Afternoon

Well, I'm sure I've p----d off my reality friends. They've been so sweet trying to get me to join them for today's luncheon-I don't know why they put out so much effort for someone who just doesn't want to be there. I've tried and tried to get back up to speed with friends and family but it just isn't an easy thing for me to do nowadays. I'm getting closer to my cyber friends every day. I don't have to smile, act like I'm not in pain, satisfied or interested if I'm not. No pretenses-just the true old Liv. It really is freeing, isn't it!?

Speaking of family, I'm use to not hearing from my youngest daughter in Virginia (she has always preferred her daddy to me) but now I'm not hearing from Kim. She sent me an email yesterday and said she'd call later but she didn't. I don't like to call her because I never know what I'm ringing into! I just worry if she's taking good care of herself or not. I know the children are fine-she would never keep something to do with them from me, but she likes to hide her own condition from me. Maybe she'll come and visit tomorrow.

My friend, Jill, has an appointment with the doctor next week and promises to keep me posted. I do believe she is trying to get more sleep and rest so as not to irritate her condition.

Lynn is home from work today. If I felt better I'd use the car. I still need to get Joshua some Christmas gifts. I'll probably just shop online.

Well, I am trying to stay true to my word and posting more often. I updated all the old links to my freebies so cruise back through the postings and find them! I will start working on some more soon. I don't really have any problem at all working at the computer!

I did finally put a counter on this site. Of course the count is not correct since it started at zero and I just got it. But hey, who really cares? Ignor this----I took it off, it wasn't working correctly and was messing up the site.

Tootles!
Liv

First Chat!

Hey Y'all!

I went to my first chat today! It was at DigiShopTalk and it was with designer Misty Mareda. It lasted for an hour and I had a great time and hope to do that again soon! We even got freebies for attending! How cool is that?! I also joined their Gold Membership (even though I am already a member of the site) that includes 12 digital monthly kits. You get a kit a month and it's way cheaper than paying $3 or more per kit! The one thing I was surprised about was that I didn't feel out of my depth. There seemed to be all levels of competence in digital scrapping represented. I found out about some sites I want to visit and perhaps join and also how to navigate my way around a chat room! The participants were quick with PM'ing me to let me know what was what if I had a question. All in all, a very good experience.

My friend Flergs has been ultra busy lately, just creating away! I think have everything she's done and if I don't I will soon. I've done some more designing but not good enough to offer to anyone. I did make a frame like the old timey Polaroids use to use; I used it in my LO Happiness is . . . I'll post it and come back and put a link to it here soon.



Isn't Joshua adorable in this shot? It just makes me smile all inside to look at it! I really need to smile more because even if you hurt, smiling and laughing makes you feel better. I've really tried to concentrate on other things and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it so far. A friend's birthday was last week and the gang is getting together tomorrow to celebrate. I'd love to go but I'm just not up to it and don't think they really understand. Lynn is picking up a fair amount of the slack that this crap has kept me from doing. No, she hasn't vacuumed, but hey no one's going to come in and rob me of my dust and dirt! LOL! I have a friend that has a cleaning business and I know I could get her to come and clean up but I don't want anyone I know to see my mess. Right? Some things are better left unseen.

I haven't heard from Jill this week; I think I'd better email her and see what the doctor said about her condition. Keep praying that it isn't Fibromyalgia. I'm going to do that now. I'll try and post something sooner rather than later. I've been kinda remiss about this blog.

Tootles!

Little Scraps of Wisdom (or experience)

Hi everyone. Another Saturday going by. Life just goes by too fast once you hit 50! Honestly, you young people out there need to listen to me! USE YOUR TIME TO DO THE THINGS YOU LOVE AND BE WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE-NOW! Please don't put off doing or using something because you have to work or clean or whatever. Enjoy it while you can. Okay, 'nuff said.

