Tuesday, July 20, 2010

M.I.A. but will be back soon

I have been missing in action here lately, I do know that. I have been extremely busy with summer activities and enjoying spending time with my babies. E is going to be starting preschool this year, so I am trying to fit in as much as possible before he takes off...sniff, sniff:( I am looking forward to spending some quality time with S.R. though.
I have had very little motivation in the world of crafting and projects. I am in the middle of a project that has been sitting in the laundry room floor for over a week now. Something is missing and I don't know what to do to finish it off, so it sits:o) 
I have been "putting up" lots of veggies in the freezer and tried my hand at canning some pickles the other day. They turned out so good that the hubs won't stay out of them. He has gone thru 2 quarts in about 4 days...by himself:o)
I will eventually get something posted on here, but for now, I am focused on my sweets. Taking them to see a free movie today. We need to take a break from the sun. We got a little roasty toasty yesterday at the water park. I look like a raccoon today:o) Lots of makeup for the next few days;o) Have a great rest of the week!!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Living Room Revealed


I'm not sure if it's the moment you have all been waiting for, but I have been chomping at the bit to show you guys...The vinyl bible verse above was the finishing touch...for now;o) I'm gonna let the pics do the talking for themselves. 
Not sure if you remember what the before looked like...a little something like this:
and this:
But now it looks like this:
and this:
wait, it looks better without the blinding lamp on..
I will be changing out the wreath..too blendy, but it's all I got for now:oP
and how 'bout this?
Love the little pictures above the ottoman.
They are from an estate sale that my mother hosted.
A little reading nook...needs a small ottoman...putting that on the "list of future purchases."
Fireplace view...what's with the lamps glowing in all these pictures? And things are lookin' a lee-ttle fuzzy:o)
A different angle:
And I had to get a close up of these cuties. I bought them at Hobbly Lobbly for $1 each in their 80% off section. Thinking they may be "re-pigmented" soon;o)
And one last look with the Bible verse displayed ever so sweetly above the entertainment center:
O.K., so much for letting the pictures do all the talking. What can I say, I have a problem. I need a t-shirt that says, "I'm talking and I can't shut up":o) 
Hope you have enjoyed my living room makeover!! Would love to hear your comments....just so you know, there will more than likely be a few changes made...soon...just sayin';o)


Participating in The CSI Project Before and After Party


Linking up to Weekend Wrap Up Party over at Tatertots and Jello & Furniture Feature Friday over at Mustard Seed Creations.


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Make sure to check out the current giveaway here!!!!



Thursday, July 8, 2010

Bama Painting


Not all of you are going to appreciate this painting, but the hubs surely did:o) Remember my Dragon Fly Painting? Well I painted this little pup at the same place. There wasn't really anywhere to hang it in the office, so he took it to work with him:o) I hope that you guys are doing great. I am "planning" some projects for the weekend. I am absolutely DYING to paint another room. I've got the painting bug:o) Have a FAB day!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Competitive Struggles Among Television Platforms

Since the emergence of cable and satellite television services there has been struggles among platforms to increase their attractiveness to audiences and to draw market share from terrestrial television in developed nations. These struggles have had affected content producers, broadcasters, platform operators and regulators attempting to fashion socially optimal broadcasting systems.

In the first competitive struggles between terrestrial broadcasters and cable operators, broadcasters controlled the highest quality contemporary programming and cable operators primarily competed by offering a wider variety of channels and providing premium movie channels. In many locations broadcasters actively sought regulatory policies to keep their channels from appearing on cable in order to reduce its attractiveness as a competitor.

As cable matured and satellite services emerged, the nature of the struggle shifted as greater subscription and advertising revenues allowed cable networks to offer higher quality contemporary programming. In this competitive phase, terrestrial, cable and satellite operators began struggling for exclusivity of content that would drive audiences to the platforms. Gaining exclusive rights to first broadcast runs of motion pictures, sporting, musical and other events, and high quality original programs became primary goals. In this environment, producers of content and owners of event rights sought to maximize their returns across the platforms. while platform operators sought to maximize their returns by gaining market power through exclusivity. This led to negotiations based not only on transmission rights but exclusivity rights as well, which dramatically pushed up costs of some content—especially sports rights.

