Alicia Bull's Digital Muse

NEW SHUTTERFLY BLOG!!!

I am soooo excited to finally be able to send you to the brand new Shutterfly Holiday Blog link. We have been working very hard to offer an incredible area of inspiration for you. It has been such a great experience to work with all of the talented designers and of course the talented Laura Dox from Shutterfly. She is incredible. So without further ado.....................

SHUTTERFLY HOLIDAY BLOG!

I hope you will leave comments, interact with us all you want on the blog! :-) Most importantly, I hope you will check back to it often to gain continued holiday inspiration!

Ciao-Alicia

Utilizing the "DO NOT CALL LIST"

I wanted to share a great link : https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

This link is the link to register your home phone or cell phone to the "do not call list." Registering will put your number on the list until 2012. Pretty cool. Nothing bothers me more than the telemarketing calls at dinner time!

I was able to register 3 of our numbers all at once then went back a second time to finish up with our 4th line. It was as easy as entering our number, e-mail addy and clicking. Hope everyone else finds the link useful!

ciao-

Alicia

My oh my, it's Shutterfly!!!!!!!!!!!

My oh my, it's............................   

Big news came from Shutterfly this morning during our Las Vegas Memory Trends Launch Breakfast. Shutterfly is now offering square single prints in 8 x 8 and 12 x 12 sizes. Yippy!

You gotta love Shutterfly standing up and taking notice to the Scrapbook Market!

Ciao-Alicia

Keeping it social!

Ahhhh, I love social events. I love meeting new people. I also love  hanging out with friends that I haven't seen for a passing time. Monday and Tuesday were  all about the social networking that takes place in business and in life. So, here is the bad news, I didn't take enough photos. Ok, so actually I didn't take any pictures at our Shutterfly DSAT Dinner. The good news is that I had an awesome time getting to know the DSAT members and the Shutterfly Team. It was so great to get to know the wonderful talent behind all the digi art I have been using for so long. What an amazing group. The Shutterfly team that attended the dinner is so inspirational as well. They are top notch people that are very plugged into the industry and leading Shutterfly with confidence and care. It's great to see.

So, the few photos I did get were very meaningful.  The first photo goes out to my girlfriend Angie Pedersen. It is MT#2 that we have spent the day cruising the floor. (ok, we started by having lunch then hitting the floor). She is a total hoot and a complete wealth of industry knowledge. She and I have been in close contact lately because of the wonderful launch of www.digitalscrapbookingday.com . I will write more about that on in a week or two , but in the meantime check out their site.

Guess who took this photo above????????? Stacy Julian! We were laughing pretty hard when I handed her my camera and asked her to take a photo of Angie and I. She is definitely usually on the other end of the camera. So, guess who my next photo is with? Yep, the lovely Stacy J! What an inspiration. When I hear her speak I feel like I have fallen into creative heaven. She just makes sense to me. I like to think that I speak her language (or aspire to!) Stacy, you are always so sweet to me and so darn creative. I just love that combination! :-)

So the last couple of months have been a journey with Shutterfly. One of the most exciting projects for me has been the honor of forming a relationship with Stacy, Paula, and Casey at Big Picture Scrapbooking. These three are an amazing team and are a delight to work with. (Paula, you and I will do lunch real soon, I promise!) Shutterfly is teaming up with BPS to do some wonderful classes focused on digital and how to utilize Shutterfly in that process.

By the way, yep..........Angie took the photo below. I know it is so important to give credit where credit is due! LOL!

Which leads me to the last but certainly not least photo with  Renee Pearson. First, if you read my blog on a regular basis you know that I LOVE RENEE's KNOWLEDGE. She makes me want to learn more, do more, be more. I guess that falls deep into the definition of inspiration. That pretty much sums Renee up, "INSPIRING."  (Renee my dear, it was nice to finally hug you, to chat with you after dinner and to dig into your creative mind during our meeting. I just love ya and look forward of more to come.) I am so excited that Renee will be teaching a cutting edge digital class called "Deliciously Digital." You can see the registration via the link here : http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/deliciouslydigital.php . I highly recommend the class. The end product is a wonderful recipe book created by the class members printed by Shutterfly. I can't wait for the class to begin and hope you will join Renee for the experience!

Next post is going to be all about the brand new Shutterfly products just launch this last week---STAY TUNED--The news is HOT!

Ciao, Alicia

Memory Trends 2007

I am at Las Vegas prepping for some great Shutterfly events that will announce some exciting new Shutterfly products. I will post about those in a day or two so check back to get the scoop.

The day I arrived I had some down time and was thrilled that my sister-in -law Scottie flew in from Florida to stay with me at the Venetian. We had a wonderful time together. We went shopping and got to meet Pete Rose. He signed a baseball for each of us and let us take photos. Thought I would post a pic. of that.

This is me and Pete. He was very social and seemed very friendly!

So, after the Pete Rose experience we headed over to the wax museum at the Venetian and took our pictures with Elton John. This is Scottie with the life like wax sculpture. It was pretty freaky because they looked very realistic.

Our evening ended with joining up with the Shutterfly group and heading to the Bellagio for the "O" Cirque Du Soleil show. It had to have been one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Bizarre, creative, mysterious and breathtaking all wrapped up into one. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas.

The next couple of days are going to be filled with hanging out with some of my favorite people and meeting a whole new group of friends. I really look forward to it, will share some pictures, and of course will give you the low down on the awesome new Shutterfly news.

ciao- Alicia

Coming up for a quick breath

It is so hard to do sometimes, that is , slow down, take a breath, enjoy what is going on around you. I have to admit, I need to heed my own advice right now and slow down at least for tomorrow and breath a bit. I have been in meetings all week , non-stop , back to back and in the meantime I am trying to prepare my household for my absence starting Saturday morning at about 6 in the AM until about 11 PM on Tuesday night. Simple details that I handle need to be put down to help with the boys. John, lucky for me, is what I call a "do it all daddy." He pretty much picks up the ball with the boys and has no fear. He is insanely involved in our daily life. For being a man that runs our family business with my father and is pulled by high demands during every minute of his day he always manages to put us at the top of his list. It is incredible. (I guess my point is, while the family will miss me, they will be well cared for!)

