NEW KIT: *LOVE LIFTED ME* (BACKGROUND PAPERS)

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!!!

Our guests have departed and THIS chickie is working DOUBLE-TIME to get 'er done by this evening!!!

WOO, WOOOOOOOOO, what a BIG week this is going to be in SCRAPLAND!!! I am debuting *Love Lifted Me*, which will be available here on my blog during the next week, after which I will be adding a few more goodies to it and then putting it in my store at One Single Seed! THEN ... tomorrow, the JUNE BLOG TRAIN departs it's station at DST and will be making LOTS of stops throughout SCRAPLAND to bring you a MOST incredible collaboration of *My Favorite Guy*!!! The color palette is DELICIOUS and will be SO perfect for ALL of your "guy" scraps for Father's Day and BEYOND!!! BIG, BIG thanks go out to Tanya and Trish for bringing MANY awesome designers aboard to share their FABULOUS talent!

Have an AWESOME week everyone. I shall be IN-N-OUT as I try to recuperate from TOTAL distractions and still TRYING to work towards moving myself out of the corner and into a wide-open space!!! Looks like it might be a while, but I'm thinking that if I ask if we can devote the weekend before my birthday, which is less than two weeks away, it'll be the BEST birthday present Robert could give me this year! Robert has been busy out side taming our two acres now that the rain is gone and things are heating up! I tell ya baby, it's a JUNGLE out there!!! ROFL! Tis AMAZING what a bit of rain can do to a field of grasses! He, he ...

Okay, I'm off to create and I hope that y'all enjoy *Love Lifted Me*!!! Isn't it AMAZING what a little LOVE can do? OH YEAH! It puts you on TOP of the world now, doesn't it? Uh, huh ... y'all know what I'm talking about! Husband and wife, Mother and child, sisters, friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, a NEW crush ... LOVE lifts us up and before you know it, we are floating amidst the clouds!!!

MUCH LOVE,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

HELLO, HELLO AND A SNEAK-PEEK!

Well y'all, it is WAY past my bedtime and I just HAD to stop in to give you a SNEAK-PEEK of the kit I've just finished for Kim B's May Colour Challenge at DSO!!! After browsing the forum, I saw two submissions that were the same themes I had going around in my head, so with a multitude of distractions and a lack of MOJO, I just HAD to come up with another idea!

WOO HOO - I finally got started and we ended up with a pair of MOST welcomed yet unexpected house guests this morning! Of course, I had to play hostess and seeing as how the two are Robert's sisters, you JUST know that I had to spend a GOOD part of the day catching up with them and doing some reminiscing!

I'm headed to sleep for a few hours and then I will be back to post the first installment of *Love Lifted Me*!!! I had SOOOO much FUN creating this one and THANK YOU Kim for another ROCKIN' colour palette!!! Would you believe Kim already has the colour palette up for June??? I am snagging it RIGHT NOW as I am typing! ROFL! And who says that I cannot multi-task!!! HERE is the link if you wish to check it out. Come and join in the FUN and see what Kim has for us as a POSTING BONUS!!! It SHORE is PURDY!!! Thank you girlfriend, you are ROCKIN' IT, ROCKIN' IT MAMACITA!!! MWAH!

I haven't seen y'all in SEVERAL day so here's hoping that you are having a PLEASANT and RELAXING weekend!!!

Have a SUPER Sunday and I'll catch ya on the flip-side!

BIG HUGS,
Linda :)

Tweet

Read more...

*SUNFLOWER TAG ALPHA* AND OH, MAMMA MIA, HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Hi y'all!!!

Hope everyone is FULLY relaxed, back into the GROOVE and/or recuperated from the LONG weekend!

Here in Copperopolis, California, home of the BEAUTIFUL Lake Tulloch, Memorial Day weekend KICKS OFF the lake activity which continues FULL-SPEED ahead until Labor Day Weekend, which signifies the END of summer on the lake! You will hear the sound of locals cheering - FLATLANDERS, GO HOME! Well, I, being a transplant from the Bay Area TOTALLY understand the "flatlander's" need to "get-away" and ENJOY all that nature has to offer here in this LOVELY "everybody knows everybody" foothill community!

I've lived her now for 15 years and the boys and I spent a couple of years living on one of the coves of the lake (Bret Harte), so my morning power-walks were INDESCRIBABLY delicious and I was even known to tote my camera out with me on occasion to capture the STILL water at sunrise - SOOOOO smooth compared to the afternoon/evenings when the tranquil waters gave way to fishermen, swimmers, water-skiers and party boats until dark and beyond!!! LOL! I was actually VERY thankful for those days as the boys simply had to walk out the front door, down the stairs and around a LONG block to cool-off during the heat of the day!

