Today's going to be a good good day!

That is an understatement. Today is an awesome, awesome day. I am so excited! I have accepted a new employment opportunity that will free me from shift work and start next week.

Computers Ughh!

My husband is a Star Trek fan and all I can think of is Captain Picard saying "Make it so". Easier said than done.
The intention was simple. Update our compter that runs our wireless network (it was way to slow) by replacing it with an off lease computer. 3 hours on the phone with a tech to get the wireless network working properly (Ive done this before so know how to do it. Things just didn't work the way they were supposed to.
I had to have Windows XP on the computer to run the software for my digital cutter. (By helping a blog reader get the file she needed to have her software run the old Blue Wishblade, I discovered that the new software Ibought will run on Windows Vista too.)
Then Aaron bought the compuer game "Battlefield 2" with a gift card he had received. Problem, the video card did not support the game. Solution: new video card. Simple right? not. The video card we bought used too much power so the computer could not run the card and the computer at the same time. Solution: take the card back. Simple right" not! They did not have another one so I could get a store credit (although they sold me the card saying it would work in the computer in the first place. Their mistake right?). I left the computer there and asked them to either get a power source that would work or a video card that would work.
Aaron and I picked up the computer today (driving through the snow through rush hour traffic) only to find that the comptuer would not power up. We changed the power cord. No luck. Called the service tech and he suggested we bring the computer back in because it was working before we picked it up. That would be trip #4 into London and back but if that's what it took, it would have to be. One last try. Use a different outlet on our surge protector. Now Aaron is riveted to the computer screen.
Computer $149.00
Monitor 89.00
Video card 89.95
Installation 29.99
Gas and Mileage ???????????
Hug and "Thank You Mom" priceless!

You have my heart tied up in strings

This layout is one of Cheri Parker's I did a few years ago but didn't get photos on it. My brother in law took family photos at Christmas and I thought they were appropriate for this layout, Love the hanging hearts.

Olympic fever

I took this photo when we were watching the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Aaron is sporting his official Olympic wear. He has worn at least once piece every day of the Olympics. Now I have to come up with a scrapbook pade for it. Maybe on Thursday at my friend Lizz's or Saturday at Rachel's. Can't wait to do some creating.

Summer layout

We again are in the middle of a snow storm so I thought it would be appropriate to post a summer layout I just completed. I started it when Rachel, Carolyn and Shannon and I scrapbooked for the the day at Rachel's and completed it with a title cut with my digital cutter.

Can't believe how easy it is now to make a matted or layered title with the new software.

Love My girls

My friend Lizz has a layout class once a month and t his is one of the layouts. I love going to her classes because I take my envelopes of photos with me and voila the layout is almost done. Then I cut the title and the look is complete.

Beautiful Sunday

Wow! Sun 2 days in a row. Makes me think of the song Beautiful Sunday. I know I am showing my age but who cares. Hope you have a beautiful Sunday.

Happy Family Day

It's Family Day in Ontario and in some other provinces in Canada. I'm working overnights and got up after 4 hours of sleep to spend some time with my family. Will catch the rest of my 8 hours sleep after dinner.
If you are off enjoy your day and if not have a wonderful day anyway.

Oh my, its been a while

Oh my, its been a while. I've been working nights and Arthur is using the laptop when I am up so I had limited access to a computer. Well today I fixed that problem, I purchased an off lease computer and set it up to replace my original network hub because that computer was too slow.
This one is much faster so I may be able to post more often again.

Got my Funtime Scrapbooking software to work

I should be going to bed right now but I wanted to post that I finally got my Funtime Scrapbooking software to work with my blue Wishblade. It was so easy to weld letters and to add a shape all in one program. No more creating the file in Inkscape, saving it as a svg to open it in Inkscape, saving it as a dxf to import it into Robocraft, save it in Robocraft so that it can be opened up in Wishblade. Sound complicated, well it was? It was also complicated to install the Funtime Pro and to get it to work. I had to copy a .dll file from Wishblade and save it in Funtime scrapbooking folder. Somehow I lost the .dll file I was trying to copy so had to do a System Restore to get the file back I lost. I'll post the title I did later. Can't wait to have more time to play with Funtime, but if I start to play now I will have to work all night without any sleep and that wouldn't do

Kally likes parties

For Kally the best part of a birthday party is the tissue.

