in the hopes of adding a little human interest twist to this news event. They stopped at the man seated in front of me, a friendly fellow who’d made conversation with everyone nearby. He looked to be about our age and was not only a willing interviewee but a great story as well. He had a simple yet profound response to the reporter’s questions about why he’d come. Despite his apparent vigor, he was losing his eyesight and had only a short time left to see the things he wanted to see. He’d sold his house in California, bought a fifth wheel camper, and he was seeing as much as he could in the time that remained. He’d been to Alaska, driven the width of the U.S. to Niagara Falls, and after numerous stops along the East Coast, he was hoping to see the shuttle launch. It was on his bucket list. I’m still moved by his story and the fact that he could cross this one off his list. It was on Wayne’s bucket list as well and while he might have had other opportunities to move this one to the “done” column, it was still such a rush when all went as we’d hoped.

Whether they’re formalized and reduced to writing or just fuzzy thoughts that occasionally pop to the surface of our consciousness, I’m a believer in bucket lists…and a believer in finding ways to make those wishful thoughts become a reality. There’s a distinction in my mind between goals you set to accomplish for yourself verses the sights or experiences you would include on a bucket list but maybe that’s just due to my age and stage in life. It isn’t so important what’s in the bucket as it is to invest the effort to make them happen…to see and do and experience instead of just letting life pass you by as you never know what the future holds. And to persevere, for when at last you are able to cross one off your list, you have not only the satisfaction of having done/seen/experienced it but the reward for your patience and persistence. I am blessed to have witnessed both this week.

Here’s the layout I created:

Supplies:
Cardstock and mini brads: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: Jenni Bowlin Studio, KI Memories and SEI
Punch: EK Success
Acrylic stars: Heidi Swapp for Advantus
Ink: Tsukineko
Embossing powder: Ranger
Chipboard letters: BasicGrey
Paint: Golden Paints
Font: Berlin Sans, Microsoft
Other: Graph paper

The background of the layout is actually white graph paper with some clear acrylic stars extending off the edges, but since both were getting lost against the white of the screen, I placed some gray behind it to make the layout show up a little better.

I’m thrilled to be the Guest Blogger over at the Creating Keepsakes blog today, talking about a subject that not only is dear to my heart but very appropriate with Thanksgiving just days away: scrapbooking your gratitude. Follow the link to see an explanation and photo tutorial on how to create the embossed pattern I made on the stars. It will have you looking at clear acrylic embellishments with a new eye.

But I couldn’t leave you without some creative little tidbit here, too…and it’s definitely gratitude-based as well. Here’s a quick little project you can do in just minutes.

The creative person behind Whisker Graphics made this delightful gratitude mini-book as a free download on her blog. I can’t link to the exact entry but go back through the Archives and find the entry for July 15 for the download link. There are seven different (and cute) page designs plus a cover and all print on a single sheet. With a few cuts and a little ribbon you have a fun and meaningful way to record five good things in your life each day for a week.

Maybe you’d like to make one for each member of your family. If everyone started today, you could read them as you gather around the table for Thanksgiving dinner. Or you could pass them out at Thanksgiving and collect them later. And here’s a novel idea…you could scrapbook them! Take a photo of everyone on Thanksgiving together with the food, table decorations and holiday activities, use the booklets for the journaling and create a meaningful mini-album for Thanksgiving instead of your standard layout. Just a little thought. And after Thanksgiving, print them again and use them for journaling cards on other layouts. They’re just too cute not to.

The opportunities for gratitude are everywhere.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Say What?

I inherited my mother's slight build. It's a good thing, mostly...I pretty much eat whatever I want and don't have to worry about my weight. Those genes I like. But a slender build also means slender bones, and those would be the genes I don't necessarily like. And since I've never been a milk drinker, osteoporosis is a concern.

Yogurt, calcium and walking have been my soldiers in the battle against it but last spring we added some heavy artillery in the form of one of those bone density drugs. I hate taking it...actually, I hate taking any medicine so I guess I should be thankful this is the only one I have to regularly ingest. The medicine requires you to chug eight ounces of water with it...on an empty stomach and then you can't eat or drink for an hour. Yuck! And you can't go back to bed either. It's just another reminder of the joys of growing older.

But after several months of this weekly punishment, I switched to one of the once-a-month kind, not because I would have to wash down the pills less frequently but because I was having some issues. We're hoping that spacing out the doses will resolve them and so far that's the case.

My doctor was kind enough to give me a sample for the first month...just to make sure it was an improvement, and I had a prescription for more if it was. I filled that scrip right before we left last week. And when I did, I had to ask the clerk to repeat herself after she gave me the total I owed. I couldn't believe my ears. Fifty dollars! For one pill! And that's my co-pay...my insurance company is picking up the rest of whatever exorbitant sum this drug demands. Especially since my old prescription was only $11 and I got four pills then.

It could have been worse, I guess. This drug is on the "preferred" list; had the doctor prescribed one that was on the "non-preferred" list I would have owed $80.  Still, fifty dollars for one pill...I haven't gotten over the shock yet.

