Spider Webs

If you are undecided or are still thinking of voting "no" on Prop 8, please read this:

Dear readers,

First I want to apologize for the content and subject matter of the following link. The site itself is not bad, however the links they give you are links to information the state either pays for or provides to the school districts in Massachusetts, where marriage is no longer "traditional" or between one man and one woman; the literature, parades, and support are disturbing in my opinion. Tax dollars promoting real perversions. There I said it. I'm horrible. Whatever, I'm done, stick a fork in me. This web site/State of Massachusetts microwaved me and yes, I am done done done.

This site is a group of people from Massachusetts, people who no longer wish their state changed the rules, the laws or the education their children are receiving. Parents who no longer have rights to decide for themselves what their children learn, and if they object, are put in jail overnight to rethink their discriminatory views.

I live in good ol' liberal Southern California. I thought I had seen a lot. However, I was completely shocked at some of the marches, rallies, and parades that are attended and supported by government officials in celebrating "diversity". I'm sorry, this is not normal, this is not even "hey, let's just look the other way.", this is extreme.

Please follow the link and read through their information and judge for yourself if this is what you have in mind when you think of marriage, or even equal rights and being non discriminatory.

MassResistance
and their blog:
MassResistanceBlog

Warning: Both sites are extremely graphic in word (words you won't say to your own mom) and content, displaying photos of events, materials, etc, used in Public schools, etc. Yes the site is extremely biased in the presentation of their view, however their facts are linked to public sources or from the offices of origin.

What adults do in the privacy of their own homes is and should remain private. I agree with that, however...

Teaching tolerance as tolerance is fine, tolerance as close minded or phobic is another. Restricting parental control over their own children is unbelievably wrong. Passing out literature that is crude and graphic to High School and Jr. High age kids is wrong. Instructing 7 and 8 grade kids that if they feel different from the other kids that it's a good sign they are gay or lesbian is ...I can't find a strong enough word. Government support of angry groups with no permits is wrong.

All of my rants are documented by public sources and not taken out of context.

cake. cake. and more cake!

Oy! This month has been so unbelievably busy. Case in point: today.

Those would be my lovely digits covered in cake goo ala cake pops! Granted, our first try out was less than stellar, but the 70+ pops we made for a leadership meeting this week turned out cute enough!

After the pops were wrapped and readied to go, I headed home to bake a few cakes for the Trunk or Treat cake walk tonight. They are only a single layer, but I made a dozen of them! Yummy home made cakes with yummy add ins (like always!) and homemade buttercream frosting to make them look like mummies, Jack Skelington, and spider webs. Again, not as ornate as if I were charging for them, but tasty and fast and they'll make do for little monsters who will just be goblin' them down tomorrow anyway!

Name meme

The Pea tagged me for a meme about names and their origins within the family....she wanted me to answer in regard to the Fireman, so here you go!

Name and meaning: Thor Jr. hehe! The meaning is "God's Mercy", "Noble and Bright" Back in our day it was a family tradition to name the first born after the dad, so we did that. Looking back on that we all think this was a huge mistake. Especially now with computers etc. and the whole same name thing gets really funky and it messes up a lot. So yeah, maybe we should have named him Bill, or George, anything but Sue.

Age: at this writing he is 30 years old, at one time he was 1, then 2, then 3, and on and on and on until now he's a big old guy with his own little guy.

Nicknames: The name that everyone knows him by (if they are in the family), a shortened version of his middle name.

Favorite activities: day trippin' with his little Buckaroo and the Beautiful Lady. When he was little he loved doing whatever would raise his adrenalin... same ol' same ol'.

Favorite Foods: Pretty much anything prepared over a grill in front of an ocean, a big pile of rocks, or in the middle of a forest, I imagine. With a side dish of family.

Least favorite foods: hospital fare.

Favorite music: indy, old (meaning really freakishly old early early) country, early jazz and blues, that said he's very eclectic and feels comfy with everything from rap to opera and to R&B, alternative, rock and back again.

