lanne

I must be..

getting much more mac savvy. Today I went into David Jones to pick up another keyboard (for those of you in australia who know that DJs is ridicilously overpriced and overrated.... you need to poke your heads in occasionally. It was $10 cheaper than on the apple's online store and cheaper again than the mac retailer I could have gone to :)

SURE... they had NO knowledge of their product.. but hey.. it was cheaper and classy..laughing..

I asked about a connector/cable.. the guy prattled off the specs of the only two cables they had. He was wrong. They didnt have those cables at all... they had one cable and it was close but not what I wanted. Then the guy who sold me the keyboard asked if I had a mac (nope I bought the keyboard for decorative purposes????) and Said he thought he wanted one but they were expensive. I told him about pages and numbers and keynote.. available via iWork. He said.. ohhh how much is that? (talk about role reversal). I showed him what the retail prices were and their sale prices.. and where to find it on their shelves.. then i showed him some of the cool features of pages. and that YES it was installed on their display systems.

I think I must be getting used to being a mac girl now ;) and hey if this photo thing doesnt work out maybe I can go off and work in IT retail....lol

We went to a friend's 6 year old's birthday party this morning.. big brunch party in the park.. fab.. tiring and fun. Lochie played cricket for the first time ever and did wodnerfully well. I missed snapping him hitting the ball and was so bummed until I realised.. they get 6 turns... LOL (see what a sports fan I am) so I whipped out the camera and snapped away.. He has hilarious - massive follow through.. We were all cheering him on so when Daddy got to be wicket keeper (gosh I hope that is the right name - anyway the guy who stands behind the sticks - Lochie was returning the favour.. He was doing cartwheels (with his feet on the ground..lol) and yelling.. GO daddy.. That is Fantastic standing Daddy... YAY daddy..

Super funny.

Here is the next captain of the australian chess team.. haha

possibly my personal fav....look at that support!

Hope your sundays were all fab too.

My mother is bob the builder

Actually she is probably more like the very clever woman who works with Bob. She turned up to our place this morning with a workbench (yes she did).. and a tool box.. and a willingness to spend some of her Saturday helping us out. Our new(ish) house has replica windows... to keep in with the whole look and theme. Thankfully it is only on the front of the house and in the main living areas. Bathrooms and side windows are all aluminium and have screens. During winter this was fine.. but as summer approaches here.. we are being carried out alive by mozzes and the house is filling with moths.. ack.

I worked out how to attach screens to the window frames using my 3M Command hanging strips (LOVE THESE for picture hanging).. so we can snap them on and off.. but the actual MAKING of the screens was going to be a lil more difficult. Mum to the rescue! We bought all the products last weekend and she came over today and helped us cut and assemble them. The process was easy enough and made much simpler by having Mum on hand ... 6 hands is easier than 4...LOL and Mum had made them before and had some hot tips which we would have learned by trial and error. Much easier to listen to Mum :)

We managed to match the window trim paint almost perfectly. Each frame went together easily enough and with the exception of me accidently slicing the screen once.. (sorry Mum!) we had no dramas and a nice morning tea and lunch on the deck. we now have screens on every window! and will make a larger one for one of the french doors.

Goodbye moths, mozzies and flies.... and thanks Mum..

I am working on a new blog for PWL.. and a plan for our big trip next year.. all details will be posted over there soon (I may duplicate them here tho)...

Ohh and some photos...

Lochie has discovered the joy or sucking and spitting on a mandarin.. not eating it.. just suckin on it and spitting out the seed..OH well.. he is getting used to a new flavour in the mean time... and it gives me something new to scrap..LOL

Not sure he is used to it yet though..lol.. what do you think?

and I am very very behind on editing sessions at the moment. I usually have them wrapped in within 24 hours.. def within 3 days.. I am 2 + weeks behind.. eek. Waiting for the nice man to come and calibrate my monitor...

I felt so bad for one client..She is waiting on her engagement session - and whilst the contract says up to three weeks... it is just not my style. I made her a lil mini album of black and whites (no edit for colour required..LOL). I used a 7 Gypsies envelope album.. very cute and pocket sized... and made each print 5 x7 centimetres NOT inches... and attached them. I made a black image for the front and back - the front said name & name and ' two thousand seven' underneath and the back simply said engaged.
centred. All century gothic... does it get anymore lanne? LOL

She LOVED it and I thought I would share.

and it is kind of cute because she can now add lil mementos of her engagement to the album... love that!

