Emotions and Color Challenge

My presentation for the group was on Emotions and Color. I have uploaded it to my site and you can find the pdf document on this page.

I printed out this presentation and made a booklet for each scrapper as a hands-on reference tool.



Melissa with (site) Scrappin My Buns Off made this awesome kit for those attending! She sent it to me a bit too late and I hope to be e-mailing everyone a link to the kit. I believe she was the only one to make something especially for the gathering with a St. Louis theme! I loved using it!

I did not get a chance to do the challenge, so I took the opportunity to do it with the group photo using Melissa's kit which, to my surprise, was the perfect color! The ladies attending will recall that I mentioned that I utilized the orange and teal colors for room decorations to convey the emotions of joyfullness, playfullness, socialability, happiness, and creativity. When I opened up Melissa's kit tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see the same colors! It was perfect to convey the same emotions in my layout.

Please join me in the forum by utilizing the tutorial on Emotions and Color in your own layout as the ladies at the gathering did as a challenge. Choose your photos and decide what emotions you want to convey. Thereafter, choose the color that conveys those emotions and scrap!

I found inspiration for this layout in an old scraplift challenge in my forum too! You are welcome to join it also.

Somerset Digital Studio Magazine

Bunchie (her blog) spotted a reference to this site in the Somerset Digital Studio Magazine! I am so excited about that!

She was so kind as to take some photos of the magazine for me and I am sharing them with you!

The website for the magazine is here. I understand that the magazine is an annual one and that this is the second edition. I am working on getting a copy of it for myself. I found it sold in several online stores, although it is also sold in local stores.

Once I obtain a copy of it, I will try to remember to blog my opinion of its content.

Precautions

As it is all over the internet and television, I thought I would blog a bit about what I have read regarding the threat of the Conficker worm. It is also known by its original name of Downadup.

Here it all is in a nutshell in non-techy terms. It is my understanding that this worm is sitting dormant on many computers and has affected only Windows computers. The worm has been set to report back to its maker tomorrow, April 1, 2009. Upon report, its maker can choose to either trigger or not trigger various malicious attacks on all computers that contain this worm.

Here is what I am doing personally to protect myself. I am no expert, but am hoping that what I am doing is right and wanted to share with you. I feel that anything I do is better than nothing.

1. Make sure Windows updates have all been installed. You can go to this site to manually update. There was a patch put out last October targeting the worm (read here).

2. Download Internet Explorer 8 as it is supposed to have important security updates to it. I have installed it and it seems to be working much more smoother than IE7.

3. Start my computer in Safe Mode (click F8 key continually as it is starting up) and running CCleaner from within Safe Mode. I have found this cleans my machine better than anything else and makes my machine run so much smoother. There are two scans which should be run which are located on the top two tabs on the left: cleaner and registry.

4. Visit Microsoft.com, Symantec, Trend, and McAfee. It is my understanding that the worm prohibits you from visiting these sites and also stops updates of virus programs.

5. Remember the golden rule: If in doubt, do not click.

6. Do not search the web for information on the worm as you may just come upon a site that actually installs it. Yes, the bad guys think of everything.

7. Back up your hard drive. Even if something happens, you'll be much calmer.

Nothing at all could happen tomorrow. With all the hype, the bad guys could delay things. However, I do remember the last time there was a warning. The warning came true and was rampant. Most personal computers were not effected as the worm general went after the larger networked computers.

However, if you awake in the morning and things are wonky, at least you will know what it is.

#followfriday pick for this week

I decided to pick the Scrappin Cop as our #followfriday for this week!

http://twitter.com/ScrappinCop

I choose her because I'm excited about getting to meet her in person in just a very short while! There are others I'm excited about meeting too, but we are only choosing one per week to hit and so I could only pick one for today.

For details regarding our goals and what #followfriday is, please read this page. You can also add your twitter address there for others to find you and also so that I may choose you for a future week.

This is a collaborative effort each week to get one digital scrapbooker noticed on Twitter.