Been working like a Trojan trying to get some scrapping done! I enjoyed it but-NO, no buts. I enjoyed it. I'm pleased with the finished BFF (best friends forever, for the uninitiated) LO. Isn't it funny how the LOs you make that you really love never get much attention but the ones you aren't completely happy with (or just despise) get kudos from others? Example: Joshua (cornered). It was for a specific challenge. I did it in about 30 minutes from concept to conception; don't care for it at all. It was chosen as Pick Of The Day (POTD) by Christy over at Serendipity Scrapbooks. I've gotten so many compliments on it. But BFF has attracted hardly any attention at all! What do you think?

Joshua:


BFF:
I'm toying with the idea of getting myself Photoshop CS3 for Christmas. Everyone around seems to have PSP. (What is PSP? PhotoShop Premium, PhotoShop Puppy, PhotoShop Pudding, or as my grandson would tell me PlayStationPortable? LOL! I guess I'm just a dummy, I went to Adobe and didn't see anything you could call PSP.) The CS3 is over $600 but they say an upgrade to it is only $199. If PSE5 to PS CS3 is an upgrade, I'm there! Or I could just forget about designing and use papers, elements and designs from some of the thousands (if not millions) of digi designers out here in cyberland. You know, I could get a lot, make that A LOT, of downloads for $200! Maybe I should rethink this. I currently have an eMail out to my friend Flergs asking her advice. Shoot, I could just buy her designs forever and not worry about the design part.

Didn't get to see my granddaughter Suzy this past week. She was busy seeing her "boyfriend" and her bio-mom so she didn't come down with Kim and Joshua. Suzy is going through teenage angst and Kim is going c-r-a-z-y trying to be a good mom! Oh, Kim. How well I remember your angst. I almost had a nervous breakdown during you and your sister's teenage years! Enjoy Joshua while you can-5 more years and he'll be angst ridden too! LOL!

As for my other two grands, well, let's just say that I miss them and would love to see them too! Tabba calls me once in a while and we talk, or rather she talks and I listen. She and Suzy are the same age and pretty much go through the same stages at the same time.

Remember when I asked for prayers for my friend Jill? Well I think we've hit upon what her problem is: Fibromyalgia. She promises to see the doctor this coming week to determine if this is true. I sent her the symptoms and she and her husband are pretty sure this is what she has. I hate this for her. Her children are very young and so is she; having such a debilitating disease will make life very hard, indeed. I guess you have to look at it from the standpoint that the headaches and fatigue could have indicated any number of Fatal Diseases which Fibro isn't. It just makes your life full of pain and misery.

I've purchased a mess of digi downloads this weekend (with Black Friday and all) so I need to load them into my organizer so I can digi-scrap.

Tootles!

Check out Flergs Post!

You've heard me discuss Flergs' darling children and especially little Kaylee. Well she's showing a group of pictures with today's post. They are adorable. The link is below!

Welcome to my world: I'm on a role!!

Welcome to my world: I'm on a role!!

I'm Still Kicking!

I guess y'all thought I'd kicked the bucket?! If you count pain as a killer, I shudda' been dead! This mess that's going on with my hands is now in my knees and hips. I will not give up!

I have completed some digital pages and one card. To have a look check out my galleries or click on the scrolling slide show at the right. The last one I did today and is called 'lil DIVA. This is my daughter, Kim, back in 1977 and she was eight years old! Such a cutie. Her sister should have been on this LO too but she never made it to the stage which is a shame because she was just adorable. I used a bunch of Flergs' elements and layer styles on it. I really love it except for the fact that I forgot to add drop shadows prior to saving it! The card is a sympathy card I did for my previous brother-in-law and his family. His wife suddenly passed away-a great shock to us!

Speaking of Flergs, she so is awesome. As busy as she is, she takes the time to email me. Oh ---and guess what (all you digital scrappers)!? She has posted a permanent link to her Freebie Glitter Styles! Go to her blog and get them! I've now got all her papers and butterflies! WooHoo!

I'm working on some more Freebies for you also. But the key word here is "working." That's what I'm doing but they aren't anywhere near finished yet. Don't forget to check my previous posts for the Freebies I did complete! The links are still active.

