Creative Pursuits Redux 2008-2013

In 2008 I began knitting and stopped doing papercrafts. I took a break from ATC swapping and have not resumed. I put all the papercrafts aside and also stopped painting and drawing. I basically was just homeschooling, living, and knitting as my only craft.

I expanded my photo taking when I obtained a DSLR for Christmas in 2008, and tried teaching myself to use it and refining my ability to use composition and to deal with capturing light better.

I also began making lye based soap and taught myself to make body lotions and skin salves with natural materials. I did DIY because I was too frugal to justify spending $5-8 on one bar of homemade soap or to pay $10 per ounce for herbal hand lotion. In this time I began learning about using herbs in making soap. I was put off by the high cost of infused oils as base ingredients, so I wanted DIY.

I started a veg and herb garden in my zone 6 Connecticut garden, enclosing it with six foot high deer fencing to keep the deer out. The deer were so bad there that they would walk right up onto my back deck and up the front porch steps to eat the back of my holly bushes. Former attempts to container garden on the deck failed for that reason and because my deck was on the north side of the house in deep shade. That is why I did not garden for years in that house, despite having loved gardening of flowers and vegetables in my first Connecticut home, and despite the fact that I had three acres of land there. In addition to growing vegetables, I started gardening with herbs and I grew them to infuse them into oils and used those to make body lotions and soaps.

I started doing pick your own local fruit and taught myself to can, making homemade preserves, strawberries in syrup, and with local veggies I made homemade canned salsa. I discovered that canning is a serious science and is no joke, it must be done correctly or the food not only can be ruined ranging from mold to jelly turning to crystals, and worse, you can get poisoned with botulism and potentially die if you screw up.

I continued cooking slowfood and baking from scratch including teaching myself to make artisan bread.

I also began learning about wildcrafting and wildcrafted plants and tree material from my own property and private land which I had permission to wildcraft upon. I went on plant walks and read books and used the internet to teach myself. I used these wildcrafted items to eat, drink, and make products from. Additionally I taught myself a bit about kitchen herbalism, using herbs for medicine and wellness. The herbs I wildcrafted and grew I used to make tinctures, medicinal salves and dried to use in teas and infusion drinks. I was in the process of learning about wildcrafting wild mushrooms for eating and for medicinal purposes when we suddenly moved.

Shortly after finding out we found out we were moving, in 2011 my husband surprised me with a combo Mother's Day and birthday present: an iPhone. I began taking more photos with that and stopped carting my DSLR in my pocketbook everywhere I went. I started using Instagram and had fun playing with photo filters. I had little time for crafting because I had six weeks to mother my kids alone plus declutter and pack up the entire house, and to label items as to whether they'd go to storage for a year or more or whether they'd fit into the rental house.

In 2011 we moved from Connecticut to Texas and I got rid of a lot of material possessions. I culled my art and craft supplies as well as a lot of ephemera. I got rid of lot of antique ephemera that came from my paternal grandmother who was a hoarder. On top of basic moving fees we had to pay 60 cents per pound to move my stuff so I seriously evaluated what sewing, knitting, papercrafts, and various other craft supplies I should pay to take with me.

In 2011-2012 we were in a small rental home in Texas and there was no room for my craft supplies. I had my drawing materials and some journals and paper and decided to focus on drawing and photography. I kept my herb books with me and thought I'd learn more about herbs but my interest waned. The Texas landscape is so different and I did not have access to wildcraft the familiar herbs so I felt I was learning information in an abstract void and it was not motivating or passion inspiring. We arrived in a drought and a heatwave so many plants were suffering and temperatures were 105-108 so I was not spending much time outdoors. My fair skin burned and it was so hot that I broke out so I even looked a mess. The air conditioning in the rental house was not functioning well and we were hot and sweating indoors too. I hid indoors and unpacked and homeschooled my kids, in addition to taking them to sports and Scouts.

In September when the promise of cooler weather was upon me, my gardening muse was with me and I filled a small epmtp raised garden bed at the rental house with organic soil to try my hand at zone 9 gardening of veg and herbs in Texas. It was a flop because come to find out there was not enough sun for the winter season. The rest of the tiny backyard was in shade 100% of the time and there was no room out front except for a patch next to the road so I gave up on gardening there. I vowed that the house we buy would have a big backyard and room to garden, as well as a fence to keep deer and other creatures out.

While in the rental house, I wound up not being interested in drawing and got interested in watercolor painting. I read a few books and bought materials with Christmas money to begin painting. I honestly only painted one thing and felt trapped in the small rental unit. It was so small I literally had nowhere to lay the painting flat that would be safe from the cats or that would be safe while using our small space for daily living. I gave up on watercolor painting for the time being.

I did some knitting but had a string of projects completed that were unwearable and that discouraged me. I found a local source for discount prices on discontinued yarn and bought probably too much as I bought more than I used that year, which is never a good thing.

In summer 2012 we bought a house and I was busy moving into the house after that. I claimed the guest bedroom as my craft room. First and foremost through all of these years has been our family's health, homeschooling and mothering my kids so I kept putting arts and crafts to the back burner. In the late fall I worked on the craft room which also doubles as a storage area for homeschool books to use in the future or where I put books I felt we were finished with that I could not let go of. I realized that keeping too many books that we may never use again was preventing me from going forward with current desires to get back into painting and papercrafting. I could not use a room that was filled with boxes of books. I culled a lot of books and donated them to a charity fundraiser tag sale. I resold about a hundred for roughly $1 (big whoop) and those leftovers are being donated. I don't have time to dedicate to opening an eBay store to try to get $2-5 per book, it's just not worth it.

In December 2012 I did my first acrylic painting in years, working on abstract paintings which I thought I would turn into journal pages or do some ATCs for a teenaged girl who needed encouragement who was admitted for a six month stay in a psychiatric hospital. It was fun and I realized I needed to get back to painting for fun. However I was busy with homeschooling, parenting, and Christmas.