Happy Birthday Jenna

Happy birthday sweetie. Hope you had a great day!

Free digital cutting files including .gsd & .svg

What an incredible find! I keep saying I want to use my Wishblade more often but since I have the older blue one, I can't use the newer .gsd files. I need files in other formats that I can convert using the software I have.
In my blog hop this morning I found this site
http://digifree-cuts.blogspot.com/. It is a search engine for digital cutter files in various formats.
I downloaded a few .svd files and will try to convert them to .dxf using Inkscape and then import them to Robocraft and save them as .gsd files to use with my Wishblade software.

I haven't had a chance yet to try out my new Funtime Scrapbooking Software to try a hand at creating my own designs but hopefully will have some time to try soon. In the meantime I am eternally grateful to those designers who share their files.

One last post for today

I know I am running a little behind. I bought the Happy New Year stamp from Stamping Up and had intended to make New Year's cards to send to a few close friends. That didn't happen yet so I wanted to share the collapsible calendar template that I was going to put inside of the card, similar to the Sizzix POP Up Ball.

Funtime Scrapbooking software

I have had my Blue Wishblade for a couple of years and want to use it more for titles and embellishments. I had been using Inkscape and then Robocraft to transfer the files into the right format and then cutting using the Wishblade software. The blue Wishblade will only work with Windows XP and earlier. I finally ordered Funtime Scrapbooking software that should allow me to design and cut using only one program, thus saving time and aggrivation when other programs freeze in the middle of a project and won't let you save them. The software arrived a couple of days ago and I can't wait to use it but have other things I need to do first. That may be a weekend project.

Trifold Shutter Album

In my blog hop I saw Andrea's Tri-fold shutter album and knew that was what I had to do to hold our annual family Christmas photo. I found some instructions here but decided just to make 2 tri fold cards and attach them together. My finished album is 6X8" and holds a lot of photos.

{sorry about the glare in the cover photo. I have acetate over the photo to protect it.}

Christmas Scrapping

Thanks to a dear friend, Lizz, and her monthly scrapbook class I have 2 layouts almost finished of this year's Christmas. I do have one of my own partially completed on my craft table. Will share when finished.

No more working evenings and weekends

I just accepted an overnight position at work so no more 3-11's and no more weekends! That's the upside. My family is excited because they will see more of me. I will sleep while they are at school.

With a more regular schedule I hope to be able to schedule time to get healthier with our new Y membership and more time for friends and creative . In fact I have a box from Stamping Up sitting here just waiting to be opened.

Stamping Up Occassions Mini is available now.

The Occasions Mini Catalogue!
This is Stampin' Up!'s spring preview. You'll see tons of new and fabulous products listed in here including:

•Clear acrylic blocks
•Clear stamps
•Chipboard albums
•Great new stamp sets

•Fabulous Brads
•New Big Shot dies
•AND BRAND NEW PUNCH DESIGNS!!!!
You can start ordering from this catalogue today. You can place orders with me or online through my store. Any orders placed will qualify for the SAB bonuses listed above.

Sale-a-bration! What a time to save!

The Sale-a-Bration Mini Catalogue!

It's the greatest time of year to buy and save during Stamping Up's Sale-a-Bration

Spend $65 on any current Stampin' Up items and get a choice of 6 new products for free OR your choice from over 45 current stamp sets. {Email me and I will send you a copy of the stamps from the current sets} One free item with every $65 purchase and the sky is the limit. Shop with me on line @ http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/gerrierollins/promotions or email me.

Why not host a Stampin' Up workshop (or catalogue party) with me and get a free item from the Sale-a-bration mini for every $395 in orders collected (in addition to any you earn through your own purchase)- why not grab a few friends, place an order and you reap the rewards? Free stamping/scrapbooking items + time with friends = priceless