Nano, Nano!

I'm finally recovering from my intense cough/bronchitis episode and ready to get back to talkin' rectangle scrapping! Before I do though, I have to share my excitement about my DH giving me a late Christmas gift...an IPod Nano!!

I was just saying that I feel so out of it since I don't know anything about all these new-age techno gadgets. A laptop is one thing...but a Nano? Just where am I supposed to use it? I guess I could actually start exercising! LOL Thanks DH!

I've been tagged!

Looks like I've been tagged by Ginger T - RUSquare. Thanks Ginger!

Four jobs you’ve had in your life: Real estate, Waitress, Cashier, SAHM (my favorite!)

Four movies you would watch over and over: The Sound of Music, Pretty Woman, Top Gun (that was when Tom Cruise was still hot and before he became a complete psychopath), Pocahontas (the Disney version...I watch with my kids)

Four TV shows you love to watch: Grey's Anatomy, As the World Turns (I know...don't say anything!!),

Four places you have been on vacation: Disney World, Jackson Hole - Wyoming, Canadian Rockies, Salt Lake City

Four websites you visit daily: RAKScraps.com, Google, Scrapmommies.com, 1Hourscrap.com

Four of your favorite foods: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, shrimp, sesame chicken (Chinese), coconut cream pie

Four places you would rather be right now: At the beach baking in the sun, in the mountains snowshoeing, sitting in a hottub or sleeping

Four bloggers you are tagging: Not sure yet...

Sick

I have so many things I'd like to post, but I've been feeling pretty rotten the past couple of days. It's most likely the recurring bronchitis I get every winter but I'm not sure yet, and couldn't go to the doc today.

Don't give up on me! I'll be back in a few days ready to talk rectangles!

I wanted to share this beautiful layout by Doro at RAKScraps. I believe she made this as a
2-page square layout, but I really like its look as a 1-page rectangle! Just look at those sepia tones and blending work. This is a style I have feebly attempted but certainly haven't mastered. Check out Doro's gallery to see more of her lovely work!

Rectangle Tip: 2 Pagers

I just had to share my first layout I've complete from our trip to Disney World in early December. I set up a 17x11 canvas, laid everything out and flattened the image. Then I opened an 8.5x11 canvas and copied exactly half of the orignal over to the smaller canvas so I could print it on my home printer. I have found that this has really opened up more possibilities for design flexibility and I'm able to fit more photos in my 2-page spread.

More importantly, printing this way is CHEAP!! My Office Max here in Ohio only charges $2.09 to print a 17x11 layout on photo paper, so that is just over $1.00 per page for the 8.5x11! I haven't tried it yet, but I know this has to be cheaper than printing at home. I'll just cut my finished product in half when I finished.

If you've been avoiding 2-page layouts, give it a try!

Praise God!!!

DH just called me from work to let me know that he was able to recover everything from my dead hard drive!!! Yay!!! He just took it and plugged it into his Mac (rather than our PCs here at home) and it came right up! He is now backing up all of my 48GB of scrapping files to DVDs.

Turns out the external HD was faulty, and is still under warranty, so the company will be replacing it no charge. I learned many things in this experience...

1. External HDs are not really meant to be portable. I had been moving it around since I like to move my laptop around the house and scrap in different locations. The process of moving it around might have contributed to its failure.

2. You MUST properly shut down the drive before unplugging it from your PC. I didn't realize this! That also could have added to the problem.

3. BACK UP YOUR DATA...WEEKLY, IF NOT MORE OFTEN!!!

Thankfully I learned my lesson without the disaster of actually losing all those precious layouts I worked so hard to create. Thank you God for small miracles!!

I just had to post this layout by GingerT at RAKScraps...it grabbed my eye in the gallery. I'm sure you can see why!

Drive crashed...why not blog?

Well I have finally decided I better join the 21st century and start a blog! I've been feeling so left out recently since I don't have an ipod, or Nano, or Blackberry or any of that super cool small technology. And I thought I was doing well having a laptop to scrap upon!! LOL

My external hard drive, where I stored all of my layouts and kits, is seemingly dead tonight, and I'm here mourning its loss. My weekend project was going to be backing up all of it to CD, but of course now it's too little too late. That will teach me. At least I still have all of my pictures...

So why Rectangle Scrappin'? I've been an 8.5 x 11 scrapper from the get go and have felt in the minority in the digiscrapping world. Most sketches are geared toward 12x12 scrappers and I've love to be able to share sketches or point people to great rectangular layouts.

Thanks for stopping by!