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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Contest on The Journey to Homesteading- Contest Winner : Me!

Recall that there was a contest at the Journey to Homesteading during April? If not you can see the details here.

Well... I won the first prize :) I was shocked when I got the email (because I'd forgotten about the contest actually). I won the Welcome sign from Retro Road Vintage Sign Company.

I haven't figured a final place for the sign -it's very windy here in Wyoming and we are getting our house ready for touch-up painting. But I still can show you the sign!


This photo is of it sitting on the rail of my front porch... and here is it with my kiddos ;)

Awesome, isn't it :)

Thanks, The Journey to Homesteading and Retro Road Vintage Sign Company!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Kindle Collections Manager

Do you have a Kindle? Do you love your Kindle? Do you have a lot of books on your Kindle? Do you find it somewhat difficult to manage your books/collections? Well, then there is a possible solution: Give your Kindle to someone that does not get annoyed at anything -ever. Problem solved! 

Of course, just kidding. Buy that person their own Kindle! and then download the Kindle Collection Manager. It is in beta at the moment and is only for Windows but it makes it somewhat easier to manage your books/collections on Kindle. Here's how it works, somewhat ;)

You go to Kindle Collections Manager website and register. You will receive an email with the download link. From there you will download the zip file that has the installation software. You will have this application on your computer in whatever location you put it (mine automatically goes to Program Files).

When you want to manage your books, plug in your Kindle to the computer and open the Kindle Collections Manager program. It will come up with a window like this (give or take a few books and most likely the collection titles will be somewhat different Winking smile ) To get a better look at it, click on image (use back button to come back to this post)

KCM

When it comes up, it has every book on your computer that is compatible with Kindle (on the left) and it also shows all the books on your Kindle (on the right). It also shows duplicates –even when you don’t know you have any and even if you think that you don’t have any and it shouldn’t be showing that you do, such as the little snippet below. There are a lot of duplicates on my Kindle according to this.

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You can rename your books, delete them (gasp!) and/or move them into collections or start new collections. When you download the software it comes with a “Brief instructions” notepad document. It’d be good to read that over before going to far but as far as I can see, this program is fairly easy to use Smile

Well, another software/application to add to my growing number of technology gadgets Smile

Friday, May 27, 2011

Khan Academy- Math, Science, History, Finance & Test Prep

A better YouTube meets math... and science...and history...and economics... and more- all for free!

I happened across Khan Academy what seems like forever ago (really it was about 2 years ago) and liked what I saw. It was basically math and science at the time I first checked it out. You could watch video tutorials for concepts that you were wanting to learn, needed to learn, were struggling with, or just curious about (oh, I know there are some people out there like that!). We were using a different math program at the time though and I kept forgetting about Khan Academy.

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Well, I 'happened' on Khan Academy again this year. Wow, what a difference! And an amazing one at that!

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It is totally revamped! It looks awesome. And there are MORE subjects with MORE videos. Oh, and one of the coolest thing so far that my kids and I like is the Practice:

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You can sign into KA with either your Google account or Facebook account

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In that screenshot above you can see the Algebra VIDEOS that are available. Above the list is a dropdown menu bar so that you can navigate around the site to the exact subject you wish to learn more about.

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And take a look at all the Physics videos!:

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Here is a part of the video on Jamestown to the Civil War (I’m big on history Winking smile )

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Personally, I love the blackboard that is used as opposed to a ‘white’ board (that is tougher on my eyes it seems). It is a very condensed history lesson but it is well done.

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How about …. Chemistry? (which I know next to nothing about…)

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Introduction to the Atom:

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The videos are interesting because Sal actually imparts personality to his videos. They aren’t simply information. He makes them more interesting Winking smile

So what do you want to learn about?? And one of the absolutely best things about Khan Academy is that it is FREE.

We will be using KA in our school next year for a few different subjects. Perhaps there is something there for you!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Giveaway @ Freely Educate- Friendly Chemistry

While at Freely Educate I saw a giveaway for Friendly Chemistry -again!!



The publishers want to offer one of you a free set of Friendly Chemistry curriculum, which includes:
  • Student text
  • Teacher text
  • Manipulative text (a 74 page booklet to be disassembled by the end user)
Current retail cost is $49.99 for the student edition and $24.99 for each volume of the Teacher's edition (Two volume set).  The manipulative set retails for $9.99.  Total retail value:  $109.96

Admittedly, I want to win this giveaway- but I'm sure it will go to someone that can use it either way! So what are you waiting for? Go enter!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

And in the forcast...more rain

Looks promising, huh?

Not when we have this problem...
And hubby just put grass seed down on the back yard... now it's all in puddles and blotches. Some spots aren't so bad and I really think that there is grass sprouting but it's all muddy and I can't get close enough to really see.
But perhaps it will help the drought that this area seems to go through every single year. That would be good. And I am liking the 60s temperatures. :) I really really do not do well with heat (yes, 70 is hot to me!)

Make Your Own Note Cards and Envelopes, Part 3

You’ve chosen your paper and you have all your tools together. Now you’re ready to make your note cards and envelopes!

