Friday, September 28, 2012

Nothin' Better: Beads/Pandora

Does it get any better than that?  Clean house, day off, beads and pandora... oh and sunshine!  Last night we went to "Last Thursday" on Alberta in PDX.  A friend suggested we wait in line... no matter how long it was... to get ice cream at Salt and Straw.  Well that line wasn't THAT long (15 minutes).  I got the salt and carmel ripple with hot fudge!  Are you freaking kidding me?  That was the best EVER!  This is hand made ice cream... deeeeelish! Yum!  Here's what my face did when I taste it!!
Yummy!  Keep pdx weird so I can have ice cream like this!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Kinda Diggin This

Okay, I'm a bit obsessed with Photoshop Elements.  I just got home from and work and I'm going to do another free webinar. Here's something that I played around with... took out Peter's wrinkles, did a couple of effects.  I think it looks cool.  This just happens to be what's on my desktop right now.  Sorry for repeating (three-peating) our bike ride.  It was a fun day to remember!  At some time I'm hoping to create digital scrapbooks with these photos.  Not the ones you that are pre-formatted but something I create and have printed.  It's kind of graphic design for dummies:)
Portland has been gloriously mild... no rain, no wind... occasional smoke from fires a couple hundred miles away.  September is the absolute best time to be in PDX.
Peter and Makenna on our bike ride.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Playing around with Photoshop

Makenna on our bike ride last week.
I just downloaded a trial version of Photoshop Elements 11 and look what I did in 10 minutes!  Pretty cool!  I think I may have to buy this one.  This newest version just came out and it's so easy to use.  Much more intuitive than PSE 8, which I've been so lazy about learning.  With some quick results I think this will give me some motivation and ease the frustration.  I know it's not great... but it's a first try.  Also beading away these days.  You'll soon see some really cool stuff here.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Biking the Springwater




Peter and I took our granddaughter biking on the Springwater Trail this weekend.  Peter's always on the lookout for sweet blackberries.  They weren't as abundant as they a were a few weeks ago, but we all loved them.  We ran into some folks with their dog and they told us the dog enjoyed the berries, too. We all know not to eat the berries on the low branches, right?  Some dogs eat the berries, some dogs just pee on 'em.  Fun day!
In the beading sphere, I'm working away on some stuff.  Life is pretty darn good right now:)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Bleached My Toms!

I thought I'd really get a kick out of wearing HOT PINK Toms but they were REALLY bright!  A little too bright.  And I just wasn't wearing them. So I bleached 'em today.  Just spray bleach-y water on them and dried them with the hairdryer.  Now they are a softer, hot pink.  Still bright, just a bit muted and a little rougher.  I think they turned out swell.
I wish days off were really days off and not laundry/cleaning days.  What would a REAL day off look like? Hmmm, I'll have to think about that!  I did manage to spend time with the iPad today and downloaded a killer app: puzzlejuice.  It's a hybrid of spelltower and tetris... LOVE both of those games.  So I did manage to pay some bills, do some laundry, clean up a closet, bathroom and kitchen and play a new game... guess that's a day off!
The formerly VERY pink Toms... now a quieter version that I'll enjoy!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Learning Photoshop (Elements)



I've been trying to learn Photoshop Elements for a few YEARS!  I somehow get stuck or my interest wanes and I just don't keep up.  Last week I attended a free webinar on Photoship Elements 10 (I have 8, I think).  Well, I got fired up!  So tonight I'm attending another FREE webinar.  I'm not pitching out any money yet... I don't think I should buy PSE 10 until I KNOW I'll use it!  Although I do really like that I can get PSE 10 as an app on my iMac (or possibly find a cheaper way to upgrade).  I have so many pictures that I'm not doing much with.  I'm hoping for some inspiration tonight. I'd like to create some cool and inspirational digital scrap books... not just the ones with pictures and text, but something that'll jump off the page!  I so wish there was this kind of technology when I was a kid and could absorb information with less difficulty.  Here's to 60 years of life and learning!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Mardi Gras Cone

Still into creating these cool shapes from the book about to be published: Contemporary Geometric Beadwork.  This one is a cone. It was a great way to study that shape and gain an understanding of increasing and decreasing this pattern. When I sit and bead and feel my being restored.  Sundays ZAP my energy... these beady moments keep me sane.

Okay, it reminds me of the "sorting hat" from the Harry Potter movies... but it's very cool!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

More, More, More...

Yeah, Baby... I've been a beading maniac while on my bloggy break.
Check out these "Urchins"... pattern by Marcia DeCoster.  I made this one while we were spending some time in Sunriver, OR.  Which, by the way is a gorgeous place: biking, hiking, bonding with family, drinking a glass of wine.  We had a grand time on Memorial weekend (way last May!).  Even taught friends to bead while we were there.  Hope you're still beading, Nancy and Nat!  Check out the pics and I'll be back tomorrow, promise.  In the meantime, we've got a couple of grandkids to take to Spaghetti Factory... maybe we'll get lucky and be seated in the TROLLY!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Caldera Bangle

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on the blog... no excuses... summer, turning 60, whatever.  I'm back now.  I thought for two minutes about posting something amazing about being 60, entering a new decade and all that.  But I've been busy making some very cool beady pieces and I want to announce it far and near (mostly near) that I finally finished this piece:  "Caldera Bangle"

I know... pretty cool, huh?  The design is by Jean Power from a book about to be published by Jean and Kate McKinnon.  These women are amazingly talented, edgy and adventuresome souls.  This piece took me a while to bead.  Each beaded piece I create has a kind of internal timeline.  I can look at this and remember what was doing at the time.  I turned 60 on the red and blue triangle!  I watched both the RNC and the DNC while beading this.  I KNOW I had to rip out a BUNCH of beads during the Romney/Ryan show.  They just do not get the REAL LIVES of REAL people!  I finished this last night right before President Obama was introduced.  I wanted to give the man my full attention.  I'm so glad I put down the beads... I would've had a beady mess... what with the tears and all.  WOW!  So proud to be an American... I mean that in the best possible way.  
So the Caldera Bangle is finished!  I experimented with color, texture, light... very fun.  Some combinations of beads work better than others.  To be expected. 
I leave you with another pic of Caldera and I'll be blogging like crazy in the days to come!