Catch Up Time

Hi all...the prodigal returns!! I bet you thought I was on the missing persons list, it's been a week and no postings. Life has kept me jumping the last 7 days with never a dull moment. So first I'll fill you in a little on my week..and then a gift!!,

The Theme Park trip on Friday went well but I am still struggling to get the photos off my old camera..it's holding on to them and won't let me download them!! I need to have an other wrestling match with it tomorrow and see if it will finally relinquish it's hold.

It was Lilly's first time at a park like this and she loved the kiddie rides..too much so...she didn't want to get off. I was of course overprotective and made a wonderful sight on the children's rides in the backseat...Lilly naturally was driving, lol. My children thought it was hilarious...an 19month old in the front and grandma in the back. I have to admit it was a tight squeeze and it raised a few eyebrows...but I did it!! Mind you I don't think I need have bothered as the little lady in question was squealing with glee. It was definitely her kind of thing.

Lilly and her parents stayed until Monday evening, so the weekend was full to overflowing with events, but it was all great fun. On Saturday we went to the street market in Lymington and browsed. There were eight of us and we kept loosing each other, but eventually we reunited in time to eat. I love markets they have such a wide variety of goodies on sale and the atmosphere is brilliant.

I told you that I was putting together some bookcases with doors...well here they are. This was taken last Thursday before the company arrived. Tuesday I finished filling them with books and they look so much better, but I thought I'd let you have a peek. I still need to get the mirrors and pictures up in the rest of the room and find the accent touches, like changing the lamp shades, cushions, new curtains...need I go on? But it gives you an idea of what I've been up to. I'll post some more photos as it progresses.

 

 

The sun shone on Sunday and the lovely Lilly threw her clothes away and so we spent the day covering her in sun cream. Good job it was water proof for every time we put it on...she headed for the paddling pool!! Typical! But we all enjoy the day and the sun was beautiful, warmth...how I love it.

However, when Tuesday dawned, it was work as usual for me, time to pay the price and catchup on the backlog. But I can honestly say it was worth it. It's taken me three days of hard slog but I'm back to the point that by the weekend ....I'll be ready for the next round of chaos!!! Lol!

Now, my gift for you. I hope there is something for everyone, designers, scrappers, Photoshop lovers, whatever ....or that's my hope. It's just some simple folded or curled papers, but they can be used in so many different ways. Each piece is quite large, that way it expands the range of things you can use them for. They're large enough to use as mats in you work, or scaled down they can be used for embellishments...your choice.

If you design there's a grayscale pack to download...if not then there is a separate pack of coloured examples to add to your pages. Or grab them both!!! I hope you have fun playing with them and adding your own personal touches to make them your own.

You can download the grayscale pack here

You can download the sample papers here

Well, time for me to go. Take care and have a great evening/day!!

Technorati Tags: folded and curled papers,photoshop,scrapbooking,graphic design,free download,catch up

 

Nearly Done!!!

I'm nearly done my living room!! The paint and paper are finished and the cracks are sealed. I can't believe that the chaos is almost at an end. Living in a clutter is not my idea of fun at the best of ties...but this was awful, it just took so long with constant interruptions which were unfortunately unavoidable.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I had finished painting and stood back and took a long look. I had decided that I wanted to go for neutral in the decor so I could dress it up with accent colours that contracted with the dark blue of our sofas. But with I looked at it with very little furniture in and all that wall... it looked.....well.....nondescript!! Bland, washed out and plain. But it's moving on....the new carpet went in...yes, neutral again, but at least a bit darker....and it started to show some promise. Not a lot, but a little.

It went a stage further today, it was bookcase building day. I have so many books and so little space, so bookcases with doors were called for. I needed the doors because I hate how dusty books can get just sitting about on shelves. I have to admit with them in place it's starting to come together...but it still needs some colour!!!! But I do feel a little stirring of pride with how it's staring to look, perhaps all the hard work will be worth it in the long run. A few more days and it will be ready to show you all!!

For now though...it's going on hold...again!!! Lilly, Charlotte and Ali are arriving any minute and tomorrow we are all taking Lilly to Paulton's Park for the day. Chris, Cheryl and Kevin are coming too so it will be busy!! A real family day out, so please...no more rain!!!! It's been arranged for ages and not something I wanted to put off...so it's down tools again.

The latest news on my mum, is great. She's recovering well now from the flu and subsequent chest infection, but she is still not up to a day trip out. That's just too ambitious!! We'll all visit her on Saturday, or should I say invade her, lol.

I hope that next week I will get back to normal (what me normal!!) and settle down into my usual routine. The last few weeks have been too chaotic and disorganised for my liking, but they have had variety, lol.

Now my gift for you before I rush off.

