3D Text and Reflections Video Tutorial

I was so excited as I played with this technique to discover a method I had never seen before anywhere. I feel I am sometimes known for coming up with new Photoshop Elements techniques, but it has been a long time since I have done so.

You can find tutorials on the internet for creating 3D text and reflections with Photoshop, but none with Photoshop Elements. It can be a bit trickier with Photoshop Elements.

The new technique that I discovered while playing actually builds on an other technique lesson of mine in the Subscriber Area called "movebable shadows." You will want to note how I create the shadow behind the 3D text and how important it is to making these techniques realistic.

If you missed the complete story of how hubby and I met in the forums, then I'm not sure you'll ever have an opportunity again! I deleted much of it. It involves a clow, gymnast, perfect fields, jello, and guys peeing off the roof. I joke that it is a made-for-big-screen-movie story!

Warning About Facebook

I have had this post started for days! I have just been sort of out of it the last week or so and trying to get back into the swing of things. Taxes and ulcers in the eye can do that to a person!

I have a warning about Facebook that I want to share with you. I believe I have mentioned this before, but I feel it is worth it to mention again.

First, are you a fan of the Fanpage yet?


Back in June of 2009, I decided to delete my Facebook account that I had created for the "Hummie" ID and move towards just using the Fanpage. I don't think the rules at Facebook allow for fake account ID's, so I was trying to utilize the new Fanpages instead because, well, I'm one that likes to follow the rules. I know there are lots of people out there with fake ID's now and Facebook doesn't seem to mind.

I had discovered that Facebook does not let you delete your account, but merely deactivate it. I tried to remove and delete many things from my account before deactivating it. I had assumed that over time, Facebook would eventually remove the account from its cache. Certainly their servers cannot continue to add information and never get rid of the old, right?

When I deactivated my account, I was immediately told that I could reactivate it at any time by just logging in. What?

On a whim, last week, I decided to log in to see what I could see. You can find the account here.
Yep, sure enough, the account was just as I had left it! My personal layouts were still there. How scary is that?

Ever since last June, in my personal Facebook page, I have made it a habit to delete things after they are a few weeks old. I feel better about doing this. I really do not need Facebook keeping a journal and log of my every bit of personal life. Do you?

If you go in now to begin deleting, you will notice that as you delete, even older posts will come to the bottom of your wall. I actually kept deleting as it continually brought up years worth of information on me. (Yes, I was on Facebook early on, so that I could see what my son was getting into. It's better to join them than to tell them no!)

Did you know that once you delete posts off your wall, they are not actually gone either? Other people can still see them in the "most recent news" or "top news" stream even after you delete them from you wall.

I can only hope that Facebook's cache eventually removes the things after they are deleted, but who really knows what they are up to. Somehow, I do not trust that things are really gone, even after deleted.

So, this is your warning! Do delete! If you care anything about your privacy, do delete! What would happen if I would die tomorrow? All of that stuff would forever be owned by Facebook!

I had gotten this screenshot the other day, but it doesn't seem as funny today. I was on Facebook as they were changing the interface. It kept going from new to old and back again before my eyes. It actuality, it was frustrating.

How does this compute?

I blogged yesterday about how long it took to do our taxes on Saturday and the FASFA, but got distracted and forgot to share these images I had captured for the post.

I was grateful when I was told our audit risk was low, but check out the second one.



Seriously, how does this compute? What's wrong with this picture?

The Sculptor

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today.

I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or...
I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money or...
I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases
wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or...
I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn't give me when I was growing up or...
I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or...
I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or...
I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or...
I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or...
I can eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or...
I can feel honored because the Lord has provided shelter for my
mind, body, and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped.
And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me.
I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Have I said Enough?

Have I said enough lately how much I hate Bank of America? And to think six months ago I was fine with them.

Check this out! I have only a checking account and two mortgage accounts left open with them, only so that the automatic payments can be made until the refinancing goes through so that we can be done with Bank of America.

With no activity going on, they still manage to take my money randomly with no explained reason and no notification. Fortunately, this time it is only $2.55.

We have only enough money in the account to make a loan payment on March 1 that will come out automatically. So, why is there a pending $2.55 charge coming out on February 22nd? I called and was told that they have no idea why, nor can they tell which loan payment it will be applied to. What? Will this EVER end!

