June 2011

Mystery Bundle -- June 2011 I got an order from FabricMart last week, and I still hadn't posted about the mystery bundle because I've been a bad bad blogger who hasn't kept up with posting. I was gardening and reading some zombie books. Yes, I know I've gotta put up more garden pictures too.

So anyways, here's the bundle. It's not bad, but definitely not the best bundle I've ever gotten. The two on the left are synthetics, 1 5/8 yards of a light blue polyester satin and something that's synthetic and navy blue. I'll have to see what it thinks of water; if it's water repellant, it might be useful. Then there's 1 3/8 yards of this "heirloom" cotton print, 2 1/2 yards yards of this cotton/spandex shirting, and 2 yards of the same strange silk print I got in my last mystery bundle. Generally I'm happy with any silk.. but I really have no idea what to do with this stuff! The print is strange and I didn't know what to think of two yards of the stuff, let alone four!

I'll have to do a "best of mystery bundles" post one of these days. I got some really good mystery bundle fabrics last fall, like the green silk gazar and the blue charmeuse.

Opening the Layers/Channels/Paths/Undo Dialog in Gimp There's been some talk on PR lately of images, and companies and/or people using them without permission, and it's come up that a lot of people (including dfr!) don't know how to watermark their images. The thread that prompted this post was the one started by Rebecca of Tales of a Wannabe Seamstress about pattern companies publishing blog photos on Facebook, but there have been several other threads recently on similar topics.

While someone with much photo-editing skill can probably remove most watermarks, just having it decreases the temptation to simply swipe an image because it's easy, and increases the likelihood that if someone else does use your images, they'll at least credit you.
In general, circulation of your work through comments, links, excerpts, etc., is usually positive, and inclusion on gallery and "social collection" sites like Pinterest or Wists is generally a good thing. Whenever you put something up online, you shouldn't have the expectation that it will be private, and usually visibility is what you want. But having your images simply stolen is never fun.

How to Create New Layers in Gimp

You should consider carefully before objecting to properly attributed excerpts, even if you weren't asked. Interlinking and commenting on what other people have done is what makes the blogosphere go 'round. If someone has quoted you or shown a reasonable picture or screenshot of something you've done that could be considered fair use, and has linked to you and properly credited it, you should probably be happy rather than angry. The guideline on fair use is that their use shouldn't decrease the value of what you've published. That doesn't mean they can't criticize it, it just means that they can't include so much that your own post would become redundant to their readers. The legal criteria for fair use are outlined by United States Code Title 17, Subsection 107.

Gimp Opacity Slider and Layer Mode Selection

How To Watermark Your Images

So, some quick instructions on watermarking. Most of what you're going to do uses the Layers/Channels/Paths/Undo dialog. It should open along with GIMP, but if it dosn't, you can access it through the "windows" menu in GIMP's top toolbar. (You can view the larger versions of images in this tutorial, and on my blog in general, by clicking on them.)
What you're going to want to do is create a new layer for the watermark.

Note that when you add text, that text is always added in a new layer, and the layer is automatically labeled by what the text says. So if you're watermarking using text only, you shouldn't need to add your new layer manually.

New layers added using the "add new layer" button (Circled in red) are by default called "New layer," "New layer #1," etc. If you right click on the layer in the layers dialog (Not in your image!) the first option is "Layer attributes," which will allow you to change the name of your layer if you wish to do so.

Once you've created a new layer, whether it's text or an image (I've created a GIMP brush for my watermark, so I can easily stamp it anywhere) you can manipulate the layer opacity and mode using the options just above the list of layers. Whatever layer is selected will be the one affected by your selections. Opacity should be fairly self explanatory: 0 is completely transparent (invisible) and 100 is completely opaque.
The layer modes contain things like overlay, darken only, lighten only, and value. They dictate how the layer shows itself. For example, if you make a layer the "darken only" mode, you'll only see the contents of that layer in places where the selected layer is darker than what is under it.

When you select Edit > Paste as > Paste as New Layer, your newly pasted layer will be a floating selection, not yet anchored to a "real" layer. You can fix this by clicking the "create new layer" button. Otherwise, if you paste anything else, that floating section will automatically anchor to the layer beneath it. I believe anchoring is the same as merging down. It's not the same as moving down, which is simply rearranging the order of the layers.

The Google Friend Connect module that has been having lots of problems and more problems seems to be working again. I'm not sure what I did different. I uninstalled and reinstalled the Google Friend Connect module, but I did that before, too. I ran the update script, but I did that before, too. It seems to be working in both Firefox and IE now, and I'm not getting any more red error messages. Why? No freaking clue. I'm pretty certain that I only did things that I'd already tried. Maybe Google finally fixed something. I'm not sure if it's going to recognize all of the same usernames, or if it's going to create new ones. When I signed in on IE, it created Maggie_2. But it's behaving better than it was before.

Tiny Stevia Seedling
I ordered a packet of Stevia Seeds along with an Amazon order awhile ago, before I actually knew anything about growing stevia. The overall rating was low, but included "reviews" like "how many seeds are in this packet?" and of course, non-review reviews piss me off to no end. They were eligible for super saver shipping, so I ordered them to push an order over the $25 necessary to qualify for the free shipping.

At the time I didn't realize that germination rates on stevia are rather low, so I only planted a few outside. I don't think they've sprouted outside, but I planted them out in the big garden and that's not really a great place for starting seeds. After learning that they're fairly difficult to start, I poured the rest of the packet into cup of dirt inside and sat it on the windowsill, not really expecting much since it was a fairly small packet. I've actually gotten two started, though!

I divided them into separate cups, and placed one of them outside and left the other on the windowsill. Both are growing slowly (as seedlings tend to do before they establish enough leaf surface area for faster growth,) but are growing.

There have been subsequent reviews (after I bought these seeds) stating that they don't grow at all. This I find pretty strange, especially since one person says that they ordered three packets. I'll have to leave a review stating that mine are growing, but since they're tiny and not really established yet, I'm still holding off making judgments either way about them, particularly since I've had massive problems with strawberries sprouting as tiny seedlings and then dying.

Just to be certain (given that I use a significant amount of artificial sweeteners, growing stevia would be really nice,) I'm kinda considering ordering an already started plant. As far as I can tell, there is one place online, Michigan Bulb Company that sells established stevia plants. If I want to order, I'll have to soon, because their spring shipping season is almost over. But they have flat rate shipping, and I can't order just one little thing when there's flat rate shipping involved! ..So I'm still debating it. Maybe I'll tack on an order for a grape plant.. if I can figure out where I'd want to set up supports and all for grapes. Grapes are something I keep thinking about growing anyways.. it's just the "where" that's a tad problematic. And I don't want to give up on my started plants. But three plants are better than two, right?

Some of those dwarf citrus trees are pretty tempting too. But then I have to decide just which one or two I want, and I have problems deciding what I don't want to grow. I want to grow everything!

I'm also still a tad nervous about ordering live plants online. I've ordered plenty of seeds online, but still haven't ordered any actual plants. I know some come as bare root and some actually come potted, but I'm having trouble picturing just what a plant traveling through the mail would look like.