As cable garnered a larger audience share, broadcasters that had previously been opposed to carriage of terrestrial signals on cable because asking regulators for ‘must carry’ rules to require cable operators to carry terrestrial channels so they could have additional access to audiences or audiences in places their terrestrial signals had not previously reached. This was especially useful for advertising supported channels, both public service and commercial.

In recent years, the widespread success of cable and satellite platforms and the shift of wealth from terrestrial to other platforms has led broadcasters to demand payments from cable and satellite platform operators for carrying their channels. The newer platforms are resistent and in some nations the struggle over payments remains on-going.

The digitalisation of terrestrial, cable, satellite, and broadband platforms has now created multiple opportunities of distribution of audiovisual materials and is creating a new environment in which additional competitive struggles are taking place among platform operators. At stake are the significant potential gains from advanced paid video-on-demand services and IPTV. Platform operators—DTT, cable, satellite, and telecommunications firms that offer broadband services—are now struggling to ensure that they are not competitively disadvantaged compared to other operators. Operators that control or have high market power over platforms, especially broadband links and systems needed for advanced services or interactive DTT services, will have significant advantages in the next generation of services. Consequently, there is a great deal of effort on the part of major platform operators to acquire access to all platforms and services through ownership, alliances and joint ventures and in many cases there are outright efforts to control those platforms and servcies.

The trajectory and outcome of this competitive struggle is particularly important because it will have significant impact on the range of services and costs for services available to the public. These developments also have significant importance for the relationship between content producers and platform operators because the means of compensation is likely to evolve from current transmission rights and exclusivity rights payments to one involving revenue and profit sharing. This has significant implications to the funding and ways that contemporary terrestrial television programming is created and role of terrestrial broadcasters in the new environment.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tuesday Tutorials-Distressing Curtain Rod Holders..& a Sneak Peak

Sorry that I am late with the tute:o) The kids have been a little sick, and I just now was able to muster up the energy to sit down and type. This isn't much of a tutorial, but I think you'll get the general idea. So....
Here are some curtain rod hangers that I bought at a yard sale last year. I haven't known quite what to do with them, until I realized that nothing is safe when there is spray paint around:o)
The before picture does not exist b/c I didn't take one, but I did not take the time to spray the back, so this is what the finish was:
A sort of dark cherry finish. I think I bought all 4 for $5, maybe??
Anyway, I spray painted them with some white that I had out in the garage and they all turned out like this:
Now, I thought that would be it...hang 'em and be done. Then I realized that I missed....a lot....which you can't tell from this pic:o) So I decided that I would distress them. That way you would never be able to tell the difference. All you need is some sand paper. Rough up all the edges and make sure to really dig thru the recessed parts. Take as little or as much as you please and you should come up with something that looks a little like this:
I didn't take too much off. Just enough:o)
All four beauts:o)
And now for a sneak peek of the wall color...
Oh yeah, and you can see the rod holders hung:o) I haven't quite got all of the accessorization done, so you'll have to wait  a tiny bit longer;o) I know the suspense is killing you:o)

Monday, July 5, 2010

A Winner and An Outfit

We have a winner! The camera strap cover goes to Jana! I'll be in touch with you soon to hash out the details! Congratulations!!!
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I hope that you all had a wonderful Independence Day....ours was "eventful." The babies are sick, so you can imagine how wonderful things are around here right now:o) We did have a moment last night though, that was serene, and almost perfect....back porch, lights were out, citronella candles lit, hubs was playing the guitar, fireworks in the background(so thankful we live out in the country and there isn't a ban on fireworks), and the kids were wrapped up in their blankies(with fevers) each snuggled up in someone's arms. It was perfectly imperfect. I wouldn't have traded it for any other moment. 
I know that I have been sharing a lot of outfits here lately, but usually in the summer time I make a lot of clothing. Summer clothing is much easier to make than winter. Some friends of ours that attend church with my family just had a sweet little one, and I wanted to make something for her. I had this project sitting in my "to-do" basket, originally intending for S.R. to wear it...she obviously got bigger and so there it sat....for over a year. Then baby Cora came along, and I new it had to be for her:o)
I love eyelet. The lace is vintage...something my mother handed down. I can't wait for baby Cora to wear it. Hopefully she will be able to wear it before it turns cold. 
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Tomorrow is Tuesday Tutorials. I'll be sharing a lamp revamp. Enjoy your day!

linking up to Just Something I Whipped Up Monday