Cate's Scrapsations

Catchin' up some layouts...

2010-06-18T07:59:00.002-04:00

Title: Your eyes

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Strawberry girl

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Jaylin - Little Sprite

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: My Little Masterpiece

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Jaylin - Jaybug

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: You Color My World Like A Rainbow

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Jaylin - that smile

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Infinity and beyond

Credits can be seen here.

This last one was not a CT layout - just something I did for myself because I found the PERFECT wordart for Micaila, and it was FREE!

Just wanted to catch up the recent layouts... Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Caleb's here!

2010-05-15T10:29:00.002-04:00

I don't have a photo yet to share, but he arrives yesterday afternoon - so I have a new nephew! 6lbs. 11oz. & 19.5 in. at 4:30pm in Charlotte, NC! There's another Reed in the world! :D

Happy i{NSD} with a freebie!

2010-05-01T07:25:00.007-04:00

Well, this is going to be a LOOOOONNNNNG post! lol

Quick update on us... Dad, the kids and I leave Tuesday night after work to drive to KY for Blayne's Basic Training Graduation on the 6th. So I'll be offline more than online from the 4th-8th.

Work has flown into full swing with the on-set of prom season which will be quickly followed by senior portrait season. Thank GOD we finally hired a replacement for Sharon - of course, she just started Monday and we were non-stop tuxedo orders for the last 2.5 hrs of the day on Monday. As much as I feel bad for that being her first day it's a damn good thing for me she was there 'cause the boss has a session for the last 1.5 hrs of that same time. I've got to work 10-2 with her this morning, have a couple of hrs off, and then be back in Watertown to work a prom at 6:30... Have I mentioned how much I HATE prom season?!? So busy you can't remember your own name, and now I'm having to train my co-worker's replacement on top of it.

So, moving on... to LOs!

Title: Jaylin - Sweet Dreams

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Birthday Girl

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Jaylin - loving you

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Big Bear

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Believe

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: adore

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: You are everything

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: you are my heartbeat

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Someday...

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: play all day

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: dreams do come true

Credits can be seen here.
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Then we come to i{NSD} goodness!

Lucie was able to get things re-arranged at home, and is BACK! ad77designs can now be found at MScraps! Be sure to swing by her store and check out her great deals to celebrate her grand opening!

Connie has added a SLEW of awesome new kits and grab bags to all of her stores in the last couple of weeks, AND has moved to a new store! As of today you can stop be her new store at Scrapbook Bytes!! Here are some of her newest kits, and there are a TON of new template packs as well!

Designs by Kristine has a 30% sale for 24 hours ONLY! At midnight tonight it goes away so be sure to snag some goodies now!

Dianne Rigdon is also having an i{NSD} sale for one day only – 30% any order over $3. Use coupon code iNSD2010 to grab your goodies today! (Sorry, this can not be combined with any other coupon related special pricing.) AND, she's hosting a giveaway - for more details see her blog.

Princess Lala Designs has a brand-spanking new kit out called 26 & 41 to celebrate her & Royanna's birthdays! (Tomorrow is Laura's - Happy Birthday, hon!) And, it's on sale for just $2 until the 5th!

The last LO above was made using this kit. :)

Royanna has a great i{NSD} sale going on at DigiScrap Warehouse - all CU kits are $2, and spend $10 to get 50% off!! No coupon necessary - just spend $10, and the discount will automatically come up during checkout.

All of us who sell at WenchdGrafix aka Kristine's Place are having an i{NSD} sale so almost everything in the store is 30-50% off! Be sure to stop in to check out those savings. :) And, then... your freebie... a WenchdGrafix Designer Team Blog Hop Collab! Wanna see??

So here is my part:

Elements
Papers 1
Papers 2
Papers 3
Papers 4

password: goodies

(TY, Janie for pointing out I forgot the password. Definitely a DOH! morning! LOL)

These should all be about 20MB so they won't be too hard to download even for dial-up! Please send your friends here - no link sharing - and be sure to leave a comment here or on 4shared. I love to know people like my stuff! :D

Be sure to hit all the stops on this blog hop to grab this HUGE kit!
Kristine - http://kristinesplace/blog
Diane - http://www.carjazidesigns.com/
Jodiann - http://www.jodianncates.com/weblog
Cate - http://www.scrapsationsofcate.blogspot.com/ (You are here.)
Mindi - http://madebyholeycow.blogspot.com/2010/04/long-time-and-collab.html

PHEWWWW! Told you it would be long! LOL If you actually read through all of that THANK YOU! If you didn't, can't say I blame you! LOLOL

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT day!

:)

Happy Easter! Update & a Freebie! :)

2010-04-03T08:44:00.008-04:00

It's been a busy few months, and I just haven't been as inspired as normal.

My youngest brother, Kolby, has gotten engaged, and is expecting his first child at the end of May. He's still working on his IT degree from UoP Online, and has gotten a job doing some online support for dealers websites. (I think that's what it is anyway.)

The older of my two brothers, Blayne, has reported to basic training, and has been there a little over 1 month now. He's keeping up with the younger guys. (And, in some cases showing them up!) He misses Marcy & Jaylin tons, but knows in the long run this will be best for them. He has also managed to lose 20 lbs despite eating the way he's used to. He's currently stationed at Ft. Knox, KY. His graduation ceremony is supposed to be about the first weekend in May. Then he'll move on to 3 months of AIT for mechanics on Bradley Assualt Vehicles. He found out that the overseas bases where that work is performed are primarily in Germany & Korea so if/when he gets deployed overseas at least it shouldn't be to any active war zones.

I haven't really heard much news from my sister, Nora, except that she is currently battling a sinus infection paired with bronchitis. FUN - NOT! Dad and the kids and I will be heading over there tomorrow for Easter. Mike is working.

Brenden has been being... well,... Brenden. Most of his antics are completely normal for a 5.5 yr old boy I know, but he's pulled a few stunts in the past month that have left me trying not to tear my hair out in frustration. He did manage to get Student of the Week finally - on a week he missed 2 days due to strep throat! LOL Apparently the secret to getting him to behave in school is to keep him home for almost 1/2 of the week!

Micaila's class all wrote animal poems a few months ago, illustrated them, and sent them to be printed in a hardcover book. I managed to get the afternoon off for their presentation of the book to families, which Micaila didn't know I'd done. She assumed only Grampy would manage to be there so her face lit right up when she saw me.

My coworker has left work, and we still have no replacement for her. Not a HUGE issue atm, but we're starting to get busier, and we have our annual sale for seniors in 1 month. We'd better have someone here and trained before then... Of course, you should SEE some of the people who've come in to apply! One woman was so overweight she could barely walk, and is here to apply for a position that has listed - among many other duties - measuring for tuxedos. If you can't walk how are you going to be able to bend, kneel, etc. to measure someone???

I'm at work now for another 1hr, and then we're jetting for Syracuse. One of Dad's cousin's passed on Wednesday from acute liver failure due to cancer. I thought she'd been fighting cancer for 2-3 years, but found out she'd actually been battling it on and off for the last 14 years. Today's her wake & funeral. She's left behind a husband, 2 married daughters, and 4 grandchildren - not to mention the extended family. I created this LO which I've printed and framed for the family to show and keep:

Title: Someday

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Daybreak Kit by Designs by Kristine available at WenchdGrafix.com. (hue changed for heart ribbon)
Photo by my dad. (cropped & retouched slightly)
Fonts: Jane Austen; ReservoirGrunge

Ok, which brings me to CT news...
Lucie (aka ad77design) decided she needed more time with family, and has retired as of March 31st.

Connie's Team has created an entire week of freebies for you which ends tomorrow. This includes a 14 page QP album!! Hop over to her blog to snag the goodies! (Link is at the right.)

Kristine has 3 new kits. Daybreak featured above and Cheerful are in the store now, and Over the Hump which is a masculine-themed kit will be coming VERY soon! She's also looking for some guest CT members! Check out her call here. :)

Royanna has a Spring Madness Buy My Store Sale going on right now. $20 will get you access to download EVERYTHING in her personal store!

Laura (Princess Lala) is also having a HUGE sale... Almost everything in her store is marked down to $1 OR LESS!!!

I have more LOs to share, but I'm at work, and they are not.

I also added 2 kits to my store since my last post. Lindsey's Beginning was designed for my future SIL to use when creating wedding invitations, LOs, Thank You Notes, etc., AND Kristine creating a Coordinating kit as well Lindsay's Beginning! My kit is also broken into element-only, paper-only, and template-only sets if you don't want the whole she-bang. :) My 2nd kit is Burst of Spring which is exactly what it sounds like - bright colors and tons of blooms to help celebrate our new season.

So,... now that you've waded through all of that... Your freebie awaits! Spring A-Fair Paperpack will be available only until April 30th. :)

Spring A-Fair
password: goodies

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day! :)

untitled...

2010-01-23T10:35:00.003-05:00

Not feeling so creative title-wise today. In fact, feelin' kinda' lazy and tired all around. Would like to just start typing in all lowercase to keep from hitting so many keys! LOL

Have some LOs to share today. The last two haven't been uploaded as yet 'cause I've been a tad bit busy so I'll have to type out the credits on those.

For Xmas my SIL got my brother tickets for all 3 of them to come home for 10 days - well 9 days due to Mother Nature being a witch and canceling all flights through Chicago on the day they were set to leave. Anywho, they hadn't been home in almost 3 years, and I finally got to meet my youngest niece! She really is such a ray of sunshine, and has this giggle that is infectuous. In fact, it pretty much sounds like Tickle Me Elmo! LOL Dad flew my other brother, Kolby in for the first weekend as well because he had to be home in Charlotte the 12th, but we managed to get family pics, a meal, and some hanging out shoved into the few days the whole family was home.

Work is... well, work. We're in our slow period right now so I do have an extra day off a week, but that means losing 7 hrs pay as well. On days that I am at work I try to stay busy with projects like creating indexes of my CU products so I can flip through a paper index when creating papers, etc during our busier times instead of opening files to figure out what I have. (I've found some CU stuff I would dump if it wasn't all ready burned to cd anyway in doing so!)

Thursday was my birthday. Dad and the kids decided to take me to Texas Roadhouse after picking up my BFF of 20 yrs and her son. That was mostly to force me onto the saddle despite my asking them not to though. Good food with good friends made it worthwhile. Haven't had cake as yet, but Micaila's birthday is a week form today so I'm sure I'll get plenty of it next week between making cupcakes for class and cake for home.

I used money from Xmas to catch up two of my favorite book series (I have several "favorite" series! :D ). I got the last two books in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and the last two books in the Riley Jensen series by Keri Arthur. I'm using the money from my birthday to get a new printer 'cause mine hasn't worked more than it has worked for a few months now. I'd managed to find this printer on sale at TigerDirect for $149.99, and asked Dad to check it out and research inks for me to see if it would be worth upgrading to it. My last printer was bought with birthday money 4 years ago. Dad managed to find the same printer - new in box - on eBay for $129.99 including shipping! And, then found a 15-pack of inks for it on another site for $53! I should be good to go for about 3 months or so before I need more ink. :)

CT change-ups...
Connie has asked me to become a member of her permanent team as her QP creator because the previous QP creator had to step down. That means I get her goodies in exchange for making QPs for her to give away now. :) I'll be a tad bit busy this weekend due to this as she has a HUGE number of new kits and template packs being released within the next week!

And, Lucie aka ad77design, has also asked me to stay on as a member of her permanent team! :)

LOs:

Title: you are the coolest

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: happiness is being near you

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: imagine

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Merry 15th, Krysti!

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: 2010 Wall Calendar

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: absolute joy

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: cousins and friends

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Jaylin - Beauty

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Simply Gorgeous Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra, available at Divine Digital.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Palace Script
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Title: scenes from mount green

Credits:
Paper and elements from the I Wish I Had Wings Kit by ad77design available at Scrapbird.com.
Photos by my brother, Blayne.
Fonts: Pea Chelsea K Script

That'll do me for now. I'll try to get back tomorrow to show you a couple of awesome goodies from ad77design. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Our Gift To You Blog Train...

2009-12-17T21:04:00.002-05:00

Merry (early) Christmas from the WenchdGrafix Designers & CT! We have a blog train full of coordinating freebies for you!

I didn't make a preview so mine will be a true surprise, but I can tell you it holds 6 papers, a "paper pieced" xmas tree, 2 photo masks, and a set of 3-12x12 templates in PSD & PSP! :)

My Gift To You
password: holidays

I'm posting a little early 'cause this is supposed to go up tomorrow morning, but I'll be getting the kids out the door to school and me off to work alone in the morning so the less left 'til then the better! LOL Anywho, the rest of the gals should be posting tomorrow morning so be sure to swing by their blogs as well!

Jan
Kristine
Diane
Leslie
HoleyCow Designs
Renee

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT holiday if I don't post again before then!

:)

Festive freebies...

2009-12-04T07:15:00.002-05:00

Just poppin' in quick to offer you a free goody and the chance to grab more! Can't stay long this morning 'cause I have to get the kids off to school, and drop my van at the mechanic's on the way to work. It's only about 2500 miles overdue for an oil change... *sigh* I also need the motor for the rear wiper replaced (supposed to get a quote for that) and there's something loose in the front end. As the passenger tie rod was just replaced I'm not sure what it would be, but once I hit about 50-55 miles an hour there is a contant shimmy that gets REALLY bad if I let off the gas to coast... So we'll see... Dad and the kids are picking me up tonight to go to dinner and see my neice, Krysti, be Dracula's second bride at school in her drama club play. :)

Anyway, on to your reason for being here... I have a blogheader freebie using Kristine's Festive kit!

Festive Blogheader
password: holidays

Would you like even more goodies with this awesome kit? Swing by Kristine's blog for some terrific QPs! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Black Friday Goodness and a few LOs...

2009-11-27T07:06:00.004-05:00

The big Turkey Day celebration has passed here in the US, and it's off to the races for Xmas sales!! LOL We had 12 of us here yesterday, and have enough leftovers that they don't all fit into the fridge! Mom, Dad, my sister's family of 6 and the four of us plus a 25lb turkey, 10lb ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, baked beans with pineapple & ham, squash, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce (fresh from the can! LOL), dinner rolls with cinnamon butter, two pumpkin pies, 2 apple upside down pies with pecans, and 1 pumpkin spice pecan cake. Can you say stuffed?!? Oh! And, as she's laying down to sleep, Micaila managed to pull out that loose tooth... Mommy forgot to call the Tooth Fairy though - bad Mommy!

So I have Black Friday specials from a few of my CT designers to share with you, and the LOs I mentioned I couldn't for various reasons in my last post! :) So,... this will be another long and image-laden post! LOL

Ready?!? Ok, here we go!

First up today is Royanna:

Her store
Divine Digital has had a rough month or so what with someone hacking the site and trashing it, but it is up and running so swing by to grab some awesome savings! This comes with 2 months of access to download any and all you want including any products uploaded during that time!! Royanna also has some terrific $1 specials if buy the store isn't your thing. :)

Second, we've got Kristine:

Her store
Kristine's got some terrific kits, including Festive for only $2.75! That's the kit I used to make my holiday cards this year. :) Don't miss out on one of her best sales of the year!!

Third, is Heather:

She's got a terrific buy my store promo atm as well which she extended through Monday the 30th, AND she has 3 new products for ONLY $1 each!!

Doodly Do Winter

Doodly Do Calendar

Dirty Overlays Set 1

And, if that isn't enough, on Monday. everything in the store will also be 35% off!

Fourth, we have Connie's terrific deals:

Her Black Friday sale is 50% off EVERYTHING - PU & CU - in both her Gotta Pixel & Elemental Scraps stores!! She also has a ton of new products available at really great deals...

PU Grab Bag by Connie Prince & Jennifer Barrette

This is chock-full of fun, coordinating goodies that I am hoping to find time to play with tonight!

Deck the Halls Collection (also available as individual packs)

This is only $3.50 for the bundled collection!!!

Hey Santa Collection (also available as individual packs)

This is only $3.09 for the bundled collection!

Winter Days Collection (also available as individual packs)

This is only $3.50 for the bundled collection!

And, last, but not least my favorite of the group...
Crash Boom Pow Collab with Armina

ES also has a great promo going on for the weekend so you get even more for your money...

And, Connie has a great QP freebie for you on her blog. :)
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On to the LOs...

Title: Autumn

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Christmas 1978

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Christmas 1976

Credits can be seen here.

Those last two are from a beautiful holiday kit by ad77designs, Christmas Memories...

Gotta' run now 'cause I have to get to work. I only got the 1 day off, and my coworker is gone down-state to visit her son's family for the weekend... Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Neglectful blogger...

2009-11-21T11:30:00.006-05:00

I THINK about posting almost every day. Does that count? LOL I mean I only spend somewhere between 10 and 16 hours a day on the pc so it seems like I should have more than enough time to post a little something each day, doesn't it?!? It's Facebook. I admit it. I'm completely hooked. I had FarmTown... then added FarmVille, and spent more time there than on FT... and now my BFF has gotten me hooked on Treasure Mania. I place full responsibility for my issue on Kandie's shoulders! Ha! LOL I even sneak in while on break at work... While at work I'm normally lurking on Pro4um seeking new ideas/inspiration for my boss.

So, what's new at our house?

Well, Micaila has 3 holes in her smile atm, 2 adult teeth, and a wiggler. She doing her normal stellar job at school. She's 3 reading levels ahead of where they expect her to be at this point! Not that it is a shock because both kids have been very involved reading/writing/drawing-wise since they were about 2, but very proud non-the-less. She also received an Art Award at their first Smile Day on Friday morning for her first quarter. Now to work on the attitude/lack of listening at home most days... She's got her first birthday party of the school year to attend tomorrow for a friend from last year who's in a different classroom this year.

Brenden is completely hooked on Lego games for the PS2 and/or actual Legos. You can normally find him doing one or the other. My biggest issue being that he refuses to move the Legos to the middle of the room to work, and is often right in the middle of the doorway. I tripped over him and almost dropped my laptop the other morning. I spent a good portion of our tax return on it earlier this year so was not happy to say the least...

At school he's a mixed bag. Learning-wise he's doing well. Attitude and stubborness aren't helping otherwise though. When he's got a substitute or is with peripheal teachers like art or gym he tends to try to manipulate things to get his own way or out-right not listen. He managed to trick a sub and the head of the cafeteria into letting him charge a breakfast a few weeks ago by saying he hadn't been able to eat at home and we hadn't given him any money. Nevermind that he had eaten and his regular teacher knows he eats at home every morning. Mike had to go talk to the cafeteria staff, and Brenden is no longer allowed to charge anything. Which meant when we had no luncheon meat at home Monday and he went to school with PB&J he managed to scam someone into giving him a hotdog because he "hates" bread. We know he isn't fond of it, but we'd forgotten to pick the meat up. Oh, and if you take him to a diner he orders grilled cheese!! EEEEERRRRRRGGG!! What to do with this boy...

I've had a horrible cough for a week now that started as a tickle last Friday. It was so bad by Monday that I lost an hour of pay to go to the doctor just to be sure it wasn't something serious. He didn't tell me what it was, but said I didn't need antibiotics and the only thing he could do was give me cough medicine with codeine. And, that if it hadn't let up by this Monday to go back so they could check further. The only thing that halts the cough is sipping water so I've had a TON of it this week. In fact, on Monday I drank 1 gallon plus between 9am and 5:30pm!! Work has been really slow for the most part now that the seniors are done. Which means, of course, the boss is getting antsy, and has declared that if it is as slow on this Monday as it was yesterday we'll be doing a FULL cleaning of the building... My only issue with that is this cough has made me super-sensitive to smells. On Tuesday he tried to Pledge the wood paneling in the hallway, and I had to leave for lunch because the smell was burning my nose making it hard to breathe. Pledge does not normally bother me at all...

Mike is, well..., Mike. Still trying to convince me to move back to LI. I still don't want to go. He's had his schedule changed at work twice again in the last week. As of this past Monday he started working 10-7 with Tuesday/Wednesday off, and then came home Thursday (an hour late) to say that as of this coming Monday he'll be 10-7 with Saturday/Sunday off... That means today is probably the last day the kids'll have at the zoo for a while because Grampy won't have them Saturdays - at least until Mike's boss changes his mind again. Mike does have Thanksgiving off though - which is good 'cause I don't want to be up at midnight working on the monstronsity of a turkey... We've got a 25lb turkey and a 10lb ham! Considering we'll have about 12 people (4 of whom are my niece and nephews who eat like they've been starved!) at the house I hope that's enough. LOL

I guess this is long enough that I ought to catch up my LOs now, huh?

Title: Snapper Surprise

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Beautiful Witch

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Fall moments

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Boo

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Costume #2

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Live Out Loud

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Heaven sent

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: The best...

Credits can be seen here.

LO completed for Vera Lim's CT Blog Challenge using fall colors.
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I've also created the card listed in the previous post and 12 monthly calendars as part of a hybrid project I still haven't taken photos of; 1 paper LO, 1 digital I can't share 'til Monday, and 1 digital I forgot to upload to Photobucket prior to work since my last LO post. I think that about covers me for today.

Oh! If you are still looking for Holiday Kits Connie Prince has released 2 more since my last post including a Grab Bag with 5 new products today for only $3!! You can read all about it, and see what's in the bag here.

Thanks for stopping by (and making it through all of that), and have a great day!

:)

Holiday goodies with a freebie...

2009-11-14T11:39:00.004-05:00

**WARNING** Image-heavy with CT goodies!

I have holiday goodness to share with you from 3 of my CTs...

1st off - Kristine of Designs by Kristine has released Festive and Sugared Noel Paper Pack! I love Festive for it's combination of doodles & realistic elements with both whimsical and traditional themes. There's something in this kit for almost everyone! The colors in Sugared Noel are just perfect for Micaila, and as soon as we have some snow (not that I'm asking for it mind you) I'll be catching some photos to use with that as well! Both are sale through the end of November. :)

Festive

I used Festive to create my Holiday Cards for this year. :)

Sugared Noel Paper Pack
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2nd up are Connie's goodies for this month's Gotta Grab It at Gotta Pixel... for only $1 EACH, but today through the 17th only so grab'em quick! :)

Winter Days Kit

Winter Days - Worn Paper Pack

5x7 Brag Book Templates - Commercial Use OK

12x12 Winter Days Templates - Commercial Use OK

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And, last, but not least, is Heather's newest kit, A Winter Morning is in the store now, AND it's currently on sale for ONLY $2!! The preview doesn't do this kit justice. Don't miss out on this awesome sale!

Oh! Did I mention a freebie?! LOL I tried to get a LO together for Heather, but couldn't find the photo I wanted so my bad luck is your good luck. I created a QP for it instead! Please remember to abide by the TOU and send others here for the link! For even more goodies from this kit be sure to watch Heather's CT Blog as she'll have more soon! She even has a Twitter background freebie on her own blog now. :)

A Winter Morning QP

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Home Sweet Home

2009-10-24T12:18:00.003-04:00

Just popping by quick to show you a beautiful new kit by ad77design. I'm guesting for her through December, and this first kit has fall-ish colors with some great overlays & word art to boot! I have two LOs in my post below using this gorgeous kit.

You can grab Home Sweet Home at her store at Scrapbird for only $6.50 as a bundle!

:)

Quick LO update...

2009-10-20T07:29:00.002-04:00

Title: Thank you for being a friend

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Sisters of the heart

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Sportin' Mama's Glasses

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: everyday miracles

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Summer's End 2009

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Bad Hair Day

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: joyful heart

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: every day Halloween

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Mr. Attitude

Credits can be seen here.

Gotta' run the kids to school, and pick up my ArtsCow albums at the PO! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

More LOs, some good news, & a SALE!!

2009-10-03T07:40:00.002-04:00

Not a whole lot of news since my last post, but the turning of another month... We've gotten most of our Halloween decorations up, and I'm hoping my coworker will agree to work Halloween for me so I can spend the whole day with the kids. Last year they didn't really get Halloween 'cause I had my surgery and Mike didn't take them out...

I did finish up the design of the 6th album so we could get the order in at ArtsCow. They had a special email coupon good through tomorrow for their 60pg 8x8 hardcover photobooks - $18.99 for the first & $15.99 for each additional with FREE shipping! Dad got me 7 albums for Xmas, and I got 5 additional as Xmas gifts for other family members. :) In total the savings from the coupon including the free shipping was just over $300!! They really have some awesome deals!

My LOs since my last post...

Title: magic in the eyes

Credits can be seen here.
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Title: Burrville 2009

Credits can be seen here.
___________________________

Title: apple picking

Credits can be seen here.
___________________________

Title: Aria of the Heart

Credits can be seen here.
___________________________

On to the sale...

And, last but not least... the good news...

I've been accepted to a new CT!! Dianne Rigdon has accepted me as a member of her team so I'll have more new goodies to show off soon!!

Gotta' run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

LO catch-up...

2009-09-26T21:45:00.004-04:00

Here are the LOs/projects I hadn't uploaded before as well as the only two LOs I have created in the last two weeks. My mojo has taken a hiatus which isn't being helped any by my severe allergy issues the last few days.

Title: simple pleasures

Credits can be seen here.
_____________________

Title: Home is where the heart is...

Credits can be seen here.
_____________________

Title: Costello

Credits can be seen here.
_____________________

Title: Hybrid Post-it Pad #1

Credits can be seen here.

Directions here.
_____________________

Title: Hybrid Post-it Pad #2

Credits can be seen here.

Directions here.
_____________________

Title: note to self

Credits can be seen here.
_____________________

Title: happiness

Credits can be seen here.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day/night!

:)

Wanna see the difference a little retouching can make?

2009-09-26T13:28:00.003-04:00

Original:

Retouched:

And, I'm not even the retoucher for the business! LOL I do almost everything EXCEPT retouching and taking the photos.

:)

Another day...

2009-09-05T11:46:00.004-04:00

Well, I obviously need to work on blogging more steadily again, but apparently I also need to start posting to blog trains as well. I've neglected my blog friends as well as my blogging, and my readership has fallen away to just Kristine! LOL To be fully honest I need more hours in every day. Of course, I am sure I would then find things to fill those hours as well.

I've become a Facebook addict. I'm on there - at least popping in to check status updates - at least 8 times a day, and some of those visits last an hour or so if I am at home. FarmTown & FarmVille are the work of the devil... When I can't find any mojo to create I find myself wasting time there instead. It's so bad that I ended up creating accounts for my 2 kids because they wanted to play and kept messing up my farms. So, they now have FB accounts just so they can play on their own farms. LOL

I have 2 LOs to share... Well, actually I have 5 plus 2 hybrid projrcts, but I didn't load the others to Photobucket yet so I can't share them. :D

Title: oh my beautiful doll

Credits can be seen here.
__________________

Title: Little Padawan

Credits can be seen here.
__________________

School starts in 3 days... 3 short days... At least I have the next 2 off, and Dad and I are taking the kids to Northpole, NY tomorrow to visit Santa's Wonderland again. We did it last year, and they had a blast. I figured we'd wait a year or two before repeating the experience, but Dad's afraid they may outgrow it before then as both kids will be in school this year. The Santa talk may be coming sooner than I'd like. They are normally closed on Sundays and Mondays, but made an exception for the holiday weekend which is good as I only have Sundays off normally. This way I'll still have a day to recuperate by being a slug at home. :)

Would you like to hear an ass-nign story? Other than 5 yrs I have lived my entire life in Philadelphia, NY - well not counting college 'cause I was still in Philly for breaks and holidays. The house we currently rent is -maybe- a 1/2 block further away from the school than my parents' house is. All of my life we have lived "too close" to the primary school to be bused - including last year when Micaila was in kindergarten. This year for some reason the cards from the school's transportation office didn't arrive until Thursday - which means I don't see them until 6pm when I get home from work - so of course they are closed Friday and Monday due to the holiday, and instead of seeing the normal "you cannot be bused" I see that they HAVE been scheduled to ride the bus! BUT, they are walk one block up the road - toward the school that is only 2.5 blocks from us - to catch the bus on the next corner - 20 minutes before school starts where there is no shelter from the weather!!! I mean I'm sorry, but WHAT?!?! (Oh! And, there are at least 3 buses that drive by my house EVERY morning, and could stop right at our driveway.)

Mind you, our district contracts out their drivers via a local bus company, but both these postcards and their answering machine - which I inevitably get when I try to call Friday morning - say to call that company if needed. So I do, and get a woman on the line to whom I give a brief description of my issue... She tells me they won't be in until Tuesday. At which point I stated that I figured as much, but could I leave a message via her so it gets to the appropriate person asap? And, get the response, " Well, you'd have to call them. You can leave a message on their machine." Then WHY the HELL do you put your number all over this stuff???? So I did. And, left a semi-bitchy message about how this made no sense and my kids would NOT be riding the bus - to remove their names form the roster.

The other part of this that fried my circuits is the fact that both of these postcards are addressed SOLEY to Mike using his full legal name. All school documentation has me listed as the primary contact so why were they not addressed either to me or to both of us??? And, then Mike gives me attitude about the way I handled it. Nevermind that he thought it was a little odd, and WAS HOME when the mail arrived, but didn't both to call me or them to ask about it... Then he would have been able to get someone at the office because they were open. *insert steaming*

sigh...

On to other things though. I won Precious Ones from Vera Lim! Just for leaving a comment on her blog. :) So cool 'cause I seldom win anything.

And, I just snagged some new goodies from JanaM and Princess Lala so maybe I can get some mojo flowing on Monday. I also have some new stuff from Kristine and Connie I need to get to.

April has decided to go into semi-retirement. She's not hanging up her hat completely, but has informed us that there will be very few new releases in the near future. I'm staying on as a when-needed CT, but have moved her to my Past/Temp CT section as those will be few and far between. I wish her all the best in her school and home endeavors. If there's something of hers you like it will still be available at DigiApeDesign.com. :)

So, I am looking for one or two new CTs. I like fairly low-maintainence ones because while I like to create I really am not a chatty Cathy. That tends to let most Site CTs out as I do not like mandatory posting/commenting. I'm sorry, but not everything grabs my attention, and there is nothing worse in my opinion than the cookie-cutter "Great LO!" comment. If I can't find something to point out that grabs my attention then I don't comment... So, if you know of something you think might be a fit let me know! Thanks! :)

Gonna' run for now 'cause I'm sure this is more than long enough! LOL Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Sneak peak...

2009-08-20T08:57:00.003-04:00

Please forgive the appearance of the blog. I'm in the middle of trying to re-do it 'cause it was bugging me...

I have a sneak peak of a VERY pretty kit from Designs by Kristine... wanna see?

Title: a mother's love...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Taylar's Gift Kit by Designs by Kristine coming soon to WenchdGrafix.com.
Photo by Laura Odekirk. (I believe.)
Fonts: CK Heritage

On another note... I get my data back today!!! Craig was able to retrieve all of it as far as we can tell!! He dropping it all off to me at work this afternoon. :)

Gotta' run for work! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

It's raining, it's pouring...

2009-08-18T21:07:00.006-04:00

And, it's been another month...

Brenden turned 5 on the 22nd. We had a 2-part celebration. On the 29th we had a party at the town park followed by ice cream and cake at the house. Nora's family, Grampy, and a family with kids in Micaila & Brenden's classes showed up to share the fun. Then on the 22nd I took the day off work, and we took Brenden out with Grampy... breakfast at Beefer's Buffet in Alex Bay, an Uncle Sam's boat tour of the 1000 Islands, walking tour of Boldt Castle, JRECK's subs at Scenic Park, some play time at the playground there and some beach time as well, and ice cream at Way Cool in Theresa on the way home. :) Yup - it was a FULL day. LOL

On the 30th he had his school physical, and the doctor's office noted an issue with his sight so I booked an appointment at our eye doctor on August 2nd. He now has glasses - which he managed to bend by falling asleep when he was in trouble and supposed to be sitting 24 hrs after getting them. Grampy got them adjusted 2 days later when he had Denny in town. And, 4 days later... Micaila broke them. She got mad because he touched her toy laptop and erased her answer - so she slammed his head into the floor in just the right manner that it snapped the arm off the front of the frame. Empire Vision temporarily replaced them with a pair of frames off the wall in a different color, and Mike will be taking him in tomorrow to get the lenses switched into the correct color frames which they had to order.

The kids are leaving early Saturday morning with Mike for a visit to LI for about 10 days.

This morning I passed an under control fire scene on my way to work, and wondered about it, but managed to put it on a back burner in my mind due to being swamped with senior work atm at work - until the afternoon when I noticed a friend's status on Facebook, and realized it was her sister's home. She and her 4 boys lost everything. I'm kind of glad I hadn't managed to get all of our donations out of the house yet 'cause the boys are 2, 3, 6, & 10 so I have 2 totes of clothes Brenden's outgrown that should fit at least 2 of the boys. I gathered some other odds'n'ends, and Heather will be grabbing it all from me at work tomorrow to give to her sister.

After months of unusual cool and rainy weather we've had a week of unbearable heat and humidity. We just had two brief rain showers and lord does it feel good!

And, now to catch up on the LOs...

Title: hanging out

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: Boldt Castle 6.25.09

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: Let your love bloom

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: PUNK

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: The looooooong day...

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: you & me

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: Make your dreams come true...

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: birthday beach fun

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: ponder

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: that smile

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: All-American Boy

Credits here.
_______________________

Tired yet???? LOL

Title: She's Looking At Me

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: Drama Queen

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: Jaylin - Little Flower

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: natural beauty

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: refreshing...

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: a moment captured in time...

Credits here.
_______________________

Title: My Happy Place

Credits here.

Still with me? That should do it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day/night!

:)

Sometimes I Wonder...

2009-07-11T12:52:00.007-04:00

what I'm-a gon-na do... 'cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues! Belting out a semi-random lyric just doesn't work as well in type, does it? LOL I've gotten to that point in my life where I realize there were a lot of advantages to becoming a teacher. When I left for college I had spent too many years watching the majority of kids in Dad's classes get brattier and brattier each year. I figured I really didn't want to be handling that every day. But, now that Micaila's finished her first year of school and Brenden's getting ready to start his first I find myself wishing more and more that my time off coincided more with theirs... At work our busiest season is from June to October. Just when they have time to spend with me I have no energy to do anything with the small amount of time I have after work and before bed...

So, I've managed to skip a chunk of time again... which of course means I have a catch-up to do with LOs.

Title: Beautiful you

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Fresh Mango Summer Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Template 67 by me.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Artistamp Medium; Jane Austen
__________________________

Title: through her eyes...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Fresh Mango Summer Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Jane Austen
__________________________

Title: Grace & Cate

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Mommy's Garden Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra.
Photo by me dad.
Fonts: Jane Austen
__________________________

Title: Floral Explorer's Club

Credits:
Paper and elements from the I'm On My Way Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: CK Typist
__________________________

Title: Summer Excursions

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Chillberries Kit by JanaM Designs.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Reservior Grunge
__________________________

Title: boy

Credits:
Papers and elements from the I'm On My Way Kit by JanaM Designs.
Photo by my dad.
__________________________

Title: heav-en-ly

Credits:
Paper, word art, and elements from the Schlaf Gut Kit by JanaM Designs.
Photos by me.
__________________________

Title: Mornin', Mama!

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Summer Grunge Kit by April Staker.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: Pea Jamie*B*
__________________________

Title: Strawberry Fields

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Chillberries Kit by JanaM Designs.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Shifty Chica 2; Tall Paul
__________________________

BTW - Have you seen The Digi Files #6??? It includes items from:

Dianne Rigdon from Scrapartist
Zoe Pearn from Sweet Shoppe Designs
TaylorMade Designs from Oscraps
Gina Miller from Gina Miller Designs and Scrapartist
MGL Scraps from Scrapbook Graphics
K Studio (Kristin Rice) from After 5 Designs
Sugarplum Paperie from The Digichick
and Scrapbook Graphics as the monthly store sponsor!

...PLUS you get a free Summer 2009 mini album template set by Janet Phillips

Can you say WOW!?! For $5 how can you go wrong? It's only available until July 31st so don't wait! (Disclaimer - I am not in any way affiliated with TDF. I just love their idea, and this month ROCKS!)
------------------------------

Well, I don't know about where you live, but around here the weather has been completely screwy. Last weekend we had 6 different towns doing fireworks over 4 different nights. Do you think we saw any of them?? NO! We had plans to see the ones in Watertown on Thursday night, but due to weather predictions they cancelled/rescheduled them for Monday night before noon on Thursday. Since we'd all ready made plans for dinner out, and Dad had dropped me off at work and kept the kids busy all day we decided to do that anyway before deciding what to do for the evening. We ended up going to the drive in to watch Ice Age 3 & Night at the Museum 2. The kids had a blast, and we even won the free pizza they give away at intermission! It did start drizzeling again, but not 'til after 11:30pm.

Friday - it poured on and off all day... I can't even remember what we did to be honest.

Saturday - showers on and off, and we did the grocery shopping. The sun came out JUST before sunset so I debated going, but the fireworks that night were in a town I've never been to so I wasn't sure about where to park or anything... Decided to wait.

Sunday - gorgeous day. We ended up going strawberry picking - a first for the kids, and I used some freezer jam pectin I had from last fall to make almost 3 quarts of homemade strawberry jam. Then Micaila helped me create a flower bed next to the shed. The fireworks that night were in a town that we normally go to, but traffic tends to bottleneck BADLY, and I had work in the morning so we procrastinated until it was too late to go with the understanding that we were going to try to use Thursday's plan on Monday, and go to Watertown for the fireworks...

Monday - wake up to torrential downpour and thunder/lightening storm at 5:30am. Hmmm... wonder if they'll cancel? By 8am the sun's shining and it's gorgeous again, but there's no update online anymore as to whether the fireworks are still on or not. Called the tv station and they have no idea... Mike decides to stay home with the kids instead of going to town, and hence - we missed those as well.

Also keep in mind that I almost NEVER get a 3-day weekend, and did. So, of course, the kids who were perfect angels for Grampy all day Thursday spent the ENTIRE next three days either bickering with each other or fighting with us. It's enough to make steam come out of my ears I tell ya'!
-----------------

Today is my nephew, Mark Jr.'s 13th bday. Nora had a party at the park/zoo for him so guess what?! It rained! By the time I got done with work, and met up with everyone they were soaked to the bone. He seemed happy so I guess that's all that matters. LOL

Tomorrow is our annual family reunion in Syracuse so no break this weekend. I'm hoping to get a bunch of my printed LOs trimmed down to 8x8 and into albums while I'm there tomorrow. For the last 3 years it's been held at the home of one of Dad's cousins. They have a fairly large yard with apple orchards attached, and a home big enough to accomodate everyone if the weather turns bad. Nora's family is going this year as well so the kids will have each other to play with - if no other younger kids show up.

It's late. I was up early as usual, and am zonked. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day/night!

:)

Oy! If it's not one thing...

2009-06-22T07:33:00.005-04:00

Busy, busy... just like everyone else this time of year. In any case I meant to update before this, but I've been kind of down. My 1TB drive died on the 8th.

I'm still waiting for a cord from the OEM as a final troubleshooting step before I attempt data recovery with someone. In the meantime I've lost all of my scrapbooking files except the 10 or so kits I was currently working on for my CTs and the CU files I've purchased from Royanna. I've also lost all of my full res LO files, my notepads for credits, and all photos from Mother's Day of last year to Dec 31. My 2009 photos were all duplicated on my laptop, and all photos prior to then were also on my 230GB EHD. It's the same old story you've heard before... I've been meaning to take the time to backup for about 2 months, but just never found the extra time. And really, the only way to backup for me is burning to DVD which is SOOOO tedious.

In any case, I'm looking into investing in 2 - 1TB EHDs each with 6 year warranties so 1 can be my everyday use, and the other my data backup. I mean, honestly, I download/create somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-5GB per week so anything smaller would be pointless. The drive that died had somewhere between 200 & 400 GB on it. I haven't given up that it is recoverable, but I can't hold high hopes either.

I have some LOs to share with linked credits. The thumbnails were all uploaded online prior to the EHD dying...

Title: mommy & me

Credits can be seen here.

Title: out for a Sunday stroll

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Spring Fever

Credits can be seen here.

Title: root of the heart

Credits can be seen here.

Title: June 5, 2009

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Whatzzz Up?

Credits can be seen here.

Title: NYS Fair 8.31.05

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Treasure

Credits can be seen here.

Title: sad diva

Credits can be seen here.

I have 2 others I finished yesterday, but I can't share them 'til Wednesday night because they are for a gorgeous new kit Jana's got coming into the store called Fresh Mango Summer. ;)

Micaila's only got 2.5 more days of school. It's a little hard to think she's made it all the way through her first year of school. She's excited to be done, but I know she'll be just as excited to return in the fall. :) Hope we can stay in touch with some of her friends over the summer...

Mike's in training for the new contract he'll be helping to manage. That will last for at least another 4 weeks, and he can't take any time off for the first 3-4 weeks on the floor either so the vacation in July to LI is going to have to be post-poned. Good thing I sent him for Memorial Day weekend...

Brenden's... well, Brenden. LOL On Saturday he'd spent the night at Aunt Nora's so she dropped him off to me at 2 just before I left. Once in the van he announces that HE wants to pick Micaila up from her birthday party 'cause he wants to see what/who is there. I responded with, "Of course you do... you have nose trouble." A few moments later I hear, "It's ok, mom. I brought tissues." I swear I didn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes. That kid can be such a trip - when he's not being a complete p.i.t.a.

We're gearing up senior season at work, and the sessions are more steady now. But, they are still sparse enough that I'm keeping up with the boss even with the additional stuff I'm creating for the proof books. We managed to upgrade the pcs so they process faster as well as updating the proof action for CS3 and the proofbook building program so the process is a little faster. Hoping this week goes a little faster 'cause the tension is giving me ehadaches through the day. We've been just the boss, my co-worker, and the boss's son, Derek since January when the boss's other son, Dalton went back to college.

Well, Dalton's back for the summer for an internship which he's supposedly working 40 hrs per week for - mind you he hasn't even hit 20 hrs for ANY week yet (and this past week included his lunch hour for at least one of the days in his hours). And, his attitude... it's like he's the boss, and we should all bow to him. He gets pissy if he's given grunt work. When he gets onto one of the 2 primary pcs we need to do work he'll start surfing the net, and then complain he hasn't finished the work when his dad tries to get him off so one of us can finish our work. I don't know what the deal is, but I've felt physically ill at least 3 days in the last 2 weeks before noon from the tension and had headaches at least 5 of those days.

And, with that being said, I'm running late! Thanks for stopping by and "listening" to me b*tch. LOL Have a great day!

:)

The reeeaaallllly long post...

2009-06-04T07:58:00.006-04:00

Well, Brenden's had his school visitation day, and kindergarten round-up was Tuesday. Micaila's... well - Micaila. Mike's schedule has changed yet again - in that he technically doesn't have one and won't until the next training class starts. Mike and the kids went to LI for Memorial Day weekend. We're finishing up prom season at work, and starting senior season - busy, busy, busy...

My cholesterol has gone down from 220 in Feb to 161 last Tuesday, but my A1C has crept up to 6.1 'cause I haven't taken my Riomet since Feb. The weather's been ridiculous lately in that it feels more like March/April than June! We've been lucky to hit mid-60s during the day for the last few weeks. I really need to change out my blog again 'cause I am NOT digging the way it looks. Don't have much else to say, but there are a ton of LOs to catch up... I'm linking credits to make the post a little shorter.

Title: Blue-eyed Beauty

Credits can be seen here.

Title: when I see you Smile

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Mr. Moody Pants

Credits can be seen here.

Title: talkin 'bout my guy

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Play-ful you

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Mother's Day 2009

Credits can be seen here.

Title: butterfly house

Credits can be seen here.

Title: still

Credits can be seen here.

Title: run Mom run

Credits can be seen here.

Title: seek joy

Credits can be seen here.

Title: enjoy this moment

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Apsen & Midnight

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Thousand Islands, NY

Credits can be seen here.

Title: my little honey bee

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Family Outing

Credits can be seen here.

Title: Purple Fun

Credits can be seen here.

Title: I [heart] my guy

Credits can be seen here.

Title: [heart] you

Credits can be seen here.

So that catches things up for the moment. Gotta' get Micaila off to school and me to work. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

pssst...

2009-05-14T11:21:00.001-04:00

I've been a very bad blogger. I just haven't had much I've wanted to talk about lately, and I *think* at some point many get sick of posts filled with just layouts...

Anywho, I'll be by to update soon I promise.

--

{I}NSD is almost here!

2009-05-01T08:07:00.003-04:00

So,... here we go!

Heather is BACK! 2 new open grab bags at $2 each, a new set of photo masks, and a new element pack... plus a FREEBIE! For full details see here.

________

Kristine (and the rest of us) have 40% off at WenchdGrafix Shoppe for 24 hrs only on Saturday! And, there are tons of new product!

________

Royanna has a stock up sale going on for Designers in her store...

________

Laura has a flood of great new doodle packs, paper packs, and alphas in her store.
________

At DSG we've got some goodness goin' on as well...

________

Jana is getting ready to release her new grab bag for May. :)
________

Connie has a bunch of new goodies that will be appearing the the next few days so keep an eye out for those...
________

And, Inspiration Lane has a whole plethora (I've always wanted to use that word! LOL) of activities going on as well as new releases from Kiki!
________

April release No. 5 a little while ago, and it's still on sale for only $2!! This is a huge kit so you don't want to miss the sale!
________

Title: April Sunrise

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Autumn Spring Kit by Ladybug Graphix.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Ghostwriter

Product Links:
http://www.digitalscrapgarden.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_dnld_info&products_id=919
-------------------------

I think that covers it for now. If I have time, and can I'll share more tomorrow. :D Gotta' finish getting ready for work so I'm off! If you haven't been by in a while you may want to browse through the last 2 posts for some funny photos and a catch-up on my LOs! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

I can't think of a title...

2009-04-29T07:04:00.003-04:00

So, my hair... It's never been this dark in my life, but I wanted something different, and my sister sworedarker made me look younger... DH said he likes it, but with that pained look on his face like he was afraid to say anything else. (Oh, and the sun was in my eyes when this was taken - hence the funny look on my face.)

I also have these to show more...

So, what do ya' think? Honestly?
_____________________________

I didn't get my week 5 LO done for So You Think You Can Scrap so I can share my LO for that now...

Title: I'm Creative

Credits:
be happy acrylic from the be bold, be true freebie by Edeline Designs.
"c" from the Superstar alpha by Bisontine.
Other alpha from Frunged Up Stamp Alpha by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra.
Paper and other elements from the It's So Me Collab by Cinnamon Designs, Newlife Dreams, Holly Designs, and Kristen Rice.
___________________________

Title: Rescued Heritage

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Vintage Faire Mini Kit by Laura Deacetis included in Pickle Barrel #2.
"Photos" all scanned negatives rescued by fire from my paternal grandmother when her sister tried to burn them, and then by me from my grandparent's house after vandals trashed the house.
Fonts: Typewriter from hell; Type-Ra
___________________________

Title: Sunset

Credits:
Papers and elements from the It's So Me Collab by Cinnamon Designs, Newlife Dreams, Holly Designs, and Kristen Rice. (Bird and acrylic border recolored.)
Photos by me.
Fonts: Bickham Script Pro; Huxtable; Attract more women
___________________________

Title: dance to the music

Credits:
Transparent note "path" by Newlife Dreams from the It's So Me Collab.
Paper and other elements from the Sing Sing A Song Collab by Jofia Designs, Vera Lim, Laura Deaceits, and Amy Hutchinson.
Photos by me.
Fonts: CENA; Freestyle Script.
___________________________

Title: YOU make my heart sing (bonus LO)

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Sing Sing A Song Collab by Jofia Designs, Vera Lim, Laura Deaceits, and Amy Hutchinson. (hue and saturation changed on 2 pieces)
Photo by my niece.
Fonts: FG Cheryl
___________________________

I also had 4 other LOs I hadn't shared yet, and 4 I finished at my all day crop this past Saturday...

Title: Micaila's Bday Badge Album, pg 1

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Petal Pusher Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Template from the Badge Album Templates 1 by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Bickham Script Pro

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22357
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21679
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21678
___________________________

Title: Micaila's Bday Badge Album, pg 2

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Petal Pusher Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Template from the Badge Album Templates 1 by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Bickham Script Pro

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22357
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21679
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21678
___________________________

Title: Micaila's Bday Badge Album, pg3

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Petal Pusher Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Template from the Badge Album Templates 1 by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Bickham Script Pro

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22357
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21679
http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21678
___________________________

Title: My prince

Credits:
Background and green papers from the Spring {Dotted} Paper Pack by Princess Lala Designs.
Doodle from Flourished 2 by Princess Lala Designs. (used as template to shape paper)
"prince" doodled word from the Funky Fairy Tales Pack by Princess Lala Designs.
Alpha from the Alpha Collection: Sunshine by Princess Lala Designs.
Brown paper from the Spring {Solids} Paper Pack by Princess Lala Designs.
Photo by my nephew.

Product Links:
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=9997
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=9427
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=10094
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=10093
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=9999
___________________________

Title: Morning, Sunshine!

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Springdipity Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Inspiration Lane.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Fiolex Girls
___________________________

Title: I Wanna Be A Rock Star!

Credits:
Reversed staple from the Some Basics Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Papers and other elements from the What A Day Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Interplanetary Crap; Mouthful of beer
___________________________

Title: break the bed

Credits:
Papers and elements from the No. 5 Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Note This
___________________________

Title: Happiness

Credits:
Wordart from the Say It Love Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Papers and other elements from the What A Day Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
___________________________

Phew! Did you make it through that?!? LOL

Sorry, I just haven't had the time/energy to post lately... We're now officially into prom season, and all the guys are rushing in last minute for tuxedos. I swear their prom is on the calendar for at least 4 months prior to the date, and they STILL wait until they have less than a week to decide "Oh, yeah! I need a tux!" You know if they had to stay late or rush through assignments at school because they were given late they'd be pissed, but who cares if we have those problems at work because they want to procrastinate...

I have some NSD info, but I think I'll wait 'til tomorrow since this is all ready so long! :D Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

some pics...

2009-04-25T09:46:00.003-04:00

Sunrise this morning... I was awake at 5am which means I will be dead on my feet by the time I get home at 10/10:30 tonight! LOL

"If you break the bed, Daddy will NOT be happy" mister man says...

Look out Mick Jagger...

Girls just wanna have fun...

Arrrrrgggg, Matey!

And, from yesterday/last night...

This guy's been going after that tree outside work for at least 4 days now...

Don't you like our strawberry shortcake?!? LOL

Krysti dared me to post this...

I'll post a pic of me soon, but Nora was going to have to go home and do laundry alone as Krys was staying with me and Mark and the boys went to the races. So instead, I talked her into coming to my house to dye my hair with highlights... It's much darker now. :)

Gotta' run for work!

:)

Just a quick note...

2009-04-14T11:54:00.003-04:00

Been busy with the kids and the holiday and cleaning and... well, you get the idea. I've managed to get 6 MORE 45 gal bags of clothes/toys out of the house, and still am not done. LOL We also had 2-55 gal bags of trash at the curb yesterday morning, and at least 1/2 of one was just stuff form the bathroom I decided I'm not hanging onto anymore. Baby oil/bath/shampoo, lotion I haven't touched since it was given to me over 6 yrs ago, etc.

I am SO not a girly-girl. LOL I used to put on my makeup on the LIRR on my way to work in Manhattan every morning what seems like a lifetime ago. I think I've put on makeup maybe 15 times in the past 6 yrs now. Hair HAS to be wash and go/brush and go. Can't stand wasting my time fixing it. My toenails get polished, and I keep that up all the time I wear sandals - and sometimes during the winter - but that's the most girly I get. In fact, I'm wearing sandals for the first time this year today! :)

I'm updating from work so I can't post any photos or LOs as those are on the laptop at home, but I've gotten 3 badge album pages done and 2-12x12 LOs done since Saturday - except one is missing a title. It's hard to create new and appropriate titles for Jaylin's pages as I haven't taken the photos so some come to me completely out of context. How many LOs can you title with smiley/giggles and grins/all smiles/etc. before it gets repeptitive?!? LOL I also have my week 4 LO for SUTUCS together except for adding photos. I may have to use some of the kids this week. :)

Gotta' run! Don't forget to check the last 2 posts for some CU goodies! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Now available...

2009-04-10T13:21:00.005-04:00

Spring Watercolors from Designs by Kristine! Beautiful, spring-filled colors with soft tones It's perfect for all those layouts regarding spring as well as babies!

And, for a short time get this gorgeous set of QPs designed by CT member, Leslie with the purchase of the kit!

You can also snag a coordinating freebie on Kris's blog here.

I also have 2 new Commercial Use Overlay packs, 2 new Paper Packs, and 3 new mini kits available at Kristine's store. Previews are available in my albums on Facebook or in the store. :) I should have more up by next weekend, as well as some at Digital Scrap Garden!

-----

If you're looking for CU goodies Royanna has a new Grab Bag available - 14 new CU products for $6!!
-----

I've also gotten my Rainbow Color Challenge up at Digital Scrap Garden for April. This is the swatch we're using this month:

---------------------

Title: Reins?
http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h131/absolutartist1/Layouts/?action=view&
Credits:
Paper and elements from the Autumn Spring Kit by Ladybug Graphix.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Horse Puke

Product Links:
http://www.digitalscrapgarden.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_dnld_info&products_id=919
___________________________________

Title: Lucky

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Lucky-O Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Huxtable

Product Links:
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=10627
___________________________________

And, for sticking with me through all of that I have another little goodie for you...

You can grab it here.
password: nature
-----

I just spent over 2 hours trying to straighten up Micaila's room, and while it looks better now than it did when I started, I still have at least 2 more hours of sorting and cleaning to do before her room will be done. Then I need to work on Brenden's room. I had started with my room, and spent an hour there before moving to Micaila's... I'm sore, tired, and ready to take a nap. Meanwhile the kids are just finishing lunch, and getting ready to go out and play on the swingset. LOL

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Long time - no blog... LOL

2009-04-08T09:39:00.006-04:00

Well, illness-wise things have seemed to settle down here. No stomach ailments since last Wednesday. My allergy/sinus issues have returned now though... along with the snow! BLECH! We had 50-60 degree weather most days for the past week, and in the last 3 have dropped below 40 again. We got about 3-4 inches here between yesterday and this morning. As Dad said - it wouldn't have mattered what day he decided to leave - that would be the day it snowed!

I left work at 2 yesterday to drive Dad down to the airport in Syracuse. His flight was supposed to leave for the first leg at 4:45, but there was a hold-up because the plane was late getting in. He got to JFK at about 6:30pm, and arrived in Salt Lake City at 12:40am - a half hour early! LOL

I'm off work for the next 3 days, and *hope* to get a lot accomplished. Micaila has half-days today and tomorrow though with Friday off so we'll see. Later today I'll be sending through info to Kristine to get 2 packs of overlays, 3 mini kits, and 3 paperpacks into her store. (Ready, Kris?? LOL)

I have a boat-load of layouts to share...

Title: Photographs & Memories

Credits:
Papers and elements (including wordart) from the March 365 Kit by Karla Marano of Karla's Kaleidoscope Designs.
Photo by me.

Product Link:
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=10327
____________________________

Title: the Perfect pinecone

Credits:
Paper, alpha, and elements from the In My Pocket Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Poilet Taper

Product Link:
http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/product.php?productid=19628
____________________________

Title: Welcome to My World

Credits:
Worn, dotted papers from the GGI Pretty Pastel Dotted Paper Pack by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Other papers and elements from the Tutti Frutti Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Template from the Keep It Simple Templates 1 by Connie Prince; Digidiva Designs.
Photo by my friend Sara. (Of her grandson, Anson.)
Fonts: Prime Minister of Canada

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22272
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22196
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=20271
____________________________

Title: April Showers

Credits:
"April" circle from the Save the Date 1 Pack by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Papers and other elements from the Desperately Seeking Spring Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
JDL Template by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: bulkyRefuse Type

LO completes the Just a Start Challenge at Just Digi Layouts.

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22268
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=21799
____________________________

Title: a small glimpse...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Star Bright Kit by ISKRAP Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Freestyle Script

Product Link:
http://scrapbird.com/shop/index.php?...roducts_id=755
____________________________

Title: burning sunset

Credits:
Background from the Jaded Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Inspiration Lane.
Peach paper from the Just Peachy Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Inspiration Lane.
Frame from the Crack Me Up Frame Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs. (hue altered)
Ribbon and string from the Flutterby Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook-Elements.
Photo by me.
Fonts: the King & Queen font

Product Links:
http://inspiration-lane.com/boutique/product.php?productid=17217
http://inspiration-lane.com/boutique/product.php?productid=17219
http://store.scrapbook-elements.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=16098
____________________________

Title: signs of Spring

Credits:
Papers, alpha, and elements from the Spring Watercolors Kit by Designs by Kristine.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Waking the Witch
____________________________

Title: Companions

Credits:
Frame cluster from the I've Been Framed 03 Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra.
Paper and other elements from the Spring Out Celebration Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra.
Photo by me.
Fonts: PIG; GG Herb Script

Journaling:
The two of you have been together since the beginning... Grampy was there when you were born, spent many days in the following weeks with us, and became your babysitter when I returned to work 4 weeks after you were born.

I always felt I had a close relationship with my Grampy, but it was no where near what the two of you have. I know Grampy will have more hours to fill in his day when you start kindergarten in the fall which will mean less time together for you, but I hope you have many more years to learn from him. Treasure the time you have, and hold it close to your heart.

Product Links:
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=10632
http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=9421
____________________________

Title: Little Scientist

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Perfectly Natural Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Template from the Gotta Grab It March 2009 Templates by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Hypewriter; FG Cheryl

Product Links:
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22394
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22395
http://www.gottapixel.net/store/product.php?productid=22195
____________________________

I am also competing in the So You Think You Can Scrap Contest so I have 2 LOs for that, but I can't share them here until the end of the contest. If you can guess what number I am I might just send you a little something from my shop! Be sure to leave your email or user name at DST in your comment if you guess so that I can get a hold of you!
---------------------

To celebrate my new products I have a freebie for you! (And, for making it all the way through thT POST! lol) It's CU ok as well!!

Grab it here.
password: nature
-------------------

Gotta' run now 'cause I need to get over to the school with the Scalloped Pineapple I made for the teacher's luncheon (conference time), and watch Micaila play Little Bear in Goldilocks! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Just a quick note...

2009-04-01T13:07:00.002-04:00

The stomach bug which had managed to successfully avoid our home finally landed. Brenden got violently ill Wednesday night, followed by Micaila Thursday night and Friday. We seemed ok on Saturday, and then Brenden woke us at 4am Sunday with another round... followed by Mike all day. I had a much less violent version, but spent most of Monday trying to lie as still as possible on the sofa. I haven't eaten much in the last 2 days, and am hoping it has passed for good this time, but you can see why I haven't been around much.

I got none of the purging done for the weekend as I'd hoped, only completed 3 layouts, and then spent my last Monday off for 9 months on the sofa... some weekend, huh?!? LOL

Oh well, hopefully I'll catch up next week. Dad leaves on Tuesday for UT to visit my brother, Blayne. That means I'm leaving work early on Tuesday to take him to the airport, and then have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off - work Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and have Thursday, Friday, Saturday off. I was originally only going to take the week of spring break, but had issues with getting someone to watch the kids so my nephew is going to watch the kids for me for 3 days. :)

Gotta' run as I'm at work. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

The tale of the semi-absentee blogger...

2009-03-26T11:42:00.013-04:00

Sorry. I haven't been very regular lately. We're adjusting to yet another change in schedules and duties at home... Mike is now working 11am-9pm M-F which means I'm dealing with the home "stuff" after work. Dad made dinner last night, and is planning to tonight so that helps 'cause to be honest I have NEVER been a homebody - dishes, cleaning, cooking - NOT my fortes. Now that's not to say I can't handle them, and in some cases handle them well - I just HATE them with a passion! LOL If I have a choice between spending an hour on my pc/laptop creating or an hour cleaning the house the creating will normally win.

I have managed to get 11 - 45 gal trash bags of clothing out of the house and donated to the local mission in the last month. I have another 1/2 a bag currently sorted and am hoping to get at least 5 done more this weekend. I'm kind of on a purging binge. Hello, my name is Cate, and I'm a packrat. Yes, truly. My grandparents kept many things, my parents kept many more things, and I have a difficult time getting rid of stuff myself. I look at those homes in magazines, and laugh - nice, but no kids there! There are things I keep in the hopes that I will one day fit into them again because I loved the way they looked when I could wear them... There are things I keep because the kid(s) looked so darn cute and I hate the thought of never seeing them in it again... There are things I keep because it is perfectly usable so why should I throw it out?... There are things I keep because I know they are worth money if I could find the right place to try to sell them... And, that's not including the collections... movies, books by certain authors, my seriously diminished salt & pepper collection (most of it was stolen), my paper scrapping supplies (which I use about 3 times a year), etc... Do you get the picture??

I also need to sort through the kids books and toys - again... Please tell me other people have the seemingly never ending cycle of purge and get more in that department. We gave their Little People sets to their Aunt Cindy for when she has kid(s), and donated their mega blocks to Micaila's classroom because they decided they were too old for mega blocks and wanted Legos. I think we have enough stuffed animals to populate an entire zoo. But, in that area I hate to think of giving up any of their Care Bears or Popples - yes, I said Popples. Grampy got a bunch for Micaila's 1st birthday or 2nd Xmas off eBay 'cause at the time she was enthralled with them, and we're talking original 1980's not newer ones.

Anyway, between the change in schedule, the purging, the end-of-the-month CT and designer duties, and the fact that my co-worker is ooto for this week and next I'm a little tired, and haven't really had the energy to try to post before leaving home in the morning. I'm so tired I completely forgot my sister's anniversary last week...

I did manage to remember my baby brother's birthday yesterday, and have Micaila call before she left for school which completely made his day 'cause she actually TALKED to him! LOL She normally gets on the phone, and then refuses to say more than a word or two. He'd gotten some bs news from his boos a few days earlier, and was understandably upset so I'm glad something brightened his day. He works in an office much like mine - boss, receptionist, and him - that's it. He's been salaried both times he's worked for this guy, and STILL puts in 60-80 hrs most weeks. He was just informed that very shortly he will be on wages AND cut to no more than 30 hrs per week. His roommate (and our cousin) Tam was let go a few weeks ago so things are getting pretty tight. They're looking at moving out west - UT, AZ, or TX maybe...

------------

On to scrapping items... I have 5 LOs to share. I also created 2 more QPs for Connie, and finished my part of the collab for WenchdGrafix since my last post so it's not like I'm not doing anything - just nothing I feel like blogging about without other context! LOL

Title: Bowl Like There's No Tomorrow

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Extraordinary Day Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photos by me & Micaila.
Fonts: Typewriter from hell; Note This
____________________

Title: What a pretty Spring blossom

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Hippity Hoppity Kit by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photo mask from Photo Masks 1 by Connie Prince; DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by my sil, Marcy.
Fonts: Hypewriter
____________________

Title: as tall as a...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Jungle Fever Collab by JanaM Designs and Dawn Inskip available at The DigiChick.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Heavy Heap
____________________

Title: Peacocks at Hogle Zoo

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Jungle Fever Collab by JanaM Designs and Dawn Inskip available at The DigiChick.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Good Foot
____________________

Title: Evening Magic

Credits:
Papers, mask, and elements from the Extraordinary Day Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Template #57 by me.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Pea Jamie*B*
____________________

That's a lot of Jana's stuff - like I said wrapping up CT work. I've been lucky enough to Guest for her for two months. :) Today just happens to be her birthday as well, and if you like her stuff don't miss stopping by her store at TDC 'cause she's got a little something for you! :D

Gotta' run 'cause I'm at work which is why it's been 2 hrs since I started this post... Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

:D

2009-03-20T08:06:00.003-04:00

I've got good news... and VERY good news!

First off there are yet more QPs available for you! I've created more for Connie, and you can grab the newest one here. And, be sure not to miss the ones posted for her birthday as they may disappear soon! They can be found here, here, and here. :) There will be a few more soon as well! Here's today's:

Connie's got a HUGE template grab bag available right now for only $2.50!! Don't miss out. :)
-----------------

So, on to the other item...

I've been chosen as one of Wendyzine's newest template lifts!! My LO "My toes" was selected as one of her template "lifts", and I've been included in Lift It 7 - part of her Lift It Collection 2!!

I'm honored, thrilled, happy, and all those other things!! Thank you, Wendy!!

Got to go finished getting ready for work, but I wanted to share quick! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Wanna quick sneak peek?

2009-03-19T08:55:00.003-04:00

I can show you my part of the April 2009 collab for Digital Scrap Garden...

There are two full templates in there in both PSD and PSP formats - AND they're 8.5x11! I've had a few requests to make some so I thought I'd try my hand here. :)

Gotta' run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2009-03-17T07:49:00.004-04:00

Not much going on here. I can remember when I was little my parents used to bake these "lephrachaun" cakes using the doll skirt pans for bridesmaid cakes. They'd hide four of them in various places in the house for us to find.Iff I'd thought of it far enough in advance I'd have tried to do it this year for Micaila and Brenden, but I just remembered it 2 days ago, and it will take longer than that to find the pans at my parents' house...

I do have Micaila all decked out in green and snapped a few shots of my little green girl, but I don't have time right now to upload and post them so it'll have to wait. Gotta' be ready to run out the door in about 30 minutes.

Micaila's Science Fair is tonight so I'm thinking about leaving work a few minutes early to get home for it. Mike will have to meet us there as it starts at 6 and he doesn't get off work 'til then. Starting next Monday his hours have switched again, and he'll be working 11am-9pm for at least 3 weeks. That should be fun as the kids all ready fight about going to bed at 8 when both of us are here...

I have 4 LOs from the last two days. No where near as productive as I'd hoped, but I did finish up my part of the April collab for DSG. Now to get it uploaded...

Title: Love without boundaries

Credits:
Reversed staple, tape, and tags from Some Basics Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Papers and all other elements from the In My Pocket Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Wordart from Our Story Wordart by Kelley Mickus.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: DJB CT'S ROCK

LO completes Digi Dare #124.
______________________________

Title: Jaylin - laughter

Credits:
Papers and elements from the No. 4 Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs.
Photos by my sil, Marcy.
Fonts: DJ Finch Ditto
______________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 10

Credits:
Background, doodles rectangles, day arrows, file tabs, and smile stickers from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 5 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl; FiveOhOne
______________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 11

Credits:
Background from the Shabby Cottage Kit by Patricia Christensen of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Doodled border from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 5 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Bracket and fun sticker from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 3 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Just me sticker from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 4 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Photos by me.
Fonts: VTKS Refused; FG Cheryl
______________________________

I've got to run! Still got to get dressed, eat breakfast, and take meds before getting the girl off to school and me to work! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Been kinda MIA...

2009-03-12T12:27:00.004-04:00

I got my laptop last Friday, and have been busy (as usual) so that I've managed to skip blogging for a week now. I've gotten a mini-network set up at home so I can access my EHD from my laptop without being wired to it. I've gotten the basic programs installed, and am working on getting all my various bookmarks entered. :)

I have 4 LOs to share...

Title: Can't Touch This

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Cosmoplitan Kit by Kristine of WenchdGrafix.
Photo by my sil, Marcy.
Fonts: Tall Paul
________________________

Title: See the possibilities

Credits:
Dateline and reversed staple from the My 365 Days Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Paper and other elements from the Garden Friends Collab Kit by JanaM Designs & Gypsy Couture available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: ReservoirGrunge; Segoe Script

LO completes the OLW Challenge #46 - See.
________________________

Title: The Great Goofball

Credits:
Papers and elements from the 4 The BoyZ Collection - Soda Pop! N' Bubbles Kit by Royanna Fritschmann; Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Spongy
________________________

Title: at day's end...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Timeless Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook-Elements
Photo by me.
Fonts: Nueva Std
________________________

I finished putting together the badge album for Jaylin, and have pics - which I haven't uploaded yet so I can't share them. Maybe by Saturday! LOL

I'll have an exciting CT announcement soon, and hopefully some more layouts. I've been really tired and my sinuses are still acting funky. I had my annual poke'n'prod session at the dr this morning. She agreed with my endochronologist about the meds so I'll be starting low dose meds for HBP and cholesterol as soon as I get the prescriptions filled. She also reccomended trying this pot thing that flushes your sinuses to get rid of whatever is lingering so I've got to pick one of those up and figure out how to use it...

I managed to get a package out to my brother, Kolby afterwards so his bday gifts will actually be on time! LOL

Gotta' run 'cause I'm at work! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Stuff...

2009-03-05T07:53:00.005-05:00

Not much to say so I'm just going to share some LOs...

Title: Moment 1,243,056

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Rockin Chick Collab Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs and Armina.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: bulkyRefuse Type; CK Boxed In
_______________________

Title: Winter bloom

Credits:
Photo mask from the February Grab Bag by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick. (used on photo & 1 paper)
Papers, alpha, and elements from the Garden Friends Collab Kit by JanaM Designs and Gypsy Couture available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Jane Austen
_______________________

Title: These are the Moments

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Berry Rich Kit by Kristine of WenchdGrafix.
Photo by me.
Fonts: KeyboardDisplaySS; DJB CT'S ROCK
_______________________

Don't forget Julie's Retirement sale at SBE - going until the 25th...
--------------

Connie's having a birthday on Sunday!!! To celebrate she has this HUGE birthday bundle on sale at GP! And, we'll be celebrating with her... be sure to hop by her blog over the next few days to grab some awesome freebies!!

You can snag this one today:

I've also made 2 bragbook pages, and I know Connie has some other goodies as well! Here's a sneak peek at my other pages...

Gotta' run to get ready for work! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Lots to share...

2009-03-02T09:57:00.004-05:00

First, some LOs to share...

Title: Project365 - Week 8

Credits:
Background, stitched border, doodled flowers, day tags, and acrylic heart from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 4 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Birthday sticker, silly sticker, and doodled swirl from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 3 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Title sticker from the Project 365 Set by Dawn Inskip.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl
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Title: Project365 - Week 9

Credits:
Background from the Simple Man Add-on by Carjazi Scraps.
WA from the FC9 Freebie by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Being me sticker & acrylic heart sticker from the Life 365 Hodge Podge 4 by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl; Artistamp Medium
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Title: In Your Eyes

Credits:
Paper and elements (including "I am beautiful" WA) from the I Love My Life Kit by Laura M Designs.
Script run on photo: Soft Sepia by Heather Manning Designs. (Then switched to grayscale.)
Photo by me.
Fonts: Artistamp Medium; Arrus Blk BT
____________________________

Title: Your Reading Medal

Credits:
February sticker & Friday WA from the My 365 Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Papers and other elements from the Something New Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Vintage Typewriter

I didn't upload the photos, but here's one! LOL
____________________________

Title: Lost Tooth

Credits:
Papers and elements from the March 365 Kit by Karla Marano of Karla's Kaleidoscope Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Bryony

See what happened last night when everyone was going to bed (except me!)?? This is for a one-kit CT gig.
____________________________

Second, CT news...

Julie got the info on her retirement sale! All items are up to 50% off at Scrapbook-Elements until March 25th. Be sure to stop by and grab some kits before they're gone for good! You can visit Julie's store here.

Kristine also has some items getting ready to be retired. You can find her kit being retired here.

Kiki and Tracy both have AWESOME Grab Bags up at Plain Digital Wrapper! Find Kiki's here and Tracy's here.

Royanna's having a Buy the Store sale as she's retiring over 100 products in March. For $29 you can buy as much of her store as you can download in 14 days! It's still posted atm so be sure to hop over quick before it's gone! I can attest to how awesome this deal is 'cause I took advantage last fall before I got a spot on her CT, and got over $1000-worth of product! Almost all of my paper packs use one or more of her CU overlays too. :)

April managed to get a GREAT collab done with Armina who is the guest designer at Gotta Pixel this month. I'm playing today, and hope to have something to share tomorrow, but you can find it on sale here.

Connie's got 3 new products hitting the stores this week, but I can't share them yet! Keep your eyes open.

Jana's got a fun and beautiful collab with Gypsy Couture that will be available at The DigiChick starting Thursday. Maybe I can sneak you a peek if I get my LO done... will have to check. ;)

Dawne's started a second line of products - in cojunction with Karen Wallace. They've joined forces to create a new design team - Two Worlds Designs! They've all ready got two gorgeous kits in the store, and one is HUGE!!

Heather doesn't have any kits or sales for us, but that's because she's been busy with an even BIGGER deal... Christiano!

He finally decided to make his appearance on Monday, February 23rd - which also happens to be his big brother, Jordan's birthday! Congrats guys, he's gorgeous!

Ok, I've got to go hop some blog trains, and get some LOs done! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

She did it!

2009-02-28T10:07:00.004-05:00

Micaila got her Reading Medal! With a LOT of help from Daddy, and lesser help from Mommy & Grampy! LOL Now she needs to remember to go to the Principal and count to 100 so she can get her Math Medal. She's been refusing to do that for over 3 months now because she wanted her reading one first. She and her classmate, Emma, both go their medals on Thursday, and were declared co-students of the week!

I meant to share a photo, but ummm... I forgot to upload it to Photobucket, and I'm at work so it'll have to wait.

I do have 3 LOs to share though...

Title: Garnet

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Something New Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: Bilbo-hand-fine

This is the male cougar at our local zoo. ;)
_______________________

Title: Once Upon a Time

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Heart's Desire Kit by Ladybug Graphix available at Digital Scrap Garden.
Photo by my dad. (desaturated)
Fonts: assign; Artistamp Medium
_______________________

Title: @ home

Credits:
**All items available in the February Grab Bag**
Background from the Very Dirty Girl Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Overlay from the On The Edge Overlay Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Mask for shape behind photos from the Photo Masks II Set by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Paper used with mask from the Very Dirty Boy Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Frame from the Grunged Frames Set by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
"@" from the Oopsies Alpha by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
"home" from the Through Thick and Thin Alpha by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Arrus BT

The ribbon around her neck is the Reading Medal which she has worn around the house for two nights in a row! LOL
_______________________

I called in sick to work yesterday. I VERY seldom do this. In fact, I think I've called in sick twice in the 2 years I've been working this job. I'd been fighting this headcold all week, and each day seemed to feel a little worse. I figured since I can't call in sick on Saturday ( no one else works), and I felt like doo on Friday morning I'd better take the day to try to get better. Dad stayed so I didn't have to worry about Brenden, and I ended up taking about a 4 hr nap in the middle of the day. I do feel better today than I have since Tuesday - despite being wide awake from 3am-5:30am this morning...

I need to type up a mailing list so I'm off again! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

A few things...

2009-02-26T12:46:00.004-05:00

Not a whole lot to say today. I've got a bad head cold goin' on so I've been slacking. I actually got some sleep last night though - thanks to Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom! LOL I tried NyQuil the night before and was wide awake an hour later...

Anyway - I've got two LOs to share, and some CT news from Julie...

Title: One Fine Day

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Crushed Plums Addon Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Calligraph421 BT
___________________________

Title: Cowboy Love

Credits:
Frame cluster and love clip from the Love Me Tender Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Background from the A Papered Life 02 - Bo Ho Chic Diva by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Word art from the Love Words Set by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Petals and stitches from the Petals O Plenty Set by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Captain Howdy; Bryony
___________________________

And then there's Julie's news...

She's been accepted to the Quickutz Sillouette Design Team!!! I'm super-happy for her,... and a little saddened. She's been a friend since long before my (or her) digiland foray, and now she's returning to her paper roots. I'm so glad she's gotten this awesome opportunity as she truly loves paper scrapping! Unfortunately it means she won't have enough time to continue designing for digital scrapping. I'll pass along info on her retirement sale as soon as it becomes available. CONGRATS, Julie!!!

:)

Blogthing and some LOs...

2009-02-24T06:55:00.003-05:00

You Are a Maverick

You're a restless rebel with an unpredictable nature.

Bright but unbridled, you tend to seek out wild experiences over new ideas.

People are frustrated by your great potential, but you love your unconventional life.

You're a heartbreaker. People get attached to you, and then you're gone.

Your strength: Your thirst for adventure

Your weakness: Not taking time for slow pleasures

Your power color: Hot pink

Your power symbol: Figure eight

Your power month: March

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

------------------------

I finished the rest of the pages for Jaylin's Badge Album. Now to get them printed and the album put together! :)

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Super Safari Kit by Connie Prince, DigiDiva Designs.
Template from Badge Album Set 2 Templates by Jill D-Zines.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: 1942 report

Gotta' leave earlt today due to vehicle issues and an appt at the endochronologist... Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Another Monday rolls around...

2009-02-23T10:31:00.006-05:00

And, this week's off to an auspicious beginning... Mike went off the road on the way in to work yesterday - not a huge deal especially as a good samaritan stopped and pulled him out. BUT, they managed to hook the brake line when they did, and by the time he got to work he'd lost about 90% of his brake fluid according to him. So Mom had to bring him home last night, and today he's got my van. I called the mechanic, and he'll try to do a rush job as soon as Mike gets it to him, but that probably won't be 'til after noon as Mike's now running his contract due to his boss being in training for the new contract. I'm guessing tomorrow we'll be carpooling. I have a dr appt at 9:10, and he has a meeting at 9.

I need to call the company that holds his student loans too 'cause his deferment got denied for one of two reasons - not really sure which because we received letters for both reasons - TWICE. I'd gotten the deferment income limit amount from one of their reps, and Mike qualified by about $50 so I'm not sure what the issue is. Oh - and it took me a month to get the info to them because they kept telling me to fax it, and then stated they didn't receive it...

But, moving on...

Friday night we went to a birthday party for one of Micaila's classmates. It was at the ice arena in Watertown. The kids had never been ice skating as we're NOT winter people, and I have weak ankles so that I can't even stand on the things. Both kids had no issue there. By the end of the evening they were walking on the skates as easy as they do their normal shoes! Brenden was just thrilled that he'd been "invited" - which wasn't technically true, but I wasn't going to burst his bubble. Olivia's mom made sure that he was included so that was that.

I managed to convince her to give one run without the "training wheels", but my hand was still needed. I'm out there in my boots btw. LOL

His problem wasn't that he fell - it was that he had a LOT of trouble getting up! LOL I have sore spots on both forearms from helping him.

On Saturday the kids and I went to Texas Roadhouse with Dad for his birthday. Other than the LO which I framed I didn't have anything to give him, and he said dinner there was all he wanted... I did rat him out to the waiter though!

(Micaila took this one.)

(Had to edit out a little boy who was walking by.)

Dad with our waiter.

Yesterday we just hung out here. I meant to blog, but quite frankly - the longer I was upright the more I felt like I was going to hurl my cookies! Don't know what's up. I don't feel quite as bad today, but not good either - and it's weird - the longer I'm awake the better I feel. I told Dad this morning that if I didn't know better I'd think I hadn't taken my Zyrtec in a week. Friday morning I woke up with a NASTY headache. I took some acetimenophin when I got to work, but even after the headache let up the sinus pressure continued. Saturday wasn't too bad. Yesterday it was the sinus pressure, the sneezing, the headache, the naseua, and dizziness. All of which kept vying for the top spot in p.i.t.a.-land, and continued until dinner. Today I've got all of it again but in a less violent form - it's just enough to bug me, but not keep me down. It would almost be easier if I could just say I'm sick and be done...

I realized yesterday I'd forgotten to do the Question of the Week last Sunday... Here's the one for this week:
What things, people, or activities give you peace of mind and restore you?

I'm gonna answer this short and simple - Scrapping, reading, snuggle time with the kids. I don't think a large windfall of money would hurt, but I'm not waiting for that to happen...

I've got one LO and 5 pages from a badge album to share today, and then I'm off to get some stuff done...

Title: That Grin

Credits:
Black paper, light blue paper, and glitter/glue splotches from the Farbkleckse Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
White paper and other elements from the With My Eyes Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: 1942 report; 2Peas Goofball; Hammerkeys

LO completes the Feb 1st Lifts With A Twist Challenge.
_____________________________

Badge album for Jaylin:

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Super Safari Kit by Connie Prince, DigiDiva Designs.
Template from Badge Album Set 2 Templates by Jill D-Zines.
Photos by my dad.
Fonts: 1942 report

I'll have at least 5 more pages for this before I'm done. I'd like to wrap it up today, but we'll see how the day goes! LOL

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Happy (early) Birthday and a sale...

2009-02-20T15:01:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is Dad's 62nd birthday! I have an early birthday present for him...

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Symphony Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available 2/22/09 at Scrapbook-Elements.
Photo by me. (kids extracted)
Fonts: Enview; CK Tea Party

This will be going into a frame for him. :)
____________________________

I also have 2 other LOs to share...

Title: Believe

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Believe Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photo Mask from Instamatic Portrait01 by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photo by me.
Fonts: English111 Adagio BT
____________________________

Title: the strength of a man

Credits:
Wing cluster from the Take Flight Set by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Papers and other elements from the Retro Manly Man Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Scripts run on photo: Lighten Up and Soft Sepia by Heather Manning Designs. (scripts run then layer set at 79% opacity over original.)
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: CK Scratchy
____________________________

Oh! Were you still waiting for the information on the sale??? LOL To celebrate Dad's birthday I have 62% off my entire store at Digital Scrap Garden! The sale is today through midnight on the 22nd so be sure to stop by this weekend!

