*FLORALESSENCE*, PART TWO HAS ARRIVED!

>> Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Y’all, I am like TOTALLY speechless!  WOWSERS!  I had NO idea that y’all would be liking *Floralessence* quite this much!  I mean, I know MANY of you LOVE glitz and jewels, but who knew that Ruthy’s choice of colors would make me look SO good!  Thank you Ruthy!  Thank you Kim!  And, I thank y’all for your LOVELY comments! 
Please find the final two links for embellishments beneath the preview!  Uhm … now you just KNOW that I am NOT finished yet, right?  Uh, huh … I think I see an alpha or two to coordinate and, perhaps some frame clusters and such.  Surprise, surprise!  :D
I will also be adding to my *Twas The Night* blog train goodies! Stay-tuned and stay sweet!
XOXO,
Linda <3
LLW_Floralessence_KitPreview



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*FLORALESSENCE* SCRAPKIT FREEBIE FOR Y’ALL IS “SHEER” DELIGHT!

>> Tuesday, December 8, 2009

LLW_Floralessence_KitPreview


I am SO sorry to take SO long in getting *Floralessence* uploaded and ready for downloading y’all, however, those of you who know me well will remember that I have an eye for detail and that just seems to get me in some trouble from time-to-time! 
My lingering over details may have worked out to your advantage as I’ve actually added to the kit along with reworking some jewels that I was just NOT content with!  ROFL! I have mentioned in the past just HOW color-coordinated I am and I could not resolve myself to allowing blue highlights in those sweet little diamonds when there is NO blue to be found anywhere else!  Oh yes, I am THAT bad!  LOL!  So, needless to say, I think I found a fair solution! 
It has been “sheer” delight designing this kit and I hope my digi-sisters across the globe will appreciate Ruthy’s colour palette for some sweet spring scrapping!  I must admit, I was a bit challenged as I am SO in the Christmas designing mode, but having seasonal kits are FABULOUS for working on photo book and/or hybrid gifts too! 
Here are a few detail images at 100%:
LLW_CloseUps_BlogPreview  I adore Kim B’s “sheer” ribbon flowers, don’t you?  SWEET!
I have done something a little different with this kit and it is something that I had started over two years ago when first designing.  You will find a little more versatility, I hope, in that I’ve included glitter overlays in three colors for both the round paper bag frame and for the paper bag journal matte.  While I could have just as easily included a frame or matte with each color, I thought it a little nicer this way so that you can also use the glitter overlays by themselves!  You may also add shadowing to your taste OR not! *cheshire cat grin* Oh, and you also have the option of using the paper bag frame or journal matte by themselves!
Today, I am posting all 13 background papers and the first of three sets of embellishments, so PLEASE make sure to come back tomorrow for the final two sets!  I’ve tried to keep ALL files as close to 30 MB as possible for easier downloading for all.
Stay-tuned for our December *Days Gone By* challenge, which should be posted later tonight or tomorrow.  Dawn has outdone herself with some GORGEOUS goodies in this month’s posting bonus!  She and I both will post the new posting bonus image and links on our sidebars so you can find them easily after the initial posting on our blogs! 
I wish you ALL a LOVELY week and hope that the Christmas spirit has you singing and dancing throughout the course of the day!  Okay, we cannot literally be singing and dancing about all day, but we CAN carry the attitude within our hearts and minds, eh? *big smile*  And even better yet, to contain those feelings all-year-round! *wink*
Bon Scrapatit!
XOXO,
Linda
LLW_Floralessence_KitPreview
 
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FANTABULOUS FRIDAY FREEBIE COMING SATURDAY! HUH?

>> Saturday, December 5, 2009

Hello everyone!

Just a quick dash in to apologize for not posting *Floralessence* tonight as I’d hoped to!

I can ONLY laugh now when I have in my mind to accomplish something by a certain time!  Why?  Well, for example, Monday before last I had mentioned to Robert that I had all intentions of devoting the entire day to working on Kim’s Colour Challenge and the two blog trains I signed up for.  ROFL!  I’m belly laughing already as I reminisce the events that unfolded that day!

Son number two, Mark, called and he and Jessica had the opportunity to go to the theater to see “New Moon” and then to eat afterwards and asked if I would babysit Kaleb.  Now, mind you, I’ve not seen my darling grandson since the wedding so of course I jumped at the opportunity to spend the day with Grandma’s little man! 

I spoke with Robert and was headed for the shower when I received a phone call from daughter number one, April!  LOL!  By this time, I’ve already figured out that I will not so much as be looking at my computer, let alone sitting down to design!  By the time I got off the phone with April and jumped into the shower, I had barely enough time to dress and prepare myself for entertaining Kaleb love!

Needless to say, we had a GRAND day together and Grandma was treated to a Disney-Pixar movie that she not yet seen, called “UP”!  I highly recommend it to anyone as it has something for every age group and is simply TOO sweet!  While Kaleb loves the doggies and the BIG bird, Kevin, Papa and Grandma adore the relationship between Carl and Ellie.  Later on, as Robert and I were settling down for the night, I snuggled up to him and whispered, “you are MY Carl”.  Robert immediately replied, “okay, but you’d better not pull an Ellie on me”!  For those of you who have seen the movie, I’m sure you’ll understand exactly what Robert meant!  *wink*

I’m SO behind on processing my digital photos, but here are a couple of Kaleb and Uncle John (son number three) being adventurous outdoors shortly after Kaleb arrived.  I just ADORE Kaleb’s red head and LOVE the way the sun dances upon it! :D

Kaleb-2

Kaleb-1

There’s no place like gnome! Kaleb loves these little men! LOL!

So, now y’all know what happened last week!  And this week?  He, he … Wednesday evening, Luke and his girlfriend Tessa bumped into Robert at the grocery store and he invited them up to join us for a bowl of my homemade split-pea soup!  We had a LOVELY evening and we invited them to come back the following night as the soup thickens up SO wonderfully after it has completely cooled.  We ALL enjoy it so much more the second day!  Anyhoo, the following night, Tessa had to work and Luke called to ask if he could bring his older brother (they live together), son number one and a long-time friend, Eddie up for a bowl of soup!  WOW!  Not often I get to visit with my boys, so this was WAY too cool and did my mother’s heart good!  (Marsha, just in the event that you may read this over on FB, I have not forgotten about sharing the recipe!  I will try to get it posted over the weekend!)

After dinner and the Thursday night football game, Robert headed to bed and the boys and I all ended up outside on the deck having a REALLY nice discussion about life and how they all feel about the future of our country.  Amazing conversation!  Matt, son number one, came by again this evening so that I could assist him in filling out some forms and just chill for a bit.  Luke came by later for a short visit and just shy of midnight took Matt and John with him back to their place.  By this time, I am ready to retire!  LOL!

No complaints from me whatsoever!  The past several months have been FULL of family events and it just cannot get any better than that! 

I shall see you all back later today with your Fantabulous Friday Freebie, *Floralessence*!  My Carl awaits me! He, he …

Remember y’all, it is SCRAP-HAPPY hour 24/7 in Scrapland!!!  Have an AWESOME weekend!

XOXO,

Linda :D

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*HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE* BLOG TRAIN NOW DEPARTING FOR SCRAPLAND!

>> Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Good morning y’all (afternoon and evening too)!

The bi-monthly blog train that departs from Digi Shop Talk is honored to bring you this Christmas season, *Holiday Sugar Cookie*, which boasts of a total of 100 talented designers from all across Scrapland!

Trish, of Trish H Designs and owner of Enchanted Studio Scraps, has once again organized and executed this AMAZING blog train!  Thank you SO much for ALL that you do darlin!  AMAZING!

This train works a wee bit different than the first one I posted in that I will give you a link to the blog that follows mine!  You will also be able to view a slideshow of the contributions to give you an idea of what ALL is to be found out and about Scrapland this month!!!  WOO HOO!  We will be scrapping LOTS of Christmas memories … and then SOME! *big smile*

Without further ado, feast your eyes on these DELICIOUS treats:

After downloading here, click the link below to visit the next blog for your downloading pleasure:

Sunflower Designs

Visit the Blog Train Blog below to see a complete list of ALL designers on this train and to view the slideshow that you are seeing above!

Blog Train Blog

There are designers participating from all around the world and in different time zones, so if you don’t see links posted on some blogs yet, please check back later.  If you do not see links within 24 hours from departure time, 12:00 pm EST, please contact Trish at the email address given on the Blog Train Blog.

Thank you SO much everyone and I hope that y’all enjoy your SWEET treats this month!  I almost forgot, if you go back ONE post, you will see another mini from a different blog train that coordinates with the one below.  It has a brick fireplace and I am hoping to find just the right Santa for the sleigh!  HO, HO, HO, HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! LOL!  Bon Scrapatit! :D

LLW_HolidaySugarCookie_Dec2009_BlogTrainPrev600

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

 

*Just a reminder that downloading times may lag with SO many downloading at the same time.  You may wish to wait a week to collect all of the goodies you wish to have.  This has always been my practice and it’s the difference between driving the freeway during commute hours versus late at night when most are home sleeping!  LOL!  The links should remain on all blogs until the next train departs on February 1st.  You will find my preview and links located on the upper portion of my sidebar before my next post!  If you have any trouble, please contact me at:  bonscrapatitdesigns (at) gmail (dot) com.  Thank you!*

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WORLDWIDE CHRISTMAS SCRAPBOOKING FREEBIE BLOG TRAIN HAS DEPARTED!

Hello everyone!!!

WOW!!!  Can I just say, WOW?  Firstly, it has been WAY too long since I’ve posted once again and I’ve MISSED YOU terribly!!!   Happy December y’all!!! It IS beginning to look A LOT like Christmas everywhere you go in Scrapland! 

I have a lot to cover and will be making another post right behind this one as I have not just one, but TWO blog trains passing through this month!!!  I’ve got my coffee (only because the sun is about to rise and I’m not … I’m STILL up!!!)  ROFL!  Not too bad as I’ve been putting myself to bed between 10:00 and 11:00 pm so as to reap the benefits of adrenal healing between the hours of 10:00 pm and 1:00 am!  LOL! 

I will catch you all up on my family and I after things have quieted down a bit!  Can’t you just hear the “hustle and bustle” of early Christmas shoppers out and about Scrapland?  He, he …

Have y’all cleaned up your desktops?  Emptied your hard drives?  Just sayin’ – this is going to be one INCREDIBLE year for Christmas blog trains and goodies from all around Scrapland!  My head is in a SWIRL (can I put glitter on that??? *cheshire cat grin*) as I try to take in all that my eyes seem to uncover!  HA, HA!  I may need to invest in blinders to keep me from looking outside of Photoshop!  LOL!

Okies, I’d better stop distracting y’all and myself and get down to business …

I shall be using the same color palette for BOTH blog trains and my goodies will ALL coordinate and the files will ALL (even those from the *Holiday Sugar Cookie* blog train) be named LLW_TwasTheNight!  It is easier this way for me and, ultimately, shall be for y’all as well when you go to download and unzip your files! 

I have not designed much of anything for the past three months and I have to tell you what I told Kim B over at DSO while leaving a SNEAK-PEEK of my NEW kit, *Floralessence*.   I’m RUSTY and am in dire need of an oiling!  This reminds me of the Wizard of Oz  and to be honest, I’ve felt a bit like I’ve been in Oz while away from Scrapland!  LOL! 

Due to the two blog trains departing today, I shall be posting *Floralessence* on Friday, which will make it a Fantabulous Friday Freebie!  WOOT!

Here is a SNEAK-PEEK at 100%:

LLW_Floralessence_SneakPeek2

For those on the other side of the globe, you’ll LOVE November’s colour palette for your spring weather!  Keep your eyes peeled for *Floralessence* to make it’s debut this coming Friday!

Dawn aka Snowsmoon’s Design and I have been busy with family over the Thanksgiving holiday and leading up to it and we figured that many of you have been SUPER busy as well.  With that thought, we are extending the due date for November’s *Days Gone By* challenge to this weekend for any of you who might still like the opportunity to receive this month’s posting bonus, *Glitterfall*.  If you’ve not seen it or been to the forum and/or gallery yet, you can find ALL pertinent information on the upper-portion of my sidebar, including direct links!  Thank you SO much to those of you who have already created and posted a layout!  I’ve sent out links to all but two of you thus far.  I will send the remaining later today!  You ladies have done a FABULOUS job of preserving and sharing a “thankful” memory with us!  MWAH!

December 2009 marks the FIRST anniversary of the Worldwide Christmas Scrapbooking Freebie blog train passing through and delivering to us LOTS of LOVELY and MOST useful digital scrapbooking goodies to use before AND after Christmas!  Antoinette does an AMAZING job in coordinating, heading up and executing the WWCSF blog train blog!  Thank you again Antoinette!  You are a sweetheart! XOXO

Click HERE to check out all of the goodies.  Antoinette has put each submission in alphabetical order this year and when you click on a link, it automatically opens in a separate window!  That makes it SO much easier to keep track of where you are in the downloading process! *wink*

Below is my part of the WWCSF blog train.  It is labeled as Part One, but it really is the second part of *’Twas The Night* and you will get to see the first part next post when the *Holiday Sugar Cookie* makes it’s departure! 

Have an SCRAPTABULOUS week everyone and I’ll see you next post with MORE goodies!  WOO HOO! 

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

P.S.  Once I have posted both blog trains and prior to my next post on Friday, you will find the blog train goodies on my sidebar throughout the month of December.  I also forgot to mention that I will be adding onto *’Twas The Night* throughout the month of December.  My goal is once per week! ;-)

LLW_WWCSFBlogtrain_Dec2009_Preview

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AT LAST … FREEBIE ALERT!

>> Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I’m back with another freebie, which just happens to be another coordinating page to our November *Days Gone By* challenge posting bonus, *Glitterfall*!

