Scrappily Yours

Update

2009-11-18T00:19:00.005-05:00

Between my knee and the new dx of diabetes I sure have neglected things here. I have slowly but surely been designing a few things and getting my computer in better order to find things lol...if that is possible!!!!!!!!!!!! I am pleased to say I have purchased a commercial use liscense from Scrappin Cop~~~

I added some new stuffies to both 3Scrapateers and Digitals so make sure to check them out ! Will add more as to life goings on later when time allows but for now I hope you all have a wonderful and joyful upcoming Holiday Season!
Hugs and Blessings!

Jolene

New Products Out : A Christmas Joy Series of products available at 3Scrapateers and Digitals

Update

2009-09-16T16:33:00.003-04:00

I am a bad bad blogger but have good excuses lol. Lets see i prolly won't blog much as health reasons have been worsening and getting me down so really do not have the energy to be honest. I found I do have to have a knee replacement to my right knee but the surgeon says I could not handle the surgery right now until my meds and the diabetes get under control andto top it off I had a kidney stone so feel like a wet washrag most of the time. PLUS good old menopause seems to have set in and the hot flashes and sweats that come with it are not fun AT ALL! Have called my primary doc to see bout getting some HRT in the form of premarin but have a feeling he will tell me to go see my gyn which takes me a year to get an appt with sucks dont it! Ok more poor me's sorry but not much else to catch up on right now. Have been tryin to scrap but my heart just isn't in it despite the awsome pics of my kiddos .....say a few prayers will ya i sure could use some guidance nowadays.
Waving frrom PA
Jo

PS DEAR YAYA
I canna talk to ya when ya do not answer ya phone so YAYA stay home lol or answer the telly woman!! Love and miss you too oodles.

a week or so later

2009-07-03T09:50:00.003-04:00

well I guess i am over my poor me's lol or at least the worst of them. I am up to the two pills a day but getting my sugar levels adjusted is not an easy task. I wake up at odd hours in a cold sweat and shaking and need to get some orange juice in me and some food and feel better in about 20 minutes. The nausea still happens somewhat but think it could also be the other med which is a high powered antibiotic causing some of that as well as the glucophage. I don't feel as tired as i had been and have been a constant visitor to the lil girls room so guess I had alot of fluid buildup. The dr says all of it will regulate and to be patient and I am trying really I am! I need some get up and go and inspiration as right now nothing seems to suit me ugh!

day 2

2009-06-26T16:53:00.003-04:00

Day two...the upset stomach reaction to the diabetes meds is some better today...it comes in waves but at least not lasting too long today hooray.

The rest of our lives here are in turmoil still...precious ds is still having many issues both physically and emotionally. He was hospitalized for several weeks and they are playing with meds to try and get him stablized but it is not an easy thing when depression and other things mix together. Bless his wife for she is trying so very hard to be supportive and comforting but I am sure things are not easy as living with a depressed person can be trying at times. They cannot control their own depression so how can their partner really help? Please keep them in your prayers.
DD has had her share lately as well with a rocky relationship of 9 years but they are trying to work thru it and I hope they can but I have my own reservations..it's as I told her actions speak louder than words and unless her fiance' gets himself on the road to the right things with his daughters they have little chance of making it work and that worries me daily. Sweet alex is doing better tho has a rolly polly look to him I assume from his ra meds but overall is doing much better.
We lost yet another young person...ds's best friend lost his wife very suddenly to a blood clot a few weeks ago leaving behind him and 5 young children! This is the third young person in less than 6 months we have lost that has been close. We had all just been together on Memorial day for a picnic at our son's and two days later she died suddenly. Ry is dealing as best he can and is raising the two youngest children while the 3 older ones who are not his were taken by their grandfather but they are all very close so there won't be wrangling over the children and they are still able to be together most of the time. Life is so short!!!!!!!!

Needless to say most of my scrapping is on hold..i have no oomph as they say but hopefully it will come back soon as I do miss it but just have no energy or patience to even play let alone scrap.

Time goes by

2009-06-25T11:23:00.002-04:00

Boy it's been awhile..looking back to my last post i just didn't realize how long it's been! I struggled so long with the pneumonia and then things with family just took over and they were the most important thing for me. Now i find it's again time for ME to take care of ME! I went for my semi yearly bloodwork last thurs am and by mid afternoon the dr's office was calling me to get my butt into the office. Warning bells went off in my head and was pretty sure why as had been extra extremely tired for several weeks, my vision was doing funky things, i was constantly hungry even after eating a well rounded meal. Not to my surprise when I saw the Dr on Tuesday I now have the extra added bonus of being Diabetic! I guess I have known since I was dx'd with gastroparesis that the diabetes was not far behind since all the research I had done said they usually come together. Still it's a devasting blow..with all the other health problems I have like my Lupus,Fibromyalgia, Gastroparesis, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, RA, OA, Apnea, Restless Leg Syndrome, Asthma, etc I just wasn't ready to add this NOT SO LOVELY disease to my growing list of "Guess what I have?"! Add another pill to the evergrowing pile, add another gadget(a glucometer) to my lil bag of tools to manage my health--gee whiz what fun!
YES i am feeling sorry for myself today, YES I am down down down, YES I do know I can manage the diabetes probably better than any of the other ills I have but that does not make it any less scary to be told one has it! I lost my father and his sister both to pancreatic cancer which in many cases is common for a diabetic or so I was told back then. My great grandmother was insulin dependent which thankfully at least for now I am not and a pill and excercise and diet will help me they say. But I have all those scary remember when things running around in my dreams and memories. With that said I will stop, go figure out what to do with my day today and feel sorry for myself just a little longer and then pick myself up and get in gear to see what I can learn and absorb about this new disease to me. Life goes on and so must all of us in our own ways..I just needed some "POOR ME" time this morning so you all get to read my ramble!

"This too shall pass" and " God never gives us more than we can handle" is what my precious Gram always told me and I know it's true just this morning I am wishing I didn't have to handle any of it lol.

Have a good weekend.

Still struggling

2009-03-11T18:40:00.002-04:00

I am still struggling with the effects of the stupid pneumonia..seems like it just does not want to let go ugh! In the meantime hubby is NOT doing better and we are running around dr to dr with no definitive answers other than they know he is hurting but cannot find out exactly why! FRUSTRATION can you say? Yeppers! We also have found that in all likelyhood his onset of diabetes several years ago may well be related to his service in Vietnam under Agent Orange as he was on the coast of Vietnam most of his tour. We are going to be filling out all that massive paperwork Friday over at VA. To top things off we think that the health issues our adult son has are related to his military service during Desert Shield! He has 8 or 9 of the signs of Gulf War Syndrome and some of them are so severe it is causing him and his wife alot of issues worrying. We never connected his health problems with this until this week our family dr stated he has extremely small red blood cells and when doing some research I found links to Gulf War Syndrome and all the other health problems he has had are all there in big bold print! We are going to look into it further as his frustration and I think even fear of it are getting the better of him and his wonderful wife! Please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers..we all need some answers and some hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel with some if not all of the health problems for two of the most important men in my life.

Ever have one of those times?

2009-02-20T15:51:00.003-05:00

It's been a horrid two weeks here. I am down with pneumonia yet again for the third time in 6 months and am not happy! I feel like crap! I am on high powered antibiotics yet again and am feeling better to some degree physically.

Emotionally right now I am in shock..our neighbor's daughter in law was found dead by her husband when he came home from work morning before last. She was only in her 20's and the cause of death is not known yet but we all have our suspcions that she may have accidently overdosed on something. My heart aches for her husband who we have known since he was a little boy and for the 3 children she leaves behind. They also live where I saw their back door from our front door so knew them fairly well. Please say some prayers for their families! The whole neighborhood as well as the families are shocked and devasted by her death.

I had a go around with paypal this morning as yesterday when i checked my acct there is a double charge listed from my one monthly payment and the seller says they only requested payment once and yet pp shows it twice and pp refuses to do anything until after the 5 days authorization expires and then they will escalate if need be. Now when the seller says they didn't and believe me I trust the seller as have dealt with them almost 8 years now with no problem i would say someone needs to check on it but noooooooooo nobody seems to give a rats butt that my money is absent! Luckily it doesn't make my account in the negative but still it's money I use for my prescriptions, website payments etc and i don't want it messed with!

To top it all off this week I was purchasing from several different scrap stores and had issues with two of them that I couldn't get my downloads or got a wrong download! Grrrrr! I know these things happen and both stores have quickly been working on the problem but it is frustrating when i get an idea and then can't implement it because i can't get the basic portion i want to work with ugh.

So that is my lovely two weeks ick ick and ICK! It's still snowing here and only about 20 degrees and that sucks!

On a SUPER DOOPER NOTE i got a surprise package in the mail from my brothers and sisters when they were together for my one brother's birthday..they had taken time to make an old fashioned family recipe called Dutch Loaf which is a bread loaf made with cardimom, muscat raisins and a bunch of other delightful things like cinnamon and sugar! They safely had wrapped upa loaf and mailed it to me! I was in heaven and as I was feeling so icky it just hit the spot to make me feel comfort! I LOVE my brothers and sisters for thinking of me when I was not able to be there even more for sending me some! I adore them all if you haven't guessed but just wish I did not live such a distance from them or that I could travel more often. I know my grandfather would be smiling down on them as he was the one who always made the Dutch and it was a labor of love on his part every year at Christmas time. That sliced in thin slices, buttered along with a wedge of extra sharp cheese is one thing I remember my daddy snacking on when he came to stay! Better than chicken soup for this old sick gal!

Couple of Goodies over at Digitals

2009-02-10T15:24:00.004-05:00

Added some freebies to the bonus download section at Digitals! It's free to join so go visit us there! You need to register to use the download section!

Funny Valentine Addon Freebie(matches new kit in the store)
http://digitalscrapbookpages.com/galleria/showphoto.php/photo/87435

Love"Drops"

http://digitalscrapbookpages.com/galleria/showphoto.php/photo/87996

Yep They did It

2009-02-10T15:21:00.002-05:00

HOORAY for our Steelers.. Even our youngest members of the family were involved in the hype! LOL!

Steeler Ladies put your hands up!

2009-01-31T01:59:00.003-05:00

"Steeler Ladies" is a parody of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies"
conceptualized and written by Christine Nangle, co-written and performed by Addi Twigg, recorded and produced by Sean G. Donaldson.

As heard on B94, Kiss FM and WTAE

The lyrics:

All the steeler ladies (7x) Now put your hands up

I wear black and gold - don't fit your mold - of what a lady should be
I live football, I yell at bad calls, wear Dad's Bradshaw jersey
I was raised this way, know every play, don't get me on the offensive
Look at me now, got my terrible towel, don't care if it's 3 degrees

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Yes we can, we got Big Ben, Farrior, Miller and Reed
Holmes & Hampton, you know Tomlin came prepared to lead
Hines Ward grinnin', Willie spinnin', Lebeau is on a mission
Polamalu is gonna come through with another Super Bowl trophy

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Don't you know we are champions of the world- see history unfurl
what we are plus what we were, makes us Pittsburgh
We're the team that takes the lead and makes you believe
in the destiny and the legacy of the Steel City and beyond!
It gets into your heart, it's a feeling all our own
We're back on the throne, with one for the other thumb

All the Steeler ladies (7x), Now put your hands up

Here we go, oh oh ohhh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh (2x)

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it
In the superbowl, the Steelers will be bringin' it
Gonna win it and they're gonna put a ring on it

HERE WE GO!
Info Courtesy of SteelerLadies website
http://steelerladies.com/

PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!

Changes

2009-01-31T00:51:00.003-05:00

Well I finally made up my mind the other day to chop off all my hair! I have let my hair grow and grow over the past two years mainly because I am afraid of losing it as the Lupus causes some hair loss but it just had gotten to be way too long and way too hard to care for. I took my tush to the local beauty school as my daughter loves the one girl there and she does a beautiful job on hers so figured hey why not! It costs only 5.50 for a shampoo and cut/style so hey how can you go wrong! While they were registering me the teacher said would you consider donating your hair to locks of love and it took me all of 2 seconds to say yes by all means! They measured it and they cut off almost a foot of hair!!!!!!!!!! Who Knew!!!!!!!!!! LOL. Needless to say I feel alot lighter hahaha..if only it worked that way! Ewww tho all that was left was black and white and while it may look good on some people I had naturally dark auburn most of my life so it shook me a bit! I do love the hair cut and it's really easy to take care of and does not get all tangled up in my CPAP machine like it was doing despite the ponytail i would put it in! the end result was that I did not even have to pay for the haircut! Talk about bargains for a good cause! Of course yesterday i promptly went and got some lady clariol and am back to my redheaded self :-)

If you don't know what locks of love is here is a link: http://www.locksoflove.org/
They weave wigs for children who are cancer victims so it was well worth it in my humble opinion! Maybe i will get brave and post a pic but don't count on it..i hate my own pic being taken lol.
K off to bed it's 1am and just talked to my sis Marsi for an hour and think I better hit the bed.
Have a great weekend and if you are a sports fan (wink wink)

From Scrappily Yours

GO STEELERS SUPERBOWL HERE WE COME!

Superbowl XLIII~Sunday February 1st,2009

in Tampa, Florida at Raymond James Stadium

Superbowl will be covered on FOX Kick Off time is APPROX 6:18PM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Arizona Cardinals

Newest Products at Digitals

2009-01-30T20:59:00.002-05:00

Here is a peek at the newest products I have put up :-)

Happy Holidaze Dressed Up

now at Digitals $3.00

Happy Holidaze Simple now at Digitals $5.00

CU --STOCK PHOTOS -WINTER

now at Digitals $5.00

CU-Stock Photos -Sky&Beach

Now at Digitals $4.00

CU- Stock Photos - Flowers

Now at Digitals $4.00

All of the stock photos were taken by me with my new digital camera and hopefully you will like the results as much as we have! As always any questions on my products can be sent to me via the Digitals Contact Us form or by PM'g me in the Digitals forum user name is jolene.

Layouts

2009-01-30T09:30:00.005-05:00

Just some new layouts I finally am getting to posting! Thanks to the super blogs with Pretty Scrappy and their blog train I got some great Boy quickpages! Will edit when I get back from the doctors tonight as we go yet again to Pittsburgh for dh's doctor appt! JOY oh Joy!

Our soninlaw with his grandkids Bubba and our sweetie Alex
QP by LateNightScraps

Jackson is priceless lol. He is truly a rough and tumble lil guy!
QP by Inspired Mommie Designs

Jack definitely lets his feelings be known on Christmas Day at dinner!
QP by Pretty Scrappy

Our oldest who will be 16 (GASP!!!) this year! He is still my redheaded boy!
QP by Teri's Thing-o-my-jigs

Alex just "aswingin"
QP collaboration by Pretty Scrappy Designers

Sweet baby face Alex back a couple years
QP by Designs by Mel

Working on this blog

2009-01-30T08:12:00.001-05:00

Testing out a new look and will be playing around with it so bear with me!

Good News and eh news

2009-01-28T06:04:00.002-05:00

Well the good news is they have finally given Alex a diagnosis and PTL it is NOT cancer ...he apparently has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis which is very painful and can be debilitating but he is responding well to meds so all is not as terrible as we had been originally told! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and emails --they mean more than we can we say!

I am going to be redoing both this blog and my site over the next few weeks and try to get myself back in some sort of normal routine as much as my health will allow! Bear with me if you see bleeps and bumps along the way lol.

Happy over the hump day from SNOWY Western PA! Have a look at our errrrrr not so lovely weather!

Devasting News

2009-01-09T02:57:00.002-05:00

Well it has been awhile since I updated this hasn't it! We got some devasting news that our precious 6yr old step greatgrandson has been diagnosed with cancer this morning...we are all in shock, in tears, in anger and feel totally devastated! I know that there have been great and wonderful strides in the care of children with cancer but NOT enough from what I have read tonight. I don't know yet exactly what type of cancer it is nor the dr's plan of treatment as they were on their way home from Pittsburgh the last I spoke with my daughter. I just need to ask any and all of you to put him and the family in all your prayers, your blessings, your thoughts or what you happen to believe in! His name is Alex and is such a joy to everyone and we could not love him more if he was a true greatgrand. He calls me Nana, he calls my daughter grandma..he IS family maybe not by blood but by love. Will update more later when I can think clearer and not cry quite so much.

Yummy Tried Recipe

2008-11-16T15:19:00.003-05:00

I was watching Food Network this morning all snuggled in my warm bed since it is snowing here and she made these Pumpkin Bars that made my mouth water for some reason so I went and got the recipe from her show and they are delish! If you like pumpkin you will love them!

Here is the recipe from her site

Pumpkin Bars

Recipe courtesy Patty Ronning as adapted by Paula Deen

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 48 small bars or 24 larger bars

Ingredients

Bars:

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

15-ounce can pumpkin

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing:

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until
smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Holiday Giggle

2008-11-11T19:43:00.003-05:00

I had to share this one! was browsing around for some holiday gifts for my family and came across these holiday napkins and they just struck my funny bone!!!!!! Sounds like something one of my grandchildren would have come up with lol. Found them at The Weed Patch -how cute! They do have some other wonderful holiday gift and party items!

2008-11-11T09:15:00.003-05:00

While we were on vacation I always had Daisy Cottage someplace in the back of my mind as I saw homes for sale and when we visited B&B Antiques! I lay you odds Daisy Cottage owner Kim and I could have spend hours there if she had been around!!!! I have come to the conclusion while I may never have my own cottage I can still find goodies that will remind me of them and so with that in mind I intend to redo most of my townhouse as time goes by!!! I took some photos of the outside of B&B but totally forgot i had my camera inside duhhhhhhhhhhhh me!!!! Will post them as soon as i resize them as they are a bit too big for here.

2008-11-11T09:03:00.002-05:00

Well I am finally settling back in after my vacation hooray!

Things really changed while I was gone as first 3Scrapateers was closing then not and is now under new owners. I have looked and corresponded extensively over the past few days with Barbara who is our new co owner at 3S and have made a decision this morning to stay with 3Scrapateers and see where it leads. It looks like it will be a new adventure and I am sure I will learn new things along the way as well. I know that if it does not work out I can always leave but am willing at this juncture to give it a go ...at my age I can still learn something new! LOL.

The time with the original girls of 3S was such a joy and they are family in my heart and know that it was not an easy choice for them to make! It takes alot of time, work and energy to run any site and one such as 3S I am sure really took a huge amount of all of that! I hope they know how loved they are and how much any of us that worked with them appreciated them each day.

Okay off to figure out some new kits, get ready to go out for a long lovely dinner with my hubby, son and daughter in law at the Oakhurst Tea Room this evening to celebrate their anniversary and both their birthdays. We have not been there in ages and we are really looking forward to dinner for it is always yum yum yummy!

Luceeeeeeeee I am homeeeeeeeeee lol

2008-11-06T20:51:00.004-05:00

Well we are back from our much needed R&R errrrrrr vacation :-) ... We extended it a bit longer than we thought we would but to be honest I am extremely happy we did.

We moved from one hotel that we love called the Captain's Quarters up to another one called the Grande Shores and we had a groundfloor efficiency that I could just walk out the patio into the outdoor pool! We were lucky to have wonderful weather most of the time and I came home feeling better than when I left. The pneumonia seems to have also have gone away save a few "rattlings" yet when I lay too flat but my old bones feel wonderful!

For the first time in 7 years I was able to walk on the beach! That alone is a major accomplishment..many thanks to percocet lol. I do understand my dr not wanting me on it all the time due to its addictive properties but I would give alot to feel this way all the time. I got to sit down on the floor and actually play with our Jack which I normally cannot do and puttered in my yard! I am down to my last two doses of it but I am going to have a very serious chat with my doctor on what we can do to keep me feeling this way rather than slipping back into constant pain mode. Cross your fingers!

Took tons and tons of pictures so as soon as i figure out my wonderful new digital camera uploading them to my computer will post some! Also had a great day with my son and his family for his birthday yesterday and they had all his girls and Jack so it was a super celebration in my eyes. His Em is still going thru much difficulty struggling between where she wants to really live so please keep her in your prayers that she can come to a good choice for her and that she stays safe while with her mother for that whole situation is one that no child should have to endure. She will be 13 next month is old enough to choose now and says she wants with her dad but she has such a fear of her mom and hurting her mom that she waffles alot. She knows her dad and stepmom love her as do her sisters and brother but she naturally has the fear of hurting either parent even tho her mother is well shall we say less than a mother should be. i try NOT to say alot negative about her mother but one day I may just let loose. I do not want Em to feel we pressure her for that would be wrong too but i worry about her safety emotionally and physically constantly.

ok enuf rambling. off to catch up..it will take me days just to read mail lol and I see some interesting scrapbooking mail so stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs and blessings
Hope you had a happy and fun halloween if you celebrate it!
Jo

Sick Humor

2008-10-07T22:32:00.002-04:00

In case ya all didn't notice I am not having a good few weeks/months healthwise for myself nor several of my family members! I have added some health links to the sidebar------------>
so feel free to check them out if you or a loved one suffers from any of them.
This is a "gotta laugh" from But you don't look sick website and just have to share it!

letter from your chronic condition and a reply. Sometimes you just have to laugh!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To whom it may concern:
Congratulations! You have been selected to be the host for (any chronic condition -- RA, FM, lupus, MS, you name it). You will begin to experience many or all of these symptoms -- and may even deal with several of them at the same time.
--Pain can be anywhere you can imagine. We are equal opportunity destroyers, therefore we will choose many places for you to experience pain. We have even devised many different types of pain -- it could be aching, stabbing, throbbing, tingling, burning, gripping, or cramping. We are continually improving our repetoire of pain categories, so updates are to be expected.
--Dizziness. This can be accompanied by nausea, mental confusion, ringing in the ears, vomiting, loss of coordination, and sensations of spinning, rocking, or shaking. We try to simulate the experience of riding a never-ending roller coaster to satisfy your adventurous spirit. No safety harnesses required, and you have no choice of when the coaster ride starts,ends, or how fast it goes.
--Extreme fatigue (Now remember, this is not just being "tired". We will suddenly "pull your plug", so to speak, and you will have NO energy at all. Even dressing or taking a shower will be too daunting of a task for you to complete. And because we like surprises, we will NOT give you any advance warning, so you could be in the middle of the grocery store, at work, playing with you kids, or trying to clean the house.)
--Poor balance, lack of coordination. Let's just say you may walk or talk like you are drunk -- even if you haven't had any alcohol recently. And for those of you who have never indulged in alcohol, you are now going tounderstand what it is like to be drunk and to have a hangover.
--Forgetting, losing, dropping things. These are just a few of the perks of your condition. You will learn to expect them, but never to enjoy them.
In addition to the symptoms above, we also want to eliminate some things from your crowded lifestyle. Here are a few of the things which will be taken away from you now that you are chosen to have a chronic condition:
The ability to stand or walk for longer than 15 minutes without experiencing pain in you feet, ankles, knees, or legs.
Tthe ability to sit for longer than 10 minutes without experience cramping in your legs and butt, or shooting pains in your back.
The ability to complete any task which requires more than 10 minutes of concentration, multi-step activities or long-term projects will take 2-3 times longer then average.
The ability to play and run with your children like you did before.
The ability to have a "normal" social life.
The ability to accumulate sick days at work/ school to earn the perfect attendance bonus.
As indicated previously, this condition is in constant flux and more symptoms will be added as we deem necessary. There is no warranty guarantee, technical support, or customer service available.
Sincerely,Your chronic condition

_________________________________________________________________
Dear My chronic condition:
I would like to clarify that, while you may wreak havoc on my body, and maybe even confuse my mind -- you cannot have my heart or my soul. You cannot have my faith, my hope, or my love. There are some good things thatyou have given me, things I never could have experienced had you not come to possess my body.
You have given me:-- strengthened prayer life and increased dependence on God's grace and strenth, rather than my own-- renewed friendship with strong, close, true friends.-- appreciation for every precious moment I am given. A gift that is sometimes lost on the "healthy".-- growth in character, perseverance, and hope.-- inspiration for to help others.-- more compassion for others who are suffering.-- better knowledge of my own body & health.-- a reason to eat more nutritiously and take care of myself.-- reasons to rest when I need it.
You see, you will not find me an agreeable host. I will fight you, I will not give up. On bad days, I will take care of myself. On the good days, I will take advantage of every precious moment. You have thrown some obstacles in my life's journey, but I will go over them or around them, no matter what it takes. In fact, while I am overcoming them, I will stop for a moment to reflect upon the mountain I am climbing, plant a few seeds and then continue on. I will learn and grow from this experience and help others.
Sincerely,ME
Article written by Brandi Lasnick, © 2007 butyoudontlooksick.com

New products

2008-09-20T14:01:00.003-04:00

FLORA DORA SETS

FloraDora Full ScrapKit at 3S and Digitals

FloraDora Alpha's at 3S and Digitals --comes in pink, green or blue and also a copper set.

FLORADORA FULL KIT 3S

DIGITALS

FLORADORA ALPHA PINK 3S

FLORADORA GREEN 3S

FLORADORA BLUE 3S

FLORADORA COPPER 3S

FAMILY IS SET

Family Is Alpha at Digitals and 3S

Family Is Scrapkit at 3s and Digitals and also just a paperpack as well

FAMILY IS SCRAPKIT DIGITALS

FAMILY IS ALPHA DIGITALS

FAMILY IS PAPERPACK ONLY 3S

DIGITALS

HnH at 3Scrapateers

2008-09-20T13:54:00.003-04:00

Well I know it's been a bit since I added new products but did get around to some this past week or two so here a preview of what's happening.
At 3 Scrapateers I have the HalfNHalf this upcoming week on the 23rd. Since we may not be home from Pittsburgh in time Carla has offered to stand in for me if I cannot make it but please stop by and yak a little and maybe grab a free goodie or two! For details on the HnH you can go to HERE

LOL ok next installment

2008-09-20T13:40:00.002-04:00

Now where was I? The comp dr here finally did call back yesterday morning and we have an appt with another specialist down in Pittsburgh on Tuesday..nothing like short notice is there since we have to gather all his xrays, ct scans and mri's by then! Luckily we already were going to Pittsburgh that day for the VA dr appt in the afternoon so at least that saves us the gas for an extra trip! Small blessing at least :-)

Daughter dear's other half is also being sent to Pittsburgh get this ...one dr on Tuesday and one on Wednesday and her adult step daughter is in the hospital here for ear surgery here to clear up an infection that has been ongoing for months before they send her to Pittsburgh to a specialist. Sometimes I wonder why our local dr's cannot be just as qualified as those 2 hours away sigh. We are taking DD other half to his Weds appt but can't take him with us Tues as it's in a totally different area and at the same time as our appointments! Ever feel like you are going in circles? Come to my house lol we can show you!!!!!!

I stopped at the store this afternoon and didn't you know there was a lady at the table outside the one store collection donations for the Lupus foundation. We sat and chatted awhile since I have it and her daughter was dx'd 4 years ago we had alot to yak about. I sometimes forget there are others here that do have and really should look into their support system locally. I have been lucky with my online support groups and venting here helps relieve the stress that can trigger outbursts but am actually blessed that mine has been under control this long. They said about 10 years is the max for that and I am about at 8 now so kinda keep waiting for the other shoe to drop but knock on wood have been lucky so far.

Our Jackson will be turing 1 next week! It does not seem possible bless his wee heart! He is such a gem and a happy little guy!!!! I remember when they were all this age from our precious CJ who is now almost 16(where has the time gone)down thru Chrisser, and Ems to the next group of Liv and Cat and now miss wiggle butt and Jack! Each of them is priceless in this Nana's eyes and of course totally perfect lol. If it were not for them sometimes I really think I would have given up back when they first dx'd me but they keep me wanting to be around for a long time and to know they are grown and safe and happy. Grandchildren are the biggest blessings in life!!!!

What's New or Where have I been?

2008-09-19T07:31:00.002-04:00

Well despite the best laid plans to post everyday it seems a whole month has gone by again! An old dear friend once told me "Jojo if your life were a movie it would be a soap opera!" LOL how right she was! It seems things are never dull for even a day around our household! With that said will just have to fill you in on bits and pieces as I go.
Dh's knee injury is NOT improving at all so they are sending him to a specialist in Pittsburgh ....however we cannot just call and make an appointment like we can around here..nooooooo that would be too simple! We had to have all his records sent to this particular dr and he reviews it and then decides if he will deign to see us! Go figure! It's now 3 weeks since all the info was sent to him and despite numerous calls from us and from the local dr this dr there has not made a final decision! Now I grant you Dr's are busy people but ya know what..we have lives too and our time is just as precious and valuable as his is! I KNOW he is a wonderful specialist but you would think he could take some point in 3 weeks to make one simple phone call! We got a call yesterday from someone there who dh did not get his name ugh and was told to call scheduling to make an appt. SOOOOOOOOO i call the number he gave dh and they have NO CLUE who to schedule him with and will not make an appt with us until we find out. I called the number back to the person who called and of course nobody can help as " we have hundreds of employees for about 60 dr's here and if you cannot say who called we cannot help you!" So we are in a vicious ring around the rosie! One lovely girl did FINALLY take pity on my frustration and spoke with the secretary of the Dr we were requesting and she said she will investigate it as the Dr. was still working on dh and had not made his final decision so wants to know too who it was that called and why. At any rate she is SUPPOSED to call me back today..we shall see if that happens!
DD is still in pain and we had a trip to the local ER AGAIN this week but at least this time they gave us a better idea of what is causing her so much abdominal and back pain..it seems she appears to ahve some HUGE cysts on the ovaries they left after her hysterectomy so we will be trapsing off to the GYN dr again for her!
Dh had his annual checkup with his regular dr ( he normally sees the dr's at VA hospital since he has no insurance) and our reg dr was NOT HAPPY!!!!!! Dh's blood pressure was so low they could not get it standing and when laying down or sitting they had one heck of a time. It turns out that the VA dr that is no longer with VA had him on TOO MANY blood pressure meds at one time!!!!!! The woman was nuts. We told her before there was something not right and all she did was add more meds!!!!!!! Talk about dangerous and wasteful! Our dr took him off the latest one and we had a bp recheck yesterday(two weeks time passed) and it appears to be back in normal range altho the resident who checked him said he thought it was a little HIGH lol ! We are about ready to smack them all and wonder how we can have so many differing opinions within 2 months!!!!!!!!!!!! It is totally absurd!!!!!! We saw the new VA dr last week and told him what our dr did and he was okay with it and said obviously our dr knows what he is doing but agreed that dh's color was very pasty and white. He felt we should increase his diabetes meds going by their blood work and I said NO WAY until I talk to our family dr. Our family dr hit the roof again and said dh 's bloodwork is marvelous and he is doing VERY well with his diabetes control and there is no need to double meds again! I swear sometimes VA does it just to make money or something. It's just a mess! Without health insurance dh doesn't have alot of choice but half the time I am afraid they will do more harm than good for him!

My sister is coming up this way the weekend of my birthday HOORAY!!!!! I haven't had any of my siblings here for my bday in years so it will be wonderful!!!!! The bad news is our oldest sister is not doing well and her malignancy is non operable which means she once again must go thru intensive chemo which she is dreading. Brother dear is going to see her this weekend to convince her she needs to do it but I know that there is a part of her that does not want to go thru it yet again. We love her and want her with us as long as possible and I pray she listens to him as they are very close. While I do not see her often she is my sister and I love her and worry about her. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts!

Let's see what else drama wise I can pass on lol
Hmmmmmm time out for now..will catch up a bit later in the day with hopefully more fun type stuffers. I just needed a vent for now THanks for reading!

Cookbook Layouts

2008-08-18T21:50:00.004-04:00

I had been wanting to work on cookbook pages for our family and when I saw Sarah Meyer's Grammy's Apron Quickpages and Scrapkit at Digitals I knew it was perfect for the project. Here are some of the pages I have gotten done so far!

Late as usual!

2008-08-18T17:37:00.003-04:00

I totally meant to post a sneak peek at the rest of the SAD kit but things at home went haywire as usual lol. Seems like there is always something going on never a dull moment! With that said here is a sneak peek at the second half you get for posting your layout!

Hope to see you there...Weds Aug 20 3Scrapateers Chat room at 10 pm Eastern Time!

So what's new?

2008-08-15T15:37:00.006-04:00

Well let's see...update on little Zach is he is home and doing just fine! He is on the monitor but so far it's not gone off again that I know of so thanks for good things!

A new scary note this afternoon I went to the store where dd works and when I looked down thru the parking lot in the lower end there were several fire trucks, ambulances and men in chemical suits all over the place and it was all cordened off with police tape! Come to find out apparently there was an anthrax scare at the post office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont' know much more and will have to check the news at 5 to find out details as the news crew was there as well but I sure hope it was a false alarm!!!!!!!!!!

On a designing note I have the Scrap A Deal Crop coming up at 3Scrapateers on Aug 20th so check out the deal then buy it and join me for some free goodies that night and get the other half of the kit when you post your layout in the proper gallery! Can't beat the deal for $2.00!

Wanna peek?

Here's the first part

And then you will get alot more when you post your layout! Sneak peek you say? Hmmm stay tuned tomorrow haha. May even give you a peek at the goodies you will get if you come to the crop!
Have a super weekend!

ANother visit point

2008-08-04T21:20:00.002-04:00

I have totally forgotten to say i love Shabby Miss Jen Designs! I so love her style and products and her tuts are understandable hooray! I want to be her when I grow up haha!

On a note about baby Zach he is being kept in the hospital yet again tonight and will be sent home on an apnea monitor. They have ruled out any major heart and lung issues thank heavens and apparently he suffered the horrid apnea that sometimes takes a child in their sleep! Two of my grandson's also had it happen when they were several days to several weeks old and were both on an apnea monitor the first year of their lives. It is scary at first but bless the inventor of this monitor as it alerts the parents or sitter or grandparents ect the moment the baby is in distress or stops breathing for so many seconds. It became a normal routine for us and I am sure Zach's momma and daddy and grandma will adapt to it tho he will adapt sooner than they will lol..children are so adaptable most of the time to things that make us adults cringe! I have apnea which developed since I was "blessed" with the Lupus and Fibro and sleep with a CPAP machine which is a normal part of my life. The grands were a bit curious and a bit itimidated by it when I first got it three years ago but now it's just part of who Nana is when she sleeps. One said I look like I should be in a star wars movie hahahaha! God Bless the mouths of babes! I find I CANNOT sleep without it now and have learned to sleep in any position with it on and just change the hose and mask to roll with me!

Ok so much for wierd pictures of me to float in your heads rotfl.

Have a great week. Off to work on some kits..have a crop coming up at 3Scrapateers so check back to see what, when and where!

My August girl is by

Scary Moments

2008-08-04T00:45:00.002-04:00

I had quite a scare a bit ago. I was sitting here working on a kit when I heard voices outside and someone yelling for help and recognized my one neighbor's voice. Ran as fast as these old legs would take me down the steps and out the door to find her sobbing hysterically and holding her brand new grandson of 5 days not breathing. The baby's mother was in hysterics and daddy was on the phone with 911 who were not coming nearly fast enough! I went to her and tried with her to get the lil guy breathing hollering at them to run up and get my next door neighbor who is a paramedic and one of the 911 directors. We beat on their door all the while trying to get Zach to breathe and he did take one gaspy one and i could hear him whimper a bit but he just stopped again and his lips were turning blue. Our neighbor's wife did hear us and got him fast and he grabbed the baby and did a fast mouth to mouth and got him breathing again and he let out a huge wail much to my relief. Grandma and mom were still in sobbing mode naturally but did get them to realize he was okay and awake and looking at them. Meantime the ambulance and police got to the complex only to go to the wrong area. We could see their lights but they were not where they could get to us so the daddy tossed me the phone and he ran as fast as i ever saw anyone run to where they were and the paramedic and emt came back with him. Bern did have the baby breathing and doing okay but they naturally grabbed him and mommy up and took them into the ambulance and made sure he was stable and that mom was okay and then came back to check on grandma as well before taking them all to the ER to make sure things are okay. I am still shaking and while he is not my grandbaby it felt like it was! To see that lil precious face turning blue terrified us all. Apparently he has apnea which two of my grandchildren had as babies and i can remember how scary it was! Hopefully they will put zach on an apnea monitor like ours was on! Keep them in your thoughts and prayers and will update when grandma comes home and I hear how things are!

Something done :-)

2008-08-03T16:14:00.003-04:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I want to say thanks to Kim from Daisy Cottage for even visiting my blog here! Thanks so much for your comment on my layouts and stuffers here. It's wonderful know someone at least checks on me from time to time and I am soooooo loving her home and what she finds along the way! In my next life I swear I will own a home and one similar to her awesome place. I so love cottage style living and decor but alas at my age fat chance of that ever happening so I live my life vicariously thru her lol. Thanks Kim for the visit and keep the wonderful finds coming! My "wish" book is slowly filling up with ideas and finds and wants and many thanks to you on alot of them. My health does not allow me to go yard sale'ing, or antique browsing so it is lovely to be able to visit her finds! I used to work part time for a writer in Chicago area who did alot of articles and photo shoots for several of the magazines on Kim's site so they are very familiar faces to my old weary brain :-) Sad to say my old boss passed away of breast CA many years ago now but i have alot of fond memories of the treasures she would find and some of which she shared with me and some of which i just got to enjoy when we would also house sit for her at her lake house in Michigan.

Found a wonderful desktop freebie and just had to use it! I rarely put anything on my desktop as it seems to suck up my resources but could not resist this one! It's from Jennifer Layden/Misty Cato. Thanks for looking!

Ok so true lol I love Country Music

2008-08-02T00:09:00.001-04:00

You Are Country Music

You are friendly, down to earth, and fairly conservative.

You are true to your friends and your upbringing. Change is hard for you.

But beneath your old fashioned attitude, you are expressive and artistic in your own way.

Very few people can express pain and pleasure as eloquently as you can.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Just browsin around

2008-08-01T21:11:00.007-04:00

I have been just a browsin' around some the past week or so and also helping ds and dd with computer problems along the way(UGH). Son got infected with a dang trojan on his laptop that is about to drive him mad and he finally had enuf sense to call mom lol. Think we have him about fixed now thanks to places like Tom Coyote's site What The Tech which I swear by and a few others out there. I even learned how to run and read HiJackThis and it's been a huge livesaver many times over the past two years and it was all we needed to fix daughter dear's. Honestly you would think grown children in their 30's would know enough to NOT click on some of the sites you see on the internet but dd has a roomer that just doesn't get it lol and I told him I will cheerfully break his fingers if he does it one more time on her computer! I am the one who spends hours with them either in person or on the phone with them fixing booboo's!

Discovering blogs I never had time to find before has been an adventure as well the past few weeks. Some of them I found and enjoy are places like Cen's Loft, Scrapping with Ikeagoddess, Daisy Cottage (whose house i would love to live in lol), A Work In Progress, Women - Art - and Life, ScrapDoctor, BubblesBabbles (who makes me laugh so hard sometimes it's embarressing lol), and MyGrateful Heart just to name a few. Some have made me laugh so hard and some have brought tears and prayers but they all have something to offer me. Not always scrapping related stuff but life stuff too! I am not sure sometimes how I find some of them but tend to check out links on blogs I enjoy and wah lah sometimes it just sends me someplace I fall in love with.

Judy at My Grateful Heart made me a wonderful new siggie :-)

Isn't it gorgeous? The artwork she purchased is from Kreated4U whose talent just puts me in awe! I love this little redhead! THanks again Judy! You are a super lady and I am so enjoying reading your day to day life and how you are dealing with some rough and some wonderful times!

Hmm where else have I adventured lately? A new to me place called Step by Step Digital Scrapbook run by Karen at ScrapsOfMind looks like it would be a wonderful resource for newbie scrappers and give ideas to us oldbie scrappers :-) It looks really informative!

Oh and for any of you who love pixels please take time to visit my friend Susan at Grandma's Attic. She makes wonderful websets, sigtags, and other items from her own artwork. She is awsome in the pixel world in my opinion. Pixels are my second love next to my scrapping can you tell haha. I have my own pixel site that I mess with from time to time as well ..the link is over -------------------------------------------------> at the top. :-)

Ok rambled quite enough for one night ! Hope you are all well!

nEW LaYOuts

2008-07-29T17:55:00.004-04:00

I had a productive day yesterday :-) Got some layouts done and worked on several new products and kits hooray! Told DH I just had to have a day without all the interruptions and sidetracking he tends to toss my direction let alone phone calls and noise so shut myself up in the bedroom with my friendly computer and got something done for a change lol.
Here's the layouts I have finished so far :-) THanks for looking!

ALL BOYS -- Credits :
Vicki Acreman -- All Boy QP
http://txbubbles-bubblesbabbles.blogspot.com/

My Daddy's Chair
Credits:
Flergs AML Freebie

WILDFLOWER GIRL
This was my first attempt at blending a photo with a paper and am really happy with how it turned out. I fell so in love with products over at Weeds and Wildflowers so downloaded a couple of challenge freebies to see how i like them and I am officially HOOKED lol. Thanks for looking!
Credits:
AMenegassi -fun garden doodles flowers
boyerville-whoababy paper
Digitalegacies --alpha
Chez Nanine -- "Romance"Stitches and "En attendant le printemps" buttons colorized

Two Littlest "Weeds" lol
Another from Weeds and Wildflowers challenge freebies!
Thanks for looking!
Credits:
DJB ANGELA font
Weeds N Wildflowers -- GinaMarie Huff --Freebie Challenge --
Doodly Patterns and Word Art

Inspiration

2008-07-28T00:15:00.002-04:00

In case you hadn't noticed I really have been in a bad slump for inspiration and ideas. I went traveling the past few days checking out sites and blogs and so forth and happened across a designer and site I had not seen before and totally fell in love with their site--tis called Weeds and Wildflowers. I loved the offerings of the designers there and think they gave me a "oomph" in the ideas..now if i can make myself sit and draw lol. I have been playing more with my wacom and since it's been sitting here gathering dust it's about time I just bit the bullet and learn how to use the blasted thing! Doesn't do me any good to have spent that much money on a "toy" I have only used a couple of times since I got it! I should have my son come learn with me as he is the artist of the family..he does such beautiful freehand work and now is doing tattoo work and I am just sit and oooooooo and ahhhhh when I see how easily it comes to him! Two of his girls so far love to sit and draw for hours on end as well so hopefully it keeps on going in the family! Then I came across a few bloggers that I had not seen before either and one in particular I ended up spending half the night reading all her past posts and laughing sometimes so hard I about pmp! ROTFL. She also does some super QP's for free and of course I had to grab those too and that led me to another blogger who does only QP's for free and spent a few hours there as well..NOW maybe I will get more scrapping done yes? Check them out in the side bar for blogs I visit..they are WMP and Bubbles Babbles.

We had a big ole turkey dinner with the trimmings down at my son's yesterday and it was YUM! I get so hungry for it at other times of the year other than Thanksgiving and Christmas so it was a lovely change. Tracey did it in the roaster so at least it did not heat up their home too badly but the humidity here was really bad and by the time I got home i felt like i had been under a shower for days I was that drenched! I dunno sometimes what is worse..heat or cold with this lupus! Both really bother me and make my skin awfullllllllllllll!

Woke up to a nasty thunderstorm half way thru the night and my left ankle feeling like it did when i first broke it back in 1991! It's so swollen up it looks like an elephant foot at times and trust me that is NOT a pretty site! UGH!...Don't get old and break your bones folks lol !

Hmmm thinking ...yeah me thinking that is scary isn't it? DH is making me crazy..he's been off work now since Feb and the dr told him Weds it will be after labor day now before he can go back to work! He is no spring chicken and just is not healing fast since his surgery. Mind you I love the man and would miss him if he wasn't here but having him underfoot 24/7 can make me totally nuts! I finally got so mad this week I told him either he finds a hobby or gets out of the house more or I will go stay with one of the kids for a few weeks just to have some peace and quiet lol...Fat chance of that happening there but you get the drift! Every time I am into something design wise he manages to come up and want me to look up stuff on the computer for him. I keep saying he needs to learn how to use a computer and would hook up the old one to the internet for him in the spare bedroom but he doesn't seem to want to. Think my son may talk him into it so at least that part he would keep busy doing something else instead of standing over my shoulder! That's another side effect of the dang Lupus..I cannot stand it when anyone is hovering or to be in a crowded place even on the interstate highway i freak when cars and trucks have me "penned" in. I can't control it and I can't explain it --it just happens. One of the meds I take now helps some but for someone who was always a people person and who used to travel for work it's really is an odd way to feel trust me!

OK i really have babbled tonight errr this morning haven't I! Hope everyone out there is well!

Dunno if anyone even reads me anymore but hey at least i am trying to blog a bit more often than I had been!
Hugs all arround to those who need it!

Summer Fun at Digitals

2008-07-17T21:23:00.003-04:00

If you haven't checked out the Christmas in July fun over at DIGITALS now is the time!
There is a treasure hunt in the forums and a Polar Express Blog Train going with some wonderful free items done by some awesome DIGITALS designers!

To visit DIGITALS and find the treasures hidden for you go HERE and follow the directions!

To visit the POLAR EXPRESS BLOG TRAIN:
Individual designers involved have their blog links in that thread!

ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

great great Sale right now til July 25th at Digitals

Get 50% off my products (no coupon needed)
Go crazy and SHOP TIL YOU DROP! :-)

and a wide variety of discounts from many of the other Digitals Designers!
CHeck out the info HERE

New kit Release

2008-07-17T21:15:00.004-04:00

AMERICAN MADE

Check out my newest release at both Digitals and 3Scrapateers called American Made!

Red, White and Blue this is the scrapkit for You!
Whether for the 4th of July, cross country vacation, summer picnic or other red, white and blue events this scrapkit is perfect for those photos or cards and layouts!
Kit Contains:
Upper and lower case blue chipboard alphabet with numbers and extras
11 12x12 300 DPI papers,
1 round fringed mat,
1 fringed flag mat,
1 bordered mat,
2 buttons in red and blue,
1 gold brad, 5x7 chipboard photo frame,
3 acrylic Stars with firework "sounds" on them,
1 Gold starred 12in.border,
4 ready to use tags,
Lady Liberty,
3 flowers in red, white or blue U, S and A in gold outlined white painted metal hearts,
4 crossed ribbons,
1 beaded red, white and blue tassel,
1 gold star eyelet

You can find it at DIGITALS or 3SCRAPATEERS

Get Your 3S Scrapkit of the Season Now!

2008-07-15T19:28:00.005-04:00

From bold and bright to muted and distressed, you're sure to have just the right collection of background papers and embellishments for any of your Summer layouts! This is a mega kit full of great scrapping items from these 3Scrapateers Designers --
Yours Truly me :-) Jolene Shaffer, April Staker, Kim Stewart, BonScrapit Designs, KutnKudly Kreations, Kashiabean Kreations, Deanna Patterson, Carla Ware, and Lianne Carper. It has a great mix of colors for any part of the summer in any part of the world!
All of this includes:
10 Spectacular Summer Digital Scrapkits consisting of
90+ 12"x12" Background Papers
325+ Individual Embellishments
All on sale for $19.98--that's half price of it's normal rate! Think about it..that works out to about $2.00 per full kit! How can you go wrong with that price?

http://shop.3scrapateers.com/shopexd.asp?id=6095

You're Only Limited by Your Imagination With almost 350 unique background papers and elements, you'll find yourself returning to the Scrapkits of the Season - Summer Edition over and over to bring your Summer memories to life. From bold and bright to muted and distressed, you're sure to have just the right collection of background papers and embellishments for any of your Summer layouts.Create Pages You'll Cherish for a LifetimeBut that's not all...Layouts, Cards, Altered Art, Journals, Recipe Books, Candy Wrappers, Home Decor, Papers, Crafts, Calendars, Hybrid Projects
For Personal Use Only.
Feel free to check out the other Seasonal ones now available and watch for the new ones every quarter!

My contribution is "Cool in the Pool"

You can find it by itself here:

http://shop.3scrapateers.com/shopexd.asp?id=6088

Go have fun..shop til ya drop!

4th of July

2008-07-07T12:42:00.003-04:00

Just some fast pics from our picnic on the 4th!

--The merry go round has been there since I was a kid lol

Miss Wiggle Butt and I rode this..needless to say it was the ONLY ride I ended up on as was so sick when I got off I didn't think we would make it back to the picnic table. This ride was not that far for most people but it seemed like a million miles to me!

Our Pavillion was in such a nice area and we all enjoyed just sitting around yakking. My bro in law and sis in law with Dh.

I love this shot of the Ferris Wheel all lit up that night!

3 of our girls ..they really had a ball and were quite pooped by the time the day was over!

Bad Blogger lol

2008-07-07T11:15:00.004-04:00

I am such a bad bad blogger! it's been forever it seems since I have energy to even update!

With that said just am gonna try to do some bits and blurbs as I can and hope eventually I can be current every day..Yeah ok we shall see lol

Came across this while looking for something else and thought where was it when I used to have a closet full of shoes for work? I admit when I was working I was a shoe and purse hoarder! I had a purse to match every pair of shoes and shoes to match any outfit I wore to work! At any rate it's a neat idea and they even have one for kids in different colors ..what a clever idea!
They are made by Rakku Designs and run about 35.00 - 65.00 depending on the size and color and model lol. WOuld have been worth it space saving wise back in my working days! Now I am lucky I wear a pair of flip flops, a pair of slippers and my good ole tennies!

Things around here have been up and down as usual! We took some time to spend the 4th of July with our kids and most of their kids at Idlewild Park which is something we all used to do when my kids were growing up. My son wanted us to have a old fashioned 4th so got us all together and he made arrangements for us to have a pavillion close to the restrooms and on a level area due to my walking issues and my brother in law uses two canes now so we could not manage otherwise! THe folks there had a lovely small pavillion set up complete with the red and white plastic tableclothes on them 4 huge picnic tables and 5 other long serving wood tables with electric outlets and all set up for us just near the main ride area and handy to the restrooms and by the little creek. The weather was not to be great so we figured we would be rained out at some point but it turned out to be a perfect ride day! No storms tho it did spit a little rain twice but the sun was not miserable and we all had a wonderful day. We stayed for the fireworks which were superb as we all remembered. Needless to say I spent the next two days in bed recovering..walked too much but it was worth it to see the smiles and hear the laughter coming from all our girls and our Jack. Hubby's brother and his wife came as well as friends of our Son and his wife with their boys too so we had a great group and lots of good food and conversation as well as making some great memories! Daughter took some pics and believe my d-i-l did as well so will be posting them later on. I thank the folks at Idlewild for hearing what my son said about having some of us with disability issues for they really did a wonderful job on picking out a perfect pavillion and setting it up so we didn't have to do anything except open the coolers and picnic baskets!

Yeah okay i have rambled on..and will ramble more in a bit haha. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July if you celebrate it and for my canadian buds hope you had a super Canada Day!

TAGGED

2008-03-01T01:22:00.002-05:00

Arghhh Lissa got me lol. I so suck at these but because she is my best friend in the world guess I better do it eh? Here goes!

Rules :
1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name.

(Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

M---More interested in reading about others lists lol
A---Athletically challenged
R---Redhead at heart
I---I love my granchildren
E---Enjoy my scrapping and my pixeling more than I can express!

So who can I pick..hmmmm this isn't gonna be easy is it lol?
Marsi
Alisha Hess
Ronnie M
I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WITH I LOL
E E DON'T KNOW ANYONE WITH E EITHER LOL
Any volunteers with I or E? haha

Took time to play today

2008-02-28T20:36:00.002-05:00

I took time to play and shop today lol. I finally learned how to make and save my brushes in PS and to make fuzzy fibers all by myself..no actions yay! Think I will be playing a good bit now that I have figured out more of what does what in the thing!
As to shopping I am totally hooked on ideas and actions by Monica Larsen! I nabbed a grab bag from her and am so tickled with what was in it that I went and got another one haha. I can see playtime more and more so I can mess around and get what I want with her help!
I really want a really satin look to ribbons and have been working with that with help from Roberta's actions to come up with silky looking ones so hopefully with all the trial and error I can accomplish the look I want with a silk ribbon as have not seen anyone offering one that does what I want it to do! So cross ya fingers it works!

LOL OK I tried it

2008-02-27T14:53:00.003-05:00

Lissa had a name meaning on her blog so of course I just had to go try it out..

What Jolene Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you.

You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries.

You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.

You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.

At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

WOW

2008-02-27T14:14:00.003-05:00

With the bad two or three weeks I have had I just got a huge pick me up from an internet friend!
Tracey from Rainy-Daze gifted me with a 12 month membership to a pixeling site I have been wishing for for over a year now! I am so stoked as I love Paint My Dreams and Thalia is amazing! I love my pixeling altho it is more on the back burner than my scrapping is and this is the pick me up I really needed. Thanks to Tracey from the bottom of my heart..it means more than you can possibly know! You made my week!

Susan from Grandma's Attic made my week as well as she gifted me with a cute st pat's sig tag

and when I purchased something I had been wanting from her she added another gift that I had my eye on lol. She is such an awsome lady and I love her dearly for her friendship and her work. It's great to have another "Nana" who I can yak about our grandkids with lol. Her lil guy is a cutie for sure.

sO at least some good things came about this week yay!

Peeved!

2008-02-26T23:09:00.002-05:00

ok you all know its been a rough few weeks around here and now on top of it all it seems that someone named Snarky has put my commercial use psp script up for grabs in her pirate group! I have news for you cupcake..I know who had access to my files at all 3 stores and i know who purchased this legally so don't think for one minute I won't yank it down and you along with it! I guess I should feel ummm "flattered" NOT! My scrapping pays for meds and some other things I would go without and while I sure don't get rich from it by any means I still need it. AND btw i have licenses for all my work and yes I bought my graphics proggies so don't even go there! I still have the boxes and cd's! There was a time when I was in the tagging stuff too and didn't know better but I do now and anything I had for free either got left behind years ago or I went and bought it so it is all legal. I pay for my cu items and I paid for my graphics programs and I am so sick and tired of reading all the drama and all the backstabbing name calling crap in some of the blogs and communities ..What are these people? A bunch of kids in junior high? Honest to Heavens you would think they would grow out of it! but noooooooooo..sorry it's been a horrible horrible week for me and this added to it just sux. Feeling like you have to save every email every scrap of paper in case someone comes after your reputation stinks. I am at least smart enough I email back and forth to make sure terms are met and always have been treated respectfully and the makers appreciate it but I am not doing it just for them....with all the crap I am covering my own butt for the future! You would think at my age I would not have to do that wouldn't ya! My grandchildren behave better than some of those people do in the "bad" blogs and groups! The language on some of them is worse than a truckstop and the truckers don't talk that way in front of others outside themselves but those ***koff Koff*** "ladies" (and i use that term very loosely) have the foulest mouths on the planet!

The sad part is we have lost several excellent designers over all this and even some great scrappers let alone community members in all the various stores and forums. There is plenty of room in the digi scrapping world for heavens sake..why do some people feel such a need to break it apart so? I am no big name nor great designer..i just plug along and if you like my stuff great if not that is okay too..each of us has our own taste and our own way to scrap or design but attacking others is just so wrong on so many different levels. The one thing it has done is brought together alot of others who may not have otherwise known each other and made them stronger so it will backfire in the long run to the evil minded ones. What goes around comes around!

Ok off my soapbox! Take it or leave it :-)

Time Flies When NOT having fun!

2008-02-20T14:45:00.003-05:00

Gawd life is never dull around my house!!!!!! This past two weeks have been totally insane I swear! Is it too much to ask for peace and quiet on a continuous basis lol? Not in my lifetime!

DD has had some terrible issues with her teeth due to no insurance so like the rest of us we kinda put off hitting the dentist. She had several trips to the ER with severe pain but was not able to find a dentist willing to help out unless you have bookoo bucks up front! This of course is the same predicament her dad and I are both in and caused me to write a letter to our local newspaper's readers forum entitled SHAME ON YOU DENTISTS OF OUR TOWN or something to that extent. I lambasted them for being so greedy that they cannot donate a few hours every month to the local clinic like the doctors do! They have been unable to get any dentists willing to help out and to me that is sad sad sad..the Dr's can do it so what is wrong with the dentists?They think they are too good for this or what? THere are way too many people like me whose dental health is directly related to their physical health but health insurance does not cover dental duh! On limited or non exsistant incomes what is one to do? I can't draw blood from a turnip ya know!

Ok here it comes..ROUND ONE! DING DING DING!

At any rate on her last er visit they recommended her going to Pittsburgh to the Dental school clinic and we were told it was low cost if not free so she called and made appointments not only for herself but for me, her dad and her other half. We loaded up the car Friday morning early and headed off on the two hour drive. Half way there she said pull over and stop now dad..just pull over to which he did and she immediately proceeded to lose the contents of her tummy all over herself and car door as it didn't open fast enough bless her heart. Apparently she took a reaction to the meds they gave her at the ER the night before. My heart ached for her watching the misery she was in. Mind you she can drive me batty at times but she is still my little girl and seeing her so miserable tears me apart! For once in his life hubby was patient and didn't get all huffy with her for throwing up all over the car door and even got her out one of his sacred sweatshirts for her to change into...wonders will never cease lol. We got her resituated and stopped at the local dollar general and grabbed some paper towels, garbage bags and a big bottle of Febreze..don't think I need to explain further on that part!
We finally got to the dental school with no problems and even got a super dooper parking spot in the parking garage across the street on the same level as the street and with my handicap sticker it was a prime spot that I did not have to struggle to cross the street! We entered a lovely building and all of us had to hit the bathroom first of course lol. I was the first one to make it to the receptionist window and proceeded to try to sign in when they asked me for all of us to pay up front to the tune of 120.00! I about choaked and went into " Excuse ME! that is not what we were told" conversation as we called not once but twice to verify cost etc long before we went down there! DD and DH came out and I let it in their hands as I was livid by then. Not one person admitted they told us that nor apparently believed anyone would tell us that and got rather rude! The rest of the family got mad and walked out but me in my blithering fog wandered over to another window to at least get my parking validated and one of the nicer gals came out and grabbed me and gave me some info she said she thought we could use about Catholic Charities opening a new dental clinic that is absolutely free if you qualify. She at least cared enough to try but our trip there was all in vain and we came home with dd in worse shape than when we left! She did call CC and went thru all the info on her cell phone while we were driving back home so we figured by Monday we could start again and figure a day out to go back to pittsburgh for the day yet again...

Now you would think this would end here yes? NOOOOOOOOO not in my family life hahaha.

DING DING DING --ROUND TWO
Saturday dawned and I could barely walk and dh was having issues as well and we all decided to wait until Sunday to have cake and ice cream for our "Cat" who had her birthday last week. Loving child that she is she said wait til you feel okay Nana and Pappy Dog (as she calls her grandpa!). Saturday kinda just passed in a blur and Sunday dawned. We ran for ice cream that we knew she loves and headed to their house. I got up to the top of the steps, walked in the door and took one look at my daughter and had no clue who she even was!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have ever seen The Grinch stories she looked like Cindy Lu Who! Her face and lips were so swollen and distorted I did not recognize my own child!!!!! SHe had been to the ER yet again and they gave her more antibiotics, did a ct scan that showed multiple small abcesses up into her sinuses and was in agony. At this juncture this mom had had it! I called the local oral surgeon and they tried to tell us to wait and call Monday and i hit the roof and told them to find him and i wanted called back immediately or i was calling the local tv and newspapers to tell them just what greedy dental care we have here! Well not in those exact words but you get the point lol. The upshot was he did call me back within 4 minutes and while he himmed and hawed about payment he agreed to see her first thing in the am and would work out payments for her. I went with her first thing monday am and when he first came in i was not impressed with his manner but then i watched a sudden softening in him when he saw her and how much pain she was in. He graciously agreed to cutting his prices tremendously and did not charge her for a special film he needed and agreed to payments. Faith is restored in at least this dentist now lol. He put her out cold and extracted several severe abcessed teeth and said she will have to have more later but this will take care of the problems she is having now. She could not be left alone nor drive so brought her home with me for the day and her honey had a chance at some extra hours so just had him leave her here. Her daddy was going to work anyway so she may as well stay here with me where at least if she needed something I could help to some degree rather than have her home alone.

She did sleep once I got her the pain meds and some chicken broth into her tummy but by 8 I felt like I had been hit with a bus emotionally and physically. Having Lupus and the other ills i have stress of any type causes extreme pain for me but had tried my best to ignore the worst of it since Friday but think it caught up finally and I keeled over out cold by the time her other half picked her up.

I was suddenly awakened Tues am at about 7 by DH who said please get up I got hurt at work and I need to go to the ER!

DING DING DING can you hear it ROUND 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The upshot was we spent til about noon at the ER and while it rulled out a blood clot he either pulled or tore a muscle/Tendon his leg and can't walk! He is off work at least a week if not more and starts with the local work comp dr tomorrow morning! He cannot use the steps and he sounds like he is in labor when he tries to walk. He does have ahigh pain tolerance so I know he really is hurting but after the past few days I am out of patience with all of them sorry. I have secluded myself to the bedroom by choice lol..I check on him every so often but other than that I am just done at least for now.

I am totally wrung out and feel like a wet dishrag and am not functioning for chit. I know they need me yes but right now i don't have anything more I can give til I can revive myself sigh. I this will pass...it always does but I needed to vent folks so guess what ..ya all are my recepients lol.
Keep saying to self..The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!

Thursday

2008-01-31T13:54:00.000-05:00

Feb is tomorrow already ugh. Where did the last year go let alone last month?
I gave up my Christmas look boo hoo so switched up to a Valentine's one..hopefully a bit perkier since it's so nasty here ..we had a decent morning but it's raining and turning to snow and bitter cold with high winds. These old bones of mine HATE this time of year! Seems like all of us from little JT thru Royboy have the stomach flu these past two weeks. So far I am not suffering ill effects tho Roy is down with it pretty bad today and had to call him off work!

I added some new Templates to my store at 3Scrapateers...they can be used for BOTH Personal AND Commercial use so check them out if you need some Time Saver Templates!
You can find them HERE

cUTE cUTE cUTE

2008-01-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

I was watching ELLEN this morning and she got such a cute gift from the one guest (can't remember her name at the moment sorry)..it was a bow and arrow that shoots minature marshmellows!!! It's called a Bow and Mallow and each pull of the bow string hurls mini-marshmallows up to 30 feet! Ellen was having a blast with it!

All I can think of is sister dear Marsi! When I was laid up with a shattered ankle back in 1992 I was confined to the sofabed and wheelchair for several months and my dh and dd would get into fights over how to do the dishes or who was going to do what...Sister dear showed up one afternoon and gave me a pingpong ball gun to shoot them both when they had me upset..needless to say I TOTALLY enjoyed using it and it did stop them from fighting lol. The bow and arrow one would have been great too!
Thanks sis again for thinking of me when they drove me batty!! Mwahhhhhhhhh!

Ok i know i said end of discussion

2008-01-21T03:00:00.001-05:00

I know I said end of discussion on the DSD issue but right now I am stewing and brewing and believe me I am enough of a redhead at heart I can get pretty boiled and I AM!

***DISCLAIMER***This is my personal opinion, I have the right to express it, state it, rehash it in anyway shape or form I choose. You can choose to disagree and I encourage you to do so however that doesn't mean you're gonna change my mind. Thanks...and have a GREAT day!****

(BORROWED DISCLAIMER FROM ROSE FARBER!)

I am sorry but enough is enough...Tandika has a right to be protective of her work YES but I also have the right as a PAID subscriber to have what I paid for originally!!! For someone who continually preached about professionalism in this industry she has totally done an about face. I doubt she really gives a rats patoot what I think let alone what the other subscribers think but I have to let off steam and its gonna be here! Part of me wants to resort to the name calling trust me! I am so angry right about now I cannot even type right!

I got the email from her saying it was open and one month had been added to my subscription. WELL GOODY GUMDROPS...one month for what? I cannot save the tuts to work on them at my own time..not everyone has the moolah she apparently has and my computer cannot handle keeping all those screens open and run PSCS at the same time! NOR does my health allow me to sit continuously while working on tut only to find her site logged me out for staying on one page too long...DUH..I am slow..I type slow..I have RA and Lupus I am NOT FAST duhhhhhhh. I understand her need for security but its gone overboard when you have one small paragraph per page on a tut that you cannot print out, screenshot or copy to use on your own personal time and personal computer. That 35.00 we each paid is pretty substantial when you add it up and to some of us like me it's alot of money. I had to save for months and put off joining because of the cost and finally did but I expected my year's worth out of it. ONE YEAR was my terms of use when I subscribed and ONE YEAR it should have been ---changing your tou suddenly when everyone started filing complaints with the BBB and PP does not change what you agreed to in the first place as you so many times stated, preached and posted not only in your own forums but other places as well!

There were many more honest faithful loyal upstanding members/subscribers to her site than bad apples so why is it that the good ones have to suffer the consequences of the rotten apples? We are battling those people too Tandika..you are not the only one suffering from their actions...many of us have had and will continue to have problems with because they do what they do no matter how much we fight them!

And let me tell you something else...logging our IP address on the site is hunky dory but do you not know that IP addresses change ..that when cable users or even dialup users have not logged on or had their computers on their IP addresses change? What good it is doing you is beyond me but hey if you have been advised it will help then I have no problem with it..just seems a bit over the top in my opinion.

My issue is NOT with the closing of the site..it is with HOW IT WAS HANDLED! How it is still being handled! I learn alot from any tutorial not just hers but she did have them in a manner that was effective for any of us wanting to make a go of it in the digi scrapping industry. HOWEVER the way she spoke to some people has often rubbed me wrong but I bit my lip many times figuring she is who she is and maybe she didn't mean it to be snarky. However I truly believe now she is a first class snob sorry but that's the only way I know how to put it. Because she knew alot and shared it with so many she apparently feels no loyalty or obligation to treat others in a fair and decent manner. Talking down to subscribers and loyal customers does not make you any better than the rest of us..you still have put your panties on one leg at a time same as we do! Where are the apologies to the faithful members? I kept hoping to get even a "We apologize for any inconvenience" letter but heck we don't even rate that! Sorry ..to me she is acting like plain trash and I call it as I see it. I rarely get this mad as know it is not healthy for me to but I am just seeing red at the moment. My faith in people is often tested but this one really cuts deep..I respected her, trusted her and admired her at one time. I am wondering why now!

Agree or disagree it's your option but I feel what I feel and I needed to say it. It's my blog and it's how I feel!

Tadah LAYOUTS and more Layouts

2008-01-19T04:53:00.001-05:00

OK I fINALLY have been able to get more layouts done yahoo!

Children Teach

Credits:
MY BOYS--Kim Stewart-3Scrapateers

Miss Fashion Diva 2008

Credits: Alma Townsend - colorized - Tantilizing Brag Book -3Scrapateers

PEACE BABY

Credits: Alma Townsend - colorized - Tantilizing Brag Book -3Scrapateers

FIRE BRIGADE

Credits:

Dede Smith -- emergencycrewz Fire Truck and Embellies-3Scrapateers

Angel Zimmer -- stitch border top- Digitals

CarolAnnSmith--Punk Alpha-no longer available

Glenda Ketcham -- Paper from Boy Oh Boy Kit --Digitals

SLEEPY SMILES

Credits: Sue Jones --B4Boy Kit

Some thoughts

2008-01-09T02:20:00.000-05:00

I have silently kept my peace during recent events and yes controversy about DSD. I am a paid subsciber there and while I HATE drama of any type I feel like I need to have my say so on the subject. I saw it coming as did some others from the attitudes we saw happening within the site itself. While I love what is offered and the knowledge she shared with us I also saw a side of her come thru that I did not admire in the least with her handling of some issues. I believe she is entitled to do as she sees fit for herself and her site but I feel she also mishandled the way things should have been done as a business. I respected her as did many others but it has been destroyed bit by bit over the past few weeks and I doubt that can be recovered. We all know the risks we take in any business venture but particularly one on the internet it is even more risky as you really can never know the person behind the screen. Her hard earned reputation of excellance in her tutorials cannot be disputed in my humble opinion but her reputation as a considerate wise business woman has sadly been tarnished. Little by little I saw her snap at people and sometimes even be a bit snotty which shocked me the first few times but over time realized it was just her way. However the manner in which things transpired over the holidays has totally blown my mind as she always was one who stressed professionalism. I hate what happened to cause her to make the decision she made originally yes and do understand her frustration and anger and hurt but I do not understand the way she handled it.
That is just my two cents and I will say no more about it for I am way too old to deal with this type of drama in my life. I had enough crap with POTH and I certainly will never go through that again! We are all entitled to our opinions on the matter and this is just mine. End of discussion.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-01-04T11:22:00.000-05:00

Well here we are another year gone by!!! Where did it go sigh. Seems like the older I get the faster time flies! It just seemed like it was summer then wham we had snow!! It is freezing here ugh! Think it was only 3 degrees this morning --my old bones sure feel it! Having RA and the host of other health issues I have make it hard to deal with winter and summer weather...can't win no matter what can I lol? I am best in the spring and fall it seems!

My crop went okie dokie on Wednesday and thanks to Karen(fortlady) for all her help with my issues of copy/paste. Did find out the problem so should be okay next time!

Have added the freebie kit to the store at 3S so if you missed the crop you can buy it if you want! Hint Hint lol

Hope everyone has had a super new year and will leave you with a "FASHION DIVA" photo of our lil Miss Wiggle Butt the other day taken by her mommy with no prompting on mom's part honest! What a Ham!

Crop Weds Night

2007-12-31T18:23:00.000-05:00

Choices

2007-12-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well it's that time of year to make some choices and one of mine is that I will not be staying at Divine Digitals as of Jan 13, 2008. I appreciate all the love and friendships I made there but I need to spend more time concentrating more and less time worrying HOW to get things done. I could not split up my time effectively at all this past year between Digitals, 3S and Divine so am choosing to scale down so I can do a better job at the other two commitment wise.

Will post tomorrow with a preview of goodies for coming to the ScrapADeal crop on Jan 2 if you want a sneak look.

Happy Happy Joy Joy
Jo

Scrap-A-Deal at 3Scrapateers

2007-12-28T02:09:00.000-05:00

Ok here it is tah dah!
I have the first Scrap-A-Deal of the year over at 3Scrapateers! What a great way to begin the new year!

Here's a peek at what the FULL kit looks like :

How does Scrap-A-Deal work?

You buy this half for the great price of only $2.00 this week ONLY, create a layout and post it in the 3S Gallery HERE

Once posted you will be sent the rest of the kit via links in your PM in the forum!

The full kit consists of papers, frames, buttons and more in blues whites, silvers and a touch of red for added interest!

Special Thanks to: Atomic Cupcake, Tandika Star, Annie's Attic, and Sherrie Piegdon.

Make sure you have your settings to get PM's so you can get the rest of the kit for free! You are saving $4.00 on this deal from now until January 2 the night of the crop! Attend the crop at 10pm eastern time in the chat room at 3Scrapateers and you also get some free goodies and can chat, rant, cheer, or whatever your heart desires that night! You will have a week to post your layout to the gallery! So please join me there ...I don't do crops much but we always have fun no matter who the host may be!

Hope to see you there!

Christmas Past

2007-12-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

Growing up Christmas is a time special to my heart. Coming from a "His, Hers and Ours" family we never were at a loss for company over the holidays! We had anywhere from 6 to 9 kids running around the adults which made for many joyous memories and laughter. I treasure those times as well as the memories we make today with our 7 grandchildren near and far. It is difficult having our Livy so far away but she is always in our heart and calls from her keep us up on her doings! We will be spending time with the others this weekend and had a Christmas eve night the day before with "Cat" as her pappy nicknamed her. We got her Christmas photos yesterday and cannot wait to scan it in and show her off of course lol.

If you have time and mind to please pay a visit to my pixel site to see what we watched as children growing up..those of you from western PA and Chicago will most likely remember these cartoons--Hardrock Coco and Joe, Suzy Snowflake and Frosty the Snowman which you can view on my pages there. Give the pages time to load the videos! You will need to close this blogger page as the Holiday Music here would also be playing and don't think you want that lol.

Have a joyous Holiday season and may the new year bring you love, laughter and Joy!

Our Lil Jack

2007-12-27T18:19:00.000-05:00

Here is another of our new addition Jackson who belongs to my son and his wife and is Scarlett's baby "bruffer"-she calls him Jack Jack lol.

Used Sophia Davies - A Christmas To Remember.

Layouts

2007-12-27T18:14:00.001-05:00

Bad blogger that I am I did not get back to add these layouts ugh.

Here is our newest addition J.T. :-) He is priceless and the spitting image of his daddy for sure!

Used Jen Maceyunas-LittleBundle QP and Sue Jones - Children's Word Art both available at Digitals.

Newest stuffers

2007-12-17T14:41:00.001-05:00

Jo's Coppered Christmas

Find this at 3Scrapateers or Digitals

EveryDay Heroes Scrapkit

Find it at 3Scrapateers or Digitals

EveryDay Heroes Scraplet QuickPages

Find it at 3Scrapateers or Digitals

Snowy Blues Scraplets/QuickPages

Find them at 3Scrapateers or Digitals

Halloween Word Drops

Find them at 3Scrapateers or Digitals

Forever

2007-12-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

It sure seems like forever since I posted and when I look at the dates it is! I am a bad bad blogger lol.

At any rate have new layouts done and new kits etc up so here ya go!

New Layouts

2007-09-12T02:21:00.003-04:00

She has grown up so much these past few months..she's not a wee baby anymore! Our Miss Wiggle Butt loves the camera! Used MaltShoppe One for this layout of her taken out in Indiana when she was out there for a visit with her other grandparents and aunt,uncle and cousins. Think the title of Irresistible just suits her don't you?

My son entered a talent show back in high school days and did a rendition of "Soul Man" from the Blues Brothers movie. He and one of his best buds Brian got a standing ovation from the entire audience and the judges created a special award for them as they didn't have a category that fit lol. He gave me a few heart stopping moments with some of the flips he did over Brian during the show but to him it just came naturally! He's the one on the right and Brian is on the left. I can still hear the two of them doing their thing not realizing the mic's were full on...they thought they were lip syncing haha but they were loud and clear! Used MaltShoppe Two for this one.

Two New Kits up

2007-09-12T02:12:00.001-04:00

I put up two new kits in the 3 Scrapateers store last night and will have them at Digitals later in the week. They came from listening to dh's cds called Malt Shop Memories. Hope ya all like them! Have used them both for layouts will post next.

MaltShoppe One

MaltShoppe Two

It's that time of year!

2007-09-12T02:07:00.000-04:00

My oldest grandson had his first formal football game as a 9th grader last week! I feel so old lol. I was able to get to the game altho it was 94 out and I ended up suffering heat exhaustion it was worth watching him! I was given a digi camera by my daughter and was able to work it yay! I was a bit too far away for the shots I would like to have had but next game will be better now that I know how it works! I am so proud of him..he's worked hard for this and played center which I had no idea he was doing! They won 24-8 hooray! More to come later :-)

Sommerfly

2007-08-28T17:23:00.000-04:00

It sure has been an ummm interesting week shall we say! I managed to kill my C drive and lost everything on it in reformatting but luckily had alot of it backedup. It takes ages to reinstall things tho ugh! Hopefully it's all in working order again!

Here is the Sommerfly Kit

You can find it at

3 Scrapateers

Digitals

Divine Digital

Ok don't faint and a rant and babbling

2007-08-24T19:13:00.000-04:00

Three days straight!! Wow don't go fainting on me if you actually read this lol.
I made myself a promise to keep up on this no matter what so trying to make time each night yay!

Em's mom got home and actually picked her up early and took her shopping for school clothes so at least I am not worrying about her first day as she has been a basket case. Preteen girls are just as bad as teenage girls trust me!

We did her school physical today so that is in order too hooray but I am so fed up with the dr's office I went on a rant and called their office manager who seemed to be horrified by what we went thru with the front office this past week and assured me not once, not twice but THREE times she would make sure Em's dad was NOT billed the extra copays incurred because they did not do their job the first time. Lo and behold when her daddy was seen in the afternoon didn't the front office refuse to see him unless he paid the 20.00 (that's two 10.00)copays and told him that was tough and he had no choice! By the time he got home and his wife called to tell me what happened I was livid and made yet one more phone call and you guessed it..she was gone for the day. I left her a rather pointed message so lets see if she calls back on monday and takes care of it and refunds it. I am so sick of employees who either need retraining or attitude adjustments concerning "customers" whether it's a store or a dr's office we are still a PAYING customer and should be treated correctly. I don't have a rude bone in my body normally but this past few months I have had my fair share of rude, arrogant people and enough is enough. I left two phone messages for another person who is dh's claim adjuster on her voice mail and when i called back..you guessed it again..she left early. After all it is FRIDAY! Dang I sure wish I could have left early on Fridays just because I wanted to all the years I worked! One would think she could have had the courtesy to at least call and say she could not answer the information until Monday but instead she just left us hanging yet AGAIN!

My dear grands stepmom has taken the habit of calling me at all hours of the night when their 6 children are not listening and while I love that we can have a good relationship I simply can't deal with all of it anymore. Bless her she loves his three (my grands) as much as their 3 and 6 kids can be handful for sure but she is the MOM in the house ..I am only Nana....I raised my kids and they came out fairly well for the most part and I LOVE kids and adore my grands but there comes a time in life when I have to learn to say NO MORE and guess this is getting to that point. I told my daughter that on the phone today and she agreed all of them really do bug me over things they can perfectly well handle and did handle when I was first ill. Now that i have good days they seem to forget I still have more bad days than good ones and stress is a high NO NO when you have Lupus and some of the other health issues like I do. I hate that it has done that to me but it has plain and simple and now after what 6 years I finally am saying NO and I CANNOT do this for you. We all need to be needed but sometimes it comes to being overneeded and right now I am just plain worn out both physically and emotionally. I find myself forgetting my own name more often than not lol --well not literally but you get the gist of it! Add the stinking hot weather we are having here and the storms rolling thru that make my body hurt like someone beat me with a baseball bat and well you get the picture tho pretty it is not!

Boy I am re reading the posts I made and I guess I really am on rant aren't I! I just feel better getting it out and sometimes it just helps me feel better even if I am the only one who reads it it still helps me get it out instead of sitting and stewing about it or worrying til I make myself sick. Guess there is something to this blogging thing in many ways. Kinda almost like a diary depending on what you say haha.

Regardless if you read it thanks..if not so be it. Am not here to please the world although it would a lovely thing to be wouldn't it :-)

I just love what I do when I can do it and just feel like sometimes I need this blog to just say what I need to. I would never hurt anyone meaningly (is that even a word?) so you will not ever see that kinda crap here..i saw enough of that lately at a trash the digi designer's postings on another blog and even sometimes when there are "cat fights" and "drama queens" in some forums. I remembered why I rarely post in forums and even more rarely read posts for that reason. Everyone is definitely entitled to their opinions and I am all for that but when it gets to "name calling" and cussing like potty mouths (who need a good spanking or mouthwashing)I just can't stand it. If you do not like a product then don't buy it and don't support that site but be adult enough not to act like a teenager with the neener neener I am better than so and so routine. I am way too old to listen to that crapola for sure. Digi designing USED to be alot of joy and fun but a few have made that very difficult and over the past year I have seen more people hurt and even some friends leave the business and it's just sad to think of the wasted energy that could have gone to better use(sigh) because some women who claim to be adults can't act like adults and have a decent conversation about something they may not agree about without resorting to swearing and name calling! I choose to stay away from places with that type of drama but unfortunately happened across some messy ones last night that took me hours to figure out just what the real question was..go figure! Mostly I remain in my happy little quiet corner and just want peace and quiet and time to learn to do more scrapping and some designing while I have the chance in this life to do so. Too soon I will not be able to pass on what I want to for my family and to me that is more important than worrying about who said what about who in some blog someplace kwim?

Ok enough of my babbling. Bear with me til I get over this hump ..hopefully over the weekend I can get some much needed deep rest and life will perk me back up again. Just really in the basement caves at the moment sorry.

PSP SCRIPTS and PS/PSE ACTIONS

2007-08-24T01:07:00.001-04:00

I have ventured into the realm of PS/PSE actions and PSP Scripts. Have added both commercial and personal versions in several packages at all 3 shops.
You can choose the 2 paper version, the 4 Paper version or a combo pack for PS, PSE and PSP.
They have been tested and work in multiple versions.
PS versions work in PS7, PSCS, PSCS2 and PSCS3
PSE versions work in PSE2 thru 5 ( they include the additional needs that are required to use actions in PSE)
PSP versions work in PSP 8,9,X and XI.

GADS

2007-08-23T21:53:00.000-04:00

I really am a horrible blogger anymore! I keep meaning to do it daily and know I want to do it daily but somehow it just escapes me!!!! Shame on me!!!!!
This past month has been a trip to say the least! Between grandchildren and a hubby I am not sure who I am these days!! DH got hurt at work the end of July and we have gone without even his work comp paycheck til this week when he finally got his first one and he went back to work on light duty monday..go figure! Course that made it a million times harder to pay bills and get the essentials so did get some new kits and some actions/scripts up to see if that will help some. Will post previews here in a few.

Our "Cat" as her pappy calls her seems to be going thru some real issues...Now keep in mind this munchkin is going on 9 now but THINKS she is much older of course. For some reason she is in the phase of pitting her divorced parents and her stepmom and making them nuts which results in extremely late(like 1am and long (like3 hours) phone calls from her stepmother because this little rugrat will not go to sleep no matter what we do! It all got bad when she was in her cast after her surgery in the spring and it's gotten worse and now is to the poing we are all ready to throw up our hands! She admitted she does not want her daddy to go to work despite the conversations he has had with her explaining why he must work, despite her loving stepmother's attempts of bribery to threats and nothing works until she goes and calls Cat's mom and she goes and gets her. Now Miss Cat has decided she wanted to go live with her mommy ( my daughter) except when Daddy is off work which was okayed by both mom and dad and respective stepparents. HOWEVER this seems to not have solved her issues as she now takes total hissy fits when she goes back to dad's and he has to go to work. So much so I got angry and I NEVER get mad at my grands but I sure was at 1am the other night and drove to their house and basically flew up the stairs..Her eyes about popped out of her head as Nana does not get mad at her and Nana does not do stairs lol. I sure did that night! To make a long story short she ended up going home with her mom yet again but the topper was that when her daddy talked to her two days later she denied any of it even happening!!!!!!! I only know right now that our precious child has some problems and we need to seek some other help for her as she is now also wetting the bed which is another sign of something is not right! Her dr. saw her and she does have an Upper Respiratory Infection which can account for some of her tantrums due to not feeling good but it does not explain her total behavior change and issues. He gave us the names of two wonderful child counselors so hopefully we can get to the bottom of what may be troubling her. She is well taken care, loved alot and none of us totally get what is going thru her little mind but keeping her in our prayers and with some help maybe we can get answers!

We spent almost 10 days with little to no phone service thanks to a storm and some crossed lines! I about choaked the phone co customer rep the day I had enough and called them..I got a well it did storm and sometimes that messes things up! DUHHHHHHHHH I know that except for one thing...Our Phone lines are UNDERGROUND and that did not explain the constant static and the ability for me to listen to my neighbor's phone calls from the apartment across from me! She could hear me as well lol ...good thing we are friendly and we knew each other's voices! When they finally sent the service guy here a week later mind you it turns out all our lines were carroded in the outside terminal box and once he fixed that the static was gone BUT in the process it crossed lines and all our phone calls were being forwarded to someone about 5 miles away on the other side of the big Highway!!! How they didn't know but it took all day and 4 service dudes to finally sort it out! The lady on the other end was none too nice either to them or us and kept hanging up on the phone co when they tried to explain what was going on..talk about RUDE! It seems to be mostly okay now but when we got MORE rain again tonite i got some crap on the line again so guess who is getting a phone call again tomorrow?

I am long winded YEP sure I am ..am really wound up tonite lol.
Lets see what esle..well we have had our Em here for a week..her mother said she was being sent to FL for work and even tho we have suspicions she may be elsewhere like in jail we can't prove it so accept that for now. Last Thurs night Em was at a friends and jumping on their trampolline and managed to get tangled in the net twist her arm and strained/sprained her shoulder. When she got to cheer practice her coach called me as she is a family friend and wanted to let me know about it as they could not reach Em's mother YET AGAIN! I advised Em to call me if she got home and her mom still was not there which she did and was crying as she was hurting pretty badly. I drove the 20 mins to her house to find her mom STILL not there and not answering her cellphone. This woman has had her car impounded and has no phone in the house and leaves her 11yr old daughter to fend for herself..THIS IS JUST WRONG! The people at CYS see nothing wrong with it but we sure do! No child should have to be afraid every day when she goes to bed and nobody is there! The more I talk about it the madder I get I guess. I took her to the ER with the help of her aunt(my daughter) and my daughter was able to finally reach Em's mother who showed up at the ER as we were done! Let's see that was over 8 hours from when someone first tried to reach her to tell her Em was hurt! What if Em did not have me to call what then? I so worry and my son (her daddy) worries himself sick over it but we cannot make CYS understand the turmoil this has put this child in!

Gaw I really am on a roll aren't I!!!! I guess I am just plain TIRED and fed up with things over which I have no control..with the lack of common sense in people...with the lack of responsibility for their actions....with the uncaring, unloving parenting I see around me sometimes...with the system that allows it.....with alot of other crap and it finally has gotten to me.

If you read this far thanks for letting me vent lol. SOmetimes just venting helps ya know!

Got some layouts Done HOORAY!

2007-07-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

I took time to get some layouts done over the weekend and am really happy with the results! I have been wanting Ztampf's silk flowers since I first saw them and FINALLY went for them and thought they were perfect to use with a heritage layout! Using it with this scrapkit called Authentic Rust by Kashiabean at 3Scrapateers just really felt right! Used my buddy Ronnie McCray's Krafty Glory Alpha as well since it blended the colors nicely!

And then there is this redo of another photo I had already scrapped but located a larger version of it and could not resist using Kim Stewart's Spring Has Sprung kit and alphas for it! The flowers in this kit are simply gorgeous to say the least!

Last but not least or maybe least lol I worked on a page for my BOM. I managed to get photos of all the childhood homes I lived in before I was married from the time I was born to when I went to live with my grandparents and on til my marriage when I was still in high school. Lots of memories came flooding with each photo..all good ones..I was very blessed to have been raised by my dad''s parents who really were my mom and dad from the time I was 3. Just alot of fun and laughter and joy in our lives as we grew up and those memories are ones I cherish!

How Cute Is This!

2007-07-09T08:55:00.000-04:00

HOW cute are these? I was looking for someone I know and came across this site ETSY and a shop within called JustKiddn in the process and these just made me smile a huge grin!!!! I can just see one of my grands in them lol. Are they the cutest thing or what?
Check out their other ones like frog feet and flamingo feet rotfl. How creative and how adoreable!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6376464

Crop

2007-06-28T23:34:00.000-04:00

I want to say a HUGE thank you to those of you who attended my chat at 3Scraps tonite! I was a total wreck before hand but thanks to some special folks it was fun and I SO enjoyed myself! I hope you all enjoy the kit and the extra goodies as well! Remember the goodies are only good til morning and they will no longer be there! If you have had a problem with them please pm in the forum and if you were there I will sure be happy to help out!

I am so enjoying looking at the layouts in the gallery you all have posted so far!!! Great job!

Remember you have til midnite Friday night to get your layouts in for the free half!

If you missed the chat you can get the whole kit in the store now as well as the new alpha made to go with it! Check it out!

NEW ALPHA

2007-06-27T12:29:00.000-04:00

Wanna Peek at one of the Freebies for the Chat?

Stop and chat on Thursday night June 28 at 10pm Eastern time for the Half n Half chat and even nab a few freebies! This is one of the gifties you can get! Can't attend the crop? Then look for it in the stores next week! Set of two A-Z alphabets! Hope to see you there!

Thanks to my scrapping bud Ronnie McCray for the magnifying glass! You rock woman!

Sneak Peek

2007-06-27T12:24:00.000-04:00

Want a sneak peek at the ENTIRE StarBound Kit? See above!

Buy half and get the other half free when you post a layout to 3Scrapateers here by Midnight Eastern Time Friday June 29! If you can't then look for the full kit in the store at full price starting Saturday! Remember the Patriotic Holiday of the USA is fast approaching! But you don't have to have holiday photos to use it..just check out the gallery and see what others have done with it so far!

http://www.3scrapateers.com/gallerypp/showgallery.php/cat/1323

Half N Half at 3Scrapateers

2007-06-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

Check out the Half N Half now up at 3Scrapateers!

StarBound

What is a HnH?

Purchase Half kit in the store for Half Price and post a layout in the HnH Gallery and you will get the other half of the kit free! Then Join me in the chat room on Thursday June 28th at 10 pm eastern time for some freebies and chat away! Hope to see you there!

Half-n-Half Kit Includes:
16 papers, 1 mat, 1 word overlay, 2 borders, 1 star chain, 3 bows, 4 buttons, 2 strings, 1 charmed tassel, gemstone clip and corners, buckle, tab, gemstone 5x7 wood frame, variety of wooden stars, metal staples, brads fabric stars, frayed and pewter stars and various pewter look charms all in a patriotic theme for your loved ones in the military as well as patriotic holidays and celebrations.

Full Kit that you can end up with contains everything!

24 12x12 papers in varying patterns, textures and prints2 5x7 wooden frames, large variety of pewter charms, fabric and wooden stars, buttons, gemstones, strings, clips, bows, ribbons, borders, corners, staples, brads, eyelets, tags and clip. From papers with patriotic prints all hand done in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to charm elements in a pewter finish or fabrics either plain, checked, frayed or other textures.All made with those special patriotic days, or holiday celebrations or those layouts of loved ones serving in the armed forces in mind.

Whether for fireworks or parades, celebrations or parties, or for those who are proudly serving the US at home or overseas, - This is a packed super kit filled with all of that in mind and more! The choices are endless--the possible numbers of layouts are limitless! This kit has anything and everything from the smallest staples to the large selection of papers and everything inbetween!

Update on Dog

2007-06-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

They finally filed charges on someone in the death of my granddaughter's puppy in March. It turns out it was an 18 year old female high school student! We are glad that someone has finally been charged and sometime this week she is getting sentenced. It is a relief to know she was caught but still sad that it had to happen at all!

Food Memory

2007-06-19T18:31:00.000-04:00

We lived out in the Chicago area for about 10 years and while working part time at a local pizzeria I came love Italian Beef Sandwiches! They still make my mouth water and they are difficult to find anyplace in Pennsylvania lol. Soooooooo I normally make my own and dear Lissa this recipe is for you! My kids and grandkids love it and many friends who have tried it come back for more so guess I am doing something right!

Italian beef sandwich recipe
All quantities are approximate - this is pretty much a list of spices, rather
than exact specifications - you'd really have to experiment to get the
quantities to match your personal taste.

1.5 - 2 lbs cooked roast beef, thinly sliced/shredded/shaven (shredded
is best in my opinion!) I usually use a good piece of beef since i hate fat
on my beef!
red pepper if you like it...i don't use it
black pepper
crushed garlic/garlic powder orsalt
oregano
basil
You can always try the preseason mixes instead

Put the roast beef in a pot, and put in just enough water to cover it. I do
mine all day in a crock pot or in a dutch oven in the oven. Add in the
listed ingredients, more or less to taste - I'd start with a teaspoon each
of the peppers, three or four good-sized cloves of garlic, and pretty
much however much basil, salt and oregano you feel like. I add a mess
of sliced green peppers or you can use the frozen chopped ones if you
need to. Just to get that green pepper taste which I love! Many like it
with the sweet hot peppers..just best to experiment!

Bring the beef to a low simmer, and let everything cook for a few
minutes and mix together. Taste the au jus, and adjust the seasoning if
need be. Cover and cook for a few hours on about 325 if in the oven or all day in the
crock pot til it falls apart is best for me!

Serve the beef on Italian or French bread, and ladle au jus over the
sandwich. (alternately, you can either dip the bread in the au jus before
putting the beef on it, or dip the sandwich as you eat it) If you like, top
the sandwich with cooked green peppers or giardiniera. I toast the
bread first then add the beef and peppers, ladle on some marinara or pizza sauce,
top with mozarella cheese and pop back under the broiler for minute to
brown up the cheese. Just my preference. Lots like it just with the beef
and peppers no sauce or cheese. Try it you may like it :-) Happy eating!

Sitting here listening to the song I have on here "Different World" by Bucky Covington has so totally hit home with me! I listen to all the advisories now and parenting advice and while much of it is good sometimes I think this world has gone overboard with our kids! We all did things and we are still here and kickin lol ...listen to the words and think about it some!

Different World
We were born to mothers who smoked and drank

Our cribs were covered in lead-based paint

No childproof lids

No seatbelts in cars

Rode bikes with no helmets

and still here we are

Still here we are

We got daddy's belt when we misbehaved

Had three TV channels you got up to change

No video games and no satellite

All we had were friends

and they were outsidePlaying outside
It was a different life

When we were boys and girls

Not just a different time

It was a different world

School always started the same everyday

the pledge of allegiance, then someone would pray

not every kid made the team when they tried

We got disappointed but that was alright
We turned out alright
It was a different life

When we were boys and girls

Not just a different time

It was a different world

No bottled water

We'd drink from a garden hose

And every Sunday,

All the stores were closed.

It was a different life

When we were boys and girls

Not just a different time

It was a different world

It was a different life

When we were boys and girls

Not just a different time

It was a different world
It was a different world

Yearbook scan

2007-06-19T18:24:00.000-04:00

Bluff Ridge Elementary School used my America Today kit for their yearbook this spring! The kit is available at 3Scrapateers HERE

I was so honored and loved what their advisor did with it! Below are some scans of the yearbook but please note I have blurred out faces so it doesn't look as good as the real book does! Many thanks to Viola and her school for choosing my kit!

Change is good!

2007-06-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

I sat over the last few days thinking about my blog and how sparse and compared to other blogs it is not what I wish it to be! It should be a reflection of how I see things or things I do not just a spot to hit and miss so with that in mind I am going to be doing some changing around here so bear with me! Think it will end up being more of a walk down the different lanes in my life from memory lane to designer lane and everything inbetween!!

I was so happy to have one of my kits used for a yearbook at an elementary school and will be posting some pics of it to share! The person in charge really did a lovely job using a kit from 3 Scrapateers called America Today! I have blurred out faces as I do not want to put other people's children on here without specific permission as it is a safety issue for almost all of us but it will give you a great idea of what this person did with a kit I designed! I am just so stoked about it!

GADS!

2007-04-20T22:44:00.000-04:00

Gads I realize how long it's been since I updated this. Will have to catch up won't I?

Things have calmed down now that Cat's surgery is done so will catch up with all the news a bit later over the weekend with new products, sales and home soap opera lol.

Happy weekend!

Cruelty

2007-03-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my oldest granddaughter that just made me ill. Her beloved puppy has been missing about a month and sadly they found it.. the horror of the find is what makes me so ill. To read about it you can go here
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_081234438.html
It seems some kids think killing animals is fun. Apparently there are several other missing pets in the neighborhood from what we understand and now police think that they also may be victims of the cruel individuals involved. My grand is only 11 and should not have had to have this happen in her life :-(. She's had enuf trials in her short life and is doing so well and I hate that she has had to deal with this so young. If anyone reading this happens to know anything please contact the local police dept in the article!
Here is the article if you don't want to go elsewhere... caution IT IS NOT GOOD!

Dog's killers sought
BY SANDRA K. REABUCK
The Tribune-Democrat

East Conemaugh police are investigating the death of a terrier whose neck was broken after it was placed in a washing machine with the power on. The dog, possibly a Jack Russell, was not wearing a license, and the identity of its owner has not been learned, police Chief Ronald Pavic said.“We believe that more than one person was involved,” he said. “These are sick individuals who would do this.” The police suspect juveniles were involved and are appealing to the public to call the office at 814-539-9908 with any tips about the crime. They are hoping the dog’s owner will call them. The dog was described as white with some brown and black. A dead squirrel was found in the clothes dryer, the chief said. Because squirrels are difficult to catch, authorities suspect it may have been found dead and used to lure the dog into the house’s basement.Pavic said dog feces found in the dryer indicate the canine may have been placed there first.The dog died of a broken neck, rather than drowning, because water was turned off inside the house.The animals were found when a woman who was moving into the house, in the 200 block of Oak Street, went to the basement after smelling a foul odor.The woman, whose identity was not released, had the electricity to the house turned on about three weeks ago but had not yet had the water service restored. The incident probably took place near the time the power was restored, the chief said.If the perpetrators are found, Pavic said police will file criminal charges, including cruelty to animals, maiming a domestic animal, abuse of an animal and criminal trespass.

Update

2007-02-25T22:23:00.000-05:00

Well obviously I need to update here don't I!
Our Livy was here for a month from NZ and we so enjoyed her visit! The big problems came with some horrible ice and snow storms this past month along with some ISP issues I am having. We had temps below zero for over a week and this old bod of mine does not do well at all with normal cold weather let alone that cold. On top of it all we just happened to have 4 jars of the contaminated Peanut Butter--two of which we ate ( one I used for my cookies) which explains why we had so much stomach problems. I was in for a check at the dr's again this week and things are coming along and am feeling some better this weekend. I want to try to get some stuff all updated and get some things uploaded to my scrapping sites that I have been working on but kept getting stalled :-(. Somehow when ya don't feel so good it's hard to be creative ugh.
Have a great week!
Huggers
Jo

3 S News

2007-01-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

Don't miss out on the contests now at 3Scrapateers!

REMINDER LAST DAY TO GET PEBBLES TWO BUCKS TWO BUCKS TWO BUCKS!

Point of View

2007-01-29T06:53:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here trying to decide just how to vent! About what? Television ads!
I am a HUGE CSI fan and not only enjoy the new episodes but do look for the reruns on various tv stations. While I realize that commercials pay for networks or stations the recent rash of commercials that I find downright disrespectful and/or inappropriate on some of them just has me seeing red. The sad part is I don't know who to complain to or even if they care! I am so sick of seeing the commercials for "girls gone wild" version whatever..IF I WANTED to see some chic's chest flashed into my face I would rent a movie. I sure as bloody heck do not care to see it in the middle of a tv program! Nor do I want to see commercials for the guy call me guy hookup lines coming out of some stations in the larger cities. Sorry folks..there has to be a line someplace and it does not have a place on regular TV! Seeing a commercial with some chic (some of which do not look like they are 18 let alone 21!) fondling the girls on camera or licking her lips or kissing another chic while in their undies is just NOT what I need to see on a tv commercial! I am no prude dangit--I am a grown married adult with kids and grandkids and have been around the block but this is just WRONG on so many levels. Is there that much of a shortage of advertisers out there that these tv stations feel the need to air this kind of trash? What about the families who have munchkins that sneak awake in the middle of the night and think they are turning on cartoons and flip thru channels and see this garbage? THEY grow up fast enough without it being shoved in their faces too! I dozed off mid show one night and was awakened by a commercial of a guy calling another guy on a commercial for a male phoneline thing..Joy oh joy just what I wanted to see! NOT! Christmas morning I counted no less than 10 commercials for the girls gone wild videotapes during one hour of programming! THIS IS beyond RIDICULOUS! All I wanted was to watch a rerun of a show I had missed and what I got was alot of extra added trash I didn't care to see tyvm! I am not saying you need to agree with me I am venting --I am just sick of it. I remember why I stopped watching TV for awhile! Makes me wonder if I want to just dump it all together sometimes! Maybe those who just have a tv to watch movies they rent have the right idea. No commercials and no trash unless it's waht you want. I know they can't please everyone but have some standards for heaven's sake! Keep the trash where it belongs..in the trashcan! Just my two cents.

Layouts and New Products and Sales

2007-01-25T02:48:00.000-05:00

I know I should probably change from a Christmasy setup but am gonna leave this one up a bit yet as I do love it

Worked on more layouts and uploaded new stuff to Digitals(see bottom of post) this past week so here ya go if you have a mind to look :-)

Have some of my word pebbles on sale at 3 Scrapateers so check them out while it lasts!

DREADED BLACK VELVET JUMPERS

Credits: Dana Frantz-From the Heart ScrapKit

MEMORIES OF MAGA 1

Credits: Dana Frantz--Butterfly Meadow and Time Passages Scrapkits

MEMORIES OF MAGA 2

Credits: Dana Frantz-Time Passages Scrapkit

FACE OF DETERMINATION

credits: Sue Jones--Christmas WordArt and Christmas Past QP's(colorized with Koyoto Color)

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New Up At DIGITALS

Jolene's Flakey (LOL thanks to Bunny Cates for it's name :-) )

Flakey Remix Alpha (matches Jolene's Flakey)

We're back

2007-01-16T06:28:00.000-05:00

Well we are back and hopefully home to stay! Lots to catch up on of course.
They did find a small anuersym in dh's aorta which they are watching but have not gotten back the rest of the test results yet.
Cj is out of his cast and back to his "teenage boy" shenanigans again lol. Caitie's surgery won't be til summer so we can breathe for awhile. Liv is coming back to the states in two days YAY..cannot wait to see the lil munchkin. We have missed her terribly and while she will only be here for a month before they go back to NZ it will be so good to see her! I know this has been a great experience for her but this past year just seems like she's been gone way too long! I can so understand the frustration of grandparents whose grands all live far away. I am blessed that the rest of them are nearby and can at least talk to them on the phone if not see them fairly often. Miss Wiggle Butt of course isn't talkng on the phone yet but do hear her carry on lol and get to see her when I am up to it. Emily I ususally see weekly but havent seen her for a few weeks either now with having to be out of town! We will be celebrating Christmas this weekend with the girls since Liv will finally be here and YES we left up our trees and decorations and believe it or not Miss Em did not open her gifts on Christmas..she is waiting for her sister! I hope they always love each other that way!!!! I know Em adores both of her younger sisters and dotes on Scarlett when nobody is looking haha.
Started back into my scrapping swing of things. Put some stuf on sale at 3S and added new stuff at Digitals so stay tuned til I can get that posted as well as a mess of layouts I got done! Feels good to finally have time and energy to get something accomplished. Hopefully I can get my pixel site stuff updated and in full swing as well.
Have a wonderful week
Many hugs and blessings
Jo

Few more

2007-01-02T17:05:00.000-05:00

Wow..just think if I can keep this up the amount of layouts I would get done by the end of this year lol. Here's 3 more I did last nite and this morning! I am so enjoying doing these. I came across a link for a site called NitWits and fell in love with their stuff as well as all the others I love so had to buy two of their ready made pages called Lickety Splits! Love how they came out! The other is a mix of Lianne at 3Scrapateers whose work I am a huge fan of as well as Sue Jones from Digitals wordaart and some others mentioned below. Thanks for looking! Happy New Year!

A Child and A Tree

Scarlett was so funny when the tree was up..she would wait til she thought nobody could see her and the scoot or crawl across the floor and then try to sneak a snowman off their tree! You can just see the twinkle in her eye..she KNEW what she was up to lol. Thanks for looking!
CREDITS
Journaling Font:Sans Logique
Marialafrance-doodley christmas felt tree-GottaPixel freebies
Marialafrance_doodley christmas squiggle tree-Gotta Pixel freebies
Cheryl Barber-love of my life corner--ScrapGirls
Lianne Carper-MLGWinter Brights Kit-3Scrapateers
Diane Miller-Jingle Special Swag-ScrapGirls
Sue Jones-Baby Quote Ribbon-Digitals

Pappy's Angel

Scarlett loves to tease and play and got her pap on the floor Christmas Day! She is so funny when she wrinkles up that adorable nose and pulls on something playing tug o war or when she eats her lil tongue comes out before she even gets a bite haha. Thanks for looking!
CREDITS
Font: Sans Logique
Crooked Halos Lickity Split by Kay Miller at NitWits

3 Lil Angels

Ok so their halo's are not showing lol. Scarlett was with her cousins in mid december and her aunt Trish got them all matching outfits! What a group of cuties...angels?-- well not all the time but to their grandparents Carol and Dave they are perfect of course!:-) Thanks for looking.
CREDITS
High Elf Esteem Lickity Split by Kay Miller at NitWits
Star by Jessica Gorny from Country Christmas Elements at Gotta Pixel freebies
Font: QTBasker

2007-01-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

Of course I have to do some of Lil Miss Wiggle Butt for her First Christmas you know lol. These are just a few I got done..DH is a PSU fan and thank heavens I had some peace and quiet while the bowl games were on lol.

GO PENN STATE ;-)

So without further ado here is the munchkin's I have done so far!

DADDY N ME

Tracey took this super pic of Jim holding Scarlett on Christmas!

CREDITS IceAgeD font

Glenda K QP Digitals Christmas Collection

Rina Kroes-OctoberFields alpha 3Scrapateers

GOOD TO BE A CHILD

It's good to be a child at Christmas! The word art just seemed to fit some odds and ends Christmas Pics of lil miss wiggle butt :-)--She was a pure delight as always on Christmas and just makes us all smile no matter what!

CREDITS

Sleigh from Christmas Is Comin-Ginger Thibodeau--Digitals

Decorated QP--Glenda Ketcham-Digitals

Christmas Wordart-Sue Jones-Digitals

All Stitched Up Word Art-Heather Watson-Digitals

Hook from Xmas Bulb Frames--Kathy Smith-Digitals Christmas

Stick Pin-Rina- from the Christmas Crop Kit at 3Scrapateers

Brad by Daniela Austin-Yule Time Kit-3Scrapateers

Fonts: ScriptoramaHostessJF for Scarlett's Name on Sleigh

HANDS N HEART

Miss Scarlett of course lol. This is her first Christmas and I so love to watch lil ones with the twinkle in their eye this time of year!

CREDITS Fonts: Rendezvous and Shimmer Bold

Christmas bulbs,wa and papers by Ronnie McCray at SBE

Stars by Dana Frantz chennile accents at Digitals

I TOLD YOU SANTA WOULD

OK I JUST could not RESIST adding the journaling to this one lol. Scarlett's other grandparents got her a rocking horse for Christmas which she just loves and can ride for long long periods of time. It goes clip clop when you squeeze one ear and the other ear sings a song when you squeeze it! What a joy it was watching her play on this! She gets to jumping up and down to make it rock more and it scoots across the wood floors lol.

CREDITS

Christine Schultz-cinnamon swirl Alpha---Digitals

Erica Shoemaker-Christmas In July--Digitals

Glenda Ketcham-Sagebrush Buddies for tie-Digitals

Font- BritannicComDMed

CHRISTMAS JOY

What a joy it is having a wee one around at the holidays! This is her first Christmas and you can just see in her cute lil eyes how much she loved it!

CREDITS

GeeohHmk font

Sue Jones Qp from Digitals Christmas Collection 2005

All in all it was a lovely holiday this year. Peaceful and quiet for the most part..time for reflecting and getting ready for whatever the new year has in store for us! Dh has all his tests set in two cities next week so say a prayer and wish us luck that the worst of this is behind us and the new year will bring our family some good health and lots of love, happiness and joy!

MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE BLESSED WITH ALL THAT IS GOOD!

Happiness and Hugs

Jolene

Layouts, Layouts and Layouts :-)

2007-01-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

Was busy the past couple of days trying to finish some layouts that I had started but not gotten to finish. These 3 are from the stash of goodies my cousin sent me of my grandparents! What a treasure trove there is ...sooooooo many more to save and scan and research! I love finding out things that I didn't know or remembering pieces from my childhood because of them. Thanks for looking! Credits are listed below each one if this sets up correctly! Happy New Year!

Beautiful Summer
We found some awsome photos of my grandmother when my cousin sent me a box not long ago and am happily doing some scrapping! This was her...she was both beautiful inside and out we always knew but just had never seen these photos and they blew me away.

CREDITS
Pirouette LT Std font
Flea Market Alpha, Elements and Papers by Dana Frantz at Digitals

Family Heirlooms

Another found in the goodies of my gram's. I JUST LOVE this photo--those muffs are awsome!..she is in the middle and her cousins are on both sides. Louise was pretty much raised with her and they were inseperable. We had lost track of Millie but had located her back in the late 70s again so it was a wonderful rememberance for them all. I have vague recollections of Minnie but do remember Louise and her husband well as we visited them alot over my growing up years.

CREDITS:
Maddy Fernandez-- Turkish Delight Heirloom word art--Digitals
Loreta Labarca--DREAM AWAY Papers and Elements--Digitals
Dea Spina--corners from A Bit of Autumn--Digitals
Lori Wiley--feather colorized from the Build a Kit Challenge at 3Scrapateers
Journaling font: Alys Script Medium

Young Love

This one of my gram and gramps a few months before they were married just tickles me. You can see how much he adored her and he had that look til the day he died! They had almost 70 years together! How awsome that is!

CREDITS
Kelly Miller--Journey kit for wordart--Digitals
Graziela M--Soft Spring Papers and elements--formerly it was at Digitals
fonts: ScriptoramaHostessJF and Sans Logique

Good News and Uck News lol

2006-12-11T12:13:00.000-05:00

Well I told ya my life is never dull!
On the GREAT NEWS--
Dh's surgeon's visit on Friday turned out extremely well and all is good on that part. We still have all the other tests Jan 8 and 9 but at least thru the Holiday we can breathe. Right about now I am exhausted but happy that the worrying is over on much of it and my stress level came down at least for now! I had more down days than up ones over this believe me! Am going to try to get some much needed FULL sleep in the next few days and hopefully my energy level will jump back up. Thank you to all my dear friends and family for their prayers and blessings for it surely worked!

On the UCK news--CJ slipped in the messy mushy snowy wet crap yesterday and we ended up taking him to the ER and yes you guessed it he broke something! He is hobbling on crutches and wrapped up til he sees the ortho surgeon tomorrow but the poor kid did not need this! At least football season is over but dang the kid already broke one thing this year you would think that was enough wouldn't you! He's much better painwise this morning but last nite my heart ached as he is not one to cry at his age(ya know teenage boys and the macho thing) but he did last nite in my car and I felt so helpless! Please just keep him in your prayers.His lil sister is due for her hip surgery in January so they sure can use alot of extra help that way.

I put up Holiday graphics as you can see lol --My thanks to Grandma's Attic for them as I JUST LOVE them and hope you all do too! I am thinking of moving it all over to WP but am so used to Blogger I can't decide hahaha.

To anyone who reads this blog of mine sparse as it is PLEASE have a Joyous Holiday Season and I wish you many blessings this upcoming year!
Happy Holidays
Love and Blessings
Jolene

Hit and Miss

2006-11-30T23:10:00.000-05:00

I seem to be on a hit and miss here don't I?

Added a new kit called GingerSpice to 3 Scrapateers so here is a lookie.

Have to finish up some I have in the works but have been working on my pixel site as well as all the dang dr appts dh has and mine as well. VA is not known for speed but this is getting ridiculous..it's like hurry up and wait lol. I told them this week look just make all the appts for one week and he will take a week's vacation and get them all done..they promised to do so and call me back yesterday and guess what..yeah you got it--STILL no call back. I swear government red tape is giving me a breakdown :-(.

We are going to get snow and think it's going to stay around this time wah but I do like it for Christmas Eve and Day ..other than that I wish it would just go elsewhere haha. It was beautiful here today for the last of November..was in the 60s so I even got some decorating started.. I am slow at doing anything these days so I will be lucky to be done by Christmas at this rate! Sure makes me wish I had a fairy godmother who would purchase all new decorations and do my house up all gorgeous for me..WELL A GIRL CAN DREAM rotfl! Oh to have the bucks to do what I would like to..oh well hey it's still a good dream!

I changed the video to a beautiful song I came across by Blackmore's Night. I adore their regular music but this song and video really capture the Holiday Spirit I think! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Have a great weekend!

A bit of this and that

2006-11-16T06:19:00.000-05:00

I put up some new elements exclusively at 3Scrapateers yesterday..just some fun things to add to pages. Have a series of them in the works so this is just a few to start with. There will be a sale going on at 3S this weekend so make sure you check it out!

I am trying to get back in the swing of things but it will be slow going so bear with me! I have some things in the works for Digitals as well so please check back often!

On the personal side the news on dh is so so..surgery is coming up for some"manly ills" they found and they suspect an aortic aneursym so he has to have all those wonderful heart tests done. He is such a stubborn pigheaded man he doesn't totally understand the importance and urgency of some of this and I can't seem to get it thru his thick head ..imagine that lol. Thus my stress levels go thru the roof... DD was in the hospital with breathing problems but is doing better thank heavens. Grandkids are all healed up and back to their ornery selves as usual haha. Caitie still faces surgery after the holidays but we are trying to not even think about that for now. The custody issues are going along..both sides working for the best of the young one FINALLY but her mom does not make it easy that is for sure. The good thing is she is spending more time with us and with her aunt as well as her daddy and stepmommy and sister and she had straight A's on her report card and won 1st place in all but one of her cheering competitions! That tells us all she is doing much better with dad than she did with her mother but getting her mother to admit it is another thing. She loves her I know but some people are just not meant to be mom's and don't know how to be nor want to be..it's just something that happens. It doesn't mean she doesn't love her..she just has different priorities than a normal mom has. Sad yes and I wish it were different but after 11 years I don't see her changing any sigh.

On a fun note I have been messing with and enjoying some of my old loves of pixel drawing and painting and collecting :-) so added a sub domain to mine called RayneDropps. Just a fun way to relax with no deadlines, no pressures..just fun stuff so if you have a mind to come on by!

On my RayneScraps site we found issues with some mean posters who wanted to send trash so have changed the permissions there etc so if you can't see the forums make sure you are registered. I really wish these spammers and trash people would find better things to do than mess with those of us who just want peace and quiet ya know!

Have a great Turkey Day to everyone here in the US that celebrates it!
Hugs and blessings
Jolene

Taking a break

2006-10-15T19:41:00.000-04:00

With things stressing me so much lately and health issues I am taking a break from scrapping until mid November. I need time to recover from all the crap that bothers me of late and all the things that I have no control over but control me lol. I am gonna lay on the beach for awhile and just veg out and breathe! Hopefully the weather is cooperating while I am there but if not hey there are hot tubs and indoor lazy rivers! Hopefully when I get back I can be back to some sort of speed and in a creative frame of mind :-). I will be playing with some pixels as well working on that side of "crafting" and designing so don't be surprised what I add to my repitoire :-). I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that side of things as well so it's an exciting adventure for when I am back as well. I do have 6 kits in the making and some freebies as well so look for them when I am back. Have a great few weeks and if I don't post you know it's because the waves and sun are calling my name lol. Hugs and blessings Jo

TY and neat find

2006-10-07T08:34:00.000-04:00

I want to say TY for all the comments :-) Nice to know someone actually sees what I put here lol. Ya all ROCK and I appreciate it!

I am not a big fan of gothic stuff but I am a huge Jewelry nut and I came across this site that I so totally fell in love with her jewelry so just thought I would share it for any of you who enjoy it!

http://www.artofadornment.ca/main.htm

This one really caught my eye for some reason lol!

I have all this old jewelry I inherited from my great grandmother as she was a costume jewelry nut and none of my other sisters care alot for jewelry so I totally enjoy it. When I was working I always wore it ...I LOVE it lol what can I say. I rarely get much chance now as I can't get out and about as I used to but with several granddaughters I sure hope one of them loves it like I do so I can pass them on :-). I did take some of the ones that were broken etc and use them for some of my scrapping so that is a definite plus :-).

I also found a really kewl set for Halloween if I was still dressing up for a party night it definitely would be superb to own altho I don't see it for sale anymore it's kinda kewl. Her ebay site has alot listed there to and NO lol I don't know her or plugging her..Just really liked her stuff for some reason.

I Was Tagged and didn't even know it lol

2006-10-05T23:21:00.000-04:00

I got tagged by a Digitals Maddy and totally missed it! I am so SORRY Maddy!.. that means I will have to play catch up. lol.

List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.
Tag 5 friends and list them.
Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.

SOOOOOOOOOO here goes lol

1. I hiccup so loud they can hear me in the next county lol.

2. I used to snore but now I don't haha..have a cpap machine so that stops it but I do tend to look like something from an alien movie if you happen to come into my room when I am sleeping rotfl.

3. I sneeze in sets of 3. Dunno why but I can't just sneeze once...its always in sets of 3!

4. I have a "designer" cane in purple and black --looks like it's one of those papers they dip in oil and water to make a design. DH says if he left it up to me I would have one in every color to match my clothes !

5. I have no pets so that's no help is it --hmmmm thinking...of #5.......
My life is NEVER DULL --there never is a week that goes by that someone in my family does not have a crisis or emergency or some health issue. I WOULD love to have just a quiet uneventful life..my best friends keep telling me to write a book..Erma Bombeck did lol and look at the money she made!

Not sure I am tagging yet..know my bud Lissa will be one and of couse Wolfie bahbay lol . Gonna have to check who hasn't been tagged yet lol.

Thanks Maddy girl!

HAPPY HAPPY DANCE!

2006-10-05T21:38:00.000-04:00

I AM SO STOKED! MY layout of Daltie was picked as layout of the day at GOTTA PIXEL this week on October 2! What a lovely honor it is! The members there are wonderful and always always comment on every layout and are very helpful when needed! They have a great site and I do love visiting it. They have a super staff as well that is well run and well put together! THANKS GP for making my day and my week!You can view their picks daily herehttp://www.gottapixel.net/blog/

Another Day and Challenge Starting

2006-10-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

I told you life is never dull! I got a phone call and my db's f-i-l passed away suddenly with an anuerysm :-(. They had just gone to Hawaii on Sunday for a much needed vacation so I feel doubley bad for them. His "significant other" is a wonderful person we all love dearly and know this is a terrible loss for them both.

On another note Cody's big night ( Football game under the lights :-)) was cancelled last night due to a nasty lightening and thunderstorm that blew thru here. He was so disappointed as it was the only night game they play this season but they are trying to reschedule it this weekend either sat or sun night if possible so the team still gets that chance. It's funny how such a "small" thing like a night game can make a difference to these youngsters but it does! I think I can vaguely remember that lol. We played all afternoon games at my high school so it was a rare treat for us as well to have a night game back then as many stadiums did not have lights. When ds played in Michigan we had a huge mess of fundraisers just so the high school could put in lights to play night games.

There is just something about a crisp fall night game as opposed to an afternoon game for some reason!

I did up a two page layout of my darlin redheaded gs :-) in all his glory so here's a peek at it ..enjoy!

Credits are all mine cept for his name on page 1 ..that is Letterman Alpha by my buddy Ronnie McCray whose DT I am on. SHE ROCKS! She's on loa right now from designing as she has a beautiful brand new baby boy to enjoy and that sure does take priority over anything else naturally. He is a doll baby from the pics I have seen! Congrats again dear Ronnie!

On Page 2 it is actually a background I made for my Football Fever kit at Digitals ..I colorized it with Koyoto Color to go with his school colors as I did with Ronnie's Alpha as well. It made up a neat journaling page in my opinion as used the field lines as my paper. Just a spur of the moment idea I kinda like actually lol.

Had a marvelous checkup today so that part is good. I saw my pulmonary specialist and he was very happy with my tests and heart sounds so hey that's a good thing. AND I lost over 20 lbs so that is definite happy happy joy joy! I knew I had been losing it as had that dang stomach bug for two weeks on top of dieting so I was happy with that announcement from him as was he lol. He put me on another med this time tho for my allergies as the fall seems to really drive me nuts with sneezing fits and so far so good. I used it when I got home this afteroon and so far I can still actually breathe tonite without being stuffy! GO FLONASE lol.

Tomorrow starts my challenge hosting at 3 Scrapateers. It's called Remember When with Jo. Each Friday I will be posting a challenge to remember things either from your past or your ancestors past in a page. It won't necessarily require any pictures but journaling is a must so it may prove interesting I hope! I would love to see both photos and journaling but am leaving it up to those who choose to participate. Haven't finished a bonus to hand out yet as not sure what it will be but I promise ya will get some freebie of some type from someone lol. Maybe me, maybe another designer who knows. Be surprised haha.

well I rambled as much as I can for one time so have a wonderful weekend all!
Hugs and blessings

Life is NEVER dull!

2006-10-04T22:01:00.000-04:00

To say my life is ever dull is just a non sentance! MY life is NEVER dulll--I would love to have a dull day or week or month or year lol.

We are still doing the ongoing tests with the VA for dh which thinks we have nothing better to do than travel 2-3 hours away for tests they could do on his day off rather than making him miss a day's work. He tends to get cranky when they keep scheduling the appts for mondays and tuesdays etc and they know dang well he works...guess who gets stuck in the middle? YEP that would be me as usual!

my ds got hurt at work and is suffering with cracked ribs and alot of pain and may actually be broken or he may have back and/or spinal cord injuries ..we don't know alot just yet..he has an MRI in the morning and had other tests this week as well as going to therapy most days. It makes it difficult at best to even play with his precious newest daughter our miss wiggle butt lol and to get his older daughter back and forth to school and cheerleading and not miss her events. Somehow tho between him and his wonderful wife they manage. Having a son who is a fireman is scary enough let me tell you and knowing he has a family it worries me even more but it is who he is, it is who he wanted to be and it is what he loves to do so as a mom I deal with but sometimes I sure wish he had picked a safer profession haha!

Our sweet Caitie had her trip to her specialist at Children's Hsptl and they are scheduling her for surgery after the first of the year again. She was so little when they did the first ones she doesn't really remember how bad it was..how close we came a few times to losing her...so is dealing with it matter of factly right now as she adores her dr. She is one of these rare kids who loves getting a shot! GO FIGURE! She gets very put out when they don't have to give her a booster shot lol. Her hip is what the issue is and while it has healed fairly well it is not growing as she is and without the surgery she will have more and more difficulty as she gets older with normal activities like running and playing let along doing the things she wants to do like gymnastics or ballet. The surgery is necessary yes but...as grandma I so wish and pray it would suddenly be normal to save her the misery I know is ahead after the surgery and while it reheals. They said they are going to put her in a cast as with 5 brothers and sisters there is too much change she could hurt it so that in itself will be a challenge and she will miss school for many weeks which she is not happy about as she loves school.

As for me ugh..same old same old--good days and bad days. The fall weather bringing the colder air is already starting to effect me more each day. I cannot wait to get to the beach and sit in the sun and hottub! Well not so much the sun since as a Lupus patient the sun is not my friend but still the warmth from it sure does these old bones good! The pain meds are taking some playing with to get it so that I have more than an hour at a time without being miserable but hopefully at some point it will work on a continuous basis. I am just kinda sick of taking 14 kinds of meds for all the crap I have been dealt but guess I should be grateful that they even are able to treat them with something rahter than just giving up as was done in" olden days". I know I am blessed with some caring dr's and that is definitely a plus but it took so long to get ones who heard me and cared enough to know where to find out what was causing me such agony.

SO there is my not so dull life this week lol.---stay tuned cuz who knows what next week will bring as there is always something trust me!

Happy over the hump day..hope yours was good!

2006-10-04T03:13:00.000-04:00

I don't get much chance to watch movies but I took time tonite to watch The Lake House starring my favorite Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves . It took my breath away in a wonderful way! This so tops my favorite movies just for the content. If you are a romantic in any sense of the word you will love this movie. While yes it's not plausible it still catches you up in a love story that transends time and space. It's one that can make your heart melt and tears come up every so often in a good way. I found it just amazingly beautiful and will be watching this one over and over like several other Sandra Bullock movies I have. This is a winning combination of these two actors and the chemistry of the love story is awsome. For it me it goes up there with Somewhere in time starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour and with The Bridges of Madison County. Just good love stories--the sappy kind--the good kind that make you sigh and make you dream and wish for the kind of love they have. All in all some time well spent for someone who doesn't take time to watch tv or movies much lol. If you get a chance watch it..enjoy it! I sure did!

Freebie

2006-10-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

Please take time to visit us over at THE UNTAMED SCRAPPER and read our newsletters called the VIEW FROM UNTAMED where our OCT one is located (Just click on the VIEW).

October:
Techniques of the Month
Envelopes and "Time" --You can check out my tutorial :-)

Color Scheme of the Month:

Olive, Kraft,Pink, and Coral --You can see my layout with the colors and the freebie that I did of my best bud Lissa and her dh ;-)

and my freebie gift here --

It will be gone Nov 1 so if you want it you best get it now. AND REMEMBER IT'S NOT FOR SHARING!

Please be an angel and don't be a pirate!

New Tut Up for Digi Envelope

2006-10-02T09:37:00.000-04:00

Did a new tutorial for The Untamed Scrapper Newsletter and also at Digitals
"Making a Digital Envelope Template"
Here is an example of what I did with it :-)