STEP BY STEP: MAKING ICONS IN GIMP FOR THE ANDROID PHONE 7 THEME

INGREDIENTS


Phone with Android 1.6 or above

Launcher: I use the free Go Launcher EX, but it doesn’t have the same icons that the ADW Launcher EX or the Launcher Pro EX.

Desktop Visualizer Application from Android Market https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.co.bii.android.app.dskvzr&feature=search_result
Computer with XP SP2 or above

Gimp – Please download it from the following site and install http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html. You only need to download the first file listed under ‘Base Packages’.

Photo file: Check here http://www.openstockphotography.org/

Additional Fonts: I liked http://www.fonts2u.com/aerovias-brasil-nf.font The site has a whole lot of fonts to choose from, so have fun. In Windows 7, you can install fonts by double clicking on the .ttf file and clicking on the ‘install’ button at the top of the page. This does not work in X though. Please click here for directions on installing fonts in XP. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314960


STEPS
1. Open the folder with the photo you downloaded in it.

a.



2. Add fonts to Gimp by clicking on the Text icon in the “Toolbox”. It’s an ‘A’. After opening the text tool, click on the Font list. There is a tiny icon and the bottom of the list in the right-hand corner.

a. There is a blue refresh icon in the center middle of the bar at the bottom of the list. The adds the new font to the Gimp font list so you can use it in the future.

3. You need to know the size of the icon you need. This refers to the number of pixels. For example, the follow list is the size of icons for a 480x800 phone based on the list found here. http://androidforums.com/android-themes/199936-android-phone-7-theme.html I need a 1x3 icon for Craigslist Mobile.

1x1: 110 x 125
1x2: 110 x 260
1x3: 110 x 395
1x4: 110 x 530
2x1: 230 x 125
2x2: 230 x 260
3x1: 350 x 125
3x3: 350 x 395
4x1: 470 x 125
4x4: 470 x 530

4. My image is natively 453x604 pixels and since the I want to use most of the image, and the size of the image needs to be 350x125. I scaled the photo back to 296x395.

5. To scale images, you need to click on ‘Image’ to open the Image menu and scroll down to ‘scale image…’

6. To maintain proportions make sure the icon to the right of the pixels numbers is a connected image. If you click on it, the icon will change and look like the original icon has a disconnect in the middle. Do not use this when you are scaling the image.

7. After the image has been resized, you may want to zoom in by clicking on the ‘View’ option and scrolling down to the ‘Zoom’ option. I usually set it to 200% after scaling the image.

8. Next we need to set the canvas size. This will be the final size of the icon. This is when I set the image size to 350x125. Don’t forget to click on the icon to the right because otherwise it will automatically change the size to maintain the aspect ratio. This is unimportant at this stage.

9. Click ‘Resize’ at the bottom of the bottom of the ‘Set Image Canvas Size’ popup menu.

10. If you need to adjust the image, you still can by clicking and dragging within the dashed lines.

11. Now we need to add a layer to the image by going to the ‘Layer’ menu at the top and clicking on ‘New Layer’

a. You should make sure that the default background color is white and the foreground color is white.

b.

12. To keep things consistent, every icon you make should have the same height for the second layer. Please also click on ‘Foreground color’ and the second number box (refers to height in pixels) should be changed to 40.

13. It defaults to adding the second layer to the top of the image. I move it to
the bottom of the image and change the ‘Opacity’ to 65% under the ‘Layers, Channels, Path, Undo, …” Menu. I do so by either moving the slider or you can click on the number to the right and type in 65.0.

14. Now we can add the text. I installed Aerovias Brasil NF. Click on the ‘A’ icon to open the text menu in the Toolbox.

15. My font size is 30 and the color is white. You can change the font color by clicking on the box below Text.

16. Click within the black shaded area(second layer) and type in the name of your icon. I used ‘Craigslist’. My is also completely capitalized, but that is a style choice you have to make.

17. You will probably need to reposition the text to make sure it’s where you want it to be in layer 2. I like to center mine. You need to click on the ‘Move’ menu in the toolbox. You can also access the option by opening the ‘Tools’ menu and clicking on ‘Transform Tools’ and then click on ‘Move’

18. Click on ‘Move the Active Layer’ to move the text where you want it within the box.

19. Your file is now complete and you can save it. It needs to be saved in png format. Click on ‘File’ at the top and click on ‘Save As’

20. It will now ask you to change the save name. You can delete everything within the save name box and write the filename dot PNG. For example, mine is called craigslist 1x3.png. This saves it as a PNG file. You will then be asked to flatten the image and I just click on “Export” and then save and leave everything on default..

21. Now you can put the file on your phone and use desktop visualizer to place it on your desktop as a widget and connect it to a program

END PRODUCT

Update and New Focus

So I'm going to start updating every day about something. Today I'd really like to review my ebook reader. I just got in back in January and I feel like I've really put it through it's paces these last few months.

I bought this in January because it was on sale at Best Buy and came with a free sleeve and I was gearing up for the cruise we are taking next year. So that said, I have no buyers regret on this purchase. Frankly, it's been years since I bought a non-touchscreen electronics device so when I was looking at all these e-readers which required the use of buttons, I was not impressed.