If you like overlays then this one is one of my favourites. It's a torn paper one that is ideal for vintage or grunge papers. There are actually two overlays in the download, slightly different tones in each. They're quite large files but well worth a look. Have fun with them and layer, change blending modes, colour...anything that takes you fancy!! Just play and see what you come up with. I always find that the more I play the better the results....perhaps that's why I take so long making things...I play too much!!! Lol!

If you don't use overlays then there's some example papers that you can snag and use. The overlays are for personal or commercial use, the papers are personal use only.

Here's one of the overlays.

You can download the Overlays here

And here's the example papers.

You can download the Papers here

Have a wonderful day tomorrow and think of me at the theme park!! Hopefully if the rain stays off I'll have lots of pictures too. Till next time...be good!!

Technorati Tags: overlays,png files,example papers. free download,graphic design,scrapbooking,commercial use ok

Frustration!!

Have you every had one of those days/weeks. If so you'll understand where I'm coming from. I am surprised that I am not bald...I have been pulling my hair out today and the last few days, with my emails!!!! I send them and they show sent...but....they don't arrive at their destination. So my question is...which cookie monster is chomping my emails? I know it's out there just gobbling them up so show yourself and explain.

To make it worse, I tried to leave comments on several blogs today and now Blogger has joined the ban on me. It just comes up with an error code and won't post the comment. Of course it only does it after I have typed my comment...sometimes I just hate technology,lol!!

Tell me, am I suddenly persona non grata, or literally "an unwelcome person"? What did I do....or perhaps it's something I said? I have been wracking my brains for some recent misdemeanour, like shouting at my PC (yes, I have been know to do it), but I can't think of a thing.

Even Charlie is not having anything to do with me today. I committed the cardinal sin...I fed Tigger first!! Now, he'll not eat his food...how dare I feed that pesky cat before him!! So for the rest of the day I am going to keep a low profile before I get anything else wrong. Perhaps if I grovel a bit to Charlie he'll relent and at least stop looking at me with such a reproachful glare.

The good news, well for me anyway, is that I bought some new pens and had a doodle. Pens are funny things..not all doodle well, these are really great to play with. So I decided to share some of them with you. They can be used as plain doodles or you can dress them up a bit. I've included a ladybug, an ant, a butterfly, a snail and a caterpillar. The drop shadows are just for the preview.There is a basic doodle and a dressed up one of each. Personal and Commercial Use are both OK.  Enjoy!

You can download the Doodle Bugs here

Technorati Tags: doodle bugs,free download,cu ok freebie,scrapbooking,graphic design

Catch Up

(Edit: Sorry!! I have put up the link now...I told you I was not with it today!!)

I finally made it back to posting. The last few days I've had a nasty headache and a very sore throat...yep, an other little bug decided that I was a good place to make a stopover in!! Normally I only catch them in winter but this one is obviously doing a late run.

The good news (well, it is for me!) is that I'm feeling better but my energy levels are still way down. That's not a problem I normally have, but at least I don't feel like I did on Sunday!!

I have a little gift to add to your collect of scrapping stuff, a delicate metallic frame. The download has two example frames and two grayscale (one light, one darker) metal frames. The grayscale looks quite plain...but you can have so much fun dressing them up!! They can be used for  Personal, S4H or Commercial Use.

You can download the frames here

Experiment and try adding gradients, colours, patterns..... anything you want, or you can skip playing and just use the example frames. One of them I added some colour and the a small gradient and left it at that...it gave a sort of bronze look.

On the other example frame I played with a gradient, inner glow, inner shadow and texture but no drop shadow.....it makes it look like a stamped frame.

 

If you just add a drop shadow then it looks different. So  use your imagination and have fun!!

See you soon...hopefully with a little more to say!! Take care and have fun!!

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,commercial use ok,free download,metalic frame

Gardening With a Twist

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a terrific holiday weekend. I certainly did! I love it when we get a Monday holiday, it makes the rest of the week seem nice and short.

The sun was actually shining all day Saturday and for part of Sunday and Monday. That's the most sun we've had all year so far and no..I'm not joking. So, it seemed the ideal time to start to tame our garden again. I mowed grass, trimmed paths, planted some things and in general cleared away the last evidence of the garden's winter sleep.

My camera was out and each new flower, bee or butterfly set the shutter clicking. I had a great time and added lots of photos to my stash. I remarked to my DH that I was always behind the camera and I really needed to start getting someone to take the odd photograph of me. I am fast becoming the missing link in our family albums. In a few generations they'll start to believe that I was a myth or mystery due to my absence from the pages.

I instantly regretted it! "No time like the present" DH said and then it was like having a stalker around the garden. Me in my gardening clothes, trying to look natural..not posed. It wasn't a great success and after a while I sarcastically asked him if he wanted me to pose in Lilly's bird Bath...we have so many of Lilly there.

