Larkspur and iPods!

I had a very difficult time with this morning's SplitCoast Sketch Challenge.  No matter what I did it seemed to be tipping to the left.  Here's the sketch.  Panel "2-a" gave me a headache!!

After tossing a number of attempts into the scrap pile - I made two decisions.  I went with very subtle colors so the panels didn't stick out too much and I went with a border/corner punch for that panel.  Then it looked like an embellishment, not a panel - and I like the final results!

The sentiment comes from Clear & Simple Stamps and was a pleasant surprise.  In the midst of the hectic holidays, I got a card from them and it contained a "thank you" card and two little stamps.  This "thinking of you" and a separate stamp to use with this one that said "on the holidays".  I think that I only have one set of stamps from them and I do have their iPod App (read past the recipe to see more on iPod apps!).  But that simple touch of customer service puts them on my shopping list (right after I pay for my son's braces and my new crown!).

• Stamps: PaperTrey Larkspur, Clear&Simple sentiment
• Ink: Versamark
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz dsp, Blushing Bride
• Accessories: Martha Stewart corner and border punch, Stampin' Up Word Window and Modern Label punch and rhinestones, white embossing powder
• Challenges: SplitCoast Sketch Challenge and Color Throwdown

Now if you want to descend into the geeky - I have posted before that I love my iPod Touch and I recently did an entire post on my favorite iPod apps for cardmaking.  Since then, I have a few new ones!

Jo-Ann: the official app from the craft store.  Overall, a very weak app - BUT it has a "coupon wallet".  You can access the coupons when you have internet access, then they are available offline at the store.   I have a 50%er and a 40%er in my "wallet" to spend today!

Readdle Docs: this app exemplifies my total geekiness - but I LOVE it.  It allows you to easily save PDF files to your iPod and to easily transfer any document between your PC and iPod.  So..why is this a good thing?

First,

You probably know that I need a starting point for my cards - a color combo, a sketch, etc.  There are so many good challenge sites out there and a number of them have gathered their challenges into PDF or Word documents.  With Readdle Docs, you use their browser, go the site, touch the document and save it to your iPod.  So, in my hands, I have a huge supply of "starting points!"

Here are the documents that I have so far:

• SplitCoast Sketch Challenges
• SplitCoast Color Combinations
• Taylored Expressions Sketch Book
• clean&simple Fall To Layouts

Now that I have them on my iPod even when I am crafting at home where I have wi-fi, I still pull up my iPod because they are all right there, in one spot, and I don't have to dig through the above websites looking for them.

Second,

Being overly organized (re: anal), I also have a Word document that includes all the challenges for the month.  It includes the start and end dates, the website, the code, and the thumbnail that each of these sites provide with the colors or sketches.  I use Readdle Docs to pull this over to my iPod.  I'm not giving instructions here because 99.9% of you are not as anal as I am.  But basically, the app gives you one of those strange numeric web addresses which I have saved to my favorites.  When you click on it, there is a "browse" box.  You just find the document you want from your PC, click Upload and it's on the iPod!!

Important Note:

I paid 99 cents for Readdle Docs, right now it's $4.99, and its history shows it has been free.  You might want to wait until it reduces in prices (although knowing what it does, I would have paid full price for it!

PhotoMgrPro: This is a simple app used to transfer photos between your PC and your iPod.  It has three HUGE advantages over the iPods photo system:

1. You can do it without syncing your iPod - just over wifi - using one of those strange numeric addresses I discussed above

2. It lets you organize the photos on your iPod!  Create folders, re-order them, etc.

3. It brings over the "name" of the photo that you had on your PC (iPod software doesn't).  This is super important to me as I save pix of cards on my PC and when I save them, the name becomes my info, e.g. stamp set used, colors, etc.  One of the places I save photos is to my "wishlist".  So I pull all my wishlist photos over to my iPod for shopping purposes!!

Always feel free to ask further questions in comments or e-mail me - it's a subject I LOVE to chat about!!