This 5 inch e-reader fits into my hand. I can just swipe my finger across the page to go to the next one or to go back. I still use the physical buttons a lot though since they are right where my fingers are when I'm holding the device. The screen has little glare, but it does seem to attract dust. That bothered my at first, but I don't notice it anymore. I don't notice the flash when I turn the page anymore either. For the $140 I paid for this, I've received many hours of amusement and have still only paid for about $30 worth of books.

One of the pros of this device is that you can check out books from the Library with it. I also get a lot of books from Project Gutenburg and buy cheap books from Smashwords.

A negative for some people will certainly be the lack of wifi or 3g. I don't miss it because I use Calibre to organize my books on the computer and I'm never far from a computer. I'm not even close to filling the memory on the device and have over a hundred books on it.

I usually look for books by either author or time loaded onto the device, with the occasional search via title if I can't remember the author. You can also add tags to the books in Calibre which will make groups on the device and you can navigate by those tags instead.

One weak point in the design on the e-reader is the stylus. I rarely used mine and it still broke last month. I figure I'll live without it and glued it onto the e-reader since the ereader doesn't look right without the stylus.

It also doesn't come with an ac adapter and doesn't work with all the other ac adapter you may have in your home with the same connection. I had 3, a non-name from ebay, a samsung one from my phone, and one from my Archos 5 IT. Only the Samsung works properly. The no name will not allow me to use the reader while charging, but will charge it and the Archos one doesn't work at all.

All in all, a great device. It feels solid and has given me few problems in the last few months. I'm now a believer in dedicated ebook readers.

New Kitten

So I can't post a picture since my camera ran out of battery power when I was copying the pics of the camera, so here's one I'm borrowing from another site that looks like her. This pic is from http://www.great-pictures-of-cats.com/

I found her while I was walking my dog in the park. She can meow really loud and there were no other cats or kittens nearby. My neighbor thinks she is probably 8-10 weeks old. She's really skinny and gobbled down the food I put out for her. She's also a snuggle-bug. She's got fleas and probably ear mites too. Poor mite.

So I found her in the park and brought her home with me and Luna and put her into the bathroom with a bowl of water and a little wet dog food and a towel and closed the door while I ran up to Petco and got some kitten food, a couple of little toys, a litter box and cat litter, and some cute kitten bowl. I think I spent $50 on everything, but she's so pathetically small and undernourished. I hope she will be okay.

So how is she integrating after one night?

Really well. I kept her alone in the bathroom for awhile last night so she could feel secure. She keeps laying behind the toilet, so I put the towel there and gave her some kitten food and set up the litter box with some kitten attracting powder added in and shut the door so Luna couldn't get in and went out and walked Luna for another 30 minutes. Then I watching Back the the Future II for 30 more minutes, then I went in and picked her up and petted her. For a ferrel (sp?) kitten, she seems to really like being touched.

I petted her until she purred and walked around the apartment. Luna tried to jump up on me a couple of times, but I didn't let her. Eventually I sat on the couch and put her on the back of the couch and let Luna sit on the floor beside the couch and watched them stare at each other. Luna barked a bit at first, but after she realized she couldn't get to the kitten and the kitten realized the dog wouldn't attack her, both settled down a bit and Luna assumed her defensive stance she uses at the dog park. In other words, she sits with her back to me, surveying the world around us. After a few more minutes of this and me petting the kitten and Luna at the same time, I put the kitten back and put her on the litter and dug her paws into it since someone on YahooAnswers says it helped her kitten learn to use the litter box and it seems a harmless enough thing to do.

After petting Luna some more and continuing to watch the movie for another hour, I brought the kitten out again, although I may have gone a little too fast this time since she arched her back a hissed at Luna when Luna aproached really quickly. I subdued the kitten until she calmed and purred again and Luna was still sitting beside the couch and I returned her to the bathroom again.

So on the third time I brought the kitten back out, things went really well. I sat with the kitten and Luna was more calm and the kitten began purring almost immediately and I sat down on the couch and she stayed on my shoulder even though Luna approached and I let Luna get close enough to sniff her with my hand on Luna's harness to pull her back if need be and she started licking the kitten. I've looked it up and older female dogs licking kittens is usually a symptom of the maternal instinct, so Luna may have already accepted her into the pack and the kitten continued purring with Luna licked her. I only let them do it for a few moments the first time before again removing the kitten into the bathroom.

So the final time I brought her out last night, I let Luna again lick the kitten and she licked the kitten a lot, but the kitten really didn't mind. Awesome. You know, I wasn't thinking of having a kitten before yesterday, but now that I've let her in the door, I want to keep her. I've named her Rosalie.

My new fake, fake Iphone or Fake Sciphone

So I just avoid buying Apple products since the company has enough sheep following it, but I did want a touchscreen phone and I'm less than a year into my 2 year contract, so I needed to buy my company from someone other than Tmobile. (New phone because my sweet dog chewed up the old one). The Iphone has the longest history of copies, so I figured a fake Iphone would work out. Before this I considered buying a new touchscreen phone, but they tended to cost about 275-350, so I decided to try the $120 Sciphone, or what I thought would be a Sciphone. Now, unfortunately, I went for Ebay and if you want to legit fake, you should go to mysciphone.com or net or something. My Faux Fake Iphone works so similarly to the normal Sciphone, that I wouldn't have known it was the wrong one if not for the opening screen showing some gobbledy-gook rather than Sciphone.

