bringing it all together thanks to Brother printers.

as many of you know, a couple of weeks ago we played along with ali edwards and her week in the life project. this week we are bringing it all together with some help from the wonderful team at Staples. they had contacted me a while ago to ask if i wanted to try out one of their Brother printers - the Brother MFC-J6510dw Wireless Colour Inkjet all-in-one Printer to be exact....um....yes please!!!
and this, i thought, is the perfect project for it's initiation.

now it may come as a shock to many of you that i may be a little bit cheap. ha! no...i bet quite a few of you knew that! now that being said, over the past couple of years i have come to realize the value in the upgrade. i used to buy tony one $20 backpack year - then three years ago there was a well known brand one on for $70 so i thought maybe this would last longer? bingo. three years later and still going strong.
see - value in the upgrade.
this is true here as well. i would always go for the cheapest printer that had just what i needed and that was good enough for me. when staples asked me which i wanted i was presented with two options - one higher end and one low - and after careful consideration went for the higher end because i knew that without a review or knowing someone who had it, i would never splurge on it because of the extra expense. is it really that much better than the one i already have? am i really going to get my money's worth? also i am starting to think - don't i deserve better than just good enough?

my advice: splurge.

IT. IS. AWESOME!!!

now i am not a professional reviewer by any means but i am one to celebrate and spread the word like wild flowers when i find a great product....and i found a great product.

after a couple of tries and maybe some light choice words {!} we were up and running. it's unbelievable! the most start-your-own-command-center-but-i-still-look-great-in-your-home device i have ever seen! {yes, of course there is a random stuffed penguin on my table...what? there isn't one on yours??!!!}

it can scan, print, fax, copy {like a lot at one time!}, print photo's right from a memory card - there's a slot right in the front!! - IT'S WIRELESS {in my head that was said like stephan from saturday night live!} and since it's home will be the basement that's a good thing for me, and it could probably make the coffee as well if i took the time to find that command.

for me, though, it's all about the photo's. i wanted something that can help me to stay on top of some of my photo projects rather than always relying on uploading them and then going somewhere to pick up my prints. now i am not going to do everything on here - let's get serious...i am still am cheap!! but when i am doing, say my december daily this year, i can get most of it done right away with this little baby rather forget about it and have it still looking a me 9 months later begging me to finish it!!
yep, guilty party over here on that one. i should probably get on that.....

well, no more my friends! we have no more excuses - we are going to be caught up and looking sharp! just look at the quality of these photo's:

i printed those! on this!!
can you tell i am excited?? i have had the worst luck printing photo's in the past - this time they came out so awesome! i never knew a printer would get me this excited. maybe is the ease in which it came together or the fact that i am going to be more organized thanks to this amazing machine? what ever it is, i am thankful and hooked.
aren't you excited too??

i am off to finish my album and i'll share it here next week.  maybe seeing how fabulous it is will inspire YOU to go and get one of these for yourself and document a week in your life.
it's so worth it.

thanks staples for giving me the opportunity to test out this awesome printer! you guys rock!!

a funny thing happened when i tried to take the photo.....

my house gets zero natural light.
well a little but not as much as you would think.
there are pockets here and there but the light seems to travel up and over - not through.
there are no "real" trees around. {there are trees but none so close to the house that they block the light}
there are windows. beautiful ones.
there is really one spot that get's natural light and the dining table is up against it.
or i have to go outside. that's what i usually do.
it doesn't make sense.
it looks like it would get light. you would naturally think it would.

the problem....
the house was built with feng shui in mind.
not with sunlight in mind.
don't get me started on that.

so.....
i have to resort to this to get you the pictures you deserve.
move the table. retreat to the floor

yes i go to these lengths for you.
look at that picture above.
it's worth it.

fill you in tomorrow about what i have been up to.....
{and yes i am on the floor typing this right now.}
{and i just noticed my dusty buffet...please don't judge me.}

our weekend through the iphone lens.

so here i am....talking about the weekend again.
but this time i am talking about this previous weekend. the weekend we had to spend out of the house. the weekend that the husband did some freelance work that earned enough dough for some much needed air-conditioning for this house.

that's what i am talking about.

this weekend was gray. drizzly. cold. so naturally we did what most people {just not us} do - we went to the movies!! we have been wanting to see the lorax after pouring over the trailer for months on imdb.com.  also i wanted to try out the iphone. we just got it and i am very new at it. very new. but it does save me from carrying around my huge camera, which i normally do. and my husband thinks i look like a dork when i do.
so today i tried to seem cool. hip.
i even went as far to upload my facebook status - AT THE THEATER i might add -  saying that we were at the lorax...only this is what i wrote:

Just saw the lorazepam with my kidlets , great show!

it had auto-corrected it for me.
i had no idea. that's how i am not cool or hip anymore.
then i had no idea how to deleted, so i just rolled with it. it's how we roll.
blerg.
{that's my new favorite written ugh word. i read it somewhere and it fits. just seems to sum it up.}

the movie didn't disappoint. we really enjoyed it. loved it. the kids left signing the final song.
love THAT.

we did though get there a little early as we had a stop to make on the way {those hockey skates don't sharpen themselves you know!} and i wasn't sure if there would be a jam up.
while we waited at the theater we played in this.....