We have been living away from the hubbub now for about seven years and I must admit, I THOROUGHLY enjoy the "peace and quiet" of living on acreage and off the beaten track so-to-speak! My vista is just as LOVELY, if not more so as I am not having to look out upon the lake homes now crowding each other and the lake view as well! Here on the other side of town, there are wide-open spaces, SPACE between you and your neighbor and an AMAZING array of wildlife to behold while sitting on the deck in the evening time, just before sunset. One of my FAVORITE things to share with you quickly is a story about my Dr. Dolittle aka Robert! Robert is gifted with the ability to emulate people and animals and I will walk outside to find him conversing with the doves! It is TOO sweet and QUITE amazing to me as he whistles out a call and they reply and go SO far as to perch in a nearby tree trying to figure out WHO or WHAT they are dealing with!!! SOOOOO funny sometimes as I am sure the poor dove is QUITE disappointed to find he is NOT going to be in the company of one of his own!!! There is something to be said for "birds of a feather, flock together" - LOL!

I apologize for taking so long to get back, but LIFE has been HAPPENING and it seems that it will, of course, keep right on doing so!!! HA, HA!!!

I have just replaced Chicago with the soundtrack to Mamma Mia!!! So many of you declared your LOVE for this UPBEAT and JOYFUL musical starring Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep, that I was inspired to find the tracks. My source has recently done some major upgrading and I REALLY like the ease in finding what I want and not having to deal with sifting through "bad" tracks! So, without further ado, I present you with *MAMMA MIA* and the third and final coordinating alpha for *Girasole* which I have named, *Sunflower Tag Alpha*. I was up until dawn this morning and TOO tired to fix things when I found out that the files were WAY too big for downloading for some, so I created myself an action in Photoshop that VERY quickly reduced all of my files and automatically saved them for me. PHEW! I am SOOOOO glad that I figured out how to do work on some things in "batches"! I have LOTS to learn, but I do plan on sharing with y'all as soon as I am able to!

Thank you for the LOVE and may you ALL have a SUPERB week at home and here in SCRAPLAND!!!

Love back atcha,
Linda :)

P.S. If you DO NOT wish to hear music while on my blog, simply hit the PAUSE button on the player and it will stop for the duration of your visit! I REALLY hope y'all like it as it is rather motivating and uplifting all at the same time! I just want to get up and dance!!! I shall have to fill y'all in another time about my new found addition! I be BLIPPIN'! ROFL! Some of you will already know what I am speaking about! Catch you soon. *wink*

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

BACK WITH A FREEBIE ....

later tonight or tomorrow y'all!!!

Hope EVERYONE in the U.S. is having a FUN and SAFE *Memorial Day* weekend. My "heartfelt" gratitude to ALL who have sacrificed their lives for their/our country. My thoughts and prayers to ALL families who have lost loved ones in war and I pray for the safety of those currently in the war zones.

I've been busy with Creative Team Appreciation Week 2009 this past week, with the finalizing touches finished just a bit ago. Spent until the wee hours of this morning with son #2 who needed my help transferring ALL video of my PRECIOUS grandson onto my computer so as to free-up his camera for their family trip to Cabo Tuesday. Jessica's brother lives in Cabo which is why the entire family, including Grandma and Grandpa are going along too! This will be my son's VERY first time in an airplane AND out of the country! Little Kaleb gets to experience the thrill 22 years ahead of his daddy! *grin* YES, Grandma shall be anxiously awaiting some photos of this BIG milestone in the life of he and his daddy!!! LOL!

Hope to find y'all HEALTHY and HAPPILY SCRAPPING in my absence!!! He, he ...

See you soon and THANK YOU from the HEART for ALL of your SWEET and LOVELY comments ... YOU ROCK ... and then SOME!!! MWAH!

Lots of LOVE and HUGGINS',
Linda :)

P.S. Here is a photo of Kaleb from the horribly pixelated images removed from the camera. I think I have now convinced my son that they take stills with their nice digital camera and leave the video camera for video only!

Kaleb Jace - January 12, 2009 (9 months)

Tweet

Read more...

OH, MAMMA MIA!!! I HAVE A SCRAPATIT FOR YOU!!!

Hi y'all!!! YUP, I've been a bit MIA the past several days and a bit out of my element from those middle of the night rendezvous to pick my son up from work! AND, last night, Robert and I FINALLY watched the MAMMA MIA DVD that Joan sent to me for Mother's Day!!! OMGosh, OH MY GOSH!!! We BOTH loved it!!!

