Gerry Landreth

My great-nieces, Corinne (6) and Amelia (2). The papers and elements are from a kit called Autumn Joys designed by Digital Design by Jodi. 

I used the sandwich to help make my grocery list. Fun and practical.

The tablecloth is from a kit by Jessica Dunn, Reach for the Sun.

Joining Boot Camp was a last minute decision. I always enjoy going back to the basics where I always learn something new. Because of major life changes, I wasn't able to finish the workshops at the end of 2022. I went from helping out with my mom to being her full-time caregiver. The pace of Boot Camp fits perfectly as I learn to carve out time for little projects.

My workspace is basic with some adjustments. I use larger icons and have a couple of Carole's scripts, Open as New Layer and Clip-to-It, bound to menus. As a recovering "Early Adopter," I use the latest version of PSP. However, I always keep the previous version in case there are bugs in the new version when it is released.

The picture in the workspace is my niece and her daughter. The other picture is of her boys. 

Since I don't have a Valentine, I stayed with the Christmas theme. (BTW - If anyone knows of a potential Valentine, I am taking applications. LOL!)

 

CREDITS: The Santa hand and snow scene in the background are in a bundle, 3900 Overlays, from Inky Deals. The wood frame is a Jessica Dunn design from Digital Scrapbook. The font is Christmas Time by Billy Argel from Creative Fabrica.

 

As I was working on this, I drew from techniques and ideas I learned from past lessons and tutorials. Tricks used once in several years were useful again. It was a nice feeling.

The font is Star Bright from Creative Fabrica. The flowers are from Digital Scrapbook.

 

 

All of the elements are from Creative Fabrica. My niece is a big fan of unicorns.

I kept it simple. The holly is from Digital Scrapbook (PixelScrapper). The word art and font are from Creative Fabrica. The ribbon was an exercise to remind me that I can follow directions ... at least some of the time.

I had forgotten about this exercise from the Spooky tutorial a year ago. The picture is a daytime shot of our house. The "ghost" is a photo of a boy I found on Pixabay.

In addition to the calendars from the workshop, I had started work on Project 365 Double Templates from Andrea Gold. Although they are very detailed templates, I am using them to showcase the birthday of the month which is in the same theme as the wall calendars. This project will become a photobook.

 

At first, I was overwhelmed by having to come up with 365 pictures. Very quickly, I realized that the real problem was sifting through 1000s of pictures to narrow it down to 365.

 

The quote is:

 

Winter’s done, and April’s in the skies. Earth, look up with laughter in your eyes! – Charles G.D. Roberts.

I forgot to make note of one of Carole's scripts which is extremely helpful when using a printing service, JPG Bleed. As I create photo books and calendars for my mother and sister, it has become an indispensable tool for me.

Progress continues. Given what I need to achieve, a traditional format works best. By adapting the elements of the page and using a template from Mixbook, it's coming together.

Corrie: I'm glad to hear that things went well. Having had several joint replacements, including both hips, I can attest that the hospital is the last place to get much sleep. After my first replacement, a wise therapist told me that 80% of the healing takes about 2 months, and the rest takes about a year. She was right. At some point soon, you won't even notice the replacement.

More work in progress.

 

Dawn - Using the layout as the desktop background is a great idea. After such a difficult period, I'm glad that you joined this workshop.

 

Carole - "do you have enough people with birthdays in each month?" There are a couple of months where there are no birthdays and a couple of others that have multiples. For the former, I'll use a group shot of the great-grandkids for one and a group photo of the "older" members of the family for the other. The audience for the calendar is my mother, who is dealing with dementia. I did the same for last year's calendar, and the visual helped her more than I would have thought.

Here are a couple of my works in progress. The pictures are of the people who have a birthday that month.

 

Corrie - Good luck with the surgery tomorrow. You will be uncomfortable at first, but each day gets better. I look forward to seeing you back in action soon.

Ann - I love the Vertigo layout. Although, I'm more of a High Anxiety fan. I can see Mel Brooks and Madeline Kahn falling from frame to frame to frame, spinning out of control.

The last one. It has been fun to read such interesting stories!

Corrie - Both of my hips have been replaced due to an uncommon form of arthritis. I have had no problems. Surgeries went well, and the recovery was OK. Definitely follow through with the rehab.

 

A therapist once told me that 80% of the healing comes in 4-6 weeks. The other 20% could take a year. My experience tells me she was right. Pretty soon, you won't even notice it.

I can overcome or compensate for almost any fear except the one of snakes.

As my mother's health declines and she slips a little further into dementia, small things like reaching for a jar of peas or beans that isn't there become important moments for reflection.

I only have one sports story, which I used the last time I was in the Storytime workshop. I was 10 and dribbled to the wrong goal in a tragic basketball game of Shirts and Skins. Other than that, my extracurricular activity was piano. Hours upon hours upon hours were spent practicing for recitals and competitions.

I just realized that I used Day 4's alternate template for the Day 3 assignment. Although it is clearly marked, it wasn't until I read Susan's comments that it finally caught my eye.

 

Carole: Thanks for asking about the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. The worst damage was about 15 miles to the south of where I lived. That is where the iconic photos of blocks willed with flattened homes were taken. We had roof damage. Trees were downed, on cars and in living rooms. It was a mess that is still not completely cleaned up after 30 years.

When I realized that today is the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, I thought back to the events before and after. We had no idea what was about to happen.

 

For the record, I was not at a "hurricane party." I dragged a rocking chair into the kitchen, which didn't have windows, with my cat in her carrier.

 

Carole: The gremlin problem returned. I was getting an error message about vector incompatibility while trying to save in pspimage format. I am working in PSP 2023. When I checked the compatibility for saving, it defaulted to PSP compatible, which is actually not an option when setting it manually. I reset it to 2022, and the problem was resolved.

The stories in this workshop are always fascinating. I look forward to learning more.

 

The kit is Evening Sun from Aimee Harrison Designs. The font is Belgium.

Carole: That is indeed her handiwork. She canned mostly beans, peas, and tomatoes. She also froze corn and okra. There is nothing like the taste of using a couple of jars of tomatoes to make a soup, stew, or sauce.

My mother was a prolific canner. After decades of shopping the farmer's markets for the freshest vegetables (and best prices), she had to retire from it a couple of years ago. The summers are quieter and, pretty soon when the last jar is open, the winter will be less flavorful.