… alittle time and alot of prayer makes.
In five weeks, we went from this
to this
Life is good.
Archive for the Category »my geeky fun «
How many times have you started to use a pre-designed template and wished you could change one little element, like an image?
If you have something like Photoshop, it’s not too big a deal. But if you don’t, and you’ve tried to edit a portion of a graphic file to overlay an image of your choice, you know just how frustrating it can be.
This Wordpress Theme is a great example. It comes with a canned set of rotating photos for the header. Shouldn’t be a big deal, should it? Look again. There are a set of slightly rotated white frames that make it appear to be a stack of photos. The last one is rotated just so. And the blue background, along with the cute little white frames is part of a single image file.
Enter FotoFlexer – a simple, free web app that lets you use layers! Load your base photo. Click on the Layers tab. Click Add Image. Size the second image and drag it over the first. Save to your hard drive. And you’re done. That fast. You don’t even have to register to use the tools.
And, if you are into more than simple, there are plenty of tabs and options to touch up, add effects, and art-geek to your heart’s content.
Amazing, fast, easy, and free! What could be better?!
Category: my geeky fun
Leave a Comment
Update Monday AM: Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. They are working. Chip is off the ventilator, breathing on his own, and resting comfortably. He was not speaking, but is responding to commands.
Friday night, Chip fell onto a concrete floor, sustaining a basilar skull fracture and a frontal lobe brain injury. He is in MSICU at Winchester Medical Center.
As of Sunday night, he remains sedated and on a ventilator. The active bleed has stopped and there is some reduction in the swelling. They bring him out of sedation hourly for a neuro check, where he “reacts appropriately” – fights the breathing tube, displays symmetrical movement, responds to light and pain. He is being weaned from the vent, and continues to breathe over the machine, so we are hopeful that they will be able to remove the tube tomorrow.
The nurses are encouraged that he seems to have an awareness of the difference in our presence and that of strangers. Huh? For my medical friends, his bp and heart rate increase slightly when we speak to him. There is no “sign of agitation.” When he becomes aware of “strangers,” his foot makes little circles under the sheet and his breathing gets faster.
He has been spiking fevers today, but is responding to Tylenol. Antibiotics have been started. They are still uncertain whether this is indicative of aspiration pneumonia or his body’s way of reacting to the “foreign” fluids in his skull.
Please join us in a prayer of thanksgiving that his injuries are no worse than they are and that he continues to show improvement of the coming days and weeks. Also, please keep the wonderful medical staff in your thoughts and prayers – Chip’s life is literally in their hands, and God must work through them.
Category: my family, my geeky fun, my home, my life
5 Comments
Brenda decided I needed a blog tag to get my butt in gear. The rules are to go to the place I store my photos, open the fourth folder, and then pick the fourth photo, and post it with the story. And she caveats it with no exceptions.
Cute. She obviously thinks I have things organized enough to actually have four folders. Ha!
Well, not on the family desktop I read the tag on. I moved all the digital photos from there to CD’s in October, and have a lone folder for stray images. So. Turn around to the laptop, where there are some folders in My Pictures.
No exceptions, heh? Well this should give her a chuckle …
 |
| From Miscellaneous |
She already knows the story. It is a stock photo from the Microsoft Office clipart collection – one of a set I downloaded depicting New Year’s when I was prototyping an online community site for her Gratitude Project.
And, now for the fun. The final rule is to tag four others – so here you go!
- Nicki
- Bec, who needs to get started!
- Ginger
- Jeanne Ann, who has the 4th Blog (not already tagged) at the Gratitude Project!
Category: my geeky fun
2 Comments
I’m excited at the feeling of a new beginning, and all the cool changes coming this year! To keep with the New Year’s theme, I’ll just rattle off 9 random thoughts in honor of 2009.
1. 
My buddy, Nicki, gave my Whiteboard a blog award – The Marie Antoinette – A Real Person, A Real Award! Please visit Nicki at Nicki’s Thoughts, Art, & Friends! My delay in reporting this does not diminish my excitement one iota. I am just bad. lol.
There are 5 simple rules –
- post the logo on your blog (to the right),
- post a link to the person’s blog from whom you received the award (thanks, Nicki!),
- nominate at least 7 or more blogs (you’ll find these at the end of my post),
- link to the blogs you’ve nominated, and
- post a comment on those blogs to tell them of their nomination! Simple!
2. Brenda Arnall is launching a 52-week Gratitude Project! I was honored to be allowed to help her get a framework up for an online community, and cannot wait until it goes live! I have spent the last couple of years trying to focus on the blessings in my life, and I am looking forward to being part of a community that is looking closely at not just the big blessings – but the little things that we, all too often, take for granted.
