How to Create a Watermark Brush in PSE

It’s always great to learn new things, right?  I mean I know we aren’t all in school anymore but still, it’s always good to learn a new thing once a day!  That’s what I’ve always been told anyway.  So today I’ll show you how to make a Watermark brush in PSE.  Super simple and super easy!

btw, I use PSE 8 but I’ve played around on 10 and I know it isn’t a whole lot different, obviously 10 has more features but anyway, you get the picture 🙂

Ok first off you’ll start by opening PSE up and going to New–> Blank File

It’s always better to have a huge canvas then to have too small of a canvas to work with, so I opened a 2000×2000 pixel canvas.  Make sure you select Transparent at the bottom too.

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I found the Culprit

So after my run on Monday my ankles were awful!

Yes, I got new shoes and I was afraid that was the problem…

However, along with hubby’s new shoes, he got new socks.  Look at this…

You see the lip there, it hits right where those sores are rubbed…

and if I put my shoes on, the back sits right there too…

So, the socks rubbed against my heel with the help of my shoes, therefore, I have rubbed raw spots on both heels thanks to hubby’s socks 🙂

I think I’ll stick to my socks from here on out!

Come on heels….. heal!

10 Things to Smile About – September

Ok so technically I’m a day late in linking up, but it’s all good, I hope, right?   I’m linking up with EmmyMom on her 10 Things to Smile About

1.  I’ve spent TWO amazing years married to this wonderful man.  We’ve been together for 4 years and married for 2 years as of September 4th.

2.  Tbug participated in her first horse show and did EXCELLENT!  You’d have thought she’s been showing for years.

3.  We taught Tbug how to play Rummy and she loves it just as much as we do.

4.  I was introduced to one of these and my life has been forever changed.

5.  I had a moment to look back and see that my life may not be quite the direction I had planned but at the same time it’s following the exact path it’s supposed to.

6.  We celebrated my Mother-in-law’s birthday on Sept 5th.

7.  Unfortunately we lost Squirty which isn’t anything to be happy about but with the knowledge of Squirty, we were able to save Mini Me and my sweet {step}daughter tried to give my dad roughly $2 in change to help save Mini Me.  It allowed us to see the sweetest side of Tbug I have ever seen.

8. We got to see the PBR Live in Springfield with my parents & Tbug.

9.  I got to give Doti a Salt (or was the pepper) shaker for her collection, even though I accidentally broke the mate.

10. Then, even though I hate running, hubby has agreed to plug away with me to do the C25K program!!

What has made you smile this month??

Tomato, Basil, Cheddar Soup

Oh Yum.  That’s what we sad Saturday night.

Source: morefruitplease.net via Layla on Pinterest

 

So we started going through the list of ingredients to see what we had…
everything but Greek Yogurt.

No problem… we decided to substitute in Cream Cheese… So here’s the recipe I used.  And holy cow was this awesome!

Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup

Makes 6 servings
  • 2 28-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 cups of vegetable broth
  • 4 oz Cream Cheese
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup basil, chopped, loosely packed
  • 2 tsp of oregano
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions:  Over medium heat, add the olive oil to a large pot. Add the chopped onion and allow to cook until tender, about three to four minutes. Add in chopped garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Pour in the two cans of tomatoes (juice and all) and the vegetable stock. Stir in the basil, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper. Place the lid back onto the pot and allow to simmer ten minutes. At the end, stir in the Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese until well blended. Use either an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup if you prefer a smooth texture. Garnish with chopped basil and grated cheddar cheese if desired.

Shared here: Food Friday

Wish me luck, I've lost my mind!

Source: isawthisimage.com via Nicole on Pinterest

It’s Official, I’ve clearly lost my mind!

Ok… let me re-start this… For over a year I’ve watched people talking about doing the C25K program.  I’ve listened to people who have trained, run, etc.  And I’m not going to lie, I kind of wanted to do it.