After Christmas I decided I wanted to get back into papercrafting and started visiting the craft stores. I had avoided them for YEARS so I was surprised to find out what is out there. I also did not realize the explosion on YouTube such as people sharing tutorials and showing their finished projects. I realized that something called a smash book and a junk journal had been "invented" in my papercrafting absence. These are like an art journal for the crafter and a casual and less serious approach to scrapbooking. Some use all store bought stuff from scrapbooking companies while other people use junk mail and other ephemera and make their own books.

One thing that bothered me about art journals in the past was the binding issue. Although I own a comb binding machine, I do not like comb binding for my journals. I wished I could make a spiral binding. I found hand stitched binding time intensive and I had an issue with covers, how to cut them. Well I did not know that in my craft vacation time something called a Zutter Bind-it-All came out which is a spiral binding system. A first the spirals were only short sized so something called a mini album was invented. Some made little scrapbooks or photo albums that were six by six inches. Thus a 12x12 scrapbook paper sheet could be made into four 6x6 pieces. Honestly scrapbooking was on a decline for a while and I applaud the industry for reinventing itself and reviving the line of materials.

I was interested in buying the Zutter Bind-it-All and pondered on it for weeks. I was mostly interested because I had found that they had expanded their product line at some point, and now offer longer spirals so you can make a larger bound book, which is what appeals to me more than making 4x4 or 6x6 books. Then while shopping at a discount store in February, I saw a Zutter Kutter and did not know what it was, but thanks to YouTube I found out. This is a heavy duty cutting machine that even lets you cut metal in order to make book covers! You can cut chipboard and cardboard or anything thick! Now this is up my alley because I do not have to buy factory made chipboard in standard sizes to use as sturdy book covers.

I decided to use Christmas gift money to buy the Bind-it-All in February. I bought directly from the manufacturer and paid $99 for a beginner set that normally retails for $385. In March (yesterday) I bought the Zutter Kutter for $79 at Tuesday Morning, it is MSRP $180!

Since moving to this house we began pondering on where we could have a garden for veggies and herbs. I have over 40 trees in my backyard and most of the yard (other than the pool) is in deep shade. We have a strict tree ordinance in town so we cannot remove trees over 6 inches at chest height without permission.  I found one strip of land which gets, I think, decent enough sun to grow tomatoes.

My husband and I pondered for a couple of months on how to raise a garden bed up off the ground level to avoid standing water and clay soil. We cannot use wood because in Houston that will only last 2-3 years before the insects completely ruin it. We decided to use retaining wall blocks in white which match our pool decking. In February we erected the wall.

I took two classes on gardening in Texas and started reading books about zone 9 gardening. I bought three flats of veg and herb seedlings. If I could only focus on gardening then my garden would already be filled with soil and planted but this is real life and we have medical issues going on plus homeschooling and other things going on in our lives.

My project plans for this upcoming week are to order the soil to be delivered and to work with my sons to move it by wheelbarrow into the garden, then to plant the seedlings. Not yet worked out is how we will erect supports because I garden vertically. The garden is 5x17 in a curving pretty bed.

I was thinking maybe I should blog more or even do YouTube videos about the journey. I accomplish more when I can be social and feel I'm interacting with someone about what I am doing. If I know someone is watching me or waiting for new blog posts it helps keep me focused on doing the task at hand and it motivates and energizes me to keep going. I love deadlines and that is why I formerly loved ATC swapping, it forced me to try a new art technique by a certain date deadline, so I made the time to do the projects which then reduced stress in my life and made me happy. 

I am itching to do painting and papercrafting today as well. At the moment I must go do some volunteer work for my kid's sport team. The thing about gardening is it is so time-sensitive so you often have to put all your free time when it is not raining or not too wet or not too cold to do what has to be done in order to get the crop into the ground and going so that it will have enough time to have usable produce before the season ends. Here in zone 9 we are racing our tomatoes against the August heat which kills them. So although today I feel like painting and papercrafting I need to do the volunteer work and if a garden chore must be done, that takes priority over indoor crafting.

Other plans for gardening are to fill some of the empty containers in the gardens here and on the pool deck as well as get rid of some of the dying or ugly struggling palm trees in pots and to replace them with flowers or herbs. I want to fill the garden beds under the trees with usable plants such as herbs that grow in shade. I want to fill empty struggling grass spots in the deep shade front yard with low maintenance ground cover.

Lastly for the garden project: I started a compost in fall of 2012 here and guess what? It's filled with an ant nest. I don't think they are fire ants but they do sting badly and go nuts when you stir it up. I have tried two folk remedies, boiling water with dish soap and seltzer water but both failed.

I really should do v-logs on the garden projects because I bet gardeners would like to see my challenges getting accustomed to gardening in zone 9 when I'm an accomplished organic gardener of zone 6. It also may be interesting to see the blank slate beginning compared to changes I plan to incorporate later in 2013.

I Quit Coffee and Survived!

It's been a month.

I am alive!

Yes I did it, I stopped drinking coffee. I mostly drank it in the morning and I was addicted to caffeine to get me going.

I have not replaced it with any caffeine filled drinks either, at any part of the day.

A main reason I quit was I enjoy my coffee with half and half and felt I may drop a few pounds if I stopped using it. Also half and half has no good health benefits and only negatives. I actually did drop three pounds from that. Sadly the bed rest and sitting down a lot while recovering from the dog bite injury has made me gain them back. I can't wait to exercise!

I also was hoping maybe the reduction in acid filled drinks would help me health-wise. I have felt intuitively that maybe my system is too acidic. Stress in my life adds acid to my stomach so I don't need any more added!

Lastly, it should help my rosacea and bad complexion which kicked up when I moved to Texas.

It is a wonderful thing to wake up full of energy and raring to go. I never felt that way when I was having a cuppa joe every morning.