I hope y'all are all planning on having a big Thanksgiving family day! I don't know what my Virginia daughter is doing but my North Carolina daughter is going to work at her church helping with serving meals! You got to admire someone who is disabled but still gives till it hurts! Afterwards she and her family are going to see their South Carolina relatives. As for me and mine, I'm not ever cooking a turkey again! Last year I cooked this big ole bird and for some reason the smell made me ill. Then when the day was over and I had to pluck the bones clean to save for later meals, I got very "physically" ill (you know what I mean). Haven't been able to eat much in the way of meat since then. I exist mostly on fruit, pasta, tomatoes, black olives, and cereal. I am making the rest of the fixins' though. Candied yams, stuffing (dressing is what I call it), brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce and the like. Got a roasted chicken for Lynn to eat-not me!

I am truly thankful that I was born and raised in the USA! with all of the cyclones, typhoons, genocide, war, and famine going on. I need to stop complaining about my health and get on with my life.

For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, Have A Happy One! For those of you in other countries, Have A Happy Day!

Tootles!

Not So Good

Hey Y'all,

Not feeling too good lately. Hope I get better soon because I'm really wanting to upload some papers that I started designing. I have always liked to design things, I just never thought I would be designing something for others! What fun!

I haven't made a LO in a while, just don't have it in me right now. I want to; but just can't seem to get out of this funk.

Keep your eyes open for a major freebie collaboration by some of the best digi-designers around. Check out Sugar Snap Scraps daily for this biggie! Can't wait to see what they come up with! (Of course my fav designer, Flergs, is part of the design team!)

Tootles!

Butterfly Heaven/New Layouts

Hey Y'all! Well, another night without sleep. I paper scrapped (just a little) and no part of my body is cooperating with my brain except 8 fingers! LOL! I'm sure it's going to get better soon because I have not stopped doing everything anyone has suggested. I think the combo of Fibro and arthritis is very hard to maintain.

The Flergs Butterflies finally came online!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! Of course I downloaded them immediately! Can't wait to think my LO through and use them! Flergs is so cool. I also got some photo actions. These are things I have no understanding of but Flergs is a master at making. Click on the link in this paragraph to see and purchase the Butterflies!

Here are my pages. I used some of my door prize winnings on the Halloween page. I also used the Queen & Co. felt cutwork self stick ribbon. It is beautiful, but it was a long, drawn out, process for me to remove the backing and adhere it to the page. This was the first time I used the self stick, I think I'm going to like the plain much better (that is if I keep trying to paper scrap).


How are you liking the Bling Circles? The Daisies? Let me know.

Tootles!

Some New Digital Pages

Yes, I know, it's been a long time since I posted. Things have been a little topsy, turvy around here. A cold is luming around me giving me head and body aches. And things in my daughter's home weren't that terrific this weekend.

I plan to paper scrap today no matter what! I have done some digital pages though for the Daily Challenges over at Serendipity Scrapbooks! Miss Kristen seems to always have points, to give out to forum scrappers, that discount her online store items. I need 4 entries to be eligible for the drawing. Here are my pages for this week so far, Devoted and Splish Splash!:

Devoted was entered in the challenge "A gathering of Accents." I stacked the photos myself because I'm a dork and couldn't get the PS action to work!

Splish Splash! was entered in the challenge "Making a Splash." This challenge called for paint or ink splashes that were used for the background of titles or journaling.

There is a "layered rub-on" challenge that I want to try today. There is also a "make your own 3-D embellishments" challenge. All of these need to be posted by Wednesday so I don't think that's going to happen.






I have a Freebie ready for you. It is circles of bling. Bling circles are all on one page of a .png file. Simply lasso(choose), copy and paste or lasso(choose), drag and drop. There are four colors on the page but you may be able to generate more using the Hue & Saturation action of PSE or PS. Let me know what you think!

I'm off to paper scrap! Tootles!

