Falls Park

Falls Park in downtown Greenville is a beautiful green space in the middle of the city. The bridge is cantilevered out over the waterfall. Miles of trails link the zoo, the YMCA, and downtown to the Swamp Rabbit Trail that goes all the way to Traveler's Rest. During the summer you can people watch and see Shakespeare.

Scott had training downtown last week & I needed the car during the day. Chris dropped me off & I walked around taking pictures & enjoying the beautiful park. I am looking forward to warmer weather & riding my bike. Hooray for spring!

Wordless Wednesday - The Flu Take 2

Warning: Cast Perfectionism Aside!

Subway Art

This was not the best moment of my crafting life!

I have admired various interpretations of subway art for the last year or so. While wandering semi-aimlessly around Pinterest, I found several links that helped me clarify what I wanted my art to say. At first I was thought about locations that our families lived, but then I expanded my vision to favorite sayings, dates, and activities we love. One "pin" captured what I wanted & I found a tutorial or two to help me learn what to do.

1. Make a list of the words you want to use.

2. Use PicMonkey or other software to make the subway art. PicMonkey is a free website that will allow you to make word and photo art. Use "edit a photo" and change the background to solid black. Set the size to be proportionate to your finished project. (4x6 image can be 24x36, 5x7 can be 20x28)

1. Leave a margin around the edge. 
2. Make each category a different font. All the same is nice too.
3. Shrink the box to the edges of the word. Now you can drag the corners to make the word whatever size you want.
4. Place the words evenly spaced.
5. Save finished project to a thumb drive.

3. Take thumb drive to Staples for printing. Engineering blueprints are less than $5.00 for 24x36. They are only available in black and white (and grey). Staples charged me a small fee to resize the image from 4x6 to 24x36.

4. Easy way out: Frame in a 24x36 frame. Smile & relax.

Hanging up at last!

5. More difficult: Cut MDF to 24x36 or build a frame - 24x36 with 1x2s attached to the sides to look like canvas. Sand & dust. Paint with two coats of black paint. Mod Podge artwork to board. Or spray mount the artwork to board. If you make the wood slightly smaller than the print, the Mod Podge process will be easier because you won't be trying to match the edges.

See the wrinkles? They add character.

Learn from my mistakes Mod Podge instructions:

I will give general directions because I am a Mod Podge amateur & struggled greatly with this step -- as in tear the stupid thing apart two times, make friends with the Staples chick because I had to have it printed 4-5 times, and practice alternate cuss words frustrated!! Scott finally helped me the most by standing beside me & saying, "It just won't matter. You can antique it. Wrinkles give it character."

Matte Finish Mod Podge
Sponge Roller & Tray
Xacto knife
Brayer
Spray sealer

Lightly seal the front of the print & allow to dry. Repeat on the back. Pour a bunch of Mod Podge in the tray & spread a thin coat on the board. I did one time all over & then refreshed it when I was done. Gently roll the print from one end to the other, pressing down gently as you go. If you need to lift, work quickly! Use the brayer and fingers to smooth out the wrinkles. The paper tends to stretch A LOT as soon as it gets wet. This is normal & unavoidable in my experience. Keep working on bubbles & wrinkles. If there are a few edges that are bubbled up, use a paint brush to help sneak a little Mod Podge into the gap & press down. Once everything is good enough, spread a coat of Mod Podge over the top. Repeat when the first layer is dry.

The two things that I struggled with were lining up the edges with the board (because I had no margin) and the wrinkles/bubbles dilemma. In the end, the edges are not very noticeable because of the black paint on the board. The wet paper shrunk back down to normal when it dried leaving a few wrinkles but not as many as I feared. The fonts that I chose were not crisp to begin with so the wrinkles weren't super obvious.

Although my blog does not show it, I really am an experienced crafter. Mod Podge on a large surface with thin paper was difficult. I am so happy with the results but it was crazy hard for me!

If you haven't looked at this link, check it out. She used spray adhesive & had a much easier time!!!

I Hate Technology ...

Yesterday's post was about my love of technology. I still love it but sometimes I want to beat my head against the wall. (Not literally!!)

I downloaded some Photoshop Elements actions - these are little mini programs that tweak my pictures & make them look like a real photographer took them. The directions are pretty straight-forward but I still don't get it. I am capable, computer-literate, and able to follow directions. And yet...

For $75 I can pay the creator to remotely install the actions on my computer. Not worth it yet. I keep reading the tutorials sLoWly... hoping that some heretofore hidden tidbit of information will jump out & I will understand.

And that's why I hate technology.

I Love Technology!

My friend Kristi wrote a blog post about the advancements in technology with microwaves and computers. I started thinking & realized that I have been around long enough to have seen a lot of change.

• I can carry around 50 kajillion songs on a device that is 2"x3" and listen to them with headphones of amazing quality.
• I have been working on my family history - the newspapers of Door County, Wisconsin have all been scanned & made accessible on the internet to search. I easily proved that "those people" were related to "my people" when I found them in a newspaper article. 
• Genealogy on the internet is another thing - remember the days of microfiche & dusty books?!! Now Ancestry even searches records and helps match people, places, and documents. Family trees are posted online for everyone to compare.
• Just seven years ago I drove across the country without a GPS or a smart phone!! I called my friend Bonnie every evening to find out the next nearest town to stop at.
• Video games have changed. I don't play the new-fangled contraptions but I did spend a lot of nights playing Pong and Centipede with my friend Wendy.
• I learned how to type on a typewriter. Mistakes had to be blotted out with Wite-Out or the whole page had to be retyped. We had a manual typewriter before converting over to electric.
• LDS Tools is one of the coolest apps ever. I can look up everyone's phone number & address in the ward (congregation) by logging in.
• The iPad is amazing. I can surf the internet, check email, play games, log food & exercise choices, read magazines and books (that I can download in an instant!), write blog posts, and see the last thousand pictures from my desktop computer & my iPhone in the photo stream.
• I can purchase a twin XL comforter for a dorm bed off season online.
• I can search Craigslist for a car or a sectional sofa, determine value at KBB, and then check the CarFax to make sure I am not buying a known lemon. 
• I can take digital photographs and check the results immediately. I can tag photos and easily search for everything "Jared" or Christmas or Florida.
• I can use Picasa (a free Google download) to match faces between photos with facial recognition software. The technology is so good that it can match my kids to the grandparents that they resemble and match an older picture with the young picture of the same person.
• I can use Skype or FaceTime to see and talk to family members that are far away.
• My iPhone 4 can take pictures that are good enough quality that I can use it as a photocopier. I take a picture of a document & print it out at letter size.

The list is really endless. Every day it seems there is a new invention or creation. I am thankful for all the advances in technology. What technology are you thankful for?

Writing Right

I am still trying to complete my English class, "Composing a Personal History". For a few weeks I was feeling confident in my writing and capable of finishing before the deadline. Then, I hit the wall. I feel like everything I write is choppy and not descriptive enough.

I had Chris read my paper this morning. His reaction? "It seems like a ten-year-old wrote it."

Nice.

Thanks.

You're grounded for life, even if you're right!

Occasionally, I can write effortlessly. Right now I have a lot of tasks on my to-do list and the words are getting stuck in the traffic jam in my brain. If I was not writing on an accelerated timeline, I would take a few weeks off and then write away when inspiration struck.

For now I will write uninspiring words.