I really had no idea that I would end up scrapping wedding photos with *Glitterfall*, but I really like the way these two have turned out AND the kids DID get married a few days into the OFFICIAL “Fall” season!!!  I chuckle as it was a SWELTERING 104 degrees on the 26th of September and I kid you not when I say that the wedding party, as well as the guests, were melting!  LOL!  I can laugh now, but it was not SO funny at the time as I think we were all a little delirious!  I know, in retrospect, I did not capture several photos I would have liked to, but the kids were simply TOO hot (yes, beads of perspiration upon each of their sweet little faces) to give us the time we would have liked to have had with them.  Anyhoo, Jessica, looking stunningly beautiful walking down the aisle, arm-in-arm with her dad, to the song, “At Last” by Etta James.  I have used the lyrics to the song as my journaling for the first page!  ROFL!  Yup, I even scrapped backwards as the first layout I posted last week is now page two!  He, he …

Credits: *Glitterfall* by Bon Scrapatit Designs.  Fonts used are Pea Jessica

(you guessed it – the bride’s name!) by Kevin and Amanda and Kartika

Here is what both pages will look like together.  I changed the background paper on the second page to match the first as these will go into a photobook!  WOO HOO!  My VERY first and I am SUPER excited about gettin’ ‘er done! *wink*

Wedding-Jess-Mark-TwoPage

I think I mentioned that Mark and Jessica’s wedding was not of the traditional variety and I LOVED every moment of it!  They were married in the backyard of one of Jessica’s aunt and uncle’s homes that sits atop a hill (or small mountain!) with no other home for miles and a GORGEOUS 360-degree view!  They even say that on a REALLY clear day, you can spy Half Dome in Yosemite National Park!!!  All I can say is that it is breathtaking and I would have NO problem waking up to Dan and Kelly’s view every morning!  The two lovebirds were joined in holy matrimony by a dear and long-time family friend who rode in on his Harley!  So, needless to say, that Harley became an instant prop for LOTS of photos and you’d have thought that my other three sons and the best man ALL looked like the Secret Service!!!  With it being SOOOOOO hot and the wedding party facing the sun, the guys ALL wore their sunglasses along with black slacks, white shirts and black ties!  LOL!  Can we say, “Men in Black”?  Uh, huh! I will share a few more photos next blog post!

REMINDER:  If you would like to receive the kit, *Glitterfall* (featured below) for FREE, all you need to do is check out our November *Days Gone By* challenge in the Scrapland Express Forum (must register first in both the forum and the gallery), create a layout and then post in the Scrapland Express Gallery.  You will receive links for the posting bonus via our private messaging system at Scrapland Express!  Links are also posted on both mine and Dawn’s blogs (sidebars) at all times and will change to the new monthly challenge once it has been posted in the Scrapland Express Forum!

LLW_SMD_DaysGoneByChallenge_Nov2009_PBPreviewWeb

We hope that you will come and join us and add to your family albums each month as we ALL scrap from *Days Gone By*! *big smile*  To those who have already posted layouts, “thank you”!  I’ve left y’all some love and  I will be headed over later tonight or first thing in the morning to PM you your posting bonus!!!  WOO HOO! 

Dawn (Snowsmoon’s Design), also has a FREEBIE for y’all this week on her blog this week (stay-tuned for another one towards the end of the week!).  Click the preview image below to be transported to Dawn’s blog for your downloading pleasure and please leave her some love for sharing her BEAUTIFUL quick page using *Glitterfall*!  Thank you girlfriend – you ROCK!

SMD_BeingThankful_QPrev

Scrapland is bustling right now with the holidays just right around the corner!  Stay-tuned as Dawn and I both will be participating in a few Christmas blog trains and will be posting more about them towards the end of month!  Blog trains will be departing December 1st, so mark your calendars and prep your hard drives for some AMAZING and FESTIVE goodies from multi-talented designers from all over Scrapland!

Thanks SO much for stopping in to visit and I wish y’all a GORGEOUS day and may it be FULL of scrap happenings!  I hope you enjoy your goody. I have included two, one with the vellum journaling matte (custom shadowing included) and one without!

Bon Scrapatit!

Linda <3

LLW_Glitterfall_Scrapatit-2_WebPreview

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A CHALLENGE AND A FREEBIE FOR Y’ALL!!! WOO HOO!

>> Thursday, November 5, 2009

HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYONE!!!

Gosh, I have SO missed everyone and wish to take this opportunity to thank EACH and EVERY one of you for such a WARM welcome back, although, I’ve sure have been SLOW at getting back here, eh?  LOL!  Y’all are TOO sweet for words and I just wish you to know HOW special you are to me!  Thank you from the depths of my being!

Okay, I will catch you all up on things a little along the way as it has felt SO good to get back to Photoshoppin’ and I wish to start working on some NEW designs!   I am going to do things a little bit differently this time around as my perpetual late nights have wreaked havoc upon me and I am now on a schedule and in bed by 11:00 pm PST, most of the time!  Yeah, that has been a bit difficult when being a night owl is in your DNA, however, for health purposes and giving my body the ability to rejuvenate, I quickly threw up the white flag and gave in!  He, he … not to mention that I am now up and at ‘em early and walking with the LOVE of my life!  More about that another time! 

I am sharing just a few photos from my son’s wedding the end of September!  We had a FABULOUS time!  I will give more details in another post along with sharing a few more photos. 

Before I head on into this month’s challenge and today’s freebie, I wish to let everyone know that if you have sent me an email in the past month or so, I have now collected most of them and put them into a file for me to reply to.  I have had SUCH a struggle with being able to reply from the older computer I had everything coming to and thought that computer had finally bid me farewell, however, I turned it on the other day and VOILA, it booted up!  WOOT!  Anyhoo, my mails were getting stuck in the outbox and that is usually an indication of going over the limit on my personal email server, so I tried setting up on Robert’s computer and had difficult replying on there as well. *sigh* 

My method to my email madness was to finally cave and put everything here on my design computer AND to make them all Internet based!  For me, this will work well as I will no longer overload my computer with saved email and will have access to everything in ONE location.  I chose to go with G-mail for this since I already had two accounts that I had been longing to merge into one!  I am happy now that I can view ALL mails in the same window and when I get a little more time, I may even apply a few filters to simplify things even more!

To those of you who have inquired about past kits, I shall reply to you directly.  If you have inquired and do not hear back from me within the week, please send again as I either have not received it or have lost it in the process of moving mail. 

Carolyn – I am remembering a comment from you that you had sent me an email about Armour Thyroid.  I searched and searched and did not locate one.  Would you please resend as I am VERY interested in reading what you have to share.  Thank you!

I hope that y’all will join Dawn of Snowsmoon’s Designs and I for this month’s *Days Gone By* challenge!  Seeing as how we are coming up upon Thanksgiving here in the United States, we are challenging you to create a layout that preserves something or someone that you are thankful for from *Days Gone By*!   You can find all of the details HERE!  (you MUST be registered first)  You will also see all of the links posted on the upper-lefthand side of my blog throughout the month.  Dawn will post info and links on her blog as well.  Please give us feedback if you encounter any troubles in registering and/or getting into the forum.   You can reach me at bonscrapatitdesigns (at) gmail (dot) com.

Here is a peek at this month’s posting bonus:

LLW_SMD_DGBC_Nov2009_PBPreview

I gave out a small sampler of this mini-kit last year, so some of you may remember it!  This was my contribution to the monthly Treasure Chest at One Single Seed, formerly know as Treasures To Scrap, which closed during the summer, so I am now free to sell it or give it away!  Guess which I am doing???  HA, HA!  When I first saw the color palette, I was stumped!  Once my mojo kicked in, I didn’t wish to stop!  I LOVE this combination of colors – SO rustic and perfect for this time of the year, don’t you think? 