Thought provoking video

I put a VERY thought provoking video in the forum and have made many posts myself with quotes from the video and my thoughts.

I'm SO anxious to hear your thoughts and analyzing. Won't you join me?

Forum thread here.

Don't be shy now. Time to delurk and have fun discussing art and scrapbooking!

Would you say this?

This is a message generated by Yahoo IM in reply to my question. I just found it kind of funny. Am I the only one?

Really? I wish I could say that. When someone asks me how I am, I usually reply "tired"....cause I never say "fine" because I'm never really "fine" and I like to tell the truth. I'm always "tired."

I wonder what someone would do if I told them "I'm currently idle." rotfl Okay, can I say I'd like to be currently idle? I never am though.

Come and meet me!

Oh my! So many of you agree with me about Facebook! I have enjoyed reading the comments and e-mails.

I will add though, that I do like Facebook for keeping up with friends and family. I DO recommend it! I log on about once a week to check up on my family and close friends to see what they have been up to. We all tend to just use Facebook now to e-mail each other rather than regular e-mail too. I don't do a lot of chattering, but it is so nice to be able to keep up with all those people I love so much in one spot.


March 28, 2009,St. Louis Digi-Gathering
Click here.



I am excited about the St. Louis Digi-gathering this weekend! Well, I was having trouble over the weekend getting motivated. I was disappointed at the lack of registration and it was making it hard for me to plan.

However, there are some PRETTY COOL people coming that I'm anxious to meet! I had it in my head to just be positive and go and have fun. There's certainly enough people to have fun!

However, I was imagining this huge room with few people. I was also sad about having to put out a lot of money out of pocket.

BUT, after a telephone call today, the hotel has made our room smaller (yeah, now we can be cozy fun!) and agreed to reduce the contract price. Now everything is okay!

Now, I'm back to being really excited and REALLY motivated. I've got ideas going in my head to finalize and bring all the plans together with some fun stuff!

REGISTRATION is still being ACCEPTED! You can even pay by Paypal if you want to come this weekend! We'd love to have you join us!

You can see who is coming on the blog and I believe I know of a few more registrations that are coming in yet -- maybe of people you know! Click here.

Everyone I chat with is just so excited about meeting and I am too! I admit, though, that I'm nervous too!

No more donations though, please. I've got to get discs burned tonight.

REMEMBER to watch the blog Click here this weekend as I will be posting there as things happen! It will be like you are there with us if you cannot be there yourself!

Facebook -- this is why.....

This is why I am never encouraged to log into facebook. With 448 scrapbooking friends, the contacts all consist of tons of application requests, tons of advertising e-mails from groups, and yet no one ever writes on my wall. Now why would I want to go there?

Plus, everyone is closing down their "groups" and trying to send e-mails out to get people to move to their "fan page," which is getting annoying.

I have a fan page. No one joins. Why? It is harder to invite people to fan pages.

I have a group page, but no one does anything there. Why? Because I don't know what to do with it. There is even one for Missouri Digital Scrapbookers.

I just go to Facebook to accept new friend requests and clean up things. Whoo hooo! Yeah right.

I love to TALK to people on the wall! So talk to me. I bet know one does.

When I used to have my Twitter syncing with my Facebook, occasionally people would comment. However, I took off the sync because it allowed me to just chat freely on Twitter without worrying about what it looked like to people on Facebook.

I have my blog posts synced with my wall, but no one comments on those. Maybe I should unsync them? Maybe they are annoying too?

I think that Facebook and Twitter are just INFORMATION OVERLOAD! If I spent all my time watching what everyone else was thinking, I'd never get anything done!

I sure missed Survivor this week!

As many of you know, I'm a Survivor addict! I've never missed an episode! I had to take some time out and watch some videos to get my fix.

Why is Jeff Probst bagging groceries? Find out April 1st? Uh?



