a girl after my own heart

For those of you that enjoyed the "small pictures" tutorial that I posted a few weeks ago, here's something even better. This is a girl after my own heart. If you haven't checked out CoffeeShop Actions you MUST run to her site. This girl has so many PS actions and is now doing templates for storyboards. Wahoo!!!! She just posted a template for 4 wallets on a 4x6 image. Yay!!!
wallets template

In other news, we've survived Jackson and Dylan's birthdays and parties, hosted a fun little shower for Lelia and enjoyed graduation. (Need to post those pics, btw.) This is the last week of school. I'm not sure whether to be sad or happy about this. I look forward to not having to get up every morning to get the boys ready but I'm not looking forward to being home ALL DAY EVERY DAY with two kids (one of whom gets into anything and everything). So, yesterday I went and bought a Wii. I'm hoping it'll keep Dylan and me occupied this summer (such a great Mom, huh?). We'll see.... I'm also hoping to get some scrapping done this summer. I just got in a HUGE stack of pictures to scrap and put in albums so that'll keep me busy for a while if I can just find my mojo. =)

gallery wrapped canvas contest

“I am entering this photo in the MCP Actions/Color Inc. Win a Gallery Wrap Canvas Photo Contest at http://mcpactions.com/blog. I certify that I took this photo and give both parties permission to use this photograph on their blogs/sites.”

Wish me luck! =)

"small pictures" tutorial

I've had several people ask me how I get small pictures printed at photo labs without paying an arm and a leg for "wallet" size. I'm going to attempt a tutorial here. Please keep in mind I am NO photoshop expert at all - I just learn as I go. And I research a lot on the internet. =)

1. Open your photo editing software. I use Photoshop Elements 7. You can also use any version of Photoshop but you'll need something that uses "layers."
2. Go to "file" and then "open."
3. Open the 4 photos you want to print in the smaller size. At this point I minimize all the photos just because having a cluttered working space drives me insane! =)
4. Go to "file" and then "new" and then "blank file." In the window that comes up, you're going to need to give the new file the sizes you want. In our case, we're going to be printing a 4x6 inch picture so change the dimensions to 4 inches by 6 inches. (Make sure you're using inches and not pixels!)
5. At this point you'll want some grid lines on your new file so you'll know where to place each picture. Go to "view" and then "grid." The new file should be divided by lots of lines. (You can also turn on the ruler to help you measure each small picture, just click on "view" and "ruler.")
6. Now you need to go back to the first picture you opened. In PSE7 you can very easily just look at in the "work bin" section of the screen. In older versions of PS, you may need to click on the picture to view it bigger.
7. Hold the left mouse button down over the first picture and drag it to your new blank file. Now, you should have a copy of the first picture "pasted" onto the blank file.
8. Next, line the bottom right corner of the photo up with the middle point of the new blank file. (This is where the grids and ruler come in handy.)
9. If you have PSE7 you can then click on top left corner "box" of the photo and drag it to meet up with the outside lines of your new blank file. In PS you'll need to click control+T and then drag the corner box. Once you've gotten your picture resized, press enter or click on the checkmark.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 for each picture.
11. Now you should have 4 smaller pictures on one screen put together like a collage. Now you need to click on "layer" and "flatten image." This will flatten the pictures down to create one file.
12. To save your file, simply click on "file" and "save as" and name your file. (Make sure you're saving it as a jpeg file and not a psd file! =)

**A couple tips - Make sure all your pictures are turned the same way when you're printing them as a 4x6 or 6x4. I usually like to turn mine horizontally which would make my new blank file a true 4x6 and it's just bigger on the screen which helps my tired eyes. =)

**If you're wanting to leave a white border around each small photo you'd just resize them a little smaller when you're adjusting them on the new blank file.