And for your freebie today, I am giving y’all the scrapatit I used to scrap some of Mark and Jessica’s wedding photos which, of course, is made from our November challenge posting bonus, *Glitterfall*!  ENJOY and I’ll see you again SOON!

Have a GORGEOUS day everyone!

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

LLW_Glitterfall_Scrapatit-1_WebPreview

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SCRAPATIT

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CHECKING IN! FISHBOWL HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR CLEANING!

>> Friday, October 23, 2009

Hi y’all!

Happy “82nd” birthday to my precious Mama and Happy “52nd” birthday to my baby brother!

I am just checking in briefly to let you all know that I am not only swimming slowly, but have been temporarily out of the fishbowl again while it’s getting a bit of a well-needed cleaning!  ROFL!  I think y’all can get a fairly good visualize of what that MIGHT look like, eh?  He, he … ACK!

Short and sweet.  My older computer, home to my e-mail activity, is no longer booting up and as of last night, I was finally able to get everything set up on yet another computer!  LOL!  Uhm … honey, would you mind if I set my e-mails up on YOUR computer?  LOL!  Yup, well he really does not mind as he does not use his computer here in the office, but his laptop in the other room, so that was comforting to know I could set up without having to on my design computer. 

I had grown accustomed to being able to keep my e-mail window open while working in Photoshop on the newer computer, however, it has been such a SLOW process that the older computer finally giving out was actually a blessing in disguise! It has forced me to seek a quick resolution to my mounting frustration of not getting anywhere because of my computer “hanging” forever when mouse-clicking on a link!  HA, HA! Yes, there is ALWAYS a method-to-the-madness, now isn’t there?  *big grin*

I hope to find y’all staying healthy and doing some SERIOUS scrapping and I should be back over the weekend with the templates I mentioned last post, along with a few photos to share!

Wishing everyone a WONDERFUL weekend!

Love and hugs,

Linda :D

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IT’S FANTABULOUS FREEBIE FRIDAY AND I AM BACK IN THE FISH BOWL Y’ALL!

>> Friday, October 9, 2009

ROFL!  Now, whatever do I mean by being back in the fish bowl???  Well, rather than go on-and-on, as we ALL know I can easily do, I will tell you how I see myself in the life of a goldfish!

Firstly, I’d like to say, it’s SOOOOOOOOO good to be getting back to Scrapland after two months of MIA status, with but a few posts in between.  UGH!  I have to admit, while I have been having a GRAND time of it all, I was feeling like a floundering goldfish who had found him/herself jumping WAY too high and right out of the fish bowl!  Can y’all visualize this one?  Uh, huh … I’m sure most all of us have had goldfish in our childhood or that of our own children and either watched a goldfish jump out of the bowl or we’ve found one that has already perished as a result of doing so.  I’ve experienced both!

I remember as a young girl watching one of our goldfish jump out and then watched as it floundered until either my brother or I scooped it up gently and returned it to the fish bowl!  We would then watch as it would swim away as if nothing at all had happened, but I do remember one that must have been out of the water just long enough to make it a little more slow-going upon it’s return to it’s much needed water-based environment.  Of course, we did find a few that were not lucky enough to be found soon enough and being children, we’d have a good cry and usually have some sort of service to lay our poor fishy to rest.  Boy, am I reminiscing at the moment, or what?  How wonderful it is to ponder upon, *Days Gone By*, eh? *wink*

With one DELIGHTFUL event after another and preparations being made for several family events, including the marriage of my son and WONDERFUL new daughter-in-law (I will share a few photos soon), I just found myself feeling more and more like a fish out of water, floundering and wondering if I’d ever be scooped up and returned to my fish bowl aka Scrapland!  ROFL!  HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!  Y’all KNOW what I’m talking about!

So, here I am, back in the fish bowl and I find myself being like the aforementioned fish that had been out of the fish bowl a little TOO long and was a little slower in picking up the speed after floundering for SO long!  YUP, that would be me, however, I am happy to say that I CAN still swim, even though it be at a bit slower pace for a while!  WOOT, WOOT!!!  I’ve missed y’all immensely.  You are a part of my family that I was accustomed to visiting on a regular basis and then … NADA!  I got homesick for y’all!  He, he … *big grin*

Well, I am returning to my beloved Scrapland with some news and, of course, a little something for y’all!  After all, it IS *Fantabulous Freebie Friday*, now isn’t it? *wink*

I mentioned (last sentence of the third paragraph) how wonderful it is to ponder upon, *Days Gone By*.  Some of you already know that Dawn aka Snowsmoon’s Design and I had started a challenge in the DSO forum called, *Days Gone By*.  Well, during my absence and the fact that neither one of us will be selling our designs at DSO, Dawn had gone ahead and moved our challenge to our blogs as we LOVED Dawn’s idea so much and had some FABULOUS masterpieces submitted, that we just HAD to keep this AWESOME challenge alive!  I, myself, look forward to participating in it as well to help inspire others who, like me, may not have ANY or just a few photos from childhood, yet hold some INCREDIBLE memories that need to be preserved for our children, grandchildren and further down the line!

While Dawn was working on her blog post to announce our challenge for October, I was in creating a special place in our gallery at Scrapland Express for y’all to upload your layouts to each month as well as posting the guidelines and the challenge for October in the Scrapland Express forum.  Please bear with us as we work towards bringing the forum and gallery together on our site in the near future.  For now, you will find it easy to travel from the forum to the gallery via links that you will find posted in the GUIDELINES thread and along with each month’s new *Days Gone By* challenge.  You will also find the links to both the gallery and the forum posted on our blogs.  I will mention to you ahead of time, that you will need to register separately in both the forum and the gallery to participate as the two are not connected … yet!  LOL!

As I have a few more things to share with y’all, I am not going to post the actual challenge on my blog this time, but will post only the links to the appropriate forum threads for you to read, which will open in a separate window so that you are not taken away from my blog (THANK YOU JEANNETTE!!! MWAH!).  You will need to register to gain access to the forum.  If you are interested in reading what the *Days Gone By* challenge is all about and what is required of you to participate, please read the GUIDELINES first and then hop on over and read about our October challenge in the  AUTUMN/FALL thread.  Please DO stop in and say hello (right in the current challenge thread) as we will check in often to answer any questions you may have, as well as to check for your links once you’ve posted YOUR masterpieces in the GALLERY for October!  I am SO excited and cannot wait to see what y’all have to share with us this month!  WOOT! I’d better get busy too as I have NO photos that will work for this month’s challenge, so I shall be working with digital scrapkit papers, embellishments and honing up on my journaling skills!  I look forward to bumping into y’all throughout the month!  Ready? Set? Get YOUR scrap on!

This month’s Posting Bonus was LOVINGLY created by Dawn of Snowsmoon’s Design and I am DEFINITELY leaving you with a preview of her GORGEOUS creations!  Thank you girlfriend, these are YUMMY and SO perfect for heritage scrapping!  Keep your eyes peeled for some goodies from Dawn on her blog this weekend as well!  WOO HOO!