Now It's Called Steampunk

When I did more art experimenting and artist trading card swapping and crafting, there was a trend. There were Victorian themes and things like skeleton keys, padlocks, clocks, gears, wings, hinges, and doors. There were metal charms and stickers and rubber stamps showing these themes. Using antique ephemera in collage was popular. The look of distressed things, everything sepia, and using products and sandpaper to make something look old and worn out was popular. Alongside, nature themes were popular such as butterflies and bees and flowers.

Somewhere along the way something called steampunk started to happen. I knew this to be related to books such as the Leviathan series by Westerfeld.

While in Barnes & Noble yesterday I spotted two books highlighted in a display. One was about making steampunk jewelry and the other was about making little knitted stuffed dolls that are embellished with metal objects and calling them stempunk.

When I looked at the books what I saw was the same design element which was being used a lot in 2006-2009 when I was busy crafting. Only now, people are calling it steampunk. The designs include metal pieces, gears, keys, locks, and chains as well as wings, butterflies and bees. The metal pieces are combined with glass beads and metal beads and chains to make pins, rings, necklaces and bracelets. They are perhaps embellished a little more heavily rather than being dainty and "nice", to look a bit more confused and combined into nonsensical "objects" that never existed in real life.

In order to make jewelry, collage or art objects we followed basic directions but used the elements of our choosing. Now the directions are available but specifically instructing you to use this or that element that they feel is steampunk.

Well it's just surprising that what was popular five years ago is still popular today but with a new name and so it seems like a new fad. Or maybe the trend grew and it needed a name to keep it going? I find it all a bit odd, the naming of it and pretending it is something new, I mean.

I still like art with clocks and butterflies and keys. I'm just not sure that I like steampunk or that I need to call those things "steampunk style".

Well if you like steampunk, enjoy it, that's all that matters I guess!












Polymer Clay:




Knitting:

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011 Software Review

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011 Software Review by ChristineMM

My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It

Summary Statement: Fun and Easy for This Amateur Artist to Use

SKETCHBOOK PRO 2011 contains DVD two discs that can be used on either a Windows or Mac based computer. You do need a DVD drive to use it (three of our home computers don't have a DVD drive). You also need a mouse, that's all you need.

This is a fun program in which you manipulate the mouse to make art. Since I own and use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 I note some of the controls are quite similar such as selecting the tool and opacity and working with layers.

To start, you just click on the type of medium you want to use (i.e. marker, pencil, paintbrush) then select the thickness, color, and opacity and you are off and running. The menu bar is in the corner and you can expand some of them if you find that easier.

I started fooling around with this without directions, since none came in a paper form and I'm a book person. However there are tutorial documents on the disc to help you. On a whim I used an internet search engine and found video tutorials from the manufacturer on YouTube. These helped me the most.

I am an amateur artist and enjoy this program. I let my kids test it out, they are aged 10 and 13 and both found it simple. They used the tools intuitively and found more features than I realized existed. They really liked the split screen mirror image tool and the one that repeats in the four quadrants what you do on the screen (imagine drawing with one line but seeing an image like a kaleidoscope).

Since I am new to making digital art, I realize there's a learning curve. While I can control a regular drawing pencil in my hand to sketch on paper, it's a completely different skill to use the mouse to replicate the same thing. It's an odd feeling to try to do something you know you can do with pencil and paper but struggle to make a smooth or straight line with the mouse as the tool. In the beginning it feels like a trick on the mind to use a mouse and see the medium you usually associate with a regular marker, paintbrush, or pencil making magic on the screen.

I have no compaints about this product.

As with any computer program or with any traditional art medium, what you get out of it depends both on what you want to do with it (translating your concept to reality) and also how much time you put into learning the skills, procedures and techniques necessary to get it to do what you want it to do. I'm a newbie and I find this program fun so far.

Disclosure: I received this item from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was not paid to write this review nor to blog it nor was I encouraged to write a favorable review. For my blog's full disclosure statement see the link at the top of my blog's sidebar.

Anime Studio Debut 7 Software Product Review by ChristineMM

Anime Studio Debut 7 Software Product Review by ChristineMM

My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It

Summary Statement: Inexpensive, a Bargain Really! Really Easy to Jump in with Beginner Mode

My sons are manga readers and anime watchers. They have been teaching themselves to draw manga using how-to art instruction books. They have enjoyed taking film-making classes doing live filmmaking and editing at a film center. The downside to those classes was they were taught to use very expensive professional software programs that we would never purchase for home use due to the high cost, so their live film-making adventures have been put on hold. Also the classes are too expensive for them to take year round, truly it would make more sense for them to do it on their own at home, however we don’t own any film editing computer software (yet). Meanwhile, they also wanted to dive into creating anime (cartoon) movies. I thought this software would be a good fit for them since it is compatible with our Windows-based home computer system. (This software is compatible with both Windows and Mac.)

The low price of this ANIME STUDIO 7 is a major draw. For about the price of one video game you can have this software that can provide a lot of entertainment that is creative (rather than passive entertainment like a video game is). The price of this program is less than what we paid for two hours of classes at the film center (read: dirt cheap).

Another important thing is this software has a beginner mode. It is so easy to use that anyone can dive right in and start using it. There is a quick start user manual in PDF format in the program that takes you step-by-step through the process to get up and running immediately. I tested this myself and found it easy to use. The tools and language are similar to photo editing software so if you know some of that this program seems easier to approach. The beginner mode was so simple that my ten year old used it all by himself. (I left him alone with the program as part of the product testing process.)

You will get out of this program what you put into it. If all a person wants to do is fool around in the beginner mode, that may be good enough for them. If they are willing to apply themselves and learn to use the technology more fully to create more in-depth and complicated anime, that capability is there. I was impressed to see that the software allowed importing of photos and audio files so the customization seems pretty impressive given the low price of this software. As with everything, to master a new skill, there is a learning curve and time and effort must be put in. How far someone takes their use of this program is up to them. The program can do a lot if you are willing to put in the time and energy to play, create and explore with it.

