Capture the Details

photo editing

Amy has been talking about some digital stuff on her blog, and she's doing some classes on the subject in conjunction with Dan's Camera. It's fun to play around with your pictures and even to try making digital scrapbook pages or 'hybrid' pages where you combine traditional and computer-generated art. If you're a scrapbooker, consider giving it a try.

I took some pictures of Ben when he was wrapped in his cutie patootie doggie towel and the images got very yellow due to the lighting in the bathroom. I very seldom use a flash because I light the natural light. This is the unedited version...

This is after playing around with the image and adding a border that I downloaded from twopeas.... (click on the picture to see the whole thing)

You can really get some neat effects. :-)

from today

In between laundry, cooking, errands, etc...I managed to get a layout put together. (click on image to see the whole layout) :-)

upcoming class

I just loaded the images for my March 15th class, Memories Album. I added the journaling as well, because it's kind of hard to read on the pictures. :-)

get this....

It all started out with a quick click on the weather channel website to check out the radar map. An hour later I know my IQ and my Right Job.

darn those neat, little grab-ya ads

There was a question about picking the next block in the sequence, so I clicked, and cooooooooool, an IQ test. What the heck, I've always wanted to see if I was playing with a full deck. Now I must admit that two of the math questions I did ask for Todd's input. He's the math man. That half of my brain does not compute. And, what the heck, I'm just goofing around. The test result: I have an IQ of 131 and my intellectual type is Insightful Linguist. woooooooooooow

This means I have the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist.

-get the heck out-

This led to another test, my Right Job test, which says I should be a Creative Writer. Me? Don't think so. They also gave six runner-up jobs for me....

Architect - nah, to formal for me

Film Editor - yeah right, California here I come

Graphic Artist - hit the nail on the head there

Interior Design - I've always thought it was neat, but not quite for me

Commercial Artist - again, tap tap

Musician - yeah. right. Even my air guitar stinks.

I also learned that my primary personality type is Creative and my secondary is Personable. I'm a social animal. No wonder every job I've had for the past twenty years has been retail-oriented. I. need. people. Must. be. social.

And the kicker, my Wrong Job. An electrician.  hah hah hah ZAP!  :-)

squabbling, spinning and sponges

I had one of those 'Calgon, take me away" afternoons. Ben is finally better, but Sarah is running a fever. I really think they need a change of scenery. We've been here in this house for close to a week due to illness and the kids are going stir crazy. And driving me crazy.

One wants to play one thing. The other wants to play something else. "Mooooooom! Tell him/her to play with me. "Work it out between yourselves." Screaming, squabbling and fighting ensue.

They both came in my room and Sarah sat in my computer chair. "Ben, spin me around." "Okay." They took turns spinning each other and then laughing and giggling and getting-along ensued.

Somehow Sarah found my box of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponges. "Can I clean with this?" "Knock your socks off." I give one to Ben and they both go to the kitchen. Soon the screaming, squabbling and fighting ensue. "I want to clean that!"

{sigh}

I did manage to get a layout done during all this (click on image to see the whole thing). My line to sanity. :-)

this morning

A two hour delay due to the light coating of snow....but my kids are home anyway. They've both been sick with some kind of respiratory virus. I'm going through Motrin like crazy, but boy does that stuff work. When it kicks in they are up and around like nothing's wrong. When it wears off they're like droopy flowers.

I took a few pictures this morning because I realized that I haven't been taking many lately.

Sarah, surprize surprize, reading a book (she's read this one twice already but she really likes it)....

Ben and the 'wog', as he calls her (and now so do the rest of us).....

They were watching a squirrel in the bird feeder. I let Sophie out to go potty and we watched the squirrel. He perked up, then shot like a bullet off the feeder towards the woods. He had flames coming off his tail because there was an overly-friendly and curious puppy about two feet behind him.

Last night I did a scrapbook layout. I've been wanting to play with my supplies. Lately it seems as though when I make stuff it's usually for work and I have to stick with the products we carry at the store. So, I think today since the kids are home and I'm not going anywhere, I'll play some more. Of course I will be doing multiple loads of laundry, but at least that sort of does itself. This is my page from last night (click on it to see the whole thing)... :-)

why is it?

A quick thought... I should be doing the nightly clean-off-the-table-and-do-the-dishes thing, but I'd much rather sit in my comfy computer chair and share an observation. I noticed when I read the story from Ben's Diego coloring book to him a few minutes ago that he went through the book and colored in all the Diegos. Only the Diegos. Nothing else.

Sarah does the same thing in her coloring books. She'll go through all the pages and only color the Barbies. Or all the Daphne's from the Scooby Doo coloring books. Nothing else.

Why is that?

You know, though, I think I remember doing the same thing. :-)

Now to do those dishes.

read... read...read

My little girl is becoming more and more of a book worm. She reminds me of me. Always reading something...at the table, in the bathroom, in bed, on the sofa, at school during recess. Sometimes several books at once.

I made a book journal for myself several years ago and since Sarah is reading so many books already, I thought I'd make one for her.

It's a composition notebook that I covered and embellished. Tomorrow she can start her list inside. She has about five to start. Bigger books, like Charlotte's Web, which was my favorite book as a child. (I checked that baby out of the school library tons of times. That and The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper.)

I can still remember reading to her when I was pregnant with her. Todd and I would read Baby, Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss every night when we went to bed. Looks like it paid off! :-)

daily dozen

A thought crossed my mind earlier about what I could blog about today. How about a few random tidbits from my day today? Why not make it a dozen? Sounds good... my daily dozen.

1. I talked to someone in Hawaii (Nana)

2. I got my Master Gardener volunteer work completed

3. Tacos for supper

4. I ran out of laundry detergent

5. I took Sarah to the doctor

6. I folded three loads of laundry

7. I hung a new watercolor painting by Sarah on my wall

8. Separated the kids several times due to fighting

9. New canvas bins from Pottery Barn came

10. I washed blue paint and chocolate ice cream off Ben's face before bed

11. I surfed through all the blogs that I read

12. I got a piece of bubble gum stuck to my teeth

13. okay, a baker's dozen.... I'm going to watch The Quiet Man on AMC (good Irish movie, and since I'm a good part Irish, I enjoy it!)

Nothing exotic. Everyday stuff. My stuff. :-)

nature's masterpieces

Take a minute or two and check this out. Click on the word 'snowflakes' in the paragraph about Wilson Bentley. Sarah was on this site at school today during her computer class.

Breathtaking. Amazing. :-)