My Birthday wishes and more......

Look at my Wonderful Birthday Wishes Layouts! This first one is from my wonderful friends and Girls, Doreen and Tracy:



And this one is from my good friend and mentor Carla Ware:



Aren't they wonderful??!!! I feel the love lol.

Don't forget btw to vote for me at the Go Digital Scrapbooking "The Next Big Designer" competition today!! Scroll down a couple of posts to get my new freebie!

Tonight at 9 PM CST is the Half n Half Chat/Crop with Carla Ware at 3Scrapateers! Snag her newest kit "Hope" for $2 and come join in the fun! If you post a layout with it by August 1 you will get the second half of the kit for free!

HOPE by Carla Ware (isn't this beautiful?):



and here is another new kit by Carla - this one is soooo cute too!

BY THE SEA:



So go and grab these beautiful kits for only $2 and maybe I will see you at the chat tonight!

New to my stores are these:





They are already up in my HODS store and should be up at Moo Two soon!

OK gotta go, things to do ;)

Blog Freebie!

Here is Part One of Tuscan Kitchen Memories. I liked these colors and wanted to whip up a little something with them. There are little food items like bread, cheese wine etc and a little cart for all your accessories lol. Please remember that if you download to leave a little LOVE ;) Also please don't share files, have people come here to download instead ;) Click on the image to download ;)




Have you gotten over to GoDigitalScrapbooking to vote for "The Next Big Designer" yet?

Round 2!!

OK my Heritage kit for Round 2 of "The Next Big Designer" competition is up! Voting starts tonight at Midnight EST! Please remember to vote as you snag the currently 13 kits up for grabs! By the end of the night there should be 18 ;) Leave a little love for everyone too ok?

A Little update

In case you haven't been keeping up Round 2 of The Next Big Designer is going on now over at Go Digital Scrapbooking. As of this posting there are 6 new kits for you to download and enjoy! Mine is not up yet, I have changed color schemes three times already so look for some freebies and new kits from me soon lol. THAT is precisely why I am always multitasking and release more than one at a time. I have a specific idea in mind but I go on a tangent then decide to go onto something else until I get the original one the way I want it lol. Chalk it up to the ADHD lol.

AUGUST is going to be hopping for me. My birthday is August 2 and my youngest DS is the 29th ;) We have a newsletter coming out at HODS and I will be having a birthday sale at both HODS and MOO TWO so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those. Also, HODS has a 32% off coupon coming out in the DST Newsletter! 32% off your favorite Designers! There are also other things in the works so be sure to check back and I will keep you updated as they are confirmed. ;)

August is also when the kids go back to school here. Sure my oldest DS is still in school because he is homeschooled but my youngest DS will be going back. Know what that means? Yep you got it, going out buying uniforms, school supplies backpacks etc. Ugh. We get a tax free week here for school supplies and clothes but I never seem to have money that week lol. Thankfully when things went on clearance last year I bought a ton of it. Crayons were like .20 a box as was glue and notebooks were like $1 for a 10 pack, gotta love the sales!

OK I have things to do. Be sure and check out all the goings ons and check back for more info soon! Have a great day!

Oh boy the prompt for today

Check out Carla's prompts, they are great lol. Today's prompt has to do with allowance. WOW, that's a rough one huh? Of course someone like me who loves to ramble could go on with this topic for a loooonnngggg time lol. But I will try not to.

When I was young I didn't really get allowance. The only thing my Mother let me do was clean my room. Of course, that wasn't any fun and I didn't want to do that lol. I got A's and B's in school and was an honor student but that didn't merit allowance. So I pretty much had to scratch and scream for anything I wanted which is why I decided to work at 14. So I went to work at a deli at 6 am then to school at 8 until around 2 then back to work until closing at 6pm. The deli was in the middle of a warehouse area so they didn't need to stay open later than that.