No additional equipment is needed, this program uses the computer and a mouse.

This mother of a tween son and a teenaged son who are both interested in creating anime at home is impressed with the ease of this use of this software and the low price. So far this is good enough for our family.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this software from Amazon.com as part of their Vine product review program. I was not paid to write this review. I was under no obligation to blog this review. I was not under obligation to give a favorable review.

Oral-b 1000 Professional Care 1000 Electric Toothbrush Product Review by ChristineMM

Oral-b 1000 Professional Care 1000 Electric Toothbrush, White and Blue

My Star Rating: 1 star out of 5 = I Hate It

Summary Statement: Buy an Oral-B Smart-Series Instead!

As I've shared in previous reviews for Oral-B electric toothbrush products, one of the Oral-B "regular" electric toothbrushes (similar to this ORAL-B PROFESSIONAL 1000) made my teeth sensitive to the point of having pain. My dentist, who had praised the Oral-B toothbrush in the first place, diagnosed the Oral-B electric toothbrush as being to blame for taking the enamel off my teeth. This was a temporary condition that resolved on its own once I discontinued its use per the dentist's order. At that time under the dentist's direction, I went back to using a Sonicare electric toothbrush. However not much later, Oral-B came out with their first "SmartSeries" which has a special sensor that monitors if the user is pressing too hard on the teeth--this is indicated by reading the signals on an LCD display. My dentist then recommended the SMARTSERIES model.

My husband and two children have been using the [[ASIN:B002HWS9GG Oral-B Professional Care SmartSeries 5000 Rechargeable Toothbrush]] for a few years. We own two units because my kids have their own bathroom. They all like the SMARTSERIES 5000. I like that it helps teach my children just how much pressure is enough and when it is too much. The dentist and I feel this helps prevent damage to their enamel due to erroneous use of too much pressure.

After trying the ORAL-B 1000 PROFESSIONAL CARE electric toothbrush product I was reminded again that I'd rather not risk hurting the enamel on my teeth. I feel that the Oral-B seems very "hard" and puts a lot of pressure on my teeth compared to the Sonicare or hand brushing, I just don't like the sensation of the Oral-B 1000. I'm sticking with the Sonicare while my family will stick with the ORAL-B SMARTSERIES 5000.

I see that what the Oral-B 1000 series has going for it, is it's the lowest priced Oral-B electric toothbrush on the market . However you can find the [[ASIN:B002HWS9GG Oral-B Professional Care SmartSeries 5000 Rechargeable Toothbrush]]just 20-25% above the cost of the 1000 series. Spread over the 3-4 years or more that this will last it seems worth the expense to me!

I rate this product 1 star = I Hate It due to the fact that my dentist diagnosed enamel damage from a similar non-SmartSeries Oral-B model. Given that Oral-B offers an alternative that would prevent such accidental mis-use I just can’t recommend any other model produced by Oral-B.

THE ONE WE LIKE IS this model.



Disclosure: I received this item for review purposes from the Amazon.com Vine program. I was not under obligation to rate it favorably nor was I bound to blog my review. I did not get paid to write the review.

Happy with New Comb Binder Machine

I received a comb binder machine from the Amazon.com Vine product review program. I have wanted one of these for years but was putting it off due to the cost. I wanted it so I could print e-books I purchase. Lately I am also buying knitting patterns and knitting books that are self-published. I plan to also comb bind some documents I create for our homeschooling such as log books to document my children's educational work completed.

I find staples sloppy. Pages get much more tattered and torn when they are not protected by thicker covers. I have been three hole punching papers and using 3 ring binders but often those are too large and bulky, and then the holes on the pages tear during normal use anyway.



The machine I own is the Fellowes Office Comb Binder Pulsar 300 and it is considered a middle of the line product. I wrote my review for Amazon.com's Vine program and published it on my other blog. The rules of my BlogHer account prohibit me from publishing that review on this blog so if you want to read my review click here to link to read it on my other blog.

Fellowes Office Comb Binder Pulsar 3000 Product Review by ChristineMM

Fellowes Pulsar Office Comb Binder Product Review



My Star Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It



Summary Statement: Great - Easy for Binding Home-Printed e-Books and Our Family’s Personal Documents (Non-Electrric)



I wanted one of these for years and am thrilled with the FELLOWES OFFICE COMB BINDER PULSAR 300 which is more than adequate for our purposes. (This is not electric.) We are a homeschooling family. We purchase e-books for educational purposes, and I also buy e-book knitting pattern books. We need to have them in printed paper form. Now I can also create my own document booklets such as homeschool student assignment log books and have them neatly comb-bound.



Having a comb binding allows for durable front and back covers and allows for less ripping than when using staples or binder clips. I find the internal papers in three ring binders often tear. Usually even the one inch three hole punched binder is too wide and takes up too much space on the bookshelf.



This PULSAR 300 can punch 15 20 lb. paper sheets at one time. This device comes with a starter pack of 10 clear plastic covers, 10 thick paper back covers, and 10 combs (sizes: 5-6mm, 5-8mm). See my list below for comb sizes to page count so you can order the size you need at the same time that you purchase this device. I loved that there are comb size checker slots in the storage tray since the size of the comb is not printed on the combs and we need to know how many pages fits in the comb.





The PULSAR 300 is the middle of the line product by Fellowes, classified for ‘moderate’ use and binds 2-300 pages . Fellowes also makes the models Starlet 90 for ‘light use’ and the Quasar 500 for ‘regular’ use. I have not used those other models so I cannot do a side by side comparison. However I demonstrated this for my husband who has used a professional model at former employer (brand name unknown) and he said this Fellowes is far superior as that other one had only one handle. It required you to punch all the papers, put them to the side, and then assemble it at the end. More movement of papers allows for the holes to become misaligned and can take longer to do.



