Happy Mother's Day

 I recently discovered an interesting site for digital scrapping.  The site is called Cajoline-Scrap - here is a LINK for you.  I made the Happy Mother's Day page at the top of this post from freebies offered by Cajoline.  The style of most of the items offered is frilly and vintage but there are also some images of things like furniture and food.  There are some very "French" images as well!

This is a French site but you can easily figure out how to download freebies and buy kits.  (Of course you can always use Google Translate to translate if you do not speak French).  Paypal is accepted for purchases and there is a handy conversion gadget to "translate" Euros into Dollars or any other currency.  One note - the site has background sounds of birds chirping.  I didn't realize this at first and for a few seconds I thought I was hearing birds in the house!

Just a quick post today - I hope you all had a lovely day.  It was a quiet day for me since neither of our sons are home.  They both called which was very nice.

Digital Roses to share

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.  We had a quiet day (I seem to have picked up a bit of a cold from the babies) and later went to see some friends for dinner and Olympic viewing.

I thought I'd share something different today for those of you who have been interested in the possibilities of digital scrapping.  One of my favorite things to do is to make digital elements from photographs I have taken.  If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love to take photos of flowers.

I began with the photo of a rose in our garden.  I cropped it closely and then used my Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 software to create a new element.  First, I used the "magic wand" to drop out the background. 

I altered the hue of the peachy rose to make it pinker.  Then I copied and pasted the rose a few times and rotated the roses at various angles.  I grouped them together and finally added a heart in the center.  I gave the heart a three dimensional edge and made it fairly wide and soft.  I added a shadow to the heart and the rose grouping.

These newly created elements can be saved as content within the CM program.  I have uploaded the original peach rose and the group with the heart in the center for you to download if you'd like to try using these in one of your projects.  These are .png files and can be used in many programs.

Peach Rose

Pink Rose Group with Heart Center

These downloads are much larger than my usual Design Studio files so I will leave them up for a limited time.

A Night at the Theater

We have escaped the incredible snow storm that much of the country is experiencing this weekend. Apparently our very cold temperatures are keeping the snow away!  I hope that those of you who are snowed in are getting a chance to do lots of crafting.

I took things pretty slow most of today - I am still not feeling 100%.  We had a treat planned for tonight that I didn't want to miss.  My father-in-law and brother-in-law sing in a great group called the Festival Chorale.  The director is also the choir director and organist at the church my husband's parents and sister attend (and they sing in that choir too).  The concert tonight was a Pops concert with the theme "Night at the Theater" and it included Broadway, opera and movie songs.

I took just a few photos - the conditions are not great for photography in the hall.  When we got home, I imported the photos, rejected all of the hopelessly blurry ones, did some quick editing and created a mini collage.  This is one of the things that I really enjoy about doing digital projects.  They are quick and easy and you can try lots of different things without making any mess at all!

I just learned how to make digital glitter so I put a red glitter border around the collage.  The gold mask was part of the table centerpiece (yes, "Phantom of the Opera" was one of the shows included!).  I'll email this collage to my in-laws (now that they finally have a computer!) since I think the photo of them is really sweet.

Blogoversary Update - Thanks to everyone who left comments or sent emails.  I appreciate your kind words and feedback.  I will be drawing the names for the Blogoversary gifts tomorrow - I'll approve any comments that appear overnight and then close the list.  It will take a bit of time to sort everything out so look for the names to be posted sometime during the Super Bowl!

A lot of you have been asking about the digital scrapping software I use.  The Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 program is wonderful and very easy to use with lots of online help.  If you have a consultant be sure to get in touch with them for a hands on demonstration.  If you don't have a consultant and you are interested in the software, you can order the software through my CM personal website (here is a LINK to the page with more information about the program).  If there is enough interest, I may do some online classes on this software in addition to the Design Studio classes.

Tiger ATCs

The theme for one of my Artist Trading Card (ATC) groups this month was "tigers" (or "lions and tigers" - but definitely not "lions and tigers and bears - oh my!").  My thoughts turned to travels to exotic lands and I started to look for some images I could use to make the card.