He thought it was a brilliant idea...he would!! So, anything to get the photos over with and I could return to my gardening in earnest....you know me....I  obliged. Now here comes the BUT folks.......I forgot the bird bath had been moved for the mowing and I hadn't put it back properly. I had thought I would fix it later (that'll teach me to do it there and then). The result was, I sat...the bird bath didn't!! It was a bit like Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, except there were no kings men to the rescue!! Needless to say my DH couldn't stop laughing, he really howled...after he had got his "action shots" that it is. My dignity was a little bruised but after the initial bang no harm was done...and after all it's just about on par with the chaos I normally cause. So nothing new there either!

Have look for yourself...it's not one of my finest moments!!

Going, going

Gone!

My photographs just seem to pile up, so I set to work adding to Lilly's album. I wanted to use some other designers stuff that I have collected instead of making everything myself. I trawled through my stash and decided to use a photo mask by Carjazi Designs as the base of the page. In fact I enjoyed playing with the masks so much that I made a few of my own too. The picture is one of a sleepy Lilly, she was really tired and just about to have her bath and go to bed....note the soother in her mouth.  

Credits: Background Paper from Get Doggy by Irene Alexeeva, Photomask by Carjazi Designs, Sheep, Sheep Paper and word art by me, Font Mistral.

 

Before I go, today's little gift is a mask to cut your photo's into shape. It's easy to use as a clipping mask to "cut the photo to the shape of the mask. I use Photoshop CS2 and this is how I do it:

1. In photo shop open the mask and the photograph you want to use.

2. Move them into a new file (or the file you are working with). Make sure the mask is on the layer below the photograph.

3. Make the photograph layer the active one by clicking on it and then press Alt+Ctrl+G for the clipping mask.

And there you have it!! You can move the photograph layer around until you have it just how you want. Have fun!! You can use the mask for personal/S4H and CU.

 

 

You can download the mask here on 4shared

or here on Media Fire

Take care and have a great week!!!

Technorati Tags: layout,clipping mask,free download,scrapbooking,photoshop

Affirmations Work!

Hi all. It's a long post today as I have lots of little bits to share, a lovely layout, an other of my oops moments, a site to check out and a little gift. Loads of things!

What do you think of this gorgeous page? I love it!! Kim from Kim's Scrapping sent it to me using the Mary, Mary Kit and pictures of Lilly and Charlie. Kim is a wonderful designer and scrapper as well as being a very good friend. Thank you Kim for yet an other beautiful page for Lilly's album. This pages says it all about Charlie and Lilly...friends fur-ever. Great word art!

Now, my oops moment. I really need to stop having these before they lock me up or stop me going out alone!!

This is how it happened.......

On days when I'm feeling under par, or just plain unsure I affirm. I can hear you asking "You what?".  No, it's not some weird and wonderful strange habit! As if I have strange habits!! What I do is pick a phrase, sentence or similar that describes how I want to feel, not how I do feel and repeat it...over and over and over again! Yes, it's monotonous but it works for me. A real mood changer.

Yesterday I felt a bit wishy washy and not in the mood for much..so, the answer was to pick a phrase and change my mood. The ideal group of words was "I'm happy and bright and the day is just right". Ok, I didn't say it would be poetry..just a phrase. Of I went walking to the chemist to pick up my sons prescription.

"I'm happy and bright and the day is just right" I repeated silently in my head as I walked. I don't really think about the phrase as I do it. I just repeat it parrot fashion...I sort of brain wash myself into being positive. But........(yes, I know..with me there is ALWAYS a but) what I didn't realise was the quiet path wasn't as deserted as I thought.

The path runs alone the road but behind a lovely deep bed of shrubs. It felt quite pleasant...... it was being to work!!! I was at the end of the path near the chemist, when out of nowhere a cheery voice said "You're a real little ray of sunshine my dear". My ears perked up and for a brief moment I thought I was hearing disembodied voices. I have to admit it sent a chill up my spine, until I turned around and saw the elderly man behind me. Thank goodness, it was a real person!

He looked me in the eye and grinned "I'm happy and bright and the day is just right". What!! He knew my phrase!! I was confused..is this guy a mind reader or worse still...the chill was back, big time!! I think he must have noticed the panic flit across my face and my flaring nostrils because he gave a chuckle and told me that he had walked behind me down the path, listening to my chant. Nothing weird, just my large mouth letting me down again!! I had been saying it out loud!!

He was a lovely old gent and we shared a laugh when I explained my phrase for the day. But before we went our separate ways he said he hoped the phrase worked for me as it certainly had for him! Lol!! Now that's what I call a result...two happy people!!

A site for you to visit is Glynis's Photoblog. She very kindly invited me to post some of my photographs on it and I was delighted to join in. I picked some pictures that were taken on my forest walks last year showing some of the animals and plants I encountered. Glynis's blog is a great place to pick up some free photo images, all copyright free. The site is in aid of charity so if you like the images and decided to use any of them you can donate if you want...but it's not compulsory as all images are free to use.