Lift-Off

I wouldn't have given you much for our chances of a shuttle launch when we got off the interstate in Titusville this morning. After two days of glorious sunshine, the blue skies were gone and in their place was a thick cover of gray clouds. But it was hours before the scheduled launch and we're optimists so we found a parking place and trudged to the park with all our stuff.

The park is a great place to wait and watch as there are speakers and a monitor so you can hear (and see, if you want to walk over to the monitor) the feed from NASA TV. There are bathrooms on site and a veterans group sells bottled water and souvenir T-shirts to raise money to maintain the park. And it's right on a bay so there's a nice breeze.

We weren't the only one with this idea...the crowd in the park grew with each passing hour until it was pretty full by launch time. It was a different crowd than when we came down before. There were fewer children since it was a school day and older overall as most people with jobs were probably at them. Still it was a sizable crowd. This photo was taken shortly before the launch.

We had heard rumors that NASA was expecting a break in the clouds and hoping it would arrive in time for a launch but you never know whether the people sitting around you and reporting this information know what they're talking about. Fortunately, they did this time and the little spots of blue sky peeking through the clouds grew larger and larger. An audible cheer went up from the crowd when they announced that the red light on the weather criteria had been changed to green. And once they came out of the final automatic hold at nine minutes, the excitement was palpable.

Then as the countdown neared zero, we could see the smoke beginning to form across the bay. It wasn't long before the shuttle emerged from the smoke and began its accent. Even though we were quite a distance away, we could make out the yellow hues in the flames as the rockets propelled it upwards.

You can make out some of the shuttle's tower on the ground in this shot.

It was awesome to see it streak into the heavens. Wayne had the big lens on the tripod and could track it for a ways. We could see the booster rockets separate but it wasn't long until all that remained was a little speck, and then it was gone.

 

This photo came from my camera with a smaller lens. Despite the people in foreground I like this photo because it was at this point we felt the ground vibrate and heard the roar from the rockets. It was both a combination of just how fast the shuttle was traveling and how long it took the sound to reach us. The only sound we actually heard at lift-off was the cheers of the crowd around us.

It was a phenomenal experience...one we'll never forget.

Awesome!

We have lift-off and it was even more spectacular than we could have imagined.

Yuck-A

We spent the day wandering around Florida again, picking up some caches and working our way to the East Coast. It was a lot of small towns and back roads...interesting travel in many ways when you're not in a rush to get somewhere. It was a peek into "old" Florida and the cities that were probably full of tourists fifty years ago or more before everyone bustled to their destination on the interstate,

The plan is to be sitting at Space View Park in Titusville tomorrow when the space shuttle lifts off. Well, we're hoping it lifts on anyway...our luck hasn't been real good in that department. But it's due for a change...right?

So when we checked into the hotel this evening, we had to wait a few minutes while the clerk gave the people ahead of us a run-down of the best dining choices in the area. Of course, we eavesdropped. At the top of her list was one serving Latin food and she raved about it. In fact, she was so convincing we decided to give it a try; after all, we're into food adventures.

And overall it was a great choice. Wayne ate a chicken and yellow rice dish smelled wonderful and he said it was even better than the smell. I chose roast pork and while it was good, the black beans and fried plantains that came with it were even better. What I didn't like was the yucca that also came on the plate. It's a root vegetable used much like potatoes in Latin recipes. Mine looked like a section of a giant white carrot cut in half lengthwise but the texture and tastes wasn't at all potato-like. It was mealy and just...well...yucky. And I can't tell you what the reddish bits on top of it were but they weren't any better than the yucca.

Maybe it's an acquired tasted...but it'll be a while before I give it another try.

A-Cacheing We Will Go

I hung out with Wayne today while he cached his way across North Florida. I was in charge of the paperwork and the GPS until we reached the area to be searched so he could keep his eyes and hands on the road and steering wheel, respectively. We're good at that teamwork thing.

He's on a mission...trying to fulfill a challenge to find a cache in each of the counties in North Florida. I suppose it's a little like a scrapbooker going to every Michaels in an effort to acquire every Martha Stewart border punch only not nearly so interesting. Well, to me anyway. Obviously, it's interesting to him. And it was a picture-perfect day so it was fun to be out together seeing parts of the state neither of us has ever been to.

He logged eleven "finds" today. Some were easy and others were more of a challenge. Like this one where the road was flooded from all the recent rains. We arrived at one side of the overflowing river but the cache was on the other, there along the guardrail. Wayne was willing to make Tillie swim for it until I persuaded him otherwise so he rolled up his jeans and sloshed his way across. I wisely stayed with the car. As he was drying off his feet and putting his shoes back on, I pointed to something and asked what that was swimming in the flooded water. Oh, it's a moccasin, he calmly says. I saw another one, too...but they're just small ones. I just shook my head.

 

We were in lots of small towns with quaint little squares and moss-draped live oaks. Wayne wandered around looking under benches and steps and I wandered around taking photos and feeling like I'd stepped back in time.

 

We were at some old cemeteries, too. The stones on the graves at this one had dates from the early 1900s but there were small plots on both sides with stones that were worn smooth and seemed much older. While I read inscriptions and snapped more photos, Wayne took off for the treeline to find his cache.