SMD_LLW_OctChallenge_Pre600

Scrapland Express will also house a VERY dear friend and as some of you know, my virtually adopted daughter, Sarah of Designs by Sassy!  Sassy is a well-established designer and also the owner of Designs By Sassy (where Dawn is currently selling her designs).  Sassy has done  most of the “behind-the-scenes” work in getting our forum and gallery up and running, for which we are EVER grateful and SIMPLY ecstatic!  THANK YOU Sass!  MWAH!  You DA bomb girlie!

As I’ve been away for SO long and have taken LOTS of photos and it being TOO overwhelming to share A LOT at one time, I am going to break things up and, my goal is, to incorporate some of the past two months events into a CT layout for one of the girls and/or using something that I create to share with y’all!

Your *Fantabulous Friday Freebie* tonight will be from a FREE kit, *Icky Burpday* (we’ll have to ask Sassy about the title as I know she told me some time ago where she got it from and my mind has gone blank, but it does sound like something a child would utter, now doesn’t it? LOL!) that I used to create a two-page layout of our grandson, Lohgan’s  second birthday party that we attended mid-September.  With Sassy’s permission, I am offering up not one, but two “scrapatits” with a combination of Sassy’s kit and two multiple-frame templates that I created!  Stay-tuned as I will be posting the templates for you this weekend!  I made the grids a bit wider, which makes them nice for journaling on!  As I am typically a clean-lined scrapper, yet lover of embellishments and am going to be making a photobook for Lohgan, I have chosen to create templates that will allow me to scrap LOTS of photos per page as this is a large family and I take LOTS of photos!  LOL!  I’ve also asked Lohgan’s mommy to send me some of her favorites to add to the photobook as well.

Here are my two layouts of our DARLING grandson, Lohgan, son of Robert’s number three son, Travis and his wife, Sofie!  Sofie picked such a CUTE theme for Lohgan’s birthday and if memory serves me correctly, MOST everything came from Celebrate Express, which I have already passed on to my son, Mark and his new wife, Jessica for Kaleb’s second birthday coming up in April of next year!  Oh, how I wished it was this convenient when my children were growing up!  LOL!  Everything all in ONE place and delivered to your door!  Makes me wonder how it’ll be for our grandchildren when they have children!  Ya’ll remember the Jetson’s?  OMGosh, that was like my favorite cartoon and I would just imagine what it would be like to drive a space car or to get beamed up … or down!  ROFL!  Meet George Jetson … His boy, Elroy… daughter, Judy … Jane, his wife … and, of course, their rog, rastro!  Did I get that right???  Anyhoo, you’ve just GOT to love the Jetson’s … family of the FAR OUT future, although not THAT far out anymore!  He, he …  REP!

LohganBDay2_091209_Page1-2Prev

Lohgan LOVES music!  He has been dancing since he could stand on both feet and he is QUITE the little ROCKER!  OMGosh, he was WAY too cute and this was one of the only poses I did not get a good shot of.  If you look closely, you will see the smaller photo on the first page where his little head is cocked backwards while he is strumming his Fischer-Price guitar and singing his precious little heart out to the crowd!  Not a bit of stage fright going on here I tell you!  He just LOVES to perform!  Oh, oh, OOOOOH!  I have to mention to you that the birthday hat you see on Lohgan’s head as he is reading his new Sponge Bob book is actually from Sassy’s kit (you would have been none-the-wiser if I’d not mentioned it, right? *smile*) and I made the number “2” from it as well! 

Okay, I could not resist!  For those who remember and better yet, for those that are WAY too young to know unless someone MUCH older has clued you in growing up!  Meet … The Jetson’s …

And last, but certainly not the least, your *Fantabulous Friday Freebie*, courtesy of Designs By Sassy and Bon Scrapatit Designs!  Make sure to head on over to Sassy’s Blog where you can pick up her *Icky Burpday* scrapkit for FREE right now.  She also has a *Buy My Store* deal going on too and you will find all the details on her blog as well as some LOVELY photos she has worked on in Adobe Lightroom from her wedding!  Please make sure to leave her some good old-fashioned Scrapland lovin’!  MWAH!

LLW_DBS_IckyBurpday_ScrapatitsPreview

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HAPPY MONDAY Y’ALL! *FRESH NEW LOOK* AND A FREEBIE! WOOT!

>> Monday, September 14, 2009

 

Hi y'all!!!

Firstly, my condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of actor, Patrick Swayze, who has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this afternoon. He is NO longer in pain and I am in awe at his strength and fighting spirit over the past couple of years since his diagnosis.

Robert and I had a WONDERFUL time this past Saturday as we helped to celebrate the second birthday of our grandson, Lohgan! It was such a HOOT to watch the two-year-old cousins hanging out and playing with Lohgan's new toys! Can we say PRECIOUS??? Uh, huh!  Today is Lohgan’s official second birthday!  Happy birthday little man – we LOVE you!

It is difficult for me to believe that I have actually NOT designed or EVEN scrapped for the past several weeks, month or LONGER! LOL! I was almost feeling like a stranger in a strange land when I sat down Saturday evening to work on a layout for my BFF's newest kit, *Fresh New Look*, which boasts of blues and browns with a touch of green and was PERFECT for a close-up that I took of Lohgan after he had a little fun with his birthday cake and then sat down to open presents! WOOT! Oh my goodness! I think there was a mini-shopping center atop the picnic table! ROFL! He, he ...

I did learn that Lohgan LOVES Sponge Bob and he called him by name each time he opened a new package containing the INFAMOUS sponge! *wink* Lohgan also LOVES music and plays guitar hero with his daddy and dances up a storm! I wasn't so lucky in capturing a GOOD shot of Lohgan rocking out with his toy electric guitar, but it was ADORABLE to watch all the same!

What have y'all been up to??? I've heard it's been pretty quiet out-and-about SCRAPLAND, but figure now that school has started, y'all will be back to scrapping soon enough, eh? I know that I have missed creating and was SO happy to have had Dawn's *Fresh New Look* to work with, which has drop-kicked (yes, the guys are out watching Monday Night Football!) me out of my dry spell and managed to get me back into the scrapping groove!  Touchdown!  LOL!

Thank you ALL for your kind words and understanding of my time away. ONLY eleven more days until Mark and Jessica's wedding! WOO HOO! After that, Robert's second-born and his family are coming out to California from Tennessee for a week. We will be driving down to visit with them and to meet the FIRST Posten girl, Miss Claire, born in January of this year! He, he ... I am SOOOOO excited!!!  Things should begin to settle down a bit after their departure and I hope to start doing some time right here with y’all and my beloved Photoshop!  WOOT!  I surely will have a TON of photos to scrap too!

Tonight, I am sharing a layout of SWEET little Lohgan with y'all and I am also sharing with you by way of a "scrapatit"! The colors are very versatile and it will work WONDERFULLY for boys, girls, family, park, hiking, camping and SO much more!