Here are two videos -- behind the scenes

Making Photos Pop #2

Thank you so much for the responses to my recent post encouraging me to go ahead and share how I made my photos from my vacation pop. All the comments and e-mails indicating that you could not tell that I had edited them really made me smile! Wait until you see the before and after in this video! What a huge difference!

If you use these techniques, please do share with them. The best place to share is in the forums where others can learn from your experiences, but private e-mails are always fine too (I just take longer to get to them because there are so many of them!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Alphabet Tutorial (& Download)

By request, I created a new video tutorial for Subscribers only on how to make an alphabet. This tutorial also includes using an action to save the files individually, as well as a file renamer software. The tutorial is here.

There are two sets of downloads available that I made while making this video.

I have available on my blog the regular cardboard alphabet only for a limited time, but both sets are in the Subscriber Area permanently.

Just Dragging

I feel like I am just dragging along. I just cannot seem to get the momentum back after the vacation.


MY CAMERA AND EDITING

Several of you asked me by e-mail and comments what kind of camera I used in my photos. It is a Canon 40D. HOWEVER, I will tell you that those are not photos straight from the camera. I did quick editing of them in PSE. How many of you call me the "PSE Queen?" Did you not expect that I would! Giggle. Yes, the weather was so bad that it was not a great day for photography.

I am going to guess that your next request is to show you how I edited the photos? Right?

I've shared videos before (somewhere on this blog or in the Subscriber Area), but I do believe I can share one technique I used in editing these that I have not shared before. Do you wanna see it?

ST LOUIS DIGI-GATHERING

The St. Louis Digi-Gathering is a week from tomorrow and I'm nervous about being prepared. I cannot seem to even get through my e-mails, much less plan. I've got so much to do and consider yet.

I'm disappointed at the number of people who signed up for it. REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN! However, I am full ready to go and have fun meeting the people that are coming! It will be exciting.

MARCH MADNESS

The office had a pool for the NCAA tournament and I think my son made some great picks! All in all, I really hate March Madness. However, maybe following the stats to see if my picks win will help pass the mess-up-my-tivo-schedule-time faster. You can chat about the tournament with me in the threads here. My son made my picks and I am hopeful that he did a great job.

AMERICAN IDOL

I love watching American Idol too! You can catch my ramblings and join me in rambling in the forum here.

FREEBIE SOON

I recorded a video for Subscribers last night and hope to have it up along with a freebie later today.

Headed Home Today

Everyone was so fearful that it would rain for the beach wedding and it would have to be held indoors. It had rained off and on all day. Thankfully, the rain went away just shortly before the wedding and we were on the beach. It rained again right after the wedding, but we were indoors at the reception, so that was okay.

We are getting ready to make the very long drive home today. Hopefully, sometime this week I can get back to normal.

I hate driving long distances and just want to blink my eyes and be there!

Vacationing

I am currently vacationing in Destin, Florida! Have you missed my blog posts?

Thursday we worked all day and then decided to head out a little early rather than waiting until morning as I realized that Friday may be our only sunny day! We drove all night and arrived late morning at Destin.

I was so glad we did as we enjoyed the rest of the day in the sun. We were awake a total of 39 hours, but that did matter. We slept 12 hours ( a long time for me!) and awoke to rain on Saturday.

The rain stopped for Saturday morning and we were able to go to the beach again, although it was cloudy and cold and windy. We stayed on the beach 3 hours and caught us some sunburn! Then the rain picked up again.

Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of everyone who had arrived for the wedding over dinner. The wedding is this evening and we are praying that it will not be raining. The forecast is not too good for today either. Tomorrow we will head back home.

I'm wondering if the boys are enjoying us being gone or if they miss us. I am wondering if my poor Abbie Rae is being fed and let out. I'm certain she misses us.

Here are a few photos which I took below, but you can see more here.




The seagulls were a photographers dream!


I had so much fun capturing the seagulls.



Seeing the dolphins in their natural play was great fun too. There were quiet a few of them.


I thought the dolphins sometimes looked like sharks.