Those of you who have stuck with me and are still reading, thank you!! It's a long one I know, but you will not go unrewarded..it's gift time. Today it's one that is for Personal, S4H and Commercial use. It's little flowers with a string edge. The download incudes the example borders, 4 coloured examples, a Psd grayscale file and a Psd flower template...so have fun and be creative!!

You can download them here at 4shared

or here at Media Fire

Well, it's getting late and so I'm off to get some rest. Take care and see you soon.

Technorati Tags: flirty flowers,commercial use ok,scrapbooking,free download,affirmations work

Fish and Chips

(Sorry this is a late post...Blogger wouldn't let me post it last night.)

So, I'm bad..not only that but I'm making other people bad!! I'm leading them into bad ways...well, one at least. Shame on me!!

I worked this morning, the whole time watching the rain fall in a never ending stream down the window. Where had all the sunshine gone? Gloomy was not the word!! But, I told myself sternly to WORK...concentrate! I know it's a holiday today, Good Friday, but I don't know about where you are...it seems that here holidays like today are vanishing fast and people are working them more and more. As the others were all working I thought I would too....but it was hard! Good Friday should be Hot Cross Buns and rolling eggs!!

I settled down and concentrated, well at least until 1.00pm then I'd had enough and thought..."to heck with this" and I grabbed my keys and off I went. I decided that despite the rain I was going to drive and pick up my Mum....... then go get some Fish and Chips (yep, we Brits are great at these) .  We could drive to a cliff overlooking the sea and just sit and watch the rain and the sea do their thing.

Not productive I know, but I thought it would blow my cobwebs away from what has been an unsettling week and get me in the Easter mood. The fact that I am helping clogging our arteries with fat is not the point..it is just once in a while after all....and today I didn't care!!

It was cold and wet and very windy....a bit of a disaster day weather wise...but it was beautiful. The tossing waves with the white horses ridding the crests, gray skies low and threatening and the rain falling sideways....I could feel the emotions and stresses of the week draining away as I watch nature vent itself.

In a calm moment..between wind and rain...I got out and took a couple of pictures. Look how gray and misty it was. The shadow on the horizon is the Isle of Wight, normally you can see it clearly but it was shrouded in sea mist...and this was afternoon!!

 

 

The windows of the car steamed up and I knew the chip smell would be there for days, but I was glad.....it would act as a reminder of Mum and I and the sea...and some gorgeous Fish and Chips!! I felt quite calm and at peace with the world as I sucked the salt and grease from my fingers.....yes, tradition says Fish and Chips have to be eaten with your fingers to taste their best!! So it was an afternoon well spent.

This week is the anniversary of Dad's death and so it is normally a thoughtful time for us, full of memories of when the sun shone and Dad was still here laughing. We had our space and quiet time...well not so quiet really...lot of talking as usual. But now...Easter..I'm ready for you. Bring on the family, lots of cooking, eggs and starting to explain to Lilly what Easter is all about..the latter could take a while...at least a couple more years!!

This weeks CU OK gift is a knotted frame. The download includes 1 grayscale frame and the samples that I have done. They can all be used for personal/S4H/CU.

You can download them here

Enjoy the rest of the holiday and be good!!

Technorati Tags: rain and sea,knotted frame,free download,commercial use OK,scrapbooking,graphic design

 

Friday and Commercial Use OK Day!

All's quiet on the western front...no cake disasters or newly sick people..that's some achievement! Hopefully I will get some work done this weekend and face next week a little more collected (well, I live in hope!).

Before I get onto the Friday freebie.....perhaps someone can help me with a little question that I have been asking myself. Why do men wake up looking the same as the night before but a lot of women...me included...seem to deteriorate during the night and it takes us a couple of hours to recover and get back to looking good, or in my case to looking human!!

At night I must lie on my face because when I wake up there are these mysterious crease marks all down it...and why won't my eyes open fully for at least 15 minutes? I fumble around and I swear that if anyone could see me they would think I was a very old lady or just plain hung over. I'm really not either but I temporarily look that way. It's a bit like Jekyll and Hyde.....at night someone else takes over my face and pulls it all out of shape. Believe me it takes a good helping of gravity, a lot of cold water and plenty of time before I can even think about putting makeup on!! Too early and it would be a disaster....like a kid let loose in the paint pot!! Is it me, my age or what?

I have to admit that when I have people staying or visit and stay over night the same holds true. There are exceptions that prove the rule and some of us ladies look stunning when they rise in the morning...how do they do that!!!!! One of these is my SIL..but she does spend an hour every morning when she got up locked in the bathroom..and NO ONE..but no one, can see her before she has had her bathroom time. So, my guess is that she is just like me...deteriorated in the night and spends the first hour putting it all back together.

Me...I don't lock myself in the bathroom I just give it time, about an hour....and then I start putting the bits back in the right place. It's easier that way because at least then my eyes are starting to focus again and the creases are fading.