Favorite toys: the "beast", I think. (again, those adrenilin inducing tools/machines)

Favorite Books: travel logs, maps, day trip guides, yada yada yada...although he reads all the time, all kinds of things, from politics to time management to religion and cars and surf info.

Favorite item of clothing: new vintage or old vintage, comfy and good looking casual wear. (he's always been a clothes horse)

What makes him happy: feeling well, his wife, little boy, family, his career, his volunteerism.

What makes him sad: the "91", senseless tragedies and abuses.

o.k. Thor Jr. Correct the mistakes!

And in the meantime, I tag BoyMom (pick one of the many!), Rynell (how 'bout sharing about the new little one?), and Robyn (what say ye on the youngest of the Mohichans?)

Do One Thing: Project Noah: Week 9

Week 9: 5 pounds legumes (beans & peas). (Probably wouldn't hurt to have a bottle of Beano in there as well...just sayin'.)

Hint: Have backyard camp out to practice emergency skills. (good opportunity to check out warm bedding).

Stop Imperial Judges...Support Proposition 8

Lighted Faery Wings Tutorial

A tutorial on making faery wings that have battery operated lights. We made this set to fit Lil Bit, who is 6 months old. The battery pack is a bit heavy for a 6 month old, but we figured she would be held by her daddy all night any way, so it wouldn't be a concern. The wings are made to wear "back pack" style.

We also made a no sew tutu with a matching headband and onesie. Essentially the headband and onesie were just a matter of gluing flowers and glitter. The no sew tutu info can be found
here, among many other places. Enjoy!

weekend project

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine last week asking me if I could make a bouquet for a wedding taking place at her home this coming weekend. Luckily for me, the bride wanted silks. Thor and I will be gone three days before the wedding so fresh would have been a problem!

We went shopping Saturday afternoon and that night I went to work. I was surprised that the bouquet used all the stems we purchased, but it did! She requested all white flowers with a bit of green. There are two dozen roses, 16 large 8 buds, 5 stems of cascading blooms, and another five bunches of ivy.

I used the red and gold bud leaves as accent colour and to bring in a bit of the fall colours she plans, and also the deep green large leaves to poke out in the bouquet and also as a way of 'plating' the base and supporting the ivy bunches.

She wanted burgundy and metallic gold ribbon, and again, lucky for me I had a spool that was approved! She wanted a small "shoe lace" bow and braided stems, so I did that for her, although I forgot to get a shot of the braided stem.

They also requested a matching boutonniere so I used the same combination of flowers and greenery and there you go.

My friend liked them very much, I am hoping the bride does as well.

Check out Food Chronicles, I understand Robyn got a last minute call to prepare and decorate the cake. I can't wait to see what she does!

This is Halloween...CupCakes!

This is Halloween!
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

More Halloween goodies from the past. Nothing says fun like cool treats that aren't from the store. You can whip up a bunch of these for the kids you personally know and they will love gobblin' them up! This tutorial is a repeat from 2005, however they are pretty fun so here we go!

O.k. So this is the first run of cupcakes! I wasn't prepared for the decorations with special candies or frostings, but went ahead and came up with these little beauties with what we had on hand:

Dunked in Jelly Bellies, You're Bugging Me!, Spike, & Don't Forget to Floss.

Jack Skelington, Oogie Boogie, Sally, & Stock

High Anxiety, Buck, I only have eyes for you, & Miss Spider.

All cupcakes were chocolate with vanilla or chocolate frostings. I used Mega M&Ms, tiny M&Ms, Jelly Bellies, Life Savers, Sour Patch Strips, Green Apple Gum, Eclipse Gum, Jolly Rancher Rocks, and black Jimmies.

Frosting was applied via a zip lock bag snipped at one corner or with a butter knife. I also used a bamboo skewer to aid in the placement of many Jimmies! I am sure when I actually get out the cake gear and use the pro stuff they will come out even better. In the mean time, we're eatin' cupcakes for dessert tonight!

