Storm Number Two

The second of three powerful storms moved through San Diego today.  There is a third, even more powerful storm coming our way around Thursday.  Some forecasters are calling for 6-8 inches of rain just this week!  Our annual rainfall averages only 10 inches, so this is major!  This is supposed to be an "El Nino" year.  The last El Nino was 1998, and many parts of San Diego County flooded back then.  They showed the footage from back then on the news, even though we hadn't moved here yet.  There was even a tornado warning issued today.  We never get that!

When I left work, the storm clouds just started to dissipate.  Look, you can see the tiny sliver of a moon too!


At the beginning of the year, I had read a very good article at Zen Habits about How To Make the Most of the Fresh Start of a New Year. My biggest takeaway from it was living and concentrating in the moment. I particularly liked #2: Decide on what matters most today, and #3: Clear away distractions and focus. I had figured out that most of my lack of productivity problems are related to internet distractions, so #3 was especially calling my name. It seems like turning off the internet and email for a set period of time to focus on the task at hand is a good idea from time to time.

Lo and behold, I got to work today, and Peppermint IM'ed me and said she just got done with 90 minutes of shutting off Firefox and concentrating on work. So I decided to give it a try. I actually did get a lot done! Of course, we didn't completely shut off the intertoobs, because we were still chatting with each other. :-|  I mean, let's not get completely crazy!  But, one step at a time, right? I've been thinking lately that my attention span has been getting shorter and shorter in the last few years, and it really could be because of the internet distractions. Sometimes it's too much of a good thing! That's why it feels very comforting to me to step away from the computer and go read. Just lounge on the couch and read.

Speaking of reading... I am still on track with my daily Bible reading and getting through the whole Bible in a year. Well, I'm half a day behind. Somehow I didn't get to reading my Bible last night until after I was in bed and after taking cold medication. Bad combo! I fell asleep halfway through. I will catch up tonight.

I am designing some new templates for my store! I'm excited about these new templates. I hope to get them into my store later this week. :) Speaking of my templates and my store... did you see this post at Simple Scrapper today? Several people called it to my attention today, but I would have seen it eventually, because I read Simple Scrapper everyday. I was SO honored and excited to be included in the "10 designers & shops to watch in 2010"!   To make it doubly happy for me, Peppermint was on the list too!  :D

Back to designing and trying to be productive now!

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Weekend Wrap-Up

On Friday I had lunch with my friend Julio, whom I haven't seen in 3-4 years! We used to work together, until he left to go work for the City of San Diego. He had sent me a text message on Thanksgiving to wish me and Todd a Happy Thanksgiving. So I emailed back and got back in touch with him and set up a lunch. It was fun to catch up since we hadn't talked in so long. He is now the finance manager in charge of a whole department of financial analysts who do the whole $3B City of San Diego annual fiscal budget! And to think, I was one of the people interviewing him for his first finance job way back in 2000. Sniff, I'm so proud.


On Saturday morning we both slept in and didn't do the 3-mile run with our running group. We both still felt under the weather, so sleeping in felt really good. We didn't run, but we decided to go for a walk on the coast of Encinitas. The weather was really nice, but we had heard that rain (and lots of it!) is coming this week, so we thought we would enjoy it while it was good.




After our walk, we went to eat salad and pizza at our favorite pizza place, Bongiornos. I hadn't been in a long while, but Todd was just there last week with his coworkers. Todd has the uncanny ability to eat the same food that he likes every day, and never get sick of it.


Then we went back home and hung out on the couch and watched NFL football playoffs and napped. I can't really remember the last time that I hung out on the couch that much. I guess it took being sick to slow me down, but I actually really enjoyed it. It was so leisurely, something I haven't felt in a while. And I read books. I finished the second Sookie Stackhouse book.

After dinner, we cleaned up and then Anne and Gilbert picked us up for movie night at MCAS Miramar base. Gilbert is a veteran so we got to go to the movies at the base with him and Anne. I had only gone to the Miramar Marine base once before for an air show. The movie theater was huge and cavernous. It seats 1,500 people! I didn't bring my camera because I wasn't sure if I was allowed. We settled into our seats after Todd got his usual popcorn and a drink. We watched "The Blindside" and it was really good! We had wanted to watch the movie, so I was glad when we looked at the schedule and they were showing it at the base. It was a cool experience for sure, hopefully we can go again.  BTW, for those of you old enough to remember... Miramar used to be a Navy Air Station until 1996.  It used to house the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School and its TOP GUN training program. 