Out of the package:

An 8GB Flash card came installed in the phone, so all I needed to do was insert the sim car and battery and connect to some sort of power source with the USB. Also in the box was a car charger, USB cable, earphones, wall battery charger, and flash card adapter. I installed my sim card upside down at first, but eventually figured out why it couldn't work and turned it over.

There are 2 Sim slots, I use the second one and you have to set the phone to look only in the one slot.

Figuring it out:

Some things are intuitive, but others needed more help. Ex: There is a MP3 and audio folder and when I moved my music onto the player, I was wondering why it didn't work. My music was wma, so I'll have to conver it to mp3 to enjoy. I also need to buy a pair of bluetooth headphones so I can enjoy the music better.

It takes okay pictures, nothing better or worse then any phone camera.

Opening txt files was also fine, you can bookmark. I haven't used the option much and I will try it out some more since I do enjoy a good ebook with lunch.

The interface is very quick and the screen is very bright and beautiful. I am mostly impressed with the phone quality. The only problem is that when I touch one corner of the screen, the plastic makes a noise like its moving if you know what I mean. Touchscreen should not make noise when you touch them unless you set it up and then its electronic and this is definitely build related. I'm not sure if that's something I should worry about, or live with. I mean, this phone only has to last me a year until my contract expires and I get a new phone.

I'll update with the battery specifics and after I play aroudn with it some more.

Strawberry Dress and 1954 Lutterloh

So I found some beautiful strawberry printed fabric for $2 a yard at walmart last night and decided to make a Strawberry Festival dress. The Strawberry Festival is in the beginning of May here in Pasadena and I hear it can be a little fun. The Library may even be part of the parade.

So I'm trying to pick a nice fun pattern for the dress and here are some options.

This dress #20 is a showstopped, not for this particular project, but its just ridiculously feminine and beautiful.

53 (the one on the end) is the one I'm thinking of right now.

or perhaps the right side one closer to the spine, 228. Hmm, so many choices. That Lutterloh is a buffet of possibilities.

New Inspiration

So I got my nails done last week and it wasn't enough. I needed even more of a change. So I dyed my hair red again and waxed my eyebrows this weekend. With my new red hair, I've resolved to buy no more candy, cookies, or chips. Those are my downfall. I can't simply buy a package and eat one or two. I eat the whole thing within a couple of days. It's just sad. I think I'm like an alcoholic and simply can't have a little and must binge. Bummer.

Further my resolution is to eat some sort of fresh and raw fruit of veggie with every meal and to eat 5 times a day. I also want to drink water with every meal. Here are a couple of daily meal ideas

Day 1
Breakfast 2 scrambled eggs with green bell pepper and onion and chorizo and an apple
Snack 4 oz of sliced cucumbers and 8 oz chocolate protein shake
Lunch 2 slices of high fiber bread, mustard, lettuce, tomato, 1 slice of cheddar cheese, a 2 oz of shaved pepper turkey breast and broccoli with 1 oz of ranch dipping sauce and sugar free orange drink
Snack 1 carrot and 8 oz chocolate protein shake
Dinner cilantro lime marinated chicken breast, simple salad with fresh tomatoes, strawberry shake

Day 2
Breakfast an orange, 2 scrambled eggs with salsa
Snack 8 oz chocolate protein shake and a couple of pickles
Lunch 1 slice of high protein bread, tuna salad with plenty of celery, tomato soup, jello cup
Snack 8 oz chocolate protein shake and a tomato
Dinner grilled hamburger patty, mustard, simple salad, jello cup, apple

Day 3
Breakfast 2 breakfast tacos with lc tortillas, scrambled eggs, chorizo, and pico de gallo and an apple
Snack an orange and 8 oz chocolate protein shake
Lunch fresh fruit salad, grilled chicken breast, and tomato soup with fresh tomatoes
Snack 2 carrots and 8 oz chocolate protein shake
Dinner brown rice, peppered beef, grilled zucchini, fresh strawberry shake

Day 4
Breakfast ham and cheese omelet and a tomato
Snack 2 sticks of celery with peanut butter
Lunch baked pork chop and a salad and a jello cup
Snack pickles and 8 oz chocolate protein shake
Dinner grilled salmon, steamed broccoli, and a salad heavy on carrots and light on dressing, and low calorie flan

Day 5
Breakfast 2 over easy eggs, and a cup of oatmeal
Snack bell pepper with salt
Lunch Vegetable soup, ham and lettuce roll ups, an orange
Snack an apple with peanut butter
Dinner low calorie crème brulee, baked chicken breast, steamed cauliflower, an apple

Day 6
Breakfast Spinach and Artichoke omelet and an orange
Snack 2 carrots and 8 oz chocolate shake
Lunch kimchi, bean sprouts, beef and spinach soup, kung pao chicken, and brown rice
Snack an apple with peanut butter
Dinner shrimp curry and steamed broccoli and a mango

Day 7
Breakfast tomato and cheese omelet and an apple
Snack 8 oz chocolate shake and cucumbers with italian dressing
Lunch Pineapple, garlic bread, pesto cauliflower, and grilled hamburger patty
Snack an apple with peanut butter
Dinner jello, broccoli cheese soup, grilled salmon, an orange

Another Update

Wow twice in 2 days, what's wrong with me. I posted the new wrap shirt I created over at Sew Retro, so I suppose I'll post it here too.

