#blog12daysxmas 4 Yet more things to do

Yesterday saw me forced persuaded by @polyxena and @csmramsden to take part in another challenge for 2012. It's the Friday Photos 2012 Flickr Challenge. I've avoided these challenges, not because I can't make the commitment - I can and I have - but because I am not a fan of Flickr (ducks for cover). I find it cumbersome and not very user friendly. Things may have changed though since I experimented with it last (early 2009 for the NLS4 photos) and so I have another challenge - get up to speed with Flickr.

The photo challenge in itself should be fairly easy to do (Flickr gripes not withstanding) because I am also starting Project 365 again from tomorrow (as opposed to my last one which went from April 2009 to April 2010). My plan is to have one of the daily photos incorporate the weekly challenge theme. Of course, in order to do this, I also need to regularly take the images off my camera. As good as I am at taking photos, I am woeful at downloading them! And so there is a third challenge - download photos regularly so I can upload photos weekly.

Thanks @polyxena and @cmsramsden - three challenges in one hit, because one is obviously not enough....

#blog12daysxmas 3 Moving to the dark side

It happened. I didn't think it would, but it did. I bought an eReader. More so, I am using the eReader. One of the reasons I delayed for so long is one we hear all the time - loving the feel of books, turning pages, cosied up in bed at night, especially in winter. The other reason (and to be honest, the main one) was the inevitable quagmire of information I would need to wade through to find something that suited me and was potentially the most user centric. By user centric I don't mean user friendly; I mean finding an eReader that would allow me to read as many books as possible and not be so proprietary.

So many people tend to use 'Kindle' interchangeably with 'eReader' and I started to get asked quite a few questions about buying a 'Kindle' from people I knew (based on my profession) because they wanted cheap books and they also wanted to have something light and portable. Explaining to them that buying a Kindle did not mean they would have access to all the books they may be after and then trying to further explain that not all books may be released as an eBook and the further complications of DRM made me realise that I needed to increase my own awareness of what was out there and what the suitability is for libraries.

Yarra Plenty is part of a consortia with Brisbane City Libraries offering ebooks and audiobooks for download. Whilst this has taken a while to really become well used, we are now lending out over 2000 eBooks/audio books via Overdrive a month. Unfortunately, not one item is compatible with the Kindle (although I believe it can read a pdf? I need to play more). Because of the tendency of the public to gravitate towards a Kindle as their eReader of choice, I feel we (myself included) needed to find out more about eReaders. I have two staff members who were always very keen to train the public in using eReaders and downloading from Overdrive. They became so proficient that they ran training sessions for the rest of the library service and will be running refreshers later next year. To help facilitate this, Yarra Plenty provided each branch with a 'digital petting zoo', comprising a Sony eReader, iPad and Kindle, for staff to borrow and play with in order to become more familiar with these particular devices. Budget permitting, it’s a wonderful way for staff to learn through play.

I asked flexnib and snail for pointers in starting me off and ended up with more information than I thought originally possible. Even though an eReader may take a particular format (for example .epub), there was no guarantee that actually buying a title in that format would allow me to read it in a device that accepted .epub. Try explaining that to someone who wants a ‘Kindle’!

So what did I end up getting? I bought a cheap Gear2Go from Big W :) It’s compatible with .epub, pdf, .txt, .rtf and .html. It shows pictures in colour and is backlit, although not with the glare of the iPad. Battery life is ok, could be better, but for the price I can live with it.

Who else has gone to the dark side??

#blog12daysxmas 2 Managing my information

It's starting to get harder and harder for me (and I am sure others) to manage accounts I have with various Web 2 tools that I have been playing with (and I'm mindful that I set a January challenge to play with another 5!)

I use Pinterest, Springpad, Clibe, Dropbox and Google Reader, just to name a few. I log in and to be honest, I stay logged in. While some may be appalled at my lack of security, the truth is, if I had to log in every time I wanted to access them, then I wouldn't bother. Some sites take this out of my hands by logging me out automatically if I don't use it for a few hours. The need to keep checking my information makes me think twice before joining something else 'just in case' I may need it at some point. Let's face it, if I wasn't using this site regularly, would I even remember it was there if the opportunity came to use it? Probably not.

