OK so I fell off the earth LOL!

I woke up this morning and realized that if you check my blog out now and again it must look like I fell off the side of the earth. In thinking about how quickly the week flew by I feel like I did!

Work for some reason has been super hectic this week...there was not a minute that I could say went slow. Maybe it's because we have been having some rainy weather or maybe it's just a busy time of year, but the last thing I have wanted to do after working 10 hours on a computer is to come home and turn mine on.

I'm hoping the long weekend will give me some time to regroup and get my head back on straight again!

In the meantime, I saw that Shirley (my favorite bird lovin Texan) nominated me for the "I Love Your Blog" award! Isn't she just the sweetest!



In the spirit of paying it forward, I now get to nominate my favorite blogs!

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 7 of your favorite blogs (that's hard there are tons!)
2. Winners can put the logo on their blog.
3. Link the person who gave your award to your blog.
4. Name the 7 that you are giving the award to with their links.
5. Leave a message on their blogs so that they know they've won!

Now while that sounds easy, it was very hard to pick just 7 places I like to visit. So, after a lot of hemming and hawwing, here is my list (in no particular order!):

Sam & Hailey Designs
Made by B
FutureGirl
Jenn Balcer
Michelle at Paperthreads Blog
Luv2Scrappp
KiryomiKrafts

Well, that is just the tip of the iceburg...no wonder I can't seem to get anything done with all of the web-surfing I do LOL!

Hope you are all well!
Eddita :)

Guess What I Did Yesterday!

I know I mentioned before, but every year we plant tomatoes and this year is no different.

I placed an order for the "topsy turvy" tomato planters this year in February with 3 months anticipation since I had read that they worked and used little space. If you don't know about them, you basically put your soil and tomato plants in a bag and they hang upside down so they never hit the ground or go bad.



How did they work? Who knows?!!! After calling the company and being told it takes 6-8 weeks for the items to be shipped and then following up with them at week 9 to be told they were shipping out that day and then following up again at week 11 to be told they were back ordered and would ship out in a couple of weeks, I just cancelled the order!

I have never had so much trouble ordering a product in my life! So.....in the end as you can see in the pictures, we ended up going to Sam's Club and purchasing nesting planters (a total of 6) and placed them around the patio. We then went out and bought different varieties of tomatoes including some heirloom ones which are not only beautiful, but very tasty too!

Well over the last week I had collected a large soup pots worth of tomatoes and spent yesterday morning peeling, pureeing, and then preparing sauce. The end result was D - DOUBLE - DELICIOUS!



After putting them in jars I set up my 23+ year old canner on the patio and started it up. Why do I do it that way instead of on my stove top?? Simple, I have a glass top range and it specifically warns against canning on it as it could overheat given the high temperatures needed for canning and crack the surface. Since I love my range (which I cannot replace anywhere since it is not only an oven but also a refrigerator - no lie!) I try to take care of it as much as possible. I will write about it some other time, but you all will just be amazed!! LOL!

In any case, when DH and I were trying to figure out how I could safely can a couple of years ago, we came across the "fish fryer" at Walmart and had our answer. It works really well and heats quickly so the canning is very effient and the pressure builds up quickly and easily. It also gives me a good excuse to sit on the patio and enjoy the day as well while I wait for the little weight to jiggle.



So in the end, I was able to put up our first 7 pints of sauce (perfect for 2 people) and have a quart left which we had for dinner last night. It really came out well. I added all the usual spices and the dark things you see in the jar is fresh basil from the garden. Can I tell you that stuff just keeps growing and growing! I have been making and eating so much pesto that I think I'm going to turn green LOL! I have put some away for this winter when I know it will be missed.

Anyway, I have been going on and on and I guess it's time to start my day. I'm looking forward to the other tomatoes to ripen so I can start the process all over again! Hope everyone is well!

Eddita :)

As Promised

Hi Everyone,

Back again and as promised here is the freebie file for the week. I'm not going to be around much this weekend so this will be the only one until next time.

I'm sure you all have tons of pictures of family and friends enjoying this wonderful treat so like myself you will be able to use it as an accent...but you can also use it on a card front for lets say...a party invitation!! If you use it that way, make sure you send me one too...I love a good party!! LOL

So what's on tv tonight? Can you say Olympics??!!! Sunday night is the last night...then where will we be? Oh yes...I forgot...not staying up until the wee hours and then waking up sleep deprived and cranky!

