on vacation

I brought my PSPX disc with me to play with while on vacation since I never seem to find the time to experiment with it at home. Forgot to bring the serial number as well though. So much for that idea. I'm just going to have to sit down & make myself use it. But when I am home I want to get scrapping, not figure out a new version of my software.

I want to get scrapping now. I found a site that has 2 page layout blueprints & I printed them out & am looking at some to adapt for the quick pages. I've got several other ideas as well. Bought a graph paper notebook today & started writing them down so I don't forget.

Totally missed the chat today. Lost track of time while DH was napping & i was dealing with the boys. Mayhem very clingy today & Havoc being standoffish. I think he is having nightmares or something because he is talking about 'scary things'. Then Mom says dinner is ready & I realize it is almost 6pm. I never heard back from Amy to my PM so I wasn't sure what was going on with the chat.

Getting Organized

I went through my installed fonts & moved 70% of them to my new My Fonts file & categorized them. I have a couple dozen serif fonts that are the EXACT same thing under different names.

I reorganized my scrap folders to include website under the kit folders & then moved kits into the right folders

I've visited the 6-8 websites I've been checking out & posting on for the past couple of weeks & made a list of each site's challenges & chats that I like. I've got them all arranged on a calendar now. I plan to spend the rest of the month visiting the sites, checking out the stuff & seeing what I end up doing regularly. I've already dropped a few sites. I don't want this to get out of hand. DSP, DSD, 3S & Scrap Mommies seem to be the ones I like most, though RAK & POTH have possibilities.

I think I may sign up for 3 classes at DSP this October - Intro to PSP, Layout Design & Creating Word Art. This will set me back $65 when DH's job is not all that secure but if I don't take them now, who knows when I might get the chance. DH & I have talked about it. We're both more of the 'live the high life while you can' sort than the 'start saving now' sort. This is not good in the long run but the loan the business was hoping for has come through so I've decided to be an optimist and take the chance.

Now I need to wade through all my PSP links & sort out what is actually useful & what i have already printed out & what can be saved to my PC & clean the whole folder out. I don't know how Gizmo does it. She always has the greatest links & several times I've discovered I already had them too. I need to *use* them. But i want to get organized first.

Then I need to organize the crochet & cross stitch & quilt stuff. Someday...

Just for this Day

This is one of my favorite works. It always makes me cry when I read it. Ihave seen a shorter version of it attributed to Sally Meyer as a work about autism but I am not sure where this longer version came from.

crochet woes

I have unravalled the scarf 3 times so far. First I realized about 8 rows into it that I added a stitch on the second row, so I unravalled to that, fixed it & got about 8 more rows in when I realized that I had also added a stitch on the begining row & that is where the funky bow in the bottom came from - not changing tension like I thought. So I unravel all 10 rows, readjust & crochet about 20 rows. Last night I looked at it & realized it was too wide for what I wanted. So i unravelled the WHOLE THING.

I started over with the base chain & the first row (sc) done in just the purple yarn & then added the fur to the second row (dc) and will do both together in dc until the end, when I will finish with one row of just purple in sc.

I like the grey fur wiht the purple now that I have gotten used to it.

bought yarn

WM was having a sale on Fun Fur. So I bought a few skeins & a skein of Plush red heart. I am going to make a scarf. Simple. Just 25 dc across until it reaches 72 inches. The plush is purple & the fur is black/grey. it seems to really overwhelm the purple. I may have to switch to purple fur....

I need to crochet more in teh evenings. Or do XS. I have been on teh computer scrapbooking mostly & it is not helping me sleep at night. Crochet & XS as a form of mindful meditation for me & that relaxes me. Scrapbooking energizes me.

Mayhem's kilt made

That went faster but I'm still not too sure I've got the elastic right.

I ironed the pleats down in place. the thick hem keeps them from looking too pleaty & I hope the ironing will help.

I'll put them in onsies under them. I made them some belts out of leather strapping.

Havoc's kilt made

Pleating it to the right size was a bit of work & then I had to readjust the tension in the elastic but it turned out good. A bit long but oh well.

I need to come up with a kilt pin to hold the fabric in place over his shoulder

bought fabric

Bought plaid fabric for the boys kilts. Nice tan/burgandy pattern & only $2 a yard. I'm going to put a good 3-4 inch hem all around the fabric before I make the kilts so there is room to grow. I got 2 yards each. Both boys have 20 inch waists but Havoc is 5 inches taller.

I hope I can get the front elastic waistband idea to work

digital scrapbooking

My friend Steph turned me on to www.digitalscrapbookplace.com The have tutorials for PSP. I've been wanting to DS for awhile but didn't know where to start & wasn't sure I had the right software. She has recently down a bunch of great pages & told me she was taking lessons at this site. I have to wait until October for a class in PSP but I can do the tutorials until then & see what I come up with

bought more patterns

I bought some new patterns for XS. I gotthem from Witches Stitches. I don't knwo why I bought them. I'm almsot half way done with my current project but I have been working on it off & on for 3 years. So it isn't like I'll need them any time soon.