Now very committed to blogging lately. Very involved with "ALL ABOUT JOHN" album for his 85th Birthday bash in June. Very please with way it turned out.....thanks to Graphic 45's Proper Gentleman papers. Have to scan a few pages and post them.

Fun w/ John's Birthday Album

Having so much fun working on John's "Proper Gentleman" album celebrating his 85th birthday. Today, we did a page about a close friend that attended John's 3rd Birthday.

Merry Christmas.

Sweet Happy

I am so glad I made this photo of Happy in early Novemeber. She turned 14 years some time in early Spring. My husband rescued she and her sister from a bar ditch was puppies. She Blessed us with her gentle ways and loving personality. She had a beautiful spirit and was beautiful. She had a stroke on Sunday, 21 November and died the following Wednesday. We miss you.

bits and pieces.

I have been in Georgia attending Sweet Memories 2nd Birthday Party in Carrollton. Debby Schuh was their guest designer offering 3 classes. I first met Debby at ScrapbookNSuch in Wichita Falls, TX. Her albums are gorgeous; this is the third set of classes I've attended.

What I am doing today, is going through the "left-overs," you know, the remainder of the sticker sheets; the larger and sometimes complete sheets of paper, rub-ons, ribbon and other extra embellishments. Occasionally, I use something from one of these kits, but most often, they languish in a sack, and die. We have a shelter for battered women and children and I am going to call them to see if they want these bits and pieces. These items will be better put to use by these shattered persons, than by me. In fact, I will start a box for paper that I once loved but now want the matched sheets. It is amazing the changes I have seen since starting this journey in 2003.

So, I am hoping you too, will start a box and share your extra material with a shelter in your home town. I hope it will provide therapy and give encouragement for these women and children for the new direction they are taking. I wish them well.

More on photo developers and PSE 8

My scrapbooking project for the foreseeable future is my husband's 85th Birthday album. I have been shifting through hundreds of photos and slides. Finally, after years, I am getting a handle on PhotoShop Elements, now using 8. The break through came when I took a introductory course at our local college. (I would take more but imagine they are having trouble locating a teacher.) Also, took two courses on the Internet and have a Scrapper's Guide DVD that came with the update to 8. What I finally came to realize is that learning PSE takes time, a lot of time, and effort. The program can do wonders, 8 can even move two people closer in a photo.

While learning PSE I also came to realize that not all developers are the same. Also, PSE makes it so easy to send straight from the Organizer. However, you have to choose between Kodak and Shutterfly. I chose Shutterfly but will give Kodak a look as well. I am not sure if the Shutterfly has made all the difference for now I am running the Auto Smart Fix in PSE before the final Save and sometimes custom adjusting color and contract. Anyway, do not be dissatisfied with your prints, try another local store or send them off. Shutterfly only cost $1.99 for postage. One on-line shop I checked was a flat $5.00. That may be alright when you are ordering 12X12 but certainly not for 4X6.

While on the subject, I must, again, mention that you should not be printing your own photos. The ink on the ink jet is not as achival as you need. Who wants to send all the time on a page or photo to have it fade later. I have no idea why the scrapbooking magazines have stopped writing about archival photos.

I am having LOTS of fun with this album about my husband. Several lines of Graphic45 papers fit together beautifully to give me the papers I need, mostly Gentlemen. I am having trouble cutting and putting pictures over parts of the pages for the paper is so handsome and speaks to me about my husband, his life and interest. The album is 8X8 so I am using very few embellishments, just the paper itself. Will post some of the pages when I actually finish a section. Keep finding more photos I want to add. J

Photo developing

Today, in the mail, came photos I sent via the net, to be printed. These photos are all taken from slides, some going back thirty-five years. I am very pleased with the results. First, I have learned a lot more about PhotoShop Elements 8 and worked on colors and contrast in most of the shots. Secondly, and most important, I have changed developers. You can use Shutterfly from with in PSE 8 which makes developing so much easier. But best of all the developed photos are so much better than those from the developer I have been using.

A word about sending to professional developer, over printing at home. By all means, if you want your photos to last, you will send/take to professionsl developer.

I am working on an album for my husbands up and coming 85th birthday. These photos show his LOVE of all things with wheels and steering wheel. Yesterday, he traded his Liberty Jeep for 2011 Grand Cherokee Jeep. This makes number number 38. In our forty-seven plus years of marriage, we have owned thirty-eight vehicles. Depending on the tax laws, some times he drove his personal car and other years, the business owned cars that they insured. I have no idea how many vehicles he actually drove. Gotta go put the photos in the album.

So far, the only person I am blogging to, is me. That is okay. Today's subject is weather. Can you believe this HEAT!! I am just thinking about how wonderful Winter is, wearing sweaters, and jeans. John was just regretting that the animals have to endure this heat. Of course, they suffer in the winter as well.

For the last few days, and for the next week, the temperature in North Texas will be 100 or above. If there is any outside chores to do, you do them very early or just before sun down. We passed a crew, yesterday, working on a road, and wished for an umbrella for the flag persons.

I have often lamented about air conditioning changing the way neighbors and friends visited at night on the front porch of their homes. They knew where their children were and what they were doing. They exchanged news of the neighborhood, the national government and the world. There was no twenty-four hour news on the radio. Now, I sit down to send an e-mail and catch up on the news.....all day long. I enjoy playing music over my satellite, much more soothing than news.

Better get back on weather and sign off. I love thunder and lightening, the only things that man has not been able to control, even though they have tried. I lament the loss of the front porch news system but not to the point of giving up air conditioning. Maybe, FaceBook is the answer. LOL