Just A Quick Note!

Hey Y'all! Well it's Friday afternoon here in NC and I'm getting prepared for the weekend which includes all my errands (since I do not have access to a car during the week). I need to plan the menu for the next 7 days and shop online. I was hoping to get some digital and paper scrapping done today but I don't think that's going to happen! My hands don't feel too bad right now and I'd like to take advantage of that but it will have to be after I get all my chores out of the way.

I made some more digital purchases last night! They were from Scraphead and one of them was Flergs' Bling Alpha. Super cool! I'm going to check back later and see if Carol has posted any more of her elements and actions. I want her butterflies!


Check out my new blinkies! I have one for Flergs and one for Serendipity Scrapbooks. The Scrappy Gourmet doesn't have a blinkie so I just altered their logo to fit. Gotta give my girls their props!

If any of you out there have Winstream Broadband, would you let me know? I'm having trouble with very slow downloads and they are saying it's the file provider but I don't think so. Just want to compare notes with you; I might be changing to Roadrunner if things don't get better after the technician comes by on Monday.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to be making some jeweled circles for download this coming week so check back so you don't miss them!

Tootles!

I Uploaded the Daisies!

Hey y'all! I won another prize from Serendipity's Crop Jamboree! It was for the digipage "Christmas Morn" that I entered in the Colors! Colors! Colors! Challenge. I've just started doing digi so it was a real surprise that I won this on merit!!! I really want to paper scrap soon; Kristen has a great November kit with the blues that I love. Check-out MasonsA1Mom's Design Team Posts in the Serendipity Gallery and you'll know what I mean. Gorgeous! All of the Design Team projects for this month are awesome, I just find that I am partial to Stacey's work.

FREEBIES!

Liv's Lovelies (at least these 9) are finally a reality! Here are the daisies that I promised! I like them and I hope you do too. They are 300ppi and do not have drop shadows. Oh, and they are .png files so they do not have a background. If you experience any trouble let me know. Let me know how you like them so that I will know wether to make other elements for you. Also include any request for other colors and I will do my best to make them for you. If you decide to use them, I would love to see your work so leave me a link and I'll leave you some luv!

Here's the link to download the Sketch I did last week in case you didn't see it. Sketch

Hope everyone's having a great week!

Tootles!

Whew! What a Weekend!

I had an amazingly good time at the Serendipity Cyber Crop Jamboree! I won a door prize on Friday and found out this morning that I was one of the drawing winners for the altered box challenge! You know how proud I am of finishing that box! Even though I was not able to paper scrap along with everyone else, everyone seemed to want me there; it was really cool. Maybe the next time there is a cyber crop my hands will be better and I can crop too!

Kristen has recently revamped her online store and it's looking good! She carries a lot of items that I cannot get at my other favorite site and ships immediately. The forum at Serendipity is so much fun. There are not a lot of scrappers on there at any given time, but someone is always around. Great homey atmosphere and you really feel welcomed. Serendipity is now hosting a Shameless Plugs Challenge. Isn't that title a riot! LOL! I don't think Kristen's mind ever slows down. I've already put plugs at my old blog and have some on this one too! But if I won one of the drawings I don't know what I'd do with the gift certificate! I have so much invested in scrap organization and supplies you wouldn't believe me if I told you. And since my hands aren't working-who knows if I'll ever need paper scraping supplies again!

Speaking of paper supplies reminds me of digital supplies and what I found last night! As always, I checked out Flergs' blog last night and she was going on and on about a new digital designer she had found named Tracy Ann. I scooted over to check her out and WOW she's good! I bought seven kits! They are awesome! I can hardly wait to try them out (especially the one pictured at left) but couldn't today because Kim came down with the children and we went cruising at the mall.


I also wanted to get some more of my elements uploaded and publish a link for you to pick up some Freebies but I promise to get that done within the next 48 hours (God willing). I thought I was going to get it all done this weekend but I got hooked on the Cyber Crop. Well, need to go back to the old blog site and finish up over there. If I don't come back and post tonight, I'm sure to do it tomorrow!

Tootles!

I Finished The Box!

I finished the altered box challenge! I was concentrating so hard on getting it done without hurting my hands that I got a major/Killer cramp in my back. The pictures don't do the box justice because I'm not a photog! I try though.

I need to go because The Amazing Race! is suppose to come on after the Colts/Patriots game and I don't want to miss it! I'll post more tomorrow and let you know how I did at the challenge!

Oh! Guess What? Flergs commented on my two previous posts! I feel like I've been tagged by a movie star or something! LOL! I never thought I'd communicate with someone in Austrailia!

Tootles!

Great News! and Busy Weekend!

Really great news for me! My friends prayed about the lost files on my hard drive and Yipee! everything came back! I was so happy that I was caught speechless. Didn't let anyone know until today because I didn't want to jinx it!

Such a busy weekend. Serendipity Scrapbooks is having a Cyber Crop Jamboree that started yesterday and goes until noon on Monday. I've never participated in a cyber crop (or any for that matter) before but it turns out to be a lot of fun. You get to "talk" with others in the forum in the different "threads" of challenges.

Today is Digital Scrapbooking Day! All the digi sites are having great freebies and discounts and I picked some up myself. I really like those mats that have been offered lately and plan on using the ones I have more and more. I'm going to apply some of Flerg's glitter to them for another Christmas page. Cool huh?

I have been working on the altered box challenge over at Serendipity Scrapbooks, but it is taking me forever. My hands just don't want to cooperate! I did a digi page for the Colors! Colors! Colors! challenge and I think it turned out pretty good.

I am going to make some digi element files available very soon, I just wish I could figure a way to zip the blasted things without having to buy a zipping program. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and figure a way to do it!

Joshua is doing fine today. I was upset with Kim because she let him play soccer today! He is not suppose to do any exertive exercise until after next Wednesday. She said she just couldn't keep him from playing and he played goalie so he didn't overdo it. Phut! What do I know? Suzy was home sick when she went to pick her up for lunch and to have a visit with me. They decided to stay up there in Cabarras Country. (I think Kim was a little afraid I'd jump on her about Joshua if she came down. LOL!) But I do miss them.

You need to check out Flerg's blogspot today. She is designing for Scraphead now! Wow! She is awesome.

If you need to catch up to me prior to these last two days at my old website, just follow the link in today's title.

Toodles!

The Trick's on Me!

Hello all.

First the most important thing: Joshua's surgery went well! He's recuperating just fine. Thanks for all the prayers. Kimberli sounded much better after the surgery too; she was getting dangerously depressed about it.

All of you who offer up prayers could help me out with a couple of things, if you would: 1) Kimberli's physical and mental health 2) My friend Jill's headaches 3) My bad thumbs. Thanks with all of my heart.

Trick or Treat?

How about I didn't turn on my porch light last night because I didn't want to answer the door while home alone: NO Treats! What was the Trick? The Universe is conspiring against me! I cannot use my hands to paper scrap so I started working with digital scrapbooking. You know, I told you that I was going to make some elements and offer them as Freebies for download? Well, all the hours I have put into the .png files and all the downloads I did myself are G O N E !!!!!!! I have been storing these files on my 160GB external hard drive thinking they'd be much more secure than on the internal hard drive-NOT! All of my files are gone. Nothing to show for all my work. Friends have said I should put out a call on some of the forums I frequent for help but I just don't have the heart to work on it right now. I was so pumped about the daisy files I did yesterday-why me? Want some crackers and cheese with that WINE? I will try some basic cures but that's all. My computers and programs have zapped me for the last time; it's ridiculous that I can never count on my expertise in computers and programs but everyone else can. My friends (and family) call me all the time wanting help with their computer problems and I fix them! Bummer, maybe I need prayers for my mental health too.

Chat soon!

(for those of you new to my blog, the link above will bring you up to date on this new site but only for a short while!)