Saturday

So its sunday... we are off out soon to do our photography course at Melbourne Uni. Thank God we bought a GPS to tell us where that is. However before we head out I wanted to grab a moment to pop up the links and the picture for my FREEBIE. I have never had one before so i am mega excited. This is my desktop.

http://www.4shared.com/file/89963456/3e602e39/march_desktop.html




The version I have to giveaway has a nice clear space behind the frame so you can put your own photo in it. This is a super easy project. Download the files from 4shared and unzip them. There are two sizes. widescreen and narrow screen. Pick which one you need. Open up the file in Elements or which ever program. Duplicate the background layer. Put your photo under the top layer. You just move it in the window. You probably have to shrink it to fit, hold on to the shift key as you do it so it doesnt distort. When everything is the way you want it. You can write some text on the top if you want. Or otherwise. Go flatten image. You now have a jpeg. Save it to somewhere. then in your control panel you can select this file as your desktop. Let me know if i am clear as mud. It is in a zip file so it should be easy to open. Now credit for the kit goes to Sara over at Sweet Blossom designs. This kit called Spring is in the Air will be available soon... so keep checking her blog.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Saturday

It really has to be a simple title because I have just had a few wines while we watched a movie. Its a sad thing when you realise that you are a little worse for wear before 7pm. We got Taken on box office as they give us a free movie a month and we thought we should remember to use them. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it. I dont think it got rave reviews but it was certainly gripping for us. Have finished the Sara Donati book.... gosh that was a nice read. Chicky book definitely but i enjoy those. Now i have started Vanished by Karen Robards. So far so good. But there is a lot on, with new stuff due out from my CTs so i have been very busy scrapbooking. Now i have Never offered a freebie. But I am very much hoping that in the next day or two to have a March desktop for you. I am pretty thrilled with it. For us it features Greg, because he insisted that as his birthday is in March, he was entitled to be on the desktop.
There is lots of other things going on, exciting things afoot, but of course as usual if i tell you i have to kill you. I am not certain how I could achieve that over the internet of course, so i better be keeping my secrets. However keep checking back in and we will see what turns up.

I did wonder if anyone else had an interest in learning how to do digital scrapbooking? I was thinking i might put some links up to resources and freebies to help anyone interested to get started. First things first. You will need a program. This is unavoidable. I am currently using Adobe CS3, although if you have thousands to spend CS4 is out. However I started with Elements and I loved it. It is really nice to use and is very simple. I probably moved up to CS because I wanted to create text paths so if you don't know what that is, you probably don't need to worry. There is a free program called GIMP. I know little about this except it is free and that ppl do use it. PSP is another option. All these programs have free trials which you can download for usually 30 days, so it is a good way to give it a try. Buying the previous release is often a lot cheaper than the newest version and the upgrade can still save you money.
The next thing to think about is storage. Because this is a memory hungry hobby. The thing I did wrong at the start was to organise my stuff badly, and even now I have a reasonable mess where there is lots of stuff from who knows where. When I started digital scrapbooking I had no intention of putting my pages on the net so I never thought of the importance of keeping track of who made what. Wrong. Start right and it keeps it simple. I am now using ACDSee to organise my scrapbooking gear so that i can keyword search. You can also use ACDSee to organise your photos once again with keyword search. If you start organising it makes life easier. My biggest first mistake was to put all my downloaded papers into a directory called papers. That makes it impossible to work out where you got them from. Just leave them in their kits with the designer info with them so that when you make your magnificent layout you can put the credits up with it. I also make a notepad file with a list of what i used and give it the same file name and keep it in the same directory. It just keeps things simple.
Scrapbooking kits come in zip or rar files. I use a program called win rar to unzip the files. Unzipped files are all put into a back up file because if i use the lot i will need these. Obviously everything you have needs to be backed up so if disaster strikes you have it all in another place. I personally swear by external hard drives and they are getting so cheap. I have a gorgeous little portable EHD which cost me less than $100 and has all my backups on it.
Ok so we have a program. Storage is organised. What next?
So here are some links that I have found useful
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/digital.asp
two peas has lots of free kits, galleries to look through, kits to buy and a section with tutorials.
http://www.shabbyprincess.com/
I am a big fan of the Shabby Princess stuff. Once again, tutorials, free kits, and more.. galleries, blog, shop. Lots of great stuff. Their free kits are absolutely gorgeous.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/Scrapping101/basics.shtml
Once again more freebies, more tutorials.
www.dafont.com.
I have to mention this site because i have used it so often. Once you start trying to make pages you need lots of new fonts. I save all the zip files in a folder (called font zips) so if i change computers or move my scrapbooking or format then i have them there already to reinstall).
Then there are the blogs... zillions of them with lovely little freebies.
http://digifree.blogspot.com/
http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/
http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/
http://sweetblossomdesigns.blogspot.com/

