....get the desktop for July finished!!! It's only 16 July today, so obviously I am totally up to date and on time, as per usual, lol! I'll leave the preview and download link later in this post
Things here seem to be even more hectic than usual but at least it is almost the end of term. Only one more day to go and then my youngest son finished until September, which will make life a lot easier as there will be no school run over the summer. Of course, the other two still need taking to work, but that will mean only a 12 mile trip instead of the current 24 mile trip. Gotta love those school holidays!
My youngest is really looking forward to the holidays. I reckon he needs a break from school and some time to just "chill". He's been working hard these last few weeks and whilst his school report was both good and bad. How can someone be so good at maths, history and science, achieving better than the national curriculum level for year 7, and yet have grades just below that for English and geography? He is not a stupid boy, far from it, so is this the school or the teachers or what? You have to wonder.....
We start our summer holiday sessions at church this week. This means that the house groups, etc each take a Sunday Service and it is cafe church all through the summer. So, lots of tea and coffee, with different styles of service to look forward to:).
Well, I'd better get back to work. I need to get three sets of accounts finished by this weekend and only have today and tomorrow to do it in! If you know how to squeeze an extra hour out of each day plus an extra day in each week, please let me know, I could do with the extra time! In the meantime, here is the preview of the desktop.
It is made using my part in the Summer Garden blog train, and the photos are of the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. We saw them in action at Cosford Air Show last month and I managed to get a couple of decent photos out of the umpteen I took. Most of the others were too blurry or far away to be any good, but I was really pleased with these two photos. Due to my camera not being the fastest around (or maybe it's the photographer!), there were many photos of the sky, the clouds, some smoke as the planes moved too fast for me to get them in shot an press the button before they flew away! One day (in my dreams) I will have a digital SLR camera with zoom lenses and all that stuff, and will be able to take millions of photos in seconds, but until then, I have only a limited ability to take photos of fast moving objects!
So far, the desktop is only in 1280 by 1024 size, so if anyone wants a different size, just let me know. Click on the preview to go to the download page.
Bye for now!
Well, I have been out all day at a client's trying to get a VAT return finished, but because of the quantity of invoices, etc to input, I still have to finish reconciling the bank account. Plus I have another set of accounts to complete for another client, so I guess this weekend will be busy with work, again!
I was hoping I would be finished today by lunchtime, but that was not the case :(. I really wanted to spend some time just messing on the computer as I was up until 1 am this morning trying to get some accounts finished. I managed to do the accounts, but need a couple of hours more to get the covering letter finished. Due to working late, I ended up oversleeping this morning, so couldn't go for a run with the boys (as if they would have got out of bed extra early for that anyway!).
We actually haven't been running for two weeks now due to work, colds, and other factors. So, in a vain attempt to get some exercise and lose some weight, I have bought myself the "30 day shred". Have you got this/seen the video/tried it out? I read some good reviews of this so thought I'd give it a go yesterday.... Oh, boy, are certain muscles aching today! I thought my arms were going to collapse when doing the press ups, but the workout was really good. It was quick, very efficient (or at least Gillian Michaels and her helpers were efficient, not so sure whether the same could be said of me!) and I definitely felt better afterwards (once I'd got my breath back and had a good rest!). I don't think I'll be doing it everyday though, maybe every other day, so I'll have to let you know how I get on. I have only started at level 1, after all, I don't want to overdo things!!! So the 30 day shred is about to become the 60 day shred, so in two months time, I should be fitter and, hopefully, thinner!
Anyhow, exercise apart, I did do some designing at the end of last month for the Summer Garden kit and here is the first of the extras I promised:
It's a set of basic papers in the Summer Garden swatch colours, so feel free to download by clicking on the preview. I was hoping to finish a desktop (my current desktop is still showing June and here we are nearly half way through July!) for you but haven't had the time to complete it yet...maybe at the weekend?
I've also found some brilliant paint brushes for Photoshop online and really want to make some plain painted papers. Oh, the things I want to do this weekend! Plus, it is also my Dad's birthday on Sunday so I need to make him a card. Now that I have taken up card making I refuse to buy cards...of course, if you costed out all time it takes me to design and make a card by hand, it would be far cheaper just to go out and buy one, but then where's the fun in that?!!!
Ok, I'm going to leave you now with the basic papers download, and hope to be back with painted papers some time over the weekend! I need to go get some sleep now, plus youngest son has promised me a back massage in return for me ungrounding him! That means, of course, I have to grab him whilst the offer is still good, otherwise I will miss out and I will have ungrounded him for nothing!!
Well, the latest ADSDesigners blog train is released today, and here is a preview of my share of the kit:
I've seen most of the other previews and they all look awesome! My part contains:- 5 papers
- 2 frames
- 1 bird
- 1 ricrac
- 2 knotted ribbons
- 3 flower buttons
- 1 tulip
- 1 butterfly and rose overlay
There's not a lot in my share of the kit, but I have more goodies for later in the month so keep checking back!