I found some great vintage luggage labels at Twisted Papers.com.  This tiger image is on a collage sheet with twenty five labels so I will be able to do many more projects with these.  Here is a LINK to the information page for the label collage sheet (a great value for only $2).

I imported the image sheet into my Creative Memories StoryBook software and started creating my ATC front.  I really enjoy manipulating images and using all of the special effects.

The original image is a flat paper image.  I wanted it to have a raised effect so I applied  a filter for a 3D edge.  The program contains all sorts of filters and effects and it is fun to try them out to alter your results.  At this point, I was thinking of my card as a piece of luggage.

I decided to add some background color and texture.  I chose a burlap weave and a light orange/tan shade to simulate a suitcase.  I also added a black frame to give a strong defined edge. I set up the file to print the ATCs in the correct size (2.5 x 3.5 inches).  After I printed my cards, I got a bit more ambitious and decided to try using Paper Glaze to make the label shiny and glossy.

I had never tried using the Paper Glaze on such a large area and I really made a mess of it!  It was difficult to get a smooth layer and I ended up with air bubbles, smudges, and actually started to lift the print from the matte photo paper.  So I abandoned that idea and convinced myself that the label didn't need to be shiny after all!

I thought I needed something else to convey the idea of luggage and travel,  I decided to add some brads to give the impression of rivets in old fashioned luggage.  I punched the holes with my Cropadile and inserted the brads.  Then I layered the card fronts on brown Bazzill textured cardstock and added my details on the back.

ATCs are fun to make - you can do so many different things and I often do them digitally so I can explore new ways to alter images.  The only rule is that they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  Do you make ATCs?  If you have never tried one, you can find lots of information and inspiration online.  If you want to see other ATCs I have created and shared, here is a LINK to all of the posts for ATCs.

Something new - more digital fun!

I got an email tonight about an interesting new website.  Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) is launching a new digital scrapbook site.  I took a look around and saw that you can buy many of the paper stacks that you may already have in digital versions.  There were also some new stacks I hadn't seen before.  There are lots of possibilities here!

The new site is called 300dpi,  here is a LINK.   In case you are not familiar with the term, dpi is a measure of resolution or "dots per inch"  - 300 is considered high and is the accepted standard for digital scrapping.  Images at 300 dpi are sharp and clear.  For comparison the typical resolution for images on the web is 72 dpi.

I bought the "Animal Crackers" digital kit and did the quick little collage at the top of this post.  Just think of the ways you can combine the actual papers and the digital versions in a scrapbook.

The paper is even "glittered" - just like the actual stacks.  The kit included a stitched lower case alphabet, 17 papers and 19 elements for $6.95.

I hope some of you are getting interested in the digital scrapping - I find it to be so much fun to use "paper" in my computer and create all sorts of things without making any mess (and no scraps!).  If you have questions about digital projects let me know and I will try to help.  I definitely recommend the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 program - it is extremely user friendly and you can work with both the CM content and all sorts of other digi kits that you purchase elsewhere (or get as a freebie).  Here is a LINK to my CM website for more information.

I have a fun Cricut project to share - probably tomorrow...  I just need to add a few finishing touches...

A few Digital Sites ...

Today I want to pass along a couple of links to sites that may be of interest, particularly if you are doing digital or hybrid projects.

The first is Lettering Delights.  I am not sure if they are part of Provo Craft, but I have found that they have many of the same images that are on the Cricut cartridges in digital form.  The picture at the top of this post was made using items from the Oriental Garden Collection.  They are the same as items on the Pagoda cartridge.  I haven't had a chance to make a full project yet (I just bought these yesterday) but I think it would be fun to do cards that have the Cricut cuts on the front and some of the coordinating images printed inside.

There is a great bundle sale going on now.  In addition to the sale, if you spend $15 or more you can use the coupon code "BundleUp" and get an additional 25% off.  The sale is on through January 6th.  Some that I noticed that will be of interest are:

 Peppermint Holiday Card Kit (like Winter Woodland)

Wonders of the World Collection (like Destinations)

Modern Miss Collection (like Forever Young)

Hello Cupcake Collection (like Sweet Treats)
It's Your Birthday, Cupcake Super Bundle (even more of Sweet Treats)

There are hundreds to check out - lots of really nice sets of images and fonts too.  They also have printables for party favors and cards.

