Rene Marker

Something that I always do to make black text darker is always select bold on the text tool bar. The other thing that I do that is actually against everything everyone says about text and drop shadows is to add a very small drop shadow to my text after I rasterize it. I use the settings: 01-01-50-05. Horizontal/Vertical offset being the 01. Opacity is 50 and Blur is 05. I only use these settings for black text but I do usually use black text anyways. I want the text readable which is also why I very rarely use a patterned background for my text. I know if I can read it, anyone can!

I also do it in October.... to document the colors of fall!

I've met people from all over the country through these retreats. The ones I went to were all organized by different people that were members of a scrapping forum. It sort of started when people in the same area would get together and evolved into much larger gatherings. I was a paper scrapper when I first went but became digital not long after. I've been to retreats in several different states along with the one in Ingersoll. A lot of the ScrapShare (the forum that is now defunct) retreats are no longer being held but some still are on a smaller scale. One of my friends from there still goes to retreats several times a year. In fact, she was at one 9 days ago when her husband passed away unexpectedly.

It also is a way to just document my daily life even though it is boring! But it also kind of forces me to not wallow in the depression but to get out and do things if weather is OK and to think outside the box about the photos I take each day. It has been interesting to look back and see how different each December has been since 2017. I've included screen shots of news headlines some years as well, especially in 2020. I first learned about it at The Lily Pad. Their designers design kits around a theme every year and they have a sub-forum with different challenges and tips on completing the project. Some people only do 25 days ending with Christmas. Some people do 6x8 layouts, some do full 12x12 layouts, others do Project Life type of layouts. Some people do something like the Project 52 some of you are completing here this year, with just 1 photo to reference each day.

Thanks Julie. It will never get easier since both my parents are gone and I have no spouse or children of my own. The last 6 weeks of the year has been hard for the family since 1971 when my mom's mother (the glue in her family) passed away the day after Thanksgiving (Nov 26). Three years before Mom passed, my dad's mother passed away the Monday before Thanksgiving and we buried her the day after Thanksgiving, Two years later my mom's father died the beginning of December then Mom the next year. Too much death in my family during that time period. I have found ways to keep the depression away during the month. I keep busy by scrapping or working on jigsaw puzzles. I've also done a project since 2017 called "Document Your December". I take photos every day and do 31 layouts of what my month was like. Yep, even got a photo of me in a hospital bed in last year's layouts!

I've been to Canada using both the bridge and the tunnel. And, I've also crossed at Sarnia. On one of my trips, I was a passenger and was able to get a photo of the US and Canadian flags that were displayed right next to each other. I think it was when we were coming off the bridge on the Canadian side. Two of my friends and I were on our way to a scrapbooking retreat at the Elm Hurst Inn in Ingersoll, Ontario. Beautiful place! I went to a retreat there 3 different years (2007 - 2009).

I'm also not a fan but my cousin's daughter/granddaughter are huge fans. Allison and Caroline flew to Los Angles (from Orlando) to see her in August 2023. Then in June of 2024, Allison, her husband (Dennis), son (Luke) and Caroline saw her in Lyon, France. They did make a vacation out of that trip going to Chamonix and then some time in the Swiss Alps as well (they had been in Paris and Nice the summer before). Then apparently Allison and Caroline saw her again in Miami last month. I just can't see spending that kind of money on any concert. But if it makes them happy...

Christmas has been hard for me since Mom passed away in 1996 on December 26th. I've gone through phases where I decorate a lot or don't decorate at all. Most people get their seasonal depression in January... not me, it starts right after Thanksgiving. On January 1st, I'm a whole new person! The last couple of years I haven't done much decorating at all. Last year was very little because of everything going on and having surgery on the 18th. I just didn't have the energy to do it. I hope to do more this year to celebrate my health being much better! For a few years, Christmas music was a trigger for me and I couldn't listen to it. Still can't listen to certain songs as they were favorites of Mom. I have some Christmas music of artists (mainly country) that I do enjoy listening to. But what turns me off the most is the constant Christmas movies on all the different Hallmark channels starting in late October (and can't forget the whole month of July). I used to enjoy them but not anymore.

Listening to him singing Back Home in Indiana at the Indianapolis 500 every year was such a treat. It just isn't the same these days.

None of the trees in our yard were that close to the house at the time Dad had his accident. We still got leaves in the gutters.

In October I bring in the cushions from the patio furniture and put them in the basement and put the lawn chairs/table on the front porch away in the garage. I have a wind chime that was given to me when my father passed away that I only have out from April to October. It still looks like new since it hasn't endured the harsh winter weather (unlike my other wind chimes that end up falling apart). I also have 2 garden hose reels that are stored in the garage during the winter. That gets done in October before the temps hit freezing at night. Within the next couple of weeks, my neighbor will put the snow poles along the driveway that will guide him when he plows my drive when we have snow. I don't do holiday decorations outside, heck, I don't do much inside either! As far the your story about your husband and cleaning the gutters in the newsletter, I have never had to do that. Many years ago my father had gutter guards put on the gutters when he fell off the ladder and broke his wrist or elbow (don't remember which) while cleaning them out. Thankfully this is a one-story house so the fall wasn't that far. After putting on the guards he never had to clean them out again so it isn't something I've had to have done either.

We do all have our own preferences. Mine is to have total control over the merge of each group.

Yes, you do have to run the script for each group. But that is what I like about it since it gives me the control. I also like that as long as the highlighted layer is the layer with the photo when you run the script, it renames the merged layer to the name of the photo. In my case, the image number from my camera. If I ever want to see what photo I actually used in the layout when I have multiple images taken at the same time, the image number is right there in the layers palette.

I merge groups all the time using the Merge-Group-Rename script after using the Raster To Mask script for my photos. Merge-Group-Rename gives me total control over each group which is my preferred method. I certainly wouldn't want all groups to be merged into one layer but each group should still have their own layer. If the script could do that, it might be something I would consider. I've been known to move a photo placement after the group merge so having them all on one layer would defeat that purpose.

The cemetery my parents are buried in is right here in town. I've gone there for many years multiple times during the year. For quite a few years I would go 3 times in May -- Mother's Day, May 20 which was my mother's birthday and Memorial Day. Then I would go on Dec 26 which was her date of death. After Dad passed away 8 years ago, I would go once in May, June 14 (his date of death), Oct 15 (their anniversary), Dec 1 (his birthday) and Dec 26. So I pretty much saw all the seasons of the trees in the cemetery. I always take photos when I go. Since a couple of the dates fall in the months that I do a layout for each day of the month, I have scrapped a lot of layouts of the cemetery. I will share a few. My October layout in 2023 was a few days late because I wasn't feeling good after my surgery. In December 2020 we had a snowstorm on the 1st so I went on the 2nd. The last layout is one I did in 2012.