Just click on the preview to go to the download page and then follow the links below to the rest of the stops on the blog train! The links will be up all of July, so you have plenty of time :).
http://beaconscrap.livejournal.com/
http://beckmoorescrapalittle.blogspot.com/
http://nutnbutdezigns.blogspot.com/
http://candystreasures.blogspot.com/
http://cattscrapps.blogspot.com/
http://desertgirl-blog.blogspot.com/
http://foxyladycreation.blogspot.com/
http://www.digicyberscraps.com/
http://digital-keepsakes.blogspot.com/
http://fairydustprincess-magicmaker.blogspot.com/
http://heavenlycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://kikkinkreations.blogspot.com/
http://lindasdreamdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://living4him2.blogspot.com/
http://magsgraphics.blogspot.com/
http://studio-mamaecha.blogspot.com/
http://mytreasuredscraps.blogspot.com/
http://pinkmaryjane.blogspot.com/
http://pixiemamadesigns.blogspot.com/
http://scrappingwithjen.blogspot.com/
http://themathematiciansassistant.com/
Happy downloading!
...I have taken up running with my boys. The only problem is, none of us likes running when there are people around to watch (and laugh!) which means we have to get up extra early to go run around the football field!
So far, this is the fourth week and I am now up to 8 laps around the field. It is not a full sized football pitch, more like the size you get at school, but even so, I feel suitably noble managing (crawling?) around the field eight times. Of course, there are not many people around at 5:30 am when we go, fortunately. Otherwise they would have the joy of seeing me do a bouncy walk around the field dressed in jogging bottoms and top, both of which I wore when my daughter and I painted my office on February. This means, of course that the black trousers and navy top are covered in platters of lilac paint - very fetching!
One of my boys is aiming to go to University in September. He is the one who started the running thing off, as he is hoping to get a place in a catered hall of residence. So what does that have to do with running? Well, his theory is, he will put weight on if he is having three meals a day five days in the week (the hall only provides two meals a day on Saturday and Sunday, poor boy!) then he is bound to put weight on. So, he aims to lose some excess weight now then he can afford to put it back on each term and then come home in the holidays and run it all off again. Of course, the logical thing would be to just eat sensibly and take exercise anyway, but then he is male, and logic plays no part in his life!
One of the local colleges has been running a free Photoshop course and of course, since it is free, I have taken advantage of this and have been going regularly. However, it was a bot of a blow on the first day to arrive there and find we weren't using Photoshop CS3, but Photoshop Elements 2.0! Nothing like using the latest software, eh? Since my project on this course is to complete my part of the ADSDesigners July kit, I have been making papers for this on the course. This has been a huge learning curve for m,e, because whilst the course is very basic, and it took about 4 weeks before I even learnt anything new, PSE 2.0 is different from PS CS3, and most of my brushes and other stuff just won't work on PSE 2.0! so, when creating papers, I have had to basically design everything from scratch! And yes, I know the aim is to do that anyway if you are a designer, but I am only a beginner, and still have so much to learn.
Actually, most of us on the course (there are only about 8 of us) are around the same age and there are three of us women there who have freely admitted that whilst we came on the course to learn more about Photoshop, it is really good to be able to go home and tell our husbands we have "been on a course." Obviously, the course is educational, and therefore good for us because we are learning, but in reality, we each go to play! We spend the evening messing around in PSE, playing with brushes, retouching photographs, designing, using filters and so on, and having fun, and then go home and pretend it was all hard work! Then, of course, we can carry on at home because we are "working on our project"!!! And tomorrow, we get a certificate to prove we have attended the course! Actual documentation to prove we haven't just been wasting our time, lol! How good is that?!!!
OK, I'd have to go do breakfasts for the children and do the school run now. Hope you all have a lovely day. I am hoping to get chance to upload some photos from an airshow we went to recently as well as make some crumpled papers I've just seen a great tutorial for this and want to have a go but need to do a VAT return first - oh what an exciting life I lead!
....I'm not actually working today! That makes a very pleasant change so I am now catching up on various blogs, updating all my posts and, surprise, surprise, actually finding some time to spend messing around in photoshop!
I'm actually sitting here in my office, sipping my jasmine tea and just messing on the computer whilst son #2 sticks all my invoices and till receipts into a folder for me! He is currently moaning like crazy about how boring a job it is, how he hates doing it even more than he hates entering details onto the computer but that is the price you have to pay if you want to get a student loan and your mother needs her accounts doing!
It is currently tipping it down outside, typical British summer weather to be honest, although it has been really nice the past few days. The forecast for tomorrow is a bit iffy but am hoping that it will at least be dry. We have plans to walk (crawl?) up the Wrekin but only if it is not raining.
For those who may not know, the Wrekin is a hill not that far from here and it is 1,335 feet above the Shropshire Plains. You can get some glorious views of Shropshire from the top provided, of course, that the weather is fine. The above is a photo of the Wrekin taken from the grounds of Attingham Park, a stately home on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.