It would be lovely to have an aggregator that could somehow do everything all my Web 2 tools do. There is always just one thing that I would like a tool to do that is done superbly by another tool. And now I have been told about Path, another smart journal. Is it any different to the other sites I visit regularly? Not available as an app for a Windows phone makes me less inclined to try it now, however I do have an iTouch and it is probably available for the iPad...

Maybe this will be a January trial :-)

What Web 2 tools do you use and what have you decided to get rid of?

#blog12daysxmas 1 Catch up

Today saw me start another blogging challenge, in the hope that it will kick start my writing and reflecting again. I started the #blogeverydayjune challenge with the same hope and that sadly fizzled out by July 1. If however, I can write for the entire 12 days, then I have at least achieved something.

In January this year, as part of the blogging challenge, I wrote about maintaining a healthy balance in life. As I was going to be home for most of 2011 on maternity leave (this changed - more later), I felt I couldn't quite refer to the post as maintaining a 'work/life' balance. I updated my progress here and wanted to see how much on track I have kept up with things.

1. I will continue to avoid buying items for my scrapbooking stash so I can use
what I have faster (this has been in place for almost 4 years and nothing seems
to have depleted...)

This is still well and truly on track. Although one would think that depletion would occur through heavy use, which has not really happened....

2. I will make all my Christmas cards again this year.

Happened and posted before the end of November!

3. Accomplished by June

4. Accomplished by June

5. I will continue with Project 365 for Anthony

This was completed on December 13, Anthony's first birthday.

6. I will finish crocheting my granny stripe blanket.

Yes I will...

7. I will unpick some jumpers that I no longer want and reuse the wool

Accomplished

8. I will finish scrapbooking Project 365 for 2009-2010

Ongoing, however have progressed majorly

9. I will host more crafternoons

Accomplished. Met with Gemma once a month till she went back to work and with Rachel once a week till I started kitchen renovations

10. I will experiment more with PhotoShop

Done and ongoing. Learned how to use digital brushes.

To up the ante (and potentially give me something to blog about) I am setting a challenge to learn about 5 new social networking tools during January.

Post 30, Careers paths

I was thinking today about the various career paths that are open to librarians, as well as how we ended up where we have. I am going to keep this post short and sweet and finish it by asking some questions of you all.

Why did you decide on librarianship as a career? When did you realise this was the profession you wanted to work in? Did you study as an undergraduate or postgraduate? If PG, is this a second, or even third, career for you?

Looking forward to some discussion!

Post 29 June card challenge, days 25-28

Day 25 Make a vintage type card inspired by lace. I tried to keep to shades of pink for this one. The pink mat was done using the EK Success daisy border trim punch. I lined it up centrally on each side and just did one punch, so it gave a framed effect. Day 27. Make a card with handmade flowers on it. I used a fabric yoyo I had made that coordinated with the rest of the card.Day 28. Make a card with some fabric on it. I used a design I machine embroidered a while ago. The card was finished off with faux stitching in a pink to match the design.

Post 28 June challenge catch up, cards 17 and 26

I have finally caught up. Set myself a challenge within this challenge to make use of what was around me and just get it done!Day 17. Use heat embossing on your card. I used a floral background stamp with perfect medium to stamp the image on the black card and then used clear embossing powder over it. It is extremely difficult to see in this picture. I tried several different shots but the embossing barely showed in any of them :( I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the pink paper and a favourite Stamp It dragonfly stamp with a fluid colorbox chalk ink.
Day 26. Make a card with torn paper. I kept this card simple as I wanted to showcase the softness of the paper.

Post 27, What's in a name?

In Post 16, I blogged about the A-Z of me and under 'P' for "Pet Peeves" I put down people using American spelling. I know many of us have varying peeves, but another one of mine is my name being spelt incorrectly, especially when it is in reply to an email I have sent and clearly signed off as 'TanIa', not TanYa. I acknowledge that mistakes happen and automatic assumptions count a lot for this (ie Tanya is usually more prolific than Tania), but when it happens continually over the course of many, many emails, then it becomes more than just a mistake, it becomes silly. If the purpose of these emails is to get professional advice on a number of topics, then it become more than just silly, it becomes ridiculous. If you want my advice on things, you would think that the least you could do is notice the correct spelling of my name. Surely it isn't hard?