Darkness caught up with us before we got the last one on the list but overall it was a productive day. 

Big Foot

No one will every confuse me with Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines who had 3,000 pairs of shoes in her closet when forced into exile. I don't care much for shopping in general and I really don't like shopping for shoes.

It could be because I can't wear just any shoes...that would be too easy. When I had some heel problems years ago, the doctor gave me a "test" to use in choosing footwear. First, I was to put my thumb at the top of the seam that runs up the heel and press down towards the insole. If it wasn't pliable enough to collapse, it was to go back on the shelf. Then I was to fold the shoe in half, heel to toe, and again, rigid shoes went on back in the box, not on my foot. You'd be amazed how few shoes meet both criteria. The easy answer was to buy clogs, mules, slides or whatever you want to call the shoes that have no heels. While I don't have 3,000 pairs, I do have an assortment of heel-less shoes that are not necessarily stylish but they are comfortable.

I went to add to this collection earlier this week, looking for a new pair of brown shoes to wear with jeans now that cooler weather is here. And I found a pair that passed all the tests, fit well and are comfortable. They're size eight. I don't wear a size eight...a seven or 7-1/2 maybe, but not an eight. Until now.

Did you know your feet grow as you get older? It isn't so much an issue of growth as it is spread. As we age, the connective tissue in our feet loses its elasticity and the bones separate slightly, making the foot wider and longer. I know this because I researched it after coming home from buying my new shoes...the bigger shoes for my bigger foot. That could explain why my tooties have been complaining when I've tried putting them in last year's shoes.

They're happy now in my new larger shoes. I, however, will not be happy if I have to replace all those perfectly good ones in my closet. Sounds like too much shopping to me.

A Fair-Weather Blessing

I can read minds…well, at least on some occasions, I can. It happens with family, friends and sometimes even strangers who live in other parts of the country when the topic of conversation is hurricanes. Sometimes they’ll come right out and say it but even if they don’t, I know what they’re thinking. I wouldn’t live where I have to deal with hurricanes over and over.

Admittedly, there have been occasions when I felt the same way. Most notably, just a few years ago when every year brought a double-digit increase in our homeowner’s insurance premium. And when it was scheduled to jump 112% (yes, you read that right!), we gave semi-serious consideration to moving elsewhere. But where? Not where there’s snow and ice…I’ve already lived there, thank you, and was happy to leave it behind. It had tornadoes, too; not keen on them either. And the thought of the earth moving all around me scares me to death. At least with hurricanes, you get plenty of warning.

There are good and bad things about every locale, and while preparing for and occasionally experiencing tropical weather certainly wouldn’t qualify as a plus, there are plenty of others about living here that do. A house we love. Friends we cherish. A climate that lets us enjoy the outdoors year-round. I might not have been born a Southern girl but I’ve happily become one.

Our thirty-two years of living here have taught us to appreciate the power of hurricanes and to take them seriously. And while we’ve always breathed a sigh of relief when we escaped the storm’s fury, that sigh has been elevated to fully-on gratitude after several years filled with significant tropical activity. So it was easy to choose this week’s blessing. Aside from the beach erosion from the waves, we have thunderstorms that do more damage than Ida. But I’m grateful for more than Ida being a non-event; we’re almost at the end of the hurricane season, and it was a very quiet one for a change. A welcome change…and that’s a blessing worth celebrating.

Here’s my layout:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: American Crafts, Chatterbox and Scenic Route Paper Co.
Punches: EK Success and The Paper Studio
Dimensional trim: Doodlebug Design Inc. and Magic Mesh
Mini brads: Queen & Co.
Font: Impact, Microsoft

There are a couple of different inspirations here. The color scheme comes from the October 30 challenge here although I took a different creative path by adding more black. I was surprised to find there were few choices in gray patterned paper in my stash, and once I added some black, it needed more. But I did find my old friend, Magic Mesh, in a silvery gray and added a strip of it for some texture. The chartreuse/yellow-green/gray palette isn’t something I would have picked on my own but I like the result and will try it again on another layout.

I was taken by the mixed-up scalloped circles that Ali Edwards created when I saw them on the cover of the November issue of Creating Keepsakes and wanted to play with them. It helped that I already had the scalloped edge at the top of my page from last week's layout. Ali added embellishments to make hers more decorative but then she had a strong photo to offset it. My circles looked too busy with extra elements so I left them plain.

Scalloped circle journaling spots are popular right now, and while I wanted to use one to hold my title, I didn’t have the right size and color for my design. That’s not a problem as they’re easy to create with your favorite punch. I used the Insert>Shape (square) command in Word to create a 2.2” x 2.2” block and filled it with black. You click and drag the mouse to create the box and then set the size in the upper right corner of the tool bar. Then use Insert>Shape (circle) to draw a 1.5” circle inside the black box. You can hold the shift key to make the circle but if you set both dimensions a 1.5” it will be round, not oval. Word automatically made the circle white and I left it unfilled. Move the circle to the center of the box then print your page. Now all you have to do is punch it out with your scalloped punch. Turn the punch over so you can see to get the white circle right in the middle for even black scallops all around. These dimensions fit my Paper Studio 1-7/8” scalloped circle punch so you can play around with the measurements if you have a different size.

