"The Bosun Makes Good"

Arrrgghh Matey, like any good sea adventure this tale will twist and turn your very innards like no other, wrought with fear, the fight and the plank!!

It was a calm evening on the high seas, a warm westurdly wind was rumbling in. You could smell the ocean breeze take on a slight aromatic twang of some salty old crew of days gone by. As I buckled down the hatch and put my first mate on deck, I knew deep inside that the hollows would be rocking this boat tonight. As the wee hours crept upon us, it was a barrage of tossing and turning, like we might be in the Indian Ocean one moment or the Arctic the next. One couldn't tell by the momentum that was building, which sea we'd be on by morning. But what was to happen next goes down in this captains journal as one of the toughest voyages of this crews nautical miles. My first mate wraps on my door with a loud and obnoxious tap tap tap, but before I knew it, the door swung open, he'd been taken over by the unknown, his face pure white, his breath shallow, barely able to stand he runs for the head. I follow quickly behind, although my peg leg is only meeting the stair case with half the momentum it normally has. I question myself, has the evil of the sea come upon us, what has happened above deck. I run to take the wheel, as our ship is being over taken by some force. Suddenly I feel my old bones start to creak, my limbs are stiff, I no longer have control of this ship. I glance over to my first mate, he's already in a state of anxiousness as I can see his one eye squinting in agony, I have to get to him. I struggle to find my footing, I bravely go forward with a hook of my cane around the wood banisters, I'm able to secure myself. Out of nowhere the grip of this evil begins its hold on me and my crew of two. Like a blow dart to my ass I can sense my functions start to shut down, my first mate still in my vision holds out his hand and gives me the secret code for "to the grave" I motion a quick response of support "not alone". As the evening turned into a heat filled sauna of heavy air, the haze of our captors starts to show its ugly head, aaahh, I only catch a glimpse before fading back into a realm of this fiery hell I've come to know. I'm guessing a full day has passed, me and my mate are pulled upward and jostled onto the plank, I can feel the wood beneath me creak and shake from my first mates obvious struggle. I shake off my captors and mouth the words every good captain would mouth in the moment of facing death. "yo momma".

My last moments so it would seem are taken over with sweat, pain from the bondage and the anguish of knowing I just lost the best matey this captains ever had. But wait whats that I hear?? off in the near distance I hear a swish and swash of the sword cutting thru the air of evil, all things go still, the movement of the boat stops abruptly. "Ahoy Captain", my young bosun says to me "Ahoy", I reply. "Are you back with us sir" he says, "ey" I reply, in a quivering tone. The moment of evil has past, the young lad had helped us fight off our captors, the force of the sea has been won this time around. Captains Log - 11-22 -10 - 11-25-10
Lee Brehon

Except from a tired mom's journal, - the flu is upon us - go bravely matey's, train your bosun well
- first mate - my dear husband
- bosun - my dear son

A Very Exciting Day!

I will start off by saying Congratulations to all 24 of the gals that made the cut in the Teresa Collins DT Call. I feel really honored to be apart of this moment with all of you. And a HUGE thanks to Teresa Collins and her team for including me in with this talented group of ladies.

I'll tell you at the end of yesterday I was convinced I hadn't made the cut and threw myself into some computer work and scrappy endeavors. So tired last night that I fell asleep early, only to awake at 3am. I woke up, posted a blurb about it on FB and fell back asleep. Now this wouldn't be all that unusual for me, except that the DT short list was posted at 1am Utah time, which would have been 3am my time. Weird or what?? Where my ears ringing, nope, but I can't quite explain it either.

Whats more unusual was I never mentioned anything about the call to anyone yesterday, just quietly went about my day. But first thing this morning, my DH said "have you heard anything about the call?" NOPE I replied. So it was a delight to be able to call him at work and share my news today. He was so kind and mentioned how sad the other gals would be feeling who didn't make the cut. I understand that feeling and can tell you that today renewed my heart from the inside out. Gave me a little hope that I'm still on the right track with all that I'm doing. I love my world of scrapbooking so much, but after this many years you learn that its the people you meet and the friends you make along the way that make it all worth while. Or at the very least having the knowledge that there are women out there as crazy as I am about this hobby!