Gotta' run 'cause I'm at work!

:)

Photo session!

2009-02-18T08:48:00.003-05:00

The kids are getting their pictures taken at work today! Dad's been talking about getting a "cowboy" session done pretty much since Brenden was born 'cause he's Grampa's Little Cowboy... Costumes are at work, hobby horses are going with us, and Grampa was trying to find some six shooters last night... This may prove to be a really cheesy sitting!! LOL

I've got 3 LOs to share 'cause I'm cheating a little by sharing the one with stuff that isn't available until tonight, but maybe that will make you want to stalk the store??? :D

Title: My Happy Girl

Credits:
Papers, alpha, and elements from the With My Eyes Kit by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick. (as of tonight)
Photos by me.
Fonts: PIG; Nyala
_____________________________

Title: Fun Lazy Day

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Retro Jungle Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook-Elements.
Photo by my BFF, Kam.
Fonts: Vintage Typewriter
_____________________________

Title: Moonlight Serenade

Credits:
Papers and elements from The Love Affair Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cathie's Hand
_____________________________

Gotta' run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Sleep... please!

2009-02-17T07:55:00.005-05:00

I know at some point in my life I will actually manage to get through an entire 8 hours without waking up - by myself or by others... I was awake 7 times by 4am, and at 5am gave up. So far I've: gathered garbage and put it outside, put away the clean dishes, washed the dirty dishes, folded and sorted 3 loads of laundry, put 1 load into the dryer, put 1 load into the washer, realized there's another load in the hamper, uploaded my 4th LO from yesterday to the web, completed about 75% of 1 LO for today, and gotten Brenden dressed.

I've also got this burning pain going on in my right shoulder any time I reach, stretch or lift something. I'm thinking it may be a pinched nerve... Just not sure how it would have come to be.

And, speaking of pain, apparently the nerves in my ear are finally regenerating 'cause for the last few days if you touch my left ear it stings/hurts depending on the amount of pressure when you touch it. I hadn't had an issues in the area for a while now so I have to assume that's the issue. The pain when I start eating has also (finally) toned down to a once in a while issue rather than an every time I eat issue.

I completed 4 LOs yesterday in between other to-do items. I can only share 2 this morning though because 1 can't be posted until tomorrow night as the product isn't available yet, and the other was Saucy Wenches in yesterday's post. :)

Title: Giant Swallowtail

Credits:
Frame cluster with tattered paper from the Fresh Start Clusters pack by Connie Prince, DigiDiva Designs.
Papers, stitching, and tag from the Desperately Seeking Spring Kit by Connie Prince, DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: Windsong
______________________________

Title: Morning Chores

Credits:
Metal clip from Clip EZ01 by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Paper and other elements from the Winter Chic Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photo by me.
Fonts: MA Smiles
______________________________

That means with the 8x8 albums at work, the paper LOs from Friday, and my digital LOs I've completed 111 pages so far this year with #112 in the works! YIKES!!

I have to run to try to finish that LO I'm working on, eat breakfast, take my meds, and grab a shower before work! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

:)

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-02-16T10:44:00.006-05:00

So I went to a paper scrapping crop Friday night. Just a small one at the LSS that they hold every other Friday. It ended up just being me and the two owners for the night because one woman who'd signed up was sick and called, and the other didn't show. That's ok. It made for a fun night with plenty of room for the 3 of us to spread our *stuff* out!

I finally finished Kol's album. Of course when I bought the kit on clearance I thought it was a 12x12 album based on the box, and didn't actually read it... I'd ordered about 100 prints from the Bristol race he and our cousin, Tam, went to last year to put into the album. When I went to put it together it was 6x6! LOL Again - that's ok. A LOT of the photos were repetitious, but then it's NASCAR - how many DIFFERENT photos can you take?! What really baffled me is that he's a HUGE Jimmy Johnson fan - has been for years. But, the only photo of Jimmy's stuff in the set was a shot of the trailer outside the track... So I have a 48 album with 48 elements/paper... and no 48!! LOL I left space everywhere for him or Tam to journal about the day 'cause I have no clue what went on.

Here's a couple of the pages...

The inside cover and Kol with Tam...

Pit stops I believe...

I also completed 11-4x6 layouts for a photo album book. The problem with creating scrapbooks from photo albums is that album pages are only designed to hold something slightly thicker than a photo. This particular album is suuposed to hold 52 photos, but when you add the slightly thicker layout to it I'm going to need to cut half the pages from the album so it will close. Here's a few of those...

I also completed a VERY simplistic 12x12 for a sketch challenge at the store. I doubt it will win 'cause I'm really out of practice with my paper scrapping... LOL You can see it here though if you want. I think you'll recognize the subject. It's a LO about his propensity to grab Momma's camera...

Moving on to digital scrapping I managed to finish this LO after work on Saturday...

Title: Morning Meal

Credits:
Paper, frame, staple, tape, flower cluster, and ribbons from the Wrought With Love Kit by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital Art.
Date circles and markers from the Project 365 Embellishments, Part 2 by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie. (recolored)
Photo by me.
Fonts: Patient Paige

It was originally supposed to be for a challenge Tracy hosts over at SBE, but I kind of used the wrong kit! LOL The challenge requires products entirely from SBE, but since I was 3/4 done when I realized my mistake I just used what I had. My favorite elements is date elements so she's working on a pack for me, but this kit is sold from ScrapDish instead of SBE anyway. Sometimes I am so blond! LOL
_________________________________

I completed 4 more LO yesterday..

Title: Project365 - Week 6

Credits:
Background, brackets, Sticker, flowers and border from the Hodge Podge #3 set by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Phont Phreak's Handwriting
_________________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 6

Credits:
Day stickers, "7" sticker, and layered tag from the Life 365 BIY Monthly Summary by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Brackets, border, and flowers from the Hodge Podge #3 set by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers.
WA from the Life Wildflowers Wordart Freebie by Gina Marie Huff, Heidi Williams, & Patricia Christensen of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Background from the Always My Heart Add-on by Carjazi Scraps.
Photos by me.
Fonts: PIG; Prissy Frat Boy

I needed to catch up my P365! W&W has a gig going where if you use at least 75% their product, and are up-to-date every 2 weeks Gina gives a pack of goodies to you! Works to keep me motivated! LOL
_________________________________

Title: Live Creatively

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Creative Chaos Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Photos by me
Fonts: Samantha
_________________________________

Title: A Sister's Love

Credits:
Pin from the Don't Pin Me Down Pack by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra.
Paper and all other elements by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra, from the So Divinely In Love Collab.
Photo by ?. (Faces blurred out for privacy - page was created for friends.)
Fonts: Jane Austen

Friends from high school just had their second daughter sometime within the last week or so. I don't have a specific date yet. I created this using a photo posted by them on Facebook.
_________________________________

Then I finished 1 more so far this morning using Wenchie-Poo's newest kit Saucy...

Title: Saucy Wenches

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Saucy Kit by Designs by Kristine.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: Teasure Map Deadhand; Vintage Typewriter

You can find that kit here.
_________________________________

Well, I've got some bills to pay, lunch to make, garbage to gather, and about 6 more CT LOs to complete so I'm running away again! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

My Photo Mosaic

2009-02-15T10:30:00.002-05:00

I found the directions for this on Heidi of W&W Blog... Answer the questions below, and use your answer to do a search on Flickr here. Then grab the URL from any photo on the 1st page of your search returns and plug it into the Mosaic Maker here. Choose a format for your mosaic, and viola!

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.

My Answers:
1. Cate
2. Taco Salad
3. Cazenovia (College had to be left off to get pictures of anything other than Orientation activities)
4. Blue
5. Vin Diesel
6. Dirty Girlscout
7. Hawaii
8. Chocolate (anything! LOL)
9. An artist
10. My kids
11. Strong
12. Slash

My mosaic credits:
1. For Cate*, 2. taco salad, meet Flickr. Flickr, meet taco salad., 3. Afternoon Clouds, Lake Cazenovia, 4. On Holiday., 5. Vin Diesel 2, 6. dirty girlscout, 7. Sunset Beach, 8. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 9. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 10. bless from above, 11. Sumatran Tiger ; bathing, 12. my idol

Oops! I just realized the URL for my artist answer didn't paste over correctly... Oh well, I've wasted enough time with this for the morning. I'll go back and fix it some other time. :)

--

...

2009-02-12T08:17:00.003-05:00

Title: Valentine Time

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Passionately Pink Kit by Princess Lala of Divine Digital.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: MC Sweetie Hearts; Note This
__________________________________

Title: Jaylin - Love U Cutie

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Desperately Seeking Spring Kit by Connie Prince, DigiDiva Designs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: Note This

---

Back to the grind...

2009-02-10T07:35:00.003-05:00

So Nora didn't call or stop by, but Blayne did catch me on IM. Between him chatting with me and him chatting with Dad we "talked" for about 2 hrs. Jaylin is getting SOOOOO big! Glad we have webcams. :D

I did finish most of my list - all except for packaging anything for either store, my P365 - week6 LO, or the 25 things about me list.

But, on top of my original list I also had to call my fuel oil company to straighten out the mess they'd made of my account. Back at the beginning of Dec they double-charged my credit card for a delivery. They "fixed" it by refunding the full amount and then charging the half amount a 3rd time... Then proceeded to leave the "credit" on my account so that they didn't charge my cc for the delivery on xmas eve. When I called to arrange for a delivery on my birthday they caught on to the fact that they hadn't charged the previous delivery... and STILL hadn't gotten it straightened out. I need a delivery this week so I had to make them fix it so I could put Mike's card onto the account for the new delivery because I'm too close to my limit for another delivery to go on my card... It's fixed now, but jeez...

Then I had to call the cable company because I noticed a $13.99 charge for "Howard TV on Demand" on our bill and we don't use ANY on Demand options... When I get the rep she states this has been on our bill since NOV 23rd!!! It was automatically re-occuring every month, and I hadn't noticed it!!! Apparently Brenden must have hit buttons on the remote at some point to "order" the service, and despite the fact that we've been with them for ohhhh - 6 yrs - with no on Demand charges no one thought that was odd??? The rep did manage to remove the charges for this bill and the last one so that's $30 I don't have to pay, but the original one couldn't be removed. Now to take the time to figure out how to set parental controls on that stupid remote which doesn't work well to begin with so he can't do it again.

I also got the taxes done so that money should be in our account within the next 14 days. At which point I can pay off both cc accounts, and MAYBE get the laptop I've been hoping for...

The LOs I finished since Sunday morning's post...

Title: my toes

Credits:
Papers from The Grunged Dot Paper Pack by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
"Statement" paper from the Paper Strips 01 Pack by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Tabs from the Ribbon Tabs 01 Pack by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Alpha and bracket from the Trashabet Set by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Photo by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl
___________________________

Title: Wherever you go...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Heart's Desire Kit by Ladybug Graphix available at Digital Scrap Garden.
Photo by Olan Mills.
Fonts: CK Heritage
___________________________

Title: Feb 3rd

Credits:
Papers and glue/paint/glitter splotches from the Farbkleckse Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Frame, mask, acrylic dateline, reversed staple, stitched tag, and heart sticker from the My 365 Days Element Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: CK Mou Saha
___________________________

Title: My Love Grows

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Our Love Grows Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: CK S.W.A.K.; Epoxy History
___________________________

Title: Valentine for Miss Scheer

Credits:
Paper and elements from the My Heart Belongs Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra available at Divine Digital.
Photo by Great Lakes Photography. (Faces smudged out for privacy.)
Fonts: CK Typist

Gotta' run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Another Sunday and the first QotW...

2009-02-08T06:39:00.005-05:00

***WARNING LOOOOOOOONG POST!! LOL ***

So I still haven't managed to take the time to gather all my CT Valentine's kits, but some are included below... I've been awake since 5:30am again, and REALLY wish I was asleep. At least 2 nights this past week I don't think I managed to get more than an hour of sleep at any one time all night. Maybe I'll try to sneak a nap later. I'll probably feel too guilty to do it though - as usual I have a looooong to-do list for my 2 days off.

The first load of laundry just finished washing. I'm hoping it is the only load I have to do today, but we'll see if Brenden had an accident overnight when he wakes up. Then we have dishes; taxes; my P365 - w6 LO; 4 CT LOs I should get done; 2 QPs & 3 mini kits to package for Wenchie's store; a mega frame pack, some templates, & an odds'n'ends paperpack to package for both stores; some general straightening of the house; Micaila's Valentines for her class; gather the garbage for tomorrow morning; try to come up with 25 interesting facts about be 'cause 3 people have tagged me on Facebook for it now; and watch The Caveman's Valentine so I can send it back to Netflix. I think that's it. Well, beyond the norm of 3 meals to fix... Part of me wishes Nora would decide to come over to play cards so I would have an excuse not to do 1/2 that list! LOL

It warmed up enough yesterday that last night as we're trying to go to bed it sounded like we had a pack of snowboarders on our roof... At least it seemed to stop once I fell asleep 'cause I'm a light sleeper, and would have woken up every time more slid off the roof...
---------------------------

So I've gotten my birthday present from myself 4,000 questions for getting to know anyone and everyone... I've decided to do a question of the week thing where each Sunday I'll post a random question from the book, answer it, and ask you to answer it if you are reading this. So, here is the first random question...

In what order do you keep your currency in your wallet?

Mine's smallest to largest front to back - except if I've just gotten change, and don't have time to put it away. Then the change bills are folded in half at the front of my wallet! LOL :) Nope! Not anal at all! LOL My husband who tries to claim I am not at all organized has his money all mixed up in his wallet...

So? How about you?
---------------------------

In scrapping news...

If you haven't heard yet, Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie is now the proud owner of The DigiChick! Congrats, Nicole! I LOVE her designs, and am sure she'll do great things for the site. :) I've been told by a little birdie that her newest Grab Bag is MORE than worth the $3 - not that I've been disappointed by her grab bags before mind you...

JanaM also has a Grab Bag up at TDC for $3 which I can vouch is worth the money if you like her designs! I've been able to play with it as I'm a guest CT for the month! :D Here's my 2nd LO using it:

Title: Funky You

Credits:
Background and paper used with photomask from the Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photomasks from the Photomasks Element Pack Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Fiber paper, tag, tape, and reverse staple from the Some Basics Element Pack Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Leaf stem from the DSD Freebie Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs.
Funky WA from the Mood Music - Funky You Kit Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photo by me.
Fonts: GraytonSSK
_____________________

I've been asked to be a member of Connie Prince's As You Wish CT! I'm psyched! I've been lucky enough to guest for her for the last few months of 2007 and of 2008, and now I'm on whenever a new kit inspires me! Her kits and templates are always so easy to work with. Thanks for the invite Connie & Linda! :D

If you haven't seen yet, Royanna has a PU Grab Bag up for sale through today at DD - just $3 for $45-worth of product - and a CU Collab Trunk with Cyndi Wetmiller of Wetfish Designs- just $6 for 18 new products! Don't miss out on the goodies!!

The Digitals Team has a blog train going on from yesterday through the 14th! You can nab some awesome goodies for Valentine's by riding along each day. :) Freebies are only available for 24 hours so make sure to stop by each day. You can start with Michelle Pieters' blog here. Michelle's goodies all coordinate with her newest kit, Chocolate Kisses!

Kristine's kit, Kissed, is still on sale for 30% off! The 3rd LO here was done using it, and it's perfect for those Valentine's LOs/projects!

Kiki is hard at work on not one - not two - but at least THREE collabs atm! More on that as soon as I can!

If you didn't see it when it got released, Heather has a new kit out. Candy Love was designed with her kids Valentine's for school in mind so it is PERFECT for those hybrid projects involving love!

Dawne of Ladybug Graphix also has a great kit out for Valentine's Day OR any day LOs/projects... Heart's Desire is full of red/white/black/gray goodness - laces, papers, flowers - you name it! And, she's even got an Add-on available now too!

Tracy King also has some awesome Valentine brushes (includes .png versions as well) - Valentine Variety Brushes - and a cute kit - Just Hearts. You can see my LOs using these here - Eternal Love and here - Mine.

Still with me? I think that takes care of most of my CT news - and an extra or two! I have 2 more LOs to share...