The other is a brand new site Design House Digital.  They officially opened yesterday!  If you sign up for the newsletter you will get a great freebie kit designed by Jen Allyson. There are also three freebie kits for the month of January.  I am looking forward to exploring this site some more - there is a forum and there will be classes, challenges, and lots of fun things to do!

Design House Digital has quite a roster of fabulous designers including Deena Rutter, who designed the Cricut cartridges Storybook and Stand and Salute.

Have fun exploring these sites.

It is snowing here - again!  We finally got our older son's boxes mailed to him (he traveled with only carry on bags so we had to mail nearly all of the Christmas gifts he received to him in California).  The day was full with an afternoon movie (Sherlock Holmes) and dinner out so I didn't get much time to do Cricut projects.  Not much organizing progress today either....oh well, tomorrow is another day!

Simple Vintage Card with digital images

Yesterday I told you about the Twisted Papers site and promised I'd show you how to use one of the images for a project.  Much to my surprise, I had a nice comment from Russell & Stan, the owners of the site, and they said it would be fine to post one of the images, so I have edited yesterday's post.  I am so impressed at the quality of the images - very sharp and clear and I was able to enlarge them quite a bit.

I made this simple card using one of the images and my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 software (here is a LINK for more information about this program).  I downloaded the jpeg image from the Twisted Papers site and saved it in a file on my desktop.  Then I opened a new project in StoryBook and imported the image.

The next step was to resize the image to fit perfectly on an A2 card.  The original image is on the right and the slightly altered on on the left.  I sized it at 3 3/4 inches x 5 inches so I could have a mat layer on the card.

Once I had resized the image, I copied and pasted to set up four images on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. I used the properties box to get the alignment and sizing perfect.

 Next I added a plain black rectangle to fill the entire sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 page and moved it behind the images.

Then I filled the black rectangle with the tan color by sampling the background color from one of the images - I do this so there won't be a harsh contrast if my trimming of the image is a bit off.

I selected all of the images and grouped them - here you can see the individual selection boxes around each image.

After grouping, there is just one box.  I could now copy and paste these images to another page and keep the perfect spacing between images.

I printed the full sheet on letter size matte photo paper.  Here you can see the page before I trimmed the images.  I cut green mats at 5 1/4 x 4 inches and cut 8 1/2 x 11 white cardstock in half for the card bases.

I did not ink any edges - I liked the crisp look and contrast from white to green to the tan of the image background.  I did add some Stickles - you know I can't resist that bit of sparkle!

I used Crystal Stickles on the snow on the tops of the bells for both cards.  For the card on the left, I also dotted Christmas Red Stickles on all of the holly berries.  I hope you can see the sparkle if you click on the photos of the cards to enlarge them.

This is a fast and easy way to make a card - you are adding some personal touches but you can easily create a lot of cards in a hurry!

I haven't had a lot of time to use my Creative Memories software lately - I had forgotten how much fun it is to work with images for card projects in addition to the digital scrapbooking I usually do with the software.

This angel is also one of the images that Stan & Russell are sharing.  I added background paper, a flourish, a title, used a corner punch on the image and added shadows and glows to the elements.

Here is one more little experiment I made using one of the filters that creates a mosaic effect.  The mosaic seems to make the Santa even more twinkly!

So, if you want a change of pace - try doing some digital/hybrid projects.  They are lots of fun and a bit less messy.  I will definitely be buying a month subscription to Twisted Papers so I can download lots more of their great images - I will just need to wait until after all of the holiday festivities so I can spend time choosing my 500 images!

Sorry, no Cricut today but don't forget about the chance to win a free copy of the Cricut A to Z instructional DVD.  You need to go back to yesterday's post - here is a LINK - and leave a comment on that post to be included in the drawing.  Thanks again to Megan of Above Rubies Studio for donating this DVD.

We are watching the weather news very carefully again - tomorrow, if all goes well and there are no more airport closings and flight cancellations, our older son will arrive in Boston.  We can't wait to see him!

Too Much Snow!