Post 26, Getting there

Almost at the end of June and almost at the end of the #blogjune challenge. And it has been a challenge. This month has seen me out most days or committed to something that has a top priority (marking) conflicting with something that also has top priority (teaching) conflicting with another top priority (motherhood) conflicting with, lo and behold, a high priority (writing). This has meant that I have been playing catch up with my daily blog post and also with the June card challenge that I have been taking part in. June has been exceptionally frantic and I'm looking forward to July 10 when I've submitted final grades for the semester and there will no longer be a need to play catch up.

Has anyone else had to play catch up this month? How have you managed to stay ahead?

Post 25, Days 21 and 24, June card challenge - filling in the gaps

So I have finally gotten around to filling in the gaps for most of my missing days.

Day 21. Make a card for a new baby. The stamp I used was from my playdate with Gemma last Thursday to Kaisercraft in Geelong. I coloured the animals in using my copics and edged the white borders with a blue copic.
Day 24. Make a card using your coloured pencils. I was a bit worried about doing this one, as I wasn't quite sure about matching colours, but it seemed to work out ok. I used the Faber Castell watercolour pencils i 'borrowed' from Ms 19. I used some water to soften the colours on the card after I coloured the butterflies in. This is my favourite Hero Arts Heart Butterfly.

Post 24, On choosing a conference committee, part 4

The NLS4 committee was pretty much set when I received an email from a self confessed conference junkie who was asking, pretty please, if she could join NLS4 as she was having withdrawal symptoms. Who was this junkie? Margie Anderson, ALIA's Victorian Local Liaison Officer (now called the ALIA Victorian State Manager). I had worked with Margie on the alia07 conference committee and knew what she meant when she said she was having withdrawal symptoms. Managing a conference project is such a rewarding and fulfilling experience and I know that there is a sense of anticlimax after the conference finishes. I had NLS4 planning to look forward to so didn't feel as flat as the rest of the committee.

Margie was a powerhouse of knowledge and expertise during alia07. She had been in libraries for many, many years and wanted to be on the committee for her own personal development, not merely as an ALIA employee. It was Margie who suggested we have 15 minute hot spot sessions, to try and fit in as many great presentations as we could and Margie also gave a fabulous professional development seminar on our PD day, the Thursday before the conference. This sessions was free for ALIA members who were registered to attend NLS4.

Margie was worth her weight in gold, even if she is addicted to conferences :)

Post 23, June card challenge, Days 22-24

And we're onto week 4...

Day 22. Make a Christmas card using non traditional colours. I quite like how this one turned out. I've since played a little more and refined the tree, however those cards were in traditional Christmas colours, so didn't meet the challenge criteria! I used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch. Day 23. Make a card with some embossing. This is one of my all time favourite Christmas card designs. I embossed the card mat to add some interest using the Cuttlebug swirls folder.

Day 24. Stay tuned...

Post 22, June card challenge, Days18-21

Here are the last 4 cards for week 3 of the challenge.

Day 18. Make a card with a stamped background. Love, love, love this card. I used similar for my Christmas cards one year. The stamps are all from Paper Squared in Mornington. I think the centre flower is my favourite - I love how there are different designs on each petal. The sponged areas were done using a cosmetic sponge.
Day 19. Make a card using the colours purple and yellow. This is one of my all time favourite Kaszazz stamps - I have it in two sizes :). I used a pale yellow cardstock as my backing and purple ink to stamp the butterfly. As the purple ink looks a bit pink on the yellow, I added a purple envelope. I cut the circle out of the front of the card (it's a trifold card) using my CM custom cutting system. I cut the thin pink circle ring using the same tool. I think it is very effective.

Day 20. Make a card with something metal on it. The squares for this card were punched using the 1 inch CM square punch. I added the sentiment from a stamp set I have and thought the llittle metal dragonfly charm would be cute. I do like dragonflies. :)

Day 21. Stay tuned...

