Together

Here are The Kidz - for once, all together.

I only have two photos of the three of them together. Tough to do, with three of them!

Heck, it's tough to do to get any two of them in the same photo! LOL

I'm working on a digital calendar for my family this year, and one of the pages in the calendar is entitled "together". I was fortunate enough to find enough pix of various members of the family together (brother and sister, brother and brother, sister and sister, husband and wife, a group of friends, grandparent and grandchildren) to fill the page to my satisfaction, so I'm liking this calendar page!


Whaddya think? Pretty cool, huh? LOL

I had no intention of making a digital calendar - for the past 6-7 years I've ALWAYS handmade my family calendars. And I NEVER get them done for January - consequently, the calendar year for OUR family is either February or March to the same time the following year.

So, I hadn't been sweating it too much, knowing I had about another month before the unveiling.

I'm headed to Leadership next week and knew I wouldn't have time to even START them til my return. But I was nagging for pictures to put into them.

And then I realized I didn't HAVE the paper calendars - tried to order them and they've been DISCONTINUED! OMG!!!

I'm sure I either realized it when they were discontinued and bought some - OR, that was last year and I should have remembered the calendar was going to go digital this year!

And if I DID buy some this past June - where in that Stampin' Garage did I PUT them? Lord only knows...

And I just decided I wasn't going to sweat it.

I'd just go digital! Had been wanting to try a calendar anyway, and like any other software I've dealt with in the past 25 years, it's always initiation under fire.

IT'S SO EASY! OMG...

Of course, I still haven't had the nerve to send a prototype calendar out to be printed so I can see where I didn't really "get it" and need to do some editing, but that's going to happen soon, cause I want to play some more! Adding elements and stamps and punches is so easy!

Changing sizes of the photos is easy too! So, if, like me, you want to squeeze a LOT of pix onto a single page, that's possible. Or you can choose to have only one or two on each page. YOUR DECISION!

And the background for that page?

ONE OF MY VERY OWN PHOTOGRAPHS!

YES! I just added it as a custom Designer Paper and turned the opacity down to about 35. SO COOL!!!

Every time I use My Digital Studio (MDS) I get all excited about the potential all over again.

SO MANY things you can do with it - make scrapbooks, calendars, flyers - anything you want. You can WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK if you want!

You can include video and audio files too!

Do you have it? DO YOU WANT IT? Contact me via email and I'll be happy to help you get started using a digital format for your needs!

To The Showers!

The Kidz have suddenly discovered the shower.

Not sure why they're almost three years old, and it's taken them this long to find it!

Velvet comes in to the shower when I'm done each time, and licks my legs dry for me. She's done that since she was a tiny kitten.

But Melie and Mudge... Well, either Velvet's more of an Alpha cat than I thought and has decreed the shower off limits for them, or they are much slower than I thought!

So, here they are, chasing something in the shower pan. Don't know if either of them caught it before it escaped down the drain (eeewww!) or what. I didn't stick around to keep tabs.

I also caught all three of them munching out on their breakfast the other day. It's really HARD to get the three of them in the same photo, let me tell you!


From top to bottom: Velvet, Mudge, Melie...

Looks like Mudge is eyeballing Velvet's food, but trust me, she won't go near the dish until Velvet leaves! Cause if she does, Velvet will more than likely turn around and bat her. She knows this from experience! Hee hee

And I FINALLY got a decent photo of Smedley (Melie) sitting up in his domain - the rafters in the garage...


He lounges up there even when I've got people sitting at the tables below, stamping. And every once in a while, he decides to come down while people are at those tables and manages to startle at least one of them!

He's a little shy of others, but lately, he's been letting people pet him, as long as they don't move too quickly.

He's NOT shy with me - he's a whiner! He constantly wants petted and brushed. He actually stalks me around the tables in the Stampin' Garage. Too funny!

I'm not trying to stalk you, but have you given me your order for Sale-A-Bration so that you can get your FREE PRODUCT? This is the BEST DEAL Stampin' Up! offers all year. Spend $50 and get a $15 item FREE!

Call, email, place your order on my website - just don't miss out on Sale-A-Bration this year - it all ends on March 31st... HURRY!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Those Kidz Again!

Anyone remember this?

It's a book I made using My Digital Studio (MDS) showing The Kidz when they were tiny babies. Weren't they cute??? (not that I'm the least bit prejudiced - hee hee)

Well, this is one PAGE of the book I made...

Stampin' Up! has released a whole catalog of the images that are available for download for use with MDS, and as I looked at the catalog (and realized how many of them I DON'T have), I was inspired to use MDS again.

I do a family calendar each year for my brother and two nephews (and families). And of course, I keep one for myself!

This year, in addition to the hand-made calendars I'll send them, I'm playing around with the new 6-1/2 x 5-1/2 size of calendar that was just released - and I'm LOVIN' how EASY it is to use this product!

I already knew that, but playing with it again reinforced that.

You can use the .jpg images in ANY software that will accommodate .jpgs. But MDS is SO EASY to use, and so inexpensive ($79.95), why wouldn't you just purchase this product and then add the newer images as you can afford to?

And the downloads are very inexpensive! They range anywhere from $.95 (!) to around $9.95, depending upon how many images are contained within the download.

The software comes with a TON of images, so if you never wanted to add to it, you'd be good to go for a long time.

The book for The Kidz used some of the images that were already set up.

All I had to do was drag and drop the photos into the picture boxes, add some journaling, and I was done!

But of course, I couldn't stop there. I added some additional images, which are included in the program for which we DON'T EVEN HAVE STAMPS!

How's THAT for a deal? Pretty hot, is what I'd say!

Here's another page from their book:

I started with square boxes for all the photos and was able to make some of them circles with the click of a button! On this page, I also added the background paper, many of which are contained in the original software, others which are available to be downloaded.