Three out of four of us are home - our older son is stuck in San Francisco for a couple more days.  He should have arrived tonight, but the flight was canceled because of the storm and he has been rerouted through Texas on Tuesday.  We wish he had been able to get on a flight today, but at least he can relax at home and isn't stuck on an airport bench somewhere!  Keep your fingers crossed that there are no more storms.

We went to a holiday party this afternoon and saw this lovely view on the way.  I snapped the photo of the beautiful sunset with my little "purse camera" out of the car window.  I wish you could get the full effect of the amazing pinky purple sky - it was just beautiful!  

Here are a few more photos - there really wasn't that much snow for us, but there is a ripple effect from the larger snowfalls in the mid-Atlantic that really paralyzed some areas.

I didn't get quite as much done today as I had planned but it was good to relax after all of the driving I have done in the past two weeks - over 1,000 miles!  It is late and I am tired but there are a couple of things I wanted to share with you that may be of interest.

There is a site called Twisted Papers.com where you can find terrific high quality digital images - lots of great vintage ephemera and all sorts of things that will make you smile.  They offer CDs and downloadable images - individually or by a monthly subscription that allows you to download up to 500 images.  Tim Holtz used some of their images in his Day 11 of the Twelve Tags of Christmas.

Right now they are offering some free images as they countdown to Christmas - a new one each day but they are all still available to download.  I am not sure if it is OK for me to just post one of the images here, so please click on the link to see what they have to offer.  The download is direct and ad free.  I will use one of the images in a project and try to have that posted tomorrow.

Edited to add a sample image from the free Christmas downloads from Twisted Papers - thanks Russell & Stan!

I also wanted to let you know that Megan of AboveRubies Studio has sent me a copy of her new DVD - Cricut A - Z.  A few of my projects are included in the inspiration gallery on the DVD.  Megan gives step by step directions on how to use the Cricut - this is a great help for beginners and will also benefit more experienced users.   She goes through all of the functions and creative features that the Cricut will perform and also demonstrates cutting of various materials with the Cricut.

***So here is a nice surprise***   Megan will send a FREE copy of the DVD to one of my blog readers.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post between now and 11:59 p.m. on December 23rd.   I will draw a name using random.org and announce the winner on my blog on December 24th - an extra Christmas gift for someone!  Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if your name is chosen and one comment only per person please!

If you have any suggestions for the path I will take next year with this blog, please add that to your comment.  I have nearly completed my year of daily blogging and I am sorting out where I will go from here.  All suggestions are appreciated.  I do have a few new projects in the works, but I'd love to hear what you like, what you don't like and what you want to see more of.

I hope that those of you in snowy places are safe and warm and that all of your loved ones make it home for the holidays!


The Winner has been chosen - Congratulations to Molly Martin!

Molly said...

Diane,

I would like to echo what Lisa Sturgill said...even when I think I know what I am doing, watching you navigate through CDS helps me to do something easier and/or learn something new.

I also enjoy your posts relating to using a Cricut element or cart for something other than what is was designed for...(i.e. using Zooballoo for Christmas).

Finally, I really appreciate your reviews of new carts AND all the time involved in taking/editing/posting pics of the handbooks.

So, THANK YOU!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Molly Martin

December 21, 2009 10:47 AM

Digital Challenge - Word Art Frames

It's Thursday and time for another Digital Challenge for FCTSC. I am doing these every other week right now and you can see links to past challenges in the side column.

The digital freebies at the Creative Memories site today are frames with word art - if you'd like to check them out here is a LINK to the page. These remind me of the frames I did when I was first getting started with the Design Studio software and we couldn't weld inside a frame - you had to build the frame from pieces to put a word inside.



These date back to early in 2008 - in the first month of my blog - I've learned a lot since then!



So, for this week's digital challenge, try making a word art frame of your own - it can say anything you want and be for any occasion. Here are a few that I did - they are lots of fun. I incorporated my word art inside the frame for some of these - all of the frames were grouped with the word art to make resizing simple.



I use the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus software - if you'd like more information about this software here is a LINK. I have given the information about the elements I used for each of these frames below.