My kids, I won't let them work now. My oldest DS wants a job but I told him no, not until he gets on and STAYS on a schedule with his school work. If he wants to work he has to take care of what's important first. If I decide to let him work then he will have to maintain his schoolwork, otherwise the job goes the way of the Dodo. I don't care, I get told how unfair I am or how mean and I don't care yada yada yada. Those of you with children know the routine. So anyway for a long time they got allowance. My oldest DS got $80 a month and my youngest DS got $50. The oldest had to pick up his own mess, clean his room, clear the table after dinner and take out the garbage. The youngest had to set the table, clean his own room, take the garbage out of their bathroom and run the dishwasher. Each week they would get $10 and once a month they would get whatever the balance was for their allowance. They got paid just like a job, they had to wait until after they did the work to get paid which of course they didn't like but too bad. Then it started getting to where they wanted to switch chores. At first I said fine but then it got nuts. "It wasn't my job it was his".....you know. Eventually nothing was getting done so I cut off allowance. That's it. You don't want to do what you are supposed to do, you don't get paid too bad. That's where we are now, no allowance. Every week I see a couple of days where they will do what they are supposed to without me snapping like a bowl of rice krispies, but for the most part it's like pulling teeth to get them to do anything. I love it when I hear - "Why should I clear the table I didn't eat all of that" My response "Why should I wash your clothes I don't wear them!" So now instead, I put $10 into each of their savings accounts without them knowing and leave it at that. If I told them the money was there it would start another debate "It's my money why can't I have it?" argh..... Actually I almost think it's wrong in a way to pay them for doing chores because as a family unit - as a HUMAN being - they should do certain things just because it's the right thing to do. Yet, when they enter the working world that's doing the right thing too soooo....how can you go either way? LOL

Wow what a chat!

LOL We had such a good time last night! Shellshock answered almost every one of the questions. She was threatened with the taping of her fingers and even hog tying lol. Here's a peek at some of the freebies they got:

Thanks to everyone for coming!

Stress Prompt

Wow, well Carla has started a wonderful new way to get everyone blogging. Everyday she will post a prompt and we can all use that to start a post. I thought it was funny that Monday's post was stress. It is something I know very well, it's almost like one of those relatives you have that no matter how much they irk you, you just can't seem to cut them loose.

Stress for me is an everyday occurrence. Right now between still being sick and not having any health insurance for myself, still struggling to get caught up from when both Alex and I lost our jobs within 10 months of each other, ex-in-law family bs, and trying to get Charles on the right track for finishing his school work, I am ready to flip out. And that's to say nothing of my designing responsibilities or my household duties, you know, laundry, cooking, cleaning. Sigh. I have already given Alex a list of who to get in touch with if I should finally end up in the hospital (last night was not a good night for me) so at least I have that covered.

Today I have been trying to read ahead for Charles book so when he reads the next group of pages and writes his summary I will know what he has read and understood. I am also going through his Science work so that he can finish up what's left and re-work stuff he can still submit a second time. This part could go much faster if I felt well. So now instead of just feeling the pressure of getting him to finish and understand the work I am feeling guilty because I am not up to snuff.

There is no particular day which is worse than others because these are all things which happen all the time. My only release really is to write it all down here which I kind of don't even like to do because sometimes it comes off as looking for attention and I hate people like that. I don't want people to feel sorry for me, there are people out there going through this and more. But I guess I do want people to understand and not think that I am a slacker or that I just don't care about things.

I don't know, I just keep hoping for a break somewhere. Hoping that light at the end of my tunnel will show up soon and at least give me better health, the rest I can do on my own.

I promised I would post didn't I Carla? LOL

Voting is on!!

Have you voted? Voting has opened up for Round 1 of "The Next Big Designer" Competition at Go Digital Scrapbooking! Remember to Register over there and Vote for me! There are 18 FREE KITS up for grabs so hurry over and vote vote vote!

4 Hours of work gone!

Yep was working to make my new kit and some freebies and when I went to save CS2 had a stroke and refused to unstick. So even stuff I had saved went the way of the dodo. I lost styles I had made and everything ARGH I was so ticked off. Sigh..... but what can you do?

I managed to jump in on the "Next Big Designer" Competition at Go Digital Scrapbooking. So if you want a free kit by me (as well as all the other wonderful entries), you need to go register there. Be sure to vote for me tomorrow night (Sunday July 22nd) for Round 1 ok?



Also don't forget that this Tuesday July 24th at 9 PM EST is my chat over at Moo Two! Get a free gift for attending and get a chance to win 10 little goodies by knowing a little about me! Lots of fun and goodies to be had so be sure to come by and say hi!




Ok, well I still have alot to do, so be sure and have yourself a great rest of the day! See ya!

HOLY COW!!!

(**All images and story quotes are the property of their respective artists**)

Can you believe this? I turn on the television this morning and while channel surfing came across these two news stories. (clicking on the images will take you to the story) This first story happened at around 9:15 am EST.