So, you know where I am going? Ahhh, Viva Las Vegas Baby! Heading out Saturday to prepare for an incredible few days at the Venetian with Shutterfly. We are going to be pulling the Digi Scrap Advisory Team together for a dinner, doing some fun activities together like going to the "O" show, and having a launch breakfast. We have been planning for some time now and it is all coming together. It is going to be a very fruitful few days. Can't wait!

A little fun side note--I talked my sister in law Scottie into coming out from Florida to stay with me. (Otherwise that big ole room at the Venetian would have echoed!LOL) We have not been together since Maryann passed away so we are really due for some fun.

Well, really, really what I wanted to do was share some special pics with everyone tonight. They are not the perfectly posed pictures you might be thinking but just simple first day snaps of my little men and their new teachers. McGuire is an official kindergarten and let me tell you my heart ached for days. A mommy thing I guess!

Mac on the first day of  Kindergarten! He was so excited and cute!

This is Camden and Mrs. Vermillion (Mrs. V just so happens to be Camden's Godmother!)

This is Bennett and Mrs. Amrine (Mrs. A is a dear friend)

This is McGuire and Mr. Blair (Mr. Blair use to be my teaching partner!)

JB and the boys. We do a photo from behind every year holding John's hand. Someday soon all 3 boys are going to tower over their dad! :-)

Looks like the little boys in my life are in EXCELLENT hands. So glad I came up for a breath  this evening to reflect on how very blessed we are!

ciao-Alicia

Inspired by Bubbly!

I am inspired by Bubbly! No, I am not talking about champaign but the song by Colbie Caillat. I am absolutely inspired when I hear it. i love the beat, I love the words and I think it is a funky feel good song.

I have included a link to her video below but just wanted to muse a bit about the power of music. It is emotional , it evokes creativity within me and can make me feel pretty darn happy if I listen to music that really speaks to my style.

I have a dear friend (don't worry Joey I won't tell them it is you! LOL) that I can do a mean karaoke with. Yes, in the microphone or we can just be driving somewhere together and harmonize and sing the whole way. Music just makes us happy and we don't hold back in our singing. People on the freeway must think we are nuts. (Our kids just giggle and say , "mom, its your and Joey's favorite song.") We skip from Alanis Morssette's "Ironic" to Fergie, "Big Girls Don't Cry" and now we are stuck on Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly." It's just one of those things that we do and you either love us or hate us for it!

I am not sure if everyone is as inspired as I am by music but think that there is a real power in music. If you are able to find a genre you enjoy then it can be a wonderful outlet and tool for healthy living. (Just ask Joey!) Thanks Joey for singing with me--you are an awesome lady!

ENJOY!

Colbie Caillat

ciao, Alicia

Intriguing I-phone Info

So, now that I have had the I-phone ( http://www.apple.com/iphone/ )  for a few months I feel like I should do a second review. I have to admit that I was so giddy with the concept in June I could hardly say a bad thing about the darn thing. So here is my honest opinion:

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE I-PHONE. I still have very little in the area of criticism to say about it. Actually, if you don't have one I recommend you  get one. It is absolutely my favorite piece of technology that I have ever owned or played with (and those of you that know me well , know that if it is cutting edge tech I pretty much have it or have used it). With that being said, there are still (obviously) some little fixes that could take place that would make it even better.

I know you all think it is great that I love my I-phone but the details of why I love it are what I would like to share. I want to start by telling you that I went on vacation this summer to Lake Chelan. Lake Chelan is very remote, over the mountains and to the far most eastern area of Washington, beautiful land, but miles away from Seattle. (like 5 hours East). I was on a boat, the kids were swimming in the middle of  the lake and you want to know what I was doing? Surfing the net on my I-phone to find out how deep Lake Chelan gets in the middle. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Shortly after that I took a photo with my I-phone , then I sent the photo via an e-mail to some friends. It was flawless. The coverage never failed me and the technology was like having a wireless laptop connection in my hands on the lake. My poor hubby just kept shaking his head at me. I realized that at that very moment that this piece of technology was very integrated into an active life and that while it was handy, I did need to set it down now and again! LOL!

So, a few of the things that bother me about the I-phone: While the service has been great I am pretty nervous about a 2 year contract with At & T. I don't like signing up for 2 year anything!

I also think the touch pad is susceptible to getting cracked. There is no real mode of protection right over the top of the exposed flat glass touch pad. Something has to change there. It is too fragile and I worry about it way too much. (I know a chunky plastic cover would take away from the sleek beauty but a cracked screen is pretty ugly as well.

I was disappointed in the ring tones. Not a very good selection, and not very loud. So, I did set out on the road to hack into the phone and add my own. I ended up at a website that allowed me to pay a 1 time fee and lets me upload songs off my computer to create ring tones.  It worked really well and I am happy with that fix.

I think the keyboard is a little small to type on and would probably use a stylus approach to the typing if had come with the phone, but it didn't so I have to type pretty slow.

Lastly, the I-phone does not take video. I am perplexed as to why they wouldn't include this feature. I want video capabilities and I am pretty bummed about the lack of it.

Ok, that all might sound bad, but it isn't. All of the other incredible features far out weigh the few missing ones.The phone is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it and can't wait for their next version. Can you only imagine? LOL!!!!

ciao, Alicia