Top left frame filled with paper from the "Delight" digital power palette and word art from "Wishes and Dreams" digital kit.
Top right frame filled with paper from "Holiday Traditional" free predesigned pages and word art from "Delight"' digital power palette.
Lower left frame filled with paper from "Recipe Book" digital kit, word art also from "Recipe Book" digital kit.
Lower right frame filled with paper from the "Primary" digital power pallette, word art from "Mod" digital power pallette.

Remember, if you want to participate in the FCTSC digi challenge, you will need to join FCTSC in order to be able to post your project in the digital challenge section of the gallery.

Have some fun experimenting with putting frames and words together and be sure to post what you make in the gallery at FCTSC.

Digital Challenge #7 - add words to a photo

It's Thursday and time for another Digital Challenge for FCTSC. It is a crazy busy week for me so this one is very simple.

Sometimes you have a lovely photo that would make a nice card front. The photo in my example was actually taken by my brother-in-law who is an amazing photographer. I set up my custom size for a 4 x 6 photo which will work nicely on a 5 x 7 card with a border - it will probably be one I cut with my Cricut.

I simply found some word art in my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus software and added it to the photo. I matched the color to the seed pods. Super simple and fun to do.

In a few days I will post the card I make with this altered photo. Short and sweet for the challenge today - I will be busy posting more projects and reviews from the new Cricut cartridges for the next few days, but I wanted to be sure to get the digital challenge posted for any of you who have been following these challenges each week.

Remember, if you want to participate in the FCTSC digi challenge, you will need to join FCTSC in order to be able to post your project in the digital challenge section of the gallery.

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend - our weather here in the Boston area was just perfect today! Sunny and a bit on the cool side - ideal for a cook out.

We had most of the local extended family members over for the afternoon. It was fun to have all the kids here - including the triplets! It was a very busy day, but, after everyone left, I did have a chance to sit down and do my page for this week's digital challenge at FCTSC.

I used nine photos from our family vacation in February, 2008. The boys had so much fun playing at the beach at Sanibel Island - these are just a few of the many photos I took during the week.

I set up photo spots in three sizes and dropped in various beach photos, zooming them to fit the spaces neatly. I used a bright yellow background paper and added the title in red to match the Red Sox hats the boys were wearing. The font is called "Katie."



I added the "bubble" edge to the three largest photos on the diagonal, matted the four smallest in the same color as the font and added a heavy shadow. Then I added a blur edge to the top left and bottom right photos with a light shadow.



This was the first version of the page that I saved but I decided to go back to my original concept of putting one word in each of the "gaps" betwen the photo groupings. I may change my mind again - which is one of the great features of digital - nothing is final until you decide it is ready to print!

Digital Challenge #5 - Create a page using 8 or more photos

It's Thursday, so that means it is time for another Digital Challenge for From C to Shining C. If you want to participate in this challenge you will need to join the forum site (click the link above) in order to be able to post your project in the gallery.

I work with the Creative Memories StoryBook Plus program for my projects, but the challenges can be done in any digital scrapping program.

One of the advantages of digital scrapping is that you can crop and resize your photos quickly and easily and experiment with various sizes and degrees of zoom on the cropping - without the expense of having multiple copies of your photos printed. When you finally have the page completed you just print it once which can save you money, particularly if you are using a lot of photos on each page.

This week the challenge is to create a page with lots of photos - at least 8 and the sky is the limit. I have posted a few that I did a while ago as examples and I will create a new page for the challenge and post it in the FCTSC challenge gallery (here is a LINK to the digital challenge section of the gallery).

The example at the top of this post is a simple collage of photographs. Many programs have templates you can start from to speed the process of creating the page. This page was created using one of the free downloadable templates for the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus Program in the 12 x 12 "Basic Black" theme. Here is a LINK to the page on my Creative Memories personal website showing the themes available. I used the template and simply dragged and dropped the photos, adjusting the sizes to focus on the parts of the photos I wanted to highlight.



The second example started from a predesigned template in the "Everyday" theme, but I altered it to suit my photos and added various elements and journaling. It is a real time saver to start with a template and adjust it to suit your needs.

Have fun with this project - there are lots of occasions that produce multiple photos and I find it easier to incorporate a large number of photos on a digital page as compared to a traditional paper scrapbook page.