I had NO idea the music was all based on ABBA songs and we ADORE Abba!!! In fact, I not ONLY laughed watching but CRIED as well! My oldest daughter who has a TREMENDOUSLY gifted ability to sing used to sing her heart out around the house and guess which song of ABBA'S she sang at the tender age of eleven??? You bet your SWEET bippy, DANCING QUEEN!!! Somewhere, I have her recording on cassette tape! And you just KNOW that I had to call both girls. Hi Joan, this is your sappy mother .... I got her voice mail, but April answered the phone and I told her HOW much I was thinking of her while listening to DANCING QUEEN and HOW much I love and miss her!!! I was like SO shocked when she informed me that she had not seen MAMMA MIA yet!!! WHOA! This is my girl who ADORES musicals and used to memorize the scripts when she was all of about two or three! Anyhoo, if you've not seen it, it is now on DVD and is WELL worth the one hour and forty-five minutes MANY times over!!! LOL! I loved it SO much that I put it on my computer and sang along while working on my "scrapatit" and layout!!! LOL! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

How is everyone??? Did y'all have a NICE weekend? Have you been scrapping? I know a few of you have posted layouts on your blogs and I will get there just as soon as I am able to take a peek, but you KNOW that I would LOVE for y'all to be posting them here on my blog in the guestbook too, right? Uh, huh! Thank you to ALL of you who have posted recently!!! BELLISSIMA!!!

I shall be fairly quick (HA, HA!) as I have THREE projects that I need to begin working on, one being Kim B's May Color Challenge, the June Blog Train AND my VERY first collaboration with my VIRTUAL daughter, Sarah Laming aka Designs by Sassy! PHEW! Y'all know that I am a SLOW scrapper and a SLOW designer so I DEFINITELY have my work cut out for me, eh? ROFL! YUP, but I wouldn't have it any other way as it is my PASSION!

We've not yet started moving me into the other room, so things will be a bit hectic for a spell! I just can't wait to have MORE space to mess up!!! ROFL! HA! Yah, you know how it goes! But, I'd rather it be a desk or table as opposed to the edge of my bed! He, he ... *wink*

I've been involved with this year's Creative Team Appreciation Week and contributed to the HUGE mega-kit, MY CT ROCKS, that is being given out to ALL of the participating designer's creative team members! I am also hosting a scraplift challenge so I will be spending most of this week back and forth there leaving love in the gallery! For ANY of you reading that are on a creative team, I just wish to let you know right here too just HOW much you are appreciated for helping to make our designs SHINE!!! While I don't yet have an "official" creative team, I do have the CT at One Single Seed and some VERY near and dear friends, who are also designers, that have helped me out over the past several years and I wish for EACH and EVERY one of you to know how MUCH y'all ROCK ... and then SOME! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUU!!! MWAH!

For any of you who might be interested in seeing what we have going on over at CTAW, you can click on the LARGE banner at the top of my blog to be transported over for a peeksie!

Speaking of being TRANSPORTED, Dawn aka Snowsmoon's Design has a NEW free kit up today for your downloading pleasure! Today's download are the PAPERS! Leave her a thank you for me and check out what she has been up to this past week! BUSY, BUSY ladies in SCRAPLAND! The image below is clickable and POOF, you'll be there! *big grin*

Click image above to be transported to Dawn's blog!

I am leaving y'all with Scrapatit #3 from *Girasole*! I still need to finish the tag alpha and will post it soon. I really enjoyed doing a bit of scrapping while creating this "scrapatit". The photos are of our DARLING little niece, Halia, who celebrated her second birthday on the same day that Kaleb celebrated his FIRST! Halia's party was on the 18th last month, a week after Kaleb's and this is part of what kept us hopping!!!


The blended flower in the background was SOOOOO perfect with this kit and I had forgotten that I'd even taken it until browsing through Halia's birthday photos that I took! The flower is actually in the hand of one of our other nieces, Annalise! How COOL is that!!!

I hope you like this one as much as I do! Let me know what y'all have been up to and if I've missed anything SUPER exciting out and about in SCRAPLAND! Have an INCREDIBLY awesome and PRODUCTIVE week!

Much love,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA FOR Y'ALL!!!

Hope this finds everyone HEALTHY and HAPPILY scrapping! I'm just stopping in to leave you with a little something "extra" for your *Garisole* collection while I am working on the FINAL alpha that will also coordinate with *Garisole*, but can be used for MANY other projects as well!

Wishing you ALL a FABULOUS weekend ahead!

Love and hugs,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

*PLAID EPOXY ALPHA #4* AND SOME OTHER GOODIES TO SHARE!

Good morning y'all!!! YUP! It be mornin' time here in Northern Cali! We are just back home from picking John up from work for the fifth day in a row and I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever get my nights back! ROFL! It is now 4:05 AM and I'm choosing to post now for I know not what time I shall arise once my head hits the pillow!!! I've been sleeping until nearly noon, only because I stay up until time for us to leave so that I am sure that Robert is awake! HA! Always a method to the "madness", eh? Uh, huh, you KNOW it!

I hope that you ALL had a LOVELY Mother's Day! My day started, oddly enough, with a call from my firstborn and daughter #1, April! OOOOOPS, I must back up a moment. My FIRST Mother's Day greeting came from son #2, Mark, as he was here at the house until nearly 2:00 am! Anyhoo, I heard from all six kiddos and Robert and I spent the afternoon and early evening with my twin boys and a few of their friends at a VERY nice barbecue that was also in celebration of Lilly's second birthday and Tessa's 18th birthday as well as Mother's Day!

We had a LOVELY time and I even received a phone call from daughter #2, Joan while at the barbecue! We had a FULL day. SO much so that I completely forgot that son #1, Matt, was going to stop by after work to deliver my potted roses that he gave me a peek at as we stopped in at the store to buy flowers for our hostess for the day! Robert awoke Monday morning to find them on the deck! We had both crashed and burned shortly after arriving home around 7:15 after taking John to work. Matt said he knocked, came inside and found us both passed out! We were just a WEE bit tired, eh? ROFL! Enough of my babbling, I have LOTS to share so I'd better get busy! I will be sharing some photos as well as a NEW freebie by Snowsmoon's Design!

First up is Dawn's NEWEST blog freebie, *Mama's Love*! I am behind, as she has already posted both the papers and the elements, so I am attaching the direct link to each post to each her preview images beneath the layouts. This kit is BEAUTIFUL and the color palette is YUMMY and VERY versatile too! Check out the two layouts, the first by the AMAZING Darlene Harod and the second one by Dawn herself. Aren't they LOVELY??? SO what are you waiting for? Let's go and download these SWEET Mother's Day treats right now! Thank you Dawn, you are ROCKIN' it girlfriend!!! I am going to see if I can find a few moments to scrap as this kit will be PERFECT for Miss Lilly's photos in her Fairy Princess costume!

Click image above to download BG Papers

Click image above to download Elements

Both floral images above are from the LOVELY mixed bouquet that I received from Luke! His girlfriend, Tessa, helped him make a card for me and I wish I could share what they wrote as I'm sure that you all have seen it in print before. I was half chuckling and half crying while Luke read it to me! It goes through the various stages of a child's life and how we go from thinking our mom knows EVERYTHING, to not much of ANYTHING and then WAY back up to being the one to consult on important issues! What a JEWEL of a gift this was! Thank you Luke and Tessa!

The BEAUTIFUL pot of mini-roses above was a gift from my oldest son, Matthew! These are similar to the two rose plants Robert has out in the yard that he had bought for HIS mother many years ago. Mama passed away ten years ago and when Pop moved from just down the street, he gave those roses to Robert and it is AMAZING to watch them THRIVE! VERY special memories right there! Thank you son, you are SO thoughtful!

Bet you've already guessed what THIS is!!! YUP, my NEW 23-inch monitor, my EARLY Mother's Day present from my SWEET, LOVING man! He didn't even flinch when I told him that I had found a steal-of-a-deal, as he's been looking for me for some time and we were waiting for the prices to drop a bit! When I saw this particular model on Dell.com, I had to do a double-take as I could NOT believe it was SO inexpensive! AND, it comes with a 3-year warranty! AWESOME!!! Thank you my SWEET angel!

Anyhoo, as you can see, I am now able to place multiple canvases side-by-side in Photoshop and they are all at 100%! This is making for a much easier designing process for me and has been easier on my eyes too! You can see how cramped my working space is now, so over the next few weeks, Robert and I will be preparing the room next to our bedroom as a special place for us to work on our computers and/or to sit and read as our bookcase is already in that room! It is also the coolest room in the house as it is shaded by several trees!!! WOO HOO - I can't wait. We are in for triple digits this weekend, so the sooner the better!

The filters are getting changed on the swamp cooler so that we fan fire it up this weekend! Please forgive me as I have drawn a TOTAL blank as to who it was that asked me what a swamp cooler is. A swamp cooler is a unit that you can set atop your roof (as ours is) or there are smaller ones that can set inside a window and it has a drum with a filter attached that rotates like the wheel in a hamster's cage. A small hose, in diameter, runs from the outdoor spigot up to the cooling unit. Our indoor switch has five settings. We always run the pump for about 30 seconds to circulate the water and then switch it to HIGH COOL. If the evenings are relatively cool and there is a breeze, we will switch the setting to HIGH FAN. There are also two low settings, but as hot as it gets here, we usually leave it running on HIGH COOL 24/7. The GREATEST benefit to running a swamp cooler is economics as it is VERY inexpensive to operate in comparison to AC.

This is Miss Lilly, who was celebrating her second birthday and dressed as a Fairy Princess! Lilly is an only child at the present time and the couple who hosted the barbecue have two sets of twins (no medical help, just lots of twins in the family!) and are expecting a single baby next month! The oldest are boys, 2-1/2 and the youngest are girl/boy and 1-1/2! Both sets are fraternal. They were all SO well-behaved and had a GOOD time with even more friends that came to visit and play with them!

My babies and twins, Luke and John! Not often I get to snap a photo of them together! You can tell who likes the camera and who does NOT! LOL!

Tessa was the other birthday celebration of the day! Her birthday is actually tomorrow and she turns 18! Luke and Tessa have known each other since grade school and have been girlfriend/boyfriend for several years now. She is a VERY sweet young lady and is looking to work with children in some capacity after she graduates from high school and enters college.

Robert and I have yet to watch Mamma Mia, which was a SPECIAL treat sent out by my daughter, Joan. She and her hubby LOVE it as do MANY of you who have had the pleasure of seeing it when it first debuted at the theater!

Below, is my FOURTH Plaid Epoxy Alpha, which was created to coordinate with *Garisole*, yet is versatile enough to use over-and-over again! Thank you for staying with me so long y'all! I've not shared photos in a while and I thought this to be a good time. I still need to share a few of Kaleb and may do so via a layout or two! I SOOOO need to scrap! *smile*

Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday everyone and I'll see you soon with my THIRD and FINAL alpha to go along with *Garisole*. I will give you a bit of a hint - you'll be able to hang this one!

Bon Scrapatit!
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY AND A SMALL GIFT FOR Y'ALL!

To ALL of you LOVELY and WONDERFUL mothers in SCRAPLAND, "Happy Mother's Day"!!!

We have just returned from picking John up from work at 3:00 AM! My second eldest son, Mark, came down after work and he and I worked on a few photos to complete his Mother's Day gift for Jessica! OMGosh, I cannot believe how TINY the photos had to be cut to fit into the LOVELY locket he is giving to her with photos of Kaleb! Anyhoo, Mark was here until 1:45, just 15 minutes before time to awake my SLEEPING HANDSOME!!! ROFL! Robert got a GOOD chuckle out of me as he awakened himself at EXACTLY 2:00, which is what time he had asked me to wake him up! He, he ...

So, here I sit half awake trying now for the third or fourth time to get this posted before getting caught up in the festivities of the day, which for THIS girl is going to start with some good 'ol SLEEP! LOL!

My small gift to you this morning is the first of the alphas I will be giving y'all, which will ALL coordinate with *Girasole*. This one is called, *Glitter-Swirled Epoxy Alpha, Yellow-Gold* and, as ALWAYS, the alphas will be versatile enough to use with other scrapbooking components too!!!


ENJOY your Mother's Day however and/or wherever you are spending it!!! Thank you to those of you who shared with us how you will be spending your day. I give EXTRA love and hugs to those of you who may find today a little difficult due to a loss and/or illness of a loved one, no matter how long ago or recent it may have been.

See you soon with another alpha!

LOTS of LOVE and a BIG, BIG squishy hug,
Linda :)

P.S. I would like to direct your attention to an INCREDIBLE offer from Al Ward from Action FX through Mother's Day (today!). Al is offering a ONE year membership to his FABULOUS site for ONLY $39.95, which normally sells for $99.95! WOW! What a STEAL, eh?

For those of you NOT familiar with Al Ward OR his site, Action FX, Al is NAAP certified in Photoshop, has written several books including his NEWEST release, which is ALL about actions AND the VERY first of it's kind!!! You can check them ALL out on the site HERE.

Al has just, over the past two days, uploaded 3,000 silhoutte shapes, which I shall be working on downloading next week. NO, not all 3, 000!!! Well, not at once anyhoo!!! ROFL! You will also find styles, OVERLAYS and LOTS of photo enhancement and correction actions to name a few thousand!!! SO, what are you waiting for??? Check it out HERE! I am entering into my third year of membership on Al's site and I am looking forward to ALL that is in the works as well as ALL that is already available!!! WOO HOO! If you like what you see and decide on a membership, please let Al know that I referred you, K? Thank you! MWAH!

OH BOY! I just hopped on over to Kim B's blog to wish her a Happy Mother's Day and found in her post a FULL reveal of her collab CU grab bag with Bunny Cates!!! I purchased this during NSD and I tell you, it is WELL worth the $10 for 10 sets of BEAUTIFUL goodies to use as tools in your design or to use in your everyday digital scrapbooking! Check out the "reveal" HERE!

You need to hurry on this one as it will be GONE at MIDNIGHT! While you are there, take a peek at the GORGEOUS Mother's Day goody she has for ALL of us in SCRAPLAND! VERY sweet and OH, SOOOO pretty!

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO KIM'S BLOG

And LAST, but certainly not the least, my BFF, Snowsmoon's Design has a new FREEBIE up as well, which is a LOVELY alpha to coordinate with her *May Flowers* FREEBIE kit posted early in the week! Hop on over and grab it while it's HOT and make sure to leave her some LOVIN' for me!!! Thanks SO much y'all, you are THE BEST!!! While you are there, Dawn also has a SNEAK-PEEK of her new FREE kit that debuts on Monday!!! Ooooooo-LA-LA, it looks DELICIOUS!!!