My 2 dogs :) despite the evil eyes, are awesome.

My evil ankle:

New Update

I keep meaning to update this blog, but you know how it is when you get busy. So I've moved down to Pasadena into my own place (YAY). My neighbors smoke like chimneys (AW) but the only place I really smell it is in the kitchen. Oh well. I think I may end up staying here only until my lease expires in June.

I've gotten a second dog. You all know how I can't resist a sweet face. This sweet face is costing me an arm and a leg. No, he's not a puppy and actually has gray hair, but is a chewer and so far he chewed through 1 lease, a collar, and 2 halters. The dog is a mennace who started chewing on my external hard drive and has already demolished one DVD I didn't care about (Doctor Who Christmas Invasion). I've taken to hiding the stuff I care about. I would crate, him, but he's a whiner and I hate to annoy my neighbors since he does a lot of this while I'm asleep. He is cute though. He's a flat haired

retriever and like Luna is a bit mini. In fact, he's the exact same size as Luna. just with more hair. He weighs less right now because he has a tape worm. Also Luna has been getting on my nerves during walks. 2 times this weekend, she managed to see a cat while crossing a road with a car coming so I was hurrying, so Luna was able to take off. Did I forget to mention my ankle gave out twice last week. It was very painful and it's still sore so when I try to balance and put a lot of pressure downward, it doesn't always work.

On the bright side Luna and Jasper are quickly becoming friends. I don't think Luna knew quite what to make of Jasper at first, but over the past week she started spending more time trying to play with him and now she is the one I have to make leave him alone as opposed to the other way around. btw: he IS named for Jasper from Twilight just like Luna is named for the Harry Potter character.

I've also been sewing and will post a couple of my new creations tomorrow.

My Thoughts on the Twilight Saga

So I just finished my obsessive week of Twilight. I started listening to the books on Monday, the 24th and have now finished listening to all 3. Like the Harry Potter's I prefered to listen to them rather than read them. Although Jim Dale is a large part of my desire to listen to HP and Ilyana Kadushin is no Jim Dale. I do spend a lot of time in traffic and Books on Tape are helpful. I did cheat and listen to them outside of the car if I got to a particularly interesting part. Oh, and I listened at work, although lots of people asked me what I was thinking about while listening because of the absorbed look on my face.

I've come to the conclusion that I really like them. I liked the first well enough, mehed through the emo Bella in the second. Yelled at Bella repeatedly in the third with many admonishments for her to just shut up. I think the last one will be my fav. It's definitely the one I've hated most have to take off the earphones for. The honeymoon is sweet and Bella's calling the baby her 'little nudger' made me want to cry with happiness as just about the first truly simpathetic moment for Bella. Most of the time she's just to overly emotionally teen and annoying, but she won me over with her love of her unborn child. I heard complaints later about Renesme being so Mary Sue and I get teh complaints. Everyone loves her, even Jacob who goes from killing the monster to being willing to die for her in the space of a breath. I did appreciate her most whenever she wasn't acting like an adult.

Team Jacob: I was kinda leaning toward Team Jacob even though I obviously knew before reading the books that she'd end up with Edward. This book definitely took a lot of the joy of Jacob away. I loved the part in the middle from his perspective and despite clothes shopping and dinner on Wednesday, I continued to listen to it. Leah is awesome and Jake as a pack leader was a welcome addition to the story. I wish we could find out more about the origins of the shapechangers and if the wolf form is simply because that's what they think they should change into. Also, I want Leah to have a happy ending. :(

Also, Bella and Edward's relationship seemed to be A LOT more healthy in this book. N one of the stalker controlling behavior, they seemed like equals, albeit with him still being protective. I also missed seeing Alice. One thing I appreciated about the second one was the stories about the other characters. I loved finding out where Jasper came from the the purported origins of the 'werewolves'.

On the slightly negative side, Bella didn't have nearly enough problems with being a vampire. After all that waiting and hemming and hawing by Edward and she takes to it like a duck to water. She even gets to maintain a relationship with her Dad. I did love Bella's stronger shield power, very in keeping with what had gone before and a great way for her to show her strength to everyone.

Big Negative I hated the final battle scene. All that build up and planning and nothing really happens. There's one death. I guess SM was probably trying to avoid too many comparisons to HP since its like the antithesis of the final battle in that series, but than that battle was inevitable and if it hadn't happened, the books would be ruined. The Twilight series is all about relationships, battles, but it would have been much more emotionally satisfying for the battle to have ocurred. :( I can see what SM was thinking. I mean, the Volturi are essential to keeping the vampires in check, but I really wanted a battle and some death and carnage.