I also finished the journaling page for one of the older layouts. It’s been living on my table for weeks now so it feels good to have it done.

The page was one of the smaller ones so I created this little matchbook to hold the journaling. It wasn’t all that hard but formatting the journaling put the old brain cells through their paces. I’ve already confessed to how challenged I am when it comes to print on both sides of the paper and with the fold, this had an upside down component too. It turned out cute, mostly because it’s little.

Week 45…I can’t believe it. But I have enough journaling pages (and a couple of blessings, too) to catch up on so I’ll still be “gratituding” well into 2010. And that’s OK.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

This And That

Two totally unrelated thoughts rolling around in the old brain tonight:

The website Ancestry.com is allowing free access to its military records collection this week in honor of Veterans Day. Normally you have to join and pay a fee for view its databases but through Friday you can search the military archives free of charge. I found draft registration cards for my grandfather, Wayne's grandfather and my step-dad just by searching on a name and state. I also found some Civil War records for what I believe is my maternal great-grandfather, although there were only initials and not full first and middle names. I need to pull out my family tree info to check for dates to be sure.

To access the military database, follow the link above, begin a new search and when prompted, enter your name and e-mail address. No other personal or credit card information is required during this promotion but you can't get to any of the other collections without a paid membership. Remember, it's only good through Friday.

I ate star fruit for lunch today, a first for me. (See, I told you they were totally unrelated!) It was interesting...juicy, sweet and sort of citrus-y but with a little more substance than an orange or grapefruit. We were at the produce market on Monday and they had a big box full of them right next to the tomatoes we were buying. The hand-written sign on it said they were ripe when they were yellow and these were a lovely shade of lemon so I added one to our purchases. It was good enough I'd eat it again but it won't replace my regular apple. It's beautiful when cut though and would be a real eye-catching addition to a fruit plate.

That's the way the brain has been today...here, there and everywhere.
 

Who Will Tell The Story Then?

I suppose it was the scrapbooker in me that made the story hit home. It was about thirteen Navajo Code Talkers who will be honored in this year's Veteran's Day Parade in New York City. Thirteen, out of the 50 or so believed to be still living, who will remind the world of their contributions during World War II.

There were 400 or so of them originally...Native Americans who used their Navajo language to communicate strategic information about the enemy in key battles of the war. Their native tongue was complex to an outsider and as a result, it was an effective code that was never broken. They were credited with saving countless American lives and playing a pivotal role in some of the most important battles. At Iwo Jima, for instance, they exchanged over 800 messages during the first two days, all without error, and the commanders proclaimed the Marines could not have taken Iwo Jima without them.

Their story has not been widely told, in part because they were sworn to secrecy for years. But also because the men and women who fought during that war didn't talk much about their experiences. Joining the service and going off to fight was what you did, and when it was over you came home and got on with your life. But the Code Talkers have realized their story is unique and as their numbers dwindle, they worry about who will tell their story after they're gone.

I agree...but every veteran's story is unique and important and deserves to be told. He or she has made significant sacrifices to protect the freedoms we all enjoy and we owe them a debt of gratitude. Perhaps more importantly, however, when we hear the stories of what our loved ones experienced, we have a greater appreciation for how they were shaped by those events.

So this Veteran's Day ask your father, brother or grandfather...or whatever military loved one you have...to share the stories of their time in the service as a way to honor them on this day set aside for that purpose. And so you'll know their stories. Because when they're gone, who will tell their stories if you don't?

You can read more about the Code Talkers here and here.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

But not as dark or as stormy as it could have been. There ought to be a rule against hurricanes/tropical storms making landfall in the middle of the night...rain and wind sound much more ominous when it's dark. I'm not sure if all the recent storms have arrived in the middle of the night or if those are the only ones I remember. At least this one is mild enough we haven't lost power.

We ran some errands this morning before the weather deteriorated then headed home to do our storm preparations. Loose items on the back porch were tucked away somewhere, the patio furniture was pulled up against the house and the table turned upside down, and the grill was barricaded into the corner. If the storm had been predicted to be stronger, we would have hauled it all to the garage.

And the wind chimes came down. We debated on whether that was necessary as the warnings and information coming in from the various sources was conflicting but we finally decided it was better to err on the side of caution. That was the theory on the front door too. We have French doors that can rattle around on a windy day. During Erin or Opal Wayne and I spent hours on the floor in front of them as a little insurance to make sure they didn't fly open. After that Wayne came up with a brace made from a 2x6 and a rope we put on the outside and tie on the inside. So it's in place too, and I'll sleep better as a result.

We've had plenty of rain...four inches, I'm guessing by the water level in the pool, and I've pumped it down twice. The wind, which hadn't been bad, has picked up in the last thirty minutes or so. Had I written this a few hours ago, I could have said Ida was a fast woman as the storm was moving toward shore at a pretty good clip but now she's playing hard to get, hovering just off shore. Perhaps she knows that once she's over land she looses her punch and therefore all the attention she's getting. From the looks of the forecast, much of the eastern U.S. is going to become acquainted with Ida or her remnants in the coming days.