It does how ever make me wonder about my original question....why do men look so normal in the morning? My DH looks like the same person when he wakes up...no strange night changes or creasing..so why don't I!!!! 

All wonder cures,  stunning tips or plain straightforward miracles gratefully received on this one!!

Now....

It's Friday and that's commercial use day! This week it's just a couple of simple journaling blocks in grayscale Psd and Png files plus 2 coloured examples. I hope you have fun playing!!

You can download them here

 

Have a wonderful weekend and take care...especially at night!!

Technorati Tags: freedownload,commercial use ok,journaling blocks,scrapbooking,graphic design

Saturday

It's me again.......still barking away but feeling much better. Yet an other weekend has come around and with all this sun I will spend the day tomorrow in the garden. Monday is due to bring back the rain.....yet again!! So, I had better use my time and get on with repairing the damage that Charlie has done since he joined us. For Charlie the garden has two uses........the primary one being to see how many of his toys and stuff he can bury when no one's looking and the secondary one is to run like a maniac!! He is still trying to workout why we have placed those damned bushes in his way!!

Today I have laughed so much my sides hurt......why all this manic laughter? I bought a joke book!! Me......a joke book!! I'm the sort of person who buys non-fiction and some novels......joke books.......bah!! But, I was in the bookshop and why I don't know, I picked one up and before I knew it I was sniggering..yes, sniggering out loud!!

I would quote some of them but I'm afraid it would make me seem juvenile if you knew the stupid sort of joke that appeals to my sense of humour. I don't do complicated......plain stupid jokes work for me. Mind you, ask me to repeat a joke and I ruin it...I always get the punch line in the wrong place or I forget a vital part...perhaps it's me that's stupid...not the jokes, lol!!

What with sunshine and jokes combined I have chuckled and coughed my way through most of the day. I got so full of hilarity at one point that my poor DH didn't know if I was having a really good laugh or a medical emergency!!

OK, enough of me having my funny bone tickled and on to scrapbooking! I'm afraid that this sun has really got me stuck in the Spring rut good and proper....today is some flowers. Yes, I know there aren't many out yet here in England but I can imagine can't I? These flowers say everything that I feel at this moment and they say it so beautifully.

You can use these for either personal or CU use. They are coloured...no grayscale I'm afraid...I feel much to sunny for that!! Have a look see.

You can download them here

Have a wonderful weekend...and stay safe!! See you Monday..perhaps I'll have finished my joke book by then...it's a thick book!!

Technorati Tags: flowers,freedownload,commercial use ok,cs2,scrapbooking,element,graphic design,jokebook

Painting Play Time

First let me apologise to Verabear......I will post a blinkie tutorial...but I had to post this first!! I have had such enjoyment from an other painting session that I just HAD to show you and share!!

I decided to make some brushes from flower pictures that I took in my garden last year and with that idea...the die was cast, an other after noon was gone. I started, made the brushes..but... the painting the flower was not as easy as it sounded. That is to paint with them and get a flower with any definition that didn't look totally flat.

I made pancake flowers, squishy flowers.....unrecognisable flowers...okay, you get the picture. Then I just when I thought I would call it a day I had a Eureka moment..it just clicked...from there on in I just played and tweaked things.

I know they are no Mona Lisa but there mine!!! I feel a real sense of achievement that I seem to have cracked it...well, at least until I want to do some more, lol. My DH even thought they were photo's. Okay, I admit it, he didn't have his glasses on at the time but he was still impressed.

A good thing about digital painting too is that you stay clean. As a child I loved painting and crayoning..my mum preferred me using the crayons as when ever I painted it was me and the paper. Most of the time I got more than the paper!! Me, I think it was really an art form...moving pictures and all that. I used to wonder what my hand would look like...say red. So, I painted it red to see.

One time after I had been to the circus, I thought I would love to see how I would look as the clown...so....yep, red nose, white face, black cross over the eyes..the works!! I thought I looked fantastic and I had remembered exactly what the clown looked like. My mum on the other hand was really unreasonable!! She was mad...I never could work out why. Instead of hailing me as SO clever...she got cross and WASHED IT OFF..none to gently either!!

I felt really aggrieved and in fact I remember thinking "What did I do now?". Yes, I had been told not to paint on myself but to me....if it was okay for the clown  then it was good for me. Wrong!!

But I digress!! Here are the flowers I made and I decided to share with you lovely people...if you like them. I do except that I'm biased and that I saw the early ones, lol. So these have got to look good to me after them!!!

They can be used for personal or commercial use, that's fine by me.

You can download the flowers here

So have fun and see you tomorrow with the tutorial.

Technorati Tags: painted flowers,scrapbooking,graphic design,free download,commercial use ok

I'm Doing the Challenge and It's Great!!

I hope that you all had a great weekend and that life is being kind to you. I have been trying hard to achieve my challenge goals and hopefully I'll continue with the effort after the challenge has finished.