To view cupcake details more closely, click on the photo above. This will take you to my photo page at Flicker! Find the photo stream st the top right of the page and click the "next" photo, it should be titled: "I'm ready for my close up!" double click. It will come up full screen and with much better detail.

Do One Thing: Project Noah, week 8

Week 8: One bottle of vegetable oil or one can of shortening.

Hint: Double check emergency supplies for baby, are diapers and clothing going to fit? (We used to buy sweat shirts/pants one year's size ahead and then just switch it out on the 'anniversary'.) Formula? (even nursing moms should make sure there is formula available and enough water stored to mix it properly.) Also, if you have a special needs dietary condition in your family, store their special diet foods as well; or whatever your doctor advises as an emergency substitute. This is the time to ask and prepare!

The Best Gift

I thought this was good enough to show again. Thanks.

Help!

O.k. Crafters, I need your help! This is a work in progress and I am stumped and second guessing myself. I need someone to tell me either "STOP!" or "KEEP GOING!"

Imagine "Evil Queen". This is her crown. The top photo shows the addition of beads and I thought to plan even more beading. The bottom photo is just stopping where it's at and letting the lace do the story telling.

So please advise! Is it a matter of "less is more" or "more is more"?

Comment!

Ribbon Wreath

Hey! Remember fourth grade? If you don't, this just might bring back a few memories. It's a tutorial on how to make a ribbon wreath...just like those ones we made way back in the day with tissue paper...only this time we're using ribbon. Go ahead and give it a look see!

Beware and a huge "Thank you!" to a mean person

Yesterday morning as I was going through my mail, I came upon a piece from a dear and trusted friend. I noticed the name and in the subject line was : Prop 8 link invitation. I know my friend feels exactly the same as I do in regard to Prop 8 and so I opened the mail.

My computer screen went black and then my computer froze for about 1/2 hour before I could get it back up and running. All of my files were deleted, the screen was black with a few icons on the desktop that, when opened, opened as if the computer were new: No Files. All of my documents were deleted, all of my photos were deleted, everything was gone. Zip. Gone.

I phoned my friend's spouse to inform them of the glitch, the virus or whatever it was, that was being spread via their personal name. The thing is, this family have ALWAYS been Mac users... for anyone not understanding where I am headed with this...Macs don't send or receive viruses (at least from what I understand, and granted, I understand very little when it comes to technology.) So my friend was admittedly surprised to find out about the situation. My concern and only reason for contacting them was to warn them about the hack (into the mail or whatever) that was able to #1 connect the two of us as pro yes on prop 8 folks, and #2 to be able to grab addresses and send out a virus to anyone else in their mailbox. Ugh.

Luckily for me Thor has a bit of technology under his belt and, frankly, I literally prayed that Heavenly Father would help get my computer back up and at least allow me to grab the remaining photos (about 1/3) that I had not transferred to a zip drive. A few hours and a bit of work and between the Lord and His mercy and Thor's tech savvy and I am back on line.

The weird thing about this is I just talked the day before to my sis Robyn about this sort of thing. She advised me that there are people out there who can mask themselves as someone you trust and by opening the mail you get their fun little virus. "Never open a link via your mail." she advised...duh, I just trusted and I guess we can't just trust anymore. Mean people are out there and they want to mess you up.

So, if the person who sent my computer into crash mode this morning is reading: Thanks. You have given me a few good reasons to celebrate. #1. You have increased my faith in God and His ability to answer (even the silliest of) my personal prayers. #2. The Spirit tried to warn me, but I didn't connect the dots until it was too late. But lesson learned. #3. I have a great sister. #4. I have a really sweet, patient, compassionate, and smart husband. #5. Good friends are always good friends, even if they are Mac users and I am a lowly PC user. and #6. You made me think that my position on Prop 8 must be really important. Important enough to keep fighting for, otherwise why would it bug you so much that I, a very small person on the planet, have taken a stand.

So thanks creepy mean person, You have proven once again, #7 that everything, good and bad are for my benefit. You're awesome.

Oy...and a great soup recipe!