Anyhoo, I felt I should post something about this amazing day, as I don't want to forget it anytime soon. You can read all about it here: http://www.teresacollins.typepad.com/

Time Well Spent

For the past couple of weeks I've taken the time to access my computer's needs and organize my photo/video systems. My photo's were in order, but not all of the photo's were resized or light corrected. The video's on the other hand were out of control because of the mulitple video editing programs that I'm running. Therefore some changes needed to take place. I also have been running a system that is about 7yrs old and out of date to fully install newer programs that are running on Windows 7.  So after much debate and alot of cleaning up. I have made the decision to buy a new computer system. I am lucky enough to have a fellow who does all my computer work for me that I trust and has assured me that he will build me the system of my needs. I've never even heard of a dedicated photo processor before, have you?

I'm sure he takes a big breath before entering my scrapbooking room. I can't imagine what he truely thinks of the tool shelving, ribbon trolleys, container after container of all the yumminess my room contains. But Thank goodness he doesn't think outloud. LOL. I'm guessing here, but I have a feeling this computer geek has a house full of components and parts to all kinds of computers.

The long and the short of this story is this. I didn't want a system failure and end up with NO family photo's.  I wanted to be able to upload and find my photo's quickly and easily. And I wanted to get all of my video's converted into DVD's. Which is something I'm still working on. Now this would be an easy task, if my DS wasn't making a new video every other hour of the day. But he's found his passion, so I'm rolling with the build up of bites in my system to accomadate his visual creativity.  I have to say, I think my DS has a knack for seeing things in an artistic way and I'm very happy that he enjoys this hobby. Its kinda funny, sometimes I'll hear some yelling going on and go running to investigate only to discover that batman has beat the JOKER for the 100th time that week. LOL

I am looking forward to my new computer, but I've been told that it may also require a new printer as well. The new system won't likely be able to read the older systems software. I hope I haven't opened a can of worms here, but it was gonna happen at some time and since I enjoy working on the computer so much, sooner is better in this case. Hope I'll be able to transfer my programs over without too many issues. Fingers crossed.

The Show Must Go ON!

Part Two:

Ever wonder what happens ahead of time to create a live show?? It has alot to do with planning and prepartation. As most Live shows only run an hour, it is important to try and keep things moving along so that the guests don't lose interest. Its also pretty important to make sure the content of the show offers a "range" of interest for both the newbie and experienced craftsman watching your show. One also has to keep in mind that these shows will be watched over and over again. How does one achieve all this?? Good question!

I always begin by creating an example of the project I will show live. I usually make these projects weeks or even months ahead of time. I never wait until the last minute and throw something together. Probably the worst thing you can do. I "time" myself and take still photo's of  the project I'll be working on ahead of time. I almost always make tutorials of these projects to post on forums or blogs the day after the airing of the show. I take lots of photo's so I can edit which photo's don't make the cut for the final airing. Once the project is made and photo's taken. I set this project aside and think on it for awhile. I ask myself the usual questions about the project. Is it easy to make, will others find it fun and interesting to make themselves, IS IT USEFUL? Do I need to tweek the final project, can I add or remove any elements to the final project to save time? Once I've answered all these questions. I start my prep work for the show.

If you're like me, I almost always have to clean off my work area first. I make sure there are no distractions around my work space that will be visible on air. Not the easiest thing to achieve. I had a curtain back drop on one of the first shows, but have since removed it. Not a good idea, I will be adding a back drop to my future shows. Or in a perfect world I will create a "live show studio" that has been set-up just for this purpose. Next I start to cut out all the items that will be needed for the project. I try to follow a step by step process of the show. I rarely show myself cutting out items live, as this process just takes too long and is very boring to watch. Once all my items are laid out for the project, I add all my embellies to the project, but adhere nothing. I just get the idea of placement for them and then set them aside in a "master tray" that I keep on my desk. You don't want to be searching for anything live! I always write notes of the steps I used to create a project. I keep these notes beside me during the show. But the best thing to do is to print off photo's of the project and paste them up above your work area, I do this with more complicated projects. Its a nice quick reference for you to look at during the show.