The setting sun.


I had to laugh as we did get into the water and allowed ourselves to be beaten---by the waves that is!



This cracks me up. Hubby's feet are so much larger than mine!


Hubby.


The sand dunes were amazing!


So many opportunities to photograph birds as they walked in front of us or flew right overhead.


I hate photos of myself, especially in swimwear, but I did get brave and handed the camera over to hubby a few times.



We wondered if this was poisonous. You could poke it with a stick and it would not pop. Then we saw some little girl scooping them up in her bucket with her mom's assistance. I told the mom that we were wondering if we were stung by this thing if it were poisonous and I think she realized how risky it was to be encouraging and teaching her daughter to put them in her bucket.

#digiscrap #followfriday Pick

I'm putting this up early as I will be traveling.

This week's pick for everyone to hit (read more here) is:

http://twitter.com/barbararyan

The beach?

Last weekend I went shopping for my son's birthday to get him some jeans and found some great deals for me! Oh, I'm bad! I do not get new stuff very often, so I am excited!

This weekend we are headed to Destin, Florida, for our niece's wedding! I've never been there before and am excited. We have not gone anywhere in a few years.

When we walked by the swimsuits I said to hubby, "hey, do you remember that my swimsuit is held up by safety pins and we are going to the beach." I had one of those one piece suits with the skirt on the bottom half so as to cover up my fat rolls and fat thighs. I felt like such an old granny in it!

Hubby insisted that I would look okay in a regular one piece. I tried it on. Uh, NO! I'd cover it up with an extra long shirt before wearing that!

I found another one piece with a skirt that would have worked (here), although I am sure hubby would have complained about the amount of cleavage is showed.

I was TOTALLY stoked and excited when I found this two piece!

Wow, when I was growing up (yeah, way back in the 70's!) the only two pieces that existed were called "bikinis." Um, only REALLY skinny girls would wear them. I was probably skinny enough back then, but never saw myself that way to wear a two piece. So, a two piece swimsuit has always been a taboo for me---until now!

I absolutely LOVE the idea of being able to go pee! Ha Giggle. Yep, no more pealing off a wet suit until fully naked just to relieve myself! I always hated standing naked in a half-covered bathroom stall at the pool. Wouldn't know why. (grin)

Anyway! Moving right along. The bottom of the suit has a little skirt that still covers up my fat thighs. The top is like a sports bra with a little shirt over it and it covers up all of the rolls very nicely!

Well, regardless of the fact that I still look fat in it cause I look fat in anything, I am excited about my new gear. I can now strut about saying "I'm wearing a two piece!" And it also doesn't look like an old granny suit! It's in a modern color motif of browns and greens and I feel oh, maybe 27 again! (Here's the model wearing it)

The big question is whether or not it will even be warm enough in Destin, Florida, this weekend for me to even put it on! Sigh.

I also got a new shirt to wear to work with casual slacks and I really like it too. The stuff in the front serves to slim down my rolls and it is that stretchy material that is so comfortable. I might just have to wear it to the pre-dinner for the wedding -- just cause its new.

I know, I know, I hung these up on my shoe rack that is on the backside of my bedroom door and now you all really want to see my shoe collection too. Right? (Giggle) Women!

So, I also got a new purse. Every woman shopping exclaimed to me how they did not make a purse to fit their specifications. I was cracking up. I want to know who designs purses? Men?

My specifications are that the purse has to have an outside pocket for my cell phone and keys and it has to have a zipped up inner part so that the bad guys cannot sneak behind me and just get into my purse. It also has to be fairly small. I cannot stand lugging around a big purse. How do those women do that? Really? Are there special workout exercises to make shoulders strong enough to carry huge bags for long shopping trips?

Twitter Roundup!

The last roundup was February 1st -- am I behind or what!

To see them as they happen, follow me on Twitter.

Today's Twitter Roundup (Happy-Happy-Clicking!)