The directions are only 1.5 pages long and are pretty skimpy but this is not rocket science. You place the comb and open it with one handle. A different handle does the hole punching. The blades are inside so there is no risk of injury. I used it working from the back to front. I punched holes in the back cover, and moved it directly to the open comb. Then I punched the interior pages starting at the back, and I loaded them right onto the open comb. Then I did the same with the front cover. Then move the comb’s handle to close it, and it’s done!



Regarding size and storage:



The device is as large as a typical computer printer if you were thinking of keeping it out on your desk be forewarned you’ll need to have a fair amount of space. The device is deeper than my desk bookshelves so using those as storage when in use was not an option for me. The storage drawer extends out to the right side so you may need to move it around when in use (depending on the layout of your desk and what is to its right side). It is lightweight and I found it easy to move to a clear work surface.



CAUTION: If you load the extra combs into the comb tray then put it back in the box to store in a closet, it sits on its side and the combs dump out inside the device. This happened to me and then the tray got jammed when I tried to open it. I had to pick it up and shake it vigorously while someone else kept the tray from flying out to rectify this situation. I was happy the combs didn’t get wrecked in the process. If you plan to keep this stored on its side in the box, I suggest putting the combs in a large zip top plastic bag instead of keeping them in the storage drawer.



The comb sizes go with these page counts (using 20 lb. paper):



6 mm = 2-20 pages

8 mm = 21-40

10 mm = 41-55

12 mm = 56-90

16 mm = 91-120

18 mm = 121-150

22 mm = 151-180

25 mm = 181-200

32 mm = 201-240

38 mm = 241-340



I’m happy to finally own a comb binder and look forward to reducing my use of staples, binder clips and three hole punched paper in (often too-large and too-bulky) binders. This is simple to use and my sons (aged 10 and 13) asked to give it a try and were able to use it with ease.

Disclosure: I received this item from Amazon.com for the purpose of writing a Vine review on Amazon.com. I was under no obligation to rate it favorably or blog about it. I was not paid to write or blog this review.

Which Two Do You Like the Best?

Japanese Barberry in November 11/14/09

November Sunset 11/15/09

Sun Through Early Morning Fog 6/23/10

Witch Hazel #1 10/26/10

Forest Floor Yellows 10/26/10

Witch Hazel #2 10/26/10

(it's supposed to be oriented horizontally but having a technical difficulty)

Wild Black Cherry in October #1 10/26/10

Wild Black Cherry in October #2 10/26/10

Witch Hazel in October #3 10/26/10

 
 

The Grapevine Won 11/15/09

 

 

All photos copyright ChristineMM. None have been digitally altered and no special camera effects were used.

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Amazon Vine Product Review Program



Since mid-2007, I have been a member of the Amazon Vine review program. Amazon.com invited me to participate in this program. If I so desire, I may select a certain number of products per month (usually a maximum of 4) from a list that Amazon.com offers me. I may choose to not receive any product or I may leave the program at any time. I do not receive monetary payment for participating with this program. The product received is either a small sample size (i.e. one can of beverage or one granola bar) or a demo copy (scaled down copy of the real product i.e. DJ Hero video game). Books are usually in the form of an ARC or bound galley and many times are not the same edition of the book that a consumer would buy. These products are not owned by me, they are owned by Amazon and per the agreement I must return them to Amazon.com if asked to. I can submit reviews to Amazon.com which are clearly marked as Amazon Vine reviews. I do not have to review these products but in order to be eligible to receive more product I must maintain a 75% review level. I publish these reviews on my blog ONLY if doing so does not violate the terms of agreement I have with BlogHerAds. All of my Amazon Vine reviews are clearly marked as such on both Amazon.com. I am not persuaded to only write favorable reviews, Amazon.com encourages our honest opinions and asks us only to comply with their review policy (i.e. no use of profanity and some other general etiquette guidelines to encourage professionalism).



Not all of the Amazon Vine reviews I write are published on one or both of my blogs.



To be clear, my review arrangement with Amazon Vine is for reviews published on Amazon.com and clearly marked as being Amazon Vine reviews. Any reviews I wrote for Amazon Vine that I choose to also publish on either or both of my blogs is done of my own free will and was not published on my blog(s) at the request of Amazon.com. I receive no compensation for any Amazon Vine review that also appears on my blog(s).



See “Amazon Associates” section for more information.



Amazon Customer Reviews



Since 1997 I have been submitting customer reviews to Amazon.com. May Amazon customer name is ChristineMM. I receive no compensation from Amazon.com for writing these reviews. Since starting my blogs I sometimes publish the reviews on my blog(s) also. These blog post reviews are items are either purchased by me with my own money or borrowed from a public library or borrowed from a friend, unless they fall into one of the other categories mentioned in this disclosure statement. The source of the product will be mentioned in each blog post.



See “Amazon Associates” for more information.



Library Thing Early Reviewers Program



Occasionally I request and receive an ARC, review copy or a promotional copy of a book from the LibaryThing.com Early Reviewer program. My LibraryThing account name is ChristineMM. I receive no compensation for participating in this program. I am not bound to write the review and am not persuaded to write only favorable reviews either. If I do review it, the review appears on LibaryThing.com. I may choose to also publish the review on my blog. The source of the book will be clearly noted on those blogged reviews.



See “Amazon Associates” for more information.



ARCs, review copies, promotional copies from other sources



Occasionally I will accept ARCs, review copies, and promotional copies from authors, publishers or publicists. As of 2009 this is not something I frequently do. I am not bound by contract to write these reviews nor do I receive compensation for doing so. Some of these reviews are published on my blog while some wind up never being reviewed (as in the case of a bad book that I couldn’t manage to finish reading). These blogged reviews will be clearly marked with their source.



See “Amazon Associates” for more information.



Other Reviews and Comments Made on My Blog



Since starting my blogs I sometimes publish reviews on my blog(s) or mention various products on my blog which are all relevant to the topics discussed on my blog, mainly, parenting, homeschooling, education, art, crafts, handcrafts, photography, gardening, housekeeping, cooking, baking, nonfiction books for self-education and fiction pleasure reading. I sometimes review a product I own and love or discuss a movie I watched or own a copy of.