Time to set-up:

Putting it all together for show time takes a little planning as well. I set-up my work station first and "center" where I will be working. I set up the cameras and do a camera test. Lighting, check, sound, check, seating, check, phone unplugged, check, cords plugged in (heat gun etc.) check. Things are lookin good. Now some of these sites (linqto) offer you the ability to upload still photo's on the show, so at this point I will go ahead and upload my already edited photo's of my project to the live show site. Looks like I'm all ready for the show....or am I?? not quite yet. Only a few more things to do - get myself ready, inform my family I'm going live, get my tea and then announce the show will be starting shortly to the fan sites. Finally the moment has arrived. Its time to go LIVE! Now if I've done all the steps, planning and preparation, I should have a good  show, right? Wrong! Not all shows will go as smoothly as you hope. When you're busy creating LIVE it's not easy to read the guests comments or questions, so its best to have a moderator along for the ride to answer any of the guests questions. I always try to prep my moderator the day before or the day of the show as to what will happen during the show. A very good idea when you are going LIVE. Things to discuss with your moderator will include products being used, the steps you will take, any guests that will be on with you etc. Your moderator is an important person to the outcome of the show, often leading questions for the guests, warming up the audience and trouble shooting when things go wrong.....and they will. So if you can, always use a moderator.

Its show time: Here's where you can stumble easily, have your notes handy as to tell the guests what to expect, guests who will be on with you and any products you will be using. Remember at this point to push the "record" button on your site. Also remember that some of your guests will be NEW to this sort of forum, so explain the functions of your LIVE site at this point. Start your show - keep things at a reasonable pace. You can't go to quickly as things distort on the screen (internet lag time) and you just don't get the visual clarity you require when you "MOVE" to quickly. Now I've watched alot of shows. And not all shows are created equal, no problem, I'm only outlining how I do a show. Everybody does their show slightly different. The point is to have fun, share your passion and be genuine. If you enjoy sharing your work, then this is an awesome arena in which to do so. I find that in time, each show gets a little better and little more fined tuned and becomes easier to produce. But you'll never know unless you try it!! Are you ready to give it a go??

I hope that you've enjoyed this inside peek into the production of doing a LIVE show. And I hope I will be watching YOUR show soon!

Remember to watch my next LIVE show -
Join us Nov. 7th at 3:00pm(MNT) time as we will be teaching you how to create a beautiful napkin holder, just in time for the holidays. We will be creating a Christmas napkin holder on the show.


Location http://apps.facebook.com/scrapbookheaven/Home

Your instructor for this one hour show is Lee Brehon.

You don't need to bring anything but yourself to this on-line free show. Because its recorded at the link below, you can watch it Nov. 7th at 3pm (MNT) time and then watch it again when you want to create one!.

You can now log into our show directly (without being logged into Facebook) at:
http://www.linqto.com/rooms/ScrapbookHeaven
Hope you can make it!

Live Show Tech TALK!

Many of you know that I do a LIVE webcast a couple of times a month. And I attend another couple of shows a month here and there. Many of the guests that attend the LIVE shows are craftsmen of some sort and are very talented in their craft. Which makes me wonder why I'm not seeing more of them doing live shows. From what I've heard and read, the number one reason why these artists don't showcase their work LIVE is because of their lack of technical know-how. Now I'm here to tell you that the world of LIVE broadcasting isn't as scary as it seems. REALLY!  If you know how to use a computer, then you most certainly can do a webcast!

I havent got a state of the art system. In fact the system I use is so old, its a wonder you haven't seen me go up in smoke yet on a LIVE show. But here's how I do it. First of all you will need to access one of the many live feed websites available but here is a couple that I use.  http://linqto.com/   http://www.ustream.tv/  sign-up and open an account with one of these two hosting sites. Ustream is free and Linqto costs very little for start-up.

I use my laptop for all shows, it sits beside my work table and has a splitter cable connected to the usb port. I run two webcams from this port, one for an overhead view of my work  and one for headcam shots. They are so easy to install. Most newer laptops already come with a built in camera, so you really only need to buy one webcam if you want to do two cameras for a show. Follow the manfs. instructions for webcam set-up and get to know your webcam. I have my overhead webcam attached to a pole that is directly over my work area. NOTE: when you do buy a webcam make sure its main feature is pixel size. For really good clarity and up close shots, you'll want to have a high pixel count webcam.  Here is a link for some comparisons. Do your homework here. Its worth asking around to find out what others use. http://products.howstuffworks.com/web-cam-reviews.htm
I use Logitech Pro for my headshots and HP webcam for my overhead shots. Most webcams range in price from about $30.00 to $200.00. I can tell you that my webcams are not high end. LOL.
AND make sure that webcam has a LONG cord on it so you can run it to your commputer and hang it overhead with ease. You don't want to run another cord to your webcam!