I talked to hubby and I wasn’t real sure he was game.  So I’d talk to him more about it, again, not sure he was game.  He didn’t mind walking at night, but that wasn’t getting me any closer to being able to say I too had run a 5K.  I don’t have any idea why I wanted to say I had run one, but that’s sure enough what I wanted to do.

Then one day out of the blue last week he said, let’s do the C25K program.

Really?  What?  Are you out of your mind?  Ok :).

We decided to start last Tuesday night.  We got a training app and went to town.

First day down!  Woohooooooo.

Then the unthinkable happen, dun dun dun, the flu hit my household.  yuck!  So yesterday morning, after recovering all weekend from the flu we started back on day 1.  Hey, the first day one was just practice :).

Sorry about the quality of the photo… it was 6:45amish and the sun hadn’t even woken up yet.

Since my tennis shoes (tenny runners) were kind of getting old and hubby wears his most days to work so we didn’t want to wear his work shoes out, we went shoe shopping.

New shoes are always an added bonus, right?

Sad to say I have war wounds, but hey, no pain, no gain right?

So please tell me it gets easier!  Oh, and that these stupid battle wounds go away 🙂

And just for good measure

Oh and get this… my Photoframe Chalkboard was featured here… Check it out!!

Linking up with IA & SS

Just Call Me Four Eyes

Hi ya, Did you know I wear glasses?  Yup, just call me four eyes, well that’s when I wear my eyeglasses.  I’ve been in prescription glasses since I was in 2nd grade.  I think that made me about 7 years old when I got them.

I was pretty rough on eyeglasses back then, although I think the worst incident with my glasses was at the end of second grade when I flew out of the swing, broke my arm and my glasses all in my “graceful” landing.  I wouldn’t recommend trying this.  Learn from my mistake.

I always hated going to the eye doctor and trying on new glasses frames, trying to pick out the best glasses, yet still staying in the budget my parents had set.

Had we had the opportunity to look at eyeglasses online back in the day (listen to me refer to the 90’s as back in the day), I probably could have had the cool eyeglasses that all the cool kids were wearing.

I was contacted by GlassesUSA.com to check out their website to look at all the different eyeglasses available.  Now, How cool is it that they have an option to try them before you buy them.

I thought it would be fun to “Try before you buy”.  What do you think?

Eyes of Faith

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The PBR in Springfield

A week ago Saturday the family loaded up and headed to Springfield to watch the PBR.  Yes, I’m a bit behind… things happen and at least I’m sharing these fabulous photos with you, right?  I only had 1,208 photos to weed through :).

Burnt Toast from Branson, MO was the opening act
Flint Rasmussen is the head PBR Entertainer
Then they had opening ceremonies.
They lit the arena on fire, there were fireworks and they introduced the riders.
And then the Top 5 bullriders were introduced.
Your Bullfighters
You know, those guys who keep the riders safe!

It looks like the bull is frolicking 🙂

Doesn’t it look like he’s holding the bulls head?
And not every dismount is graceful, unfortunately.
I swear this bull looks like a statue.
He was invited to dance up there with Flint if he rode for 8 seconds…
what do you think happened?

This gal lost about 86lbs (give or take, I can’t quite remember) just so she’d win the fan of the night award so she could wear her belt buckle.

This was such a fabulous night.  I love watching on TV, but nothing beats live!  Now I’m ready to head to Las Vegas to watch the PBR finals!  Hey dad, are you ready?!?!  Hubby and I sure are 😉

What I Wore

Today is Friday.  Friday’s I don’t have to dress up for work.  So while I’m sitting here in jeans, I’ve really been wanting to do another What I wore post, but just never seem to work it in, so…. Today is your lucky day. ha!

The What I Wore, the Business Work edition.

And yes, I felt a little bit awkward! 🙂

Even Marlie wanted in a shot.  Truthfully, any photo outside one of both of my girlfriends (my dogs, that is) think they just have to be in it.  Usually hubby is keeping them back but Marlie got her 2 seconds of fame :).  Haha.

