March March March

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/370343

Thought I would update my blog for March. The picture I added is a desktop wallpaper I made and you can find it at:  

http://abstract.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/599281/

Our snow and blowing is over for a few days but we are supposed to get more. 

I have been working so hard on wallpapers and Personas that the weather hasn't bothered me much except when I have to go outside!  So I haven't gone outside much. Thank God my husband gets the wood, mail and paper in. I just enjoy it.

My birthday was last week and I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today. A big box and I knew I hadn't ordered anything. What a wonderful surprise to open it and find 2 bottles of the most delicious wine. (It is called Pied Violet from WineShop at Home.) We had been at our daughter's house a week ago on Sunday as her kids were up to visit. (Which is another joy!) They opened this bottle of wine and I was very skeptical as I don't like a real dry wine. But this was fantastic with a deep smoky flavor. I would never, ever pay that much for a bottle of wine (you know wine comes in a box!).  So I just enjoyed it while we visited and had such a good time. But now I have 2 bottles for myself. I just have to remember not to hoard it! I have a habit of thinking, I will save this for.....and at my age, I better drink it while I can.  


Well, I best get back to work but I wanted to update my blog a bit for March. I think I will try to do that every month. That will give me some incentive to get on here and post. 


Magda, I love your new blog site. So beautiful. Thanks for letting me know about the change. 


I wish you all a wonderful week and a Happy Saint Patrick's Day if I don't get on here before then.

Cold and Blowing

 Blue Enchantment

https://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/370597

Wow, long time since I have posted, isn't it? I am getting almost too compulsive about working on designs. Since I don't review anymore I am putting in double time having fun, but it is still work. And I know I should be doing something else, but what's a person to do? My 72nd birthday is very close and at my age I should be doing what I enjoy, I guess.

The above design turned out very well, anyway I think it did and I hope my followers will like it also. The desktop to match can be found at: http://nature.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/599838/

It is very cold here today with a northeast wind howling, so I am continually putting wood in the fire but it keeps us warm. We were lucky and didn't get any snow like they did just south of us.

I have been kind of enthralled with working on some Gothic type ideas. I got some new Photoshop brushes and they are working out really well. And I am learning more and more about working with layers and I think that is what is making my designs different than when I started. I hope you like the new styles as well as the older ones. 

I am also really, really enjoying not reviewing. That took up so much of my time and the new reviewers are doing a good job keeping up with the submissions. I am hoping when Firefox 4 comes out there won't be any problems with the different extensions and Persona designs. I am not going to download it as soon as they let it out for the public. I have found it doesn't pay to update something for a few days to make sure all the bugs are out. Mozilla works very hard on the Beta with a lot of people using it and finding problems, but they never find all of them until it is let out for the millions of different people to use.

I really don't have much to say or complain about today, but I didn't want anyone to think I wasn't still around. I am and I am working.

Hope it is warmer where you live. Have a great week end, all.


Till next time.

Wishing for Spring

 Four Fantastic Frogs

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/361993

 

Good morning or afternoon, wherever you are. I am working on spring designs now and some Easter ones. I just love this frog design and hope you all will, too. They have such big, hopeful eyes! And that is what I am doing, hoping for an early spring. The dark, dreary weather has a way of getting me down and kinda sad, which is really dumb, because I have no reason to feel that way. So right now I have my frogs up on my Firefox and every time I look at their silly faces, I want to smile. If you like them I also have a wallpaper at:  http://animals.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/581177/ They aren't exactly the same, but close enough. I submitted the frog design to iGoogle, too, but so far it hasn't showed up. They kind of pick and choose what they put up, I think. If it gets on, I will let you know.

When I checked in to my blog this morning I remembered how I vented last time and I probably shouldn't have submitted my faithful users to that, but it is done and I felt better.

I have received several requests by people that have lost a loved pet and want a Persona to memorialize them and that they can use. I have made several for each of them. I can understand that so well. The last dog we had died in 1992 and died in my arms. He was my faithful companion and we loved him dearly. I still have not gotten over the loss of him. Even after all these years once in awhile when I drive into the garage, I check to see if he is in the way because he would always jump out of his bed and greet me. A lot of people think I am nuts not to just get another dog, but losing them is just too hard. 

Wow, I have no idea where all that came from, I was just going to write about the requests and the sadness they feel when they write and I am so glad I can bring a little happiness into their life by doing what I love to do. 