These are items are either purchased by me with my own money or have been borrowed from a public library or borrowed from a friend, unless they fall into one of the above categories, in which case they will be clearly marked as to their source. Sometimes I may discuss a product I would like to buy but have not yet purchased or consumed. I do not receive any compensation from any source for mentioning these products on my blog such as the publisher or the product manufacturer.



See “Amazon Associates” for more information.


Prepared by ChristineMM, published 12/01/09 7:45 pm EST.

DJ Hero Video Game Review

Product Name: DJ Hero for xBox360

My Summary Statement: A Review From a Mom of Tweens -- We Like It!

My rating: 4 stars out of 5 = I Like It


Note: The Amazon Vine program provided me with a demo kit which had 4 songs (not 93 that is on the full game) and a wired turntable (the regular product’s turntable is wireless), so my review is based on limited game play.

Parents, note that the ERSB rating is T = Teen for lyrics and "mild suggestive themes". Since my demo kit has so few songs I can't comment on the song lyrics. Product information also states ERSB rating does not apply to additional downloads.

Our family uses the xBox360 and we own and use three different Guitar Hero (GH) games and own two GH guitars.

We don’t normally listen to mixed music or hip hop but my kids and I still had fun with this game. Not only do the kids think the sound of the mixed and scratched music is fun, we like that the songs are from a variety of music genres that they already know with some new-to-my-kids (but not new to me) songs. The full game has dance, pop, rock and hip hop. The songs include some classic rock and the songs are from the 1960s to present.

The games can be played solo with one turntable that comes in the bundle pack, or with two turntables (which requires an additional purchase). The second player can also use their GH guitar so by using DJ Hero you can inject fresh song tracks to your GH game play. Also if one person (friend or family member) prefers GH to DJ Hero in the end they can still play a two player game together using DJ Hero. The kids are already asking me to buy a second turntable and the full game with 93 songs.

Because our family plays video games together as a family and because visiting kids often play with my kids, everyone in our family is most interested in games that are flexible and are multi-player. DJ Hero fits that bill.

From a mom’s perspective, I’ll share how my two kids and I liked it to give you an idea of how different players of different ages experience the game. One of my sons is a natural at Guitar Hero (and also has been playing a real guitar for almost a year). He wanted to play with DJ Hero as it was something new and different. He took to DJ Hero immediately and found it fun (not frustrating at all). My other son doesn’t do so well with GH and avoids playing it was interested in DJ Hero. He is doing great with DJ Hero and was surprised to find Guitar Hero so challenging for hand/eye coordination with the GH guitar, but finds DJ Hero’s turntable easy and fun (and has no problem doing complex moves on other xBox360 games with the normal controller). Both kids laugh and talk while they play, so far no anger or frustration!

I tested the product and found some challenges with the turntable that my kids didn’t find to be an issue. Most problematic for me is I can’t find a good place to put the turntable so it is comfortable that is also a steady, non-slipping surface. The design doesn’t have enough grippers on its legs so it slides around easily. When I sat on the hardwood floor and placed the unit on the floor in front of me my back cramps up from bending over and down to reach the turntable plus was looking up toward the TV. The floor is not the most comfortable place to sit either and my legs fell asleep in the middle of some songs. I tried putting it on my lap and that didn’t work as it slides around. Losing contact with the buttons messes up the game’s whole score and was frustrating for me. (I am curious how others are positioning the turntable and how they can keep it from sliding around.)

Perhaps the best idea would be to sit on a chair or couch and use a coffee table for the turntable surface (I can’t test this because the wire is not long enough on my demo kit, the normal product is wireless). Sitting on the front of a chair and leaning forward may not be so comfortable and definitely not for long periods of time, and I still worry about the slipping of the turntable. If the whole bottom surface had a rubber bottom or something similar (like a skin) you could sit back with your knees angled up or sit flat and use your lap but the current design is too slippery to allow that.

You are basically tensed up during the game play with much less freedom of movement than any other xBox360 game requires. I don’t know how this can be remedied; I’m just stating a fact. Both the guitar for the Guitar Hero and the regular controller are much more flexible with one’s position, standing, sitting upright, or lounging back, and with the ability to move around during game play to use whichever is most comfortable at the moment is a big advantage over the turntable whose design is just challenging due to the nature of its design. Maybe players who like to be able to move around or shift position during game play may not like those restrictions on their physical movement.

As for what is on the screen, as with GH and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) the player must focus on their section of the screen that shows their moves. Others in the room can watch the background images which are bright and ever-moving, just like those in GH and DDR of crowds, dancers, and with DJs.

In summary the game is fun for both solo and multi-players, so I’m rating it 4 stars = I Like It. The reason for not getting 5 stars is due to the challenge of the turntable sliding around and the difficulty with finding a comfortable way to sit that allows for proper game play.

Disclosure: I did not receive any payment to write this review. This demo kit was provided to me by the Amazon Vine review program. My demo game has 4 songs on it, not 93 and is not sold in stores. My wired turntable is not sold in stores (a wireless, better version is). The retail value of this demo kit is $0 and I am prohibited from reselling it.

Technorati Tags: DJ Hero review, DJ Hero , DJ Hero xbox360.

Visions of America Book Review by ChristineMM

Title: Visions of America
Author/Photographer: Joseph Sohm
Publication: Visons of America, 2009

Author and self-proclaimed Photo Historian Joseph Sohm has spent over thirty years traveling across America taking photographs. At some point the travel photography journey turned into a more of a quest with a goal to capture in photographed images, the idea of what democracy is and expanded to include visits and photographs of all fifty states. As a self-employed photographer without access to press credentials, Sohm has had to work hard to gain access to locations and politicians to succeed in capturing the wide range of content which he felt was imperative to the project (such as access to photograph Presidents).