O.k. so lately I have been run-ing! Doing what? Who knows? But I feel like I run all day every day and get nothing accomplished.

The house is in disassemble and has been for about three weeks. We're painting. Two old people on ladders trying to paint cathedral ceilings = looooong time to paint a room. (and we are painting three rooms, plus the hall, and ceilings.) There are so many holidays (painter's term for missed spots) that we spend as much time going over a second layer as we did the first! My shoulders are reminding me they are still on my body; and forget my knees, they left me five or so years ago so when I worked in model homes. I don't ache at night any more than usual, however the strength just isn't there any more and I really feel it during the work.

Any who, the front room is in the dining room and the dining room is on top of the table, The table is shoved against the buffet, the family room is shoved as far into the fireplace as we dare shove it and there is a twelve foot ladder in my kitchen, which pretty much means my kitchen now is a twelve foot ladder. Seriously. No floor space left. I need to stand under the ladder to get to the sink or dish washer -and if I want to cook I just turn around while I am under the ladder and there you go, oven and stove...under a ladder. We move it a foot this way or that to open the fridge door or pantry.

I am ready for the painting to be done, however I think it's going to be at least another week before we get the painting done; we still have four inch base boards to repaint and put back into place (currently out on the porch) as well as the door frames. Curtain rods need to go back up (um, yeah, no naked walking around the house lately!) and switching furniture from the room it was formerly in to a different one and figuring out what to do with anything that no longer "fits".

All that after Thor gets home from work...usually about 7:30 each night and on Saturdays. Bummer.

I finally finished a shower curtain for The Hygienist, which took for-ev-er, she has been very sweet and not said a word, but seriously...forever. Cotton and silk (yes, I said silk, and yes, this is a shower curtain... but lest we forget, this is for The Hygienist, who at one time in her not so recent past dreamed of being a fashion designer and still has an "eye", if ya' know what I mean.) ahem, back to the curtain. An oversized (to accomodate the curved rod) piece with two rows of poof ruffling on top and (count 'em) twelve rows on the bottom, amazingly feminine and gorgeous. So her.

I've done a couple of tutes, one you have seen (the skeleton shirt), and one yet to publish, and hope to finish another soon.

I have projects hanging over my head that have been on hold for about two months (hang in there Kristy!) and then there is Christmas.

(Speaking of Christmas, I spent some time going through the library of links I have collected in hopes of compiling a sample of gifts to make for the upcoming season...pray for me.)

Prop 8 (obviously) has been on my mind as of late and I am back into politics as never before. The Scholar worked polling places during high school, The Hygienist has always been awesome in verbal and written communications, The FireFighter is seriously committed to community affairs; actually we all participated in politics to a point, especially Thor who is amazing; quiet unless you ask him and he feels like telling you his thoughts, but amazing. I need to admit that I really really hate politics, and yet, here I am, making enemies by the day it seems. I just feel like I can still voice an opinion on my personal blog and that should be hunky dory. I've lost bloggy friends and others now ignore me completely. It's just my opinion people, vote your own thoughts and heart.

Things in church have kept me hoppin' and it doesn't look as if the situation in that arena will change for a couple of months...so I keep going the best I can and doing my part.

And I made it grocery shopping for the first time in about four months yesterday. Fabulous. Forgot how much I like picking out a fresh veggie. I picked out some organic chickens and slow roasted them in anticipation of a rich stock to be used in a particular recipe later.

I found a recipe for a crazy good corn chowder (although I don't think the way it tastes it would be described as a corn chowder) - it turned out really flavourful and so delicious that I am wont to share it with you; so here goes:

I started by placing my washed and dried whole chickens, with their necks and gizzards etc. in my heavy enameled cast iron pot with a bit of butter, kosher salt, pepper corns, and crushed garlic -lots of garlic. I slow roasted those darling little chickens until they were tender, juicy juicy, and the joints easily tore from each other and the meat beginning to fall off the bone. From one chicken I took one full breast and thigh and chopped it into big bite sized chunks; and set it aside.