Thanks to everyone for your concern. While the storm hasn't passed, the reports are promising and we're well-prepared.

Jim Cantore....Come On Down!

For a while now I've had the makings of a post rolling around in my brain. It was all about El Niño, the weather phenomenon that emerged mid-summer and kept this year's Atlantic Hurricane activity on the quite side. But I was going to wait until the end of the month...the official end of hurricane season.

Good thing I didn't rush to write it as Ida seems intent on paying us a visit.

Here's the map from the National Hurricane Center with the 9pm position and forecast. See that little black dot on the Florida coast where Ida is expected to make landfall? They couldn't have drawn it more on top of Pensacola if they'd tried. That would be the bad news, I suppose. The good news? The Gulf waters are cooler as they get closer to shore meaning the storm should weaken some. That's definitely better than August or September when hurricanes get stronger and stronger as they approach over the warm Gulf. And there's some other weather conditions that may help weaken Ida and possibly even turn her more to the east.

Still, we'll spend tomorrow buttoning things up. As storms go, this isn't a big one but we'll be prepared...we know the drill. 

And when I flip on the TV tomorrow to check the latest weather news, I fully expect to see Jim Cantore or one of his cohorts giving live reports from Pensacola Beach. After all, the Weather Channel crew hasn't had many reasons to travel this summer. And I'da (a pun worthy of a groan, for sure!) rather they didn't have this one.

Feeling Arty

Today was the first day of the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival in downtown Pensacola. I suppose there have been a few years when we haven't made it there but they would be the exception rather than the rule. It's always well done and it's inspiring to see the wide variety of art in this juried show. So we used this as an excuse to escape for a few hours.

What a perfect day it was too to be strolling through the park looking at beautiful things...bright sunshine, gentle breezes and temperatures in the 70s. The organizers hit the jackpot this year as it's supposed to be like that all weekend. And while this event has been going on as long as we've been in Pensacola, I think they get better and better at putting it on. It seemed there were more booths packed into the park this year but it might be just that they have moved more and more of the food and heritage crafts to nearby areas.

We wandered up and down the aisles, pausing to admire mixed media creations, colorful ceramics, exquisite jewelry and, of course, the photography. It's fun to not only appreciate the amazing talent on display in the photos but also to pick out scenes from places we've visited as the artist in the show come from all over the U.S. We didn't buy anything this year but I did see several large paintings being hauled out of the park as we came and went.

I snapped this photo with my phone; it isn't particularly good but give some idea of what a great setting it is for this event under the huge live oak trees.

The outing wasn't all art...we found a couple of caches for Wayne and had dinner at my favorite deli for me. Did we have things we could and should have been doing at home? Sure, but sometimes you just feel a little arty.
 

Giving Back

It was a simple question really, posed at the end of a kind e-mail about the planner. Why, the sender posed, do I give the downloads away for free when most digital kits for something similar must be purchased. The answer is easy: it’s my way of giving back.

Scrapbooking has been incredibly good to me on many levels. First and foremost, it’s a rewarding hobby…a creative outlet that combines my love of photographs and words and memories, turning them into a permanent record of our family's history. It started as a hobby and while it morphed into something more for a while, it’s always been about the pictures and the stories.

Along the way I grew and learned a lot about myself, from the risks and hard work of owning a small business to the opportunities and exposure that come with being part of a national magazine. I did things I never expected…and, in some instances, never thought I could do, all thanks to scrapbooking.

The best part, however, is the people I've met along the way…so many of whom became treasured friends. I continue to be inspired by them, both the ones who have achieved some level of notoriety in this hobby of ours and those who have no desire to go beyond their weekend crop. When you get down to it, we’re all focused on the memories.

I have a big debt to repay, and providing the planner is just a small step in that direction. Even then, I get much more out of it than I give. Every year I learn new things about Photoshop in the process of designing the pages and getting them into download form. I’m a whiz now at clipping masks and I even created my own for one element, thanks to a little help through Google. I accidentally discovered Smart Guides (which were a lifesaver!) and I learned about Smart Objects, too. There’s no substitute for actually putting those tools to use instead of just reading about them, and the planner gave me plenty of opportunities to use all of them. I feel sure I’ll be putting this new-found knowledge to work regularly now that I’ve figured it out.

We’re all the recipients of good things throughout our lives but they are often overlooked and seldom repaid. Choosing a blessing this week was easy for me: I’m grateful for all that scrapbooking has brought my way and for the chance to give a little something back.

The good news is that I made two pages this week; the bad news is that they were both for the same blessing. Here’s the two pages I created when viewed together:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: KI Memories, My Mind’s Eye and Scenic Route Paper Company
Transparency and month stickers: EK Success
Letter stickers: Heidi Swapp for Advantus and Making Memories
Punches: Fiskars
Ink: ColorBox, Clearsnap

Actually, I don’t see the two pages for one blessing as a bad thing at all. My book has grown too large for the rings I’ve been using, and as I was temporarily dividing it into two books, I was enjoying the look of some transparent pages scattered among the completed layouts. I knew I wanted to add more and this was a good opportunity. Here’s the actual layout underneath.

