Tuesday, October 4, 2011
My Mirror
Saturday, October 1, 2011
How do I feel about airbrushing?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Party Centerpiece Construction Instructions
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Apple's iWeb is bad...what the heck?
That's why I'm so bummed and really surprised that their software iWeb is so darn bad.
I've tried about 6 different variations of website building software. By far my favorite is Bravenet. This isn't an ad for Bravenet but I've had websites with them for going on 7 years and I love how easy it is to have a website with them. I can't say the same about that iWeb software that came on my computer and their soon-to-be-fazed out Mobile Me.
How can it be so bad? They do things so well....most of the time. But iWeb they really missed the mark.
I understand they know they missed the mark and iweb won't be shipping with new computers coming out next year. I've heard that from hanging around in the Apple Store. It's a happy place for me. I take classes and drool over their stuff as often as I can get that into my schedule.
Give me a day to work on a Personal Project in the Apple Store with an Apple expert there to help me out...well...for me...that hangs close to the top of my favorite things to do. I come home filled to the brim with new information and problems solved.
But I digress.....
I know that you learn something best by just jumping right in. So I bought a pretty website template. A template only available to use with iweb though. First mistake. But I'm riding my learning curve.
I struggled with the site and learned stuff. It wasn't great. But it wasn't like I needed it to be great. I was taking it for a test ride. I played around with ideas then I just left it hanging around out there on the web. I just left it out there to Google along. Recently I headed back to it and made some changes.
Since Mobile Me will be fazed out next year I had to transfer it somewhere. So with the help of an Apple Store instructor, I FTP'ed it to Bravenet. But since it was an iWeb-made website, I had to keep using iWeb to update it and then re-send it over to Bravenet after each change.
Again, I struggled along. It was really annoying so I only made a 6 page website. The list of what I don't like about this software is long but the worst is that you can't work much "behind the scenes"... even if you want to. Apple believes in protecting you from yourself so they only let you go so far. Then you are blocked out.
I'm not an HTML genius or webmaster extraordinaire. Not even close. I'd consider myself an intermediate. Middle intermediate at best....not a high level one. But I do know some HTML code. I wanted and needed to get behind the scenes. Just a little more. But nope. Not allowed except for their crazy little "snippets". They know us middle intermediate types needed to be stopped at the door.
I won't go into all the boring details or spend time on a constructive critique of some software that I've heard is not going to be updated or improved.
But one page of my small little 6 page website inspired me to write an About Us page. Check it out until I screw up the link and it doesn't work anymore. It looks like this but if you go directly there you may be able to read it better and see the other pages of my test-run website devoted to Party Placecards.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
My first Party Decoration and how I got started...the good and bad of it.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Foamcore Letters for Signs in 2 different ways
The computer letters work well for
smaller letters or more intricate fonts like
these curly letters and can be simpler to work with.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
CANDY Centerpieces for Parties
Maybe we should stick to foamcore lollipops like these?
We also make many Sweet Shoppe signs that
look great sitting on your candy table or sweet table.
Click on this picture if you'd like to read that
Blog Post.
Or, send us an email if you'd like
some of our designs for
YOUR PARTY or other
big party signs with sweet ideas.
marlyss@mac.com
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Artsy Gazebo
Monday, August 1, 2011
Airplane trip to Arizona
AIRPLANE:
1. I love flying on an airplane. The flight attendants are old. I always thought they were young and pretty but I haven't seen one of those. They all look around 40-60 years old and tired. That surprised me.
2. Food in the airport is pretty good. Good coffee and good variety. I had some taco thing with great re-fried beans..not those mushy dog food like kind.
3. Nobody checked Jacob's I.D. either coming or going. But they patted my body down once on the way home and scanned my water bottle for "vapors" and emptied my backpack to look around it. I was fine with it all. Neither was an intrusion or anything that offended me. In fact, I like the diligence. Go for it.
FORGETTING THINGS:
I didn't forget one thing. Of course, as I said before, I pack like Monk. My suitcase weighed 44 pounds on the way home. I checked it, of course. I loved the fact that I didn't have to lug it around the airport or try and squeeze it into some overhead compartment because I had packed lighter so I wouldn't have to pay the $25. For me, it was worth it.
TUCSON AIRPORT:
Wow! Great signs everywhere. It was so easy to navigate thru. You'd have to be brain dead not to figure out how to get anywhere.
Great electronic charging station counters. I loved them and received wonderful WiFi reception.
JACOB...My TRAVELING COMPANION:
What can I say. He's the best person I've ever traveled with.
OUR TARANTULA CONFERENCE:
That's for another blog but it was unusual, interesting, informative and a well planned event. I got a kick out of it.
THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT HAVING TO GO HOME:
1'm going to get to install Lion on my computer.
TUCSON, ARIZONA:
Beautiful...absolutely breathtaking beautiful. If I couldn't live on water...which I do...I would want to live by mountains. They do what water does...change with the clouds in the sky and where your body is viewing them and every view is a good one. There is no bad view of a mountain or no bad view of a body of water.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Raffle
She had 2 sons that shared her tarantula hobby as they were growing up.
She had 1,000 (yes, that's not a typo) tarantulas when her oldest son got meningitis at 18 years old and died in 1998.
Since it was a shared hobby with her boys she couldn't even go into her tarantula room any more and they started dying. She lost over half of them before her youngest son helped pull her out of her well of despair and they could start caring for them again.
This was the 13th annual Tarantula Society Conference and the first one she was able to come to even though she was the original founder of the idea and others had to take over when her heart breaking tragedy occurred.
She's on the other side of the pain...as they say....but her story stabbed my heart.
You sure can't just look at a person and see what scars they may be carrying inside.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tarantula burrows
That's how you identify a tarantula hole from a hole that is not as much fun to explore. You look for the soft webbing across the hole. It's a very subtle thing and hard to spot...at least for me....not so much for Jacob.
Then you insert a tiny soft stick inside and "tickle" it out. It thinks it food and is intrigued and either comes out fast and quick or more tenuous and slowly. You never know.
You can also pour a little water into the hole and that encourages them to come out.
Jacob will sometimes start digging to discover the tunnel of the burrow if he thinks it went way down into it's hole. He gets in that hunter mode.
Now wasn't that interesting?
Night hike and Arizona scenery
It was a lovely 85 degrees with a slight breeze. Nonetheless, walking up the gradual incline made me sweaty. Or, maybe it was the thought of the snakes, I'm not sure.
I really liked walking in the dark. I'm not sure why. Usually I don't like the dark. I leave lots of lights on in my house. But this was a beautiful adventure.
I even took one of those scenery pictures that probably a million people have taken just before we set out. I think I'll make it my new computer desktop picture.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Weird pointed kid-friendly plant?
Tarantula holes in the ground
Type in the word 'tarantula' in the search bar if you want to
read more about Jake's adventurous hobby.