So the whole living here in Dallas means that I may be going to Twicon. What is Twicon? It's a convention for Twilighters in Dallas and costs $255. They already have healiners from the movie who will be there. None of the top 3, but there's still alomost 8 months and many more people to announce in the meantime. I know that SM won't be there since she wants to spend some time with her family (what a crazy thought). www.twicon.com Kat seriously wants to go, the only problem in the time of year. I'm already needing to ask off for the first week in July, can I ask for a couple of days at the end as well. And what about the $255 ticket price. We'll see how my job goes. I reckon I'll look into buying a ticket in March or something. After I've done the whole moving into the apartment thing. I wonder if any other Twilighters I know are going to want to go and able to pay the $255 for tickets. Ugh, so much.

Job Update and Twilight

So while I still don't have a start day, I did tell my boss about the new job. They offered me a permanent job and promotion to suppost for the engineering dept. It would have been nice, but when they started talking about training me, I knew I had to tell them about Pasadena despite the lack of official start day. I thought I would hear back today, but with the holiday, I think things get behind so I may not hear anythng until Monday.

So the only problem with listening to Twilight is that anytime they say the word Alice out loud, I want to break into the "Alice Blue Bonnet" song. Its a song about a hat and bonnet that fall in love and are separated at the store, but then reunited in a park. lol. Its cute and the tune keeps going though my head. lol. I'm actually listening to the book as I write this. I'm at the hospital scene.

I've made a list of purchases and budgets for the purchases based on prices on Craigslist, at WalMart, and at the Dollar General. I've created a excel spreadsheet separating and listing the needed supplies and projected cost and divided by need. I think I have 6 sections and so it will take at least 3 months to get my apartment perfected and decorated and supplied and I will be spending $2000 on decorations, furnishings, appliances, kitchen stuff, and everything else. I forgot to add the roomba to it. I'm so buying a roomba. I found one for $85 shipped last night, so I should get it before I move in. This is great for lazy people like me who hate to clean. Hopefully it will help me control Luna's hair. Thankfully Luna is a short hair since long hair gets caught on the rollers.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

New Job and Apartment

So after getting further confirmation of the Pasadena job, I went down to Houston this weekend to look at apartments and I found one. Yay. Its a second floor Quadplex. I talked to the neighbors and really like the area. It's a bit rundown, but not ghetto. There's a park right behind it with a walking trail, a Walmart/ BOA/ Kroger/ Mall/ and the main library within 3 miles. The branch is more like 6 miles away, but the main library will be where I'll be working mostly after March.

On the Pros side for the apartment:

• Not part of some big complex,
• location,
• pleasant neighbors,
• within my price range,
• $100 off first month,
• only $300 deposit for me and Luna and all is refundadable,
• great floor plan,
• beautiful bay window,
• ability to paint walls as I want,
• lots of trees to shade the apt

Cons of the apt

• Too close to shopping,


• not much storage,


• second floor so moving stuff in will be harder,


• wood paneling,


• and last but certainly not least, it does have a bug problem.

So about that last con, yes I did go for the apt despite the bug thing because I simply accept that any multi-family unit in the hot and humid areas of Texas are going to have bug problems. I've never been to one or lived in one that didn't. At least I've lived with it before and know how to deal with it. This includes daily cleaning, no leaving food out, using trash cans with tight lids, cleaning thoroughly, and remaining vigilant. I was after all, once a hotel housekeeper, so dealing with gross stuff is something I just suck it up and deal with. Also, I will be living on my own so just have myself to pick up after. I think Luna will have to get used to eating at set times though since I have the idea of leaving food out for her.

So what work will I do before moving in:

• caulking all holes and cracks to further mitigate the bug situation,


• put out boric acid and traps as well,
  
• painting the paneling and walls


• scrub everything down, especially the oven and fridge

What do I need to do to the kitchen:

• Caulk and fill in all holes
  
• Scrub every surface


• Paint fridge and oven


• Paint walls lemin chiffon or lemon grass


• create floral stencil on wooden water heater cover out of contact paper and spray paint open areas dark blue.


• Hang roman shade


• Hang white sheer curtains with something dark blue as a cornice or something
  
• replace cabinet hardware with black iron or stainless steel
  
• hang family pictures in the kitchen
  
• contact paper in the cabinets


• bug stuff taken care of


• Buy:


• -Cutlery
  
• -boring is probably best
  
• -stand mixer
  
• -knife set
  
• -cutting boards


• -mixing bowls
  
• -dishes drying basket


• -dish towels


• -herb seeds and supplies


• -dried herb rack
  
• -cabinet organizers
  
• -steel microwave


• -medium lidded trash can


• -Square dining sets
  
• -
  

What do I need to do to the bathroom:

• paint walls pale blue, like faraway blue and paint cabinet doors and area by shower dark blue


• Buy:
  
• -metal rolling cart
  
• -small lidded steel or black trash can
  
• -beigy medium brown shower curtain, bath mat, and toilet mat


• -steel accessories as necessary
  
• -one bright floral pic like
  
• -

What do I need to do to the bedroom:

• Paint top of the walls a light green and bottom a dark green with the railing in the middle painted white


• dark brown furniture



• white billowy curtains and a roman shade
  
• bed linens should be golden or dark green and some other color from an opulent fabric


• pre-rafaelite pics
  
• Buy:
  
• -large dresser
  
• -large book shelf
  
• -side table
  
• -vanity
  
• other storage opportunities

What do I need to do to the living room

• Inspiration pic



• I want to paint all the walls that dark teal sort of color and have beige or light brown furniture


• white filmy curtains and a roman shade


• screens on the windows


• small prints like the ones in the pic.


