Monday, January 11, 2010

Windows Live Writer, I love you...Well, not so much.

I wrote this post in Windows Live Writer a total of 4 times. All went well until I tried to add photos. CRASH.

That happened twice. Then it was onto a different problem:: When I tried to tag anything, it froze. And it froze. So then I stopped, so I apologize in advance for the issues and the rather rushed nature of this post.

I've been really impressed with the entries thus far into the minibook challenge. And I'm happy to say that we're extending the deadline to the end of the month to give everyone a little more time to sign up and create. Yay! And I'm also delighted to let you know about a new site for If It's Groovy...

You can now go to the If It's Groovy Ning group, sign up and partake in as many or as few challenges as you want. The Ning group is really easy to navigate, it's free AND you can let your creative personality shine through--yes, it's customizable. It's fantastic and very easy to navigate around. And, once you get on there, either let me know in the comments of this post, or shoot me a PM there. I will love to interact with you.

Okay, so Thursday I got stuck on the freeway in all of the snow. CRAZINESS! And Friday, I was exhausted and not feeling well, so I stayed home (I'd gotten in after midnight on Wednesday, went to work thursday and was just not feeling it). Then I did some things this weekend:
  • Saw 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' (LOVED IT!) and 'Where the Wild Things Are' (Great, but not necessarily kid-friendly) with a great friend at the discount theatre. Red Robin for dinner and a visit to Borders (where I actually read 'Where the Wild Things Are' for the very first time!
  • Went out dancing with the girls. Only stayed under 2 hours, but it was awesome to see my friends.
  • Went to a Stitch n' Brunch Sunday at Panera. Started a capelet. Met amazing people. Definitely going back.
And, I spent too much money this weekend, but I got some really awesome things... So it's back to the budget, but I feel like I did okay.
  1. Kraftin Kimmie's Moonlight Whispers stamps (the Steampunk ones: Lavinia and Chester).
  2. A Printer. A wifi Printer, so I can print out my Ildi Co. Digi Stamps stamps (project for this week might be a two-fer, FYI). I love it, and got it for under $100. It feels so amazing to have a printer again, very cool to be able to print and copy and scan and even use a memory card to print! :-)
    It got great reviews, but people were pretty much saying the drawbacks were the lack of a creative suite (not concerned, I have photoshop and other things) and the expense of ink. Personally, I had a Lexmark all in one before this, and their inks were too expensive for my taste compared to the inks for this Epson. I love that it has 4 separate ink compartments--one for black and then the three colors in print ink formulation (magenta, cyan and yellow). And I really didn't like the scanning of the Lexmark. And, the connectivity to my computer was dodgy. That's sort of why I like the idea of wifi printing. I can set it up on the secretariat downstairs, plug it in and just print when need be. Or, I can set it up in the spare room/workshop.
  3. Went to Archiver's intending to get a score-pal. Could not reconcile the purchase, oddly enough. So I bought something else entirely. Something I could definitely use, but wasn't sure it would be a good buy.

    I have a Clip it Up! Got the base, upper tier, extra clips AND 4 pairs of different sized bags for under $90 at Archiver's. Yay! Let me just tell you now, the thing is HUGE. It is larger than the dog (Black Lab) when he is walking around (height-wise). I have a rack from Simply Renee, the company that makes the Clip it Up and I love it. But I'm really happy I got this, too. Started assembling and putting things on it (the finished product video coming soon). In fact, here are my assembly videos:
    Base Unit Assembly
    Upper Tier Assembly
    The Clip it up is really easy to set up and a lot of fun to use so far. I think seeing what I have is going to make a big difference in how I use things.


    Oh, and 1 thing before I go. I'm doing project 365, sort of. Not sure what I'll do with the finished product (am taking another Shimelle class on UK Scrappers that might have this nailed down), but my photo feed is located at 365Project.org. I would love for you to share your journey with me...
Happy Scrapping. I will be on later to comment on your lovely minibooks--I am floored that so many of you have accepted the challenge. It's amazing to see your work!

Oh, and one other really quick thing... I ordered from the Greeting Farm on 1 Jan. Still haven't received my order. Can I just expect to get it soon? Does anyone know if there were any issues with weather or something?

