Monday, August 26, 2013

More Android Fun...

FUN?!!!... Frustrating is more like it...

I figured out that Android Apps are a "free-for-all," and not all of them are free. I've tried many apps trying to figure out how to stream line my work flow. I'm getting into the Six Sigma process design, haha.

Anyway, the only things I use my Galaxy Tab for is 1) Reading eBooks 2) Posting on my Blog.

READING

Reading eBooks was a no brainer... the Kindle app took care of it all. It even works with most of my library eBooks. I have the Overdrive app for the library eBooks not borrowed from Kindle, but I haven't had to use it yet.

BLOGGING

Posting to my blog was not so easy. I tried many apps... different cameras, different photo editors, different journal apps. Some paid for, and some not... and many many apps that did not work or only partially worked. Thought I would like one app to do it all, no such thing existed. I needed a camera app, photo editor app, blogger app, and other apps that I didn't know I needed until I tried them as you will see if you keep reading:

I several different cameras... the popular Zoom FX, Paper Camera, and others that add special effect or borders. But, I keep going back to the camera app that came with the tablet. It's easy to use. I can zoom in and out using the volume buttons, there is a timer, burst mode, and I can record video with it. It's has everything that I need in a camera, plus it saves my pictures to my SD card instead of tablet memory. The other camera apps have been removed from the tablet.

I have tried many many many different photo editors until I settled on Aviary. It's easy to use. I can fix the image quality, add frames, crop, add text, and it can share with Blogger. That's what I need 98% of the time. One of the editors I tried was the very popular Instagram app. I like my pictures clear, bright and colorful. Near as I can tell, Instagram is for making your pictures look old. They do have a great community, but I can't have my family going to multiple sites to see what I want to show them.... I think that's just rude.

The last thing I needed was the Blogger app. The Blogger app lets me create a new post (with text and pictures) and publish it to my blog. Simple, straight forward and easy.

Now I can post simple text and pictures to my blog! Hooray!

So here is my blogging process:

1) Take a picture. I can use the camera app or take the picture through Aviary.
2) Edit the picture in Aviary.
3) Select sharing in Aviary and post straight to Blogger.

THE NEXT STEP

There are some fun apps out there that let me "play" with my pictures. Here are my favorites:

Instead of posting an entire line of photos to my blog, I'll post a collage of photos. The first collage maker I tried was Photo Grid. It did everything I wanted, so I didn't even try any other app.

InstaPlace along with InstaWeather are fun they let me add some stylish text over the photos marking the place, time and weather. However, they require wifi to work. So even though I have GPS location turned on, it still won't tag the photo without wifi. A total bust for camping. I added the InstaPlace information on the camping photo in the post below after I got home (no wifi in the campground).

So here is my blogging process if I want to use any of these extra apps:

1) Take a picture. I can use the camera app or take the picture through Aviary.
2) Edit the picture in Aviary.
3) Save the picture to my SD card.
4) Open the picture in the app of choice.
5) Edit the picture (create collage or add location text)
6) Save the picture to the SD card.
7) Post the picture using blogger.

I hope this helps anyone who is trying to get some basic use out of their new android device.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Test new Android app

How do I get rid of the virutual keayboard? I'm using the blue toothe keyboard. Hit ESC o to remove the keyboard. Spell check? I need spellcheck! ARRGH!


At least I figured out how to post a photo!


Camping weekend

Greetings from Silent Valley!



Tuesday, August 20, 2013

August Card Club Kit Reveal

Welcome to the Club Mojo August card kit reveal! We have 10 ladies in the club this year... 10!!! These are all wonderful ladies who I've had the good fortune to meet at Scrappin' Mojo.


It's time for our Club reveal. This month's kit was put together by Jan! I LOVE the soft shabby look of this kit, and this kit is HUGE! Wait until you see all the talent and inspiration! Here are mine:



I had this Christmas tag sitting partially done on my table for weeks. When I got this kit inspiration struck! I used a frosty colored brad, pearly button and white trim to finish up the tag.



After the tag was finally off my table, I dug into all the embellies... and there were a lot of them!



This card focused more on the gorgeous patterned paper. I added stamped sentiments, embellies from the kit, and some cute metal embellies that I got from Terri:



I couldn't wait to get to this project. I used my new Julie Nutting stamp to create this tag. I added a pop of color by using scraps of beautiful patterned paper that I got from Kim.



This last one, I used the die-cuts from Niki's July Kit, added patterned paper and a cute sentiment from Jan's kit, and waala... a gift card holder!



I used up almost every scrap of this kit, I love it so much!
That's it for me this month! Be sure to checkout the creations from the other ladies:

Beth - bethiejs.blogspot.com
KimP - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Diane - mumblebeedesigns.blogspot.com
Terri - jazzyscrappertidbits.blogspot.com
Mary - justanotefrommary.blogspot.com
KimO - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Jan - Mojo Card Kit Reveal
Niki - ellenaspaperhouse.blogspot.com
Stella - http://myscrapbliss.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping by!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Nothin' nothin'

It's been quite a while since I've blogged, but really there has been nothing going on.

