2010 New Year's Resolutions

Do you make New Year's resolutions?

(We interrupt this blog post for an important announcement. This image was stolen from ScrappinCop. It's okay, I'm sure she will still be my friend. It's good to have cop friends in scrapping places.)

I never used to make New Year's resolutions. I guess I was like most people and figured I would never keep them anyway, so just didn't do it.

However, last year I made a resolution. I resolved for 2009 to not join any groups of people in which I have to commit to design mini-kits as freebies for my blog or any other activities with deadlines.

I am happy to report that I kept my resolution! Not only that, but I remember it being hard to break the habit, but now I am glad that I did.

So, in the spirit of last year's resolutions, I have decided to make a similar resolution for 2010. I need to simplify my life and start scrapping more. So I resolve to not create any more big events for my forum in 2010 that require deadlines and a lot of work.

Yes, in 2010, we are going to continue doing the same thing many of us are doing -- just scrapping, learning, and inspiring each other. No Amazing Race Scrapping event here; no Scrap the Guy contest here; no St. Louis Digi-Gathering this year; nothing that overwhelms me and overtakes my life.

I want to feel free of burdens for it is in those moments that the artistic, creative side of me comes forth. It is in those moments that ideas come flowing forth to inspire others. It is in those moments I can blog about daily life and maybe make a difference in someone else's life by my words. It is in those moments that I feel good about myself. We all need more of those moments. How will you gain more of those moments?

Feel free to drop by my forum and make a commitment for your own resolutions. Sometimes just declaring it makes it happen. So, come with me and declare!

I wish for you all a very happy and blessed 2010.

Book of Me Challenges - Set 2 - Ready for you to do!

Tina has been at it again! The second set of 20 Book of Me Challenges is up and ready to go!

I know she is excited about encouraging you to scrap about yourself.

For each set of 20 that you complete, you will receive a special icon by your name.

Please read this index page for more information. Won't you join us? Any products can be used, so there are no excuses!

Registration is in the forum here.

Freebie Part 4 of 10 --and Testimonials

There is a new Course beginning at Hummie's World on January 1st (read details here), as well as self-paced courses always open, and we thought it a great opportunity to share a few remarks from Subscribers with you in hopes that others would be encouraged to join a class. There are even Subscribers who lurk and have never joined a class. Therefore, we are going to be sharing some remarks each day for 10 days as you collect this wonderful winter tag collection created by Dawn.

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Here is mine. Hummie has been great!

I am a digital designer and still learned new things from taking the course from Hummie. I learned things that I had no idea that you could do in PSE! She has a way of making difficult things seem so easy. She is a great teacher both in person and video. It was a pleasure and blessing to meet her in St. Loius. I would suggest anyone take the course even if you are a designer because even an old dog can learn new tricks like I did!

Tammy Bunch (bunchie)



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God's Promises for the New Year

I will bless you (Gen 12:2)
I will not fail you (Josh 1:5)
I will heal you (II Kings 20:5
I will guide you (Ps 32:8)
I will instruct you (Ps 32:8)
I will teach you (Ps 32:8)
I will deliver you (Ps 50:15)
I will satisfy (Ps 132:15)
I will help you. (Is 41:10)
I will strengthen you (Is 41:10)
I will uphold you (Is 41:10)
I will hold your hand (Is 42:5)
I will not forget you (Is 49:15)
I will comfort you (Is 66:15)
I will forgive (Jer 31:34)
I will restore (Jer 10:17)
I will be y our God (Ezek. 36:28)
I will put my Spirit within you (Ezek 36:27)
W will save you (Ezek 36:27)
I will love you (John 11:21)

It depends. . .(a post all about advertising...really)

I so enjoyed every comment on my recent "underwear" post. Hubby and I sat here cracking up at each one of them.

But wait! It gets better!

I've been intending to share this for a few days and this is a great excuse. Back in October, I added Google Adsense to the sidebar of my blog. I always cringe when I see these Google ads and NEVER click on them. So I've always thought there was no way I could ever make any money by having them on my blog and, most especially thought they would give a bad vibe coming from my blog as one where I am out to make money (which many of the blogs that are full of ads are just out to make money).