EDITED TO ADD.. if you are a scrapping or thinking about scrapping RUN dont walk to DDE - NOW.. they have the best value one day sale I have seen in a while... CHECK IT OUT.... What a deal!

I am free.

I no longer have a day job and a business.

I am now a self employed photographer.

I am a wife.

I am a mother.

I am a friend.

I am a scrapbooker.

I can breathe.

and I am free.

I had a great last day at work today.. We had a chocolate morning tea... *happy*.. people from all over our branch came (i think that magic c would helped..LOL) and we celebrated new beginnings and hard work. a little later we had a farewell lunch for one of my fav coworkers who finishes tomorrow... cept.... it wasnt his lunch.. it was mine. *so spoiled*...his is tommorrow - i was worried he missed out!.

They gave me a digital photo frame... and got one that looks like a mac so it matches my new office equip. They said lovely things... the Director came and found me this afternoon and said anytime I wanted a job.. pick up the phone.. let him know and I have one... which was very kind. :) I may go back... but for now.. I am breathing..... well not yet but I will...hehe

I am looking forward to my energies reflecting in success... personal success.. and looking forward to being a better wife, mother and friend.. and.. FINALLY having time to scrapbook.. look out vast unused supplies.. here I come.

More photos

Not of any of the projects.. but ... you cant be too picky..LOL

I worked today... 2 days to go :) I actually had a tinge of sadness today about leaving... but it didnt last long! I was wondering what I would do with the extra time but it seems packed already

I have a new storyboard pack to upload over the weekend..
I am working on a new product.. SO FUN.. really looking forward to sharing it.
I am making PWL its own blog.... which I am sitting here thinking wont take long but.....
I am writing the workshop for Nov..
I am STILL uploading data to the mac system...lol... 350gb to go...
I have to update the gallery for PWL
I still have to finish setting UP the macs.. no brushes loaded .. so i discovered today
I am working on insurance. Now I have staff I need insurance.
I am working on new banking arrangements
I need to change our insurance.
I have two shoots sitting waiting to be edited .. no can do until the man comes and calibrates the macs.

... and I booked a holiday ... 3 nights up the coast.. wwwwwwaaaaaaaaahooooooooooo

but the photo is what you came to see... not my todo in the next 4 weeks list.. (and notice all the I statements..eeek)...LOL

Again... Not much of an idea what these look like... I took the SOOCs and ran an action i wrote on the notebook called.... SOCC to blog... so..... lets hope it looks spanking... hehe

Just loved this tree last year.. and this year was no different.. the sky was beautiful blue and the branches just really drew me in....

a lil purple patch.... simple and pretty...

this makes me feel the same way as when I see a new bub..... new life.. all the potential...
LOVE it just unfolding..

Not sure that Sharon will love this one.. i love its architectural qualities... it has some funk and some great lines...

this is my new bedlinen... LOVED this when I saw it in the display window.. with pale yellow walls it is hard to get a quilt and this makes me think of rainy saturday afternoons when you can rest and read and not feel guilty about not doing the washing... it is GORGEOUS irl.. stunning quality and lots of stiching...

and again.. it made me think of SMJ and SP.... my wonderful shabbylicious friends.

(isn't it funny how things we see make us think about people we havent met.... I cant see anything shabby without thinking about SMJ and SP... and nothing green without thinking of Sharon.. who of course I have met).. and no mary janes without thinking about Lisa W :) and really really classy shoes make me think of frederique... grins

This is the incredibly sweet bedspread I bought the other day for the day bed.. now.. SURE it has pink on it.. but it also has blues and purples..and the house is such a nice shade of deep blue... hehe.. and and and.. it is MY house too... and the boys can live with it....Thank you Mum for the spare single bed mattress.. this is a lovely place to escape to... Andrew and I are looking forward to summer curled up out there..
(this was me NOT reading digital scrapping magazine (which is $18 here btw)... instead of working..hehe well it was breakfast afterall.

HELLO YELLOW

I am going to be brave and post some photos.. BUT.. i am pretty sure they suck.. haha. I shot them in my office.. lighting BAD.. and with the crappy lens because it let me actually fit everything in.. so.. apologies in advance... oh . and I edited them on the mac which is not yet calibrated properly.. i think a man may need to come and do it..LOL. So... now I have that out of the way.... allow me to proceed.