Monday, January 4, 2010

If It's Groovy Birthday Bash!!!!

That's right, If It's Groovy is celebrating a BIRTHDAY. YAY!

I'm so blessed to be on this team.

Video, Part One:


Video, Part Two:


Video, Part Three:


So what does this mean? You have a week to make you're own minibook. Post here with a link to your project and I'll check it out. All comments made will go into a random drawing for a really cool super secret (at this time) prize pack so you can make your very own Quick Minibook.

And remember to check out If It's Groovy and wish them a happy Birthday!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Can you tell I like to read?

Okay, so I normally don't talk about this part of my life on here, but I'm a passionate reader and writer and Bookcrosser (which I've discussed, I think?). I'm even on Goodreads. If you want to look me up there, go ahead, just make sure you say something about following me on GothamGal.net.

Anyway, so my goal was to hit 100 books read in 2009, and I guess I did that. Here's my list:

1. Heroes: Saving Charlie
2. Typhoid Mary
3. The Good, the Bad and the Undead
4. 3 Cups of Tea
5. How to be Good
6. The Water Method Man
7. Storm Front
8. Slay it with Flowers
9. Dearly Depotted
10. Snipped in the Bud
11. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
12. Here's the Story
13. The Last Tycoon
14. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son
15. The Great Gatsby
16. Murder She Wrote: Murder on the QE2
17. Beautiful Girls
18. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu
19. Ghostgirl
20. Interred with their bones
21. The 19th Wife
22. Wonder When You'll Miss Me
23. Such a Pretty Girl
24. My Life, My Tapes (Agent Dale Cooper)
25. The Story of a Marriage
26. Murder of a Royal Pain
27. Burnt Shadows
28. Revolutionary Road
29. Riding Lessons
30. Assasination Vacation
31. Staked
32. Acts of Violets
33. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
34. Carpe Demon
35. A Rose from the Dead
36. Driving with Dead People
37. Troll Bridge
38. Middle Age: A Romance
39. The Appeal
40. The Mermaid Chair
41. Goodnight Nobody
42. Missing Mom
43. Heart Full of Lies
44. The Falls
45. Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World
46. Vanity Fair
47. Men of the Otherworld
48. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (graphic novel)
49. 13 Reasons Why
50. Finger Lickin' Fifteen
51. The Local News
52. American Eve
53. Shanghai Girls
54. Until I Find You
55. Clubbed to Death
56. Find Your Groove
57. Making the Most of your Scrapbooking Supplies
58. The Busy Scrapper
59. Best of Becky Higgins Sketches
60. Prarie Tales
58. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life
59. The Woman Who Wouldn't
60. Turning Japanese
61. Return to Labyrinth #1
62. Suddenly Last Summer
63. Return to Labyrinth #2
64. Love is Hell
65. Best Friends Forever
66. Almost Perfect
67: Preludes & Knock Knock Jokes
68. An Invisible Sign of my Own
69. Missing You
70. May Contain Nuts: A Novel of Extreme Parenting
71. Polly
72. A Prayer for Owen Meany
73. Three Strikes and You're Dead
74. Frankenstein: Dead and Alive
75. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
76. Undiscovered Gyrl
***Lost a list of a few books that I'd read between 8/24 and 9/5/09, possibly 3***
77. Return to the Labyrinth 3
78. Blood Lite
79. Frostbite
80. Madison Avenue Shoot
81. The Girl In the Flammable Skirt
82. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
83. A Slaying in Savannah
84. Into the Silence
85. Bay of the Dead
86. Frostbitten
87. Pop Tart
88. The Lightning Thief
89. The Sea of Monsters
90. Juliet, Naked
91. Her Fearful Symmetry
92. The Titan's Curse
93. Murder She Wrote: Margaritas and Murder
94. Battle of the Labyrinth
95. Murder She Wrote: A Fatal Feast
96. Star Trek Destiny #1
97. Kingdom Keepers 2
98. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
99. High Fidelity
100. Pirate Latitudes
101. Love Monkey
102. The Idio Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death
103. Nineteen Minutes
104. Mortified
105. Street Gang
106. The Family Bones
107. Mop Men
108. Possible Side Effects