it was hilarious! aydan did it twice as coop wasn't sure the first time - she almost did a runner too - but then coop wanted to join in and i said "why not? what's 2 more bucks on top of all this?".
{i took the video with the iphone too...and uploaded it to youtube while AT the theater. i'm getting it.}

on the way home we stopped by the mall to get the husband some new kicks and dropped by h&m for the kids. we had to hustle because EVERYTHING, including wal-mart, {except grocery stores} closes at 5pm on saturdays. puts a bit of a wrench in your plans sometimes.
once we got something for everyone but me { :( } we headed home for a delicious dinner and family time.

 we got kicked out sunday as well.

today we had to RETURN daddy's shoes {a little small} - that's what happens when the person REFUSES to go to the store.....

stop by the pet store,

go and have some lunch,

do some yoga in costco,
i looked over and they were actually doing this. then aydan preceded to tell me as we exited that when doing yoga like that you are supposed to float. so says the legend. her exact words.

and then home to play the game we got at toys r us.

and say thank you to uncle harvey and aunt shirley for the card & $$$ to buy the coveted little pet shops. they never tire of those things!!



i'm so impressed with the phone and the pics & video we got!!  going to be using this more often.

and now to concentrate on the week ahead.
monday was very productive {i painted the bathroom ceiling! the - almost - finishing touch.} let's see what we can get done today, shall we?
well......now that i am doing writing this.....

spring break is this week but let's talk animated.gif + a tutorial.

yes i know it's spring break.
yes i know we are having fun and have tales to tell.

but.....

today i'm going to get all techie on you. i was asked about the animated gif. i made in photoshop elements for this photo-shoot post and about how i did it and today i am going to show you!!

i had seen these around and wanted to do some myself but had NO IDEA where to start. so i decided to start at the beginning.
good a place as any.
so what does that mean? it means i had to figure out how to do it. on. my. own.
i have yet to take a course on photoshop elements, have not read the manual and figured - how hard could it be?
turns out...pretty darn hard! {not as straight forward as i first thought.}

so to the web i went.
i found a great tutorial over at censational girl.....but she uses a program for pc's only - next!
i hit up youtube and found some video tutorials and after 5 of them i settled on one.
AND after listening to some guy listening to himself speak for 11 minutes {of a 13 minute tutorial} he finally got to the point and i got my moving picture.

so here goes...and it's only a four step process!

step one - export your photo's from your iphoto or equivalent. now this i had to do twice because i had exported them to large. {i made the mistake and am passing my wisdom on to you! see how i have helped already??} follow the prompts on the photo's.....

so once you have done that, open your photoshop elements and we are ready to go to.......

step two - open all your photo's on photoshop elements settling on the first photo in the sequence when you are done.

you can see at the bottom of the screen i did a photo with four layers so i have all four open.

step three - now comes the part where you have to listen......you want to "layer" your photo's one on top of the other, with your first in the sequence being on the bottom and the last being on the top.
you use your move tool and drag and drop.

you can see in the photo above in the side box that says layers...all my photos are there in sequence.

you're almost done!!

now you are ready to save. one thing i like to do though is highlight the background layer in your layers box just because. i don't know why but i just make sure.

step four - save!
go to file then scroll down to save for web...this is when you will find out if you saved your photo to large or hit the bullseye.

once you hit saved for web, this window will open (shown below) if you have saved to large you will see something like a large nose or arm pit in these windows. you want to see your whole beautiful wonderful picture here!

there are a few steps to complete on the page above to get your shot moving and grooving and here they are: {i've added some arrows to direct you}

first, make sure you have a gif file {my top left arrow}

second, make sure you click animate {the second top left arrow...and i see by this i took my photo before i clicked it! oops!}

third, you want to check that the loop box in checked {bottom left arrow} 

fourth, you want to check on the colours tab and that it is set at 256 {right side arrow}

drum roll please....click the ok button at the top and if your picture does one move {it won't go through the whole thing} then you have done it!!

now save...make sure the .gif is there. be sure.

now you can open your blog, go to new post and attach you photo and watch it move and shake!

i hope this helps clear a few things up and that you have fun with it!!!

i love to keep my finger on the trigger button when i'm photographing and catch the action as it's happening and what a better way to showcase it.

more from the photoshoot.

i just had to share the rest with you! and yes they are not all winners but we sure had a blast doing them!

project photo shoot. in my living room.

i have been wanting to do this for a while.
create a photo shoot in my living room of my kids.
as a present to my husband.
{i also have a secret dream of wanting to DO this and maybe i just wanted to see if i could....}

it could not have turned out any better.

i ended up moving all the furniture out of the room and {thankfully} we haven't put anything up on that wall since we painted so i basically had a blank canvas.
i learned so much in that afternoon that i am excited to dive back in and use all my new knowledge.

to me bright red on soft blue is stunning so wasn't i excited that i happen to have some heart garlands just lying around that would be the perfect touch.
and of course there has to be balloons.

it's not a party without balloons.

the kids were a-ma-zing.
aydan was quite excited - especially when i pulled out the new dress from grandma.
but cooper took a little convincing.
some wrangling.
once we got started though he was great - i even let them take some of the photo's. they loved putting their eye up to the camera on the tripod.

but the excitement soon wore off.
i had to fight to get the last couple of shots i wanted but it was worth it in the end.
one of those fighting shots is one of my top picks.
plus the goofing around ones. those are priceless.
one does tend to get a little goofy with a bunch of balloons in their hands.
i kept clicking till the camera told me to bugger off and i love the story they tell.
they tell one of play.

i'm going to need a lot more frames and walls in my house.
plus two are going on canvas.

would i do this again...in a heartbeat.
please oh please, let me get the chance.