I have had the studio pretty much all decked out in charcoal, silver and pretty pale blue. It was the PM blue.. I LOVE Blue.. and this particular shade was very easy to shop for... When we changed the name and colour to yellow.. i thought.. oh well I will just keep the studio blue... but... Y E L L O W.... in all its gold glory has begun creeping in and it looks dreadful mixed together. I also had clients mention they thought it was the wrong office..LOL.

here are the before shots (again... i apologise!)

(ohhh it looks so bland... ack... i promise it is not SO bad irl.. but the blank wall shall be gone ASAP.

and I hadnt even begun to really fill this yet... but it wasn't feeling right...this is the before shot of the noticeboard

so today became HELLO YELLOW day...

I realised it was easy enough to swap - the main furniture is OK..charcoal/domino packing table..... a silver desk.. where clients watch slideshows...my table/work desk which is the same as the dining table... off white top and silver orante legs... black bookcase.. MOST things are white (papers/packing table items)... or dark grey (frames).. with some black and white accessories.. (i found black and white hard placements in the same pattern as the one used on the business cards.. JOY.. and some matching coffee cups. The only blue items were some CD boxes (but i had bought new storage.. AND a filing system... oh well.. and some little things I can move on.. :) including my brand new (2 weeks old!!) tray that i LOVE.... It will now live in the family room and keep our keys and wallets safe. (I hate mess and fuss and piles from these items..drives me crazy). but with no tray I am back to making piles on my desk..ack.. another pet hate..

The big peices were the fabric coloured canvas and the BIG frame that I just painted. Now that I have one big blank wall I am keen to fill it with prints - in dark grey frames.. black and white seems soooo traditional and the grey works well with colour images.

$25 and 30 mins spent at spotlight and I am all set.. new fabric for the canvas. A sheet of card for my desk.. and some yellow paint. I had to giggle when i found the exact same shade as my business card (i took one with me). and the paint is called = yellow raincoat... IT SO IS!!

The fabric is white.. with yellow smudges.. i mean abstract poppies.. with black centres and black lines. The idea was to just have a few bits of YELLOW to make it pop.. and leave the rest functional neutral colours. I have no idea what Andrew will say to all of this - particulary the big frame which is now Y E L L O W.. screaming bright raincoat yellow.. *giggle*....

AND... to save me from the piles... I bought a breakfast tray... oh la la... SMJ and SP will love this I am sure. It was on sale.. *cha ching* I love a bargain.. I got a gorgeous big tray (A3 size).. on a stand.. so it sits BESIDE the desk..and gives me heaps more room on the desktop. LOVE it...

I even picked up some ribbon.. gosh.. is it just me? I seem to go through SO much ribbon. Now I am tossing up a quick run to ikea for more frames.. muhahaha

I will be back this evening with a photos of the new frame.. it is drying right now :) and Lochs and I are painting his table and chairs... back for a final coat of them too.

Monday - catching up

I feel like I have been chasing my tail for days...

STILL learning about the mac and transferring data... I am expecting this will take a few more weeks yet at this point.. and of course.. i am now bored with that..LOL. So I am willing myself to do it!

I am moving on to other projects as well -

I had a shoot on Saturday...a grown up family. Mum was lovely. Dad was willing -ish.. the son was gorgeous..(I am seriously checking his single status for a friend..LOL) He was just one of those really lovely people... very sweet .. not keen on being photographed and doing it .. and trying hard because his Mum wanted it. Genuinely a lovely guy. and then there was the daughter... she was everything Gen Y is said to be... S A S S Y.... she photographed beautifully... anytime I could get her to stop doing bunny ears.... poking out her tongue or change her mood to the sweet kid underneath the sass....LOL ohhh and there was a thunderstorm..

Mum asked to borrow a child.. we had one free... LOL so we shipped him off ;) Mum kept him overnight...which meant we could go out for dinner... we went to www.oxford152.com.au and then.... ducked home.. changed in to something more casual and went to www.freestyletout.com.au .. andrew has never been and loved it. - those of you in brisbane.. check it out... very cool and food to die for. :)

we have a new thing where.. if we go out for dinner... we eat dessert elsewhere... it makes the evening last longer... lets us try out a few new things.. and.. we give the food time to settle... i recommend it!