She looks kind of funny in that photo too, she’s getting ready to lay down to get her belly rubbed, or at least try ;).  Ok, ok I confess, she got a belly rub, then I had to jump in my car and zoom away to work.

Have a fabulous weekend and hopefully maybe next week I’ll have some of my 1208 photos weeded out from the PBR we went to last weekend to share.  or maybe not… who knows 🙂

How to Play Rummy

When my husband and I started dating, we got into playing Rummy.  He didn’t know how to play at the time, however my grandma and I played when I was a little girl so I taught him.  Now it’s one of our favorite past times.  In fact, we’ve taught Tbug and she’s so addicted that’s pretty much all we hear over and over and over while she’s with us.  Well that and Can we play John Deere Monopoly (which is the JD version of regular Monopoly).  

So if you’re looking for a fun game to play, might I suggest this one.  It might sound difficult but really it isn’t.  Heck in college I always walked around carrying a deck of cards and taught a lot of people how to play between classes.

Deck- All 52 cards
Players- 2 to 5

Deal: 7 cards to each player. Flip over one card to start the discard pile. Place the stockpile and the discard plie card in the center of the table, where all players can get to them.

Object: To score 500 points. (or set points as you choose fit for your game.)

Course of play:

After the deal, all players receive time to organize their cards. The person on the dealer’s left goes first, continuing clockwise.

1.A player may start his turn by drawing a card from the pile or picking up discards, going as far back into the discard pile as he wants. If a player goes back to a certain card, he must immediately play that card in a meld. (see “The Melds” below). Laying off this card does not count as a meld for this purpose.

2. He may meld any of the other cards he picked up. You may meld any valid combinations in your hand as many times as you wish and/or are able to.

3. A player must always end his turn by discarding a card (his choice). Lay the discards down in a way so the rank and suit of each are visible.

Calling “Rummy”: If a player discards a card that may be laid off on other cards, the first player to notice it calls “Rummy” and plays the card for his benefit.  A card counts a discard once a player takes his hand off it. This rule is nullified if no player notices it until the next player discards. Also, the next player still takes his normal turn if this happens, even if he is the one who picked up the discard. A player who picks up from the discard pile can indeed use the card in a meld or lay it off along with the meld he is forming from the discard pile.

 If a player has no discard, play continues as usual. On his next turn, he draws a card. If it is playable, he must play it. If it is not playable, he discards it and the hand is over. The hand is always over when a players discards his last card. A player cannot discard his last card if it is playable on any melds already on the table. Other players are allowed to check the final discard. The hand is also over when the draw pile is exhausted and the next player does not wish to pick up from the discard pile. Score the hand as follows:

Each card has a certain scoring value.

2’s through 9’s- 5 points10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings- 10 pointsAces- 15 points

To score a hand, after it is over, count up the value of all of the cards you have played to the table (your melds, layoff cards you’ve played on your melds and layoff cards you’ve played on other people’s melds) and subtract the point value of all of the cards you have left in your hand.

If you end up with a negative number after doing this, you receive a negative score- not 0 points. If a negative score in one hand would give you a negative score for the entire game, you would still have a negative score- not 0.

Remember, first player to 500 points wins. If two or more players reach 500 or over on the same round, the highest amount over 500 wins the game.

Note: You could play to a different amount of points if you wish.

The Melds
A meld is a combination of cards from your hand which you place face up on the table, where it stays until the end of a hand. There are two types of combination which can be melded:

A group consists of three or four cards of the same rank, such as three sevens.

A sequence consists of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit, such as  the Nine, Ten and Jack of Clubs. An ace can count as low or high but not both at the same time. So A-2-3 and  Q-K-A are both valid sequences, but K-A-2 is not. Remember that the cards in a sequence must be all of the same suit.