Anyway, before I finish babbling about Adsense, I wanted to share with you what I spotted on my blog today that has me laughing. Apparently, Google crawls through your posts and finds related material to place in the Adsense ads.

Check out what it found to relate to in my latest "underwear" post? One day later, my blog is advertising bladder control products! Ha ha! Oh no! And now I'm making a second post about it and the crawlers are going to reinforce that this blog is about bladder control and probably continue to advertise it more! He he he. Oh my. I'd better watch what I blog about, right? Are you laughing as hard as I am?

So, I want to thank everyone who is clicking on these ads. I put them up on the sidebar of my blog and supposedly in the "feed" for the blog and apparently someone is clicking on them. I installed them back in October and then never went back to log into my account until just the other day. Wow! What a surprise I had waiting for me!

Now, however, I'm having to jump through all kinds of hoops just to get the money sent to me. They sent me a pin number by snail mail that I had to enter, I had to fill out tax forms online, I had to allow them to call my phone and then I entered a special key number into their site, and now I'm waiting for them to make a deposit into my account so that I can go back to their site and tell how much they deposited. Seriously, I had to go through all this kind of stuff with Paypal for a week and I'm not sure which site is "ostensibly safer."

Go ahead. I double dog dare you to click on that bladder control ad and not laugh! (and tomorrow's ads may now be about dog bones.)

I'm playing around with a search engine bar that is supposed to be a type of ad also. It is at the very bottom of my blog for now until I get it working right. It is supposed to search my site only, but at first it was not working. Then I had to learn how to add a "site map" to my account. I had NO idea what I was doing. I've seen that setting before in the Google Webmaster Tools, but never could figure it out. By George, I think I finally got something working the other day. It's really supposed to help people find my site to have a "site map" but a SEO I am not!

By the way, for all those non-techy people, did you know that SEO is not what you think it is! I learned this about two months ago (but was too busy to blog about it). I always though of those big-wig people who made a lot of money in big corporations, but did little work, and wasted their money on high class living whenever I heard the word "SEO." Apparently, a "Senior Executive Officer" is a less common use for the abbreviation. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and people make a career of being SEO experts.

There are crazy things one must do for a site to get it indexed for search engines appropriately, such as using the right keywords, but yet not too many of the same keyword, in your writings on your site. Uh? That's like the legalese of "included, but not limited to" phrase. Is there really any right answer?

I also signed up for AdWords back in October and I see that I paid them $5 to purchase ads. AdSense and AdWords can be confusing. AdSense is you making money by having other's ads on your site. AdWords is you spending money to put your ads on other's sites. I'm afraid to log into my AdWords account to see if it was a waste of money or not. Hopefully, I won't forget to deduct that expense off my taxes. I'm betting $5 didn't go very far or bring anyone to my site. Maybe I should take my AdSense income and turn around and use it for AdWords?

Validation

I saw this video on Cathy Zielske's blog and just had to pass it on to make sure you had seen it too. Don't we all need some validation? What happens if we don't get validation? How quickly can a little validation change someone's demeanor?

Have you validated anyone today? It's easy -- just start with "You are. . ." and the rest should roll right off your tongue.

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns.

Two years ago in December a complete stranger gifted me with kindness. Please read about it in my blog post here. It is really what the world should be about. I used that calendar throughout 2008.

I bought a new one for myself for 2009. Today a co-worker was standing by my desk and some impromptu conversation came about regarding the thought for the day. I read him my calendar for the day and a sudden idea hit me. I grabbed from my desk the calendar from a few years ago, hereinafter known as the "calendar of kindness," and explained to him the story of how it was gifted to me.

I gave him the calendar, told him to use if or a year, and then at the end of next year, to give it to someone else. It is my hopes that the "calendar of kindness," like a boomerang, will eventually some day return its kindness to the man who gave it to me. Do you think it will ever make it?

Here's one of my favorite quotes that I keep in the sidebar of my blog:
I expect to pass through this world just once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-being, let me do it now; let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.--Drummond

What can you do kind today? Why not start your own "pass it on" bit of kindness today. Go ahead. Look around your house. What do you have that you never use any more that you can pass on to another and ask that person to pass it on when they are done with it?