The printed transparency is a piece from a larger one I’ve had for a very long time but if I had not had the right color, I could have easily created something similar by printing on a plain transparency. There are some really cool patterns here that would work well in circumstances like this. You can vary the size of the designs and have some color choices prior to downloading, or you could open the resulting PDF in Photoshop and customize the colors.

The page uses some scraps left over from my planner, something that adds special meaning to the layout. The scalloped blue border is the back side of the leaf paper I used on the envelopes but the white background just dominated the page so I turned it over. The scalloped design is repeated at the top of the page where I traced the cardboard packaging off a Fancy Pants product then cut it out. The moral to that story is even trash can have a purpose.

The month stickers are a part of the same line as the printed transparency so they’ve been in my stash for a long time too. I was looking for something that would serve as a vertical line on the layout and given the theme of the layout, these were a good fit.

Some strips, some circles, a printed transparency for dimension…sounds like my kind of layout.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.

Ewww, Gross!

Wayne just rolled his eyes when I included a container of disinfectant wipes in my packing last week. And he rolled them again when I pulled them out at each new hotel and wiped down the door handles, remote control for the television, and anything else I thought deserved an extra germ-free treatment. That's OK; it was something I don't normally do. But it just seemed like a smart move given all the attention the H1N1 flu is getting. I was just doing my part to prevent the spread of germs.

That didn't seem to be the case with the couple I followed into the store recently. They were just a few steps ahead of me as we walked the last stretch of the parking lot leading to the entrance. She carried the diaper bag; he toted the toddler. This is really good! she said, pointing to something in her mouth. Here, taste it. With that she reached into her mouth and came out with a piece of candy that she held up to him. And like a little bird, he opened his mouth and waited for her to pop the candy in...which she did. Ewwwww!

Ummm, that is good! he observed. Then his lips parted and the candy teetered on the end of his tongue; I swear, seeing it was like watching a dispenser. And in an instant she plucked the piece from the tip of his tongue and made it disappear into her mouth. In the course of less than a minute it went from her mouth to his and back to hers. Double ewwwww!

I'm willing to taste a bite off Wayne's fork or even share a drink with him, but I draw the line at passing partially eaten food back and forth. That's just gross...flu or no flu.

Cokettes, Catfish and Cheese Grits

About 8am every Tuesday and Thursday morning the Cokettes hit the links. That's the name they've given themselves as they have a friendly wager going on the day's round...losers buy the Cokes. The stakes are enough to make for some good-natured competition but no one is going to go home with his pockets badly pinched for poor play.

They're an odd assortment of guys when you get down to it...men who likely wouldn't be friends if it weren't for golf. The group started as a regular foursome but over time it has grown to a dozen or so. Someone invited a neighbor; another met a guy at a golf clinic and suggested he join the group, and it just grew. And once a year they plan a get-together that includes the wives. Today was that day.

 

Several of them, like Bill and Kay, are just returning after spending the hot summer months elsewhere so tonight's dinner was a bit of a homecoming. And since the core of this group has played together for several years now, there's a level of comfort and ease among them that makes for an enjoyable evening.

 

Jimmy was in charge of frying the fish and while I'm not a fan of catfish, he did a great job. I am, however, a fan of Billie's hush puppies. With a little jalapeno in them, they had just the right amount of heat.

Everyone brought a dish and our contribution was cheese grits...lots of cheese grits. See that big crockpot in front of Jerry? It was filled to the brim with cheese grits and there was more in another container. I played sous chef and Wayne was in charge of the grits. They were good, too...but we had plenty.

After all that good food, the guys need a day off tomorrow but come Thursday morning you'll find them back on the course enjoying their time together...and hoping the Coke that come at the end will be bought by one of their buddies.

Putting The Planner Together

One of the best parts of making a planner/organizer for yourself or as a gift for someone on your list is the chance to personalize the design, and as creative types, that’s our chance to play. Here are some of the things that I did with my book.

 

The covers on my planner are 6” x 8.75” pieces of chipboard covered with patterned paper. You could cut your covers the same size as the interior pages (5.5" x8.5") but I liked the idea of having just a little extra to protect the pages, the same as the cover on a novel protects the inside pages with the story. And I knew I would be incorporating divider sheets with tabs so I allowed a little extra on the width to protect them as well.

As a rule, I hate glue sticks but they really are the best adhesive for applying patterned paper to chipboard. Make sure you cover every bit of the surface area, especially the edges, to get a complete bond. Remember, this is going to be used all year so don’t skimp on the adhesive, on the cover and everywhere else too. I apply the adhesive to the chipboard as it doesn't curl like the paper will, and you'll be more likely to get good coverage if you start in the middle and work your way out. Once the paper is down, go over it with a brayer to get a good stick. I usually stack a couple of books on top for some extra pressure while the glue dries. Trim away any extra paper then turn the chipboard over and repeat the process for the inside cover.