There are many local legends about the Wrekin, and here is one courtesy of Wikipedia:
A giant called Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Mynyddmawr with a grudge against the town of Shrewsbury decided to flood the town and kill all its inhabitants. So he collected a giant-sized spadeful of earth and set off towards the town. When in the vicinity of Wellington he met a cobbler returning from Shrewsbury market with a large sackful of shoes for repair. The giant asked him for directions, adding that he was going to dump his spadeful of earth in the River Severn and flood the town. "It's a very long way to Shrewsbury," replied the quick-thinking shoemaker. "Look at all these shoes I've worn out walking back from there!" The giant immediately decided to abandon his enterprise and dumped the earth on the ground beside him, where it became the Wrekin. The giant also scraped the mud off his boots, which became the smaller hill Ercall Hill nearby. Ironically Shrewsbury is subjected to flooding from the River Severn on frequent occasions naturally.
Anyhow, since the weather is too wet to do anything outside today, I decided to have a play with the Soft Denim swatch and came up with these gingham papers:
Feel free to download them - just click on the preview to take you to the download link!
I'm off to do some more photoshopping! Hope you all have a lovely weekend, no matter what the weather is like where you are ;).
I'm having a slightly less stressful week, this week and am catching up on various jobs, as well as trying to clear some of the paperwork in my office. I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate filing, it is the one thing I leave for ages and ages until I have mountains to do. I keep trying to persuade my children to help out, but they know me too well! If I'm trying to get them to do a job in my office, it will usually (in their opinion) be boring, and the pay is nowhere near enough! It's beginning to look like I might have to do this mountain of filing all by myself, sigh!
However, on a brighter note, I have used my part in this month's ADSD blog train to make a desktop for June and here it is:
I used the pupcats font and a ribbon template from Royanna Fritschmann plus the flowers, frame and papers from my kit.
If you would like to download it, then here it is:
Desktop 1280 x 1024
Desktop 1024 x 768
Desktop 800 x 600
I'm off to do some accounts for a card shop now (I lead such an exciting life!). Hope you have a lovely day!
Well, after a hectic weekend when I had to work until 2 am on Sunday morning and then until just gone midnight on Sunday, then having to dash out to a client to sort out tax returns and accounts I have finally had chance to upload my part in this month's ADSD blog train. I am sorry this is late, but real life hits big time on occasion. The preview of my part of the kit is shown below. 
and comprises:
- 5 papers;
- 6 flowers;
- 1 Butterfly;
- 2 ladybirds;
- 1 overlay
- 2 ribbons;
- 1 journalling paper; and
- 1 frame
Please take time to go visit all the stops on the blog train - there are some fantastic designs out there and they will be available for all of June.
http://adsdesigners.com/adsdblogtrain.htm
Have fun! I'm off to create a desktop using my part of the kit and am hoping to upload this tomorrow for those interested!
Well the new blog train is released later today but I am afraid you will have to wait until later in the day for my part. I have had to unexpectedly work all weekend and am off out to a client's very soon. I am sorry but I just will not have time to post my part until later this afternoon/early evening depending on how long I am out. You wouldn't have thought an accountant who mainly prepares tax returns and accounts could have sudden emergencies like this, would you? I bet you never realised accountancy could be so exciting!!!
To follow the next step in the ADSD blog train, please visit our central hub for the complete list of stops:
http://adsdesigners.com/adsdblogtrain.htm
Have fun on the train and I will be back later! Oh, and I will also check out the tulip download to see what is wrong with it :)
It's been a busy month here so far, but I have at least managed to get out and about with the children. We went to Carding Mill Valley on May Day Bank holiday. It rained off and on part of the day, we got soaked, but had a great time! It's now getting to the stage where I can get to the top of the Long Mynd without having a heart attack in the process, and having the energy to walk for several miles afterwards too!
We went to Shrewsbury yesterday, well three of us did (me, daughter and youngest son) and the weather was lovely. At one point, it was as if there were clouds encircling Shrewsbury but above us, we had brilliant blue skies! Anyhow, the main reason for the trip was to go to the pictures and to do a bit of shopping. However, because we didn't get there until gone 11 (someone (i.e. me!) spent too long finishing off a book before getting ready to go out), we only ended up going watching the film and having a late lunch! Still, the film (the new Star Trek movie) was definitely worth it and we all want to go again, it was so good!!
Well, I have just finished stapling together 30 copies of the notices for church this morning and need to get a move on if I am to get there on time..... I'm going to leave you with this:
It's a tulip from our garden, just after a shower of rain. PU, CU and S4H all ok. Click on the tulip for the download link. Enjoy!
Note: the original download only included the jpg so I have now corrected this and the zip file includes the png as well. Thanks for letting me know about this - just goes to show I'd be dangerous if I had a brain!!
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