Start your own boomarang of kindness today and share with us in the comments what you have done.

What a great way to end the year, huh?

For the New Year

H old fast to your faith (Hebrews 4:14)
A ssemble with the saints (Hebrews 10:25)
P ray earnesty every day (1 Thessalonians 5:17,18)
P ray for great blessings (Malachi 3:10)
Y ield not to temptation (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

N eglect not your talents and opportunities (Galatians 6:10)
E xamine yourself daily (2 Corinthians 13:5)
W ork diligently for the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Y ield your members to righteousness (Romans 6:11, 16)
E exercise yourself in godliness (1 Timothy 4:7)
A im at sinless perfection (Hebrews 6:1)
R edeem the time (Ephesians 5:15, 16)

For all the times they goof up. . .

For all the times they goof up . . .

....sometimes the guys can be thoughtful and bring a smile to your face.



I always find it odd that so many people enjoy reading my personal life ramblings that I write on my blog. Kind of creepy actually. It has been so long since I have been able to write real me posts on the blog and I don't know if you have been missing them or not. I've just been so busy with life. So many times I think of things I want to blog about, and even take photos for them, and then never get around to blogging about them. I am feeling my load a little lighter all the sudden and am hoping to get back to doing some things I loved doing before.

So, what is this note about in the photo?

Well, I've been sick for over a week now. Actually, I was sick for a few weeks, got well for a week, and then was sick again. I'm one to not get sick very often, so I'm ready to be over with all this sickness!

For over a week, I've had this annoying congestion stuck in my chest. No other symptoms, just this annoying coughing. Of course, when I talk, the air only glides over the congestion and makes me cough more. So annoying!

Some of you may find this as TMI (too much information) and some of you may get a good laugh and be able to laugh along with me. So read on or stop here. This is your warning. There is no turning back once you continue on. Here it goes: Every time I cough, I pee.

Sigh. Yep. Giving birth to three children has left me with one of the weakest bladders on earth. For the most part, I can usually just deal with it. However, sudden pressure is non-deal-able.

I've run out of the larger, thicker feminine pads. The thin ones just don't do the job. I've changed my underwear so many times in the past week that I think I need to invest in underwear stock of some kind and head out and purchase more. I've gone through dress pants, jeans, and shorts at a regular rate. The word "depends" keeps coming to mind and I cringe.

Seriously, this coughing as GOT to end!

So, last night, around 1 a.m., I refreshed myself ready for bed in comfort, only to sit down on my bed and sneeze. Ugggggggggg! Well, that fresh set didn't last long. I was so mad and frustrated I got up and smacked my fist on the bedroom door, grabbed my last pair of underwear, and grumbling I headed straight for the bathroom again.

I think every guy should have to wear a feminine pad at least once so that they can understand and sympathize with what we women have to go through. It takes what seems forever to just peel the paper off of the sticky part and then sometimes there are several parts that need peeling because they have these fancy "wings." Who ever thought up those "wings" must have been a man.

Once peeled away and exposed, the sticky parts always seem to want to bend up onto each other like magnets and adhere to each other. Sometimes you can salvage the whole pad and careful unstick it from itself, but sometimes you have to throw it away, totally wasted of time and money, and start over with a fresh one.

Oh goodness, let's not even mention if the sticky parts turn up upon placement and some of that tender hair gets caught up on the sticky parts. It is like a puzzle trying to figure out which direction the things go and which parts get folded whereto. What a gamble it is to guess whether you place the pad further towards the front or the back -- a bet I always seem to loose as I can never remember which is better as centered certainly never works well. You know what I'm talking about, right?

I don't know about you, but my fatness leaves very little room between my thighs and the pads are immediately scrunched up into a wad upon pulling up my underpants. Seriously? Only models have that wide space that fits pads perfectly. Am I right?

So, what's up with that note in the photo above? Dearest hubby leaves for work earlier than I do and he was so thoughtful to take the time to gather all of the whites (a/k/a underwear) and put them in the wash for me so I would have a fresh set to take me into the day. I did not see it at first, but when I went in to take a shower, there in the bottom right-hand corner of the bathroom mirror was a surprise note from hubby. It brought a smile to my face.