3. I made a fledgling start to sell some of my artwork in 2008 with a pocket-sized Christmas Planner. it bombed, but I am not discouraged. I learned alot from the process. And, I also managed to stay very organized and focused on the Holiday Prep by finally having a truly portable system to keep the tasks & lists at my fingertips.
4. I also made a decision, and began the business planning, to branch out on my own to offer time and project management coaching, website design, and social media services. Look for more in 2009 as I pull this together!
5. I started crocheting again! I picked up an unfinished afghan to give Thomas for Christmas. It’s not done yet, but the progress is steady. And I am not stopping until I can hand it to him! Soon – so I can pull out some unfinished quilting projects, too! I learned to stamp! And, I started some card making! Made all of my Christmas cards this year – they may have gotten out a bit late, but they were sent with love!
6. I made a decision to get involved in an issue that I feel strongly about – alternative energy! I’ve read the Pickens Plan, and joined the Social Action Network! Stay tuned!
7. I dubbed 2008 “The Year of Me” and spent a good deal of time in self-exploration and self-improvement. I found a job in my field! I began an Art Journal! I focused on getting healthy again – and am down 22.5 pounds!! Yes. Every .5 counts!
8. My “word” for 2009 is RELEASE, and my mantra is “Let it go, and move on.” The focus will be on releasing pressures, stresses, and clutter – concentrating on the positive and new beginnings.
9. Last but not least, Lain is doing LOAD again this year!!! WOO HOO!!! Bec & I had so much fun with that last January, and this year the LayOut A Day challenge will be in February – so stay tuned!
And, now, for the moment you’ve been waiting for … my nominees for the The Marie Antoinette – A Real Person, A Real Award are, in no particular order:
* Lisa at ScrappyCatz
* Katie at Kiss And Tell Scrapbooking
* Brenda at It’s A New Day
* Jana at I Can’t Wanna
* Ginger at Ginger’s Journey
* Jason at The Champion Inside
* Live, Love, Laugh, Learn
Category: my life, my thoughts, wordpress
3 Comments
You’ve heard me talk about the amazingly funny Lain Ehmann. I “found” her just about a year ago, as the leader of the LayOut A Day workshop at Big Picture Scrapbooking.
Bec and I loved playing along with her, and I can tell you that while the pace was frantic, we never had more fun and were truly in our element!
At a loss after the workshop ended, I stalked Lain’s blog. She was doing 30-Minute Thursday Challenges that kept the scrap mojo going – and I even won a couple of prizes!
Then, Lain got busy. There was a Little League tournament and travel. The challenges slowed down – she’s such a slacker! But I continued to stalk, and she kept me coming back with product reviews and sneak peeks of her projects. More than that, it was a personable, light-hearted banter. And, no matter how busy she is – she always responds -personally- to every blog comment. Every one.
Finally, she revealed her big secret – a book – Snippets: Mostly True Tales from the Lighter Side of Scrapbooking! Click through here to read an excerpt, and you will see for yourself exactly why I enjoy reading Lain’s thoughts and following her adventures. She is truly one of us! I cannot wait for this book to hit the store! Heck! I might just pre-order it! No hoping for Santa on this one!
So. The Blog Blitz? This is an out and out promotion – the book starts shipping the first week of December! You can pre-order now, and you can join the Pre-Launch Party here!
Consider yourself invited ….
“We are not like everyone else. Not everyone else owns
12 different types of adhesive and knows how to use them.”
- Lain Ehmann
Category: my geeky fun, my world
One Comment
Indeed, we have seen history made, once again, in our lifetime.
I tend to keep pretty quiet about my political views. For the most part, it is that they are my private thoughts, and an ingrained desire to stay out of heated, emotional debate. I grew up with politics, the daughter of a political activist, election judge, fund raiser-extraordinare, and state party official. I have seen more than my share of the inside of the great political machine.
Two things strike me as remarkable, and it has nothing to do with the history the media pundits are finally feel free to report. And, no. I’ve misspoken. I do find it remarkable, and feel a great sense of satisfaction in, the fact that we have elected our first African-American President, and that race was not a formal campaign issue.
Category: my home, my life, my thoughts, my world, wordpress
3 Comments
can’t decide on themes any better than I can.
The vintage, girly planner came out slightly ahead of the pack, but now I can’t make the sidebars look right. BAH! The rest of the theme choices got even votes.
So here’s one you haven’t seen. It’s grunge, it’s fall, it’s artsy. There’s barely hidden panic. It’ll do until I find one that just screams, “ME!”
Category: my geeky fun
Leave a Comment
comments