I could go on for ever. But google search is way more efficient. Most of the blogs link to other blogs and other blogs and so on. There are so many templates out there that make it the easiest thing in the world to complete a layout. I forgot to mention scrapgirls. They also have great tutorials, i actually bought a series of video tutorials which were great.
If anyone finds this helpful, feel free to let me know...
So if you are ready to get going why don't you get your program, have a look at some tutorials and this week i will put up the desktop calendar which is one of the easiest things to personalise for yourself.
The only other thing i would say is the same thing we say about all computer stuff. Save. save. save. No point putting in heaps of work to lose it when the computer crashes.
Now.. just checking back.. yes.. i did make a new page to show off.


Just to give you an idea. This layout is made using a free kit from sweetblossom designs. too easy.

Wednesday

I think you can tell when my inspiration is low. Somehow the snappy title just doesnt come to mind. I thought of i dont like Mondays, but since it was Wednesday that was out, similarly Thank God its Friday didnt make the cut either. I dont think there is anthing particular associated with Wednesday. Perhaps because it is midweek and no one is really thinking by that stage. Just head down bum up getting through the week. Just a thought...
Anyway today was Grandparents day which is always a bit of a treat for us. Of course it is usually our only day off as well, although in Mike's case, even that wasn't true as he has now gone off to do Night shift. I often leave the f out of night shift. It seems appropriate somehow. So here i am 1038 at night wondering why i am not asleep already. It was the scrapbooking of course. I have just been trying to get this darned page right and somehow it just hasnt been right. I think i will sleep on it now and if i like it in the morning then maybe it is ok. I dont know if my judgement is all that flash by this time.
i am trying to remember if i posted my newest layout and think.. not. So i will pop in my rendition of Lucus finding the perfect bedroom... at Ikea, well where else? I love Ikea. I love all those rooms they set up, doesnt it remind you of playing house when you were a kid. They do look ready to move in and Lucus was dead set on moving right on in. I didnt blame him, it was super cute. We may have to invest in some of the cute accessories for his birthday. We are trying to budget more effectively and not spoil him with new stuff quite so outrageously on ever visit. Today we only bought, gumboots, socks, knickers and a sweatshirt, so that is not much at all really (i know you are thinking, what no toys? but we did buy a whole bunch of bath toys at Aldi on Sunday) Aldi is another shop i like. You go in for groceries and if you are like us you come out with a new garden pump. I am a little vague about its purpose but i hope for $80 it does something useful.
I have had the day off today, but hopefully will get some work thursday/friday. I know i told you on Monday that the agency rang at 8pm and cancelled. Well i published my blog and was relishing a very large, extremely yummy gin and tonic and they rang me back at 9pm and said the hospital has changed its mind!! Jeepers i was just about ready to say me too, but I didnt and got myself out of bed, deserted the G&T and went off to work. it was ok.. i mean.. you go, you work and they pay you, what more can you ask?
My real job at the Birth Centre is so increasingly political that I am finding it exhausting. It seems highly possible that the birth centre may cease to exist. Not that they are threatening to close us, it is more subtle than that. The plans for the changes to Delivery Suite just dont really include us... I think we are in danger of being phased out. So of course every one is up in arms and writing letters... well except me who is just not quite energentic enough. I guess i am a bit pessimistic about it all. The powers that be, obstetricians and administrators will do what they want and i am not all that convinced we can do anything to change that. I just can't seem to raise the energy for jumping up and down.
So.. i think i will post the layout and leave it at that. i have taken dozens of photos today, poor Lucus with his paparazzi but havent got them off the camera yet. It is hard to remember all the stuff about getting the settings right when you have a fast moving target! Night all lots of love.