Lohgan-FreshNewLook-091309-Web

Make sure to hop on over to Dawn's blog and check out her previews so that you can see ALL she has for the offering with her *Fresh New Look* bundle! Lots of DELICIOUS frames, tags, stitching, TWO alphas and more to go with the EARTHY papers and embellishments!  Dawn also has a coordinating FREEBIE for y’all that coordinates with *Fresh New Look* now available at Designs By Sassy!  Thank you girlfriend!!!  Dawn has JUST set up shop and will soon be in two other stores as well!  WOO HOO!  You GO girl!

Stay-tuned as I will be working on a FREE kit for y'all via Kim B's September Colour Challenge. I could NOT, NOT pass up this month's SWEET woodsy and earthy palette that I am hopeful will help me to scrap a few of our Yosemite photos taken weekend before last! Oh yeah, summer's end is upon us and Autumn is knocking upon the door! How COOL is that? LOL!

Wishing you ALL a WONDERFUL week ahead and I hope that it finds you plenty of time for scrapping, of course! *wink*

Love and hugs,

Linda

LLW_SMD_FreshNewLook_Scrapatit-1_Prev

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GETTIN’ JAGGY WITH IT AND OTHER ASSORTED TALES …

>> Saturday, September 5, 2009

Hi y'all!!!

How is EVERYONE???  It's been TOOOOOO quiet around here!  ANYBODY HOME???  *wink* I’ve been MISSING YOU horribly! 


I have SO much to share and wish to do it as briefly as possible for the sake of ALL of us here in SCRAPLAND!!!  HA, HA!
Firstly, I left y'all with my going to be working DILIGENTLY on goodies for an upcoming surprise at DSO!  Well, there ARE lots of goodies, but sadly, none of them from me!  I shall explain ...

Some of you may remember back towards the beginning of the year when I had mentioned to you that I was seeing "jaggies" on everything and to PLEASE let me know if you saw any after downloading my files.  Y'all assured me that everything was fine.  I have continued to design amidst the annoying little jagged edges!  LOL!

DSO prides itself in an AWESOME quality assurance department that checks ALL designs before uploading them to the store for sale.  I agree with this WHOLEHEARTEDLY as in my days as an Administrative Assistant at 3Scrapateers (2005-2007), I was trained to do this as well, which in turn led to my desire to design now that I understood how things were done, what was expected via Industry Standards,etc.  This step assures YOU, the consumer, in receiving TOP-QUALITY product without having to go through the process of unzipping files, perhaps, MONTHS later only to find stray pixels, "jaggies", improper resolution, and so on.  God knows I myself have spent OODLES of money on product I CANNOT use and have become MUCH more selective in the process, which is a GOOD thing for y’all as well as my pocketbook! 

As I was beginning to work on creating some things for the Second Annual DSO PU Grab Bags, I was struggling and becoming frustrated with the FACT that EVERYTHING I was looking at had "jaggies", which are TABOO in TOP QUALITY digital designs and as it SHOULD be!  When I say EVERYTHING had "jaggies", I am not exaggerating.  Kim B's CU goodies are amongst THE BEST around SCRAPLAND and I was even seeing "jaggies" on her stuff!!!  I kid you not, I EVEN awoke from a dream of “jaggies”!!!  EEEEEEKS!  So, now, I am sure that you understand my frustration in HOW in the world am I going to be able to create product when I cannot tell on my side if it is good or not???  I did NOT wish to have to rely on QA to be MY eyes on a regular basis as that would certainly NOT be fair to them with other designer's products to check as well.  I found myself VERY quickly in a "Catch-22" and spent several days thinking it through and decided that BEFORE putting the QA team to work and stressing myself with deadlines that THIS would be the RIGHT time to gracefully resign from DSO.

Ms. Bunny and Ms. Kim both spent some time helping me to sort through my troubles and much of it came down to adjusting settings for the performance of my computer, which allowed me to see smooth edges using the Windows Viewer, but still seeing slight "jaggies" in Photoshop.  By this time, I realize that it is FAR too late for me to get anything ready, uploaded and quality-checked before the deadline!  ACK!  Bottom line is that at this point I shall need to upgrade my graphics card as I now work on a HD large screen monitor and my computer’s stock card is just not powerful enough to give me the crispness I need to see SMOOTH lines in Photoshop the way I used to!  It will be a couple of months until I am able to purchase one. *sigh*

I know y'all know that I've been struggling for some time and I've finally come to the conclusion and heard the message LOUD and CLEAR, that I am not to even think about selling until I am prepared and AHEAD of the game!  It seems that every time "I" think the timing is right, something or THINGS are hurled into my path that are MORE important to deal with at the time, in turn, putting me "behinder" as I like to say!  LOL!  Yes, I still have my humor intact and that will ALWAYS, God willing, be a MAJOR part of my life which keeps me on an even keel, at peace with myself and the rest of the world! He, he ...
SO, I am going to focus working here on my blog once again and shall just be creating some FREEBIES for y'all until my life SLOWS down on the home front and time allows me to get serious about creating enough scrapkits to warrant opening a store front!  I shall still look forward to participating in Kim’s monthly color challenges too!  I am ALWAYS inspired and challenged by her selections!

And, WHAT else has come my way to keep me from my passion of creating digital scrapbooking designs for y'all to preserve your MOST precious and priceless memories with???  The VERY things that provide us with those memories, family events!  WOO HOO!

I was informed by my number two son, Mark, father of my DARLING grandson, Kaleb that he and Jessica are getting married ... within the month!  Uhm, okay, YAY, uhm ... ONE month??? So, after the initial SHOCK of getting a wedding together, myself together and HOW am I going to design at such a time as this ... I QUICKLY came to the decision that it is NOT the proper time for me to attempt opening a store front and that my focus NEEDS to be on my family.
I actually babysat Kaleb for the VERY first time this past Tuesday and it was a JOYOUS day and, hopefully, a day of bonding for he and I.  As I only see him every 6-8 weeks and he is only 17-months-old, I figured it would be difficult for him to be left in a fairly unfamiliar environment with a Grandma he "really" does not know.  Mark and Jess live  in a SWEET little apartment built just for them in the basement of her parent's home, which I think is WONDERFUL as at least Kaleb has regular contact with one set of grandparents.  I know that is becoming more and more rare today so I embrace the fact that he is blessed to know his grandparents, although, that shall soon be changing as Mark is enlisting in the Navy as soon as he and Jess say "I do"!

I will keep y'all up-to-date as things progress.  I have been asked to be the "wedding photographer" and feel TOTALLY inadequate for such a memorable event, SO, I have been fortunate enough to recruit my oldest son to be the videographer and one of Robert's younger sisters to be a second still photographer working along side of me!   WOOT, got most all of that figured out and now my oldest daughter and I are looking at songs for the Mother-Son dance in which Mark has requested that his sister, April, sing! 

Of course y'all JUST have to know that any of my children getting married means that I get the honor of seeing ALL six of them together!  It has been just a tad over ONE year since they were all together for Travis and Joan's wedding.  Oh, OH, OOOOOH ... and then, I've just received the news that April and her fiance', Ethan have set their wedding date for February 20th of next year!  WOOT!  Road trip!