Ingredients:

1 chicken whole chicken breast -roasted and chopped into bite sized chunks
1 chicken thigh - roasted and chopped into bite sized chunks
4-5 pieces of meaty bacon, fried, diced
1/2 yellow onion - diced
1 small red pepper - diced
1 large jalapeno pepper - diced
1 russet potato - peeled and diced
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
3 cups good stock


In another heated heavy pot I fried up four pieces of really meaty bacon. When the bacon was just about done I added the onion, red pepper, jalapeno, potato and corn. Saute the veggies with the bacon until they begin to caramelize, they don't all have to turn deep brown, but some should. Pull the bacon out and give it a good dice, return it to the pot and add the corn and stock. Bring to a low boil and simmer until the potato is fork tender.

Take about half of the soup, both veggies and stock and toss into a blender. Keep the lid on, but the cap out, cover with a small towel and pulse to puree the contents. Return this to the pot and fold into the soup.

Add the cheese, blend. Add the chicken, fold in and bring back up to a low simmer to reheat chicken. Taste to season with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Serve.

Originally I was going to add heavy cream to the soup, however in the long run (read:standing under the ladder) I forgot to! It didn't matter, it was still so flavourful! And the best part? It was even more tasty the next day for lunch...really really good for lunch!

I wish I had a photo for you, but who cares? It was good. Try it.

(I'm dying for a huge ice cold Pepsi...like a craving, which I usually don't get with soda, but yeah, I'm going to grab one, somewhere. Who sells caffeine free regular Pepsi in a drive thru???)

Make up!

Halloween is the time for make up!
This site has a mom friendly ideas for creating that special costume look, with very easy steps.

Ghoul Skool is a few levels higher and has many other things to look at concerning costuming and make up. Be warned however, some links are dead.

Costume World has slide show type tutorials to explain the steps in their make up tips.

National Geographic has a video on the new trend of Halloween in Japan, a Green Guide to Halloween Make Up. and a story on Fair Trade Candy. Other articles include DYI for kids Pumpkin Carving with patterns! A DYI for kids, explaining how to make their own flying Witch, an article exploring the ritualistic killing of Black Cats, and lastly a fill in the blank Halloween Game for Kids Check out NatGeo., Some cool stuff in there.

Panacea 81 has video tutorials on Fabulous Eyes! This woman is adorable, very unpretentious and she demos her eye make up versions via her love of MAC cosmetics. Very dramatic! If you're looking for a dramatic eye effect for Halloween, she can set you up with something. Her videos take you step by step through over 176(!) different looks!

A great place to get Theatrical Make Up tips via video is Expert Village. Several videos to view there.

Multimakers's You Tube Channel has many video tutorials on Great Theatre Make up, seriously good "normal" physical ugliness (broken teeth, noses, bruising, bites, etc. and clear instruction.

Merely a flesh wound! Watch this video for (silent, but)clear instruction on making prosthetic wounds that actually flex like the real thing! eeek! Thanks Makinthisnthat!

Theassassinnox demos "Cats"style Theatre Make Up, silently with a nice music background, easy enough to figure out what she is doing by watching.

Ayabaya offers a silent you tube video of an actual Maiko or Geisha applying her make up...remarkable.

Askmemakeup demos a you tube Marie Antoinette, hair and make up!

BenjaminChu demos a true DYI "burn and scars" using rubber cement, magic markers and the imagination of a bored teenager. This kid has a career ahead of him!

Ford Model's hair artist Johnny Lavoy demos anAmy Winehouse do. Simple. Really! Also a great Gwen Stefani pony tail. Hot 40's look!

Marie Antoinette

This guy shows a very quick video tutorial substituting theatre make up plastics with bubble gum! to make those same scars!

Professional Artist, Kevin Haney applies Frankenstein make up done from start to finish for a show that was supposed to tribute the original make up artist for Frankenstein, Jack Pierce. Unfortunately the show was canceled last minute and he never got to see his "work".

How It's Made shows us how professionals make face prosthetics turning a beautiful 28 year old woman into an 80 year old version of herself. Start to finish it would cost up to $10,000. Cool video.