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO BE TRANSPORTED TO DAWN'S BLOG

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

TOMORROW HAS COME AT LAST AND SO HAS *GIRASOLE*, PART THREE!!!

WOO HOO! I made it back! OMGosh y'all - I kid you not, my sleeping has been SO backwards since the two mornings we had to make a 45 minute round-trip to pick my son, John up from work! I, believe it or not, did not even find my way to bed last night OR the wee hours of this morning! I was WIDE awake! ROFL!

Anyhoo, I am pretty drained and looking forward to a NICE weekend with Robert as we begin to prepare ourselves for summer! The past two days have been warm with a GENEROUS breeze blowing through to keep things comfortable. I am just hoping that it does NOT get HOT before Robert is able to climb up onto the roof to uncover the swamp cooler and to change the filter before cranking that baby up for the FIRST time this season! Oh, but once it gets going, it is WONDERFUL as long as it is left on 24/7 when the temps are 80+!

What are y'all doing for Mother's Day this year? Staying at home? Going to your and your DH's mother's? To your children's? Out to eat? Away for a mini-vacation? I'd LOVE to hear how y'all spend YOUR special day!

Robert and I are BOTH tuckered from our past month of party here and party there and then our week away, so you are laying low. We've been invited to a barbecue by the boys to celebrate both Mother's Day and Luke's girlfriend's "18th" birthday. Robert doesn't wish to go anywhere, but I'm thinking we ought to show our faces for a couple of hours, don't you? He, he ... Three of my boys live here in town so we won't have to go far! PHEW! *sigh*

Wishing you ALL a WONDERFUL weekend upcoming and a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! That is just IN CASE I don't make it back right away, but I have a few more things for you as well as an alpha, so I will be around throughout the weekend!

Thank you SOOOOOO much for ALL of the LOVELY comments on *Garisole*, I am SO happy that SO many of you LOVE sunflowers too! *blush*

YAY Judy!!! She likes sunflowers now and considers them a flower and no longer a weed!!! WOO HOO!

Sorry I am SO late today, but the indecisive person that I am, it took me at least over an hour to pick out what I wanted delivered to my mom tomorrow for Mother's Day!!! I am SOOOO bad!!! And you will find that *Garisole*, Part Three has quite a lot more than I intended it to, however, I just HAD to add ONE more thing - about ten times!!! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

MAN (morning, afternoon, night) y'all!!! See you sometime tomorrow evening/night! Be GOOD and SCRAP HAPPY! MWAH!

Lots of love,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

IS IT TOMORROW YET??? *GIRASOLE*, PART THREE ARRIVING SOON!

It seems that our 3 am rendezvous to pick up John from work the past two mornings has DEFINITELY had an effect on me!!! ROFL! What I think is hilarious is that when "I" wish to stay up that late to finish a project, I am usually good-to-go, BUT, when "I" HAVE to stay up that late, I am fighting to keep my eyelids raised!!!

Anyhoo, I shall be back in a few hours to post *Girasole*, Part Three!!!

Wishing you ALL a LOVELY day/night!

XOXO,
Linda :)

Tweet

Read more...

*GIRASOLE*, PART TWO!!! THIS ONE IS REALLY "TWEET"! LOL!

Hi y'all!!!

Everyone recuperated from (inter) National Scrapbooking Day??? WOO HOO! I was busy ALL day Saturday and finally started some shopping LATE Saturday night and into the EARLY hours of Sunday! I went out and about here-and-there throughout the day and found some GREAT deals on my FAVORITE expenditure - CU goodies!!! ROFL!

What did y'all find??? What are your FAVORITE scrapbooking items to shop for? Do you use everything you buy?

I will share my ALL-TIME favorite purchase as it came from one of my MOST favorite CU designers, the INFAMOUS Kim B. For NSD, Kim and Bunny teamed up to bring us a HUGE grab bag containing TEN awesome items and ALL for ONLY $10!!! YUP, it is still available, but only until Friday, after which time it is divided up and each item is sold individually! Y'all, this is ONLY $1 per CU item!!! For ANY of you just starting to tinker with designing and even you SEASONED designers that just might be reading, this is an INCREDIBLE deal. Hey, you don't even have to design, it is FABULOUS for scrapping as well!!! I will tell you that, personally, I buy each and EVERY one of Kim's grab bags and have NEVER been disappointed in a single one of them!!! I am sure I've told you this before and NO doubt I will again!!! He, he ...

If you've not yet seen Kim and Bunny's NSD Grab Bag, click here to check it out on KIM'S BLOG where you will also see examples of what is in it via Kim's ROCKIN' CT!!!