• Buy:


• -couch


• -easy chair


• -coffee table


• -end table


• -2 book shelves


• -other storagey furniture solutions

What do I need to do to the dining area:

• Maintain front room scheme, but with the dark blue green only on the bottom on the room and paint top portion to match the yellow of the kitchen and the middle rail will be white


• dark brown furniture

modern art like,
Okay, so what can I do now?

• finalize paint choices
• plan for after Thanksgiving sales like paint, a flat panel, and plates, cutlery and appliances
• plan utility companies and save deposit
• complete change of address

Twilight

So I just got back from the midnight showing of Twilight. It was awesome. I still haven't read the books, but now I actually want to. I'm not much for horror or vampire lit, but the movie was so good, I think the books aren't what I would expect. They also made sense and were interesting for me as a newbie, I could tell there were references to the book that I didn't get, but they didn't get in the way of the story. btw: It's a story of first love with a little teen angst thrown in, but not too much and it doesn't get in the way. Oh, and the mirror scene was seriously exciting and dramatic.

All the bit characters were interesting. The story revolves around Bella and Edward, but the vampire characters and the classmates are flesh and blood. There were a few akward moments with the dialogue, but I think they were on purpose and they were nearly as bad as any of the Star Wars movies which I hold up as monuments to bad dialogue. All in all, I think this has been my favorite midnight showing since the second Lord of the Ring. The audience was interested, good seats, and the movie was enthralling. Let's see if the midnight showing for Star Trek will compare.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Oil Change

I'm dressing as little red riding hood for Halloween this year, although I've not even finished cutting out the fabric. It's going to be renaissance inspired so I'll definitely post pics of the entire process.

I got an oil change yesterday and as I left the oil change place, my car started acting up. The engine would seem like it wasn't getting gas. I have a 1988 BMW 325i, an awesome car, and its never done this. I couldn't think what was up, and having a suspicious mind, I thought the oil change place might have broken something on my car just to get money for fixing it, so I didn't immediately return. I went to the nearby library to do some research. I then looked under the hood and realized the reason the engine was running unevenly was because the people at the oil cahnge place forgot to put the oil cap back on. I guess other cars can handle it better since I went to a nearby O'Reilly's to get a cap and they so did not have one and the guy behind the counter said that usually the only thing that would happen is that oil would spurt out over the engine and you'd get some fumes. He'd never heard that lacking an oil cap would result in uneven engine running. So fyi, if you have a 88 bmw 325i, the oil acp is necessary. It was actually dark outside, so I didn't see that the cap was sitting near the engine, but the oreillys guy that came out to take a look at it put him hand on it and found it. I put the cap back on and it ran swimmingly once more.

Today I'm picking up a muffler from a junkyard since being muffler-less is a bad idea. I'm going to call Automotive Plus to find out if a used muffler is a good idea and what to look at on the muffler and whether a new one is the best way to go. I suppose I just need something on there right now.

Also, I got a huge rip in my back window yesterday. :darn it: I'm probably going to replace the canvas and window. You can buy one on Ebay for $220 with shipping and it doesn't seem to difficult to install. Time consuming, but not difficult. And If I completely ruin it, I still have the hard top until I have the money for a professional job.

Goodness, its been a month

So I haven't posted in over a month, but we don't have internet at home any more and I tend to do other things while on the internet, like job applications and watching youtube ;-) I have a new HG concealer, Estee Lauder's Maquicomplet. It never cakes and while it costs more than MAC Moisturecover, you get twice as much and more coverage. It's awesome, even for 27.50 plus tax.

Here I am wearing pretty much only the concealer, so you can see it is a good match and makes my circles less noticable. And this was during my horrible Virginia trip. Rained the whole time and was for nothing because I don't think I got the job.

:( I went to the San Marcos Cosmetics Company outlet and picked up some Estee Lauder Individualist foundation with a good color match and some MAC mattene lipcolor is 40s pink. It's a good, almost ylbb color on me. The Individualist foundation I'm a little uncertain about since the color is good, but I think it may be making my pores look bigger. I mixed it with a little Maybelline Age Rewind Cream Foundation this morning and I'm hoping this helps it last longer, it doesn't highlight my pores today either, but that could be because I started using retin a again this weekend and my pores look smaller anyway. I'm so happy I decided to order it from All Day Chemists in India. It arrived in a week and three tubes cost $30 with shipping and they work just as well as the retin a I was buying here.

Okay, so on the job front. I had 2 interviews last week and I should hear about them this week. wish me luck. I'm working for the forseeable future at a temp job in Irving doing mostly filing.

I was feeling horrible yesterday. I decided to start a project and go through my entire clothes collection (I have quite a bit) and since my family was down in Houston visiting my sister (would have gone, but the car would be cramped and my car was in the shop Saturday) I took over the front room and seperated by clothes that fit and then by clothes I like and now have quite a pile for Goodwill. The family did get home early, so I hadn't finished. I also felt horrible and kept stopping to take a nap. I was just nauseous and headachy. Oh well, I still finished it, even if the clothes for Goodwill are in the front room right now. I didn't have the energy to take them out to the car or into the garage.