Are you a photog with white balance issues? http://is.gd/i3Bm

Blending Modes Tutorial
http://www.photoshopgurus.com/tutorials/t010.html

Photoshop CS4 Duplicate work around (because the right click is gone) http://tinyurl.com/cg7bca

Photoshop Elements Scene Cleaner video http://tinyurl.com/cb4b3r

Best Survivor spoiler recap site!
http://www.survivorfever.net/index18.html

Yin -how double pages look printed at Shutterfly. Awesome! http://tinyurl.com/cot7wc

Choose a color and it will pull images from Flickr that have that color in it.
http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolr/

How to use script fonts http://tinyurl.com/cntoaz

Reading Adobe on "kerning"
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/opentype/archives/kerning.html

Wish I had time to play with FreeType (open source)- still have not played w/ purchased program:
http://freetype.sourceforge.net/index2.html

GodTube is now Tangle! http://www.tangle.com My username: hummie

Just posted latest blog freebie, a bunch of key shapes for PS: http://tinyurl.com/bb6mp9

video of this little guy -tooth pulled -- Too cute! http://tinyurl.com/c59334

Fred goes to dentist.....lol! ha ha ha http://tinyurl.com/4ulwoq

tutorial: Masking with Shapes - http://tinyurl.com/br8roj

The new Bamboo Craft especially for digital scrapbookers:
http://www.wacom.com/bamboocraft/index.php

Just found David Cook's YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialDavidCook

Popular links on Twitter: http://www.tweetmeme.com/

Adorable "Words of Love" font -- perfect for love theme layouts! http://tinyurl.com/bysf9c

The anatomy of the letter "t" http://tinyurl.com/8luefw

See all the fonts installed on your computer and pick one for your project--VERY cool! http://tinyurl.com/5sevsn

YouTube Kills TechCrunch Video Download Tool: YouTube may have download button in future http://tinyurl.com/brju9c

Checking out: http://live.e-sword.net/

Really cool hybrid-digi book using cereal box http://tinyurl.com/brdlr9

15 Tips for Great Candlelight Photography http://bit.ly/WThFE

Reading (again): Eye-Fi Camera Memory Cards http://tinyurl.com/2eutge

Best 5 Sets of Emoticons Download for Free http://bit.ly/TlEc4

Shape Collage is a Seriously Fun Photo Collage Application: http://snipurl.com/c59ap

25 Sites to Find Good Free Vector Files - http://tinyurl.com/bfjs2y

Reusable Snack Bag Tutorial - http://snipurl.com/c77tl

Scott Kelby & the Histograms "Behind the Music." Enjoy! =) http://is.gd/k6p5

Reading http://www.redenvelopeday.com/ and wondering if it will work and make the news on March 31st.

Get the kids involved in capturing memories - http://tinyurl.com/arou2f

Reviewing free Malwarebytes and wondering if I should test it: http://tinyurl.com/5t3gcf

http://www.dezinerfolio.com/downloads

Just what a I needed to hear today: http://tinyurl.com/bxy97w Being's believing; make it happen..

Attn: scrapbookers: Major Trouble At CK Meda http://bit.ly/cBZVO

Monique's Hybrid Address Book http://tinyurl.com/d5kcaw

See Katie organizie: http://tinyurl.com/dd7j44

Hybrid Idea: Bag toppers by Heather Roselli http://tinyurl.com/dcd7ey

Hybrid Idea: Totebox http://tinyurl.com/ctbf4l

Listening to Zack Arias: Guest blogger on Kelby's blog http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/3433

Enjoying Blip.fm while working; It's Twitter for music! Won't you come join me? http://blip.fm/Hummie

Elements 7 users? You can now pre-order the new book by Scott Kelby & Matt Kloskowski - http://tiny.pl/btcs

Wow....new wi-fi bill proposed--keeping records of who accesses!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/20/internet.records.bill/index.html