Today we were going to go to church in the morning, but we were both coughing still and we thought it best to stay home and watch our church on the internet.  Then we went to lunch at Brett's BBQ, where I tried the baby back ribs for the first time.  It was good, but not worth the price.  Then we came home and watched the Chargers lose to the NY Jets in the NFC divisional playoffs.  That was incredibly sad.  I thought the Chargers were better than that.  I mean, seriously, the Jets??  Sad.

Todd made Fresh Tomato, Sausage, and Pecorino Pasta tonight for dinner.  It was quite yummy!

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One Little Bird Grand-Opening

So, you all know my good and burger-loving friend Peppermint, right?  You know, she of the Frick On A Stick blog?  Fantastic scrapper extraordinaire?  Yea, her!

What you may not know is that she opened up her shop at Catscrap today!  Yaaaaaay!  Peppermint generously made a freebie kit for my store's grand-opening back on November 1st.  Ever since I saw her first kit, I told her that stores would be beating down her door to ask her to sell at their store.  She didn't believe me.   Well, look what happened, LOL!

Oh and apparently, Peppermint is most productive when I'm not around.  She made the freebie kit when I was in Ohio in October.  Then she made like two kits when I was in Hawaii.  I told her she can send me on vacation any time,  ha ha!  :p

So without further ado...  here are Peppermint's newly released products at Catscrap.

Unstoppable


In the Moment


Beige Like Me


Date Cards 2010


All these items are on sale 25% off until Sunday night midnight Eastern time! Such yummy and textury things!  Just look at the little race car and gas pump in "Unstoppable"!  And  Oh and that lightbulb was totally my idea. :: nod nod :: Peppermint made it for one of her layouts, and I was like, you HAVE TO put that in a kit, because I love it!

This brings me to... this week's Digi Dare! Digi Dare #163 is the brainchild of Amanda Taylor, our newest Digi Darer! Woohoo! You may know her as TaylorMade Designs. Her awesome modern style scrapbooking things are available at Oscraps. So, this Dare was about changes and how we handle them. I immediately thought of our three-month long kitchen and bath remodel last year. Loved the results, but hated the process.


Full credits at the Dare site.

Please join us and submit your page by next Thursday 1/21 11:59pm Eastern time! You will be eligible to win prizes, and we really do appreciate your participation! It can be discouraging for all of us when we work very hard to put out a Dare each week and hardly anyone participates. :( So come join in the fun! I'll tell you that some of my very best and meaningful pages that I treasure are from the Digi Dares.

So... go browse Peppermint's store, and come scrap with us at the Digi Dares. We good? Okay.

Oh and please look in the post below \/\/\/ for the winners of the 20-page Artscow photobook codes. Email me at listgirldesigns (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your code!

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Winners + Sock Monkey Love

Thank you for all the comments and interest in the recipe book and template set!
Now it's time to announce the 5 random people who will receive a code for a 20-page Artscow photobook.  Just a reminder that the code expires on 1/23/2010, so you'll need to hurry if you won and plan to use it.
There were 34 comments, but one person commented twice (Lori) so I only counted her once, and two others (Mari and Crissie) didn't want to be counted in the random drawing, so there were a total of 31 entries. 





Here are the winners!

#4


#10


#25


#15


#29


Congratulations to Michels, Linda, Kathi B, Aja, and Christie (Digital Daisy)! Please email me at listgirldesigns (at) gmail (dot) com for your Artscow photobook code.

I got happy mail yesterday from my bloggie friend Tracey.  :)

Apparently, Tracey read my blog last year and was actually paying attention to one of the things I really like in life:  sock monkeys.  See evidence here and here.  I am incredibly blessed to have come to know her as a friend in the blogosphere.  The intertoobs is an amazing thing, isn't it?  And to think, I used to make fun of Todd for making friends with people on the internet!

It's been a tough week here at the clubhouse.  Todd got sick on Sunday with some kind of bug.  He's better but I'm sick now.  It's not too bad, I just have a sore throat and my voice sounds like a teenage boy going through the changes.  :-|   BUT, I do have something very exciting to announce tomorrow, so be sure to show up for that!  A hint:  it's not about me.