For those who have been reading my blog since its conception, you may recall that clean underwear is a repetitive problem of mine. Here's my first post on the subject. It's always a good laugh to go back and read that.

So, I guess this is the part in my post that is supposed to turn into a bathroom babbles. You may recall the many previous posts that always seemed to be popular in this series. There always seems to be something great going on in my bathroom. I'm not sure why. It's kind of weird.

Yes, I'm grumbling today. I've been grumbling for days actually. My poor hubby has had to listen to me grumble. Most often, he never responds to my grumbling, just not answering and putting into practice that selective hearing all wives are familiar with.

However, this time he responded differently:
1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Now, wouldn't it make all marriages better if we all responded with hospitality towards each other in all situations? When was the last time you asked your spouse if you could fill his drink? Or do you always wait on him "hand and foot" and grumble while doing so? What can you do for the others in your home today to offer them hospitality without grumbling?

I'm thankful that my congestion has finally moved from my chest to my nasals. I actually feel worse today, but any movement is a good sign. Hopefully, it is moving out and away -- gone for good soon.

Leave your thoughts in the comments please. You know I love to read them and it encourages me to write more.

A New Life for the New Year

A man approached a woman in a restaurant and gleefully exclaimed, "Dorothy! It's so good to see you! I see you have a new look. I like the new color of your hair. Your new hairstyle becomes you. Your new makeup certainly highlights your loveliest features. And I'm impressed with your new clothes and how well they fit you."

As he finally quit gushing, the woman said, "Sir, I think you have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Helen."

He immediately said, "Oh, so you now have a new name, too. Wonderful! Wonderful!"

The fast approaching new year reminds us of newness of life that comes through Christ. "If anyone is in Christ," St. Paul wrote, "he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Apostle further says: "put off your old nature...and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" Ephesians 4:22. What better advice could Christians heed?

Freebie Part 3 of 10 --and Testimonials

There is a new Course beginning at Hummie's World on January 1st (read details here), as well as self-paced courses always open, and we thought it a great opportunity to share a few remarks from Subscribers with you in hopes that others would be encouraged to join a class. There are even Subscribers who lurk and have never joined a class. Therefore, we are going to be sharing some remarks each day for 10 days as you collect this wonderful winter tag collection created by Dawn.

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Hi my name is Jana and I'm a new comer to Hummie's World, having only found out about her site just a month ago! But I have to say what a treasure chest of information I have landed into! There are classes that you can take at your own pace, which have the most amazing video tutorials that go along with each lesson as well as written instruction that match the videos. Hummie covers all the basics and goes through in her latest class learning how to design for yourself. I have used Photoshop for about 8 months and I have learned so many new things, that I never even knew about. Lots of new short cuts and just really cool things to try out! I'm looking forward to going through all of her classes, even if it is just to practice up on my own skills, because they are so well written and easy to follow! I think that anyone from a beginner to an advanced user could benefit from Hummie's lessons. They are just great! Come join us for some great fun, friendship and learning!

Jana (jlynn)


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The New Year Prayer

Dear Master, for this coming year,
Just one request I bring.
I do not pray for happiness
Or any earthly thing;
I do not ask to understand
The way Thou leadest me;
But this I ask, Teach me to do
The thing that pleaseth Thee.
I want to know Thy guiding Voice,
To walk with Thee each day.
Dear Master, make me swift to hear
And ready to obey;
And thus the year I now being
A happy year will be
If I am seeking just to do
The thing that pleaseth Thee.

New Course 2 Challenge & a Freebie

I cannot believe I actually scrapped! As often I do, I like to make a technique challenge for Course 2 out of my layouts and this is what I have come up with for the next one--a pie chart shaped layout! Can you believe this is the 69th video in Course 2 in the Susbscriber Area? If you do them all, what inspiration is hiding in there! I'm waiting for someone to take this a step further and to get creative with an arrow pointing to some text -- is your imagination churning yet?

I'm really feeling a bit like my load is lighter now than it has been in months! It feels SO good -- and maybe you will reap the benefits of my lighter load.