Post 21 June card challenge update Days 15-17

I've been really behind in taking photos of my cards, but have started making a move so here is my update for week 3 of the challenge. The criteria for Day 15 was to make a gatefold card. I used my cricut to cut out the centre sunburst and my favourite swiss dots folder to emboss the front panels.

Day 16 Make a card using no less than 3 brads/eyelets. I love doing this style of cards with the graduating colours. Very effective.

Day 17 - stay tuned....

Post 20, Colour my world

This meme was inspired by Fiona. I adapted it to give 3 random facts about me relating to each colour in the rainbow spectrum.

Red

1. I have a lovely red laptop.
2. One of our cars is a red commodore (have to love Holdens).
3. I just bought a pair of red leather gloves. Love!

Orange

1. I like to wear orange as an accent colour. For example a black suit with an orange top. A good, strong contrast.
2. Seeing orange on a webpage always makes me think of the browser RSS button.
3. There is an orange feature wall in our house.

Yellow

1. I own not one yellow item of clothing. This has never occurred to me before.
2. Anthony's favourite rattle at the moment is yellow, with some orange and green.
3. I went to a publishing event once and had yellow nails. I love having feature nails, but these were a bit too out there, even for me.

Green

1. Green is probably my least favourite colour.
2. I am marking at the moment with a lime green pen.
3. I love my lawn being lush and green.

Blue

1. The last card I made had blue on it.
2. l like to write with blue pens.
3. My dressing gown is blue.

Indigo

1. My favourite pair of shoes (which are technically cutaway boots and my avatar on twitter) have indigo mixed in with the violet.
2. l have a lovely scarf in a beautiful shade of indigo. I want to start practicing these styles from Justgirlwithshoes' blog post. I think my scarf may be a little small though.
3. One of my favourite dresses when I first started working was indigo.

Violet

1. See (1) for indigo.
2. Anthony is lying next to me wearing a Winnie the Pooh jumpsuit of a violet hue.
3. My scrapbooking room is violet. It took some getting used to, but I like it now.

A little bit of trivia. The mnemonic I use to remember the rainbow spectrum is Richard Of York Got Boozed In Vienna.

Post 19, Planning for July

Thanks to Retrokatz and Ballarat Library Chick for this post's inspiration.

I've blogged earlier about things that I want to achieve and did a follow up post to remind me (keep me on track, oops), however thought a more immediate one for July would help me (as Kat put it) come closer to achieving a state of Zen.

Tax - definitely get organised as I have it booked for the end of July. I usually get my tax done about February the next year, so this is very early for me!

Scrapbooking - Start (another) project A week in the life; complete a scrapbooking challenge which will be one layout a week.

Events - Plan for, and enjoy, my mother-in-law's surprise birthday and Anthony's baptism. Help Sarah with her birthday sleep over.

Menus - plan dinner for the coming fortnight so I can shop accordingly.

Exercise - Start using the treadmill.

Craft - Continue working on granny stripe. Plan my square a day blanket.

Writing - Finalise ALJ abstract. Work on current paper. Continue blogging.

Reading - Get my feeds to almost zero. Maintain inbox zero.

Remember to refer to this list :)

Post 18, Why I travel

The other day a friend of mine, Clare, posted about a day in her life. In it she mentions that she would have to get up at 5.30 if she wanted to have breakfast at home. Obviously she has a long commute to work.

I also travel a fair distance to work. Distance doesn't bother me (but traffic does, as well as unnecessarily imposed speed limits, grrr) and it was something I factored in when applying for my current position. To me, job satisfaction is more appealing than having a job in a convenient location. Sure, both would be good, but that is not always possible. As public transport is not an option, I make the most of my commute by listening to podcasts or audio books that I want to catch up on.