Welcome to my new home

Well what do you think? I am pretty pleased with our new blog. Mike and i sat here together on our laptops editing different bits at the same time. i was a bit surprised that it would let us do that. He put the slideshows in, i put in the header and sidebars and voila.... new blog.
So here i sit at 8pm feeling a bit lost. The agency rang and booked me for a night shift in delivery suite at one of my favorite hospitals at about 2pm. So i went to bed, had a rest, got up had a coffee and then... about 10 minutes ago they rang and cancelled. There goes a very substantial amount of money. It is hard to be completely upset because i can tell you that at 8pm i have no desire to go to work for the night. In fact when they ring it is almost a relief which is silly coz the money would have been darned useful. We need to register Mike's car this week and we just paid the power bill so I really do have to work! Particularly after the shopping expedition with Ben yesterday. He is now the proud owner of two pairs of skinny jeans and thinks he is Christmas. there is nothing more amusing than when your teenage son discovers fashion. We have to go to the hairdresser this week. No short back and sides or clipper cut for this kid. Nope, we have to look through the magazines and find a 'style' (get that a style!) that we fancy. I mean the poor kid has hair that is straighter than mine but once he has his hair styled we stock up on product and once again... you guessed it - Christmas.
Greg isnt too stressed about fashion, so long as i dont make him wear shorts. Apparently shorts are a very bad look. But essentially he is just always thrilled if you buy him a new t shirt, whereas Ben would inspect it carefully to make sure he liked it before throwing it on the floor where he keeps the rest of his clothes.
Anyway the point of my post was to celebrate my new blog. yay isnt it cute? I got all the instructions and the pretty stuff from AllyBrown who whips this stuff up and gives it away. I must put her blinkie on the blog. hmmm next project.. find out how to put blinkies up.
So just for those of you who are interested in my dear and adorable family, here is the link to snapfish where i uploaded some photos (they print your first 25 for free so i decided to trial them) For those of you like me who find it difficult to find good photo processing and are fussy about your finished product, Snapfish were very satisfactory. They arrived quickly and look great. Here is the link to our album
http://www4.snapfish.com.au/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=252744401/a=161738466_161738466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink

extra extra read all about it.

Couldnt resist the title. Here i am, saturday night, all dressed up and ready to go... to work.  Yeah a bit of a downer isnt it.  but these days Saturday night just respresents a better pay rate.  Mike scored a Sunday morning shift so that will help the bank balance.  Ben has been hilarious this week.  He is after these new green jeans and i told him he had to be good for a week if he wanted them.  So the week is up and tomorrow we have to head off to fountaingate to go shopping.  A bit worried about how much this could cost, but he is so excited and it is such a change for him not to be in trouble.  Greg of course is in trouble again.  Him and his mate took alcohol to the school swimming carnival.  Doh!  I mean i know i was not an angel as a teenager but i was never caught doing anything that dumb!  I think i used to skip school when i wanted to behave badly.  I guess he hasnt cottoned onto that notion yet.    3 days suspension.  Unfortunately he has a big hole to dig in the backyard which may well take him 3 days.  That is because he tried to dig the smaller hole with a pick and went right through the pipe!  Now we need a huge hole so we can repair the pipe and fix the greywater.  It just seems like the greywater is a job that will never finish!!!!

We have found some solutions for it, since the builder stuffed up the installation, well the plumber really.  But first of all we need the hole.  So Greg knows what he will be doing.  Caitlin has been working hard out at Subway, someone is sick or on holiday so she has fulltime shifts.  I think she is finding it pretty tiring.  Not that i have seen much of her as she and i seem to be passing in the night a bit.

Had my Medical Review on Friday so hopefully Workcover will make up their mind about what they will and wont pay for.  It might relieve some of our stresses.  It did make Friday a long day as it was an hour away over in Richmond.  We have done a lot of travelling over the last month with the photo course and work and now the review.  You get to see lots of the pretty parts of Melbourne... certainly the parts we cant afford!

Mike starts uni this week.  He is busy swatting up acid base balance right now.  My favorite subject.  I hope everyone has read the bushfire kit stuff.  It is pretty exciting.  I am going to make my donation and download it tomorrow.  cant wait.

[caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="196" caption="Floodtide"][/caption]

I have just finished another good read, Judy Nunn Floodtide.  I really enjoy the way she writes about Australia, in this book she certainly made Western Australia and the Pilbara region come alive and made me really curious about going there.  It was a hard to put down book with great characters.  I'm afraid despite my voracious reading I don't represent  much income for the authors as I nearly always get my books from the library or second hand shops.  I figure if i advertise them on my widely read blog then at least there is a chance that someone could be inspired to buy.  I do wonder how you create a widely read blog.  Do I need to be vastly entertaining, or really really funny?  i personslly think it is a lot about free stuff and as i havent yet managed to make anything worthy of giving away that wont be happening for a while.  However i do regularly send the link to my family (waving to my brother and my daughter) in the hopes that they might read it and catch up on what we are up to.

