Suzi Crafter

Calendar for July - December 2011

2011-06-26T20:45:00.002-05:00

Several months ago I made a calendar for a friend of mine. It's a 4x6 calendar and I had some months left over because they didn't print correctly for one reason or another. I ended up taking these into work to hang up because, well, the calendar is useful and I like looking at the quote periodically. So I am sharing with you.

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

Our angel fish like each other

2011-03-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

They really really like each other. One night after working on our kitchen remodel we came downstairs and were treated to our fish mating. Check out this video and see for yourself.

Time Sure Does Fly

2010-11-30T22:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I feel silly. I just rediscovered my blog! How about that. I think that means I've been really busy over the past nearly year and a half. In that time I lost 20+ pounds, had surgery, helped my youngest daughter move across the country, saw my brother get married (yeah!), started volunteering for our local ASTD chapter (SEWI-ASTD, Southeastern Wisconsin American Society for Training & Development), went to a couple of conferences, and bought a house! Whew!

Oh, and in the last couple of months we've been remodeling our kitchen. I'll post pictures soon. I finally just unloaded two months worth from my camera.

I'm sure I've done other things, and really it's only looking back that I realize how busy it must seem. Until our move, it really didn't feel that way. But since we closed on our house in mid-September and started our kitchen, it has been really chaotic and I feel like an over-saturated sponge!

I have still been getting magazines and lately have really been wanting to get back into photography and crafting. I hope to be soon!

Losing weight is special

2009-06-30T22:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, I want to have such a special focus on this (think I'm obsessed or something?) that I made a special blog just for losing weight, getting in shape and eating better. It's called Taking One Day at a Time.

Time to lose the weight

2009-06-28T22:12:00.004-05:00

I'm finally going to do it. I'm going to lose all this weight I've packed on over the years. I just can't take it any more. I want to lose over 70 pounds and get in shape. I want more energy and more mental clarity. Two years ago, almost to the day (6/20/2007) I quit smoking and now I want to continue getting healthier.

I worked out yesterday and today to prepare and I even signed up for an account at http://caloriecount.about.com. I'm suzetter on that website. I don't have anything to really compare it to, but it's free and I can log all my activities and all the food I eat. It will analyze the food I eat and there are forums. Plus I can post to my journal. I hope it will help me stay motivated. I really don't want to lose anymore time. I feel like I've lost the last ten years just blowing up like a big balloon.

I also decided to do a DVD exercise program I bought four or five years ago call Slim in 6 (www.beachbody.com). This made it pretty easy for me to decide to track my progress in 6-week increments. I figure this is long enough to have to work at it yet short enough to stay focused. On this DVD there is a segment called Start It Up. I did this yesterday and today and then I read the guidance. It stated to do this to learn the moves, not push yourself too heard. Well, my legs are sore! Duh! Too bad, I have to get up in the morning and workout!

Illustrator Flower

2009-05-14T21:38:00.007-05:00

I just completed a tutorial, How to make a flower in Adobe Illustrator in 156 seconds, for drawing a flower in Adobe Illustrator. I could probably use better colors, but it was fun anyway. Below is the .png that I exported from Illustrator. I have used Illustrator for a long time, but never in this capacity. Now if I can just get my Craft ROBO to cut it out I'll be happy!

Heather's braces are off!

2009-05-13T20:10:00.001-05:00

Heather got her braces off earlier this week. She was so funny. She was telling me about how the orthodontist said there is usually a little bit of a line on most people's teeth, but not on hers. Now she looks all grown up! It happened over night.

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-10T21:22:00.002-05:00

I had a pretty good Mother's Day today. I got a new small point and shoot digital camera. I started testing it out already. Jenna brought me flowers and Heather got me an itunes gift card. Michael and Heather made me waffles and eggs, but by the time we all got around to it, it was already lunch time. Overall it was a good day.