So, from past lessons learned, this is my prediction of what will happen:

The $2.55 will leave the account with insufficient funds to make the loan payment on March 1st. They will take the March 1st payment and charge me $35 insufficient funds fee although we have an overdraft protection sitting there that will not kick in. Yep, all this just so they can take another $35 from us. That's what they do. Randomly take our money with no explanation or reason.

Then we have to fight to get it back and may or may not be successful.

I cannot get rid of Bank of America fast enough.

New Font Challege - CutiePop

Shelley used this font in her layout and I spied it and Dawn made a challenge of it! I am anxious to use it myself. Isn't it cute?

Join us in the forum by using this font in a layout! You can use any other products.

Have you Missed Me?

I haven't been posting to the blog much this week. It's been a long hard week.
I am just praying that I can have a normal week soon. I need a normal week.

THE BANK ISSUES CONTINUE

You may recall all of my troubles with Bank of America in a recent post a few weeks ago. Well, I've spent at least three hours this week dealing with yet another issue with them. I've gotten a lot of the accounts closed, but until the new mortgage goes through, which takes time, we are stuck with them.

One of our loan companies did not carry through and get the automatic payment transferred and it was pending in an account at Bank of America that only had about $14.58 in it. Sigh.

I saw it and called Bank of America and, of course, they dropped my call, as they always do.

I went into the local loan company office and decided to call Bank of America from there (instead of using up all my cell phone minutes). The BOA representative indicated that if the loan personnel could admit it was there error and apologize on the phone (yeah, can you believe she actually said that!), that she could stop the pending payment before it went through and caused an overdraft charge. What ever happened to just bouncing bad payments? We don't even have overdraft on that account!

So, the loan person spoke on the phone and I was told all was taken care of by BOA. I went through the trouble of making a telephone payment on the loan with my new account so that we would not have a late charge.

To keep the story short, two days later I log in to BOA and discover the payment went through anyway and they charged us $35! ANYTHING to take our money! The loan company had said they would cover the $35 as it was their error, but yet BOA said it wouldn't happen!

So, I called BOA (yet again!) and gave my spiel to a representative who in turn put me on hold for a while again as I transferred so I could give my spiel once again. I was told I could make a "claim." Okay. Whatever it takes to get this fixed. At the end of the claim, I was told that it would come by mail, I would sign it, and return it. "WHAT! How long is this going to take?!!" I said. The representative indicated that she understood my urgency and indicated that it could be done by email or fax. "Can I fax it back too?" I asked. Yes, I could. So, at the end, she indicated to me to allow at least 24 hours for them to actually receive and acknowledge the fax and 10 days to them to investigate and report on the matter.

WHAT! I'm stuck with this for the next 10 days? What ever happened to customer service! I SO want to get these accounts closed.



ULCER IN THE EYE

I woke up Monday morning with an eye that was bothering me. I immediately removed my contact. It wasn't a great way to start a week at all. I pushed my way through the day at work, with my eye getting worse as the day went on, getting redder and redder and causing me pain so as that I would have to shut my eye.

At 4 p.m., I was going to head home and rest the eye, but on a whim went to the eye doctor. Amazingly, she had just finished with her last appointment and got me right in. I am glad I went as I was told that I have an ulcer in my eye. I thought that ulcers were only in stomachs, but apparently bacteria in the eye will eat a hole into the eye. Yep, I had a hole in my eye! It was getting bigger with time and could have gotten much worse.

It was very painful. I learned that whenever my pupil expanded and contracted, it also effected the hole and caused pain. Therefore, anything with light, light my computer or the television, caused me much pain.

I sat there Monday night watching tv with my eye closed and every time the scene changed, I'd peek with my good eye and close my eye and listen. What a way to watch tv! That was much harder to do with American Idol and, therefore, I didn't really get to watch it, only listen to it.




The sample medicine given by the doctor was so tiny. It only was enough for about 7 or 8 applications and with me putting drops in my eyes every 2 hours, it was used up quickly. I was so surprised when the prescription bottle came in and it was not much larger than the sample. It cost me $35 co-pay! Wow. I wonder what it costs without insurance. With $52 doctor appointments and the meds, this is hittting my pocket book hard. The timing is not good with the bank switching and taxes, but when is the timing ever good for being ill?