Thank you SOOOOO much for ALL the loving and I am just TICKLED Kim B's Colour Palette that you are LOVING the sunflowers as much I do!!! I would also like to thanks those of you who have shared your SUNFLOWER stories with me as well. How COOL y'all are!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them all!!!

JUDY - LOL! WOW! I feel honored that you might just go from "weed" to "flower"!!! AWESOME!

CANDY - OMGosh! I can SO identify with your SUNFLOWER picture in the garage!!! Robert actually has some items that he could not part with and he took them to his office where they fit in PERFECTLY! My sunflower goodies are packed away in the garage, however, I tend to decorate by season and some of them fit in with my FALL decor, so during that time of the year, you WILL find some sunflowers scattered about my home!

BARB - Dearest one, I am just reading your e-mail as I am typing this post!!! Keep checking back because there is MORE to come! I will mail you back in just a bit!!! XOXO

This evening, I leave you with *Girasole*, Part Two! I had a REALLY good time creating the birdhouse and I am thinking that I will give y'all a plain one before I am finished so that you can decorate it to YOUR liking!

I shall see you tomorrow with *Girasole*, Part Three and until then, BON SCRAPATIT!!!

Much love,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

*GIRASOLE*, PART ONE HAS ARRIVED!!!

Bet y'all thought I wouldn't make it back tonight, eh? ROFL! Well, I think I said I'd be back before MY night was over, which gave me the EXTRA time I needed to get it together! TADA - I made it!!! YAHOOOOO!

I hope you've all had an EXCEPTIONAL day and if you've not been out and about in SCRAPLAND stocking up from some of the INCREDIBLE sales going on, MANY sites are running their sales through today as well! WOO HOO! My personal thanks to ALL! I took a break and went out and did some CU shopping! I shouldn't have, but could not resist some of my FAVORITE designers at 35-40% off!!! WOO HOO! Just MORE product with which to create MORE goodies for y'all! LOL!

Without further ado, here is *Girasole*, Part One! I hope y'all can find some good uses for it! Aside from scrapping, it will be WONDERFUL for homemade digital/hybrid greeting cards and other craft projects!!!

See you back tomorrow with *Girasole*, Part Two!

Have a SUPER SUNDAY everyone!

XOXO,
Linda :)

Sorry, this link is no longer available!

Tweet

Read more...

HAPPY (inter) NSD Y'ALL - LOTS OF GOODIES OUT AND ABOUT!!!

I am slipping in QUICKLY but NOT quietly to wish you all a VERY lovely day as you scurry about SCRAPLAND gathering DELICIOUS goodies from here and there and just about EVERYWHERE!!! I need to sneak out and look around at some of the sales myself, starting at One Single Seed, where I am hanging my designer wings shortly (I'm there, but my store is bare!) and everything is 40% off until midnight tonight!!! WOO HOO!

LIFE seems to get in the way, but I expect it and I just KNOW y'all understand it as well, so I am dropping in to give you a bit of a SNEAK-PEEK as to what I have for you as a result of Kim B's April Colour Challenge and (inter) National Scrapbooking Day! I hope y'all will like it, especially those loving sunflowers!!!

For a QUICK story on sunflowers in THIS girl's life ... long, long ago in another time, I just about VOWED that I'd NEVER have sunflowers decorating my home, even as POPULAR as they were back in the early to mid-90's. WHY? Well, because I was at the height of my NEWLY found passion of crafting and had redone my home decor to reflect the, then, rather trendy country flavor boasting mauves, pinks and blues! Blue being my VERY favorite color made it rather easy for me to be accepting of the "pinks", which I was not ALL that fond of, but quickly began to like! My ex-husband and I were just about to move up here to Copperopolis from the valley where I had already begun the artful country living! LOL! Okay, long-story short, the place I was selling my homecrafted items at had this LOVLEY oak-framed print of cows and sunflowers that just HAPPENED (meant-to-be) to have a dual matte of, would you believe, PINK AND BLUE!!! OMGosh ... I had pined over that picture for several months and was finally able to purchase it just a short time before our move. I had also found the SWEETEST kitchen towels, oven mitts and such that sported the same theme with a green base! I won't tell you how far I went with the sunflowers, but my kitchen was FULL of them!!! I even had sunflower vines strung across the tops of our cabinets intertwined with white lights!!! Somewhere, I believe I have a few photos. That was my FAVORITE kitchen EVER as it was SO open and just perfect for our large family.
MICHELE - thank you for sharing your story! I surely have learned over the years as I've become a wee bit wiser to NEVER say NEVER! ROFL!

I am SO sorry to leave y'all hanging as to what my Mother's Day gift is, but I was waiting for it's arrival and had NO idea that it would show up the VERY next day (yesterday!) and a week ahead of what I expected!!!