Goodness, with nothing going on with my blog for a while, we are suddenly full of freebies! I hope you are finding them all. This is the second grafitti paper made from the photos my son took for me a year ago as a Christmas gift. I sure wish I had more time to get them all out to you. I thought it turned out really cool with my layout though. I love the lighting and the angle of it.

You can download it here for a limited time and then it is permenantly in the Subscriber Area (which is only $5.50 per month-- yeah, yeah -- you're tired of me saying it, but new people here need to read it, don't they?).

Improve....

Most people want to change the world to improve their lives.

What a wasted effort.

If they would improve themselves, they would be better off and so would the world.

Make a resolution this year to improve yourself.

Finding Others on the Internet with Like Interests

When I was moving my Look to the Lord blog to this blog yesterday and checking out everything in the sidebar to make sure I had transferred over everything necessary, I rediscovered MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog. I became members of the two communities years ago and there are probably blog posts around here about them. In fact, one of them indicates I joined in February of 2007, almost 3 years ago (boy does time fly!).

I used to have the widgets in my sidebar. I remember when they first came out how cool it was to see avatars in my sidebar of those who had visited. Eventually, however, most likely due to lack of time, I removed them from my sidebar.

I thought I would blog about these two services once again as I am certain there are many readers to this blog now who are new to blogging and have never heard of the sites. I put the widgets back in my sidebar, for now. I am mostly concerned that they make my blog take longer to load.

However, if the time and effort is put forth, they can be a great way to find people with common interests that like to blog or even just finding other blogs of interest for your reading enjoyment. As always, there are internet marketers that will have to be ignored, but I guess that's all part of the learning experience.

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Here are some simple rules you may wish to follow in making yours.
Make no resolutions having anything to do with losing or gaining weight.
Make no resolutions having anything to do with smoking.
Make no resolutions having anything to do with buying things.
Make it spiritually oriented.
Make it involve relationships with others.
Make it deal with lifestyle changes.
Make it something you have been meaning to do for some time.
Share it with someone that will hold you accountable.

Freebie Part 2 of 10 --and Testimonials

There are new courses beginning at Hummie's World on January 1st (read details here) and we thought it a great opportunity to share a few remarks from Subscribers with you in hopes that others would be encouraged to join a class. There are even Subscribers who lurk and have never joined a class. Therefore, we are going to be sharing some remarks each day for the next 10 days as you collect this wonderful winter tag collection created by Dawn.

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I have been a member of the Hummies World forums for a little over a year, but didn't become a subscriber till January 2009. I honestly cannot begin to tell you what took me so long to subscribe! Once I did, I started digging right in, and I have learned sooooo much, I can't even begin to tell you!!

I came across the digi world by complete accident. I was looking on google for something TOTALLY unrelated, and came across something about digi scrapping through scrap girls. So, I looked them up, and started to slowly learn what this whole thing was about.

When I first started, I was using Microsoft Picture It 10. I was doing ok.... but that all changed when I got my copy of PSE 6!! When I got it, I was completely confused, and so, I began my search for tutorials on how on earth to work this seemingly hard piece of software. In comes Hummie, with her gentle spirit and incredible teaching. I started going through her free tutorials, then I finally made the subscriber choice and I have been learning more and more ever since!! So much so, that now- some ladies in my church want me to teach THEM how to get started!!! This would have NEVER happened if it weren't for Hummie!

I am, and always will be, a subscriber to Hummies World. You can't keep me away!!!!

~Dawn Miller (dawn)

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First Designer Class Freebies!

The first downloads from the designer class at Hummie's World are coming in! Don't they look awesome? You can find the download links in this thread.

I want to encourage you to visit the blogs of those in the class. Many of them are brand new to blogging and would appreciate your comments so much.

New Blogger Editor

I wonder how long the new Blogger editor has been around?  I just discovered it by accident!  It appears as if they have listened to users and have made adding images much easier!  I am anxious to try it out and, in fact, this is my first post with it.

You can turn it on in the Settings tab of your account.  Read more about it here.

Edit: Oh my! Just did my first post with photos and I may have to switch back to the old editor! I thought I was going to like it until I saw the results!

New Year's Attitude

Looking back and letting go.

...............Looking forward and starting anew.