I took Tuesday off of work to try to heal, but went back to work on Wednesday. Although I was getting better it was still painful. Hubby was sweet to check up on me by text messaging and here is a conversation we had.


Meanwhile, drama started in a private area of the forum Wednesday night. Whew. I was dealing with it all evening and not getting anything else done. I ended up spending about three hours between Wednesday night and Thursday morning figuring out how to set up the admin area the best so that I could put only one individual on moderation. There were so many options and things to think through. Even one box checked wrong caused me problems. What a pain that way when I needed to be doing other things being as my eye problem already had me behind. In the end, all the drama ended okay, but going through is never easy.

Sometimes I feel as if I do nothing wrong and then life just bombards me with, well, life! Why does life have to be so hard?

Saturday the entire day was spent working diligently on taxes. I had worked the previous week on the business accounting books just so I could do the taxes, only to not be able to finish it because of my eye problems. I spent from 7 a.m. Saturday morning until 1 p.m. finishing the business accounting. Then I worked from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. doing my personal taxes. I went outdoors to take in the beautiful day and work in the yard for an hour or so until one son came home from work. I through good on cookie sheets in the oven and we began working on his taxes and FASFA until almost 8 p.m. Then the other son came home and we worked on his taxes and FASFA until midnight!

Wow! I seriously need a break.

Meanwhile, there are people in the forum impatient because I haven't given them immediate feedback. If things set more than 12 hours sometimes, people begin saying things. It's like I'm tied down here with no grace period.

I work full time and have tons of other issues and people pulling me this way and that way. You have no idea! I try to twitter much of it so people will know where I am and what I am doing, but it doesn't seem to help.

There is always someone somewhere on my back to do something or other.

I just want one week where nothing that I have to struggle with goes on so that I can enjoy life. It never seems to come.

If I were to have written down everything that happens in my life, it would be a made-for-tv movie! Seriously. It always seems the things I have to deal with are not the norm for most other people. It's a constant bombardment.

Life.

I'll quit babbling now and get some sleep....or about 6 hours of it....until the work week begins again. Who knows what is ready to hit me this week.

Spring Coming Soon! - Do you Garden Journal? - Make a Book?

Yesterday the weather was sunny and the temperatures made it up to 60 degrees. I do believe it was the best weather day of the year so far.

I went outside to work in the yard as an excuse to get out of the house and away from taxes and FASFA!

I took some photos with my iPhone and tweeted them while I worked (which was actually kind of fun to do!). I don't know how many people enjoyed the tweets, but I'm putting them here together for you in a collect with my comments.

In previous years, I tried to bring my big camera out to the garden to get great photos. I am thinking that utilizing my iPhone this way and keeping the journaling with the small text as I upload might create a great table book. I like the idea that it is quick and instanteous and it preserves the date for me. I want to put those dates in the book. I like the idea of having a garden journal to look back on to remember what blooms when in my yard.

It appears that Flickr works with Snapfish directly and that you can easily order books right from Flickr with them (there is an "order prints" link at the top of every photo on Flickr that allows you to start this process.

The Snapfish options are on this page. I see several books offer up to 150 pages, but I am wondering if the cost goes up with more pages. When I get time, I may start a book and save it and then just add to it all summer long as I snap photos.

However, there are other sites I might check out that also work with Flickr.

Check out this person's Qoop book -- it's huge! Here is Qoop's site.

Photoworks also imports from Flickr and Blurb is another great site to make books.

I may have to play around to see which option is best for me when I find the time. Oh, time?



********

Sedum peaking through dead leaves



Daffodil leaves are peaking through ground-- but so are weeds!!!



Surprise lily foilage is making it's way above ground!!


I hate this gathering of mud I have to deal with every Spring!


Oh to live a dog's life. Play and relax. Play and relax.


Did we even rake leaves last fall?


Tiger lilies are peaking through too!


Don't call me lazy!! Seriously ! I'm holding down these pile of leaves you raked !


Lesson learned. Rose bushes are still prickly -- even if the are diguised as dead branches.

Sending You Some Spring

Michelle sent me this link and I thought it was fun and it made me smile.

Go ahead, click here, and build yourself some Spring!