I learned about this book by seeing Sohm on CSPAN's BookTV discussing the book. In his lecture, I enjoyed hearing stories behind some of the photos of his passion for photography and his patriotism for America. However I mistakenly assumed the book was ONLY a coffee table book of photography.

I loved seeing the high quality photography and the large number of photographs that should go without saying. But what surprised me about VISIONS OF AMERICA once I had it in my hands, was that it is filled with essay stories by Sohm.

Sohm's passion for America, his pride in being an American citizen and his wealth of knowledge about United States history was clearly apparent. I was so entranced by Sohm's words right from the first story that I decided to not peek at the photographs in the future pages, and instead read the book cover to cover, slowly taking in each image as I read the stories in the order the author intended to reveal his literal 'visions of America'. The images so closely tie in with the stories and the finely crafted chapters that reading it in its entirety and in order seemed the most respectful and best way to approach this book. Of the storytelling I will say that the stories are just right, not overdone, are full of passion (not exaggerated) and seem so sincere.

This winds up being anything but a generic compilation of color photographs of the United States of America, there are surely a number of those types of coffee table books on the market already, good only for their photographs. This book is different and SUPERIOR because it tells a story not just in the images selected in the chapter groupings, painting a picture of America's past and present but it is a collection of stories that reads like a travel journal and also like a memoir. The historical content gives a bit of nonfiction history book flavor to the book as well. Additionally there is a fair amount of discussion of the challenges of taking good photographs and the quest and hard work trying to get a great shot so that photographers who like to read about the photographer’s artistic process will enjoy that element of Sohm's stories as well.

The book is without strong political bias but I detect hints which were not troublesome to me. The books contain images of Presidents. Sohm was hired to photograph President Clinton and so that is the time period when the bulk of his Presidential photographs were taken and the book is heavier on the Presidents post 1992. There are images of the Bush's and a couple of now President Obama, taken close to the publication date. The hot button issue of global warming found its way into the book with the author seeming very worried about it (he's clearly not a validity of the issue doubter). A chapter features some photos of some abuse of the Earth by humans (pollution, garbage dumps and so forth) as a bit of a call to action to treat our planet more gently.

Patriotic Americans will love this book. This is a great book for families too, being a wonderful photographic introduction to our United States of America. If my eleven year old son was any indication, kids will enjoy hearing some of the stories too (he loved the story of the difficulty in getting a clear shot of Mt. Rushmore, when a man in an orange jacket was standing right on Lincoln's head, ruining an otherwise perfect shot).

This is also a great book for public libraries.

This is a great coffee table book for casual flipping for people of all ages, but readers should do themselves a favor and take the time to read through the book cover to cover to savor it to its fullest.

I can't recommend this book highly enough! It is a beautiful book, very high quality paper and printing with stunning color photography with very good storytelling.

Bravo Joseph Sohm and thank you for sharing your Magnum Opus with us!

External Links

Author's official website, see samples from the book

Watch author lecture on CSPAN's BookTV



Technorati Tags: Visions of America, Visions of America book review, Joseph Sohm, photography America, U.S. History.

Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament by ChristineMM

Title: Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament
Genre: Bible, New Testament Dramatization for Children
ISBN-13: 978-1400313273
Full Retail Price: $49.99


My Rating: 2 stars = “I Don’t Like It”

Summary Statement: Mismatched Actor Emotions to What is Being Said, Bad Music Match to Content

I delayed in publishing this review because my opinion dissents from the majority. After discussing this with some other Christian parents they implored me to share my honest thoughts. I was also feeling guilty to share a negative review of a Bible product, to be honest.

I had high hopes for this as I wanted to hear a dramatized version of the New Testament for my own entertainment and information. I had hoped to share it with my tween-aged kids and the idea of them liking it enough to listen to it voluntarily appealed to me greatly.

I think this dramatization is of poor quality, not sound quality but it is a poor translation with a bare minimum of “dramatization”. It is more like an audio book being read aloud with a music track running at the same time. There are not enough sound effects to flesh out the scenes appropriately. In a scene with a crowd there is just music then a few voices at the end. In a scene with a boat there was music then a few lapping waves. Big deal.

I found it weird and distracting that a lot of the time the music track was not the same emotion or pace as what was being said. A serious scene should not have ‘happy and light’ music. The emotions were mismatched. Some of the music is classical type and others seems more of the new age-meditation type music.

The worst thing of all was the voice of Jesus Christ. This ruined the whole thing for me and caused me to give up listening to this a couple of times. There was only one tone to his voice, a monotone kind of hippie Kumbaya voice. To be blunt he sounded like he was high on drugs, mellowed out. In scenes where Jesus says things in anger, the voice was not angry. In scenes where a faster paced voice or a louder voice or a commanding voice was appropriate, the same monotone voice, quiet and calm was used. It was very strange and distracting with a tone one imagines someone saying “peace brother, God is Love”.

I had to keep playing some sections over and over as I was so distracted by the mismatch of emotion or the music that I had missed the content of what was said.

When my kids saw the box they were excited as they recognized many faces and names from the Disney channel shows. However they would have trouble following this as they are used to high quality recordings of audio books from Recorded Books publisher. This is not up to their standards.

As an example of what I think is a high quality dramatized product for children, I have read all the Chronicles of Narnia paper books, heard all the Recorded Books produced audio books and then heard the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre dramatized version of all the books (ISBN 978-1589971493). And I’ve seen the two movies that have been released in the last few years. That dramatization by Focus on the Family is a great example of the way a very good book can be adapted into an excellent dramatization by use of voices talking to each other with appropriate emotion with a small amount of narration and lots of sound effects (not simply reading the book aloud with mainly music in the background and a few sound effects thrown in here and there).

For my children and myself, I think I will find an audio book version of the New Testament and Old Testament with a high quality reader (even if it was produced for an adult audience), and scratch the idea of a dramatization or something special geared toward kids.




Disclosure: I received a review copy of this product from the Amazon Vine product review program.