Ok, I hope that actually made sense. If you have any questions just post a comment here and I'll get them answered ASAP! =)

EDITED TO ADD: Kari Ann suggested putting even more pictures on an 8x10 print. That girl is so smart!! =)

long time no post

I'm supposed to be getting some stuff ready to sell at a consignment sale next week but instead I'm watching John and Kate Plus 8 and wasting time on the computer. =)

Since my last post, we've been to Gatlinburg for a long no-kid weekend and to Disney World for 8 days of driving, walking, rides, food and sheer exhaustion. We're slowly recovering from DW....

Thank you to everyone who gave us Disney tips and info. It's definitely a trip you have to do some planning for but so worth it. We had a great time and can't wait to go back! I've gone through all 800 pictures that I took (knowing me that number shouldn't be too shocking LOL) and am just about to read to post my favorites. Hopefully that'll come in a couple days.

Coming up this Monday, Scrap4Life will be having a 7 day crop!!! Come join us for scrapping, chatting, prizes and all kinds of fun!!!

5:07 minutes

Please watch this when you have 5 minutes of quiet time. Have the tissues ready, though. =) It'll make you proud to be a woman.

photo contest

Greeblemonkey is hosting a photo contest that ends tonight so I'm going to give it a shot. If you're a regular visitor here you've already seen this picture but I never tire of looking at it so, tough! You get to look at it one more time. =) Anyway, the winner of the contest gets a $250 gift certificate to a photography rental company and I'd love to try out that 24-70mmL lens so here's my shot.
Total sidenote: If you have younger children, you need to check this out:
http://72.55.134.30/home

hmm.....

You Belong in 1959

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Ok the "fun loving, romantic" I'll agree with, but "innocent?" Hmmmm..... =)

gatlinburg

If you and your family like to vacation in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, I know a great little place you can stay. The view is gorgeous, it's decorated beautifully, it's VERY convenient, it's got a great hot tub, and the amenities are top-of-the-line. If you're interested, check it out here:
http://www.vrbo.com/200336
Thanks!

blog list

I'm in the process of updating my blog list so bear with me. I have 180 blogs that I subscribe to on Google reader so it's a fairly time-consuming process to update this list. =)

christmas in july

Yours truly is hosting this month's cybercrop at Scrap4Life. Come join me this weekend!!!!
Jodi's having an AWESOME sale right now on all things Christmas in the shoppe. All Christmas products and alterable items are 40% off. Go stock up! =)

Total sidenote - this blog has now had over 10,000 hits. Wow!!! Thanks, guys!

recent finds

I've been spending WAY too much time lately on the net. In fact, Dylan comes up to me "Mommy, are you STILL on the internet?" Why, yes, I am. Google Reader is an awesome tool that lets me check in on as many blogs as I want. Currently, there are about 120 blogs I'm "subscribed" to. It has this cool feature that recommends blogs based on what you're already reading. That gets me in trouble!!! I've found many cool sites that way! Here are some great places I check out:

1. 2 sketches 4 you - started by SUPER talented friend, Kazan and her friend Laura
2. inspire me - VERY cool place for scrappy inspiration
3. stephanie howell - AWESOME scrapper and photographer
4. audrey woulard - AMAZING children's photographer - I could spend hours at her site!!
5. heather taylor - I've known Heather for a couples years now and she's soooo amazingly talented with a camera!!!!
6. precious memories - a LOCAL photographer who rocks!
7. footprints photography - photog blog with CUTE pictures of kids
8. image is found - the kind of pictures I want to take when I grow up =)
9. scrapbook princess - my friend paulette is opening a scrapbook store in a couple months WAHOO!!!! Way to go, girl!!!
   
10. picnik - I found this site through Virginia's blog. It's a fun site that lets you upload a picture, edit it photoshop-style and then save it back to your pc. Perfect for those of us who are photoshop challenged. LOL

I uploaded this picture to picnik, did some editing, and got this:
Happy Friday everyone!!

blog changes

Bear with me, guys. I'm changing the blog up a bit. =)

New Post Added

Ok, so I started a post last and decided not to publish it yet. Well, when I pubbed it this morning it posted it as the original date therefore it is hidden away down on the middle of the page. I have no idea how to fix the date of the post so here's a link to it:
Playing at the Park
There's some darn cute pictures of my son so check it out. I'm a little biased, though. =)

Please Say a Prayer

There was a tragic event in our community a few days ago. A man killed his wife and then shot himself. Their children are now left without parents and there are two families left wondering what to do next. These children have lived their whole lives with violence in their home and the police were frequent visitors. I don’t know why God allows this kind of horrible situation to exist but I know that some good will come out of the darkness. Please pray for these innocent children. Thank you.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe, wonderful Christmas!!!