What a great time! (Dr. Zhivegas)

I haven't had so much fun in so long! Hubby and I joined some others that we know and headed to The Venue here in Cape Girardeau to watch Dr. Zhivagas. Now, it was for a Mardi Gras party, but as a conservative Lutheran, I of course do not believe in what Mardi Gras represents, but was there rather for the great music!

Dr. Zhivegas performs all those good 80's songs from when I was in high school. It was so much fun to be surrounded by all of these other people similar in age to me, just like we were all back in a high school dance! I was amazed at how few people were sitting at the tables and how crowded the dance floor.

There was a cajun buffet and two complimentary drinks in the cost of the evening.

As well as dancing, I also enjoyed photography. You could have guessed, huh? I had to take a lot of photos to get a few good ones. My camera would not always focus right with all the lights, but I did upload some of them to Flickr for you to view (see below).



Here's a video of the band's opening.
I was standing about where this video was taken often and I didn't even see them filming! I stood right in front of the speakers a few too many times and my ears were deafened a little bit until morning.



Here is a little video I made. I was too busy taking photos!

Google Buzz

Google Buzz is new! Do we really need yet another way to instantly keep up with each other in the social media way of doing things? Really. We already have Twitter and Facebook, isn't that enough? Then there is Friendfeed, YouTube, BlipFM, and all the other specialty sites available. If you use Yahoo mail, you will know that they have been pushing connections between users in a similar social media way. Now, we have Google Buzz.

Here is my new Google Profile and this is where you can subscribe to my buzz (that would be similar to "being my friend" on other sites).



Google Buzz, like Yahoo, is built right into your Gmail account.

There are options to add other social networking sites to your buzz stream. In fact, this makes me think of how FriendFeed is utilized and may be a big competition for FriendFeed.

As much as I am resisting change today, I'm betting that Google Buzz is going to take off and be the newest best thing. Just what I need, another site to keep up with in order to communicate with the people here at Hummie's World. Goodness, I still have not found the time to make it back to Google Wave to play more there!

Google buzz can also be accessed through your cell phone.

I'm going to give this a go and see what happens. I never log into my Google account! I may have to try to for a while as I just don't want to be left behind in the techy world. You know me, don't you!


Here is a video that will help you.

Hot vs. Cold Stretching Shoes test (Video)

The other day I blogged about my new shoes and placed to shop for shoes online and the fact that they needed to be stretched at the instep. I shared in that post various ideas I found on the interest regarding stretching shoes (see those videos on this post).

Since I had purchased two new pair of shoes that both needed stretching, I decided to test two methods, one hot and one cold.

I could not get the .mov iphone videos to convert so that I could put them together in one video, so here are two videos, the introduction first:



Which is better? Here is the result video:


Yes, the hot method works better!

Now, who are the scientist readers here who can tell me why the hot method of expanding works better than the cold method of expanding and why does both hot and cold expand? Leave us your comments!

Use It! Template Challenge (Valentine cards!)

This is such a cool idea that Candy came up with! Come to the forum and download her Valetine cards, use them, upload to the gallery, and come back to the forum to share what you created.

You can even utilize them as an Artist Trading Card if you enjoy that aspect of digital scrapbooking.

Installing Love

Tech Support: Yes, Ma'am.... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided
to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart, ma'am?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running, ma'am?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory,but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off, ma'am?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support : With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke
Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and
Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to
get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error -Program not run on external components ." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry, ma'am. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non- technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory.
The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching
faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose
Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is
installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is
Freeware. Be sureto give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

-- Author Unknown

Photoshop is Turning 20!

I had no idea Photoshop was created 20 years ago. To me, computers were archaic 20 years ago! How exciting is this!

NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) is holding a party in California. However, as part of the celebration they will be holding an online, live viewing on Thursday, February 18, at 9:30 PST (which is California time). That would be 5:30 central (CST) time for me, which is perfect timing for after Survivor airs!

You can go to this page to sign up for an e-mail reminder. You can also follow NAPP on Twitter here.

The Cracked Pot

A Water Bearer in India had two large pots; each hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the Water Bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. " What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this

crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The Water Bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it.

I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table.

Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws; we're all cracked pots, but if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's economy, nothing goes to waste.

