I added a 100 Things About Me page a while back, but forgot to let you all know. I see these on other blogs and really enjoy reading through them, it’s amazing what you find out about people this way. I have hit the 80 RSS subscriber mark, + 70 email subscribers too, so someone must be reading this blog, maybe you’d like to know a little more about me (or not) let me know what you think.

The lovely Gill has honoured me with an Arty Pico Award. Thanks so much Gill you are a sweetheart! I shall award mine in a future blog post, so be on the look out…

I’m not sure how I came across this video, but down the bottom is the magazine that stars my baby and my Cover Layout for Digital Scrapbooking Magazine! Must say I was pretty chuffed when I noticed it!

This video is scary…. imagine what is happening to your brain while you are on the phone…

Photoshop Tip # 9

Feel Good…

PUERTO RICO

Lastly, so I am not excused of preferential blog entries, I’d like to report that at the last Puerto Rico evening, Brian won 1 and Suzy won 1, of course, if you include the handicap, Clinton has won every game since we started, (and some that we haven’t even played yet) but of course that only applies when we are playing in NEVER NEVER LAND!!!

And so I don’t disadvantage myself here, at the previous Puerto Rico evening, I won 2 and Jen won 1. And in case you’re wondering Clinton, that happened in the REAL WORLD! Where there are no Never Never Land handicaps! ;-P

I just love these two videos, they both use stop motion digital camera images to achieve the effect. I found them on Photojojo.

et cetera from jacattack on Vimeo.

This one I like, especially if you are travelling, I think it’s a great idea, I am also intrigued as to why most of the feet are to the right of the shot? Why do you think that is? Maybe it’s because most people look through the viewfinder with their right eye, which means the camera is moved to the left….?

looking down. from hrrrthrrr on Vimeo.

PHOTOSHOP TIP #3

Wow this is hard, always wondering which tip is most useful!The truth is they all are!

OK, lets talk Blendmodes and another handy shortcut. I use Blendmodes ALL the time, on Photos, Digital Scrapbooking Pages, Papers, lots of different ways. The thing with Blendmodes is that the results can be unexpected and it’s not always easy to predict which blendmode will give you the effect you are after. So the easiest thing to do is to look at each blendmode. This is the easiest way to scroll through and find the blendmode that gives you the effect you are after.

* Click on the word Normal in the Blendmode box (found at the top of the Layers palette next to the Opacity Slider). This will open the dropdown menu. Now just click again. The dropdown menu will close but the word ‘Normal’ will now be highlighted (in Windows it will turn blue, I’m not sure what it does with a Mac).

* Now all you have to do is use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through each blendmode and see the the results live on your image.

I hope you find this helpful. If you do, leave a comment and let me know how you have used it.

If you want specific help, post a comment and I will endeavour to help you out

What I am listening to…

Angus and Julia Stone. Loving this Brother Sister duo, every song is unique check them out here. This is one of their songs Mango Tree, but they are all great, it was hard to pick just one, check out “All Of Me” if you can too….gorgeous.

What I am reading…

The Mortdecai Trilogy by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Certainly it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I am loving it, laugh out loud hilarious, but it may require a certain sense of humour, I don’t consider mine particularly sick, but then who does? I had dog earred several pages to quote here, but really it won’t seem as amusing out of context. As you are reading, imagine a lovable, slightly alcoholic, effeminate English womaniser with a cutting wit, it will give you the right tone. I saw this recommended on First Tuesday Book Club, and I’m glad I bought it. After that I am reading The Confederacy of Dunces, which I am told by Link is one of his favourite books, and he should know, he has a book database and everything!

Did you know you can purchase books from Amazon directly through my website? Check out the link in the navigation menu at the top of the page. And when you think Amazon, come and visit and order through me!

This weekend we had our dear friends Mandy, Dave, Odette and Mallory come and stay, I haven’t been very well at all this week, but it was, as it always is, a delight to see them and spend time with them, I promise to be more fun next time we see you guys! Loved seeing the girls catch up again too. Quinn burst into tears tonight saying how much she misses them and wants them to move back, I so wish they could. We fitted in a few games of Puerto Rico, since we had to give it back, and I am sad to say my 7 game winning streak is well and truly over, in fact I think I came last in two of the games, Dave was the reigning champ, although there was some controversy over his first two wins… but he is so sweet he is forgiven… and I am going to tell John Faine to leave him alone too!

I am thinking the fact that I am unwell contributed to my dismal performance, well that’s my story and I am sticking to it!

