A small rant and other things.....

First the rant.  We're getting ready for a trip to Florida and I'm trying to get my toiletries together.  Am I the only one that's unhappy that everyone who makes shampoo and body wash thinks you need the ubber large size?  I have a small bathroom bag and wanted shampoo and body wash that would last about two weeks.  Isn't going to happen.  I couldn't even find travel bottles in my brands.  So, I purchased 4 three ounce bottles of cheap body wash and shampoo at Walmart.  I emptied them out, washed them and refilled them with my brands.  Now I have a week's worth for my bathroom bag and an extra week in my suitcase.  Two of the three ounce bottles have flip top lids and two have screw tops.  I put the screw tops in the suitcase (ever have a bottle of shampoo leak all over your underwear?) and the flip top lids in a sandwich bag and then into my bathroom bag.

The other thing is my Christmas present from my husband arrived on Thursday.  I ordered a Kindle Fire HD.  I've been researching for weeks trying to find a portable tablet that would do everything I wanted to do at a price my husband wouldn't get stomach cramps over.  The iPad is too much machine for me.  We usually travel with my top of the line laptop.  Even the mini iPad is too much machine.  I researched the Google Nexus but I have an investment in Kindle.  I had the 1st generation Kindle thanks to a generous husband and a brilliant son-in-law.  I loved it.  I graduated to the Kindle Touch (not so much).  It was hard to read at night in bed, it had a dark screen.  I kept touching the wrong places and turning pages - hitting the back key and getting totally out of my book with no bookmark.  By the time I realized I loved my 1st gen, my daughter had her hands firmly on it and .... mama was looking for a new device.

So, I get the Fire HD and start working on it.  First, I have to say it was relatively easy to set up.  I had my Facebook and e-mail accounts in no time.  Netflix took a little longer.  You can't just go buy an app and have it magically appear on your HD - you have to 'down' from Amazon and 'up' from the Fire - sync it - turn around three times and eat a raw egg -  but that was a minor glitch and I'm good with apps now.  Any movies you might have on your computer (digital copies of movies you've purchased) will not run on the Fire.  The Fire only plays MP4 files and you have to search the web for info.  I found two pieces of software:  Wondershare Video Converter and iSkySoft DVD Ripper.  Wondershare worked very well for those digital copies, it converted the WMV files into MP4 files - I loaded them onto my Fire and played them - easy peasy - it just took time.  When I tried to turn my VOP files into MP4 files, the Fire wouldn't play them.  So, I used the iSkySoft which worked really well.  I even changed the resolution to to 1280x800 which looks really good in the Fire.  When you load these movies on your Fire, they will appear in the "Your Videos" category, not in the movies.  Confusing a little bit?  All in all, so far I'm a happy camper.  Now, I just have to learn how to play Angry Birds - anybody got a tutorial?

A small rant and other things.....

First the rant.  We're getting ready for a trip to Florida and I'm trying to get my toiletries together.  Am I the only one that's unhappy that everyone who makes shampoo and body wash thinks you need the ubber large size?  I have a small bathroom bag and wanted shampoo and body wash that would last about two weeks.  Isn't going to happen.  I couldn't even find travel bottles in my brands.  So, I purchased 4 three ounce bottles of cheap body wash and shampoo at Walmart.  I emptied them out, washed them and refilled them with my brands.  Now I have a week's worth for my bathroom bag and an extra week in my suitcase.  Two of the three ounce bottles have flip top lids and two have screw tops.  I put the screw tops in the suitcase (ever have a bottle of shampoo leak all over your underwear?) and the flip top lids in a sandwich bag and then into my bathroom bag.

The other thing is my Christmas present from my husband arrived on Thursday.  I ordered a Kindle Fire HD.  I've been researching for weeks trying to find a portable tablet that would do everything I wanted to do at a price my husband wouldn't get stomach cramps over.  The iPad is too much machine for me.  We usually travel with my top of the line laptop.  Even the mini iPad is too much machine.  I researched the Google Nexus but I have an investment in Kindle.  I had the 1st generation Kindle thanks to a generous husband and a brilliant son-in-law.  I loved it.  I graduated to the Kindle Touch (not so much).  It was hard to read at night in bed, it had a dark screen.  I kept touching the wrong places and turning pages - hitting the back key and getting totally out of my book with no bookmark.  By the time I realized I loved my 1st gen, my daughter had her hands firmly on it and .... mama was looking for a new device.

So, I get the Fire HD and start working on it.  First, I have to say it was relatively easy to set up.  I had my Facebook and e-mail accounts in no time.  Netflix took a little longer.  You can't just go buy an app and have it magically appear on your HD - you have to 'down' from Amazon and 'up' from the Fire - sync it - turn around three times and eat a raw egg -  but that was a minor glitch and I'm good with apps now.  Any movies you might have on your computer (digital copies of movies you've purchased) will not run on the Fire.  The Fire only plays MP4 files and you have to search the web for info.  I found two pieces of software:  Wondershare Video Converter and iSkySoft DVD Ripper.  Wondershare worked very well for those digital copies, it converted the WMV files into MP4 files - I loaded them onto my Fire and played them - easy peasy - it just took time.  When I tried to turn my VOP files into MP4 files, the Fire wouldn't play them.  So, I used the iSkySoft which worked really well.  I even changed the resolution to to 1280x800 which looks really good in the Fire.  When you load these movies on your Fire, they will appear in the "Your Videos" category, not in the movies.  Confusing a little bit?  All in all, so far I'm a happy camper.  Now, I just have to learn how to play Angry Birds - anybody got a tutorial?