So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws.

Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in OUR weakness we find HIS strength, and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a YES."

-- Author Unknown

Shopping for Shoes

My dress shoes tend to start stinking after a while! It does not matter if they are leather, there is just so much "feet" a pair of shoes can take. Well, I DO wear them every day at work. I generally only own a black pair and a brown pair, so between the two, they get a lot of wear!

My feet hurt a lot and so, although I wore heels a lot as a teenager, I prefer the comfort of very flat shoes in my mid-age years. This is a photo of my dress shoe. As always, I never wear out my shoes, I only stink them out or get tired of them.

I have trouble finding shoes in my size because, since I have given birth to three children, my feet have gotten wide. I have to have a wide width shoe. In addition, I wear a size 6 show. Can you imagine that my wedding shoes were a size 5? Yep, I not only blame that extra length and width of my foot on my boys, but also that round area in the middle of my body!

I have been keeping my eye out for a new pair of shoes for at least a year (since I cannot find them, I grab them when I see them and often look for them). The stores are selling fewer and fewer of my size. One sales person at JC Penney even told me that they were discontinuing my size in their stores in favor of bringing in size 11 and 12's because the demand was higher for that size.

I decided I MUST be able to locate a pair online and set out on a venture to do so yesterday. Surely I can get shoes SOMEWHERE!

There are three sites which the readers here found for me that I want to share with you.

I was already aware of zappos.com as it has been recommended to me before and, surely enough, it was recommended again yesterday. There certainly did have some very cute shoes in my size; however, most were over $70! Wow. I don't think I've ever spent over $30 for a pair of shoes and, most often, less than $20. I do like some of the shoes there, but I am going to have to get myself a shoe savings fund started first!

Footsmart.com was also recommended and I did find some shoes I liked in my size at this site, so I am going to keep it in mind for the future. However, I am often timid of ordering from sites I have never heard of before. I do see addresses for the company in Georgia and Tennessee, which does help to validate them for me. However, once again, the prices are very high.

I decided to go with Endless.com and I think I have found my new favorite website! Endless is created by Amazon and you can log in with your already existing Amazon account. There seems to be comfort to me in familiarity with a company such as Amazon. In addition, I was able to purchase two pairs of shoes for the price that I would pay for one at the other two sites.



Can you believe it? Less than 24 hours later, the doorbell rang and my shoes arrived! The shipping and handling was free too! Of course, we all know that it is built into the cost of the product, but I like it that way.

The shoes both fit well with one exception. I have a high instep and they are rubbing and making the top of my foot red. I think I am going to go with it for a little while in hopes that they will stretch out and stop hurting. I have had shoes before that would not stretch out over time in this same area. They choice as to whether or not to keep them or send them back is a difficult one, especially since my choices are very limited.

Tonight I am going to try this trick on my new shoes. I understand that I can stretch the instep if I warm them up where I wish them to stretch with the hair drier and then apply pressure with a hard object. I am going to try my hairbrush.

Here are a few other ideas I may try also. Watch the videos!

Ice?


Shoe stretch solution? Where do I get that? I have a shoe stretcher that I got from a garage sale, but I've never been able to get it to work well. Alcohol? Easy to try.


I have been poking around Endless and see that the shoes I ordered are already sold out! There are new ones also.

I think I could get addicted to shopping for shoes, especially since I've never been able to buy any before.




So, here are my $15 - $20 pair of tennis shoes that I have had forever from Payless. They look ugly. I'm not sure they help the pain in my feet at all.

Now, I need to find a new pair of tennis shoes, but I have no idea what brand name is the best. I understand that different brands are better for different feet problems, but what is best for me? I may have to go shopping at some local stores and ask their opinions and try some on.

I do know that shoes with arches actually hurt my feet. I'm sorry, but you cannot push up an arch where one is not there to push up. It feels like you're walking on a ball stuck on the bottom of your foot. You can imagine how that hurts after a while.

My husband's feet are the ultimate example of flat feet. My youngest son was born with those same flat feet and that is why he was able to start walking at the young age of eight and a half months. My poor boys are doomed!

Stock Photos for Digital Scrapbooking

Many digital scrapbooking designers purchase stock photos that are copyright friendly in order to create their designs.

