I know we've just barely begun with Shutter School, but I wanted to tell you about an another online opportunity that looks great! Jessica Sprague is offering a free photo editing class. This is an online class that will teach you how to use some of the basic features of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. She even includes a link to download a 30-day trial of the software. I'm definitely going to sign up for this. I've been wanting to learn about Photoshop and at this point, know basically nothing. Anyone want to join me? (just click on the picture above to take you to her website)

Packages In the Mail and Rule of Thirds

Upon returning home last night, I was excited to find two packages awaiting me. The first was the wonderful giveaway that I won from Ariane. I couldn't wait to open the envelope and I certainly wasn't disappointed!! Isn't this great?!?!
Look at all the stitching she did.
She even added a zipper and pockets on the inside.

And how about this card that she made with a fabric applique on the front?!Thank you so much, Ariane. I can't wait until tomorrow when I can use the purse!

And my second package contained my new camera. Since Shutter School has begun, I tried to use the Rule of Thirds as I took this picture of my new set-up. Now, I've got to get that battery charged so I can try it out!

Return, Rebuild, Renew

I spent the last few days down in the New Orleans area as a delegate to my church's annual conference. This isn't something that I've ever really had a great desire to do, but I decided that since I really didn't have an excuse NOT to go, I should take my turn and accept the position. As it turns out, I really kind of enjoyed it (although I'm hesitant to say that). I don't imagine that it is always this interesting, but this year, I was able to get to know my friend Rachel better, watch 2 friends get ordained and participate in the voting process regarding some pretty important issues.

And in addition to the "church politics" that we were involved in, I was able to participate in an optional mission project on Tuesday afternoon (which is something I love!). We had several different options, but I chose to work on a home that had been damaged in Hurricane Katrina. This is the 5th time I've been to work in New Orleans in recent years, but we worked in an area that was totally unfamiliar to me. Here's a photo of the house. The marking on the outside of the house is left from the first time officials were able to actually check the house for signs of life following the storm. As you can see, the first time they could check it was 9-28-05--that's over a month after Katrina hit!! While law enforcement agencies attempted to check the neighborhood earlier, they were in a boat and the water covered everything except the roof, so no accurate assessment could be done. You can still see the water line on the house where water remained for weeks after it began to subside. Our job was to prepare the floors for laminate wood flooring to be laid. We scraped the concrete, rolled out padding, screwed shims into the walls and even began to lay the floor. Our time was very limited, but at least we were able to help out for a little while. Hopefully this family will be able to move back into their home in the next couple of months! It's been almost four years since the storm, and if you were to drive through New Orleans on the interstate or even visit the French Quarter, you would think that life is back to normal---that homes are repaired and lives have been restored. But upon closer inspection, you find that FEMA trailers and blue tarps are still seen in most neighborhoods and even more homes have been abandoned or await monumental repairs. The signs of a brighter future are emerging, but there is still much work to be done!

Lesson One

I've been out of town for a few days and got back late last night. But, I wanted to let you know that the first lesson is posted at Shutter School, so hop on over there and join us in learning how to use your camera. Be sure to leave us a comment letting us know you are participating and start snapping pics! The first lesson is not difficult, but is really important for good composition. I can't wait to get my new camera (which arrived while I was gone) out of its box after work today and try it out! You have until June 21 to experiment with the Rule of Thirds and post your attempts over at our Flickr Site.

Happy Snapping!

Margaret Bag

I did it! I started and finished a new purse. Elizabeth at Oh Fransson designed a great purse that she calls the Margaret Bag. I downloaded the pattern and tutorial and got to work. I had the navy fabric and the floral lining in my "stash", but I had to make a trip to the store for interfacing and flannel. She uses a great method of sandwiching flannel between two layers of fusible interfacing to provide a more stable body. This does make the layers really thick and sometimes difficult to sew, but it worked great!! The hardest part for me was doing the top-stitching around the purse at the very end. That's not usually difficult for me, but this time the layers were so thick and stiff that I really had to be careful. I love the finished product, though!!!Now I need to get busy and get this place cleaned up so I can pack my bags for tomorrow!

A Wing On the Left, A Wing On the Right

A wing on the left,
A wing on the right
The little bird sleeps all through the night.
But, in the morning. . .
UP comes the sun
The dew falls away
"Good morning, good morning, good morning", the little birds say!
------song I used to sing to Jana and Callie (author unknown)

On the way out the door, I glanced through the kitchen window and saw this:
A baby bird---a BIG baby bird--sitting on my shepherd's hook with mama (or Daddy) watching from the front porch roof.
I grabbed my camera (and Emmi, who was crazily barking at the poor baby) and tried to get a few pictures through the window. I love the tufts of fuzz still on the bird even though mature feathers have almost replaced them.
. . . and the feet that are desperately trying to hang on.

I slipped outside with my camera, but the baby flew to my sasanqua bush nearby as the adult birds squawked warnings to each other about me. I feel sure that if I could have understood them, my feelings would have been hurt! Sure enough, deep inside the branches of that bush was a nest.

Saturday Morning Sewing

This is what I've been up to this morning. Our church has a contemporary worship service which uses a multi-purpose room each week. While the altar area stays intact for the most part, the seating often must be re-arranged for various events. In an effort to provide a way for people to offer prayer requests or receive information, we needed something that attaches to the backs of the chairs that could hold a pen and relevant info. A couple of years ago, I designed these handy-dandy pockets that have velcro on the back. Some of the chairs also have velcro attached to the backs, so we could just stick these on. (this is kind of like our chairs)However, the service has grown considerably and we need LOTS more pockets. And since I'm making new pockets, I decided to fashion a better way to attach them---one that could attach to the "loop" that is at the top of each chair. Here's what I came up with. (If you have any use at all for something like this, these directions can be downloaded in .pdf format here) This one is stitched with white thread so the stitching would show up in pictures, but normally I will be using thread that matches the fabric. Actually, I'm not hoping to pass the directions and materials on to a few other people that I'm recruiting to work on the project. Well, I'm off to Joann's now. I'm hoping to whip up a new purse this afternoon after a killer workout at Mosley's!