Right now I am working on some poppy designs. The old orange red poppies we used to have are one of my favorite flowers for some reason. I guess it is because they are so bright. You don't see them very much anymore in peoples gardens so I am making them to put on your desktop and Firefox. I have a tendency to get stuck on one thing and end up and make too many and can't decide which ones I want to submit.

I see the news about Australia's cyclone and the horrible things going on in Egypt and other parts of the world. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all get along and live a secure, peaceful life? That is my wish for you all. 

I will get back to work now. I think I will start work on some cow designs! That is one thing I haven't worked on, so will get to it...

Have a great day and enjoy Super Bowl Sunday. I am hoping the Packers win.

 

Valentines

Hot Pink Valentine

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/351608

Valentines Day is coming up very soon, so all of you out there remember to pick up a valentine for the someone special in your life. I forgot last year and felt terrible when my husband (of course he remembered) gave me a beautiful card! So the next time I went in to town I bought one for this year! Now if I can just remember where I put it!!!

When I started this blog I wasn't going to make it a personal thing, just about Personas, but over time it has evolved, just like everything does. Today I think I will vent! So, watch out...here it comes.

I wonder if any of you out there have come across a young woman/girl that gets a little bit of power and it goes to her head? I did just recently. I have been a part of the Persona group for over 2 years and during that time it was always young men that I was in contact with and helped me learn as I helped out the Persona project. I never once had a problem with any of the 3 or 4 that were in charge over the years.  As a non-paid worker bee I put in hours and hours and hours of work reviewing designs that were submitted. After a month or so it gets to be quite tedious and irritating. Many submitters don't read the directions and submit stretched images, designs that won't show up because they didn't read the instructions, etc. etc., even X rated material.  Quite a few would submit the exact same design four or more times, and just change the title a bit. So after awhile most people that take on the task as a reviewer quit. I didn't. And even though I was getting tired and irritated with the work, I did it as I felt I accepted the responsibility and did it to the best of my ability. I rejected duplicates, stretched, inappropriate material. While doing this one day I came across a designer that had used one of my original designs made with Photoshop and had added some ugly clip art to it. Instead of submitting a DMCA form, which is not an easy thing to do, plus the person that used it gets a pretty scary letter from Mozilla,  I tried to send the person an email, so I used his/her designer name and sent e-mails, using yahoo, Gmail, hotmail, msn-mail, etc. hoping they would get it, (I don't know if they did or not) asking them to please remove it. After a week when I hadn't heard anything, I decided to remove it and gave the explanation of why it was removed. 

The next day I received a letter from this young woman that took over, telling me she had taken my administrative duties away with the reason that I shouldn't have removed the "copy". For some unknown reason this "now I am in charge young woman" took her power hammer and gave me a whack! She seemed to have it in for me from day one and I don't know why. When she first started as the Persona "boss" she sent out letters to reviewers telling us all these wonderful things she was going to do for Personas, etc. Well, I never saw any, but.....that is another story.

Over time it has made me madder and madder.  At one point I thought I would just remove all of my designs and go somewhere else and design. Then I thought it wouldn't be fair to the faithful users so shot that idea down.  In the end, it was probably the best thing for me as I really did get irritated with a lot of the work that came in to be reviewed. When I first started I was asked what I wanted the Persona project to be and I told them I wanted it to be something we can all be proud of and have some class. Over time it has lost a lot of that "hope". I don't like the nearly nude and boob shots that are on. If people want them they can make them for their own use and no one else has to look at them or Mozilla needs to have a special category and a special reviewer to review the product and see if it meets a G rating. The way it is now, reviewers have to look at this garbage first, which they may not want to. I usually sent them to legal to be reviewed or if it was outright X rated I rejected them. Persona users have to see them as they are right there on line along with Hello Kitty, etc. and they shouldn't have to see them. Some of the reviewers are letting through work that is definitely not G rated. You can find designs now that are stretched out of proportion, etc.

So, since I don't have to review anymore I have tons more time to design and learn more about Photoshop. I feel bad in a way that I am not helping out the other reviewers as I know what hard exasperating work it is. So the gal with all that new power actually did me a favor in the end! 