Once again, bad timing with my being sick, but we had Quinn’s 11th birthday party (yes, it’s a month late, but I have reasons OK!), anyway, she told me tonight it was the best party she’s ever had (although she did say that last year), I will post some pictures soon of what we organised for the party, I think they all enjoyed it, it was quite fun, headaches and all.

Brian and Bronte went to the footy again today, and saw the mighty Hawks victorious again (just), Bronte received her 3rd (or is it 4th)? football given to her by one of the team members what a lucky girl!

Coming Soon:- I’ve been tagged, watch this space.

Kramer, eat your heart out, this is the ultimate coffee table book… found at this great typography site here

Enjoy

~Layout…

As a follow-up to the last post, here is a layout that was published in the previous issue of Digital Scrapbooking Magazine, I also have another coming out in the next issue, which is a very simple layout of my Bronte Boo, but it’s one I love, so watch out for it!

Click on the picture for a larger view…

~MAC’s with viruses, it can’t be so…

I stumbled across this little MAC virus. What? MAC’s get viruses? Apparently they do. This is the good kind and it’s so smart it works with gravity!…. Check it out at Troika and watch the video below… Judy and Angela, I was tempted to send this to you! MAC’s have all the cool stuff *sigh*

~Have you heard the news?

The current issue of For Keeps is the last one! The magazine will now incorporate cardmaking and will be called For Keeps Creative Paper, you can read all about it here. ANgela, did ask a relevant question…will they still publish Digital layouts? Hmmmm.

~Should I?

Oh I know I am insane, but I am thinking of redesigning my blog again… call me crazy…hey! That was just a figure of speech! I really want a theme with two sidebars in it, the question is, do I want to do all that coding again and have all those headaches and ridiculously late nights…. I think I’ll sleep on it, but I’d like your opinions please.

~Movie Review…

Suzy and I went and saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall yesterday and we had a great laugh, it certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, lots of full frontal nudity (although I don’t think any females can be included in this, Suzy, is that right?). Lots of funny lines and a few poignant moments too, can’t pick out too many favourite bits as I enjoyed the whole thing, but the singing in the bar scene was funny and several scenes with the sexually dysfunctional newlyweds were priceless, there was also a bit of Karma Sutra thrown in too.

~MAC dinner….

On Monday night the MAC girls had another get togather, Shez, Ruth, Angela and I drove down to Melbourne on Monday night to meet up with the lovely and talented Karen from New Zealand. She was out here having a holiday with her lovely family, we had a beautiful meal at Docklands and chatted the night away. Unfortunatley, Sharon and Judy were unable to make it this time, but Deb (Judy’s gorgeous daughter) was able to come and stand in for Judy and she also brought Corey along as well, it was great to see these love birds together. It was a long drive and Shez, Ruth and I got home close to 1.30am, so it was extremely hard to front up to work next day, but of course we all did… Photo’s are still on the camera at the moment, but I will post when I get around to downloading them.

~Quinn’s Birthday…

It was Quinn’s birthday on Sunday and she had a lovely day, she only got one little present, but don’t feel sorry for her, it was an 80gb iPod Video Classic!! She is soooo happy with it, it’s a long story but she wouldn’t usually get something so pricey, but just to see her happiness made it worth every cent. And to top it off, she is staying at a friends house tonight (Rachael’s) for a sleepover, out of the blue, about 20 minutes ago, I got a call from Rach’s Mum, she just wanted to tell me what a great kid Quinn is, that she is respectful, polite, fun to be with and an all round pleasure…. well, I couldn’t be any more proud than I am at this moment… it was lovely for Simone to call me just to say that, but even better that others see the special little girl that I do!

EDITED TO ADD:

Almost forgot, we had another Puerto Rico night on Friday night, i won the 1st game, which brought my winning streak up to 7, Brian ended it when he won the 2nd game, and Suzy won the last…Link is still yet to win a game. (Sorry Link, just reporting the facts). We followed it up with the last episode of Lost which Suzy and Link hadn’t yet seen, and which I am glad I watched again…

Leave me some love….pretty please

Click on the graphic and download, and don’t forget to leave any comments and a link to any layouts that you create.

Also wanted to say that I am very excited to be going to see Kate Miller-Heidke in May with a few friends!

Check out the video below if you haven’t heard her….

Thanks for visiting

Pitch or no pitch? You decide….
and if your ears can take it here is another of John even worse than this
John 2

And also one of Quinn singing Love Me Tender

Also Lisa sent me this the other day and I think it has some lovely sentiments…thanks Lis
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
Always remember….when life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!!