Moving Look to Lord Blog

I have another blog called "Look to the Lord." I like the blog a lot, but forget to go there to post. The reason I set it up as a second blog was because I felt it needed to be indexed separately with Christian topics. However, I have decided that if I move the blog to this one, I can simply use "Look to Lord" at the front of all the labels so that they can easily be indexed separately from the other posts here.

Therefore, you may expect to see many posts in coming days from my other blog--hundreds of posts. I do hope that you enjoy them.


Back in September of 2001 I started a website called PagesofStufftoShare for Christian forwards, along with a Yahoo Group.

In June of 2007, neither of them were getting much traffic any more and I rarely updated the site.

I decided to transfer the site to a blog. With the new wave of interest in RSS Reading, I believed that this will be a good avenue to explore. Now, instead of sending writings to the Yahoo Group and then trying to find time to put them on my website in organized categories, I can do it all at one time through the blog.

The use of labels on the blog is also beneficial as it will serve as a means to sort by topic of interest.

Are you ready to fly with me on an new adventure? Sign up for the RSS!

A Bend in the Road

Sometimes we come to life's crossroads
and view what we think is the end,

but God has a much wider vision
for he knows it's only a bend.

The road will go on and get smoother
and after we've stopped for a rest,

the path that lies hidden beyond us
is often the part that's the best.

So rest and relax and grow stronger.
Let go and let God share your load

and have faith in a brighter tomorrow.
You've just come to a bend in the road.

Freebie Part 1 of 10 --and Testimonials

There are new courses beginning at Hummie's World on January 1st (read details here) and we thought it a great opportunity to share a few remarks from Subscribers with you in hopes that others would be encouraged to join a class. There are even Subscribers who lurk and have never joined a class. Therefore, we are going to be sharing some remarks each day for the next 10 days as you collect this wonderful winter tag collection created by Dawn.

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Acclamations

....Affirmative Declarations, Testimonials, Remarks, ....what do you call these pages on websites? It has taken me a long time to put up this page, simply because it feels as if I am bragging on myself and that just plain 'ol does not feel right! However, many sites utilize these pages so that others know that there are satified customers.

Sometimes these pages are obviously fake looking too. Seriously, someone could have made up each and every one of these writings and I think sometimes they do, so I often taken them with a grain of salt. I want you to know that these acclamations are in no way fake. I even asked Dawn and Tina to collect them for me so that there would be someone else to verify that they are valid comments of people in classes.

I am truly amazed as I watch the student here grow in their skills. Undiscovered talent has been revealed through the teaching of basic principles and computer techniques as the students have gone far beyond what I have taught creating a true work of art. There are no words to convey what magic is happening here through the classes and lessons, but I think that it is better for you to hear about it straight from the students, the glue that holds this site together, here at Hummie's World.

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If it was not for Hummie, what could I say, where would I be today!! I have been wanting to learn Photoshop Elements for years, but could never comprehend the instructions from various web sites, until I happened upon Hummie’s World and signed up as a subscriber and started taking her classes. That step has totally changed my life as I am now producing wonderful layouts, plus I am understanding the lessons. Hummie encourages me when I get down and feel I should quit, like I wanted to do in the Designer Class. But she won’t let me and encouraged me to hang in there which I will do. That is a great teacher who takes the time to help students who may be slower than others and it shows she really cares. She is a blessing in my life and I am thankful for such a wonderful person.

And you Tina are a wonderful person who has taken time to publicly honor her. Thank you.

Cynthia (aka ccynden, aka cindy)
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Last Gallery Spotlight of the Year!

Come and meet Janet! Leave her warm fuzzies in the forum thread here. Be sure to scraplift a layout of hers if you have the time (I know it's a busy holiday time right now). Janet has been active doing challenges in the forum for quite some time and I'm glad to see a photo of her and get to know her better.

Gift Idea - creating a hybrid step-stool

I wanted to share with you another gift which I made for Christmas. I have created this gift many times and each time it is well received.

I can buy a wooden stool at the local hobby store for under $10. Thereafter, I personalize it. So, it is an inexpensive gift that is mostly a labor of love.