My gift is part of the reason why I am still not quite ready to upload the first part of *Giasole*. As a matter of fact, I am looking at it this VERY moment while typing my post! Oh, I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it and so will you as I am hoping that it helps my productivity! I am now the proud owner of a 23-inch LCD widescreen monitor and all I can say is WOWEEE, KAZOWEE ... I CAN SEE!!! He, he ... I have SO waited to be able to work with two canvases side-by-side! I had debated it for quite awhile as I was not sure how I would adjust to the widescreen. I read TONS of reviews and many posted how they had to calibrate colors and such and I though, oh well, may as well take the leap and learn something new if I have to. HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAA! Would you believe it? I did NOT have to do ONE thing. I am thinking it is because my CPU is Dell and the monitor we purchased is as well. I'm wondering if that is why when I booted my system, it started making adjustments automatically? Well, whatever the case, I am LOVING what I am looking at ... Y'ALL!!! He, he ...

I just ADORE Robert anyhow, but I can't help but feel like a princess when he agrees with my needs! And THIS was DEFINITELY a need as I've been working on a 17-inch monitor for the longest time and these almost 55-year-old eyeballs REALLY needed some relief! I am also in need of moving myself from our bedroom, which used to be my computer room, into another room so that I am not scrunched up into a corner with no room to move! Now that we are down to one adult child, we have some extra room to revamp and Robert is wishing to buy me a new desk as well. He has an L-shaped set-up at work and that is what I used to have before giving up my computer room, so he understands how it helps one to work a little more efficiently.

BETH W - I shall be hoping and praying that you receive your desire of a scanner! It is once piece of equipment that earns it's price rather quickly I believe. I have scanned all kinds of things that I've known I'd probably NEVER see again. Just a few weeks ago, Mark asked if I had his birth certificate and I made a copy of it in the event that I don't get it back, which I am not expecting to!!! I wish I had thought of that before giving the girl's their copies!!! Oh well, one day when I can afford it, I'll send for copies for those I no longer have so that I can put them into each album when I get them made!

I DO, actually, have a bit of an L-shaped set-up where I am, however, the "L" is my bed and where I find myself placing my notebooks and whatever else I am using while creating!!! LOL!

Below is a bit of a SNEAK-PEEK of *Girasole* and I should be back before my night is over to bring you the first part. If you are still attending chats, crops or shopping, HAVE FUN!!! I've also posted a preview of my BFF's NSD goodie for y'all and have attached a direct link to the image so you can snag it if you haven't already! LOVE those BRIGHT, CHEERFUL colors in Dawn's *May Flowers*!!! Catch you on the FLIP-SIDE!!!

BIG HUGS,
Linda :)

P.S. SHARON - I am SO happy to see your face!!! I was just starting to wonder where you were. With my being away and not having Internet, I had not noticed your absence right away. I am glad that you are on the mend and able to spend time with your DARLING granddaughter! BIG HUGS to you!

Click the image above to be transported to Dawn's blog!
Leave her some LOVIN' for me! MWAH!

*GIRASOLE* will arrive SOON!

Tweet

Read more...

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF MAY AND HAPPY FRIDAY!!! WOO HOO!

Hi y'all!!!

I was supposed to be back with the debut of *Girasole* and just yesterday I realized that TOMORROW is (inter)National Scrapbooking Day!!! OMGosh! Here I was thinking I was moving right along in catching up from my week away and then POOF, it's just the BIGGEST day of the year in SCRAPLAND y'all!!! WOO HOO and EEEEEEEKS!!!

Well, what I've decided to do, since I just have to have something for y'all, is to add onto *Girasole*! I was going to create an add-on anyhoo when it leaves my blog and gets put up into my store at One Single Seed, SOOOOOO, this works out pretty well I think! *wink*

I apologize for the delay, but I think y'all will understand why when I upload Part One later today or tonight!

When I post later I will also share with you why I am sitting here wanting someone to "pinch" me to see if I am REALLY awake!!! My Mother's Day gift has arrived a week ahead of schedule and I SOOOOO wish to play with it, but will be a GOOD girl and finish up *Girasole* today!!! ROFL! Oh, such restraint I have! *chuckle, chuckle* Okay, I'm just going to peek at it!

HAPPY, HAPPY ...

Lots of love,
Linda :)

P.S Okay, okay ... I can't leave you empty-handed! Here is another little "scrapatit" to give you a sample of *Girasole*! I SOOOOOO love sunflowers and will have to tell you a little story about them sometime. Uhm ... like how I thought "I" would NEVER have sunflowers in my home as part of my decor! ROFL!

My PRECIOUS grandson, Kaleb, playing with a shovel at his first birthday party!
Credit: *Girasole* by Bon Scrapatit Designs
Fonts: JJ Stencil Regular and Rage Italic

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD *GIRASOLE* SCRAPTIT #2

Tweet

Read more...