A controversial topic is that CT (creative team) layouts often utilize stock photos also.

Stock photos are also great for blog post images for those who blog often.

Recently, StockXpert closed and merged with isSockphoto (http://www.istockphoto.com/) To purchase photos at iStockphoto, most will choose the pay-as-you-go method by purchasing the minimum of 12 credits for $18.24 ($1.52 per credit). Photos range from 1 to 25 credits depending on their size. Vector illustrations, videos, and audio are also available for purchase. You are sure to find high quality images at this site.

There is some really awesome things available and I believe that some purchasers of kits may be surprised at how many things are not created from scratch in the digital scrapbooking kits that are purchased. In addition, if you are stuck for ideas, just search through the site without purchasing and you are sure to be inspired.
MorgueFile (http://morguefile.com/) is another great place to find stock photos.

This site is totally free.



For instance, here is a freebie I made for you that was created with two images that are totally royalty free for commercial use.

Download here for limited time, then in Subscriber Area.


In addition, a site that was not available to us when I first started digital scrapbooking, but is now a huge resource, is Flickr. When searching for images to utilize, click on advanced search and look for the boxes to enable searching by creative commons.

Once you find an image, be sure to scroll down in the sidebar of that image and click to read that owner's specific creative commons license. Many of them will allow you to modify the image commercially, but will also require you to attribute that image in your TOU's. Here is a one page that you may view the license available at Flickr.

I am going to guess that this opens up whole new worlds for some of you!

Even if you do not sell your designs, but are just looking for something for your own layouts, these are awesome resources!

Butterfly Story

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took as pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. And we could never fly. So have a nice day... and struggle a little.

Saying No

Saying no seems impossible for me. I'm in a down mood today anyway. But saying "ok" just made me more down.

Someone texted me earlier today asking if I would help out tonight being as she knew my other meeting was canceled. What she doesn't know was that I was planning on skipping the other meeting to work on my accounting books for this website. I need to do about 8 months of account work for this website (because I've had no time otherwise to do it because people are always waiting on me to do things for them and that's embarrassing), so that I can do my taxes, so that I can do the boys' FASFA for college. Not to mention everyone else who is putting pressure on me to do things.

I did not reply to her for the longest time. I wanted to say 'no' SO badly. I tried to convince myself that it was okay to say 'no."

However, I know she would feel sad if I said 'no' and yet be very appreciative if I said 'yes.' I needed to say 'no' for me and 'yes' for her, but I cannot have it both ways. So in the end, I gave up 'me' as I always do.

I wanted to reply and say something about how badly I did not want to help, but then that would just make her feel guilty and I would only be doing it to make myself feel better. So, to withhold myself from doing wrong, and for lack of any better words, I just typed 'ok.'

And now I'm sad.

But the key will be how to make myself joyful before arriving so that she doesn't know how much I don't want to be there. The older I get, the less will power I have to fake how I feel.

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:13

God tells me, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

The question is, how do I make myself cheerful about giving of my time when I'm not? Bible studies will tell you that it's just supposed to flow from you because of what God has done for you and because anyone who is tapped into the Holy Spirit will somehow just magically always be cheerful. I think those Bible studies are just trying to make people will themselves into being cheerful (through a guilt trip) because God tells them they should be cheerful and so they had better be cheerful. I don't like those writers who make it as something "I" can do. It's not about what "I" can do. Ever. It is about what God can do. I of my own accord cannot do it. So then you make a complete circle right back to it being the Holy Spirit flowing through you. What a vicious circle.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23

So, what can I do? I cannot do it by myself, but I can pray to God to help me.

"God, I need your help. I just don't have the right heart right now. I want to help my sister-in-Christ and put her before myself. I want to do this work for You, Lord. I'm just not cheerful about doing it and I need a change of heart. I'm just stressed about all the things I need to do. I need you to lift up my spirits so that I can be a joy to others in what I do. I cannot do this by myself, Lord. I need you. I know you will never leave me and I can always trust in You to help me through these tough spots. I know that somehow you will give me the time to get everything done that I need to do. I realize it may be on your timing, Lord, and not my own goals for when I want to get things done. I know that in the end everything will turn out okay. I'm going to go, Lord, and trust that you will do whatever it is that You do to make it all better. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.