Speaking of which, my brother is planning on coming over this year, so that is pretty exciting.  It wont be as nice as his trip to townsville, its not exactly tropical paradise here!  I hope we are still here.  On the news tonight there is new concern with the bush fires threatening Warburton.  we went camping there in December and I thought it was one of the most gorgeous towns i had ever been to.  i do hope it isnt destroyed!  The weather remains obstinately dry.  the forecast of showers over the weekend came to nothing.

So the weekend is over, not much of a weekend since we both worked through it.  I started this post last night and am finishing it Sunday night.  We have been and bought Ben bright green stretch drainpipe jeans.  Sort of like Kevin bacon in Footloose.  I think with a green t shirt and hat he could look like a leprachaun but he thinks he is the last word in cool.  Mike is calling him the founding member of the PLS (Pakenham Leprechaun Society), but Ben is so thrilled with his pants that he really doesnt care.

Caleb is off to hospital this week for his surgery so it will be a busy week.  We have offered to have Lucus for as long as she need us to.  Such a hardship for us!  I cant wait.

Now before i go I will pop in my newest layout.  this one is part of a challenge series over at Scrapmatters.com.  It is called My story matters.  So the first challenge was a layout about your birth.  The second one is about your name.  I am finding that a bit harder, but i thought that a series about me and my childhood might make a nice album for the kids.  So I will post this and then it is definitely sleepy time for this chicky.  BTW.. see i never stop the bushfire kit has raised over $2000 so far!!  isnt that so cool?

[caption id="attachment_80" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My Story"][/caption]

Exciting news. Bush fires charity kit is out!

Spirit of Summer is a charity collab benefiting the Victorian bushfire Appeal. Not only has this effected Australians, but human beings the world over. 29 Australian and international designers have banded together to help support many Australians, animals and communities decimated by one Australia's worse national disasters.

What happened? On Saturday, Feb 7, the temperature in Melbourne was 33'c by 9am. By noon it was 40'c and by 2.50 pm soared to 47.9'c (a state record).Thousands of people were also about to start running from the inferno that would become one of Australia's worst peacetime disasters. Trees ignited in the blink of an eye. By the time people heard the roar, it was too late to flee ahead of the flames.Unfortunatly no one or thing could have stopped this inferno that wiped out communities, bushland, and lives within minutes. Many towns now cease to exist!.After watching interviews with survivors, many say that they cant put into words what they went through, saw or felt on that day.Here are just a few pictures(courtesy of google,The age,sbs &abc Aust.) of this horrible disaster:

Why is this charity kit different?No money will change hands at Snap N Tag (our host website). We are asking for your support by donating DIRECTLY to one of the following charities:

Donations
can be made
here: The salvation Army or here: Australian Red Cross

What do I get for my donation and where: You will be helping the people of Victoria, Australia most importantly, but you will also receive this amazing MEGA kit (see below).
There are 167 papers, 326 elements, 2 Alphas and a glitter syles pack as well.How amazingly fabulous is that and you can receive all of this for as little as a $5.00 donation.(**Vouchers will be emailed upon receipt of proof of Donation**)
But thats not all! For showing us how much you all really care, you not only get the MEGA kit but receive a Quickpage Album if you donate over $10.00...WOW how awsome is that!

To receive your Charity collab go here at Snap N Tag (** Don't forget your receipt of donation**)Donated! Wear your blinkie proadly: (made by Michelle Filo)

I want to personally thank those invloved in the creation of this MEGA kit? Dont we all! 29 ladies have done an amazing job planning, creating,collating and Advertising for this Charity appeal! Below is a list of blogs with the names of these 29 people. Please leave some love for them all to let them know how appreciated there efforts have been.

A work in Progress-designs by Vicki
Ambowife Designs
Carjazi Designs
Carolyn Kite- Co-Owner of Scrap N Tag
Chaos Lounge
Charlie's Digiscraps
Color with Caryn
Desert Designs
DigiLover's Addiction
Emcee Scraps
Flergs
Gillian Foley- owner of Snap & Scrap
HoleyCow Designs
Jeanette Bollinger Designs
KimB's Designs
KylieM Designs
Laitha
Lindsay Jane Designs
Mel_h Designs
mITSYBELLE
Piggyscraps Designs
SKrapper Digitals
Scrap'it Designs
Scrappin happens/Julie C Designs
Shazbutt's Digi Scrapz
Sweet Blossom Designs
WenchdGrafix Designs
Zesty Digi Designs
[ksharonkdesigns]

Personally i would like to thank Vicki and Shaz for all the organing this wonderful collab and to Carolyn for hosting this at her website, collating and doing the previews.You have done an amazing job ladies. Also to my fellow designers, without your generosity this Charity Kit would never have happened...well done!