Technorati Tags: Word of Promise review, Word of Promise , New Testament dramazation.

Considering Shutting This Blog Down

I have been posting my creative pursuits and thoughts on creativity and children over at my main blog, The Thinking Mother.

More and more this blog is just a double posting of some of the posts I do over on the main blog.

I am going to taper down posting here I think.

Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders Book Review by ChristineMM

Title: Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences
Edited by: Judith Durant
Genre: Nonfiction, Knitting
Publication: Storey Publishing, 2008
Format: Softcover Book
ISBN: 9781603420792
Full Retail Price: $18.95

My Rating: 5 stars out of 5 (I love it!)

Summary Statement: Inspirational, Lovely Projects, Mostly for Intermediate or Advanced Knitters

This is the third in the “one skein wonder” series, featuring 101 projects made of luxury yarns. As with all books in this series the finished projects are shown in full-color photographs in a gallery in the front of the book. The chapters that follow are divided by yarn weight. This format allows for two options of skimming: you can browse through all projects with a certain weight yarn that you may want to work with, or you can skim through the photographs to find a project that catches your eye as the starting point.

The yarns featured in this book are: silk and silk blends, cashmere, alpaca and alpaca blends, soy, qiviut (arctic musk ox), bison, and corn. Some ‘ecofriendly fibers’ are featured: bamboo, flax, linen, organic cotton and organic wool.

Since luxury yarns are expensive, it is a great idea to have access to projects that can be made with just one skein. It is apparent that the designers tried to get the most and best use from each yarn, giving luxury yarns a project that would show off their unique beauty, or take advantage of the softest fibers to use it in ways that we can appreciate the sensual nature against our skin, such as a very soft scarf or a hat for a baby or an adult. The super fine weight yarns have been made into lovely lacey objects.

It seems to me that most of the projects are for the intermediate or advanced knitter. I feel this is due to the types of complex stitching used to either make a lovely lacey shawl or scarf or perhaps to make the one skein stretch to the largest size thing possible, as with the case with some of the scarves made more for show than warmth, and with an airy baby cap. There are gloves, socks, vests and baby sweaters which are projects or stitches for knitters with more skill than a beginner has.

While at first I was a bit disappointed there were not more easy projects for beginners, after reading through the book a few times I came to realize that this is probably due to wanting to use an expensive and luxurious yarn in the most appropriate way to ‘honor it’, if you will, by matching its cost and level of luxuriousness to a finished project that will really show it off. One would not want to waste an expensive and fancy yarn on a basic garter stitch scarf or a simple ribbed hat, typical beginner knitting projects. Also some of the yarns are delicate and would not hold up to some of the easier to knit projects that might get hard wear and be ruined in a short amount of time.

I love the book because the designers have provided a variety of projects ranging from wearable items for babies to adults to home decor that make good and an appropriate use of the expensive luxury yarns. I am a beginner knitter and feel I’m not yet ready to knit most of these projects. I am inspired by this book to continue learning new knitting techniques and to try knitting with more delicate yarns. This book let me see that I have a lot of options for types of yarn to work with in the future.

As a beginner knitter for one-skein projects I can, for now, use the two other books in this series as I continue to learn. I have skimmed through those two books and highly recommend them too.

Knitters who love to fill their shelves with books that inspire them would like to own this book. Knitters who like to do small projects or who are looking for good projects to make gifts would like this. This is also a good book for a public library to have in their collection.



Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program for the purpose of writing a review for Amazon Vine at Amazon.com.

Technorati Tags: Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders, Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders, Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders book review, knitting luxury yarns, knitting.

A Rite of Passage?

I think I have gone through a knitter's rite of passage.

I was knitting along well with my sweater, working on the body. I tried it on and was shocked at how wide it seemed, but since not a lot was done on it, I kept going.

Then I tried it on when I reached 11 inches of body. It was short at that point, almost like a crop top. It looked too wide and was still too short. I decided to knit more, so I knitted almost another skein. I thought at that point that even if it was a bit wide if it was longer almost like a tunic then the wideness would not matter. I tried it on last night.

It looks terrible. Not my knitted stitches, but the shape. It is just way too wide. For once I was wishing I was larger, fatter, so that it would fit me well! Honestly, if I finish this I'd never wear it.

Don't worry, I'm not depressed about it. A bit deflated, yes, but not even angry.

The directions said to cast on 1/4 the amount of stitches in the sleeve for the underarm. It was 80 stitches and I figured 20 was way too many, so I just cast on 12. The more I knitted the body, the wider it got, which was odd as my stitches were not increasing. Each underarm cast on area added three inches to each side of the body. Back when this was just a yoke, it draped and went almost tightly over my shoulders and bust.

And the bulky Lopi yarn doesn't drape to go against my body, it is stiff and kind of stays 'out', larger than my body. It lies almost flat as if it were ironed, it is that stiff. It would have been warm to wear. This is knit on #8 needles and the stitches are pretty tight.

If I did finish knitting this I would have invested $64 (plus tax) on the yarn. I got it all on sale. I was thinking of finishing it just to have it done, even if I never wore it. However I am too practical, so, I think this will wind up frogged.

Again, I'm not angry. I consider this a learning experience.

And now I feel like I'm part of the club of beginner knitters who took the time and energy to knit a sweater that is utterly un-wearable.

I'm going to slow down on big projects and try to knit a scarf for my mother-in-law. I bought a funky yarn that is hard to knit with because it is a combination of stiff thread, beads, and mohair wool. It tangles and snags. I have started a scarf and frogged it ten times, at least.

After Christmas I will tackle this project again.

Talent and Skill

Mental Multivitamin blogged some good quotes from a book called "Talent is Overrated: What Really Supports World-Class Performers From Everybody Else".

The ideas of this author may surprise you if you believe people are born with a natural talent whose mastery with the art or craft comes easily and quickly.

Now I want to read this book!

So many good ideas to learn about, so little time to read all the books I want to read!