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**Unfortunately, I’m missing my scorer (aka: hairstick) and had to improvise with a pen lid to score- and what do ya know! it worked just fine!) and please excuse my fingernail polish Smile**

First, you’ll want to decide what size of note card set you want to make. It is important to have envelopes and note cards that fit together. An easy way to do this is to find an envelope you have already. Perhaps one that you received a birthday card in or a sweet little card from a friend or loved one. Depending on the size of paper you have chosen, you can make an envelope just like the one you received- but in whatever paper pattern you want!

I really like simple myself and to make this tutorial easier, I will use a basic envelope.

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The envelope is about 5 3/4” wide and since my scrap book paper is 12x12, I will only be able to make one envelope per sheet. (I promise my math isn’t off- you’ll see Winking smile ) In another part to this tutorial series, I will show you how to make smaller ones but it is based off of this basic envelope.

Gently, very carefully undo the envelope that you wish to use as a template.

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The flaps on the sides of my template envelope make the actual size of the envelope that I will be cutting out of the scrap book paper larger than the 11 1/2” it would be if it were two envelopes side by side. Instead the width is almost 7 1/4” inches (too large for two envelopes from one sheet of 12x12 scrap book paper!)

On the paper you have chosen, trace the open envelope with the sharp pencil. With the paper I am using for this particular step, I cannot erase much because the eraser dulls the paper… I’ll just have to be very careful Winking smile 

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On the following steps the envelope that I use for illustration purposes is one of my smaller envelopes. They are 85% the size of the original envelope. The method is the same no matter what size envelope you are making!

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Cut out either right on the trace line or a smidgen on the inside of the trace line (that way your envelope doesn’t have pencil marks).

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Now you will score the envelope where the side flaps are and also the bottom and top flap of the envelope. It is difficult to show the score marks…I hope you can see them or at least tell what it is that I’m doing Smile Here is when you use the bone-scorer. Using it at an angle and not too roughly, run it down the length of the ruler where it is on the paper. Clear as mud? Winking smile

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Fold the flaps of the side of the envelope in, lift the bottom flap up on top of those and finally bring the top flap down. Don’t press too hard when folding, it could crack the paper (which will cause it to tear and fall apart).

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Does it sit right? Is it straight? One thing about these envelopes is that if you haven’t scored them in the right place, you can generally ‘scoot’ the flaps over, up or down to make them line up better without messing up your finished envelope.

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Once it is the way you would like it to be, put glue on the inside bottom flaps, close to the edge and just to the top.

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Fold the side flaps in and the bottom flap up and press for a few seconds. It doesn’t take long.

Voila! You have made an envelope that you can put your note card into.

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Next up: Make note cards to go with your envelopes.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Make Your Own Note Cards and Envelopes, Part 2

Last time I talked about papers to use for making your own notecards and envelopes. This time I will talk about the tools that you will need to make them. None of these are specialty tools so you most likely have them on hand. I know that there are Cricuts and other nifty cutters out there but I don’t have one and so this will not tell you how to use one. I really think that it is very easy to make these notecards and envelopes with simple tools. Let’s get started, shall we?

Scissors- it really does not matter what brand or even the size. If you are comfortable with your pair of scissors, then I suggest using those. It is good to have a sharp pair however as it won’t leave a tattered edge- unless of course that is what you are wanting.
scissors
Exequy’s blog

Glue- I use Tacky Glue or Scotch Quick Dry Tacky Adhesive (the Scotch is my favorite and it takes very little so the bottle lasts for quite a while!)
tackyglue scotchglue

Straight edge, or a Ruler- a metal ruler comes in real handy for crafts because it does not get nicked or dented like wooden or plastic. But if you have a plastic (or wooden) ruler, it will work just fine. Mine is an older plastic ruler that I ahem, borrow from my kids Winking smile
metal ruler

Pencil and eraser- I would suggest a nice sharp pencil and a white plastic eraser. The reason is the sharper the pencil (as long as it is not an extremely hard ‘lead’) will leave a light line when needed. The plastic eraser does not leave behind residue like Pink Pearls or the eraser on a typical pencil. 
stickeraser plasticeraser 

Bone folder/scorer- this will be used to crease the flaps after the notecards and envelopes have been cut out from the scrapbook paper. Honestly, I use a hairstick that was made by my mom Winking smile This particular one would work well for creasing…and putting your hair up afterward!
bonefolder

Something that is nice to have but not necessary to make your own notecards and envelopes:

Paper cutter- I do have one of these and it helps cut down on the time it takes to make the notecards and envelopes but the scissors are still needed. This is something that saves time but isn’t a necessity. You can also purchase replacement blades (the little orange square on the cutter is the blade).


cutter

Next step: Making Your Own Notecards!

**Disclaimer: All the links to products do go to Amazon.com, with the exception of Lindercroft at Artfire, of which I am an affiliate. Purchases made from Amazon after clicking on my link provide me with an advertisers fee and, although small, it does help with my finances- and I am most grateful!

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