But, today I'm going to do it differently.....the freebie first..... and then the update on how I'm doing with the challenge. Variety is the spice of life, so they say.

It's brushes and papers made using the brushes. They are twirls..at least that's the best to describe them. The brushes are quite large!! The download includes the brushes as an .abr file for Photoshop, but I have also included the .png files of the brushes too so that more people can use them. They're for Commercial and Personal Use.

You can download the brushes and Png files here

You know me... .I like to play and during my play time with the brushes I made some papers. I decided to include a download for the four sample papers too, just incase anyone is looking for some bright fun backgrounds.

You can download the Sample Papers here

So have fun playing with the brushes and papers and I'd love to see what you come up with.

Now for as update on how my challenge is going. I promise I won't get too mushy!! Lol!

On Day 1 morning I spent the time being the guinea pig for my middle granddaughter, Emma for her mock waxing exam.....sounds painful but she is so good at it that it didn't hurt a bit..well, perhaps a little for a second, lol!!

There was one catch...it was her Mock Exam....with the real thing being in two weeks. The down side was that she only did ONE side of my body. She is saving the other half for the exam. I don't really look strange with one side of my body hairless and the other side like King Kong...perhaps a little different but nothing that warm winter clothes and a brown paper bag won't hide, lol!! But seriously it was great to spend time with her and volunteer to help with something that was important for her.

Afterwards we went for lunch with her mum and dad (my eldest son) and my mum, four generations on a week day for lunch!! We all made time and it was special. In the evening I had the lovely Lilly to stay and telling her I loved her was so easy.

I covered on Day 1:

• Giving a little time and letting them know I cared. I told them I loved them (I have to admit that I normally do) and I spent some quality time with them all. I also thanked Emma for doing such a great job and told her that I appreciated her skills and talents.

Day 2, I spent with Lilly and my oldest granddaughter, Cheryl. We shopped and then came home for a late lunch and again some talk time. I have to admit that I'm not really a shopping person but I enjoyed the time looking around with them and just being in the same space. Lilly stayed over Friday night and made sure she got some more quality time...at 3,00am..and my undivided attention, lol!!

I covered on Day 2:

• Giving a little time and letting them know I cared and I also said sorry. I apologised that Cheryl and we didn't spend more time together as the norm. I also told her how marvelous she was with Lilly and how her help was appreciated.

Day 3, Saturday was mostly taken up with Charlotte and Lilly and the errands that I had my DH very kindly did for me so that the "girls" and I could take our time. Even though it was Valentines Day!! My DH is a star...and I told him so.

Life for Charlotte is difficult at the moment with study and her partner's job under threat. So we talked about some of the problems that she felt could pop up in the near future and how if we all mucked in we could deal with them. It's a scary time for people and they need to know that others are there to help spread the load.

I covered on Day 3:

• Giving a little time and showing I cared plus listening.

By Day 4, Sunday, I was a little frazzled around the edges but I had mum for lunch and spent part of the day giving my DH some much deserved TLC. Hopefully they both enjoyed the quiet time.

I covered on Day 4:

• Giving a little time and letting people know I cared. I also said sorry to DH that he had to do so much the day before and I assured him that it really was much appreciated.

Today Day 5, I really had to do some work!!!!! But I did manage to do some errands for my youngest son who really didn't have the time to do them himself and they were urgent...plus Charlotte had some bad news re her partners job and I spent some time listening and letting her talk on the phone.

I covered on Day 5:

• Listening and giving some time....and this evening I am going to call my friend Chris and say sorry for not having rung her for so long!!!

So there you have it..not much I know but I have enjoyed the time spent and the conversations that I have had. It is lovely to let people know you care in different ways....so give it a try, even in a small way.

Remember that one of the most precious things that you can give to someone is your time....so where you can...share it!!!

Well, time to run..I have loads to catch up on after taking so much time out, lol!! Have a wonderful day and see you soon!!!

Technorati Tags: free download,swirl brushes,abr and png files,challenge update,scrapbooking,graphic designs,commercial use Ok freebie

Insomniacs Unit!!

Before I get to the freebie...yes I know you all want one!! But first...my little problem. Was that a groan I heard? Who said not an other one? Honestly, it's not a bad problem...just a teeny, weeny one...that is DRIVING me MAD!!!

Today I feel like I need two matchsticks to prop open my eyelids...yep, I need some sleep!! The only problem is that recently...well, for quite a while really.....I can't get to sleep and to add insult to injury....when I do manage it, I can't stay asleep for any length of time either.

Result, one tired lady. I feel sleepy until I lie down and then suddenly...I'm wide awake. I've tried everything, hot drinks, warm baths, soft music, reading, not eating after 8.00pm, counting sheep...OK, so you get the message!! It is murder...or could lead to it, lol!!

I think part of it stems from my lack of "me" time during the day...no space to think personal thoughts and so at night my eager brain starts catching up and crams in all the things it didn't have time for in the day.

I decided to checked some herbal remedies for sleeplessness and some old Victorian ones. Some of them were sensible but some were scary, some just made me laugh and some really surprised me. I thought that drug problems were a modern thing and perhaps they are, but drug usage was rife in Victorian times...really it was!!

Even Queen Victoria took cannabis for insomnia...prescribed by her own personal physician no less. Lots more people took laudanum, an opium based drug, all highly illegal now. If you were poor gin seems to have been the favourite. But I think that I will give these a miss, sounds like the cure could cause more problems than the problem!!!

An other nasty thing about insomnia is the tossing and turning. Last night I ended up like a grub in a cocoon. I twisted so much that the duvet was wrapped around my legs..it made getting out of bed in the dark pretty risky I can tell you!! I felt like a grounded mermaid!!

One of the "sensible" sounding cures involved "emptying your mind".....sort of like putting out the garbage each night before you go to bed, I suppose. The only problem is my mind refuses point blank to be emptied!!! I empty it and it just fills itself up, perhaps I need a tap to shut it off?

I suppose I could try the insomnia cure that appeared in the Glasgow Herald in Victorian times. This one involved taking old fashioned yellow soap, and rubbing it into the roots of your hair until your head was lathered all over. Then you tied up your head in a napkin (what was that all about?), went to bed and washed out the soap in the morning. ...oh yes and you had to drink tea before this. That soap sounds yucky!! Definitely an other to pass on!!!

On some advice I tried the trick of getting up again and not returning to bed until you feel really tired..but I just end up feeling like a human yoyo!!! In bed, out of bed...feel exhausted..in bed....wide awake, out of bed..and so on!! That could go on for ever until I got too weak to get in or out of bed and ended up a heap on the floor!!

I found one that said to tie a wet hankie or rag around your wrist... this sounds a bit like a recipe for a damp night to me, so that one was consigned to the bin too!!

So any good insomnia remedies...that don't involve heavy sedation, electric shock treatments or nasty ingredients...are warmly welcomed!!!

For now...I am still tired and I have acquired more trivia to fill my energetic brain with!!

Today I have a little freebie I made a while ago but never got around to using. So, I thought I would share it. You can use this one for personal or commercial use. I hope you like the two scrolls. Download them and pop them on your page and add a drop shadow to bring them to life.

You can download them here

Have a great day and if your lucky a wonderful nights sleep!!!

Technorati Tags: cu ok freebie,free download,fantasy scrolls,insomnia

Stamped Frame, CU OK and some Forgotten Dreams

 

Ok, so are you all surviving the blog train and collab kit? That was some downloading, the hard drives must be bulging!!

Yesterday saw me having a mild flaky...well a large wobbly is more like it!! I went to get something off one of my external hard drives and it cheerfully told me "cannot find drive", aah!! Panic attack, panic attack!! Breath, breath!!

The next few minutes were fraught..that's putting it politely. I had cold sweats, hot flushes, rapid breathing and waves of panic..sounds a bit like the menopause, lol!! But...on closer investigation I discovered that the connection to my tower had just come loose....silly woman that I am!! The relief was HUGE!! Then I remembered that I had just backed it up, so my hysteria was wasted anyway!!! I need to make sure in future that I have my brain engaged before I start to panic!!

Today is a Commercial Use freebie and I have a new kit!!I finally decided that perhaps I should do a vintage sort of heritage kit. I deal in vintage information all the time but don't seem to make many heritage kits recently....so here it is, Forgotten Dreams!!

Have a look at the preview, I've added an extra image just of the papers so that you get a clearer look at them....these previews are so crowded, lol! If you like what you see then it is 40% off in my shops, as it's new...but hurry and grab the offer whilst it's on.

The kit consists of:
12 textured papers - 3 plain and 9 patterned (see the separate preview for a closer look)

33 elements - 6 bows, 5 ribbons, 1 lace, 1 gold border, 1 ink well, 1 feather, 2 Victorian cards, 1 pendant, 1 jewelled brad, 1 padded heart, 4 flowers, 3 frames, 2 word tags, 2 silhouette tags, 2 journaling blocks.

You can get the kit 40% off here

Today's freebie now. For those of you who snagged the Stamped Border that I had as a CU freebie a few weeks ago, good news.....I have a stamped frame to go with it for today's freebie. I hope someone out there can use it!!

You can download the Stamped Frame here

And we're not done yet!

I have some lovely layouts I must share!! The first two are heritage layouts done with Forgotten Dreams and they are wonderful!

This one is by Kim and it is an ideal heritage page, dates, photo and lots of beautiful little touches of elegance. A stunning page!!

Debi has made this layout so soft and aged it really goes so well with that photo. I love the cluster! Great work on this!

How's this for a cute little lady and a brilliant page!! This is an other little Lili and she is as lovely as my Lilly. Bettina made this layout of Lili's practice run for Halloween and she has done a great job dressing up the Harvest Time Frame. I love the ribbon and journaling she has added it's a great touch and really personalises it!! Love it and Lili!