Sunday we got up and headed out for breakfast and went to pick up lochs. Mum needed a hand with her new washing machine and dishwasher so we spent a couple of hours there helping her out. It was nice to be able to give back :)

We also picked up some stuff at the hardware store... enough stuff to screen most all the windows in our house... now we just have the doors to go :) ohhh and actually make the screens!

Lochs and I are also painting his child sized table today. For a lil fun.. I thought I would paint it to be a miniature version of our dining table..hehe.. lets hope it comes out cute and not tacky.. if it does.. there is always repainting!

I am also working on a gift for a friends birthday.. one for her child's birthday.. AND... the negative noticeboard is coming together nicely. ohhh and i have a tonne of photos from our flower carnvial trip... .so back with lots of photos of everything soon!

AND... last but not least... our big trip is back March 2008 we are on the road.. I am offering sessions during the weeks we are away... I will post available towns / dates...ASAP - first in first served :)

Thumbnails and unzipping

I have about ohhh .. 200 DVDs of stuff plus the puters to transfer and burn and archive stuff on over the coming days. yep.. you heard it here first folks.. i will be a nerdy dork for the next few days whilst i sort this out.. or so i thought.

totallly loving the unzip and transfer speeds on the mac.. it rocks! so smooth and fast..

the only thing is I can not work out how to get the thumbnail thing coming up. i can change between the three views just fine by no so much with the prev. In windows you can SEE what is in the folder.. and if you really care you can set the prev. image.. which i often set to the file prev that comes with scrap supplies.

i refuse to believe that Bert and ernie can't do this... so .. if you know how.. please please send me a comment and let me know BEFORE I load too much more on here..LOL

Thumbnails and unzipping

I have about ohhh .. 200 DVDs of stuff plus the puters to transfer and burn and archive stuff on over the coming days. yep.. you heard it here first folks.. i will be a nerdy dork for the next few days whilst i sort this out.. or so i thought.

totallly loving the unzip and transfer speeds on the mac.. it rocks! so smooth and fast..

the only thing is I can not work out how to get the thumbnail thing coming up. i can change between the three views just fine by no so much with the prev. In windows you can SEE what is in the folder.. and if you really care you can set the prev. image.. which i often set to the file prev that comes with scrap supplies.

i refuse to believe that Bert and ernie can't do this... so .. if you know how.. please please send me a comment and let me know BEFORE I load too much more on here..LOL

ahhh the power of the help desk

in sheer frustration.. and having said a few things sharon's mum wouldnt like...

I decided to call adobe. I paid for it.. i can have some help!

So i call.. i wait on hold .. i wait.. i wait.. I wait some more and then I sound like a complete goose explaining my issue..

except now i know i need full screen mode with menus.. and i didnt have it as an option

He puts me on hold.

I wait

I wait

I wait

gah... i play

works just FINE if you open an image.. you cna change the screen mode..

of course.. you have to have an image open for it to stay that way

ohhhh

he comes back..

I tell him how to do it

we all move one.

next.......

In Mac-dom...

I promise sooner or later I will blog something other than my new love affair with the mac..LOL

but not today

I am GETTING THERE..

I thought it was all so easy yesterday.. I had intended on spending a night setting them up and loading STUFF on them.. and it all happened very quickly.. until

Until I realised you DO have to register everything and step through things..LOL
and then it took HOURS

so .. here I am at 2pm.. and not much as happened... LOL

One all the software is in
The chat program works.. rotfl. *thanks Miss J*
and now my fingers can almost find the right keys.. see.. i wasnt wasting time chatting.. i was learning about the keyboard!
I can now play music.. use my fancy schmancy remote.
I have some folders set up.
I have read digital scrapbook magazine on the deck with some avocado toast and a coffee..
opps how did that slip in there...
AND ..
I have email set up and sync'd with the help of my .mac account
I have iCal to set up still but bookmarks are done
PS CS3 is installed.. actions loaded on Ernie.. Bert is next..
being uptight and retentive - opps i mean a creature of habit.. I have created and saved a workspace that is familiar to me.. :)

BUT there is a great big hug in it for anyone who knows how to put a damn background in CS3.. i can see the desktop under it and it keeps clicking off..

seriously .. help!

and that (sharon) is as close as I will get to complaining and the white wonders..

I love Bert and Ernie... and we shall be friends for life!