As well as melding complete combinations, players are allowed to meld cards which extend combinations which are already on the table. This is called laying off.  All melds and all previous layoff cards must be kept visible so other players can see layoff opportunities. The fourth card of the same rank can be added to a group of three. (Lay down the fourth Jack if 3 jacks are on the table, for example) Or extra consecutive cards of the same suit can be added to a sequence at either end. For example, if  9-0-10 of Hearts is already on the table, any player on their turn can add the 7 of Hearts and/or the Jack of Hearts.  You may lay off of cards that are layoff cards. A player may lay off on his own meld.

Example:
8-9-10 of Hearts is on the table.  The Jack & Queen of Hearts has previously been laid off on the 10. You may lay off the King and Ace of Hearts.
 
 Sometimes, when laying off a card, there is more than one meld it could be attached to. In this case the player laying off must choose which meld to extend. For example, if there is the sequence  7-8-9 of Diamonds and the group 10 of Clubs-10 of Hearts-10 of Spades on the board, and you have a  10 of Diamonds in your hand, you can choose whether to add your  10 to the sequence or the group, but once it is played, it cannot be moved. If something like this happens, you must state whether you are attaching the card to the sequence or the group.

You do not have to “lay off” cards you have in your hand if you don’t want to.

Strategy

1. When a player is in the no discard stage or has only a few cards left in his hand, it’s generally a good idea to discard Aces or ten-pointers. (10, Jack, Queen, King)
      These are 15 or 10 points against you respectively, which could really hurt your score.

2. Try not to discard a card that would be the second or third card of a possible meld when combined with other cards in the discard pile.
  For example, if there is a King in the discard pile it is not a good idea to discard a King. Your King would be the second card of a possible meld. It’s likely that another person has a third ace and will pick up the discard pile. You might discard it on purpose to tempt another player to dig deep into the discard pile. You might want to do this to trap him with a lot of points when you’re about to go out. If you discard the third card of a meld, the other player doesn’t need any more cards and can go ahead and just pick it up. The same works for sequences.

Also, it’s a better idea to “tempt” another player by discarding cards that are part of low point value melds.

3. Watch the cards on the table. Use this information. For example, if two Aces are already laid down, it is fairly safe to discard an Ace, even if there is an Ace in the discard pile already. You can’t make 3 of a kind that way at least.

4. It’s generally not a good idea to pick up a lot of cards from the discard pile if another player could go out shortly (has only a few cards in his hand)(or has no cards (no discard)) You could be stuck with those cards, meaning you would have to deduct a lot of points from your score.
However, it’s a gamble that could pay off big.

5. There are a couple of occasions where you might have a meld, but wouldn’t want to play it. The most common example is an Ace-2-3 sequence. You might not want to play this, so that you can save the Aces for a group of three or four Aces or a Q-K-A sequence.

However, if you get the appropriate 4, by all means play the 2-3-4 sequence. You could “lay off” the Ace later if you wanted to.

The only 2 cases where you should play an Ace to an Ace-2-3 sequence or “lay it off” on a 2-3-4 sequence are:

1.  When one of your opponents is about to go out and you want the 15 points out of your hand.
2. When 2 or 3 of the Aces have already been played or the appropriate King is used in a group of Kings.

Never discard an Ace with the appropriate 2-3-4 sequence on the table. An opponent could still call “Rummy” and get the points for himself.

6. Watch what cards your opponents have picked up from the discard pile. Use this information when deciding what to discard. For example, you know your opponent has picked up 2 Jacks and played neither. You would not want to discard another jack, which he could pick up.

Note: A card is considered “discarded” when a player places it on the discard pile and takes his thumb off of it.

And on a side note… I’m not going to lie, these are some of the best cards we’ve purchased to play with.  If you’re ever out in Las Vegas, all the souvenir stores have them, they are cards that have been played on the casino of your choice.

Linked up here:
Creative Thursday
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday