Tips for being a PowerPoint power user

Ginny Soskey on HubSpot recently posted "5 Simple PowerPoint Tricks You Should Have Up Your Sleeve." Anyone who wants to be power user  should read this post and take these tips to heart. Also, check out her other blog posts.

http://blog.hubspot.com/easy-powerpoint-design-tricks-ht

Confessions of a chronic enabler

Sometimes the choices others make have a devastating impact on our lives especially when “the others” are people we love. We are conditioned to be there for our loved ones, even when it takes us to the breaking point. It is easy to blame them for being self-centered while we see ourselves as self sacrificing. But it isn’t that simple. Often times we share the guilt by enabling others to continue in their selfish behavior because we have yet to draw a line in the sand and say “you have gone this far but no further.” We worry that we may be seen as the selfish ones, even though we are not the immediate source of grief and misery.

Recently, a dear friend stopped by and over a glass or two of wine, we shed some tears and laughed, but more importantly we talked about the changes we need to make in ourselves to stem this tide. She and I have had to learn the hard way that once you give an inch, in no time you are giving a mile. Before you know it, your life is taken over by someone else’s problems and there is little room for you to deal with your own. Life becomes a series of someone else crises and the superhero cape you once wore is now threadbare from the borage of other people’s drama.

Today I had a lesson in procrastination. I had a small garage fire. I had been saying that I need to get a fire extinguisher. I need to put my fire alarms back up. I need to clean out my garage. I need to get my house in order — physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. There are things that I have been procrastinating about when it comes to dealing with other people’s nonsense. I need to clean house.

My sister once commented that I am always in the planning mode and not in the doing mode. She is right. I am a planner. I have to think things through, sometimes to my own detriment. Sometimes, I am just afraid to act, afraid to fail or afraid to be wrong. I no longer want to live in a spirit of fear. For the first time in my 36 years, I want to live for me and consider my needs, wants and desires first. Because if I don’t, who will?

I grew up believing that this attitude is selfish and un-Christ-like. We often think of Christ as a meek little lamb who preached turning the other cheek. We often forget that he also didn’t tolerate nonsense. If you don’t believe me, read how he “set it off” at the temple when he saw the moneychangers desecrating holy ground. Well, enough meek and mild. It is time I set it off.

To my friends out there, who like me, have been tolerating other people’s nonsense; when you have finally had enough, take a stand in your own lives. I am not advocating changing who you are. Nor am I advocating abandoning a giving spirit. I am advocating self love. We all need to treat ourselves better.

The reason I wrote this is because I know there are others out there who are just like me — chronic enablers or complete pushovers who are trying to help others who aren’t helping themselves. Well ladies and gentlemen, it is time to stop. We have been doing more harm than good. Although we all should give a helping hand, we should not allow others to grow dependant on it.

Selecting words vertically in Microsoft Word

Here is a really cool trick that I learned a few years ago. It has saved me a lot of time when I need to clean up a document. Have you ever needed to delete text vertically? For instance, maybe you need to delete some bullets and a few spaces that start at the beginning of the sentence. If these bullets were properly formatted, then you could simply select the text and click on the bullet button to remove that formatting. But that is not the case here with this example. There are two ways to do this quickly. One was is to use the find/replace feature. The other is to use Alt to select text vertically.

Over the past few years, I discovered a new passion — scrapbooking. Coupled with my knack for graphic design, you get digital scrapbooking. It is the best of both worlds. You get all of the frills of scrapbooking, with little to no cost. Let’s face it, scrapbooking is not a cheap hobby. Try buying a Cricut Expressions machine or even one of the cartridges and let me know how long it takes for your wallet to recover. I should know. Nonetheless, I love my Cricut and scrapbooking. I really love digital scrapbooking. You don’t even have to be a graphic designer to create spectacular pages. You can spend as much time as you want stretching your creative muscles, or you can use one of the many layouts already created for you. I put together this page in less than five minutes. I added some text, a box and some photos my friend Monica posted on her Facebook page. This quick page came from one of my favorite digital scrapbooking sites, rakscraps.com. Check them out. Each month, members get a free mega kit of digital scrapbooking goodies. Did I mention membership is free? You can also purchase digital items at a really low cost. So explore the Web and see what the world of digital scrapbooking has to offer. Do it for free, of course.

The Go-To Girl

Let me take a moment to introduce myself. I am Sheshe (pronounced shay shay). For the purpose of this blog and just to make life easier, I will go by Shay.

I work in marketing publications, which means I deal with a variety of print projects from the concept stage to getting the project printed. Sometimes I design projects, and at other times I hire other designers. My unique background and curious nature has resulted in me understanding the ins and outs of how to get the most out software to make documents look professional and to make your life easier. I have learned many tips and tricks over the years, and I would like to share them with you.

I decided to start this blog because apparently I am the go-to girl when it comes to everything from how to do things on the computer, especially when it comes to graphic design projects.

This blog will cover everything from the basic how-tos in programs like Microsoft Word to graphic design tutorials in programs such as Adobe Photoshop to digital scrapbooking. I hope you will find this blog helpful and entertaining.