Here is a video of a song I heard on the radio just after I wrote the above that seems to have some applicable lyrics. It sort of made me feel better. It is amazing how God works. This is "Until Everyone Hears" by Casting Crowns.

...let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night.
...may the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise.
...we are calling out ...lifting up your name...
...I want to be your hands and feet...
....I want to live a life that leads...
....and I pray the day will see more of you and less of me....

Scrapp'n in your Pajama's Day (Thanks & No Deadline & Freebies)

I want to thank everyone who helped to make the day worth all of the effort that was put into the preparations! I really appreciate it. This is Sandie's layout that touched my heart through not only her journaling, but by her use of the downloads from the "loot bag."

I also want to let everyone know that there is no deadline for the challenges. You can find the list of them in the first post in this thread. In addition, I will leave all the freebies up for grabs until next weekend at which time I will take the links down, but I will be packaging up everything, including the First To prizes, for the Subscribers soon. (I'm surprised none of the freebie hunter sites picked up my posts with freebies throughout the forum -- oh well!)

The First To's game still has 12 available wins....I sure hope someone is anxious to win those things I created oh so late into the night!

Once again, it was a great day. There were 65 layouts uploaded in the gallery that day and I believe that may be a record. I enjoyed everyone's company. There's nothing that says thanks great to me that just utilizing the challenges and downloads that I spend time creating. That says thanks louder than words! I appreciate all who participated!

Simple Luxuries

I just sprayed my pillow with cheap vanilla scent to treat myself to a simple luxury as I drift off to dreamland.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Prayer for Aging

Now I lay me
Down to sleep.
I pray the Lord
My shape to keep.
Please no wrinkles
Please no bags
And please lift my butt
Before it sags.
Please no age spots
Please no gray
And as for my belly,
Please take it away.
Please keep me healthy
Please keep me young,
And thank you Dear Lord
For all that you've done.

OFFICIALLY Scrappin' in your Pajama's Day at Hummie's World

Well, we've been talking it up now for a while, and the day has finally arrived!!

It's OFFICIALLY Scrappin' in your Pajama's Day at Hummie's World!!

There will be LOTS to do throughout the day, beginning at 7 a.m. EST with the Quote challenge, using a poem made ESPECIALLY for this day by Texturalinen!!

There is a loot bag to be won! Make a stop at all the locations to get all the items!

2 Speed crop chats.... SO MUCH to do, that you won't be able to contain yourself!!

But that's ok-- we have that covered too!!

Come join the pillow fight!! THAT'S RIGHT!!! I said pillow fight!!

Did I hear someone say video tutorial? Oh, just show up and see!

All the action will be announced in this thread throughout the day. We will be bringing out challenges and other fun activities all day long. See this thread for the schedule!

You will just have to come and see for yourself!
In addition, we will have a fun game for you to play ALL day long in the forum! From very early to very late! There will be three prizes that you can try to win in this game. This vellum pocket is the first one.
This is a date pin for another prize.

And then there is this check box with check mark that you can customize a fun list with on your layout!

Seriously! We've spent a LOT of time planning this behind the scenes! I sure hope we are not scrapp'n in our PJ's by ourselves! Please come and join us!

It is snowing again here in Missouri. What a perfect time to stay indoors with some hot cocoa, snacks, and my computer!

I'm so excited for the fun we will have!

Quick Tip - Multiple Select

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I bet many of you do not know this quick tip! Enjoy the video below!

I was recording a video for a technique challenge tomorrow as part of the Pajama Day when I caught myself doing this shortcut tip in Photoshop Elements. So, everyone gets to see one of my new videos in the forum tomorrow, so be sure to come by and join us in the fun!

Can you believe this is the 70th lesson in Course 2 that I've recorded? For everyone not doing Course 2 -- you should! It will keep you scrapping for a long time!

iPhone Ap (Safari browser) Utilities

Today's iPhone post came to me naturally!

This post actually highlights the Safari browser as the ap, but extends it to a specific purpose.

This morning, while in the shower, the electricity suddenly went off without explanation! There was no weather problems outside.