Then it’s time to sand…and sand and sand some more. You want the patterned paper to “melt” into the chipboard as it will be less likely to separate over time. If you can still feel the separate layers of chipboard and paper, you haven’t sanded enough.

I chose two papers I liked and added a piece of wide ribbon to cover where they meet. The ribbon not only adds color and design, it brings texture and dimension to the cover as well. To adhere the ribbon I used Super Tape, and I only put the ribbon on the front cover. You could, however, use longer lengths on both the front and the back and tie them together as a way to keep the planner closed and give it a softer feel.

With trees on the interior pages, adding one to the cover helps unite the design. I created this one by printing the tree design found on the “Extras” page out on white cardstock, gluing that to some chipboard, and then cutting out each of the leaves and the trunk. It very well might fall into the “more patience than brains” category as it was a little tedious but the result is totally worth the effort. Once all the pieces were cut out, I covered them with Glossy Accents for even more dimension and sheen.

 

In order to get the pieces all in the right place, I created a template by printing the tree on some thinner computer paper then cutting out the leaves and trunk with an Xacto knife. I could lay the template over my cover to be sure the placement of the leaves was correct and my cover tree would look like those on the inside. The tree exactly like the ones inside is a great touch, but you could still carry the tree theme to the cover by using some of the pre-made chipboard trees available now, and that clearly would be a lot less work.

The whole purpose of a planner is to be better organized so it seemed only right to have dividers between the monthly sections. And if you’re going to have dividers, they might as well be pretty. These are not too complex…cardstock with a strip of the brown paper from the cover for unity and a strip of a leaf-patterned paper with a decorative edge to reinforce the tree theme. Paper is pretty but you could do other things with this page…like add a photo or print a whole collage of photos to use as your divider. This would be especially meaningful if you’re making the planner as a gift for a family member or close friend.

My planner has fourteen sections: one for each of the twelve months, one for sketches (Page Planner) and one for shopping. In my mind sketches and shopping weren’t tied to the months but obviously you can set yours up in any manner that makes sense to you. I added tabs on the edge…just an abbreviation on a small piece of patterned paper that I folded in half and rounded the corners. The font used through the book is Kravitz and you can download it here. But I thought my decorative paper on the divider page still needed something, so I added another label there. You’ll find those labels on the "Extras" page, and I used the label from the cover to trace the shape to cut out. If this seems more work than you want, just trim the rectangles, round the corners and you’re good to go.

At the end of each set of monthly pages, I added an envelope. It’s the perfect home for receipts, loose lists and other scraps of paper that need to be retained. I found some A6 envelopes at Michaels that were perfect for my color scheme then added some decorative paper to the flap for a more coordinated look. The envelopes aren’t all alike…I think I used three different patterned papers…but they were all brown with some blue in the design so the flap would stand out.

Obviously, the envelopes are smaller than the regular pages but I wanted them all to end up in the same relative place, not some closer to the top and some down at the bottom. I took a scrap piece of paper the size of my pages and punched it with the binding machine, then applied a little repositionable adhesive to the back of the envelope and temporarily affixed it to my scrap and punched it again. By marking the placement on the scrap, I could temporarily glue all the envelopes in the same place, thus assuring they’d end up in the same place in the book.

There are lots of options you could add. Instead of envelopes, use pockets. Add a list of family birthdays, addresses or a favorite recipe that uses a seasonal ingredient. The key is to focus on the person who will use the planner and determine what you can add to make it more meaningful to them. Just be aware of how many pages you're using so they will all fit into the rings when they're closed; I pretty much filled my 1-1/4" rings. 

I can’t wait to see what design choices you make and what features you incorporate into your planner, and I hope you’ll share your finished projects so I can admire your work. I think that’s part of the magic of scrapbooking…how we can all start from the same place and end up with different, yet still beautiful, results. So there you have it.

You’ve got the plan…now it’s time to get to work.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper and Walmart
Patterned paper: Amanda Blu & Co., American Crafts, KI Memories, October Afternoon, Paper Salon, Scenic Route Paper Co.
Ribbon and envelopes: Michaels Stores
Punch: Paper Gator, Around The Block
Binding supplies: Zutter
Dimensional
Adhesive: Glossy Accents, Ranger Industries and Therm-O-Web 
Font: Kravitz, Internet
Other: Chipboard

Get With The Plan, Year 3

Two years ago the very talented Jessica Sprague created the cutest digital pages for a planner and made them available as a free download through the Creating Keepsakes website. I loved the artwork but as usually seems to be the case with planner pages, some of them didn’t fit my way of organizing. So I took her designs and adapted them to fit my thinking, and CK was kind enough to allow me to share them on my blog.

To say it has been popular would be an understatement; it seems like someone finds my blog almost every day throughout the year by Googling planner pages. And as the calendar gets near the end, I get e-mails asking if there will be a version for the next year and when it will be available. This year many of you indicated you wanted to make them as Christmas gifts…a great way to use supplies, give some handmade love and save a little on the gift-giving budget.

So here it is…the 2010 Planner (well, my version of it anyway).