Paying to pee? What next! Oh, the economy! http://tinyurl.com/dd8z8w

I now have an urge to buy ready-made meatballs, small buns, and a bag of raw spiniach: http://tinyurl.com/ctldls

or maybe bake these cookies: http://tinyurl.com/cuakaq I really need to stop getting distracted

Interesting read on how the stimulous works--it's a "tax credit!" http://tinyurl.com/aqvnnh

Ever wonder what another site is using to host them? Good way to find out what is popular. http://www.whoishostingthis.com/

A spinoff of NCIS is planned for the fall? goodness http://tinyurl.com/dg994f

Why we scrap: Where's your Memory http://tinyurl.com/bbxuqk

Oh my! Potatoes are my enemy! http://tipnut.com/make-potatoes/

I am not a number person, but I actually watched this entire video: http://tinyurl.com/5qljmg

Reading: Captured Moments http://tinyurl.com/dftddf

Looking at: YouTube's Senate Hub -- Too bad I dont like politics.
http://www.youtube.com/senatehub

Check out Impressions of Heritage http://bit.ly/b1oyz We are both thinking heritage today!

50 photoshop tex effects http://tinyurl.com/d8mxvo

Getting Started with Photoshop Elements videos 1-29 from Lynda.com now available on Adobe TV! http://tv.adobe.com/?sdid=E.

Another interesting Digi Scrapping Network. A place to list freebies. http://bit.ly/UVooc

Interesting....wish I had time to play with TwitReader -- like GoogleReader for Twits http://twittereader.mwmdev.com/

Paper Flower Patterns: Interesting pretty feel
http://myphotoshopbrushes.com/patterns/id/1041

Obsidian Photoshop Stonework Patterns http://tinyurl.com/c2jox9

Designers Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer and Janet Hopkins have opened a new online store http://www.houseof3.com/

Digital Moms on the Today's Show is all over Twitter...http://www.boutiquecafe.com/home/2009/03/09/2468/

Idea: Use Photoshop to see what your house looks like painted in different colors before painting http://tinyurl.com/blyg9o

Interesting blog: Parent hacks - http://www.parenthacks.com/

Photos Done Many Ways Challenge

I have been asked several times to begin giving out more quick pages for those who do not have either the programs or the talents to do pages without a kick start.

So, I took the opportunity to make a quick page to share when I did the Photos Done Many Ways Challenge. You can find it in the forum here.

I invite you to join us! For every three layouts you make for someone else, you will have an opportunity for it to be your turn to have others scrap your photos! This is a great way to get inspiration.

Here is the freebie quick page. Please share with me what you do with it. Upload it to the gallery or, if you are not comfortable with your layouts online, e-mail it to me.

The Lord's Prayer - Revisited

I cannot pray "OUR," if my faith has no room for others and their need.

I cannot pray "FATHER," if I do not demonstrate this relationship to God in my daily living.

I cannot pray "WHO ART IN HEAVEN," if all of my interests and pursuits are in earthly things.

I cannot pray "HALLOWED BE THY NAME," if I am not striving for God's help to be holy.

I cannot pray "THY KINGDOM COME," if I am unwilling to accept God's rule in my life.

I cannot pray "THY WILL BE DONE," if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life.

I cannot pray "IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN," unless I am truly ready to give myself to God's service here and now.

I cannot pray "GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD," without expending honest effort for it or if I would withhold from my neighbor the bread I receive.

I cannot pray "FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US," if I continue to harbor a grudge against anyone.

I cannot pray "LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION," if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am likely to be tempted.

I cannot pray "DELIVER US FROM EVIL," if I am not prepared to fight with my life and my prayer.

I cannot pray "THINE IS THE KINGDOM," if I am unwilling to obey the King.

I cannot pray "THINE IS THE POWER AND THE GLORY," if I am seeking power for myself and my own glory first.

I cannot pray 'FOREVER AND EVER," if I am too anxious about each day's affairs.

I cannot pray "AMEN," unless I honestly say "Not MY will, but THY will be done, so let it be.