May Desktop Background

2009-05-10T21:04:00.004-05:00

If you're not a fan of the 4x6 calendar, maybe a desktop background is more your style. I have created two, but they are exact sizes for your desktop. They should work just fine, but if you want, you can go edit them for your desktop. This is the same picture of the Oregon coast as I used in the 4x6 calendar.

1024

From Calendars

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From Calendars

May 2009 Calendar

2009-05-10T20:52:00.003-05:00

Looks like April and almost half of May got away before I added my calendar! So, here's one for May that you can print on 4x6 photo paper. This picture was taken on the Oregon coast last summer before we knew enough about digital cameras to be dangerous. I don't claim to know too much more, but I at least can play around with the raw files. I like printing out these calendars to keep near my desk because for some reason I'm always checking the date.

Maybe it's one of those things like checking my watch used to be. I remember when I used to always check my watch and finally stopped wearing it because it was distracting. Now as I'm getting older, I wonder if time is just moving so fast for me that I now refer to my calendars in the same way.

Either way, I have fun making them and hope you enjoy it.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

February 4x6 Calendar

2009-02-08T21:07:00.002-06:00

I finally made it back out to take some pictures this weekend. They didn't come out as good as I would have liked, but I can work with a few of them. I went up near where my new job is located and took a few at a couple of different place. The one in this calendar is from the same hill the building is on. It overlooks the town of Hartford and when nature cooperates there are wonderful views. Unfortunately, nature didn't cooperate the day I took this photo! The sky cleared after sunrise! Anyway, feel free to use this calendar!

In transition

2009-01-11T16:20:00.003-06:00

I hope to post more regularly soon. Just thought I'd drop in and say that I've been quite busy the last couple of months. Figures that's when I'd start a new blog. I am starting a new job tomorrow and will be "in training" for the first month! Sounds pretty intense to me for sure. So, I don't know if I'm going to have a lot of adrenaline when I get home or just be exhausted. But, after that I think things will level out and I hope to be posting more regularly.

Michael and I (but really mostly him) have been working on renovating our basement. We used to run a candle business and now we are getting rid of most of the equipment and supplies we used. We're making a more polished crafting area. The funny thing is that we aren't really quite sure what we'll be crafting. I think it will mostly be me, but he does a few things too. So look for pictures here soon. We pretty much attack it on weekends right now.

I can't believe how much stuff I've managed to collect over the years. I have tons of magazines, tools, paper, supplies, etc. that I have to figure out how to organize. So I've been on the hunt for magazine holders and finally found a place I think I'm going to order from. I haven't found better prices yet and really don't want to make them. So, my tip of the day is to check out this link for some colorful magazine holders http://www.harrietcarter.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/_/Magazine-Holders/productID/5fe68252-6c27-4220-9c79-1a94151d71b6/categoryID/e526de4b-d5f2-4294-bd8d-b9180ff61eff/.

Krystal's new puppy

2008-12-24T11:59:00.005-06:00

Heather and I went up north and got to visit with Krystal. She is looking really good and she has a new room mate! Isn't he just adorable?

He's a poodle something mix. I'm pretty sure he must be a miniature poodle something mix. I didn't recognize what she said the other part is, so we're left with his cuteness!

See how small he is? She tells me that he will only gain one or two pounds and won't get much bigger! Can you believe that? I think rats are bigger.
Well, it was really good to see her and her new room mate.

Custom Holiday Folgers Canister

2008-12-01T16:18:00.004-06:00

Want to make a neat gift for a friend or someone at the office? Check out the below link on Folgers' website. You can create the panels from some preselected cute graphics or download a template and make your own. What a great idea!

First snow of the season

2008-12-01T11:31:00.005-06:00

Well, last night and today we received our first "significant" snowfall of the season. Uggh, winter is definitely here. Here are a few pictures.

Today I voted, tomorrow I go to the Domes

2008-11-04T20:49:00.002-06:00

Well, for me it's over. I voted! I'm so glad all of this will finally come to an end. So, now that I know Mickey Mouse won't be president even though I wrote him in (just kidding), I can move on to tomorrow's activities.