The pages have been revised with some fresh artwork. Jessica’s was beautiful but I was ready for a change. I used some free digital elements (all of which are noted at the end of the post) for an updated look and the pages have been formatted so you can print on both sides of the page, saving paper and making the finished book more practical to use. Once printed, you can cut them exactly in half and you should have sufficient space to bind them with a Bind-It-All or punch holes for loose-leaf rings.

 

There are still trees on the calendar pages but in this version they change with the seasons. The calendar itself is larger and easier to read, and there’s room to note important dates, like birthdays and anniversaries, on the same page as the full month. I’ve combined sample pages above but the pages are actually set up to print in monthly order.

The files for these pages, like all the files provided here, are PDFs in zipped format so you’ll need to unzip them then view and print them in Acrobat Reader. The monthly pages are all set up as right-hand pages. I’ve made each page a separate download and while that’s more work for those of you with faster connections, it allows some with dial-up service to receive them without so many problems.

Download JanFeb
Download MarApr
Download MayJune
Download JulyAug
Download SeptOct
Download NovDec

There’s an inside cover page and a yearly calendar page as well. They too are set up as right-hand pages.

Download Cover_Year

No planner would be complete without some pages for lists and reminders and there are three again this year, two of which are shown above. Not shown is the “Notes” page which looks identical to the “Things To Do” except for the title. There are two files for each so you can make them left- or right-handed pages. The files are marked with an “-L” or a “-R” so you should have no problem telling one from the other. In addition, I created a blank page in both left and right orientation; it has only the blue outline and the tree in the corner. It’s nice to have a blank space to glue something to or to scribble on. You could also set up a text box to fit inside the blue outline and add your own content by running the blank page through your printer again.

Download ToDo List Pages
Download Notes Pages
Download Shopping List Pages
Download Blank Pages

The most unique part of Jessica’s original planner was the pages she designed specifically for us scrapbookers, and I’ve updated the design on her “Must-Make Pages” and “Page Planner” designs. Again, I’ve combined them for the sample above but they are actually separate files available both as left- and right-handed pages. If you’re making the planner for a non-scrapbooker, you can skip printing these pages.

Download Must-Make Pages
Download Page Planner Pages

Here’s how I set up my pages:

Cover-Year page with Blank-L on the back
Monthly pages with Things To Do-L on the back
Things To Do-R pages with Notes-L on the back
Must-Make Page-R with Blank-L on the back
Page Planner-R with Page Planner-L on the back (multiples) 
Shopping R with Shopping-L on the back (multiples)

A word to the wise: Experiment on some copy paper to be sure you’re loading the paper correctly when printing on the second side before you move to your cardstock. Every printer is different, and I admit I had pages upside down and backwards on more than one occasion before getting the hang of it…but then, I’m a little spatially challenged.

The final download is simply some extra elements I used in my book and thought you might like as well. They’re labels and the tree I put on my front cover and divider pages. I'll have photos of those in tomorrow's post. 

Download Extras

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you how I did the cover, give you some tips and share ideas to decorate the inside to make the planner something you'll be proud to give or keep for yourself.

Free digital elements used in these pages:
Digital Brushes: Tree: Silvia, Graphics-Illustrations.com
Snowflake: EasyElements.com
Flowers: Rhonna Farrer, Pink October, twopeasinabucket.com
Digital Papers:
Blue: Jessica Sprague, Beautiful You Light Blue Solid, creatingkeepsakes.com
Pink: Cherie Mask, Pink October Pink, twopeasinabucket.com
Green: Cherie Mask, Be Merry Green, twopeasinabucket.com
Orange: Jessica Sprague, Beautiful You Red Solid (modified), creatingkeepsakes.com
Page Planner and Must-Make Pages design (modified): Jessica Sprague, creatingkeepsakes.com
Digital Elements:
Bird: Adobe Photoshop
Gift: Microsoft Office

The Third Time's A Charm

It took three tries before retirement really "took" for me. I left the office life and legal field behind in 1995, the retail world and our scrapbook store in 2001, and the hobby-turned-job of scrapbooking for publication in 2008...each voluntarily, each happily and each with no intention to return to gainful employment. Obviously, I've had no problem retiring, just staying retired. It wasn't boredom or some disillusionment with the idea of staying home...I've loved retirement each time and had every intention of staying there. But some new opportunity came along, one I couldn't resist, and retirement was shelved to pursue it.

So while it's taken several attempts before I got it right, I think I'm finally retired for good. And maybe I needed those false starts to really appreciate the freedom retirement affords. I love the ability to pick up and go at any time, whether it's to check in with family in far-off but familiar places or to explore somewhere new. And while I follow a loose schedule of activities when we're at home, I appreciate that retirement allows me to change that schedule at the drop of a hat. Or have no schedule at all.

Not having a job doesn't mean I don't have anything to do...I feel busier than ever and that's a good thing. Retirement isn't the end of life; it's the chance to do more of the things you want with your life. I'm embracing that, and that's the reason I've chosen retirement as my blessing for this week.

It's a good thing I am retired as I have some serious catching up to do on my gratitude project pages. Hopefully there will be two to share next week.

***Each Friday's post is part of my 52 Blessing project...an effort in 2009 to be more aware of and grateful for the blessings in my life.