Title: as day takes flight

Credits:
Papers from the Wasted Walls Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Frames from the Crack Me Up Frame Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Mask used on one paper and photo from the Masked Frames by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Leaf frond from the Glitter Flourishes 2 Freebie by Kiki Halbert Designs. (hue altered)
Butterfly & corner from the Glimpse of Twilight Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook-Elements. (hue altered)
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: Jane Austen; Hotel Coral Essex
_________________________________

Title: Dandelion Wishes

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Gentle Whisper Kit by Michelle Pieters.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Jane Austen

Gotta' go get some of that list crossed off now! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

A blogthing and a LO...

2009-02-05T08:39:00.003-05:00

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Thanks to Kristine for that one...

Title: Jan 31st

Credits:
Papers from the Art Explosion Paper Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Black alpha from the Graph Alpha 1 by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Colored alpha from the Art Explosion Alpha by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Template from the Feb 09 Grab Bag Template Pack by JanaM Designs available at The DigiChick.
Photos by me.
Fonts: GraytonSSK

I'm really tired... 2 nights of almost no sleep for whatever reason, and this morning I woke up with a killer headache. Frigid I think is too kind a word for the temp outside, and it's BRIGHT... I'm soooooo not looking forward to work today. sigh...

---

So not everything...

2009-02-03T08:43:00.005-05:00

got done. Big surprise, right?!? LOL I didn't even have the energy to look at the taxes. And, there's still 1 load of dishes for today. So overall I think I got a lot done. I did finish 1 LO yesterday, and another this morning. The Valentine kit review will have to wait at least 1 more day 'cause I just didn't have the time to gather info. :P

Title: Project365 - Month 1

Credits:
Background, template, topper tag, and title from the Life 365 BIY Monthly Summary by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers. (added color at 50% opacity to clear title)
Buttons and stitch from the Bunches of Buttons Freebie by Heidi Williams of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Paper used on blank days from the Shabby Cottage Kit by Patricia Christensen of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Word art from the Wildflowers Wordart Freebie by Gina Marie Huff, Heidi Williams, & Patricia Christensen of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Bird from the Tweets1 Freebie by Patricia Christensen of Weeds & Wildflowers.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Guilty; FG Cheryl

I feel like such a tool! I missed the part of the directions at W&W where the LO must contain at least 75% W&W product to be eligible for the weekly goodie.. DOH! So I spent most of yesterday's scrapping time finishing this LO in the hopes that it would count as it does contain photos from within the last 7 days... We'll see! LOL
_____________________________

Title: Have a Heart

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Have A Heart Mini Kit by Royanna Fritschmann, Studio Ra - part of the Divine Digital Charity Collaboration for Heart & Organ Donor Programs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: GE Zebra Script (one type layer set at 48% opacity)
_____________________________

I hate to post and run, but gotta' grab a shower & get to work! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Sigh... It's February...

2009-02-02T08:20:00.007-05:00

I guess it's time to take down the xmas tree! LOL To be honest I've thought about doing it the last 2 or 3 weekends, but it always seems to be Tuesday morning before I remember again! And, after reviewing the bank account this morning I guess I need to get the taxes done today if possible as well... Not to mention vaccuum, put away Micaila birthday presents, finish two loads of laundry and do a 3rd, do two more loads of dishes, get Priority boxes to send out packages to Kam and my FIL, get the kids to put away toys, 1-3 LOs, and maybe knock the snowbanks over into the yard (our 5 ft high mailbox is almost completely covered). I've all ready done 1 load of dishes, gotten the garbage together and outdoors, gotten Micaila off to school (1/2 day today), and put a Netflix movie into the mailbox for return.

Micaila kept complaining she was tired "'cause [she] kept waking up when [she's] supposed to be asleep" this morning. She did wake up 2 or 3 times during the night last night for some reason - not nightmares though. I told her I had the same issue, and could we take a nap when she got home from school?? To be honest though, in my case I was up 'til almost 10pm trying to catch up my weekly P365 LOs because W&W has this awesome thing going where you can get free stuff for keeping up to date on it. Of course, what I missed in the details is that the LOs are supposed to be comprised of at least 75% W&W product... which I could have done if I'd realized it. So now I need to get my monthly summary done asap so I can qualify for this week's goodie. LOL
-----------------

I got my access for my Feb guest spot for JanaM yesterday! She's got a terrific grab bag coming out Wednesday, but I can't show you anything 'til then! LOL
----

Digital Scrap Garden has the February Collab up!! Misty Romance is chock full of goodies and so very pretty! You can either purchase it for only $8.95 or get it free with a $10 purchase in the store!

----

I think tomorrow I'll try to get a review of a bunch of Valentines kits from my CTs 'cause there some REALLY awesome ones floating out there!
-----------------

Title: It's...

Credits:
Background and elements from the Accouterment Junque Kit by Studio Ra of Divine Digital.
Decorated notecard from Short Supply Too Kit by Studio Ra of Divine Digital.
Photo by me. (Extracted and altered. One layer had script 50s Again by Heather Manning Designs run on it, and then eyes, lips, and hair erased out.)
Fonts: 1942 report; FG Cheryl
_____________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 3

Credits:
Papers, circle frame, stitches, paint splotch, reversed staple, and journal tag from the Trouble Maker Kit by Flergs via The Daily Digi #1. (Used glitter as overlay on frame.)
Flower and reversed brad from the Vintage Linens Kit by Shabby Miss Jenn via The Daily Digi #1.
Acrylic frame and epoxy splatter from the Daily Digi #1 Kit by Vera Lim. (One altered to fit one photo instead of two.)
"Week No." and "captured" stickers from the Project 365 Element Pack by Dawn Inskip.
"3" from the 2fer Alpha by Blythe Evans.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl
_____________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 4

Credits:
Background from the Tough Stuff Mini Kit by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie.
Snowflake from the Holiday Glitz by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie.
Word art, grunge frame, notecard, date marker and dateline from the Project 365 Set by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl
_____________________________

Title: Project365 - Week 5

Credits:
Paper, frame cluster, and staples from the Life Beautiful Kit by Studio Ra of Divine Digital.
Checklist, dates, and marker from Project 365 Part2 Element Pack by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie.
Photos by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl

Gotta' go get some of my list checked off! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Last day!

2009-01-31T10:01:00.003-05:00

The sales at both of my stores end tonight at midnight so this is your last chance to grab these fabulous deals!!

Snowy PaperPack is 50% off at Digital Scrap Garden. That makes it only $1.25!!!

And, all PU Templates in my store are 34% off at WenchdGrafix. That makes them $0.83!!!

Be sure to stop by and snag what you want before the sales expire at midnight!
-------------------------------

Title: Oh-so-beautiful you...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Glimpse of Twilight Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook Elements.
Photo by me.
Fonts: GE Amazonia Script
___________________________

Title: Soccer Break

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Tenderly Kit by Ladybug Graphix available at Digital Scrap Garden.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: GG Herb Script; Hammerkeys
___________________________

Title: the Best of me

Credits:
Paper, acrylic alpha, gem drops, leaves/leaf stems, frame, and glitter splotch from the Kissed Kit by Designs by Kristine of WenchdGrafix.
Flowers from the Enchanted Kit by Designs by Kristine of WenchdGrafix.
Silver alpha from Antique Silver Alpha Freebie by Designs by Kristine of WenchdGrafix.
Photo by me.

Gotta' finish getting ready for the party at the zoo. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

:)

Happy Birthday, Baby!!!

2009-01-30T08:47:00.002-05:00

Micaila turns 6 today!! Well, actually she turned 6 at 1:29am, but who's counting?!? LOL I made a batch of strawberry cupcakes last night, and frosted them with strawberry frosting and then added some sprinkles per her instructions. What's so funny is that she's a die-hard chocolate girl. We're having a party with her school friends at the zoo tomorrow. Part of the party included the cake which is chocolate with chocolate frosting... And, she wants a dalmation cake because she wanted a LPS theme this year so Grampy's decorating one of those for her...

I took today and tomorrow off to celebrate with her. Today they actually have a Smile Day assembly at 2pm which means I get to go! Smile Day Assemblies have been going on at least since I went to school in Philly. They're a mix of singing, awards, presentations, etc. for and with the kids. In fact, I sang a solo at one when I was a few years older than Micaila. My Grampy taught me the song I'm Looking Over a 4 Leaf Clover, and I sang it to the school. His 96th birthday would have been Wednesday, and I still miss him a lot.

Tomorrow we're having her party with her school friends at the local zoo. It was actually the cheapest place in town, and as Dad's a member he got a discount which helps. The party includes 2 large cheese pizzas, the cake, juice, a guided tour of the zoo (Which Micaila could probably guide almost as well as the zoo employees!! LOL), demonstrations with 3 animals of her choosing from a list of about 20, all paper products, a small party favor for each child, all setup and tear down, 2 hours classroom rental, and admission for up to 25 people. Additional guests are allowed in at a reduced rate if they aren't zoo members (in which case it's free). My kids are at the zoo with Grampy so often that they're on a first-name basis with sveeral of the zoo employees!! LOL

I wanted a pic of her this morning, and she insisted it include me...

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On to other news... If you look to the right do you see it??

The new link???

Under My CTs???

I've applied several times, but to be honest I send all CT apps from gmail so I can get the response asap no matter where I am so it's entirely possible not all of the apps got through... But, this time I got accepted!!! To Royanna's CT! I'm now a POSH Princess!! [insert dancing smilie here]

I use her overlays a TON, and the bow in the template freebie from earlier in the week is one of her CU products as well. Not that I don't love her PU products as well. I just tend to focus my LOs on my CT work more than anything else. I'm trying to mix it up a little more this year so I can "play" as well as "work"! :D
--------------------------

And, Kristine just got a new kit up in the store this morning... Kissed is perfect for those Valentine's projects/LOs or almost anything else! I'll be using it with some pics of Micaila and her strawberry-strawberry cupcakes if I can get any... :D

Well, that's it from me atm. Gotta' go grab a cake mix so I can bake it, and have it cooled for Dad to decorate tonight while we're out to dinner..

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Yeah!!!

2009-01-29T07:57:00.004-05:00

I got asked to stay on Kiki's CT as a permanent member! And, for those who haven't seen it yet she has a brand new collab with Miki Ferkul that was released Sunday at SBE, Tryst.

Isn't it gorgeous?! And, if you watch Kiki's & Miki's blogs they have some wonderful QPs to give away from CT members!! I created 2 for them to use, and I know Kiki all ready has one by Carolyn up on her blog so stay tuned! And, here's my LO using Tryst...

Title: Peacock Perfection

Credits:
Papers, alpha, and elements from the Tryst Collab Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs and Microferk Designs available at Scrapbook-Elements.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Freebooter Script
_______________________

Also, it's almost the end of the month... Don't forget that I have Snowy on sale for 50% off until midnight on the 31st at Digital Scrap Garden, and 34% off all PU templates in my store at WenchdGrafix!!

For those that haven't been by in a while there's a template freebie two posts back...

I've got to go shovel & shower so I can get to work. It didn't snow much after I got home last night, but the plow went through twice and dumped a pile at the end of the drive... sigh...

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Hmmmm...

2009-01-27T08:16:00.004-05:00

Not much to say again... As long as my weekends are right now they still seem waaaayyyy too short!

Brenden had his checkup yesterday, and (finally) got a clean bill of health for his ears. The doctor had to use a tymphometer (sp?) to double check his ears because there was some thin wax in front of the ear drum that had the appearance of a seperated membrane, but the machine tested the ears as normal. The doctor also noted that he could see the signs that Brenden had had a fairly bad ear infection which makes me wonder... It still seems like the kid should have been complaining about his ears a little more than he had. I had enough of them as a kid that I remember how much they hurt.

Micaila starts a swimming unit in gym at school today. While I'm not entire opposed to this it seems like the school should have had to ASK the parents if this would be ok. Instead we received a letter 2 weeks ago INFORMING us it would happen... I'm REALLY not thrilled about the fact that they are doing it during the winter months, and forcing the kids to take a shower after swimming. Micaila still won't take a shower here - only baths. She HATES the water spraying over her head... I'm sure whom ever is supervising will be having tons of fun trying to make a bunch of kindergarten students take showers in the locker rooms...

I've decided to try to focus a little more on journaling on my LOs this year. I've also been meaning to put together some hybrid "journals" as xmas gifts for a couple of years now to try to get stories/answers from members of the family for the kids to have down the road. So, I used my birthday coupon from Borders to order 4,000 Questions for Getting to Know Anybody and Everybody. I'm hoping it will help prompt me to do more journaling.

I finally got all the photos for my FIL labeled, and got another album for him as I'm sure the last one is either full or almost full. I have about 175 photos here, and know the album I sent last year was only supposed to hold 200. So with the photos I'd sent last year I think he'd have run out of room. Now to get them in the mail... Oh! And, the books I got my BFF, Kam and her son for xmas... Those are still here as well. Guess I'll have some errands to run on Friday.

Title: Love Eternal

Credits:
Photo Mask from Valentine Variety Stamps by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital Art.
Background from the Graphs 1 Pack by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital Art.
Swirl rub-on from the Always in Style Kit by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital Art.
Stapled bead from freebie by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital Art.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: Treasuremap Deadhand

Another LO of Mike's grandparents...
__________________________________

Title: static girl

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Antique Love Freebie Kit by Shawnery Mathis Designs.
Template by Michelle Filo.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Hypewriter

LO completes 4pm SBB Birthday Chat Challenge and the Pencil Lines Sketch #117.

:)

A LO and a Freebie...

2009-01-25T13:49:00.006-05:00

Title: Birthday Wishes

Credits:
Papers and elements from the No. 3 Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: HammerKeys; Jacki's Doodles; Jacki's Hand
______________________________

A friend from my original online home, GotSwaps, asked me to make her a template of my layout Look so I have a freebie for you all! This template includes a bonus doodle and bow in the layers of the template itself, and is for personal use only. Template is saved as psd and psp file types.

Template for Karen
password: gotswaps

Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

:)

A blogthing and a LO...

2009-01-23T08:38:00.005-05:00

You Are a Discount Shopper

You love to get things as cheaply as possible. You live for sales.

It's partially because you like to save money, but it's also because
you like the thrill of finding a fabulous deal.

Of all the types, you tend to shop frequently but rarely by. You keep
an eye on prices.

Brand names are not that important to you. You know how to have style
without collecting designer tags.

What
Kind of Shopper Are You?

---------------------------------------

Title: Embrace {change}

Credits:
Photo mask from Photo Fit by Sweetmade.
Background from Papers Pack in Sept 08 Grab Bag by Flergs.
Kraft flower from the Shapes Pack in Sept 08 Grab Bag by Flergs.
Rub-on flower from the Spring Fling Mini Kit by Carjazi Scraps.
"E" from the My Heart Pearl Alpha by Carjazi Scraps.
"mbrace" from the Gemstone Alpha by Carjazi Scraps.
Calendar and date marker from the Project 365 Element Pack by Dawn Inskip.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Vintage Typewriter VTKS 36

LO completes the One Little Word Challenge #43.
-------------------------

Gotta' run to get a shower and get to work. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

nothing much...

2009-01-22T08:31:00.003-05:00

I don't really have anything to say this morning - or at least nothing that won't get me in even hotter water so instead I'll just let you know that Diane and Kristine both have freebies up for you today so be sure to hop by their blogs.

Fixed it, Kris! :P

:)

A LO and reminder...

2009-01-21T10:46:00.004-05:00

Title: pause

Credits:
WA from the Prject 365 Element Kit by Dawn Inskip.
Background from the Mochamint Muffin Paper Pack by Carjazi Scraps.
Stitching and brown floral sticker from the Gwen Kit by lauraskathi.
Cherish Sticker and clipped flower from the Party Hat Kit by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie.
Heart rub-on and staple cluster from the La Vita E Bella Kit by Vera Lim.
Photo corner from the Drops of Jupiter Kit by Bella Gypsy.
Script run on back photo: 50s Again by Heather Manning Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: uncletypewriter; Willing Race

LO completes the 1/12/09 Hodge Podge Word Challenge.
_______________________________

Don't forget my 24-hour sales going on at both stores today! See yesterday's post for details!

Thanks to all those who've sent well wishes so far!

:)

Birthday sales and LOs...