I've been wanting to go to the Domes for a while and now there is an excellent opportunity. You see they have been closed for a few months for renovation and are re-opening tomorrow evening. You can get the details at http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/FloralShowampEventSc10360/GrandReopening.htm - officially Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory "The Domes"

This should be a great opportunity for Michael to use his macro lens and for both of us to get some great pictures.

Princess

2008-11-03T21:32:00.003-06:00

Tonight when I got home I decided I needed to relax and play with some more pictures. I really don't like Mondays, so needed a way to unwind. My daughter, Jen, got Princess from the humane society after they rescued hundreds of dogs from a breeder. Even though she is about seven years old, she is just a cutie. I have her and Jen's other dog, Dillon, for a few days. Combined with my dog, it's a bit much for me as they are all small dogs.

Photo Ferris Wheel Project

2008-11-01T17:14:00.005-05:00

Today I set out to put pictures in my little photo ferris wheel home decor thingy. Over the last few months we've been working on painting the inside of our house and Heather found this hidden away in the depths of her room. Here's a picture of it before I started.

Me being me, I had to go through all my digital archives and find some that wouldn't make me or everyone else cry, and probably choose some recent ones. A couple of nights ago I took it apart and measured the size of the photos that I needed to print. Hence, the top one is missing in the picture.

Here's what the parts look like that are missing.

Work in progress:

And, finally, here is the finished version:

125-gallon fish tank that Michael built

2008-11-01T16:51:00.006-05:00

Okay, it's time I actually start posting. Michael has been busy the last couple of months putting together a fish tank. This all started as buying a used tank he found on Craig's list. We got a good deal on the tank, base unit, and filters. It came with lights and we just needed to add a heater. Well, so much for that idea. I wish I would have taken pictures throughout the process, but hindsight doesn't mean much now does it? Anyway, turns out that the base unit was rather warped. We didn't notice this right away, but the closer we looked, the more we could tell that there was simply too much water damage. Since the tank uses a filtration system that sits in the base unit (rather than the under gravel kind), when he rebuilt the base he needed to account for those holes at the top of the base unit. I don't know all the technical mumbo jumo, but suffice it to say it was a rebuilt for one reason or another. But, the final result looks nice....assuming he ever adds doors.

We added plants last weekend and a few small fish. Half of them died and the plants don't look too good. He added three more larger fish last night and looks like one is sick already.

Online slideshow maker

2008-11-01T09:05:00.002-05:00

I was doing some catching up on one of my favorite scrap booking sites and stumbled upon this neat little slideshow maker. It takes photos you have online like at flicker, photobucket, myspace, etc. or pictures you upload and gives you all sorts of options for creating a slideshow. It spits out some code you can use to put it in a blog or you can just link directly to it. You can associate a song with it too if you want.

I have a few different collections over at flickr, but created this one with all my photos just to see how it came out.

Oregon Coast Photo

2008-06-10T21:07:00.001-05:00

Check out my recently added photo. This one (and the whole set) was taken on the Oregon coast where we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.

Creative Outlet

2008-06-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

I just started my new blog for my creative side. It appears that I've been holding this part of myself in prison for a while and I need to let my creativeness out.

Michael and I just returned from Oregon where we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I've been going through all the pictures we took and creating some digital scrapbook layouts and just optimizing the photos to put in an online gallery.

Here's a picture of us and his parents:

You can check out more pictures of us and Oregon on my flickr site.

This is exciting for me because I have a lot of pictures left to go through and our long needed (but much too short) vacation helped reinvigorate us a bit. We used to run a candle business (Candle Junkies) but closed it down last year when we quit smoking for a number of reasons. We've been extremely busy with work since last fall, but really missed our outlet. At least I know I have.

So, it's time to drag out the sewing machine, craft supplies, paints, get organized and have fun this summer!