And these two videos from "The View" showing us how the Ladies get their Halloween looks from their hair and make up teams.

Opinion: Prop 8

My parents were divorced by the time I was born. As a result of their decision I grew up in a house where marriage took on a less than ideal (or even traditional) meaning. There were periods of dating, divorce, remarriage, more divorce, more dating, more marriage and so it went. I grew up not knowing my biological father, being introduced to other men, some who became momentary step fathers, others who remained the "uncle" or the "boy friend". I was told from a very early age that he, my biological father, was not important in my development or nurturing etc., because I had a good (step)dad who provided for us and took us as his own. At the age of 8 the last of the boyfriends married my mother and we did have a father figure.

There were times (even after the assurance that this last dad was going to stay) when I went to my mother and begged her for the norm, the ideal, the kind of marriage and family that my friends had. I wanted to be like the other kids I saw, the happy ones with a mom and a dad always there, without fearing that, any day now, someone would leave, change their mind and another divorce would occur.

I am now 50 years old. I still wish I had the kind of home Thor has. The ideal: Imperfect parents who committed to each other, fought along the way, built a home and family that endures through all the muck of life. They have been through it all and the fact remains, the best thing about Thor's mom and dad is that they love each other and committed to each other and their children -forever.

I have worked through my childhood insecurities and tried to deal with what my reality was during those first 8 years. Many people calculate that 8 out of 50 is a minor amount of time, especially when you figure that I was married at 18 and left my "home" rather early and could just "go on with my life the way I chose from then on." Their good meaning reasoning being that 8 years is a very short time for a child to deal with, and if there was a good man in the house after that 8 years, why was I complaining or feeling slighted?

The fact is every child, no matter who, every child needs one mother and one father to be created and gain a body. Every child has a right to be reared in a home where both that same mother and father will lovingly commit to that child for the rest of their life and to each other. This is not a faery tale, it has occurred billions of times over the last 4,000 years. Even when parents no longer were in love, they stayed together "for the children". They bucked it up and did what was right so that their children would benefit.

Usually at this point in this kind of conversation, someone will point out that they know of a couple who fought and argued so much it damaged the children and the family was actually happier once a divorce was finalized.

My answer is, well whoopi-doo for that family, my family situation was not so lucky. And like all children, I wanted the ideal. I still wish I had one mother and one father.

I have nieces and nephews whose father was taken away from them by an early death. Not divorce, not by choice, but by an accident. They have had a good life, again with a man who "stepped" up and fathered them. However, they too long for the original set of parents.

I place any and all bets that if every child were polled, they would choose the original set of parents, their own personal mom and dad, and wished they loved each other, committed, and built a home similar and as imperfect as Thor's parents.

I know there are exceptions to the ideal and I am grateful for good men and women who married into families and take the role of parent to children that are not their biological own. I believe in adoption and wish that every child have a family. I do however still believe, that even in the most severe cases, given the choice, a child would choose a home with a mother and a father.

If they were given a voice in the matter...

The hard fact is, children do not get a voice in how they are reared. But should those of us who do have a voice and a vote chose to give each child the ideal instead of the lowest common denominator? The argument of "any home is better than no home" is a good one, but the lowest acceptance of a home. Every child deserves the best we can provide, not accepting or settling for the least we can insure. We who can vote should vote for the best possible future for our children.

Normally I avoid politics like the plague, however, in regard to what is happening in California and also in other states in the U.S. I am jumping in the pool to discuss my personal opinion.

"Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity." -The Family (which reads, to me, as a child's Bill of Rights.)

For those who believe the current ads/commercials saying that no religious rights will be taken away from churches or organizations, please read this from (what is considered a liberal media source) NPR.

This San Francisco Gate article again proves that yes, indeed, our children will be taught that gay marriage is just fine, and go out of their way to make sure your child gets a front row seat as a witness. I don't know about you, but our children's schools eliminated field trips years ago because of finances and school budgets. Any trips our kids went on -we had to fork over at least $80.00 for bus fare.

