I have a lot of reason to think it's not a good morning, but I am NOT going to even think about that. God will get me through today. Just as He got me through yesterday, that day three weeks ago, 2 years ago, and MANY more. I'm going to be victorious today. I will "take every thought captive". I will think about whatsoever things are "good, holy, pure, of good repute" and so on. It's gonna be a great day.
The kit I was working on is completely finished. Everything is sorted into the appropriate folder, piracy notice and tou in place and all the raw previews are done. I started on the Halloween kit. I am really going to have to pray over this one, LOL. I was SO HAPPY with the kit I did last year. I loved the color scheme and I just thought it was an all-round good kit. And the kits I did previously had some really cute graphics. I am really thinking that the only way I can top last year's kit would be through God's help. I certainly don't have it in me to do it better! I guess I should show you what I mean....... Here's last year's kit and if you love it, you can find it in the HotFlashDesigns store at A Cherry on Top.
This year's color palette doesn't contain the pink and I'm missing it, LOL. I have 9 papers done and there aren't too many with which I am absolutely over the top in love. I may ditch some and make new. I won't make that decision til I see everything finished and see if the papers work together. So, 7 patterned papers to go. I do plan on doing something a little special with this kit. Either I will make all the solid papers embossed or I will offer embossed papers as an add on. My plan is to have a big spider web embossed on them. Which would YOU prefer, the embossed solid papers or solid papers with a more "generic" texture?
Around here, it's time to mop floors. Gonna hit the kitchen, entryway, and both bathrooms. They all need it! The hall bath isn't bad--just some dog hair to clean up from Parker shedding and insisting to be petted every time he catches me in there. And, I vacuumed the entry way floor just a couple of days ago so that will be quick and easy. Of course, there are all the regular household chores--make the bed, dishes, wiping down countertops, taking care of the trash (trash day tomorrow--fortunately I got the worst of it out earlier this week), and picking a room or two in which to do a "10 minute tidy". Ten minutes spread across the whole house won't make a visible difference, but in one or two rooms, I will be able to see improvement with 10 minutes.
I'm in a bit of a quandry over bathroom rugs. When I wash that floor, I like to take the opportunity to throw those rugs in the washer. However, most bathroom rugs have that "non-slip" surface on the back of them. I read recently that that stuff flakes off and gets into your pipes and can mess up the pump in your washer........ I'm not so sure what to do about that. I can't go buy new ones everytime I think the ones I have need a bath. And, I don't think I can stomach not doing anything with them. Maybe I'll try the old fashioned remedy--take them outside and shake them. That should help, right? With nobody of the male persuasion in the house, I don't have to worry about splashes of certain "biological material" (I've been watching a lot of CSI on Netflix lately, hence the terminology--it rubs off, you know.....). However, I'm not at all sure that I'm going to think those rugs are "clean" unless I wash them. I guess, long term, I am not going to be happy until I can replace them with something that is not "non-slip". Are there such things? Do I have to make something? I somehow have the idea that there is some sort of legal requirement about that "non-slip" surface. I guess I'll have to research that and start looking to see what I should put on my "to buy" list.
And, I have all my usual computer-related chores--deleting e-mail, advertising, and so on. I am not going to be unzipping too many more files until I manage to get some of the ones I've already unzipped moved to their proper position on the hard drive and tagged in ACDSee. If I don't tag them, they end up being kind of useless to me. SO hard to find what I'm looking for.......
And, I think I will be doing some recipe testing today. I have been looking for easy recipes with good taste. I found an "easy" recipe for banana bread and I need to make it and check on that "good taste" part. Just so happens I have the ingredients on hand so I can continue hiding from the grocery store. I can't hide for much longer, though, as my sweet-n-low stash is getting really low. If I go there, I'm going to have to keep a tight rein on my list!
I tried an experiment last night and, as far as I'm concerned, it was a total bust. I decided last night would be a veggie night and I pulled some fresh green beans from the fridge. I had read that some folks fry them in bacon fat. Well, on a low carb diet, bacon fat is okay. I also remembered that our grandmothers used to put a ham hock in a pot of beans and cook 'em all day. That's some back up for the idea that some form of pork is good with green beans. And I had some bacon grease in the fridge that I could stand to use up. First, I par-boiled the beans. I didn't have a recipe to go by, but I was pretty sure that frying raw beans would simply result in raw beans with some sort of browning on their exterior. I prefer them undercooked, but not raw, thank you very much. Once they were no longer raw, I poured off the water, added a bit of the bacon fat (I used this sparingly. Just because I CAN eat fat doesn't mean I want to go crazy with it. It still has calories in it!) The only thing I added was a sprinkling of salt. Anyway, they were edible and bacon fanatics might even have thought they were good. They didn't do a thing for me except fill up the hole in my tummy. This is one manner of cooking fresh green beans I CAN NOT recommend.
Okay, I've been caught up in several FB conversations today and I'm late getting started. Let me show you some eye candy and be on my way.......
Karen has been so busy that she has been hard put to do much scrapping. She created this with Your Smiling Face. The photo was taken in Honduras while she was on a mission trip there last year. The element she has used for her journaling was originally created as a photo mask or photo matte. Love her adaption, using it for words instead of photos. She's got some great clustering action going on here too! Thanks, Karen!
Karla did this one and I like it. I LOVE to look at layouts that are covered in layers and layers of elements. But clean and simple is so refreshing and restful to the eye. I'm so glad there is NO formula to scrapbooking! Love the design of this page as well!
Laurie contributed this layout. There was a heritage challenge at A Cherry on Top this week. Laurie used a clipping mask to create that border and added some really cool vintage photos. So creative to turn a rather modern, light hearted kit into such a pretty heritage page. Love this idea, Laurie!
Okay, so that's it for today. I just don't have time for more. YOU be BLESSED today. And don't forget to say THANKS for the BLESSINGS.
I really love the layouts with this kit--they all turned out so well!!
Posted by: Deanna Staley | September 26, 2013 at 06:31 PM