Well, I'm off to answer some emails and check out the forum so until next time...

Eddita :)

FREE Ice Cream .KNK File

FREE Ice Cream .GSD File

Where did my week go?!!!

Time seems to have flown by this week faster than any other that I can remember. I'm not sure but I think it's because in the evenings instead of relaxing and playing with my machine, I keep getting sucked into watching the Olympics and then the next thing I know I'm passing out and dreading the alarm clock that goes off at 5am every morning (eek!)

So here I am yawning and counting down the time until I can get back to a more "normal" lifestyle again...you know the one...where I can pull out pictures to scrap or catch up on some cards. I am so backed up on projects that it's not even funny. But I guess I can be thankful that "the games" will be drawing to a close soon...but then I will need to deal with the withdrawl symptoms...how am I ever going to make it without beach volleyball??!!!

I will get the free file promised up later tonight or tomorrow morning,(sooooo sorry for the delay)but while I created it in my KNK, I just haven't had the time to convert to .GSD (oh those Olympics!) Any letters of complaint should be sent directly to NBC.

I was also asked about the transformation of shapes that I kind of touched on in one of my quick tutorials and so I am going to be adding a new video this weekend as well.

I get emails from people who are enjoying the Quick and Dirty Tutorials and I really appreciate each and every one. I don't know if you can tell, but I really like the KNK Studio program and keep trying to learn how to do new things with it. There are so many neat features that I go through the manual and basically just try to expound on them in the videos.

Now if you don't own a KNK machine and are a user of the another machine(i.e. Wishblade, Silhouette, CraftRobo) there is a KNK Studio Software version for you too! Michelle at Paperthreads carries it in the store. If you have any specific questions on how it would work with your machine, just contact Michelle directly and tell her I sent ya!

Well, I best get back to what I need to get done. If I can help you or if you have any questions, you know I'm just an email away!

Eddita :)

Welding Tutorial (Part 2)

Good Morning Everyone!

After an exciting last few days (illnesses, etc.) I have finally had time to sit down and finish the video for the Welding Tutorial part deux. This one discusses the "and weld" as well as "xor weld" buttons.

The main difference between these options are the results you are left with. If you have 2 shapes and you want to end up with something composed of only the overlapping sections they you would choose the "AND Weld" button.

If on the otherhand you want to end up with something composed only of the parts that did not overlap you will use the "XOR Weld" button.

Of all of the choices, I tend to use the Basic and XOR welds the most, but I think it's important that you know what all of your choices are so you can see what you can come up with.



My puppies (doesn't matter that one is almost 6) are starting to get low on their dog food so I think this weekend we will be going over to their favorite store and pick up a couple of bags. At the same time I will pick up their marrow bones and go to MY favorite part of the store....the Dog Wash!!

It's a section where you can bathe your own dog and it includes the shampoo, conditioner and those cool dryers to remove almost all of the water. Since Toby is short hair with one good shake he pretty much is dry, but Daisy is a lab/border collie(?) mix, that hair REALLY holds onto the water no matter how much shaking she does! I LUUUUUUVVVVVV how wonderful they smell when they come out and how it lasts for a good 2-3 weeks. It also helps that I don't kill my back since the wash tubs are the same ones groomers use at a comfortable height for me.

Well, that's about it for me now. I have some emails I need to get to and some promises I made that I have to keep...so until next time, have a great weekend!

Eddita

PS: I will get this week's freebie file up by the end of the weekend!

Basic Weld Tutorial

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend! The weather was absolutely wonderful and I was able (with the help of my darling daughter) to get some weeding done in the garden as well as make a great big batch of Pesto! YUM! My tomatos have finally started to ripen, but I don't know that I will have enough to be able to can sauce for the winter...I may have to break down and purchase some to make up the difference.

I also want to thank everyone for the nice emails I have received with feedback on my Quick and Dirty Tutorials. They are a lot of fun for me to put together as I play around and try to show you what I have learned that I can do with the program.

I got a request recently on the "Weld" tools and while I started to work on "a" video, I found that there is a lot of information and that I seemed to go on forever and the video size got big fast! (Imagine that...me being long winded??LOL!)

In order to make it shorter and thus easier to download I decided that I would concentrate on just the Basic Weld. Did you know that there are actually 3 things this you can do with the Basic Weld??. I will be following up with another video for the "XAND" and "XOR" weld buttons seperately.