Really Easy Prok Chops and a Couple New Items

So, I'm back to eating more healthily, so dinner tonight is baked pork chops, salad, and green beans or spinach.

Really Easy Pork Chops

Ingredients:

Pork Chops (as many as you need, I have 8 from a family pack)
garlic powder (to taste, I like more than most people)
salt (also to taste since you may like more, I'm trying to watch my salt intake, so used very little) pepper(also to taste)
fresh rosemary(since we have some in the garden, use dried if that's what you've got and its also to taste)

Process
So rinse off the chops and cover pan with foil for easy clean up and spray foil with butter flavored spray.

Place pork chops with one inch between them and spray tops with butter spray.

sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and pepper on chops

Sprinkle cut fresh rosemary or non-cut, or dry on it.

Place in 415 degree oven for 20 minutes or use a George Foreman to grilled for an even better experience.

These aren't perfect pork chops, but they are tasty and as you can tell, they are also really easy to put together. If you marinaded them overnight, they would be even more flavorful and moist. You could also add some thyme and oregano to the mix for a more complex flavor. I like that these are really healthy(very little oil used in cooking and no heavy sauce) and still have flavor. Now, I like these, but most people I've shared my cooking with (re: family members) think I overseason and like weird flavor combinations and then they object when I don't share something really good with them. :shakes head: Never understand them...

Latest Sewing Projects:

Seventies Simplicity Pattern 9365



I ran out of fabric because there was very little left and I ended up trying the belt out over it and it just didn't look right. I saw this girl wearing a shirt with a v-neck and a bow at the bottom of the v and new then and there that this was the right thing to do with it.



Modern Butterick 5101.




















I love this drapy jersey and its color. I actually did the wide leg pants too, but haven't finished adjusting them as they came out too big. I think I'll make this shirt again in a non-stretchy, drapy material.



Vintage Dress Inspired Pattern McCall 5378.















So it was supposed to have buttons up the front. Sue me. I had doing buttonholes and I realized while looking through my stash that I had 4 buttons that matched that would look good with the pattern. I didn't want to take a long trip to WalMart (5 minutes) and it needed, like, 9 buttons. Anyway, I decided to just sew up the front and see what would have. I like it. I get the nice collar and the silouette without spending a lot of time on it.

Palin?

Well, I was going to simply write in Mickey Mouse on the ballot in November because I can barely stand McCain and Obama is crap... but Palin is at least an ackowledgment that social conservatives are important too since McCain, Obama, and whoever Obama is running with is pretty liberal. Hmmm, I suppose McCain is really old and he might die quickly and we can finally have a woman president . Yes, he is a lot more palatable, I might even buy a bumper sticker or shirt and the last one I bought was for Romney :(.   I don't know, the whole this is crap now, but Palin seems to be a light in the darkness... Ooh, and with McCain being so old, maybe he won't die while President, but he can't live too long and won't be the same drain on the government other former presidents are through their lifelong salaries. Fiscal responsibility is what McCain is about, right?

Here's a link to the bumper sticker.

Free Patterns from Mccalls, Butterick, and Vogue

Yay, so just pay shipping from these 3 pattern companies. I suppose the only one worth it is the Vogue ones since the other ones are often on sale for $1 or $2. I ordered Vogue 2885, but really want Vogue 8428 or Vogue 8400. I suppose I'll pick it up on Monday in the Hancocks reopening sale. Hmmmm

Does J K Rowling Kinda Suck?

I've been a fan of the Harry Potter series since the fourth book came out and I've enjoyed the speculation, fandom, and excitement related to the stories. I'm afraid J K may not be worthy of diefication. It seems a bit suspicious that her announcement of the Beedle the Bard Tales comes a few days before the anticipated release of another young adult author, Stephanie Meyers. Hmmm, I'm not saying this is a plan she endorsed. It could have been on the instigation of her publoishers who are, after all, responsible for publicizing her works. I'm just disapointed in J K that this did happen. She's eminently popular now, she doesn't need to steal away any of Stephanie Meyers' thunder. :shakes head: Yeah, I feel a bit disillusioned and reckon I'll avoid any future works by Ms. Rowling, including the new Harry Potter movies, because I think a disaffection for the author will make it very difficult to enjoy the movie. At least Star Trek is coming out next year so there's at least one midnight showing I'll enjoy in the next year. Maybe I'll go see Twilight as a midnight showing, but I've no idea if there will be any for it. You know, I do have a half-finished HP fanfic on fanfiction.net and I'm seriously lacking the motivation to finish it. Bummer.

Goals for the Week and New Butterick Patterns

First of all, my goals for next week are to:

• Walk Luna every day and say 5 positive things about self and working out both before and after.


• Drink 60 oz of water every day


• Drink protein before each meal (either mixed only with water or some fruit in a shake and yes it does count toward the liquid requirement)


• Eat a salad with each meal


• Do Yoga/Pilates video every day (eg 20/20 Perfect Pilates, 10 min solutions Pilates, Burn and Firm Yoga, Fat Burning Yoga, Quickfix Pilates)


• Do cardio workout every other day or at least attempt one (Turbo jam, Taebo, Quickfix Kickboxing, Salsa Dancing) and say 5 positive things about self and working out both before and after.