And we mustn't forget Ms. Velvet... This page is from a book I started playing with, but which I've never sent off to be made up. One of these days, I will though!

If you're interested in My Digital Studio, be sure to check out the website that has been set up strictly for you and MDS! You can post questions, photos, projects - whatever you'd like there.

And for those of you who use MACs - it works REALLY well on them, too (I'm a MAC person, so that was a REALLY important feature to me).

http://mydigitalstudio.net/

And when you're ready to purchase it, please go to my website to do so!

http://www.samslimak.stampinup.net

Remember to select me as your demonstrator to get preferred pricing!

The FIrst One

Today I found the first California poppy in bloom for this year! I've seen some alongside the road, but this is the first one in my backyard this year.



Of course, I found it around Noon when it was fully open, and forgot to take a photo until around 4 PM. Once the plant is in the shade (from the fence or other plants, for instance) the flower closes up.






Last evening it looked like this, and I KNEW it would be open today.









It was a LOVELY day to putz around out in the yard today.

I spent most of it tidying up potted plants - you know, cut off the dead wood, pull the weeds (myriads of them!!!!), move the pots around so that they're where they'll be happier.

When Dr Destructo re-did the patio last year, everyone got moved - and just put ANYWHERE! Most of them were not happy. They didn't get the attention they were used to (for the most part, I couldn't GET to them for one reason or another), and the weeds had just taken over...

Luckily, we got lots of rain this year, so there are more survivors than I'd anticipated. So, time spent grooming them will be very worthwhile in the long run.

The honeysuckle fell over during the rains, too, and it just sat there for about two weeks - it was on "the list" every day, but I found lots of excuses not to do anything about it.

Last week I hacked the heck out of it! In the time since it had fallen over, it had started showing some new shoots closer to its base, which was helpful. I knew how far back I could cut it without killing it. So I spent a little time today, re-hanging the netting I want it to grow up, and trying to convince those long runners that they'd be happier if they let me weave them thru the netting to get them started going where I want them.

While I was putzing out there, the cats all came out to join me.

They like it when I'm working out in the backyard. See?



Smudge wants me to pet her and follows me around (or just sits on the patio coffee table)...







Smedley plays "flat cat" ( or just sits on the patio chair!)...






And Velvet just sits on the patio chair and watches and naps...





And then, to top it all off, we had this gorgeous sunset, complete with a new moon!


I know - you probably can't see the new moon, but, trust me, it's there!

New moons are supposed to signify new beginnings.

I hope I was able to give a few of my plants some chances for new beginnings today.


And speaking of new beginnings - you haven't forgotten about SALE-A-BRATION (SAB) have you? I haven't heard from you about what you'd like to order to receive your FREE product! And new stamps and accessories are the doorways to new beginnings!

Call or email me and let me know what you need!

The Kidz

I can tell "the kittens" (which they'll ALWAYS be called, no matter how old they are) are cats now.

They're much less active, much less fun to photograph. Or if they are tearing around, they're much too fast for MY camera!

When they were younger, I did take movies of them on my camera, but I never figured out how to upload them. One of these days, I'll need to learn it, and I'll try to remember post them.

In the meantime, though, here are The Kidz from recent photos...

Here's Smedley, checking out a recent sunset. We've been having some gorgeous ones lately.

Smedley stills spends his days sleeping in the rafters out in the garage. He deigns to come down about an hour before sunset each day, to enjoy a romp with Smudge.

And then, of course, doesn't want to come in when it gets dark...







And here's Smudge - it's about the only angle I can get a shot that's not blurry.

Girl moves fast!

She's got a gorgeous thick coat this year and looks more regal as she ages. Sometimes called "the princess"...





And here's Velvet, sitting on one of her favorite patio chairs.

She's not as active as she'd like to be. She wants The Kidz to chase her, but they haven't caught on to the game yet. Maybe they're a lot slower than I thought!!





They had some traumas this year when we had that solid week of rain, and the backyard turned into a pond. They'd go to the end of the patio and have no where to go that they wouldn't get their paws wet!

So, they stayed in the house, and by the end of the week Smudge was antsy to get outside. She's just not much of a house cat during the day - might miss something outside, you know!

Hope you have a happy day! And keep on stampin'!

OH! Almost forgot to remind you! Sale-A-Bration (SAB) started TODAY! For each $50 you purchase (before shipping and taxes) you may choose a FREE ITEM from the SAB catalog! Awesome things in there - call me to place an order - or go to my website, if you'd rather. Either way, you get to choose something FREE - and who doesn't like FREE!

After Photos - Kitchen!

I forgot I'd promised to show you the kitchen after I'd personalized it!

I'm SO HAPPY with my new kitchen. NOW - don't think just because I got a new kitchen that I'm going to turn into a Julia Childs! While she was one of my mom's heros, I've never been that drawn to cooking.

Not that I can't, but it's not on the top of my "I want to do that" list. My mom loved to experiment in the kitchen. As kids, my brother and I were FORCED to try new foods almost every day. And we HAD to eat at least three bites of everything on our plates. There were times when I sat at that table for a LONG TIME after everyone else got to leave. It was pure torture, living at our house, I tell ya!

Anyway, I digress. Here are some photos for your entertainment.

Here's the "sterile" version...













And here's the more personalized kitchen that we're living in these days.












Oh, and I can't forget to share with you a couple photos of The Kidz as I unpacked the cherry items for the tops of the cabinets! They couldn't figure out WHAT was going on, but, of course, they had to check it out!















One of these days I'll remember to take photos of both bathrooms, now that they're finished, so I can share those with you as well.

Hope you've been using those stamps. I promise, I'll get some stampin' samples posted on here soon!