As always, if there is something special you would like to see, just drop me a quick note (accentsbyeddita@gmail.com) and I will see what I can do for you.

Take care!
Eddita :)

Sunday Freebie A Day Early!

Since I won't be around much tomorrow, I thought I would share the free file today. I have been reading on many sites how excited the Mom's are getting that school is about to start thus allowing them a little more time to create.

Those conversations then reminded me of the Staples commercials where the parents are performing cartwheels, skipping, dancing and singing while the children look like they are getting ready for their own execution.

Well with those thoughts going on in my little head, I came up with this cute file. While some kids love school, and it would make a great accent on a first day page, I more imagine it with a picture of a Mom waving goodbye to the back end of a school bus LOL!!

So here you are, both in the KNK & GSD formats. One day I will learn the other formats so I can share as well.

Take care everyone, enjoy the beautiful weather...I'm off!
Eddita :)

Free .KNK File

Free .GSD File

Good Morning and Contour Object Part 2

Well, to begin with thank you to everyone who asked how I was feeling. Turns out not only are my alergies kicking up but I also had an ear infection! Thank goodness for the Z-Pack! Now my throat is no longer hurty and I do not have an aching ear which is a blessing!

I just finished Contour Object (the sequel) and added it to the list of Quick & Dirtys. I played with this setting to see what else I could do with it and found that I could not only add mat upon mat but also how to save my settings.

While it in no way replaces the Transform Outline and all of the cool things you can do with that, if you just want to create super fast (simple) mats for an object or text, I think this is the way to go. Just remember that it groups objects by default and it you want them seperate you need to uncheck the "group" box in the menu. If you forget, don't worry, just marquee select the group and go Layout and Ungroup and it will do the same thing.

Play with it for a bit and see what you can come up with. There are so many really neat things that can be done with the KNK studio program that as I find new things, I look forward to sharing them with you here.

Also, I have had a couple of requests to go over how welding works so I am going to create some quick videos to see if I can help take some of the mystery out of it.

I also haven't forgotten the free file for this week. I will try to get that posted soon but first I have to get some stuff done in and around the house.

Talk to you soon!
Eddita :)

Hope Everyone is Well!

I hope this finds everyone well. I'm a little congested and I think it's because my allergies are starting to act up. I suprisingly missed the spring season, but there has to be something in the air because I am getting a bit stuffy and my throat is starting to hurt. I just took some sudafed to see if it helps out any.

In the meantime, I have been working on creating some new files and playing with my KNK program to find out what other neat things I can do with it.

Tonight I discovered another way to create an outline around an image without having to go to Transform, Outline, Etc. Boy do I love testing new buttons to see what they do. Now there are various things you can do with this setting, but given that I don't want the video to go too long (for easier download). I'm pretty excited, what a super simple way to add a mat to my object or text.

Go check it out under my Quick and Dirty Tutorials under the title "Contour Objects part 1" There are a lot of other possibilities with this application which, once I play with it more I will update with another posting.

Well, I guess that's about it for now.

Take care!
Eddita :)

Inspriration to Imagination to Creation to Free Files!

So let me start by saying that I got a Senseo coffee machine during one of the promos you will see online every so often (Free machine all you pay is the shipping). I said heck, it's free and if it doesn't work then it was only $ 10 instead of $ 30 at the store. The cool thing about the machine is that when it makes the coffee since the water is pressurized, you always get a frothy foam on top. Everytime I make the coffee, I see different things in the foam. This day is no different except I thought I would take a picture to show you how I think and how every day is just another great excuse to make something!

What do you see in the cup? A face, a duck, nothing at all?? I called my DH over and asked him what he saw and ...he picked the nothing answer, but when I told him I saw an owl he looked again and said yes, I was right, he did see it.

At the same time, Shelly is hosting a new card sketch challenge over at Paperthreads based on a Becky Fleck card map so I knew I just had to make the little owl and enter at the same time.

So my little cup of coffee turned into this:



Isn't she precious? LOL!

Well anyway, I thought I would share the file with all of you here. Hope you can get some use out of it. I can already think of a lot of other things I can make with it...but shhhhhhh, I think I'll keep it under my hat for now!

Eddita :)

FREE Inspiration Owl .GSD File

FREE Inspiration Owl .KNK File