Speaking of road trip, I best get myself to bed for a few hours of slumber before we have to arise and prepare for our trek to Yosemite.  I had hoped to include a little something for y’all tonight, however, I had the pleasure of playing DJ for Robert and his sister Corinne after dinner!  Y’all would’ve had a good chuckle watching me running back-and-forth between the kitchen and my office, taking their next request while cleaning the kitchen!  Shhhhh … I’m not telling them my secret as they thought it just AMAZING how I’d no sooner be given an artist and a song title and I had it playing for them!!!  Ya just gotta LOVE the “search” feature on just about anything!  He, he …. *wink*  Anyhoo, they both just fell asleep about 20 minutes ago so I snuck in here real quick to finish this up and hit the PUBLISH button.  Oh yes, I am using Windows Live Writer for the VERY first time and look forward to seeing how it works for y’all and for me!  Weeeeeee! 

One more thing before I say good night.  In light of the aforementioned topic of TOP-QUALITY CU products, in the event that you’ve not already heard, Kim and Bunny have opened a BRAND new store that shall be selling nothing BUT quality checked CU goodies and I’ve already signed up and made my first purchase.  I am sure I will do some more shopping when we return from Yosemite as I’ve just spied another one of my favorite CU designers there as well.  You just have go check it out for yourself.  All of the designers are having GREAT sales and Kim is selling a SPECIAL grand-opening CU grab bag for ONLY $1.50!  Click on the image below to be transported to the Digi Scrap Vault where you can check out the designers AND their sales!  WOOT!

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And while you’re clicking, please take a peek over at the DSO forum for a NEW challenge posted by Dawn and I!  I can’t wait to work on something to put into the DSO gallery myself as I REALLY need to be working on my *Days Gone By*!!!  Oh, and just WAIT until you see Dawn’s LOVELY posting bonus!  You haven’t FAR to look! (Look down, LOOK down) ROFL!  Click on the image below to be transported to the DSO forum where you can read ALL of the SWEET details!  Oh dear, I am DROOLING here!  Did I mention that blue IS my favorite color!  *smile*  Oh my, my, my … that IS yummy!

smd-SeptChallenge_Preview

Have a TERRIFIC weekend y’all and I will work on some goodies for you after we return from our weekend in Yosemite!

Much love,

Linda :-D

P.S.  I neglected to mention that the PU bags for sale this week by the DSO Designers are ONLY $3.00 each and chock-full of DELICIOUS goodies! 

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HAPPY MONDAY, A FREEBIE AND SOME PHOTOS TO SHARE!

>> Sunday, August 23, 2009

PHEW! I am FINALLY getting back into my designing groove! YAY! I was getting a bit concerned about myself, but just needed a little extra time to collect my thoughts and hunker down for some SERIOUS business!

Hope everyone has had a REFRESHING weekend and that y'all are ALL rested up and ready for the NEW week ahead!

I said I would continue from last post and add some more photos, so what better way to present them than in your GOODY for today! It is an "Embellished Glitter Bracket Frame", using the frame that MOST of you downloaded from F.o.r.e.v.e.r. Freebies at the beginning of the month! For those who might have missed the FULL kit, *Oopsie Daisies*, it is still available HERE.

A real quick EXTRA "thank you" to y'all for making my kit such a success over on Brandy's site - WOW! Y'all are just WAY to nice you know! *big grin* MWAH!

Okay, I am posting a few photos of the area where John fell asleep and went off the road. I will caption beneath each photo and this will also give you a bit of a feel for where we reside here in the foothills of Northern California! You will also see WHY we are referred to to as the "Golden State" in MORE ways than one! Yes, the discovery of gold AND the golden hills during the heat of the summer when the LUSH greens of spring give way to dry, wheat-like hillsides. And you just KNOW that makes our BEAUTIFUL Lake Tulloch all that much MORE appealing this time of the year!




This is the final climb before John fell asleep at the wheel. Just this side of the road sign
is where the highway begins to level out. If you look at the oncoming car with it's
headlights on, I am figuring that to be right about where John nodded off before
leaving the highway just in front of where Robert is waiting to open the door to our
"new-to-us" Explorer. Miraculously enough, the area that the John (or I should say,
the vehicle!) veered off onto is the ONLY turnout for quite some distance on this stretch
of
highway. The photo below is of the lake just across from where the accident occurred.
Again, I am SO thankful, and so is he, that he veered off to the right rather than the left.


We were just on our way back home from picking up Luke's car from the dealership
where Robert left it to drive his new ride home to pick me up and a document that he
needed to give the salesperson. Robert only had liability on the older Explorer, so
all expenses were TOTALLY out of pocket for us. John did give his savings to Robert,
which was what Robert had paid for the older vehicle. I was VERY proud of my son for
making this decision on his own, without being asked.


Here Robert is looking at the side of hill the Explorer slammed up against
breaking out the back window. I can now understand why it was that John
thought he had rolled the vehicle. With everything happening SO quickly
and him just waking up and the vehicle on it's side momentarily, it would
have felt like a rollover. The Explorer went from here upwards and then
back down again and coming VERY close to plummeting into the gully
just to the right of where Robert is standing. John ran right over the marker,
which is made of flexible material thank goodness!



This is the view directly in front of and above Robert. These are
called "table top" mountains. A lot of people park near the
bridge and hike these mountains, which are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous
during the wintertime when they are green and full of natural
waterfalls that form once the rains begin.


It is difficult to see the depth of this gully that John just stopped
short of due to the right-rear tire burrowing down into the ground
and keeping the vehicle from traveling any further! SO, SO thankful!


Robert having just pulled out of our gate and on his way to work in his "new"
ride for the VERY first time! After a two-hour drive to Sacramento the evening
before finding this one (the day after the accident), Robert and John met up
with a REAL con trying to sell
him an Explorer just like his older one (1995) that
didn't look fit for the road!
It is rather funny now as the guy talked a good talk and
was VERY convincing
to Robert on the phone. The photo on Craig's List only
showed one side and I
had mentioned to Robert, before he and John traveled the
two hours to see it,
that it makes you wonder what is being hidden on the other
side! LOL!
I was spot-on!

Well, all-in-all, there was a happy-ending for Robert as he LOVES his new Explorer,
minus the car payment we had not planned on, however, ALL things for a purpose
and we are now re-establishing credit so that is a GOOD thing! Poor John though,
he went on, as you know, to total Luke's car and I am still awaiting photos to see an
even MORE incredible miracle of John's survival.

Thank you for letting me share with you. You know this is VERY therapeutic for me
and it re-enforces to me that John's time and purpose on this earth is NOT finished!

HAPPY MONDAY y'all and have a SUPER spectacular week! I will be working diligently
on some goodies for a VERY special upcoming event at DSO the first week in
September, so
stay-tuned ...

Love and hugs,
Linda

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CAN WE SAY *OOPSIE DAISIES* ONE MORE TIME? A REAL BIG BOO-BOO AND A FREEBIE!

>> Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Hi y'all!

Thank you EVER so kindly for your steadfast patience and sweet messages since my last post. You warm my heart and I am SO thankful for you! The past TWO weeks have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Did I say BUSY??? ROFL! I've had no computer time, but LOTS of PRECIOUS family time, which has been LONG overdue for THIS girl! Of course, I will have OODLES to share this week and then I need to hanker down and get 'er done for my upcoming Grand Opening at Digi Scrap Obsession! WOOT!