Wow, that felt good...I know my husband got awfully tired of me venting about the "designs" that were coming in and taking time away from him so I could review for hours a day, even holidays. In my heart I know I did my best to  make the Persona Project  a success so don't feel too bad about getting that power hammer whack! But I wonder why some women/girls when they get a job with a little bit of power take it out on others. Perhaps in time she will learn how to be in charge of others. Oh, by the way I ended up and had to submit that legal form and the design got pulled. (Power lady had put it back up after I removed it!)

Sorry this got so long but I sure feel better and am going to get right to work and do some really great designs and get them up. I have so much more time now...

Have a great week and think spring. That is what I am trying to do

Later all!

Working on Valentines Day

Rainbow Bears

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/356898

 

What a difference? Last week I was working on winter and snow designs and now I am working on Valentines Day, Easter and spring! I have quite a few Valentines Persona designs on already and an iGoogle theme called Spring Bunnies. I was pleased with both of them. I have noticed that when I submit a particularly good iGoogle theme, sometimes it is on line the next day. Spring Bunnies was one of those.

Spring Bunnies

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/356168

The graphic above is the iGoogle Theme but the Persona matches it. I have been working on wallpapers to match a lot of my designs this week. It is really quite nice not having to review, as I spent hours a day doing that. I think I put in my time making the Persona project successful. I have reviewed for almost 2 years and it may even be longer than that. So this week has just been a fun week doing what I want when I want.

Working on spring designs when it is cold and rainy out puts me in a warmer mood anyway. 

I don't really have much to talk about today, but thought I better check in and post what I am up to anyway. I hope you all have a great week end and the weather is warm where you are. Till next time!

January Snow

Flying Free

http://nature.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/559638/

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/353852

 

Happy New Year to you all. We had a snow storm over the week end and I finally got some good snow shots. Plus we got to meet our newest great grandson on the same day. What a wonderful feeling to hold that precious small being in your arms! And what a precious being he is. 

I have been busy working on Valentines Day and Easter Personas and several are on line right now and more soon. I am currently not a reviewer for Personas so the queue is getting longer and longer. I spent hours a day reviewing designs to help the Mozilla team out, but the head of the Persona department and I had a misunderstanding. (If that is what you want to call it!)

I will not go into details and apparently what I did was not correct, but I thought it was, so....that is that. And to be perfectly honest I am enjoying the extra time. And I  don't get upset when I see designs that came in and did not meet the standards I thought Personas should have, but they had to be approved because they met the guidelines. 

Back to our snow...it was so beautiful while it lasted but it didn't last long.  I got several good photos that I will share. The one above is of Chuckanut Ridge . (I added the frame for the blog!) The foggy mist was hiding behind and between the ridges of the mountain. The snow looked like frosting on the trees. I have submitted several Persona designs using some of these shots but like I said the queue is very long so will be a while before they are approved. (It is on line now and the link is above.) When it is on line I will come back and let you know where you can find it. The wallpaper is available at the link above. I just checked and the iGoogle theme is available also and called Chuckanut Ridge by MaDonna.

Magda, I hope the flooding in your country of Australia is not affecting you and I was very pleased I gave you the inspiration to start a blog. Isn't it wonderful we are never too old to learn new things?

Until next time, have a good week end all.

A New Years Wish

Serene Waterfall 
http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/350825

A brand new year is beginning. Hard to believe that 2010 is gone and went by so quickly. We had the addition of 2 new great grandsons to our family, William was born in August and Lucas was born December 30th. We welcome them with open arms.

The Persona design I am happiest with this week is the one I picture above. When it is on the Firefox browser it makes you feel warm and serene. I had a lot of fun making it, using Photoshop, moving layers around, etc. I wish I knew more about Photoshop. There is something new to learn every day.

I am so bad about getting on to blog and I apologize to any and all who read this. But sometimes I honestly don't know what to write about. With the cold weather we haven't gotten out much, so no picture taking. Well I did take some sunset pictures with my new camera but they weren't anything to brag about, in fact I deleted them. 

But I did want to check in and update my blog design as Christmas is over. Christmas eve was wonderful, loud and cheerful at our house. The kids, grand kids and one great grandchild were here and we all ate too much and laughed too much. What a joy, though to have them all here. The older it gets, the harder it gets to be together. One grandson and his wife and their son couldn't make it as their baby boy was due anytime and didn't want to get too far from home, so they were greatly missed.

I wish for a happy and healthy  2011 to you all. And I will check in again soon, promise!