Secondly you will need really GOOD LIGHTING and I mean good. I have seen some pretty poor lighting on some shows and it really turns a person off of watching the show. So make sure you set-up where the lighting is best. I have many lights on at my work station. Track lighting, overhead lighting and a spot lamp.

Your webcams are controlled thru your commuters control panel, adjustments are made there.

The hardest part of setting up for a LIVE show is the webcam set-up. Once you have this system in place the rest is really up to you. But one of my first suggestions to doing LIVE webcasts would be to attend some shows and watch what is going on technically. I watched alot of shows before I ventured into LIVE webcasts and I'm grateful for the support I received from Vicki at Linqto. Thankyou Vicki.  But I still feel I have a long ways to go when it comes to producing a great technical show, however I feel that this will come in time. Each week I watch other peoples shows like Andrea at  http://andreacurriecrafts.com/ I learn more and more about how well a show can really look. Thanks Andrea for you endless support.

Don't forget to watch my LIVE show Sunday Oct. 7th right here: http://www.linqto.com/rooms/Scrapbookheaven

I will do a part two on the making of a show in tomorrow's post. I hope you won't be afraid to give LIVE shows a try. I for one would love to see more of the creative process my peers go thru to produce their items of beauty.

I said I would be more diligent here........SO

Yesterday I walked to the school to pick up my DS. Upon my return to the house I can see in the distance some flashing amber lights right beside my house. Well my long distance vision isn't great so I kinda start a little quicker pace to see whats going on. I can't see my employee's car parked where it usually is and I've only been away for about 15 mins. I have two kids in tow and I'm worried because I have more kids at home with my asst. As we get a little closer I can now see a cherry picker beside my house, but I knew the kids were outside in the yard. I start to feel anxious, oh no, what if a tree limb has fallen - where are my kids.
I rush into the yard. NO kids anywhere, I run into the house, whew, everyone playing nicely, but some unhappy faces greet me. Why can't we go outside today? I'm asked. Well the city has come to clear away the debris and dead branches from our trees (the cities trees actually). Finally they were here to get the job done. I'd called the city about these tree's in the early spring. So now all my tree's are trimmed back, the heavy snow and gusting winds won't be causing any problems for my home this winter. RELIEF!! Some of these branches were dangerously close to my chimney stack. Now the city tells me I must clear the pathway of the remaining overhang of trees that belong to me. mmmmmm, chainsaw baby!! I like the sound of that, mere cutters are not going to do the job. So this weekend guess what I'll be doing? I'm praying my Sat. blog post won't be discussing my trip to the hospital due to a chainsaw accident. Stay tuned! Living on a corner lot has its benefits and drawbacks, living in an older est. neighbourhood with massive older trees offers beauty and shade but the drawbacks to these trees equals 46 bags of leaves each fall, mulitple trips to the dump each year and constant upkeep. Now if you can handle all that, then the shade and the birds and the yard decor that these trees offer is worth every bag, every trip and every call to the city. LOL

Our home the first year we bought it May 1997 - MAJOR changes have taken place in the past 18 months and I will be showing you the updated photo's of our home in the spring once our front deck is added. However as you can see lots of trees line our yard. And this is just a pic of the front yard.

Dream house update

I posted Dec. 2008 about this house out in the country that I am so in love with. It had been vacated and fastly falling into disrepair. I drove by it often and would cry because I didn't have the means to rescue this majestic beauty in the country.

This past thanksgiving while driving to the farm we passed "my" house again. Only this time something was different, very different. To my total surprise and excitement it appears as though someone has been renovating this home! I was in tears with happiness, if it couldn't be mine, I am happy to see it will be someone's family home once again. I will post an update on the reno's as I can get them.

Isn't it a wonderful story - imagine the memories another family will be building once they live in this home. Wishing them well with their reno's.

Do you see the scrapbooking room in the back porch?? I do!! LOL