Okay, down to business. SO, what do my kit, *OOPSIE DAISIES* and a REAL "big" boo-boo have in common ... OH, and the "miracle" I was eluding to two weeks ago??? The following photos will tell the majority of the story, however, I shall give you a bit of an intro, HA!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 3:14 am, Robert answered the phone to hear my son, John, on the other end explaining to him that he'd just rolled Robert's Explorer on his way home from work. All I remember is hearing Robert ask, "Is it in the water John?" Y'all just KNOW that my heart sank. In the past couple of years, two semi-trucks have missed the turn just before the bridge and have gone through the railing and plummeted into the deepest part of the lake below. *sigh* John told Robert that he had gotten beyond the bridge, past the resort and just shy of Poker Flat, which is where the boys and I lived when Robert and I first met.

Just beyond the resort is a semi-steep hill and a curve. It was just after reaching the top of that hill that John fell asleep. All he remembers is awakening and finding his body unable to react to the direction the Explorer was taking and he told me that he just "went with it"! I am sure many of you know that feeling when your body is unable to respond to what you are thinking it SHOULD do when you are tired! Bless his heart. In retrospect, his "going with it" and the fact that his body was totally relaxed from being asleep, plus his wearing his seat belt kept him from sustaining serious injuries or worse. Not to mention that it simply was NOT his time! Oh, and on the opposite side of the accident scene is a cliff with the lake below. John did mention to me in a one-on-one conversation that he DID believe for a moment that he was going to die. Knowing that alone, as a mother especially, pulls BIG time at your heart strings as you try to EVEN imagine what your child was feeling at that VERY moment of helplessness. I, personally, have NEVER been in that position. I have feared for my life at the hands of another, however, I have NEVER been in the face of death.

John works at the same place as Robert. While saving his money for a car of his own, Robert has generously been allowing John to drive his pride 'n joy to work. Robert works days, comes home and off goes John, who works swing. John had fallen asleep and veered off of the highway ten minutes or less from home.

Our two-lane highways are dark and desolate in the wee hours of the morning. We have to cross a bridge over our BEAUTIFUL Lake Tulloch before reaching the final stretch of highway home and that is where Robert had thought John rolled the Explorer. Mind you, you just KNOW that John was already traumatized, let alone having to call and tell Robert that he's totaled his (Robert's) ONLY source of transportation to work! I can breathe a little now as I type, but at the moment, I was holding my breath as Luke came to pick Robert up and then drove to scene to see just how much damage was done. I was IMMEDIATELY relieved and EVER thankful that my son was alive and had literally walked away from the vehicle without a scratch. Well, I do have a photo of some red marks on his forearm, but those quickly disappeared.


Thankfully, he WAS wearing his seat belt. God knows I've drilled that
into my kiddos forever! Even with the seat belt on, his head hit the top
of the Explorer and he was jostled around a bit. John had NO idea what
was happening to him, but was ready for whatever was to come and just
went with it. My daughter, Joan brought up an interesting point when
she compared John's being "asleep" to that of a "drunk" driver. We all
know that the reason they usually survive is that their body is TOTALLY
relaxed and they don't normally tense up. Neither did John.


John was slammed sideways into the side of a hill, thus the broken back window
and
pushing upwards of the top of the Explorer. There was a large gully directly
behind
him, which would have REALLY caused him some injuries or worse had
he been
pushed backwards and down into it. The rear left tire (engine still running
and tires rotating),
spun creating a rut deep enough to keep the vehicle from
traveling any further.
Miraculous!


Two of the tires were flattened and the rear axle was broken. We are also in our
VERY dry season and, thankfully, the muffler did not start a fire. PHEW!
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This is where I left off the Friday evening when I was called away from the computer to deal with a family matter. We then left for the weekend to attend the "80's" bash, returned yesterday to rest up a bit before Robert had to leave to go to work for a couple of hours. I received a call from him asking if I'd heard that John had totaled his twin brother, Luke's car. WHAT? Still in the midst of full-body pain from the fibro flare-up, I gently told Robert that I could NOT hear this now. How could my son have yet ANOTHER serious accident within the span of two weeks and walk away from it? It was NOT his time!!! Thank you Daddy!

I will tell y'all straight up that having homeschooled my six children for six years gave me the BEST education of a lifetime, IMHO! I learned SOOOOO much about learning styles, teaching styles, personality types, etc. Because of this and the therapy my boys and I went through to deal with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) shortly after my divorce, I have learned OODLES and can actually sit down and talk to my son, knowing what will cause him to shut me out, and get down to what's going on. I am not saying that I am successful EVERY time as sometimes my own emotions get the best of me, but I am learning MORE and MORE each time I am faced with something serious that needs resolution.

John was diagnosed ADHD and I came to the conclusion that after he was released from his IEP in high school, when they told us he no longer needed their services because his test scores were too high, that his trouble is, for the most part, emotionally based. The panel of teachers and administrators were in agreement with that as well. Enter in PTSD.

I have come to find that the more people harp on him, telling him what he NEEDS to do and WHEN, he gets overwhelmed and even when trying to focus on clearing his mind, the thoughts all creep in and he stresses - SILENTLY and consumed with what others are expecting of him. He told me that he KNOWS what he needs to do, but needs to slow down and he can only do so much at a time.

I am trying with all of my might at this point to be the go-between and to help shield him from a bit of unnecessary flack after the fact that he has LITERALLY been in the face of death twice. How can anyone TRULY understand what goes on in the soul of another human being if they've not even come close to such an experience? You cannot.


As I am HORRIBLY behind and really wish to spend this week preparing a few kits for my NEW store at DSO (I REALLY need to make a little money now that we've had to take on a car payment with the loss of the totaled Explorer and the fact that Robert will have to double his mileage in taking John to work as soon as he gets home from his day at work and then get up at 2:30 am so that we can pick him up at 3:00 am), I shall continue this another post and share with you the thoughts that went through my son's mind as he thought he was going to die in each accident - MORE so the second time around. (I have not seen the car and John did not wish for me to. As he explained, "it's toast, it's done" I am hoping for some photos from Luke though, since it is his car. He is VERY upset right now after driving up to see it earlier this evening.) I am now hoping and praying that there NOT be a another incident. While I GREATLY believe in an appointed time for death ... I am NOT privy to that date, so I can ONLY hope and pray that I NOT have to see it come to pass in my lifetime.

I have SO learned to live in the moment, for I know not when my last breath may come, nor that of a loved one. I have found that in the course of a phone conversation with one of my children, I will say "I love you" multiple times. And again, the song drifts through my mind, "there is NO time for fussing and fighting my friends ..."

So here you have it - the good, the bad AND the ugly! LOL! I needed to laugh right about now!

Please find below a "scrapatit" from my layout "Oopsie Daisies" and I hope to have some more goodies for you soon as well as photos from my daughter and SIL's visit weekend before last and from the BIG "80's" bash this past weekend.


Gosh I've missed y'all! To those who have sent me e-mails over the course of the past 2-1/2 weeks, I shall try my hardest to reply to them sometime this week. My heartfelt THANK YOU to those who have left me LOVE during my MIA status. You sincerely ROCK! MWAH!

LOTS of LOVE and BIG squishy hugs,
Linda :-D


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