Of course, I immediately imagined some bad guy cutting the power off outside that would soon be entering my house to come attack me all naked in the shower in the dark. I yelled for my son whose bedroom is only a hallway away to be comforted that at least there was someone on guard watching the house, but he would not wake up! Oh, now that's a great way to get me to take a fast shower! There's nothing creepier than being in the shower when the electricity goes off! Of course, this is why I don't watch scary movies.

Once out of the shower, of course, as we all do, we think of calling our utility company to make sure they are aware of the outage and to see if it our sole home or a widespread outage.



I remembered that I had discovered that Ameren UE offered a phone sized version of their website. These sites are called "mobile" sites and instead of ending in a ".com" extension, they end in a ".mobi" extension.

I love how my iPhone allows me to leave certain windows open and to use the flick of a finger to scroll through them to find a site. There really is no need for the bookmarks on Safari.



I was able to quickly log in and see that they were already notified, had dispatched a unit, and that the cause was pole damage. In addition, we were expected to have service within an hour.

Now how cool is that! Just think about how many phone calls these phones save utility companies! It leaves them to focus on the problem and, in addition, should cost us customers less not having to pay employees to talk to all of the "sitting-in-the-dark" people. Somehow I doubt the cost savings will get passed onto us.




It wasn't long before I discovered where the problem was located and saw our faithful police already in action. We sure do appreciate the service they provide to our city! I think he was looking at me and I was wondering what he was wondering I was doing with my phone out like that! So, I took my photos quickly.



I learned that the top half of this pole had been on flames! Wow. That's scary. I wonder what caused that! I've learned to find comfort in the site of utility trucks, especially with all the ice storms in the past few years.



With my hair dryer and blowing curling iron in a bag, I headed to the office which, thankfully, was running on a generator. Oh my! My co-workers get to what I look like with a wet head! (ooops...and now you do too!).

Apparently, the generator only works to power certain plug-ins, one of which was not in the bathroom, so I ended up sitting on the floor with my hair dryer plugged in under a desk, but I did manage to become civilized.

Stop laughing at me -- and go look for your utility company on your Safari browser now! It may save you stress in the future!

Scrapp'n in Your PJ's Day!

Are you going to be there? Come chat and let us know in the forum!

You deserve a day to yourself! Relax. Scrap in bed. Scrap on the couch. Scrap whereever, but just don't get dressed! Lounge around all day and give yourself the entire day!

Dawn and I often joke about how long it takes us to get dressed in the mornings when we are working hard in the forum, so why not an entire day devoted just to scrapp'n in your pajamas!

We are working hard to bring this day to you with two speed crop chats and forum challenges to be posted new each hour.

There are many other surprises along the way, so won't you join us?

Stay tuned for more details, but don't plan on getting dressed this Saturday! Plan on giving yourself some "me" time and scrapping the entire day in your PJ's. Maybe add a relaxing bath and your favorite drink to the day, but plan on doing things you enjoy doing all day!

PS. Who wants the graphic in .png format? I quite surprised myself in creating that from nothing!

Please do not shove me!

A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!"

As she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again. As she ran she once again began to pray, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late... But please don't shove me either!"

iPhone AP (Weather)

Here's my next post in my series of favorite iPhone applications.

This application is the Weather Channel! I have tried other weather aps, but this one is the best for me.



Of course, this ap is great for just reading the current weather and the forcate (hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day). We would expect that!

You can search for a particilar city in order to see its weather forcast to be able to keep up with family or friends or check out the forecast of your vacation spot!



However, my favorite part of this application is the second tab which is "Explore Map."
On several occassions, I have been out with the marching band at competitions or football games and the Explore Map has been valuable!. This map gives a live radar in motion. Granted, it is only a few seconds long, but it is enough to get an idea how close the storm is to you and when you should get indoors!

Utilize the zoom feature on your iPhone by pinching your fingers apart (or fingers together) to get a closer or further out few of the radar.



The next tab is the "video" tab where you can watch a weather person give the forecast for various areas of the country. I do not use this tab much, but it is cool nonetheless.


The next tab for "Severe" will give you watches and warning for your area.



Here is a shot of the hourly forecast from the first tab.

The only good additional information found under the "More" tab is the ability to easily locate more videos by specific parts of the country or other locations (United Kingdom, France, Canada, Bahamas, and Caribbean).

It's a must-have application that will get you torn away from your local television weather in no time!