I thought about creating something with digital scrapbooking this time and then decoupaging it to the top of the stool, but choose not to this time (mostly because of lack of time). This would make a great hybrid project, though, if you so choose to do it that way. The whole rung could be a rectangle done in Photoshop Elements or each flower and the name could be made, printed, and cut out.

After I finish decorating the stool, I always seal it with polyurethane or a similar product.

This is perfect for a gift for a 1 year old's first birthday or similar age for Christmas. These stools really get used, especially for brushing teeth at the bathroom sink or even just sitting on to watch television in the living room. I know each of my boys had a little stool of their own with their name on it and they were really used by them!

First Birthday Chipboard book

You can read about the first flower-shaped chipboard book I made here. This is a book I made of first birthday photos as a Christmas gift. With this book, I glued the paper on first and then cut out the shape, sanded, and chalked.

Here's a little video and photos below.

Maya Road - Hybrid Books

I found this hybrid book by Maya Road (as well as some other products from them, like the flower books I'm sharing also on the blog). You can find Maya Road online here. The nearest stores which carry the products to me are in St. Louis, about 2 hours away. However, unlike Kaisercraft which is overseas in Australia, Maya Road does have an online store and is located in Canada. Here is a link to the chipboard books in their store. A Maya Road Design Team blog also has some great inspiration.

The book I purchased came already bound. Having not made any chipboard books before, I did not know what I was getting into. I have learned that it is much harder to make an already bound book than one linked together with chains or rings. Each two-page has to be laid open and allowed to dry for each step, as compared to unbound pages that can be laid out for drying all on one side, then all on the second side. Therefore, it takes much longer to make the bound books. See this blog post for my instructions. While making this book, I learned the importance of sanding! When you cut the pages directly after gluing down, the paper edges are rough. Sanding the edges down is an important step to sand away where your cutting is slightly uneven, making a smooth surface.





However, the book was only $2.99! So making hybrid books as gifts is more a labor of love than a hit to the pocket book.





Here is a quick video I made of the finished project.

I tied a simple ribbon around the book for an extra touch.



I wasn't sure my mom was into the grungy stuff, so I ordered the book as a Shutterfly book also. I am going to encourage her to write on the pages as the journaling.

Hybrid Flower Chipboard Book

I was excited to finally finish some Christmas gifts the last few weeks and I want to share them with you. I have been trying my hand at some hybrid digital scrapbooking projects and posting them to my blog, so you may want to refer back to some other posts for more information.

I found this cute little metal box from Maya Road which contained three chipboard books.

The books are held together by a little chain and each has a different flower shape.

All three books, including the box, were only $5! You cannot get a better price for making gifts for others!

Below is a video and a few shots of the finished book that I took for you with my iPhone.

I made the book the same method as I did the senior photo book, so please refer to the instructions here.

This book was made for my son's girlfriend with photos of the two of them.

For this book, however, I did merge the layers with the shape of the book that I had scanned in (Control G) so that it was the shape of the flower when I printed. I had to bring the images into Microsoft Word to get them to print at the correct size, but that was easy enough to do.

I cut out the flower shapes before putting them onto the book. This is not a method I would recommend. I did the next book, to be shown in another post, by cutting after it was glued to the book.

There were many problems with cutting the shape before gluing, including the fact that I had to go back into Photoshop Elements and flip half of the pages so that they would be the correct for the reverse side of the flower. The flower is not symmetrical, I found, but rather the petals are slanted slightly, making the angle for one side different than the other.

In addition, I found that often the shapes I cut out did not quite match up with the board, so in some places I was either over the edge and cutting off or short and having parts of the book not covered. I found myself taking large amounts of time sanding and chalking to make all the mishaps look okay.

In addition, since the flower shapes have such small grooves in between the petals, I found that I had to take the chalking pad off of the holder (it came off easily) so that I could get down into the crevices with the pad. This made for very dirty hands, but for me was a wonderful tactile experience, similar to getting my hands dirty in the flower garden.

I hope you have enjoyed my project and that it inspires you.

Angel Seeds

Originally posted 12/16/06

This would make a cute Christmas craft. I can see these in little bags with a cute digitally made card tied to it with a ribbon.