Jul 18, 2007 4:34 pm US/Eastern
Tornado Leaves Thousands Without Power On L.I.

(CBS) ISLIP, N.Y. The National Weather Service confirmed that an F-1 tornado touched down in the Islip area of Long Island Wednesday morning.

At the F-1 level, a tornado carries hurricane-force winds that can reach 110 mph. It can peel off roofs, push mobile homes off their foundations or blow vehicles off the road.

LIPA reports major power outages on Long Island. At its peak, some 51,000 customers were without power. Currently, 12,900 still have no electricity.

Here's a pic of a Whitestone Home owner:



Now, if that weren't bad enough - look what happened at 6PM in Manhattan at the height of Rush Hour:

Air OK, but asbestos in debris from N.Y. steam pipe blast

The 6 p.m. blast, which sent sent plumes of smoke and ash into the air around
Grand Central Terminal, killed a woman and injured at least 44, according to
authorities and local hospitals.

Lois Baumerich, of Hawthorne, New Jersey, died of cardiac arrest, New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Three firefighters and a police officer were treated
on the scene for minor injuries, according to a New York Fire Department spokesman.
Bellevue Hospital Center received 14 patients, including Baumerich, hospital
Administrator Larry Dugan said. New York Presbyterian Hospital said it received 27
injured people, 25 of whom were treated and released. As of Thursday, one person
was listed in critical condition and another in serious. The area encompassed by
40th and 43rd streets and Vanderbilt and Third avenues was "frozen" because of
the asbestos threat.

Those in that zone are allowed to stay in the area, but should use caution. No one
will be allowed to enter the zone, the Office of Emergency Management said."People
inside buildings in the frozen zone should keep windows closed and switch air
conditioners to recirculate the air inside instead of drawing in air from outside,"
the office said. Also, parts of Lexington Avenue, Third Avenue, Park Avenue,
42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue will be closed to traffic.

Subway lines near the explosion were initially rerouted to bypass Grand Central
Terminal, but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Thursday the subway
infrastructure was not damaged. Bloomberg told reporters the pipe that exploded
was installed in 1924. "There was cold water getting into the pipe, and cold water
apparently causes these to explode," the mayor said. "It might have been bursts of
cold water from the rain or because of another water main break." Hundreds of
people frantically fled the scene as police, fire and utility officials converged on
the area around the blast, which left a crater 25 feet wide and 15 feet deep,
according to utility provider Con Edison. More than 170 firefighters were dispatched
to the site, the fire department said.

Unbelievable!! I called Pop this morning because he works in Manhattan but he hasn't called me back yet :( That was a double whammy for NY. I can't believe that. Oh well, had to put it out there for those of you who may have missed it.

Wow still so much going on

Sometimes it feels like it never stops. Anyway the first thing I wanted to do was point you in the direction of two cool freebies. Over by Shannon you can grab the pieces to this kit:



Hurry because she is on day 2 and Day one might not be up much longer ;)

Also get on over to Gail's Space so you can snatch her folded ribbons. She did an awesome job with these! Remember to leave them some love ok?

Don't forget I am the Featured Designer this month over at Moo Two! If you haven't already done so, sign up for the newsletter so you can check out my interview, get some freebies and check out all the things going on at Moo Two! Then on July 24th at 9:00 PM EST come to my chat where you can win some great goodies by answering questions about me and get a little attendance gift!

Tonight is the Half n Half Chat with Carla over at 3 Scrapateers! 10:00 PM EST, be sure to be there. This week's HNH Kit is "My Sister's Jeans" It's on sale for $2 and if you post a layout with it you get the second half for free! Click on the link HERE and check it out! PLUS if you attend the chat you get a coordinating Freebie! Don't miss it!

I'm still trying to learn all the cool gadgets on my Blackberry Curve lol. I think it is going to take awhile. The only thing about small screens is that when you do access a webpage it makes it really small and/or distorted. Mashes it up kind of lol.

OK I will be back later with some awesome Layouts that Tracy did for me! Wait till you see these they are awesome! AND she won Layout of the Day over at Moo Two!! I am so lucky to have her as part of my CT, she is a great and talented Lady ;) Right now though I need to get Charles ready for his Language Arts class for today. We will be reading Tangerine -- he is already trying to negotiate on how much he will read. SIGH........

Have a good one!

Deadliest Catch

You know, I LOVE Crabs, I don't care which one you give me I will eat crab legs until there are no more. Recently I received a rude awakening on my gluttony. While I was stuck lying in my bed I had nothing more to do than channel surf (and draw doodles) and I came across a show on the Discovery Channel that I probably normally wouldn't have watched. My Pop and my Mom before she passed away, were very big into fishing. Pop still is. Anyway I came across this show called "Deadliest Catch" It turns out it was about the men who catch crabs in the Barents Sea so I said to myself, ok this will be a cool way to spend a half hour or an hour. Well it happened to be a marathon they were running and I watched everyone of them! I was instantly hooked. These men put themselves out there in the worst weather up in Alaska to race literally for their share of crabs. Everything from Alasken Snow Crabs to Otille (I hope I am spelling this right lol) they go after these crabs throwing their pots in the water in the hope of leading their target and hauling in tons - literally - of crabs.



In the 10 days or so that I have been watching this show 9 men were lost to the sea. Some were not found at all and some were found but couldn't be resuscitated. One man was saved and it was just so emotional. Now I am not an emotional person, I have cried once in the last 10 years or so literally. But I am getting older and menopause is kicking in (sorry if that is too much information) When they lose these men I can feel the pain of their families and friends. My boys lost their father and I know the emotions that can ravage your system. These men and their families know that every time they leave it could really be the last time their families see them and vice-versa. Don't get me wrong this show is not filled with doom and gloom, they have alot of fun too and the comradery is awesome.

They show different boats, captains and crews and you learn about all they go through. There are the playful seals who use the markers as play toys and end up busting them (funny but expensive) the wonderful whale sightings, and all of the logistics for this incredibly difficult profession. I know maybe you are not interested in this but I think that sometimes we need a wake up call to remember the people who are behind the scenes making our lives easier and comfortable. I mean I am willing to bet my life that 99.99% of you would not be willing to endure all they do just to have a crab dinner. If you get a minute, go over to the Discovery Channel and check out just one episode of this great show, I guarantee it will give you a new perspective. (I put the link in Deadliest Catch above)

Don't Label me

Well, unless you are using these lol. These are 16 water and bubble labels I made for you. They are all on one png sheet so you can cut them out and use them wherever ;) Each one is approximately 3 inches. I hope you enjoy them. Please remember to not share the link but send people here to my blog to download them instead. A little love would be nice too ;)



Have a great day!

Two new kits in the store ;)

I managed to get two previews done so these kits are now in both my HODS and MOO TWO Stores!

If you wanted to know what was in my $2 grab bag but didn't grab it...well here are the contents:




And here is a new kit for all you garden lovers:



I have a couple more which are almost ready for the store too but my time on the computer is limited until I feel better. Being on too long is just not good right now. Everytime I think I am feeling better again it comes back. Oh well, will just work in between lol. An tomorrow Charles starts his English class again so we will be working on that but that I can do in my bed. He has some work to redo and a book to read so that makes it easy.

OK off to go and see if I can manage another preview before Alex kicks me off the computer lol.


*************************************EDIT**************************************

OK make that 4 new kits lol. I finally finished the other previews for these:




There will be an add-on pack coming soon for Aquarium Adventure ;) More Critters and some other goodies lol.

Routers, internet and insanity

WOW I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted. That is so unlike me. But it has been absolutely insane here. Between feeling ill and then having router/internet issues and my hard drive going I am ready to rip every last hair out of my head. Fortunately there is a light at the end of my tunnel and as long as it doesn't belong to an oncoming train I should be ok LOL.

So GEEZ what to tell you first? Hmmm, well my HODS Get Hooked Bag is up and on sale for $2 but only until tomorrow - Friday July 13th so be sure to grab it quick! It's got 5 zip files for a total of over 100 megs and it all Co-Ordinates! Grab it while you can and also check out the other 7 Grab Bags while you are there!

Going on at Moo Two - I am the featured Designer for the July 18th Newsletter!! WOOHOO Toot! LOL You can check out my interview if you sign up for the Moo Two Newsletter! Then be sure and come to my FIRST EVER CHAT on July 24th at 9 PM EST! This is going to be so much fun I am so psyched!! There will be a prize for attending and other goodies to be had ;)

OK Gotta go and see about finally getting more work done. I have about 3 kits that are almost done! ;)

Sales & Grab Bags and WOW!

OK there are a bunch of things going on! Let me see if I can get them all lined up for you in a comprehensible manner lol.

HODS

Starting Today July 6th through Sunday June 8th HODS is offering the "Get Hooked Bags". These grab bags are amazingly priced at $2 - but only for a limited time, after that, they go into the store at full price so be sure to grab them while you can! Now mine is not up yet because of my computer issues but it should be up there tonight soooooo, because I am going to be late with it, I will be offering my grab bag for a full week! That's right you will be able to grab my Bag until Friday the 13th! Besides the individual grab bags from the Designers there is also a special HODS Get Hooked Bag which contains a few items from some of your favorite designers. So you can get a sneak peek at some of the designers wonderful styles for only $2! Here's a little preview of my bag - which like I said should be in the store this evening:





Now, if it weren't enough to offer up the $2 grab bags, we are also running a 40% OFF SALE!! WOOHOO!! From now until Sunday get 40% off of all our designs!


MOO TWO

Come join us over at Moo Two for our sale - get 20% and more off all of our designs until July 10th!

Here are some of my designs you can grab at both of my stores!







So come on, get over to HODS and MOO TWO and get in on these great deals before they are all gone!

This past week.....

was a doozie, a looloo, a humdinger, insane etc., I am happy to say that I finally really am feeling better. All pain has dissipated finally and I have decided to drastically change my eating habits. I can't keep eating the fried foods, hot n spicy foods, coffee etc. So I start my day with no coffee which really frustrates me. For those of you who don't know I am BIG into Espresso and my dear, sweet SO - who is half Colombian and half Italian - makes a mean espresso. I had been drinking 4 large POTS of Espresso per day up until about 4 months ago when I decided to cut back because caffeine in large amounts actually makes me retain water (The last time I gave up caffeine I lost about 25 lbs in one month) So I was down to 2 pots per day, one in the morning and one after dinner. Then about two months ago I cut down to only 1 pot. This is the large Espresso pot that I am referring to, you know, the one that makes 6 servings of Espresso. Now I am not having any. I will have one once in awhile but no longer on an everyday basis, the Crohn's just doesn't like it. Sigh, Espresso is my second vice (right after cigarettes) but I would like to be here to see my grandkids so it has to go. I am in mourning for my Espresso. LOL

My Motherboard and one of my sticks of memory are on their way out. Yep my computer crashed right in the middle of my new kit which is supposed to be done and uploaded today and now I can't finish it. I also have another 2 kits which are supposed to be done and I can't finish them either. I lost 5 files because I was in CS2 when the crash happened. I wanted to scream bloody blue murder but I didn't. I just yelled "HONEY!" and when Alex came in I just rolled away from my desk and let him see the screen. He tried fixing it for about two hours but the whole thing was wonky. Finally he got in touch with Dell Support and they are sending out a new motherboard and memory stick and they should both be here tomorrow. Problem is Alex won't be able to do anything with them until tomorrow night so I am stuck until then. I can run basics like Internet and what not but I can't do any of my graphics programs because my RAM can't support anything large right now. ARGH lol

My birthday is August 2 and my Pop decided that since I can't afford a Tablet Computer right now that he would get me the next best thing. So for my birthday he bought me a Blackberry!! Woohoo! I have unlimited text and internet usage so it's a beautiful thing. I can also now get that cool little ear plug for the Bluetooth ;) Now when we go to the beach or wherever I don't have to worry about not being able to work. My Pop is just too cool lol.

I am going to add a new section here to my Blog. It will be the Monthly Announcements Section or Monthly Events.... something like that lol. But in it I will post my sales and events going on at my stores. So you will be able to use it as a quick reference to see what's happening ;) This is what's new at HODS. Here is a preview of the new Welcome Kit:



I have things going on at HODS and MOO TWO but I need to organize everything so I can give you the right information. We have new mega kits and challenges and Grab Bags oh my! LOL

I just got the cover for Pop's scrapbook almost done. It took forever because I covered the front and back with the leather and make a book mark out of Swarovski gems and beads. I still need to re-punch the holes in it and decorate the front. I will post pics later. I also took a couple of quick photos yesterday of the boys making our Flag cake for the Fourth of July so I will post those and the recipe for it too ;) VERY Yummy and good for you! That is a great combo! LOL

I hope you all had a safe and wonderful July 4th! I am going to go run now and get stuff done. Have a great day!