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8x8 Recipe Book Template Giveaway

As some of you may have previously seen on this blog around Christmas time... Todd and I created an 8x8 recipe book as a Christmas gift to family and close friends. All throughout 2009, we took photos of food that we cooked, so when it came to finding photos for the recipes we picked, it wasn't too difficult. We only had to re-cook 2-3 recipes and take photos of those. :p

The book was VERY well-received by the recipients. Everyone woo'ed and wow'ed at it! Todd's mom liked it so much that she ordered three more for her friends. Peppermint said that now she'll have to cook all the recipes in the book. Then a few minutes later, she promptly asked, "2009 Edition? Are you going to do one every year, in perpetuity?" Of course I laughed, then I ran away. :-|

I thought I would share the process, results, and also give away the templates I made for the recipe book! :)

I researched some photobook printing companies and ultimately chose Artscow, because their prices were very reasonable. I knew the shipping would take a while (2 weeks), since they ship from Hong Kong, but I wasn't worried because I did this in October and had plenty of time.

I found the page specs for their 8x8 39-page book at their website.
Front cover:  2502 pixels (W) x 2916 pixels (H)
Spine:  432 pixels (W) x 2916 pixels (H)
Back cover:  2502 pixels (W) x 2916 pixels (H)
Page:  2400 pixels x 2400 pixels

Then I decided on a format for the cover and inside pages, and created templates for them.  I also chose three related digital scrapbooking kits by Paislee Press, so that the book would have a cohesive look. The three kits are Twiggy Berry, Twiggy Lime, and Twiggy Guava, all available at Oscraps.  I had purchased these a few months ago and I was excited to finally be able to use them. I also used some of the graphics from Cupcake Sweet Shoppe at Lettering Delights.  Oh and the digital cardstock that I used for the actual recipe background is Plain Jane Cardstock by Laurie Ann @ Scrap Artist.

Here is the front cover:


I knew the book would start with a right-hand page, so I decided to make a "Intro/Table of Contents" page.


Then each recipe in the book would have a big 8x8 photo (cropped 8x8 at 300 dpi) on the left side and a recipe page on the right side.




A closer look at the pages digitally.
Left and right sides together.


Left photo.


Right recipe.


We personalized the book further by having some "Notes from Todd" on some recipes, where Todd shared what worked best in the recipe.

Here's my short review of Artscow 8x8 39-page book:

I ordered the books on 10/4/09 and received them from Hong Kong on 10/29/09.  If you order from them, you need to allow a long lead time.  But like I said, the prices were very reasonable and I had time to wait.

The good:  I really like the stitched binding on the books, instead of the glue binding.  There was almost nothing lost in the gutter of each page because of this stitched binding.  (Shutterfly books use glue binding and I've had to make a lot of adjustments on my pages in order to not lose too much in the gutter.)

The bad:  they wrap your page design around the cover, so the front and back covers (and spine) require that you stay at least 1/2 inch away from the edges so that your design doesn't get cut off.  I uploaded several versions of the cover until I was satisfied with it.  I would recommend keeping all important design elements 3/4 inches away from the edges.  Of course, if you download my template, you would not have to worry about the measurements.  :) 

The print color was pretty good, but inconsistent.  The colors actually varied from book to book.  One book had great colors, while another one had a yellow cast on every page.  Artscow don't do color correction on photobooks, so you don't have to manually turn them off.  The pages are slightly thinner than Shutterfly, but still very nice and nothing to get concerned about.

If you would like to see my whole book, you can go here.

Since you read through my whole big post about our recipe book, I figured I'd give away the template set that I created. Just a note about the front and back cover template. I designed them to Artscow's specifications, so it might look different if you decide to print your book elsewhere. The front, spine, and back covers are all one template. You will need to crop them in Photoshop prior to saving the individual jpegs to upload to Artscow. The Intro/Table of Contents page and the recipe page templates are just 8x8 (2400 pixels by 2400 pixels), so they should work with any 8x8 book printing company.


Download here or here.

As an extra bonus... I have five codes for free 20-page 8x8 Artscow photobooks.  You would still have to pay the shipping yourself.  They expire on 1/23/10, so you would need to use them pretty fast. If you're interested in them, comment in this post and I will pick five people randomly to receive the codes.  Comments will close on Thursday 1/14 at 9pm Pacific Time.

*** Comments close now for the drawing ***

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