********

Angel Kisses (*you can use the hugs Hershey kisses*)

There are so many kinds of kisses,
Some for love, and some for good wishes.
But here is the one that can't be beat
Angel Kisses--so wonderful and sweet!

************

Angel Seeds (*use white candy*)

God created angel seeds
To let us know He cares.
Take one seed per day
And swallow it with prayer.

OR

Angel seeds are delicate
So plant them in a spot just right
Do it with a little prayer
And love them day and night
So when you are in special need
Of the Angel's love and care
Look into your heart to see
Your Angel living there

Snowman Craft

Originally posted 12/18/06

Here is a craft I did once with my home daycare. It was so simple to do.
The styrofoam oval ball came in that shape at the hobby store, along with the hat. The hat, ribbon, eyes, and buttons are glued in place with tacky glue and the smile and nose are dotted on with a paint marker.

Please share your Christmas Digital Scrapbooking Hybrid Gift Ideas!

Originally posted 8/31/09

Here is another blog post that I found in draft from last November! Giggle. Apparently, I was thinking about Christmas. Speaking about Christmas, please come to my Facebook Fan Page and share your digital scrapbooking hybrid Christmas project success ideas from last season. It is time for us to begin thinking about what gifts we will be making. You can leave a comment here too -- just share!


Here's a video that shares how to deal with all of those tangled lights.



I like this tree! As an avid Diet Mountain Dew drinker as my source of caffeine, this would be perfect!



Of course, I'd better be careful about all that Diet Mountain Dew I drink or I may just end of glowing myself!

P.S. -- check out YouTube--are we duped?

YouTube Christmas Music on Tivo

Here is a video I made with my iPhone for you to watch that shows how to watch Christmas music on Youtube.



I was a little disappointed that I could not retrieve the Christmas Playlist I had made, but Love my Youtube ap!! I can play the list on my iPhone.

In addition, you can watch my playlist!
Just go to it directly on YouTube here. Just click play the list and it will run through them all! Cool, huh?



In addition, I am putting them in a forum thread (here). I invite you to share your favorite YouTube Christmas videos in this thread. I may just add them to my playlist (where you can play them).

UseIt! Challenge from Candy

Come join us in the forum and use this free template that has been provided by Candy! Would make for some creative layouts I can imagine!

Tip for your Shutterfly Books

As indicated in a recent post, I ordered my Shutterfly books on Sunday. They arrived today, on Friday. Isn't that fast service for book printing? I was SO anxious to see them! I couldn't open them fast enough.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Some of the pages were colored incorrectly and, in addition, one important page was missing. I was once again very anxious about the customer service I would receive when I complained about my book. However, I was very appreciative and happy with the customer service I received! I filled out an online ticket during my lunch hour and then around 4 p.m. I checked my e-mails to find a response.

Shutterfly had credited me with three books and free 1-day shipping! Wow!

In addition, it was explained to me why the pages were colored incorrectly and I want to pass that onto you. As my regular readers know, I am always highly recommending Shutterfly for digital scrapbooking hardbound books. I have shared my Shutterfly guard which seems to work so well. Now I have another tip to pass onto you.

Shutterfly has a setting that is automatic on all photos call VividPics®. It is more aimed at those who upload photos and utilize their backgrounds to create books. Since we edit our photos for best printing in Photoshop, our images do not need to be further corrected. VividPics® must be turned off for all pages.

Shutterfly's help page explains, "To do this, navigate into an album and select the desired picture and click 'Edit' link and choose 'Apply effect.' On the right side, click the checkbox that turns off the VividPics® setting for that picture. If you have a number of pictures selected, you can 'Apply this effect' to all selected pictures using the link to the right of your picture. Pictures printed with this setting turned off will be printed exactly as they were uploaded, with no automatic image adjustments or corrections."




So, my books should be on their way again soon, thanks to their great customer service. However, I will be delayed in sending my gifts to my son in Minnesota now. He is not coming home this year because he just started a new job. We will miss him. It would be nice if our gifts to him were there to help him make it through the day without family for the first time, but I am sure he will understand. His gifts should arrive shortly thereafter.

When the new books come in, I will see if I have time to make a quick video to share them with you.