In the above article it says that two families opted out of the experience and the children of those two families were placed in another classroom for the day to do regular school work as the other kids went on their wedding field trip. In Massachusetts however, a state where same gender marriage is and has been legal for a few years now, The Parker Family warns that their father was threatened with jail time because he wanted their children to opt out of certain teaching in their school's curriculum. Sorry, but in Massachusetts, parents are not informed every time a same gender issue is taught; and some curriculum is mandatory by law.

Voting "Yes on Prop 8" will not take away or further discriminate GLBT people/couples in any way. GLBT couples will still be able to form legal partnerships with all the rights of visitation, health insurance, and other rights-currently on the books as laws. No one wants to take these rights away! In the state of California laws are already in place to insure that GLBT couples have equal rights in partnerships, the work place, schools, hospitals, and courtroom. The only thing they will not be able to do is "marry". The word: Marriage.

I am coming to 90% of my conclusions because of personal experience and 10% due to my religious preferences. If you want to know more about my religious views and the "why" behind them please read:LDS view . Please click the following links if you want more information (both LDS and others in California) on Preserving Marriage or Protecting Marriage.

Thank you for reading and please consider voting YES ON PROP 8!

Wanna free purse?

Um, yes. Free. Go. Click. Hurry. You don't have much time left! Go!
Click Here! For a free purse from Handbag Planet!

small print: They're launching a new website and want to get hits. You get an op to win on of 24 free bags they are giving away on their first day... so go!

long Linky tute

Ok. So this post is for other folks, such as myself, who -unless I had a sister who could actually break into my blog and do all kinds of bloggety things to it- wouldn't have a clue as to how to pull off a few bloggety tricks.

Today's trick (one of my only tricks to be sure): Linky love. You know, that link that you can click on and it opens a new page -right to the place you want to send your readers- without them having to leave your page, that linky thing. Here we go.

This is what we're after: I want to send you to a certain page on Planarity (which is one of my favourite games!!!) so I send you here! which is really a link that will pop up out onto the exact page I want you to go while keeping you on my page too! That link will read as a different colour and have a line under the text, indicating a link! Weeeee!

Let's get to the fun part. First things first. I am a dork. I can't (refuse to?) remember things that seem otherwise useless or easily goofed up, so I copy and paste...a lot. I don't bother memorizing the code, I just keep pasting and copying it again and again, which for me, is easier than remembering. I write down the computer lingo (hereafter named and referred to as url thingy -because I am not sure what the real name is.) This is the code in as "English" as I can get it because if I write it in computerease it just comes out as the link in the post and you can't read the code.

This symbol <> will be named 'more than'. (remember fourth grade?)
This symbol = will be 'equals'.
This symbol " will be 'quotes'.
This symbol : will be 'semi colon'.
This symbol / will be 'forward slash'.
This symbol # will be 'number sign'.
and the rest will be letters and or numbers.

When you write it out put it all into symbol form with no spaces, unless space is written out.

less than a space href equals quotes http semi colon forward slash forward slash w w w dot planarity dot net forward slash number sign quotes space target = quotes new quotes more than here less than forward slash a more than

You're going to use three pages. I am going to use colours to mark 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pages. Your new post will be page one, blogger dashboard will be page two, and your link will be page three.

Go ahead and open a new page and get your blogger dashboard. Open a "new post" on your blogger dashboard. Click on the "edit html" tab and open that page. You're going to write in html text instead of in the "compose" page. Copy the code above then paste it on the html page of your new post so that you can read it while you're writing it in your new post.

Write out the code above, only in actual computer lingo symbols. Publish your post and check that it takes you to Planarity. If it works - do a little dance, we're half way home! If not, check to see that you copied the code exactly using the symbols instead of the English wording. Also, if it works, you an erase the English code and just keep the html code.

O.k. Now that you have the working link for Planarity, I want you to write a post title in the header, something like "Linky Thingy" or whatever works for you.