 

Don't you love Memory Box dies?  I love my Spellbinders but it's nice there's something a little more delicate out there.  And in particular, I love these two.  The background is the Debutante die and the tree is an overlay.  I painted some Mod Podge on a piece of wax paper, laid down the overlay and rub it with a sheet of paper, picked it up with tweezers and placed it on my background.  It's a great way to glue these delicate little pieces.  The snowman is a Lily of the Valley stamps and such fun to color.  Until later....

Back in the saddle again.....

I've been playing with the new Sizzix Pop-Up dies and enjoying how quickly you can put a card together.  I think the best part of this card is the paper.  These cards are a wonderful use for that card stock with patterns too big for A2 cards.  The flowers in the center were cut with my Cameo - I can't remember where I found the file, it isn't mine.  I wasn't writing down my recipe when I created this card, I was just playing with a new die but I like the way it turned out and will probably send it out as a Christmas card this year.

So stuffed.....

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We had the whole feast including two turkey breasts so we had plenty of left-overs.  I have been working on an order of 50 Christmas cards for a dear friend.  I finished them last night, late.  I have labels to print and then I can deliver them - a really good thing since we might be leaving for Florida the first week in December.  Yesterday was a really pretty day for late November, today, not so much.  Very cold and very windy - I know - I had to fill the bird feeders this morning.

Sassy Update:  We had invested in a Cat Attract cat litter from PetSmart and filled one of the cat boxes in the living room with it.  We have three boxes, two on one level and one on another level.  She has used the single box once.  She uses the multiple boxes daily.  We refilled the Feliway and now have three dispensers throughout the house.  She doesn't spend much time in the basement, only going down there when one of us does or to chase a ball.
We went five whole days without an accident but had one this morning.  Luckily she is still using the waterproof pad so clean up is simple, but still....  She's a young cat, we can't spend the next ten years cleaning up messes.  So, today I started her on the Kitty Prozac, half a tablet a day.  She hates it and we'll have the devil to pay when we try to catch her tomorrow.  She has an inherent distrust of us and it takes days of no meds or eye wiping to be able to stroke her and she always cries when we pick her up like she fears something really bad is going to happen.  I'm still worried about her left eye which leaks copiously.  The vet ruled out infection in the eye but after research, I've discovered it could be a blocked tear duct or inwardly growing eyelashes.  It has to be uncomfortable but we don't have a cat ophthalmologist nearby.   I doubt that's causing the problems with her missing the cat box but cats are weird so you never know.  If the Prozac doesn't work, next is confining her to the travel cage which is truly a last resort for us.  I can't help but think there is still something going on with her.  She knows where the potty area is, she always uses it.  She's within six or eight inches of the cat box when she makes her mess.  One thing we've noticed is when she poops in her cat box, it's a relatively small deposit but when she poops outside the box, it's a major effort.  She also backs her butt up to the side of the box to go to the bathroom, as if touching the box triggers release.  These things could be factors or maybe not.  At this point we're just walking in the dark.  We have at least a week until we leave for Florida to test the Prozac.  Stay tuned....

So stuffed.....

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We had the whole feast including two turkey breasts so we had plenty of left-overs.  I have been working on an order of 50 Christmas cards for a dear friend.  I finished them last night, late.  I have labels to print and then I can deliver them - a really good thing since we might be leaving for Florida the first week in December.  Yesterday was a really pretty day for late November, today, not so much.  Very cold and very windy - I know - I had to fill the bird feeders this morning.

This card is one I created a while ago.  I'm still infatuated with just stamping.  These stamps are from Cornish Heritage Farms, Stampscapes and MFT.  Just a simple masking, sponging and stamping but I like the feeling it gives.  I'm sure somewhere in our travels I have seen this landscape.

Time to quit foolin' around....

On another front:  Sassy is having her ups and downs.  After installing the Feliway diffusers and the extra litter box, we had 17 accident free days.  Then an accident, skip a day, an accident, an accident.  But lucky for us she was using the water-proofed pad next to the cat box.  She had been sweet with touches of affection and then started reverting to running away from us.  The Feliway is supposed to last for 30 days and when my calendar notified me it was time to change the bottles, I discovered them bone dry.  I refilled them two days ago and no accidents.  While this isn't scientific and it isn't conclusive, I would be willing to go out on a limb and suggest the Feliway is really working.  Last night she actually patted me on the back while I was working on the computer.  She hasn't done that for over a week and I just didn't think about why she quit.  She used to spend the day with me in my craft room on the shelf in front of the window and she quit doing that also.  Last night she was back on her shelf.  And she's talking to me again.  She's still so new to us that we're not in tune with her habits and personality.  If she continues accident free, we will reduce the number of boxes (we now have three) and push the remaining one into the corner (we pulled two of them back out into the middle of the living room when she had her first accident).  In the meantime, I've ordered a six pack of Feliway refills.  Here's hoping.....

Time to quit foolin' around....

It's been ages since I've published a card - the auction ran for two weeks and I was so busy with bids that I didn't have time to get anything done.  So, this morning I actually entered a challenge, something I don't do very often.

This card was created for the Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge which you can find here.  The challenge is for a non-traditional Thanksgiving card with a greeting.  I'm having such fun discovering why I started stamping in the first place.  My hubs, bless his heart, purchased me some huge Super Sticky Post-its (8" x 6") which I used to mask my white card stock.  I added Memento Summer Sky and Nautical Blue using the rule of thirds.  I stamped my tree and my sentiment and called it a day.  It feels good to be back in the saddle again.

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