(For those who have been asking about additional times for the Design Studio classes - we are taking a brief break next week, but we will be posting some new sessions for the "Getting Started" class and adding some more advanced classes very soon).

Digital Challenge #3 - Make your own digital element from a photograph

As you know by now, I have taken on the role of Digital Challenge Coordinator at a new crafting (and more) website called From C to Shining C. If you want to participate in this challenge you will need to join the forum site (linked above) in order to be able to post your project in the gallery.

I work with the Creative Memories StoryBook Plus program for my projects, but the challenges can be done in any digital scrapping program.

I am a bit late in getting this posted today - so I hope no one has been waiting too eagerly! I had an early medical appointment and then a never ending stream of calls and appointments!

Today's challenge is to take a photograph and turn an object in the photo into a "digital sticker" or element that you can use for your projects. You will be saving the item as a PNG file.

I will be doing this with my garden gnome photo that I took while visiting our son at college last week.



Here is a LINK to some directions on how to do this if you are using the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus software. I will try to find a tutorial link for Photoshop (if someone has one please leave a comment and I will add it to this post).

Once you have made your "sticker" you can use it in any digital project - a scrapbook page, card, desktop design - whatever you want to make! Please post your project in the FCTSC gallery as usual.

At the top of this post, there is an example of a recipe layout I did for a challenge. I took photos of the Gingersnap cookies I made and then layered and grouped them to make "photo corners." It is a lot of fun to have completely personalized elements to work with in your digital projects so I hope you enjoy taking on this challenge!

Here is a closer view of the digital part of this page.



Have fun with this one. If you have any questions, please comment here or on the FCTSC thread (here is a LINK). I will post my garden gnome project there when it is finished.

Feeling Groovy - Sixties ATCs

The theme for our most recent ATC swap was "the sixties." (Meant to relate to the decade in the last century - not the age of the participants(!)

The first thing that popped into my head was the Simon and Garfunkel song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" which was on their 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme." If that song brings back memories for you too, you may enjoy this entry in Wikipedia. If you want to hear the song - here is a You Tube LINK.

I decided to create this card using mostly digital art. I wanted a tie dye pattern in bright colors for the background. I could not find any of the many tie dye shirts we have purchased for our sons over the years in order to photograph one and create my own "paper," so I applied a gradient in yellow and orange (the two colors my husband said he thought of for the sixties) and then added a crinkly texture. I wanted hot pink involved so I cut the actual ATC card at 2.5 x 3.5 inches from hot pink cardstock and layered my digital designs on top of the cardstock.



I used the "Peace" font from dafont.com for the words "Feeling Groovy" (I just couldn't bring myself to drop the "g" - lingering effects from a strict ninth grade English teacher!). I filled the words with another "psychedelic" color combination - which was actually from some digital paper in the Creative Memories Hannah Montana Digital Power Palette Addition (here is a LINK to see that paper).



On the backs of the ATCs, I used another fun font called "Bell Bottom Laser," also from dafont.com - I just loved the "Peter Max" look to the letters.



I added some "skittles" in the corner because I thought they looked like water drops (and the song is about a bridge after all - or is it?!). I had originally planned to used these little "Love" cuts which are from the Home Accents cartridge, but they didn't work into the design - so I just put them in the individual sleeves when I sent the ATCs to be swapped - maybe the others in my group can use them for something! They reminded me of Robert Indiana and his iconic "Love" sculpture, which was also created in the sixties



Here are my finished ATCs just before mailing. If you'd like to see all the great ATCs the rest of the group made, you can check them out on KER's blog (Karen is our organizer and does a great job of posting all of the cards each month).

(Whew - I think I have set a record for the most links to other sources in one of my blog posts - and there isn't even a .cut file to link!)


A NOTE ON THE VIDEO: Thanks for all the comments and your patience with any technical difficulties you have encountered. I am a bit overwhelmed by the response - over 750 views of the video since I posted it yesterday afternoon. I will definitely do more and I have also stepped up plans for the online classes. Most people seem to be able to view the video easily, though some have had trouble getting the sound loud enough - it could have something to do with individual computers and their settings. I will keep trying to work out any problems but it may be beyond my ability to make the videos work for everyone. I will have another one ready to share either later today or on Friday.