2009-01-20T11:39:00.004-05:00

Title: Sledding with Daddy

Credits:
Papers and elements from the No. 2 Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: FG Crys

This is the fourth LO I've completed using the photos form my aunt so I'm feeling a little better about that project. It helps that my designers have managed to create kits that work so well with these! LOL :D
________________________

Title: Mine

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Just Hearts Kit by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Digital.
Photo by me.
Fonts: Flair

This got Bloom of the Day at Digital Scrap Garden for 1.19.09! :)
________________________

Title: A True Love Story

Credits:
Papers and element from the It's A Classic Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: MA Simple Pleasures

For those who are wondering this is my DH's grandparents. We just lost Grandpa to Alzheimer's in June. They'd have been married 61 yrs in Oct.
________________________

So,... guess what tomorrow is??? My birthday! The first one in a few years where (hopefully) nothing goes wrong! LOL Last year we were dealing with finalizing filing bankruptcy; the year before I can't remember exactly, but think I had some horrible cold; the year before that I had pink eye for the first time in my life - so bad I had to have steriods to get rid of it... Do you see a pattern here?! Anywho - guess who's getting the gifts??? YOU!!!

At Digital Scrap Garden for 24 hours only my entire store will be 34% off with the exception of Snowy which will remain at 50% through Jan 31st. :)

At WenchdGrafix for 24 hours only my entire store will also be 34% off! But, wait! The PU templates will remain 34% off through Jan 31st... AND, for those of you who were patient waiting for the store to get moved I have another goodie! A coupon! For an ADDITIONAL 10% off your entire purchase in my store valid until Jan 26th!

Do you want it? LOL Here you go: ScrapsationsalBirthday (Copy & paste for best results! ;) )

'k I've got to run now... Work ya' know... Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!!

:)

Have you...

2009-01-18T07:58:00.005-05:00

checked out The Daily Digi yet???? If not, you NEED to hop over there! Janet Phillips has started a new site dealing with digi-scrapping, scrapping, hybrid, and everything else in our lives that connects! Honestly, I don't always remember to stop back every day, but when I do I always find something to put a smile on my face!!!
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In other items, WenchdGrafix is back up and running! Be sure to stop over there to check out all the goodies! All PU templates in my store are 34% off through Jan 31st!

I also have Snowy for 50% off at my store at Digital Scrap Garden, and for one day only - Jan 21st - the rest of my store there will be 34% off!! Mark your calendars!
--------------------------

I have a couple of LOs to share...

Title: Brenda's Graduation

Credits:
Paper and elements from the Tenderly Kit by Ladybug Graphix.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: FG Cheryl; CK Rennaissance
__________________________________

Title: Look

Credits:
Background from the Cherries Jubilee Paper Pack by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper.
Other 2 papers from the Flutterby Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Scrapbook Elements. (One cut into frame.)
Swirl from the Glitter Flourishes 2 Blog Freebie by Kiki Halbert Designs. (hue altered)
Bow and button from the Snowberry Punch Kit by Kiki Halbert Designs available at Plain Digital Wrapper. (hue altered on button)
Photo by me.
Fonts: Note This; Patient Paige (Black accents added by me.)

Someone decided my not-quite-6-yr-old needed a play makeup kit for xmas... Personally I don't think makeup -real or play - is necessary that young so I am very unhappy about it, but that's the way my in-laws are... Don't ask just do what you want...
__________________________________

I finally downloaded and installed Firefox this morning so now I can go claim some templates I got as a RAK from Laura Bozeman. Every time I tried to checkout the site would just keep blipping at me, and I finally noticed the disclaimer stating IE doesn't work well with the shopping program the site uses... It's been almost 2 yrs since I used Firefox so now I have something to get used to again. I also need to figure out how to point Firefox to saving certain files in specific places...

And, I just remembered this morning that Tuesday is my FIL's birthday. I still haven't gotten Xmas out to him yet - let alone his birthday. I need to get off here, and get some photos uploaded and ordered...

On Thursday, Dad reserved the zoo for me for Micaila's birthday party on the 31st, and I got the invitations made out yesterday so she can take them to school on Tuesday.

Brenden's rash is almost completely gone - finally. Don't know why it didn't occur to me, but it took my co-worker asking if I'd given him any Benadryl to go DUH!!! After one dose he seemed to not be itching anywhere near as much.

Bad P365er that I am I managed to miss 3 days this week... Not because I didn't think about it - just because I didn't actually pull my camera out of my purse! LOL So, if I take the photos I thought about do they count in retrospect?!?! :D

Watertown got hit so bad with snow yesterday morning I got a snow day from work. The boss called as I was getting ready to pull out of the drive to tell me not to bother 'cause everything in town was shutting down anyway, and he was getting ready to ski to work (He lives about 10 blocks away I believe, and skis, runs, bikes, etc. all the time...) to clear off the walks as he couldn't drive it - the roads were still not plowed... I guess they got somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 inches in under 4 hours. We must have just skimmed the edge of the storm 'cause it had just started that fairy dusting kind of snow when I walked out the door, and we didn't get more than about 5 inches all day.

Anywho - I need to run to get some other things done! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Whoo-Hoo!

2009-01-16T12:13:00.002-05:00

My store at WenchdGrafix is back up and running! Swing by to grab all PU templates at 34% off!!

Kristine's working hard to get the rest of the store up and running asap! :)

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Sub-zero, store updates, and a new LO...

2009-01-15T08:13:00.004-05:00

So, in the wonderful land of the frozen not-quite-arctic we've got sub-zero temperatures going on for at least a week. Yesterday morning it went from 6 to -22 in under an hour at the Watertown airport. Today they're predicting a HIGH of -1 with wind chill factors making it possible to have -21 throughout the day... YUCK!!! Supposedly, next Monday or Wednesday we'll get a break with temps in the 20s... [insert rolling eyes smilie]

Don't forget that Snowy is on sale for 50% off at Digital Scrap Garden through Jan 31st. Kristine had to switch host servers so WenchdGrafix is temporarily down, but keep checking back 'cause all PU templates are 34% off through Jan 31st there. I may even throw in a special bonus for those who are patient!

I feel a little bad because when my aunt lost her husband suddenly to cancer I offered to make a digital book for her if/when she got some photos together for me to scan for the project. She brought me several photos about a year ago, and I've only now created the 2nd page...

Title: A New Beginning

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Gentle Whisper Kit by Michelle Pieters.
Photo by ?.
Fonts: FG Cheryl; Fidelio MN
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Brenden's still got his rash. It doesn't seem any smaller, but is less angry-looking (as in not so red). Seems like it should have cleared up, or at least gotten smaller by now...

I've got to run to eat and shower before work. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Some amazing rash...

2009-01-14T08:25:00.002-05:00

Brenden woke up yesterday with what looks like an allergic reaction to SOMETHING. He was completely fine the night before...

Poor bugger was just finishing his second round of antibiotics for the ear infections, and now he has this... The only thing I can think of is the fresh orange juice he had the day before, but he didn't have much of it...

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1 LO quick...

2009-01-13T09:07:00.002-05:00

Title: Wonder Girl

Credits:
Papers and elements by Heather Manning Designs from the NDISB Diversity Collab.
Photo by me.
Fonts: FG Cheryl; Gawain

Gotta' run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

A few LOs and some odds'n'ends...

2009-01-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

So I finally asked Dad for some help with the title on that LO 'cause it just wasn't speaking to me... He came up with Fall Fool, but said I should send Kristine a version titled Autumn Ass!! LOL

Title: Fall Fool

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Allie's Moose Kit by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Designs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: Angelina
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I also created my first 2 LOs for P365 yesterday...

Title: Project365 - Week 1

Credits:
Background, corner doodle, and lined paper from the Memories in Black & White Kit by Vera Lim.
Ribbon from the December Sampler by Vera Lim.
Arrow, date line, and circles cutout from the Project 365 Embellishment Pack by Sugarplum Paperie.
Photo by me.
Fonts: assign; Avant que
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Title: Project365 - Week 2

Credits:
Background, frames, flowers, and tape from the Isabel Kit by lauraskathi.
Memories rub-on and Painted transparency from the Gabs Kit by lauraskathi.
Dateline and selector from the Project 365 Embellishment Pack by Sugarplum Paperie.
Photos by me.
Fonts: Bambi Bold; FG Cheryl
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Dad found out while dropping Micaila off this morning that another of her classmates is leaving sometime within the next week. His dad's being deployed for a year, and since he just got a baby sister for Xmas mom is going home during the deployment to be near family. It makes me a little sad this time 'cause it's one of the boys who'd played with Brenden a few times when we were together for events. (Not that he isn't friendly with Micaila too...) Half-way through the year, and I believe she's lost 3-5 classmates and added 6-8... It's kind of like a turnstile. I need to get a list for her birthday invitations.

Brenden's feeling well enough that he's fighting about having to finish his antibiotics. Which reminds me - I really need to try to remember to check his ears. IF I can pry him away from Lego Batman on the PS2...

Yesterday we watched The Golden Compass. It was good... odd, but good. The kids weren't really into it though. I think they were a little young to follow the storyline. Kind of like Wall-E. We watched that a week or so ago, and while I think the moral is a good one I have to wonder about a movie where more than half of the dialogue is nothing more than "waaaaaaal-eeeeee".

If you didn't stop by yesterday I have my P365 blog up and running. The link is posted to the right...

I also have 50% off my Snowy PaperPack at DSG and 34% off all PU templates at WenchdGrafix through Jan 31st. Don't forget to grab'em while they're on sale! :)

I think that's it, and I need to go eat lunch! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Project365 - well almost!

2009-01-11T11:32:00.003-05:00

Not that I won't be sharing the layouts here as well, but I've started a P365 (almost) blog to keep my photos and LOs for that project in. You can visit it by clicking the link to the right, or here. I made the header using some of my favorite pics from last year. I meant to try P365 in 2008, but life got in the way so I figure having a blog just for that makes me a little more accountable this year! LOL

I also have one LO to share. I'd have 2, but the second doesn't seem to want a title and that's annoying the devil out of me! :)

Title: The wonder of Fall...

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Allie's Moose Kit by Tracy King of Urban Dragon Designs.
Photo by my dad.
Fonts: akaFrivolity

Don't forget to check out the sales I have going on at my two stores through Jan 31st! More details are posted here and here.

Gotta run! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Digi Dare #114 and little bits...

2009-01-07T07:56:00.006-05:00

Title: 2008?!

Credits:
Papers, frame, paper strips, cardboard, and flowers from the In Circles Kit by Amy Teets.
Bracket and love tape from the He Said, She Said Kit by Amy Teets.
Change word art from the NSD Freebie by Amy Teets.
Numbers and punctuation from the Little Star Kit by Amy Teets.
Photos by Mike & Brenden.
Fonts: 2Peas Goofball

LO completes Digi Dare #114.
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So Brenden went to his appt on Monday... Yes, his left eye is re-infected so we have to do the drops 3 times a day for ANOTHER 5 days - both eyes so he doesn't accidently re-infect the right eye as well. But, he also still has the infection in both ears as well!

He's been acting completely normal so we didn't think his ears would be an issue, but the dr had me look through his scope at Brenden's eardrum, and it was still bright red instead of the normal gray. So he's also on a stronger dose of a stronger antibiotic twice a day for 10 more days.

Now Micaila's got no school today because of the snow we've gotten and freezing rain that is supposedly on it's way. I've spent 50 minutes shoveling out the drive so Dad can pull in and I can pull out so I am now not just dripping in sweat, but also soaked in it... gotta' go grab a shower and get to work!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

A quick LO...

2009-01-06T18:59:00.006-05:00

I woke up to an IM from Nicole Seitler thanking me for making her day by naming her as one of my favorite designers in a thread at DST. Soooo,... she made my day by giving me a RAK! LOL

I got her December Grab Bag which was still up this morning and Party Hat as I hadn't managed to snag all the pieces during her blog party last year. Then I came up with this...

Title: Sweet

Credits:
Papers, acrylic swish, & frame from the Party Hat Kit by Sugarplum Paperie.
Flower and flowers with jewel swish from Holiday Glitz by Sugarplum Paperie.
Glittered swish & floral stem from The Sweetest Thing Kit by Sugarplum Paperie.
Word stamp from the Tough Stuff Kit by Sugarplum Paperie.
Alpha from Cardboard Sticker Alpha by Sugarplum Paperie.
Photo by me.

I managed to use all the products except the Holiday Wrappers Paper Pack. I'll get to that soon! THANKS SO MUCH, NICOLE!!

:)

Boys Club has arrived!

2009-01-05T08:27:00.006-05:00

And, right now it is 30% off!! Stop by to grab Boys Club and have some fun!

The first ever collab by the designers at WenchdGrafix Shoppe is now available! Filled to the bursting point this boy-themed kit has everything you could want...
30 papers
2 bordered overlays
8 frames
4 strings
14 wordarts
1 template (both in PSD and PSP format)
1 date circle
assorted date markers
1 button
8 ribbons
2 pins
5 ric racs
5 ric rac wraps
5 bows
5 wraps
3 tags
5 toys
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I also have another LO. I don't start my guest gig with JanaM 'til February, but I'd won this kit as a RAK a while ago and not gotten a chance to play with it yet...

Title: Diva? Who... Me?

Credit:
Papers and elements from the Funky Music Kit by JanaM Designs.
Photo by me.
Fonts: 1942 report; 2Peas GG Mix

Gotta' run. Micaila's got a 2 hr delay for her first day back, and Brenden has to be at the dr at the same time in Watertown. Good thing I have today off 'cause Grampy will have to stay here to drop off Micaila...

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

The kids are home!

2009-01-04T09:41:00.005-05:00

Yeah! Mike and the kids got home about 7:15pm last night. Just in time to unload the van, get everyone settled, and turn on Wall-E to get the kids to stay in bed. They were obviously wound-up from the trip and ride. But, then so was Mike - the man didn't want to stop talking. Can't get him to say two words to me on the phone all week, and then he comes home and rambles for over an hour while we're trying to get to sleep! Go figure...

We followed the directions for Brenden's meds which means Mike stopped giving him the eye drops after his Sunday night dose. He was doing great - and then woke up yesterday morning with his left eye crusted over again... So we gave him two doses of the drops yesterday. I plan to give him the 3 today and 1 tomorrow morning before we leave for his follow-up appt with the dr. I'm thinking maybe he should have had the drops for 10 days straight instead of only 5...

I wanted to share a couple of photos from Christmas day...

Ever seen a kid so happy about pjs?? Of course, Grandma did get him Iron Man and Batman...

LPS VIPs from Santa... But, I got the lap full of super-happy Brenden! LOL

The kids got a dress-up tote from Mommy & Daddy including this costume which Micaila had been begging for. I got them 75% off after Halloween. :)

It also happens to be my niece's birthday, and Micaila made her a special card...

Mike had messed with my camera settings while I was in the bathroom so all the candle pics are in sepia...

So she posed for a fake candle shot with Micaila after my camera got corrected. :)
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And, I have two more LOs...

Title: Jaylin - What'd you say???

Credits:
Papers and elements from the Freak Out Kit by April Staker of DigiApe Designs.
Photo by her maternal aunt, Jamie.
Fonts: Year2000Boogie
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Title: Krysti - Yup, she's a Christmas baby

Credits:
Brown background paper from the Back-To-Basics Rainbow Solids Paper Pack by Princess Lala of Divine Digital.
Blue paper from the Back-To-Basics Rainbow Dots Paper Pack by Princess Lala of Divine Digital.
Frame from Doodle Frame {Rara} by Princess Lala of Divine Digital. (color added)
Stamp from Birthday Stamps Pack by Princess Lala of Divine Digital.
Swirly doodle from the Fancy Frills 3 Pack by Princess Lala of Divine Digital. (color added)
Photo by me.
Fonts: Tuna & Hot Dogs on Rye

Don't forget my sales! See the post below for details. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

:)

Happy Birthday to...

2009-01-03T10:04:00.004-05:00

well, you, I guess! LOL My birthday is later this month so to celebrate I have 2 sales going on...

At WenchdGrafix you can get 34% - yup I'll be 34 - off all personal use templates for the rest of January!! That makes each template only $0.83!!!

Here are a few of the 30 templates available at the moment... (I may be adding more before the end of the month!)

We also have a WenchdGrafix Site Collab (boy-themed) that should be going up in the store shortly so watch for that announcement!
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At Digital Scrap Garden you can get 50% off my Snowy PaperPack - which just happens to coordinate with the January DSG Collab kit, Frosty Morning! That makes Snowy only $1.25!! And, you can get the collab for just $8.50 or FREE with any $10 purchase in the store!

Snowy

Frosty Morning Elements

Frosty Morning Papers

Frosty Morning Collab Mega

So why are you still here reading?!?! Get to the sales! :)

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