Then go down to "post options" and click that open. On the bottom right there should be a place for date and time of publishing. Write out a way in the future date, like November 3rd, 2015. Then press publish. If your blogger is the same as my blogger it will tell you the blog is scheduled... as in scheduled for posting sometime in fall of 2015. Or you can simply keep it as a draft with a future date. The idea of a long time future date is that it will always be at the top of your posts list and easy to access later when you need it.

(Look at the url thingy. That first set of quotes holds your link's location and url.)

Now you are writing a new post. You are on a new post page in blogger. Next time you want to send us out to check a link, you'll be typing along on your post and get to the place in the text you want to add the link.

Click open the "edit html" page; and then open a second page and open up your blogger dashboard to "edit" the "Linky Thingy" post; and also open the third page to the exact page you want us to go to. Open the edit page and click into "edit html" . Copy the link url thingy you put in there.

Go back to your new post on the "html" page, and paste the copied url thingy right where you want it to show up in the post.

Look at the url thingy. There is a set of quote marks that are at the beginning, right after that href = . Erase everything between the quotes, but not the quotes themselves. Now click on your link page and copy the url at the top of the page.

Go back to your post and paste that url in between those first quote marks.

After the quote marks there will be a space and then the word target followed by the =sign and "new" and then the more than sign. You will be erasing between that more than symbol and the less than symbol at the end of the code. All of this while you are in the "edit html" on your post page. In between those more than and less than symbols you can give your link a name or whatever you want. Just type it between the symbols, as in: >name your link<

You can change the font size, colour, make it bold or any of the other choices from the top of the tool bar on the post page after you click back to "compose".

Technically this is all there is to it! Now you can exit out of the other two pages and focus back on your new post.

Click back to "compose" and check to see that the link is there. About half the time, for me, the link will appear in the next line down and not right next to the words preceding it in the text. This is easy to fix, just back space until it goes where you want it to be.

If the text following your link gets underlined and seems to be linked to the link itself, this too, is easy to fix. Press the "enter" key on your type pad and grab that next line down. Press the space bar and give yourself one or two spaces and then just finish your sentence or begin writing again. When you get a word written just go back to the space and click there to get the curser in place. Press the "backspace" key to bring the word/sentence back up into place -and there you go. That one space, (made in the next row) for whatever reason, will allow the link and your following words to be separated.

This sounds much more complicated than it really is, and I am sure there are tons of other people who can explain this much easier. Hope that helped. If not, e-mail with your questions and I will try to get back to you in a more clear manner!

Bleach Pen Skeleton Shirt Tutorial

So here you go folks, a tutorial on using a Clorox Bleach Pen to dye/bleach out a 100% cotton tee shirt. This one, a skeleton! The bleach works out to a variety of oranges, kind of creepy looking actually. Skill level really depends on your art skills. The more confident artist will just sit down and draw out a skeleton. The less experienced crafter may need to practice and/or take a bit of time. All in all it's just bones and a costume, so does it really matter if it's not perfect? Have fun!

Click here to view a (larger!) you tube version. You Tube got upset at me and I had to change the music. Then I changed the music and it pouted for a few days, guess they forgive me and it's up now. I changed the music to my daughter's concert band, how can they get mad about that? The music is cool, "The Pines of Rome, Appian Way" (where all the dead soldiers rise out of their graves and march into Rome...appropriate I thought. You can here their 'boom boom' march as the back beat, cool.) It was the performance done at Disney Hall (hall, not land- they were and still are the only youth symphony allowed to perform there.), so it's pretty good. Any who, larger version at the link!

Do One Thing: Project Noah, week 7

Week 7: 8 ounces of Salt.

--Or hey, why not grab the whole box? And some other spices, nothing says "boring dinner" like having only salt to work with. My choices would include: Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasonings, a really nice Poultry Blend, maybe some Mexican Blend, Onion, yup-definitely Onion Powder, some Bay Leaves, and Cinnamon!

Hint: Evaluate family preparedness, set goals for the coming year and seek to obtain them.

The Best Gift