Sunday, July 31, 2011

week in the life: pages in progress

 Intro Page.

Day 1 Page.

Each day of the week will have one layout like this one with the 4 narrow photos (courtesy of a template from CatScrap). Depending on how much more of a story I have to tell or if there is a special picture to highlight, there will be additional daily pages. I'd like to also include one page for food/dining out and ideally one page about each of us that showcases additional photos from the week.With that as my goal, the album will just barely have 20 pages.

I am really trying not to over think this so that I can get it done. Today, I worked for about 1.5 hours in the car on my laptop as Dave drove us home from Norris Lake. I got the pictures for the pages like Day 1, shown above, dropped into the templates and have those complete through Wednesday.

As a reminder, A Week in the Life, is a project created by Ali Edwards. You can learn more on Ali's blog. In addition, nearly every digital product I am using is from CatScrap Designs


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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Week in the life: day 2

A small collage made on my iPhone using Diptic of yesterday's pics.



Going pretty strong on the photo taking front. I am getting anxious to begin my digital pages and hoping for a bit of computer play time.

If you are participating in a "week in the life" leave a comment and link up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

a week in the life: day 1

Here is a photo collage of just some of my photos from yesterday, all of these came from the iPhone. I would guesstimate I took at least 50 pictures and got at least a few good ones and a few more that help to tell the story of the day...like the waiting room of the doctor's office.

Looking forward to the rest of the week.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

fonts--i love 'em

I will see a magazine ad, or be reading a blog, or viewing a scrapbook layout and stop dead in my tracks because I love a font so much. It is not uncommon for me to begin a mission to find out the font's name and then download it for my personal use. Thankfully, so many great fonts are available for free!

Most recently, while visiting Kelly Noel's blog, Living the Dream, I saw a font I needed. That cute handwritten one across her toolbar.

Yep, it was love at first sight. So I sent her a message via Twitter and she responded that it was called Arsenale White. A quick Google search found it at Da Font, a great resource for FREE fonts.

If one free font is good, than many free fonts are better. Right? Right! So here is my list of new and great fonts. You can find them all at Da Font and download them for free.

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

on the menu tonight: recipes from magazines

Wow, tonight I made two homeruns from my stash of torn out recipes from the pages of magazines.

First, 1-2-3 Salmon from Taste of Home.
Several things to note, I had never cooked salmon in my life and this turned out delicious. My husband literally gobbled it up. The marinade was perfect and not overwhelming. I cooked my large piece of salmon with the skin on, following the directions I read awhile ago on Lisa Russo's blog. My spatula slid right between the skin and the fish very easily and then I had just a big filet on the plate, ready to eat.


Next, I made Garden Veggie Linguine with Cilantro Pesto. The dressing is to.die.for. I preferred the dish room temp but I think I will like it even better cold. Next time, I will omit the carrots and since I grilled additional zucchini and corn on the cob, I threw those into the dish at dinner time. These flavors were even more intense and delicious. I also added cut up cherry tomatoes. I will definitely make it again but will plan it for a cold pasta salad dish. And if I have the time, I will grill the veggies and throw in any extras I have on hand.

Three cheers for summer grilling and eating!

I feel compelled to add that my kids ate neither of these and that Dave at the salmon but since he thinks he does not like cilantro, did not eat the pasta. And that is OK. More leftovers for me. Pin It

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

inspired to scrap

It is honestly amazing and overwhelming to be part of the CatScrap Design team. Every week I am so blown away not only by what the designers design but what the creative team, and store customers, create with the digital designs. Although I am so incredibly busy and pressed for time, I have been taking a few minutes to make some pages. And I am so glad. Here are some recents:


If you click on each of these, you should be taken directly to them in my CatScrap gallery. If you are interested in the products used, they will be listed there. Thanks for taking a peek. Comments welcome! Pin It

Sunday, July 10, 2011

visiting the 100 acre woods

Me and the girls were able to view the new Winnie the Pooh movie a week in advance thanks to Dreamworks and Klout Perks. Some days, spending a ton of time on the internet pays off in an unexpected, but good, way!

The movie was at 10am. Here is what my girls look like at 10am with plentiful movie treats:
Said treats barely got eaten. Now I know not go get so much at that time of day, if I ever go again at that time of day.

The movie was darling. I'd say this is a winner from age 2 on through adult hood. There were so many clever and unique things like how the text from the book was incorporated and also the story and how it reinforced a good lesson: friends are important. More important even than honey : )

In place of previews there was just one short film, the Ballad of Nessie. I loved that and it was a total winner. The moral of that story? It's OK to cry. So wonderful.

The Kuethes are giving Winnie The Pooh 6 thumbs up and we encourage you to see the flick.

Happy weekend. Pin It

Thursday, July 7, 2011

cooking, eating, not dieting

I think I fell off the Weight Watcher's wagon around spring break. I'd safely say I am now back where I started or possibly slightly worse off. Boo. There is really no upside b/c most every pound was re-gained eating J-U-N-K. There has been the occasional good meal and new recipe win though. Like yesterday, I made this...
Jalapeno Popper Dip. Easy, delicious and a great replication of an actual popper. Here's the recipe:

Jalapeno Popper Dip

(makes 4 snacks sized servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano
1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapenos (pickled)
2 jalapeno peppers (chopped, optional)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano

Directions:
1. Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, parmigiano reggiano and jalapenos in a bowl and pour into a baking dish.
2. Mix the panko bread crumbs and parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle over the dip.
3. Bake in a 375F oven until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top, about 10-20 minutes.

Photo and recipe credit at Closet Cooking

Now that the clothes are ill fitting again and I altogether feel rotten about myself, I am going to re-embrace healthy eating. Sigh. It certainly doesn't help that both girls celebrate birthdays in July which equals at least 3 parties. Pin It

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

iPhone photography hits the big time

This is a cut and paste from my other blog but I feel like sharing because it makes my heart that happy:


iPhone photography hits the big time

I am an avid photographer. I have a digital SLR camera and know enough about it to be dangerous. Same goes for PhotoShop but the iPhone 4 has really revolutionized things for me. I use it exclusively in place of my former pocket camera and it is my only current means of videotaping. Tack on some of the cool apps like Hipstamatic or Instagram, and I am a full fledged junkie. So I was more than pleased when I saw that the next issue of Martha Stewart's Every Day Food will feature a photo spread taken with an iPhone.
Yes, this is affirmation that the iPhone + apps is very worthy. And that is a very good thing.

To view the entire magazine spread, go ::HERE::.

Do you have an iPhone or Smart Phone? Do you use the camera? Pin It