"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. Matthew 6:7-8

"If God Talked Out Loud..." by Clyde Lee Herring pg.13-21. 1977 Broadman Press
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-27479.

Template #50

This template available in both rectangle and square is permanently available in the Subscriber Area.

Can you believe that there are now 50 templates in the Subscriber Area! I think about how many of my templates have been downloaded for free on my blog (all of them have been offered) and then the Subscriber Area and wonder what all of the layouts must look like that have been created with them. I sure wish I could see them all!

I invite you to upload yours to the gallery to share with me. You may use any products.

Here it is as a freebie on my blog, but only for 24 hours.

Use It! Challenge #8 & Freebie

This preview of the Cardboard pieces which are available in the Subscriber Area (only $5.50 per month) does not do it justice. There are many full page pieces hidden under that stack in the preview. It took me about 20 hours to scan and extract all of these pieces. I do hope that everyone enjoys them and look forward to seeing what you can do with them.

When hubby started ripping up this box to recycle it, I could not resist as I could see the possibilities in the pieces!

I have just one of the pieces available as a free download to non-subscribers.

Use this piece (or any of the others) in the Use It! Challenge #8 in the forum.

#Digiscrap #FollowFriday Twitter

There is a phenomenon on Twitter and I want to organize the digital scrapbookers to be seen! Whooo hooo!

Each Friday, twitters suggest to their followers other people to follow by including the @ symbol and #FollowFriday in their post.

There are two sites which now calculate the results of #FollowFriday.

http://topfollowfriday.com/

http://www.boxuk.com/followfriday/

The only way digital scrappers are going to get noticed on #FollowFriday is if we get organized! Let's get noticed!

Each week I will post a new digital scrapbooker on my blog. Everyone should suggest that person!

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment. I will be choosing you one of these weeks!

Also, the comments will serve as a great collection of links to other digital scrapbooking followers so others may follow you.

I will put a link to this page in my sidebar so that you can easily find the list again.

Here is today's choice!

http://twitter.com/BriAnnaShultz
She owns Atomic Cupcake!

So, just head on out and make a post like this:
#digiscrap #FollowFriday @BriAnnaShultz

Meet my GREAT GREAT GREAT grandparents

I am going to continue to work on my heritage book! I would really like to get it done and I am hoping it gets my creative juices flowing again.

I am SO blessed to have this photo of my great, great, great grandparents! It is really a huge, huge framed photo that hangs in my hallway. So huge that I had trouble getting a photo of it.

I have tried identifying all of the individuals in the family photo. I know each of their names, but not which one is who. I have come close several times and hope to some day solve the mystery.

I used my Heritage Kit again (of course--I made it for this book) and it is in the Subscriber Area.

Please join us in making your own heritage book. Start with challenge #1 in the forums.

Digiscrapbooking Blogroll

Yes, I know the blogroll that you will find the code for here is not working and is messing up your blog.

Yes, I have your request for additions or corrections safely tucked away in an e-mail somewhere for months now as they have been shut down while upgrading their service all this time.

No, please do not e-mail me today while they work out their site switchover to new technology. I do not need the stress today.

Heritage Book Challenges

I started my heritage book a year ago! I decided I needed to work on making progress on it. I will add the information later when I finalize the pages. I used my Heritage Kit which is in the Subscriber Area.

If you would like to create a heritage scrapbook, come and join me in the forums. You can start with #1, which is your parents. It is a great way to collect the information if you have not done so before. Here is the thread.

I was distraught this morning when I thought I had lost the first 5 I did for this book a year ago. I took a whole how searching for them. I gave up and then decided I should just scrap. When I went to find papers from my heritage kit for the layout, there were the other layouts! Whew! I felt so much better!

I want to do new things for the Subscriber Area and for blog readers, but right now with this winter doldrums I am in, I think I need to get recharged by just scrapping first.

Off to start my next heritage layout! This one is of my great-great grandparents! Isn't that cool! I think I can go further back than that! Let's see.