Scrapbook.com ROCKS!

I just checked my e-mail and got a message that I'd won a prize pack from Scrapbook.com!! Yippee!!! The founder of Scrapbook.com is having a contest to see if she can get 2007 people on her friends list by 2007. Since I had added her to my friends list a while back, I was entered to win random drawings for prizes she's giving away. I actually won! I'm in sock - I never win anything!!
If you want a chance to win, it's easy! Just go here (http://scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=profiles&u=206) and add Jill to your friends list. If you're not already a member at sb.com (seriously, what are waiting for?) then register and add her to your list. It's super easy!! Scrapbook.com is a wonderful place full of inspiration and encouragement! I've met many friends there and gotten tons of ideas there as well.
Have a wonderful evening! I'm off to bed!

Simple Scrapbooks ROCKS!

If you read my PSA announcement from last week you know that I've been having issues with getting a Simple Scrapbooks magazine subscription started. Anyway, my wonderful husband suggested I send the magazine an e-mail explaining my problem in the hopes that they would contact the horrible website company (from which I purchased the magazine) to prevent the problem from happening to anyone else. That was my main goal: to make sure that www.allzines.com can never take anyone else's money. Well the wonderful Ms. Catherine Flynn at Simple Scrapboks sent me several e-mails saying they would work to resolve the problem and if they couldn't then they'd send me a free complimentary subscription. How sweet are they!? Well, sure enough as soon as I gave her my contact information, I got an e-mail from All Zines saying they were sending me a refund check. I gave them an earful in my response so I may never see that check but I was sooo ticked off that it took involving a fourth party to the problem to get answers. Anyway, long story (somewhat) short, I should have a check coming to me in the mail plus Simple Scrapbooks sent me a complimentary Jan/Feb issue for my troubles. I have been thoroughly impressed by their customer service! Few companies these days have any customer service at all and it made my day that they cared enough to sort out of the problem. Thank you, Ms. Flynn and Simple Scrapbooks!

BTW, the Jan/Feb issue of SS is awesome! I definitely recommend buying it if you don't have a subscription already!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving with your families. Eat lots of turkey and dressing and take long naps!!

PSA Announcement

I'm not into company-bashing (at least not publicly) but I have a warning for everyone out there. Stay FAR AWAY from www.AllZines.com. I purchased a magazine subscription from them back in May and never receieved anything from them except a charge on my credit card. I filed 3 complaints through the company's website and 1 complaint through the Better Business Bureau and they didn't respond to any of them. Please stay far away from this company!!!

Love this Song!!

If you live in Alabama or listen to country music at all then I'm sure you've heard this song. It always bring a tear to my eye! Just wanted to share:

Look at the two of you dancing that way
Lost in the moment and each others face
So much in love your alone in this place
Like there's nobody else in the world
I was enough for her not long ago
I was her number one
She told me so
And she still means the world to me
Just so you know
So be careful when you hold my girl

Time changes everything
Life must go on
And I'm not gonna stand in your way
But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first

How could that beautiful women with you
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew
The one that I read all those fairy tales to
And tucked into bed all those nights
And I knew the first time I saw you with her
It was only a matter of time

But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But its still hard to give her away
I loved her first

From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
Someday you might know what I'm going through
When a miracle smiles up at you
I loved her first

- lyrics taken from www.cowboylyrics.com

Isn't that just the sweetest song!!! Someone needs to make a mother/son version but this will do for now. Everytime I hear it, I just want to hug my little one and pray that time will stand still, kwim?

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

BTW, thank you to those who read this and leave comments. They always bring a smile to my face!