As a manager, I think it's healthy for an organisation to have staff who do not all live locally. To me it shows commitment and dedication and highlights the fact that these staff members really want to work for us. They wouldn't travel if they didn't want to be there. I've been involved in a lot of recruitment and it always rings warning bells when, during an interview, an applicant states that the main reason they have applied for the job is because it is close to home for them. I've seen too many instances of unhappy people who stay in their workplace because it is close to home and so very convenient for them. They become bitter and negative - this is not only demoralising for them, but it is not good for staff morale and not conducive to good working relations. It isn't a situation I would want my staff or colleagues to be in.

Do you have a long commute to work? What are your thoughts on this?

Post 17, Recording history

I remember being at work one morning, before the library opened, shelving with my colleagues. One of them idly mentioned that there used to be a diary that belonged to her grandmother, a scrapbook of sorts, that had photos, memorabilia, shopping lists, day to day happenings and events and it had been thrown away by her (I think) father. Amidst the synchronous gasp of horror, I just stared. I couldn't believe that someone threw away something with so much social history. When the shock had subsided, my colleague said 'only a roomful of librarians would understand the significance of what happened'.

I don't think that is completely true, I am sure others would have appreciated that glimpse into time, the intricate patchwork that made up life back then, however I do think it is true that librarians take a leadership role in preserving social history.

For me, I take a leadership role in preserving my family's social history. I love looking back on old ephemera and memorabilia that my dad has and want to be able to take snapshots of moments of time in my family's life. I started in December last year by doing Ali Edwards' December Daily album idea which I blogged about here. This year, in July, I will be doing the Week in the Life project which is a photographic and textual documentary of my family's life from July 25 to 31. The aim is to have this project give a representation of my family's life at this particular point in time. I plan to keep shopping receipts, tickets, school memorabilia, anything really that will reflect my family's life at this time. And I'll have fun doing it.

Post 16, the A-Z of me

I saw this on Craftyminx's blog and thought it would be a fun and different way to blog today


A. Age: ok, already not going there!
B. Bed size: Queen. Pillow top.
C. Chore that you hate: Putting clothes away.
D. Dogs: I like dogs but no longer own any.
E. Essential start to your day: Shower and tea.
F. Favourite colour: Blue I think, or maybe purple. I can never decide.
G. Gold or Silver: Gold!
H. Height: 5' 3 3/4" (when you're short you take every bit you can!).
I. Instruments you play: None.
J. Job title: Branch Manager (professional); Miracle Worker! (personal)
K. Kids: yes! 4.
L. Live: Melbourne.
M. Mother's name: Mary.
N. Nicknames: Tan.
O. Overnight hospital stays: 5. 4 children and appendicitis.
P. Pet peeve: people using American spelling.
Q. Quote from a movie: 'What a beautiful chocolate man ahahahaha'.
R. Right or left handed: Left.
S. Siblings: Two, both younger.
T. Time you wake up: 6.00 am (when I work), 7.00 am (at home).
U. Underwear: Yes. No idea on the point of this question?
V. Vegetable you hate: Tomato (yes I know it is technically a fruit...)
W. What makes you run late: My husband
X. X-Rays you've had: Teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: Chocolate caramel slice
Z. Zoo animal: Tigers.

Post 15, June card challenge, days 11 to 14

And here are the last four cards for week 2 of the June card challenge. Day 11. Make a card using the colours pink and orange. This one really baffled me. Putting pink and orange together seemed so unlikely. I pushed different combinations around for a while, then finally decided to go with 1 inch strips in varying pink shades, with a thin strip of orange across the bottom scalloped border. The border punch used was Fiskars Threading Waters.

Day 12. Make a card featuring some chipboard. A simple card using coordinating 1 inch squares, with faux stitching in between. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom part of the card, on the green patterned paper. The chipboard featured is the gorgeous butterfly by Rachel from Happy Creations.

Day 13. Make a card with lots of distressing. I thought I would also go for a little bit of grunge, along with the distressing. I used three different circles to make the flowers, distressing each edge with my distresser (tip, a thread cutter is a good, cheap alternative :) ). I then added twine to the flowers for stems and put twine around the right hand side of the card to bring it all together.

Day 14. Make a card using paint somewhere. I love this card, made by stamping flourishes on acetate. For the paint component, I used twinkling H2O to change the colour of my flower!