Winter Doldrums

I've been in a slump for a while now and I think I've finally figured it out. It's sort of cabin fever, except I do not feel cooped up in the house as I get out every day and would rather just stay at home.

Instead, I think it's the winter doldrums.

Yep -- just had to check with dictionary.com to make sure I spelled that right and look!

Def:
A period of stagnation or slump.
A period of depression or unhappy listlessness.

Yep! That would be me right now! I cannot seem to get myself motivated. I am sleeping more than usual. I am getting down because I'm not productive. I usually get so much done before I go to work, but I've not been awaking early enough to accomplish much of anything!

It is due to the lack of sunshine and breathing in fresh air! It is due to the short dark days! I think it's scientifically proven that winter can have this affect on people. Here is an article at WebMD. Be sure to read pages 2 and 3 also. This page says, "the lack of sunlight causes the brain to work overtime producing melatonin, the hormone that regulates your body clock and sleep patterns."

The site indicates, "The solution is to get as much sunlight as possible." So, I think I am going to start opening my shades more at home! Yep, first thing in the morning I'm going to get up and open up all the windows in the house!

Look! There isn't even a photo for this post. That is very unlike me, isn't it?

Weight Mirror

I uploaded a photo here.

Okay, just watch the video.

My First Spring Robin

Project 365 - March 2
Originally uploaded by Hummie~

When I came home from work today, I frightened this Robin next to my carport.

I always get excited when I see my first Spring Robin!

Little signs like this mean warmer weather is on its way!

Bible Bits - Week 21

Download the printable Bible Bits, print it, post it where your family gathers, talk about it, and pray about it with your family. Use it as a screen saver for the week.






1 Kings 19:11 The Lord said, " Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.

I was studying the story of Elijah where he becomes so depressed and overwhelmed that he asks of God, "Take my life," when this Bible verse jumped out at me.

I love being in the great outdoors. There is something about just sitting out in the yard looking at the sky, hiking out in the quiet trails, breathing in the cold air while shoveling snow, or sitting beside a stream. I cannot put words to the feeling I get.

This photo is of a street in Pilot Knob, Missouri, in Arcadia Valley. My Granny loved this place and every time I go there, I can see why. The hills that roll by as you drive down the highway are amazing. As you can see on this street view, it is almost as if the hills are so close that you can just drive right into the edge of them.

I have photos of my parents and grandparents and extended family visiting this town and climbing up into the mountains. Loving the great-outdoors is certainly in my genes.

The mountain that they used to climb is now prohibited to protect a cave of bats from extinction. I long to climb that same mountain some day, but know I am not allowed.

Maybe I love the quiet solitude of the great outdoors so much because that is where I can find God. Maybe I am feeling His presence. Maybe that is what Granny loved about her precious Arcadia Valley.

In 1 Kings 19:11 and 12, while Elijah waits for the Lord on the mountain, the Lord sends powerful winds, an earthquake, and finally fire, but in all those dramatic events, God is not there.

Elijah finally hears God in a gentle whisper.

There always seems to be so much drama in my life. I try to avoid it and not participate in it. I often listen only, but do not contribute to conversations.

Then there is the drama that seems to happen to me just because I am breathing. There is always something breaking down, needing fixing or replacing, surprises I could not dream of happening, and things I have to deal with.

Elijah has his fair share of drama too. He tried running from it. He tried asking God to take his life. The one person in the Bible who asks for his life to be taken is not granted his prayer. God is not done with him yet.

God wanted him to instead sleep and eat first, then wait 40 days patiently to be renewed and refocus, and then wait for the Lord on a mountaintop.

I need to remind myself from time to time what this story teaches. When my life seems to be crushing me, out of no doings of my own, I should first remember to take care of my health, then realize it may take more than a few hours or a day to recharge and refocus, and then wait on the Lord.

God wants me to get past all the drama first so that He can come to me in the quiet, on His timing, not mine.