Chris is out of summer school, and is waiting for Fall semester to start. Cheryl is in summer school. Jim went camping twice without me. I'm super busy at work and too tired to do anything when I get home.

So what to blog about... nothing much, but did you know that today is National Zucchini Day? In fact every day of the year is assigned an American National Food Holiday.

Cheryl was born on Bean Day... somehow that seems fitting.
Jim was born on Irish Coffee day. It doesn't seem right that is an AMERICAN food holiday.

Shellfish and Snails get their day too...
Chris was born on National Baked Scallops Day.
Grandma and Papa were married on National Ecargot Day.

How sweet it is...
Papa was born on National Gingersnap Day, and Grandma was born on National Sugar Cookie Day.

Jim and I were married on "Grab Some Nuts Day" ... enough said there...

And I was born on National Parfait Day. I don't remember ever having a parfait. Maybe for my birthday this year :oD

So what day is your special day?

http://www.tfdutch.com/foodh.htm

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Camping

Serano Creek campground. Posted from my tablet.


Here's more photos now that I'm home....

Our camp site.



My camping buddies.... Jim....



Jena-girl....



And Jena's friends... Can you see them?



Chip and Dale.



It was a nice two days... time to go home:




July Card Club Kit Reveal

Welcome to the Club Mojo July card kit reveal! We have 10 ladies in the club this year... 10!!! These are all wonderful ladies who I've had the good fortune to meet at Scrappin' Mojo.


It's time for our Club reveal. This month's kit was put together by Niki! I LOVE the fresh pretty colors in this kit, and this kit is HUGE! Wait until you see all the talent and inspiration! Here are mine:



Here are some close ups:











After making all my cards, I still have lots of kit leftover for more cards.
That's it for me this month! Be sure to checkout the creations from the other ladies:

Beth - bethiejs.blogspot.com
KimP - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16265
Diane - mumblebeedesigns.blogspot.com
Terri - jazzyscrappertidbits.blogspot.com
Mary - justanotefrommary.blogspot.com
KimO - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16265
Jan - http://www.scrappinmojo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16265
Niki - ellenaspaperhouse.blogspot.com
Stella - http://myscrapbliss.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping by!

Friday, July 19, 2013

It's Here! It's HERE!!!

Look what's here! The marathon book is finished and in our hands.



You've seen all the pages already, but you haven't seen the cover. Sorry the picture is so bad. There was lots of glare... it's so shiney :oD



Here's the back cover...



This is the documentation of my first and last marathon; and why I would not want to do this again. Cheryl suffers from short term memory loss and is singing a different tune now... as you can see on the last page of the book.



Hahaha! Oh boy! Marathon training starts again this weekend! LOL!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Weekend update

Chris and I finished stripping the wall paper in my bedroom, then Chris decided that he wants the wallpaper in his room off too. After we finished Chris's room we had enough wallpaper remover to strip the wallpaper in the entry way... so 10 hours later, our house is completely wallpaper free. However, Cheryl is thinking of wallpapering her room. Chris said that he's not volunteering to take the wallpaper off when she gets tired of it, haha!

I took a day off from house cleaning and stripping wall paper to take an art class at the Laguna Beach Art-a-Fair with Agnes Copeland. She a collage and watercolor artist. Her collages make me smile. Here is the collage that I created in her class. The photo that I was working from was of Portofino, Italy:



I like the way it came out. I might add some pen work. I still need to think about it some more...

Jim and Cheryl are in Arizona. They should be home later this week!!!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Finally!

I started peeling the wallpaper out of my bedroom when I was pregnant with Cheryl. I stopped in the middle because my water broke and Cheryl was born. Now, 23 YEARS later, Chris offered to help me finish. Here is our project...



We start by peeling off the vinyl:





Then we need to remove the paper backing. What a long messy process that was:



We had 3 walls to strip. We have vaulted ceilings in the bedroom and at least we finished the tall wall and half of the slanted wall, in 4 hours.



Chris is a BIG help! WOWee that guy worked hard today, and that was after we did a 10.5 mile bike ride. I treated him to a Hawaiian salmon dinner afterwards. The last full wall has a sliding glass door in it, so I'm hoping it will go fast:



Dragon Highway, TN

Cheryl flew out to Atlanta to ride home with Jim. As they were going over the Dragon Highway in Tennessee. It's a well known biker road, and as they came around a corner, they got their picture taken. This is the first look that I've gotten of the new trailer. Jim found it in Nashville.









Miss you, Hun! I hope you and Cheryl are having FUN!