Credits: Basic Frame Cen's Stuff Harvest Time Add on 5, other items "Trick or Treat" by Dawn's Scraps

An other brilliant page is Tracy's, this is one she made a while ago of her daughter on one of their Mexico trips. It's fun,bright and young! I love the folded corner and the way she has used the papers. Fantastic page!

 

Credits: Flora's Dream by Cen's Stuff, Folded Corner by Tracy

Then check out this one from Leaonna...this girl is a real genius!! I love the torn paper and look what she did with the lace mat!! Love it!! A beautiful page Leaonna, thanks for sharing it. That smile is priceless..the sheer happiness!

Credits: Flora's Dream by Cen's Stuff, Lace Mat freebie from Cen's Loft

Now I need to go and get a cup of tea...all this typing has worn me out!! Have a great day/evening and see you soon!!

 

Technorati Tags: scrapbooking,new kit,stamped frame,free download,forgotten dreams,layouts

I'm Stamping Mad!

Today my emphasis in this post is...new. New awards, new ventures, new journeys, new freebie...everything NEW!!! Except me!!

I must admit I could do with a new me...but that will have to wait until someone comes up with something really radical, lol!!

This week the news has been so full of financial matters that affect all of us no matter where we are....it's scary really how quickly things can change. People say it's because we have better communications now, so news good or bad, travels fast...but I'm not so sure that's the full story.

I know that in the late 1800's and into the 1900's we had a wonderful postal system here in England. For example men who worked in London and travelled in from the suburbs by train kept a supply of blank postcards. Why you ask? Because if at lunchtime they thought they may be late home for dinner they just wrote a postcard and dropped it in the mail. The postcard must have had wings because it was delivered to their home by late afternoon, around 4.30pm!! How's that for communication!! They had up to 10 deliveries a day to their houses just for normal mail...imagine that today...my postman would almost become a permanent resident in my house!! Lol!! So, good communication was there at least on a national level. It just shows that progress doesn't always improve something!!

OK...now for my gift to you for today. I have some stamped flowers, commercial use is OK. The preview above shows them unblended, the image below shows them with a blending mode of Colour Burn. The download included the two coloured flowers plus 2 grayscale, light and dark for you to make your own. All the file are in png format. I love stamped things and keep going back and trying to improve my technic...so expect more of this stuff in the future!!

Here are the flowers using Colour Burn Blending Mode, 100% (I didn't alter the opacity for the image, but you can!)...just thought I'd give you a peek at them and how you can play!! I have made them quite large so that they rescale quite easily too.In fact there are lots of things you do with, recolour etc...have fun!!

You can download the Stamped Flowers here

Some more NEW! I've got to tell you about-  a brand new award and a journey..with a twist!!The first is an award which is the creation of Nezzi (Jessica) and the other is a cute little caterpillar named Gogga, The idea with Gogga is to send him/her around the world by blog hopping. Gogga, is such a cute little thing, how could I resist..I got from Gabrielle, who's in Ireland. I love the logo for this one, those eyes! He reminds me of myself after too long at the PC, lol!!

OK, so first Nezzi's wonderful "Never Ending Energy Award". To find out a bit more about the award and why she made it take a look here.

Thank you I am really honoured that you added me to your list Jessica. Now I pass it on to three people and here are mine:

Candee of Mermaids Haven - she has so much energy and does so much..and I love her work!!

Kim of Kim's Scrappin - she always has so much to do but always finds time to help and be a good friend.

Sammy D, owner of Scrappin Digi Kreations - she has always shown patience and humour in all my dealings with her..she's a star to put up with my blonde moments, lol! I don't know if Sammy has a blog but I had to add her to this list, she so deserves it!!

Now for Gogga!! He is so cute!!

I choose these three to help him on his trip around the world!!

Melanie of Sweet as Mel as she is in South America

Stella of Stellarific Creations as she is in Australia

Glynis of Ghunibee Scraps as she is in Cyprus

Well, Gogga you really will be tired after all those miles, good job he has so many legs, lol!! I'm tired just adding all the links!!

The next new thing is certainly worth knowing about!It's one of the best new shops that I have noticed recently and it's one with a difference. It doesn't sell kits etc but services!! Doesn't matter if your a hands on digi scrapper or not these girls have something for everyone...they even do it for you!! It's a combination of Tragedy Anne and her co-owner Diana and their services are awesome ...blog design, S4H, designer services and loads more!! They have an opening promotion with 15% off a blog makeover, so if your blog needs a revamp drop by Keepsake Creators and see what they can do for you!! the offer lasts till the end of this month.

You've been so patient with my ramblings that you deserve the link for today's freebie! Thank you for bearing with me!!

Technorati Tags: stamped flowers,commercial use ok freebie,free download,scrap booking,graphic design