• Clean dishes every other day and sweep the floor and clean off the counters and take out the trash and clean up the front room


• Put bike back together and have ready to ride for next week when I hope to start cycling every morning around town and avoid refilling the gas tank


• Put finishing touches on every piece

Now I'm afraid to say that I'm not particularly impressed with the new Butterick patterns. There's only a couple of the Fall patterns I want. Butterick 5250, a high-waisted pants, and Butterick 5243, a dress pattern with a cinched in waist and frilly sleeves and flowy skirt. The waist on it may be a bit high, but it's worth a shot.

So I've been applying for many librarian positions lately and since I'm at home all day now, I've been sewing a lot. As soon as I do the finishing (hems, buttons, hand-stitching), I'll upload the photos. I sewed 2 jackets, 2 shirts, a pair of pants, and a dress and I still need to do some finishing on several more dresses and cut out another pair of pants and jacket. I've already cut out Vogue 285o and need to sew it. The problem is that its a gauzy fabric that unravels easily and I every review I've read for it uses a serger rather than a sewing machine, so I'm nervous about all those hems. Simplicity 4273 may be one of my favorite wardrobe patterns. I've made the pants a jacket from a black somewhat stretchy wool polyester blend fabric and I love the shape of the jacket and the pants fit perfectly, including the rise and waistband. I think I'll make the pants again out of some jersey because theywould make wonderful workout pants and should come together really quickly. I'm going to make the dress out of this silky Chinese fabric I've had laying around. It will make a lovely nightgown. This last time I tried using the fabric to make one of thosee Project Runway Simplcity patterns, I had to give up because I pressed hte fabric with a too-hot iron and it rather burned the fabric into nothingness.

At Pattern Review, they have a mini-wardrobe contest for August. You need to sew 4 peices in at least 3 fabrics and need to get 4 different combinations from the peices. There's another lined jacket contest I may try for. I think Vogue has some wonderful Claire Shaeffer lined jacket patterns. I bought a couple last month abd have been trying to get the motivation to cut into them. Both a labeled advanced because of the lining and pockets on one of them.

In case ya'll can't tell. I'm trying to focus on using up my stash right now. After I put the finishing touches on all my currently waiting patterns (hopefully by Tuesday), i have more patterns/fabric combos waiting for their shot in the sun, so to speak. I hope to sew a couple of jersey t-shirts(light blue) and a pair of shorts(dk green), a pair of capris(aqua and white) and a couple of workout pants(dk green and pink) and a short sleeved jersey jacket(pink) and a long sleeved jersey jacket(dk green). I also want to sew a denim jacket from Simp 4273 and sew 5 sundresses and one maxi dress from various cottons. I'm also going to make a pair of khaki shorts and wide leg pants. I've also got some green and white checked cotton that would make a nice weskit and skirt combo. I have some beautiful stripped challis that needs a purpose (I just like the fabric so much :blushes:).

Oh, and today, I decided I need to sew fitted a white cotton shirt with :sigh: buttons, so I know I have a few white fabrics ( a challis, cotton, and eyelet), but they are all too drapy, but I've resolved to buy no more fabric until I get a job. Hmmm, re-pupose one of Dad's shirts perhaps? lol. Hmm all this planning, but i still have 3 boxes full of unused fabrics and 2 trash bags full of scraps, some scraps as big as a yard or 2. I do have my work cut out(lol) for me. I didn't really get anything done today, just finished a dress and sat at the sewing machine thinking of sewing and put together the fabric and patterns. Oh well, I am motivated for future sewing and for working out and being healthier next week.

YouTube has exercise videos and a new haircut

I don't always exercise :slaps hand:. I actually own many workout videos and with no work right now, I even did one of them this morning and realized how out of shape I really am. Goodness it was sad. I did the Cardio Dance Party video from Crunch and it can be a lot of fun, although my sister arived home from class while I was doing it and laughed at me :glares: hurumph. So after i mostly did the video, I don't know what made me think to see what workout videos were on youtube. I am surprised that there are a lot of videos and a great variety of them. I tried a pilates toning one, a basic belly dance one, and then I had to stop because I don't want to ache tomorrow and am simply feeling pleasantly warm now.

I'm trying to drink some water too because this exercise has made me thirsty. The Youtube videos are limited in size, I think 10 minutes is the limit, but people will upload the videos in parts to get around that. There are also plenty of trailers and samples for upcoming and recent and past workout videos if you want to anticipate or try out any videos.

So I've been cleaning around the house today. Yesterday I sewed and I hope to do some more today. My exercise was inspired by trying a dress I was sewing on yesterday. I really want to wear it and wear it now in the summer, but it is really tight. I made it using a pattern and the previous result fit me fine back at Christmas, so I must have gained weight, darn it. So I'm back to Atkins today and exercising. I'll take Luna on a walk tonight and probably do the Quickfix kickboxing video either before or after.

So I'm thinking of getting my hair cut at the end of the week, or maybe today since I am inspired.

Here's the haircut I am interested in:

And the current state of my hair: