Happy Birthday Suzi!

Hey Y'all,

Sorry I haven't been around lately; things haven't been going too good around these parts. Kim and the children came down on Christmas Eve and we had dinner and opened gifts and watched the children play. When they left to go back home it was very quiet and it was somewhat unnerving since our Christmas Eve's usually last 4 to six hours but not this year. Kim drove herself and the children down and she was trying her best to put on a happy face and be 'perky.' When she got back home to her husband (who didn't come down here) things went bad. Let's just say that it would be wonderful if everyone was considerate of each other and put their loved one's best interest at heart. Kim and I stayed on the telephone for over an hour and a half discussing her and Joshua's evening. Things have never gotten any better. It is so sad.

Sunday is my younger daughter's birthday. Suzi will be 37! I remember her infancy like it was yesterday; she was the most loving and joyful little toddler you ever saw. She still lives in my home state of Virginia, with her husband and two children. They are a very happy little family but I sure miss being able to see them whenever I want. I made Suzi a web card using elements from Lori Davison's Faerily Moonlit Kit, available at Scrapbook Graphics.com and Newlife Dream's Halfway to Paradise available at Shabby Pickle Designs. These two ladies really know how to put together wonderful kits.

The layout is clickable.

I am planning on uploading the photos like I said I would, it's just that I keep having these headaches and it slows me way down. I also want to make some Photoshop Actions that will help make working with it a little easier for you.

Love,
Liv

Uncle Wilber on U-Tube

Just realized I could put U-Tube on my blog! Duh, what a ditz I am sometimes! The name is spelled wrong but most people spell it with a 'u' not an 'e' like my grandma did. My cousin Kent made this video right after Uncle Wilber died and it has been very popular on U-Tube:

Just thought I'd share!

I have some new photos of Joshua. He was with me these last couple of days so Kim could do a little bit of Christmas for him. We made a gingerbread house, cooked an apple pie, played, watched movies, and had a good time together. He's such a little love; he's nine years old and is still small enough to sit in his old Nanny's lap and be cuddled! I'm sure he will start growing really big soon (my other grandson, Timothy, did!). Once I edit them to a smaller size I will upload and share them with you. That probably won't be soon because I need to finish my Christmas cooking.

Kim isn't doing good at all. She called last night to ask me if I thought she might have MS. She is having problems walking and is falling a lot but I think it is a side effect of the diabetes wrecking havoc with her blood pressure and everything else in her body. I am going to see if I can get her to come down here after Christmas and stay for a while since Joshua will be out of school.

Suzy is back from the Bahamas and is all tanned. She had a really nice time and brought us back some gifts and photos. I will post her 'shipboard' photo soon!

Here is a short video of the 'tree' at night! LOL! Fake packages and all!




Merry Christmas!
Liv

I Actually Finished A Layout!

Hey Y'all!
Can you believe it? I can't! LOL! I finally did a layout! Actually I did two but I kind of cheated: I did one and inserted two photos and reversed one page. Well, at least I DID one! It's been months since I sat here and played with stuff but I just couldn't resist all the beautiful Christmas kits we have at out mouse tips! Don't you just love those snow covered and flocked trees? Gorgeous!

Snowflake Brushes & Paper fromTraditional Christmas Kit by CL Graphics; PineTree by Russian/Dutch Heart Designs;PewterFrame and Paper #13 of VintageNostalgy by NewLifeDreams;Pointsettias & wide ribbon of HappyHolidays by NLD;Birds from Mom's Garden by Helen Ehrenhofer;FlockedTree from Noel Victoriana by Creative Victorian Designs;Red Ribbon of Cultured Prosterity by Creative Victorian Designs;Adobe Photoshop CS3

I spoke with Kimberli a while ago and she was sounding more rested and happy to be alive today! It's always great to get my heart lifted by her being 'perky!' Suzy has already left for the Bahamas and I didn't get a chance to wish her well and tell her good bye because I got my days mixed up and thought she was leaving tomorrow morning. I guess it would have been too much to ask for a teenager to call her grandmother to say good bye, huh? Guess I wouldn't have either, at her age.

Okay, you asked for this so I'm going to share. But NO smart-A remarks, okay? I have a perfectly beautiful seven foot lighted tree in my attic (along with 50 years worth of decorations) but . . . this old lady just cannot get it all down. I refuse to ask my friends to trek up there and bring all that down and then ask them to take it all back up in January when they have all their own Christmas stuff to do. Last year I got one of those Norfolk Island Pines from Costco and mini-decorated that but no lights and it just doesn't seem right to sit in the den and not have Christmas lights. So . . . my light weight, lighted, tacky, tacky, tacky, unstable, Christmas tree:


I told you! LOL! It's so tacky and it's leaning precariously even though I sat it on the hearth for stability! But now I do have my Christmas lights and when I put those fake packages around the base it will be really festive! LOL!

Hope you are all having a wonderful, homey, family December. Merry Christmas and thanks for the prayers!

Hugs,
Liv

Kimberli Update

Hey Y'all,
Thanks so much for all the prayers offered in Kim's behalf! For those of you new to my blog, Kimberli is my adult daughter who is disabled with Type 1 Diabetes. Kimberli has two children, a husband, 3 dogs, and 2 cats (was 3 but we lost Murphy to old age last week). She is the oldest of my two children and lives about 50 minutes away in Concord, NC (home of Lowes Motor Speedway). Here is a photo of Kim and my Dad last February; he passed away in August at the age of 89.


Kim is being released from the hospital today. Last night they told us that Kim would likely have to have another blood infusion because her hemoglobin count was low. Today they say they were 'mistaken.' Anyway, she is going home to be with her family which is a good and bad thing. It's really good because she gets to see her daughter before she (Suzy) leaves on a cruise to the Bahamas with some family friends and she gets to see her little Joshua who has been missing his mommy. The bad part is that I don't feel she is stable enough to head for home just yet. What do I know?
Hugs,
Liv

PS: Thank you from the heart for all your sweet messages and comments on my kits.

Another Link

Had some complaints about my beloved 4shared. I opened an account at Media Fire and uploaded the CATW kit; it took forever . . . . Here's the Link if you need it. Rapid Fire was also suggested but several of the designers are using Rapid Fire and it would only let me download 1 part of their kits! No thanks, thanks anyway.

Kim is still in ICU. They put a new pic line in her right arm and left the dirty one in her left arm. They still have not received the results back on the lab cultures so it might be a couple more days before she can go home. While they were putting in the new pic line her breathing was shallow and labored so they rushed her down to xray so they could check if the tubing had gone in the wrong place! Hospitals, can't live with them or without them.

Anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably priced gift for a 9 year old boy? He's got all the XBox and PSP games anyone could want and every other toy I can think of so I'm at a loss to know what to do for him. Everyone else is getting promises for Christmas but he's too young to understand why Nanny didn't get him anything for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas! You know I said I haven't had a Christmas tree in years because I'm not able to bring it and the decorations down from the attic? Well I bought a really, really, tacky spiral indoor/outdoor tree today! LOL! I couldn't resist and the price was fabulous. It has really gross green tinsel wrapped around the wires and large orangery red, bright blue, white, green, and school bus yellow light covers with a school bus yellow lighted star on top! LOL! I'd take a photo but I'm just not ready to share this creation with y'all yet!

I see a number of you really like my CATW offering. I'm really pleased that you like it and hope to see some layouts using some of the elements or papers. Hint. Hint. Think you could post me a link or two to your Christmas layouts this year? Thanks, I'd enjoy that. I see where my creations are downloaded by the hundreds but I sometimes wonder if those are real people doing the downloading! I hit the galleries on a regular basis and I hardly ever see my stuff being used. :-( Makes me wonder if I should just stop putting out the effort. Anyway . . . hope you do enjoy this one and don't forget you can use the link above if the 4shared one (last post) isn't working. I've never downloaded anything from Media Fire so I don't know what to tell you to expect. Good luck!

Merry Christmas and Happy Scrapping!
Liv

It's Here! Christmas Around the World Mega Kit!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas Y'all! The Christmas Around the World Blog site is up and running! Get my part to this tremendous, world wide collaboration then go to the blog site to get the rest of the links. You can click on the CATW blinkie to link up to the blog. You can go HERE for the download of my kit! There are 18 patterned papers, 31 elements, 3 overlays, and 1 set of brushes; everything is high resolution so you can print out any elements you'd like to use for cards, tags, bookmarks, etc. So many links are going to be available for this blog train that I am sure I won't be able to get to every one of them so if you see something fantastic, hop back over here and let me know about it, okay? Thanks! Happy blog hopping everyone!
My previews:


Love,
Liv

Kimberli

Hey Everyone. Kim has an infection in her blood. Her white cell count is very high and they are currently trying to find the root cause. It is probably the 'pic' line that is in her upper arm that is used for her daily IV bag of fluid. The pic line has two exterior tubes and one of them has been clogged for a while-why they have left that in is beyond my understanding. Now they want to put a new one in but not until the current infection is cleared up-how can it clear up if the source is the current pic line? This is so frustrating-the doctors never listen to reason and think they should be blindly followed. If Kim always let them do what they want she would have died by now. They are always trying to give her insulin when she has already been given some-that could put her into a coma! And last night they didn't give her her nightly shot so they wanted to put her in ICU on an insulin drip because the count was elevated this morning! Duh! Of course it was elevated-she needs insulin to control it not be put on a drip that would take it lower than safe! Sorry, just ticked off at how unfair life is to her. Wonder what's in store for her now? Thanks for your well wishes and prayers.
Love,
Liv

Part 10 of my Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all!
Here is part 10 of my traditional Christmas kit. It includes an uppercase alpha with numbers and symbols. Be sure and read the included instructions if you are not familiar with "sheet" elements. You can download this part from this link HERE! As always, hope you like it! I see where a lot of designers are not using 4shared anymore for their downloads because of the new rule of having to register to leave a comment. I contacted them and you can leave a comment if the file holder has designated that comments may be allowed! I love 4shared and really appreciate the fact that they give me so much space for free!


Kim continued to vomit through the night. She got behind in her fluid intake and her sugar levels were very high. She called me around 7pm tonight and said her husband was taking her to the hospital. She has really done well the last few weeks. When the vomiting starts, it doesn't stop until some mighty powerful meds are given to her at the hospital. She was doing fine until she ate dinner last night which her husband cooked. It wasn't tainted or anything, she just cannot eat certain things and I'm sure she didn't want to hurt his feelings, so . . . . I pray she will come back home tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Her daughter is going out of the country and Christmas is coming and oh my! Joshua is going to have a fit if his sister leaves and his mom isn't home yet. Pray with me . . .

Thanks,
Liv

Part 9 of My Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all,
Here is another part to the kit! These are photo ornaments that can be used on layouts or your Christmas cards. Just layer your photo behind the ornament for a custom fit. There is another ornament hook included in case you didn't get the other parts of the kit which contain ornaments. Everything is in 300PPI for crisp printouts without drop shadows. When adding shadows be sure and layer your photo, ornament, and then merge before doing so. There were trees included in part 4 that can also be used with the ornaments. Hope you enjoy! Go HERE to download! I still have more to go so check back in!


Kim is not feeling too good this evening; the vomiting has started again. Poor Joshua is so worried about his mom, he feels such frustration because he can't make her feel better. I'm sure he is also thinking that she's about to go back to the hospital again and he still has to go on with school, homework, chores, etc. I know how hard this is on him and wish there was something I could say or do to help him understand.

Hope y'all are having a great week.

Love,
Liv

Part 8 of my Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all!
Here is part 8 of my traditional Christmas kit! It includes 4 .png overlays, 3 3.5" x 5" overlay frames, and 1 set of 5 brushes. I stayed up most of the night doing them but don't worry-I loved it! If I weren't such an anal personality I could just do them and let them be but I keep going back to tweak everything over and over. LOL! How did I ever get my children raised? I didn't, I'm still trying to 'tweak' them! Anyhow, the link for this part is HERE!



I still have at least one more part of this kit to go and if I get it finished I might do some more that I have been thinking of-I love doing this and giving them away! It's so much fun to read what scrappers have to say about my work and I get a kick out of the ideas that y'all pass along too! And Kim is staying pretty stable (Praise the Lord!) so it frees me up to come up with more ideas of my own.

Have a Merry Day!
Liv

Part 7 of my Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all!
So sorry to take so long to get this part of my Christmas kit to you. I spent hours trying to make a pom pom bow like I was picturing in my head and my thoughts didn't process in Photoshop! LOL! I finally got it finished though and I hope you like the end results. I'm really trying to hurry and get this one finished because the Christmas Around the World kit goes online on the twelfth (Next Friday at 12:00am!). You can get today's part HERE!














Hope your weekend has been lovely!
Hugs,
Liv

Part 6 of my Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all!
Here is Part 6 of my Traditional Christmas Kit. Hope you like it; it is a quick page for a boy's Christmas photo. I hope to make a girl's quick page next. You can down load it HERE!


Love,
Liv

Part 5 of my Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all,
Here is part 5 of my Traditional Christmas Kit. There are 15 high resolution (300ppi) patterned papers that may be used as background papers for layouts, backgrounds for printed greeting and postcards, as texture and clipping layers in PSE and PSCS2 & above. Make a frame for your photo or even print them out to wrap small gifts! I hope you like them-I am trying to figure out if 4Shared has disabled comments because I have not received a single one in DAYS even though all the parts are continuously being downloaded! Anyhow, the link can be found HERE!



Kim is doing okay. We had another scare yesterday because she had an anxiety attach. They are hard to distinguish between them and a heart attach, even the emergency response teams cannot tell the difference. She was with her family at a restaurant after church when it struck. Only thing we can figure to cause it was the fact that she had on short sleeves and people could see the 'pic' line that is inserted in her upper arm. She is better today but very tired from the attack and the weekend.

Hope all is well with my great blog friends!

Love,
Liv

Part 4 of My Traditional Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all,
Just stopping by to post the latest part of my Christmas kit. I hope you are enjoying these goodies-I have really enjoyed making them and am learning more and more everyday about Photoshop. When I look back at the first Freebies I offered I'm dismayed by what I thought was good! This part of the kit has Christmas Ornaments and includes the trees that I forgot to put in Part 3, oops! I still have borders, overlays, brushes, clusters, alpha, and papers to make! Oh well, if they don't get finished quickly they can always wait and be used on those Christmas day layouts. You can get the download link HERE!


Kim has been doing pretty good the last several days. She is still reeling from the loss of her Murphy though. Her family decorated their home for Christmas today. I don't decorate any more. I want to but I'm not able to set up the tree and carry all the ornaments and such down from the attic. I have a few small items I like to put around but mostly I use fruit and flowers for the holiday deco.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. I also pray that you were not included in those people that went crazy over Black Friday and caused death and injury in order to obtain good sales prices. Please include India and Nigeria and all those who were wounded or killed in your prayers tonight; I cannot believe what's happening to our world. The weather around Charlotte has been balmy the past couple of days; we never know what tomorrow will bring anymore. I don't even pack up my summer pj's because I need them every once in a while.

Enjoy the freebie!

Love,
Liv

Happy Thanksgiving America!

Hey Y'all! Hope all is well and those of you in the US are having a wonderful family Thanksgiving. And all of my friends across the world, I hope you have a lovely day too! I'm thankful for each and every one of you.

I have another part of my Traditional Christmas Kit ready for you! It's 8 bright & shiny Christmas Ball Ornaments with a hook and 1/2 of a Christmas Tree! You can see how I used the half tree in my Tuesday post for ideas on what to do with these. Go HERE to download!

I have loads of ornaments for the tree as well as packages and toys to go under it. You can make your own printable Christmas cards with these elements as I made them all at 300 PPI. I hope you like using them!

Hugs,
Liv

Part 2 of My Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all,

Here is a quick page preview I made from the Christmas Around the World Kit that will be available here on December 12th. I decided to make this so you could get some ideas on how to use the ornaments and elements I'm making for the Traditional Christmas Kit. Calling it Part 2 simply because it's easier! If you would like to have this quick page go HERE!


Kim was having a pretty good day today until a couple of hours ago then all hell broke loose in the grocery store. I don't know how she continues to put herself out in public and take the humiliation I know she feels when she loses control. She's a better person than I am, for sure. Amazing. She did tell me that when she has to have the 'pic' line replaced they are going to put in a permanent 'port' in her chest for the daily fluids she takes. It will be better in that she can take showers and baths without having to wrap herself in plastic wrap and tape to keep the pic line protected. If you are familiar with how Chemo is dispensed in cancer patients then you know what kind of port I'm speaking of. There is surgery to put it in and also to take it out when it is no longer needed.

Please continue to keep my girl in your prayers please.

Love,
Liv

Part 1 of my Christmas Kit

Hey Y'all!
Here's Part 1 of my Christmas kit. There will be many more to follow and when you finish downloading all the separate parts you should have a good sized traditional Christmas Kit! Be sure and check back often or subscribe to my blog so you will know when I post the remaining parts. This part includes six vintage type postcards: 3 regular printable 4 x 6 and 3 printable photo 4 x 6. Just layer your favorite holiday photo under the png files and transform it to the size you prefer! There is also a postcard back if you'd like to print on the reverse side of your cardstock for a professional look. Please post me a link in the comments section to your gallery or blog so I can see what you did! Just click HERE to download.


Love,
Liv

Sad News and Big Scare!

Hey Y'all!

What a week this has been. The weather has been frigid down here in the South and we are having a hard time adjusting to these temps.

On the 'Kim' front this week we had a very sad occurrence in that my Grandkitty, Murphy, passed away on Wednesday. Murphy at my house.

Murph was getting close to twenty years old and had been Kim's constant companion for all of them. He briefly lived with me (@6 months) about 10 years ago along with his mommy. Murphy was one of the greatest kitties that ever lived, he was intensly loyal to his family, ate anything you gave him, accepted and made friends with all the new pets that Kim and her brood could throw at him, and never ever forgot a friend. One time he thought the family dog was going to hurt me so he jumped him and sent that Shaggy dog running and yelping down the hall to hide out for a day! You could always depend on him getting in the refrigerator when the door was opended and it wasn't full and being under your feet when you wanted to cook. He has left a big void in all our lives and I'm sure he will never be forgotten as long as one of us lives.

Murphy with Diamond, one of the many dogs he put up with!
In Kim's kitchen!

Murphy with his last kitty companions, Little Bit, and BB (who is the brother to my kitty Peaches).
All 3 of them asleep on the sofa in 2006

On Thursday morning, at 10:00am, I received a call from Kim that was harrowing (to say the least)! She was in her car after shopping at Big Lots and she had a shaking and pain attack. She was hurting so bad that I felt the hurt through the telephone and asked her to call 911. She called her husband, who had just gone to bed (shift worker), and he said he'd be right there-then thought better of it and called her back to tell her to call 911. I think he was genuinely scared she was having a heart attack, I know I was. On the way to the hospital the resque workers gave her nitroglycerin and aspirin. In the emergency room they did the ekg and chest xrays and gave her something for the pain. It turns out that they were 98% sure that she didn't have a heart attack but had had a really bad anxiety attack which was probably brought on by Murphy's death. They assured her that she did the correct thing in calling for an ambulance.

So, this has been the gist of my week. But . . .I have completed the Christmas Around The World Kit! There are 18 papers, 44 elements, 3 12x12 overlays, and 10 brushes in a green, blue, white, and silver color pallet. It will be available here starting on the 12th of December along with the link to the main Christmas Around The World site where you will be able to link up with designers around the world who are contributing to this gigantic blog train. Be sure and come back on the 12th! I am currently working on a traditionally colored Christmas kit that I'll post the links too shortly-instead of making you wait too long for the completed kit, I think I will offer it in parts as it is completed.

I'm off to finish laundry and groceries before I can work on the kit! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Love,
Liv

A Quick Update

The latest news about Kim's pace maker and feeding tube placement is disheartening. When she saw her gastro doctor and he said this had to be done and soon, the urgency of the need for the procedures was frightening for Kim. The doctor told her he was going to try and call in some favors so he could get her a place at Wake Forest University Hospital; didn't happen. She received the call Friday afternoon saying she has been scheduled for the procedures in January! Now I'm frightened that something bad is going to happen before she is scheduled.
Other news of Kim is that she has had several really good days! That means no vomiting but some nausea; no diarrhea but constipation; and no liquid diet but some reasonable solids! Probably more info than you wanted but so is her life.
I've spent the last few days of free (?) time working on the Christmas Around the World Kit. It's seems to be coming together quite nicely. I really love designing and putting my ideas to work but I really am too much of a perfectionist-what takes me 3 hours takes a real designer about half an hour. Oh well, I try.
Hope all of you are doing well and are getting excited about the coming holidays to be spent with friends and loved ones. I think of you often while I'm working and feel ashamed that I haven't visited or called you. The more I keep my mind on art, the less time I spend obsessing over Kim's health. I hope you understand.
Love to all,
Liv

Quick Note

Sorry I haven't been around. Besides the obvious problems, Microsoft updated my program without warning (again) and it reset every single thing I had to it's new or first condition. Arrgh! Then Mozilla updated Fire Fox and it wouldn't let me open my mail or get to my blog! There's a conspiracy going on for sure! Anyway, just wanted you to know that I've started working on a Christmas kit for another Mega Train! I will be offering some Christmas goodies prior to the Train, that will not be included in the Mega Train Kit. Colors for the train are limited to blue, green, and silver; I'll have some traditional colors prior to those. Check back soon! I am also going to try and update you on Kim tomorrow.

Kimberli Update

Hi friends,
Kim went to see her gastro doctor this morning; it was a scheduled follow up from the hospital visit. She was projectile vomiting this morning before she left. The news from Dr. Fowler has devastated Kim. She just feels that everything comes down on her and her family and how can she cope? I know that she can and maybe you know that she can but right now she can hardly do more than cry. She is so weak and her blood so low that the techs at the doctor's office couldn't get any blood from her to do labs. She couldn't squeeze that ball they give you to make your veins and arteries pop up. She called me from the doctor's office lobby because she was resting for the drive back home and also because she was so upset.

Kim has to go to Wake Forest University Hospital to have a pace maker put into her stomach along with a feeding tube. He said there was nothing else that could be done here in Charlotte and it's imperative that she get admitted to Wake Forest ASAP. There is a waiting list but the doctor said he's going to try and call in some favors so he can get her in next week. I will accompany her, of course, so that Bart can go to work and take care of the children. I just pray they will let me stay in her room with her so I don't have to get a hotel room and be away from her when she might need a familiar face. At this point we have no idea how long the hospitalization will be.

I'm asking for your prayers and good thoughts, once again, for my girl. I appreciate all of you.

Love,
Liv

ooooh . . . another surprise for me!

Look what I received from my friend, Kara of My Studio Pink:


Wasn't this ever so nice of her? She's such a sweetheart and I'm proud to call her 'friend!' Now, I must list 6 things that make me happy and six bloggers to make them happy!

1. To hear my children and grandchildren laugh. I don't hear enough laughter so when I do it just makes everything so much better.
2. To receive a personal email from my friends or family. I get a lot of forwarded emails which I enjoy but I love to get personal emails and blog comments!
3. To be with my family and friends. All of them mean more and more to me each day as I grow older; age makes you appreciate every minute you have with them.
4. Being able to get a good nights sleep on my temperpedic bed! After having to sleep in a reclining chair for a little over 10 years, it is a blessing to have this wonderful mattress and adjustable bed so I no longer dread bedtime.
5. Having so many friends all over the world that I can contact in just a couple of seconds! Never in my wildest dreams or imagination did I ever think I could have good friends in the far corners of the world. I LOVE THE INTERNET!
6. Last but not least is Kim letting me know that she is having a good day so that I don't have to worry quite so much about her for a few hours.

I know that I keep giving out these awards and little surprise gifts to most of the same bloggers but I simply love these bloggers! Yes, I have many more blogging friends than you see listed here occasionally, but all bloggers are not necessarily artistically talented. These friends definitely are:

1. M. Kate Lim of La Vie Est Belle (Malaysia)
2. Marina Capano of Only Cute Things (Argentina)
3. The lovely Ms. Rose of Simply Rose(United Kingdom)
4. The busy and talented Brooke of Life on the Hill(Oregon, USA)
5. Vicki Chrisman of This Art That Makes Me Happy(Nebraska, USA)
6. Megan Farrow of Flergalicious(Australia)
An extra one:
7. Deb S of Union Street Musings(Nebraska, USA)

Thanks for all the eye candy and ideas and lovely photos ladies!

Odds and Ends

Hello blog friends. I have certainly been remiss lately when it comes to blogging and I am so sorry for the lapse. With all that’s been going on with Kim and the election, my mind hasn’t been focused on blogging.

Guess what? My friend Rose (Simply Rose1) of the United Kingdom got published! WooHoo! Way to go, Rose! I’m just surprised it took so long for it to happen. Please go by Rose’s place and wish her well. Our friend Vicki C is always being published but that’s like comparing apples to oranges; Vic is in a different league all together! Speaking of Vic, she gave me this Million Dollar Friend award!

Way cool to think she likes me that much! Thanks soooo much for your friendship Vic! I’ve met so many neat people through Vicki, there is Rose, Deb, Rachel, Kara, and goodness this old brain cannot remember them all. Anyway, she’s a great gal to have around-always entertaining and her talent inspires me to do more. One of these days I’m going to go out West and visit her and Deb. I’m going to pass this award on to Kara Ward (My Studio Pink), M. Kate Lim (La vie est belle), and Marina of Only cute things. These ladies have been great blog buddies and inspire me with their love of family and friends and the never ending talent that shows through in all their blogs.

Can you believe all the celebration and awareness that is going on around the world because of our election? Everyone is touting, ‘The first Black American president!’ That’s really not true. Obama is as much Caucasian as he is black and I’d be willing to stake my life on the fact that he is not the first president to have a mixed lineage! Shoot, I’m not trying to take anything away from him but when I look in the mirror I can see some black lineage myself (as can most southern Americans). I’m glad that this election got so many people off their butts and into the voting booths and that it also polarized the college students. I know we are in for change-I’m just not sure if I’m excited or scared to death!

I think my irritability problem has something to do with the fact that I have acid reflux so bad that bile is collecting in my mouth and I’m staying sick to my stomach. I can remember some of my Carolina aunt’s talking about being full of ‘piss and vinegar’ meaning the person was argumentative. I think they really had acid reflux or chronic heartburn! LOL!

With all of the above going on I forgot to let you know that my baby brother, Tim, finally called me! All his phone numbers have changed even though he swears they haven’t. I had to let him know that Dad had died and he missed the funeral; I hated that.

Take care, my friends!

Liv

PS: Here is a little freebie that can be used on layouts, Christmas cards, or package tags. I made them to go with the Christmas Around the World Kit I'm designing but dummy me didn’t look at the color swatch to see that there is no red being used! Click on the kitten!

Election Day!

Not going to express my views on the current political temperature of our country or which (if either!) candidate I have voted for; we are all so very different, with different value systems, needs, expectations, and wants. I'm too old to want to jump on any 'band wagon' without first considering what it will do to my life and my world. I'm also too old to fight with well meaning friends who want to influence my vote and I say to them: 'I voted, did you?' It's a personal and, for me, a religious occasion.

Kimberli is being discharged from the hospital this afternoon. They stabilized her and now it's time to 'cut her loose' and send her home to complete her recuperation from the last bout of gastro sickness. Please pray with me that she will pay close attention to her body and that the home health care service will do their jobs diligently so that she will not become comatose again. Her poor throat is eaten up from the vomiting of stomach acid and she will begin taking Nexium when she gets home. She now has acid reflux disease just like her old mom; it's the pits, but at least she will be treated for it with a good drug that should take the pain away soon. The children are out of school today so she will be welcomed home by them and that should set the tone for the rest of the evening to be happy and relaxing. Thanks to all of you, once again, for your thoughts and prayers on her behalf.

I have been working on my catalog again. Will it ever be finished? Not if I keep buying digital elements! I have agreed to do a Christmas blog train so I will be working on a holiday kit for that pretty soon. I have some ideas but if any of you have any request or ideas please let me know. I love to design kits and I wish I had more time to devote to them and that I could also work quicker; not going to happen because I'm a perfectionist that can't get anything perfect!

Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Liv

Suddenly

Everything seemed to be going great with Kim when I received a wake up phone call from her husband yesterday morning. Within 12 minutes I was dressed and on the road for the 45 minute drive to the hospital. I arrived just 10 minutes after the ambulance and the staff was already working on her. Her sugar count wouldn't register and she was semi-conscience. The two days she had not received the liter of fluids and IV Sofran had hit her like a Mack truck during the night. She knew she was ill but didn't want to wake the children and make them go through a nasty ambulance trip to the hospital . . . Bart was out of town and it was only Kim and the children at home. When a diabetic's sugar count is high or low they are not really capable of making decisions and sometimes don't even know where they are; so it was for Kim. By the time the children awoke and found Kim, she was out. Suzy called her father and he called the rescue squad then me. Kim had previously made arrangements with the children's respective soccer coaches to have them picked up from home Saturday morning. Dummy me should have known something wasn't right when she told me that on Friday evening . . . Kim doesn't miss her children's games. She's been under constant care for over 28 hours and her heart rate has barely slowed down from the 135 bpm she was sustaining at rest; her sugar levels for the first 9 hours were too high for the hospitals testing machines so the lab had to do the counts. She started throwing up blood yesterday afternoon but at least it isn't bright red which means whatever was bleeding has stopped. She is still in the CCU and will probably remain there until Monday afternoon at which time I hope and pray she will be totally awake and cognizant of what is going on around her. I don't think she even realizes that I was with her all day and into the evening. I spoke at length with one of her doctors and he has made arrangements for Kim to have Home Health Care come out each day to administer the IV Fluids & Meds so that she doesn't have to drive to the hospital when she's so ill; it's dangerous for her and for everyone on the road around her.

Thanks for listening. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
Liv

New Designer at Sunshine Studios

Hey Y'all! There's a new designer at Sunshine Studio Scraps, ARMINA! Her intro kit is the Amalia Kit and it is a knock out! You can purchase it HERE! Sunshine Studios has so many great designers you will have a hard time choosing your favorite. Be sure to visit their blog too and sign up for their newsletters-they have awesome sales and freebies and major give-a-ways! They have a Blog Train going on for Halloween right now! Be sure and check them out!
Catch you later,

Liv

Hey Y'all!

Yep, I'm still around! LOL! I know it's been a while since I last posted but I really do have a good excuse. One of the excuses is that Kim has not been hospitalized for TWO WEEKS! and I have been using this time to catch up on some things I needed to do plus visiting with my friends. I know you all understand, just hope you still come by to check in.

I have been promising to do a Freebie for a while so today I made some 'Jitter' elements for you. These are just some colorful little layout element overlays that can be used any way you see fit. I've shown two examples below; the yellow Jitter on the Suzy layout and the snow Jitter on the Joshua layout. I think these would be cute to dress up birthday cards too. Just a little one, I know, but I was thinking of y'all.

Go Here to Download

As I mentioned above, Kim hasn't been admitted to the hospital for two whole weeks. She has started eating some solid foods too so the Botox surgery seems to have been a complete success! Kim is coming down to visit and bringing the children this afternoon.

Suzy earned an athletic letter for Cross Country this week; now we have to come up with the bucks for a Letter Jacket. She will also be getting one for swimming soon. Monday night she will be part of the Homecoming Court at her school; she is the only 9th grader participating! Can you say, "can you get your head through that door, Suzy?" Yes, we are quite proud of her, but we worry about too much too soon. NWIM?

Have to go and prepare dinner for the young'uns! Take care and have a blessed weekend.

Love,
Liv

Hey Y'all!

Well I do have some good news to impart: Kimberli has not been hospitalized since last Thursday! WooHoo! Yippee! Thank You Jesus! I guess you all thought that things weren't going well since you haven't heard from me in so long. But, NO, things are going great for Kim! I have been 'holding my breath' this last week in anticipation of her staying out and being able to actually DO something with her family. She has been sick with a very tiring virus but it didn't send her packing to Northwest Medical. This is such a reversal of the norm for her and we hope and pray that it continues. The surgery she underwent last week to keep the opening in her stomach from closing is looking super good. She says she can actually hear the fluids leaving her stomach; of course, she is still on a liquid diet but her mental health is improving daily. I was hoping to also give out the news that the doctor thinks she is on the upswing (medically) and that her prognosis has changed from hopeless to hopeful and that she could start having some solid foods. But, alas, she wasn't able to see her physician of choice today due to a scheduling mess-up. She has rescheduled for the 31st so I will let you know what's up then.

I, on the other hand, have taken this break to be a sickie. Both of my ears are infected and are driving me bonkers with their pounding, ringing, and pain. I always have ringing and pain but not to this extent; my eardrum is non-existent in my right ear even after re-constructive surgery many years ago. Anyway . . . Kim is doing great!

I have been working on my digital elements catalog for over three months. It use to have over 10,000 items in it and had to be pared down in order to do me any good, duh! So by combining similar .png elements on one page and moving kits that aren't my absolute favorites to a separate catalog, I have reduced the count to around 6,000! Now I can add the 3 gig(!) of additional items that have been stockpiled while the catalog was being updated. Needless to say, I need to stop acquiring and start using! The weird thing is that most of the stuff I love of other designers, I could probably do myself but I don't think that's cost effective when the time it would take me is figured into the equation! LOL! I might be able to design, but I do not do it very quickly!

It's time for me to do another freebie but I also need to do some photo scanning so I can send off some oldies to Cousins Kent and Deanie. I think they are miffed with me because I haven't sent them anything in a month-can't much blame them. Deanie has been working her little fingers off trying to do a family tree book with photos and it seems like I have more of them in my possession than anyone else we know of. "Bad Livy! Be a good cousin and get off your duff and get some photos posted!" This is me trying to force me to do something. Why is it we tend (or is it 'I tend') to put off doing things that are expected of us?

If any of you haven't visited my friend Vicki C lately, you are missing out! Of course she always has the most outstanding eye candy for us but she is doing a bunch of 'give aways' that she does by drawing a name from those who comment on her blog. Listen guys, she has some serious paper scrapping vendors that she represents and has some great freebies, so do yourself and your art a favor and check in with MY VIC!

Okay, I'm off to see what kind of damage control I can do with the scanner. Y'all all have a wonderfully relaxing, invigorating, loving, and special weekend!

Tootles!
Liv

by qwertysis

New Link for Fall Splendor

Hope this one works for you . . . it did for me! HERE

Still Won't Work!

Okay. I've sent two messages to 4Shared asking for help and/or info on what's wrong. I've tried to upload the file again so I could get a new link, but of course that's not working either. eeeerrrrgggg! When it starts working again I will post the link again. Sorry folks!

4Shared Error!

Okay, I finally got the link to fail for me today; I've reported it to 4shared. I'm going to try and post it again in this post to see if it will work. FALL SPLENDOR KIT(doesn't work either)

Okay, so it still won't work. I will upload the kit again to get a new link-please check back again in a bit!
Hugs,
Liv

Hey Y'all!

I'm so excited! I finally heard from my Auntie Myrtle (she moved and forgot to send me her new info)! Aunt Myrtle is my Mom's sister-in-law, she was married to Momma's brother Vernon (he passed 15 years ago). Ever since I was born they have lived in Florida so we haven't seen that much of each other over the years but whenever we do it's like we just spoke yesterday! She's a peach . . . a Carolina Peach! Several years back I went to see her at her 'summer' home in Asheville, NC and we had a ball tooling around the town and checking out cemeteries looking for our long lost kin! It was just the two of us and we got along like sisters the entire time! So you can see why I'm excited to have finally heard from her. I want her to visit my blog but she won't go near a computer, so . . . I found out my cousin's email address and sent him the link so he can show it to her when she goes to his house. I know this isn't very interesting to y'all but I'm so happy to have a reason to smile. Here are some photos from the 1950s!




Ray is Aunt Myrtle's son and he is now retired after a distinguished career in the Armed Forces. Oh, I forgot to tell you that my sweet Auntie is 81 years young! I don't think she retired for good until about six years ago. That's me in the bottom right corner of the photo above---even then I was a smarty pants and always cutting up!

On another note: I took the meals I had prepared to Kim and her family this morning. Poor thing, she cannot have solid food now and we aren't positive but think that's what's going to be the norm from now on. She's so skinny that she and her 17 year old cat, Murphy, now look alike. Please don't take her off your prayer lists just yet, okay?

I had lunch out with the 'girls' today. It was really nice to see them and get my mind on something other than Kim's illness. All the people I hang out with are sooo much younger than me; most of them are my daughter's ages! Don't know why they like to include me but I really enjoy them, I always say it's because they can use my senior discount!

Well, enough for now. Take care. Hope to be back soon with good news or at least a mini-kit to offer you.

Hugs,
Liv

Kimberli Update

Hello friends and family,

Just wanted to give you an update on Kim's condition. She had surgery on Wednesday to keep the connection between her stomach and intestines open. The doctors are hoping that gravity will assist in emptying her stomach. She has lost over 45 pounds in the last couple of months due to excessive and almost non-stop vomiting which is a complication of the gasteoparesis which, of course, is a complication of her type of diabetes. Last night they had to give her two pints of whole blood because she has lost so much from labs! I have never heard of this before but it's very possible since they are constantly monitoring her counts and such. After doing x-rays this evening to make sure that she doesn't have pneumonia (she's got a virus), they released her. She isn't suppose to do anything for a while so that the stomach has a chance to heal; she isn't to lift anything heavier than a spoon. Of course she will still be going to the hospital every day that she is out for IV fluids to keep her hydrated. I am trying to help out so I won't be around much for a while.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate all of you!

Hugs,
Liv

A Layout!

Hey Y'all!
Can't believe I finally did a new layout. This one is of Kim and Bart getting married in October 1998.

Fall Wedding

Kimberli and Bart on their wedding day.
Scraplift of Beauty by Jeanet: http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=433644&cat=fav
All elements and papers by CL Graphics

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I've had some bad luck following me around but I'm working on being happy!
Tootles,
Liv

Ginni's Gift

Looking for the Fall Splendor Freebie? It's here!

As promised, here are the photos of my fab new Liz Claiborne purse that Ginni gave me for my b'day! Thanks Ginni, you're a doll!



Have to go and get ready for Joshua's 9th Birthday!
Hugs,
Liv

It's Here! Fall Splendor! New Link

It's here y'all! You can now download my part of the Fall Splendor Mega Party Kit. After doing so be sure and go to the Fall Splendor MegaSite to continue your journey through cyberspace to collect all the parts of the kit. Most of the designers will have their blog links active no later than Midnight Tonight! I hope you have loads of space on your hard drive (tee hee)! My kit is over 60MB and I'm sure there are others who have put a lot into their kits too!

Download Link Here

The link for the MegaSite is on the side bar. I am posting this ahead of time so it will auto load on Tuesday night and I cannot pre-check the links for myself. Let me know if the links or the download have problems and I'll get right on it!

Hope you have loads of fun! Be sure and leave some Luv for all the designers having gifts for you; me too!

Hugs,
Liv

Hey there you digi-scrappers!

Don't forget that the Ginormous Fall Splendor Freebie Kit blog hop begins at 12:01AM October 1! I have mine set for 10:30PM tonight and the Fall Splendor Guru (Kristine Pocock-WenchdGrafix) might even start up the party a little prior to Midnight! After downloading mine go to the Fall Splendor Blog Party site to hook up with the rest of the designers. You can link at the logo on the side bar or the link in the previous sentence. Be sure to have a lot of space cleared and ready for those downloads.

Kimberli hasn't been doing too good today. She was vomiting again this morning while sitting at the hospital waiting on the nurse to start the IV! I went out with my friend Ginni to lunch to celebrate my birthday. We usually have a group of about nine of us but so many were sick today that we had to cancel (and Kim couldn't come either). Guess what Ginni gave me!?! A Liz Claiborne purse! It's beautiful and I'll take a photo and post it tomorrow for you to see. I'm hoping to get my hard drive in order soon so I can make a few layouts; I haven't made one since the last day of August!

Gotta go and work on the hard drive! Tootles!

Hugs,
Liv

Kimberli

Hey Y'all,
Kim had breakfast this morning and it stayed down! Yah!!!!! Thanks for the prayers!
Love,
Liv

Kimberli

Kim's been hospitalized since Tuesday (she was there Monday also but I brought her home in the afternoon). She hasn't had anything to eat since last Saturday at lunch. She has now lost down to less than 115 pounds. The stomach doctor is talking 'tube feeding' and Botox shots. Prayers are requested.
Love,
Liv

New Blinkie

Blinkie is clickable if you want a close up!

Mega Freebie Update!

Hey Y'all!

According to 'sources' who know: There are now 67 designers signed up for the Mega Monster Fall Splendor Kit! Twice the number we had to start with. Be sure and check back on the first: 12:01AM EST, October 1.

Joshua's soccer team won their game this morning 3-2 and he scored one of the goals! Kim and Joshua live about 45 minutes North of me and I had to wear a jacket to keep warm while watching the game! Unbelievable! But it has something to do with their proximity to the mountains (it also snows there almost every winter). I prepared my camera but forgot it as usual ;( After the game, we went to lunch together then Joshua and Kim were going to come down here but she isn't feeling too good so I don't think they will make it.

Did you notice my new logo on yesterday's post? What do you think? I want it to be more classy than the other one. I need to make a new blinkie too.
Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

Hugs, Liv

Sneak Peek Freebie!

Hey Y'all!

I did it, whew . . . finally finished the preview for your sneak peek freebie and uploaded the frames to 4shared. I wasn't sure I would be able to get it done today since I went out to lunch with a bunch of the 'girls' in my neighborhood. It was a beautiful day here, the temperature did not get to 90! WoooHooo!

Thanks to all of you for your kind words about the International Scrapbook LOTD honor!

Here's the preview to the 'sneak peek' and the link to get it.

Go Here

Don't forget that on October 1, there will be a 'Blog Hop' to get an entire coordinated Fall Splendor Mega Kit from 25 designers! It promises to be a 'whoop tee do' time! So don't forget to come by here (on the first) so you can get the info to link up to the rest of the designers and their portion of the kit. I know that the majority of you folks do strictly paper scrapping but digital elements can be printed out and used on your layouts or you can design greeting cards with them and print those out or have Costco or Office Depot do that for you. You can make place cards, gift tags, note paper, lunch bag note and decorations, you can even print out your own wrapping paper for those special small gifts! Don't miss out!

Hope you all are having a wonderful beginning to a lovely weekend.

Love,
Liv

It was 'Monkey in the Middle'

Hey Y'all!

Well, my layout 'Monkey in the Middle' was the layout that was chosen for Layout of the Day for yesterday. And, of course, things don't seem to ever go smoothly so the layout was plastered all over the site-on every page that was pulled up-but in the forum a lady named Nancy was given the LOTD credit! I have to say that my name was under the layout everywhere it was displayed and did this old gal good to feel important for a few minutes. If you don't remember which one it was go HERE.

I'm almost finished with the Fall Splendor Kit and I think I'm going to release a bonus/preview of it a little early to 'whet your whistles!' If after I get back from doing groceries tomorrow I have time to zip and label and upload I'll post it then-if not then on Friday. So check back in ;)

Kim had a good day today. She didn't have to check-in at the hospital today but she did go in and get a liter of fluid this morning. We are hoping and praying that this helps her have more of a life. I've offered to do her groceries for her but she insist that she can handle it-we'll see. The children have soccer this weekend and I pray she doesn't go and get overheated again-I'm going so I'll be sure and bring an umbrella to shade her with. Suzy has her first 'Cross Country' meet tomorrow afternoon! Kim and Bart are going and I hope they get some good photos so I can share with you!

Here's an orchid that my sweet neighbors have been growing for a couple of years! They take it in the house in the winter months. This is just one small branch of the blooms; the entire plant is taller than I am!

Hugs!
Liv

LOTD!

Okay, last 24 has been terrible. Kim's back in hospital (seems worse than ever) and I'm having anxiety attacks and horrible headaches. But, got this message from the International Scrapbook Association today:

Congratulations Olivia your layout has been chosen to be featured as "Layout of the Day" on WeScrap for September 16, 2008.

Your layout will be featured on WeScrap as the featured layout for 24 hours.

That bumped me up a notch, but here's the problem: I have no idea which of my layouts was chosen! Searched the site, my gallery, etc. couldn't find out a thing. Guess I have to wait until Tuesday with everyone else!

I see where my friends get published all the time (especially Ms. Vicki C) and wonder how that happens? Do you send your layouts to the respective mags or websites? Or sit around and wait to be recognized? It would be nice for that to happen while I'm still young enough to enjoy it! LOL!

I have been steadily working on the Fall Splendor Kit for the blog hop on October 1. It has grown more than I expected and I can't seem to stop coming up with ideas! This is new to me-my ideas come out so infrequently that it seems I ought to take some 'idea laxative!' I guess I just need to try and NOT focus on the problems in my world and that will let out my muse. I have been continuing to go through my father's photos and papers; I guess his death is still too fresh in my mind for me to be able to enjoy the task. I know it needs to be done but after 20 minutes or so I get so darned depressed that I have to stop. Here is a recent find of him back in 1938 with his grandmother Louisiana Lanetta Nunnally:I hope all my darling blog friends and readers are having a super weekend and if you happened to be in the path of Hurricane Ike I want you to know my prayers have been with you all along!

Hugs,
Liv

I'm Rated!

Hey Y'all,
Got an email today from the folks at Blogged.com. Their editors rated my blog! What fun! I signed in and added some reviews and favorite blogs of mine . . . hope they are picked up and rated by Blogged too!
Kim is back home from her latest stint in the hospital; this time they stabilized her in less than 24 hours! The children are all back in school now and the sports thingy is starting and it always takes up most of their time. Suzy has added Cross Country to her growing list and she is also excited about her Journalism class. Joshua is always up to something in sports so I'll report on him soon. Timothy is in his last year and I'm sure he's happy about that (guys just don't seem to like school). Tabitha hasn't given me a rundown on her new school yet but I'm sure she's going to do great.
I'm still working on the Fall Splendor Kit and trying to scan in more of my Dad's photos. Cousins Kent & Deanie found my Grandfather's Army registration! That was so fun to see. They are working really quickly on a family tree for the Dunaways.
I'll be back as soon as I can get something done.
Hugs,
Liv

An Award and Announcement!

Hey Y’all!

Well, I seem to be getting back into the daily grind of life and thought I would let you know. I still think of Dad (and now Mom) several times a day but it is worse when I go to bed. No, I don’t expect to completely wipe them from my mind, but I’d like to fall asleep with something other than the last time I saw each of them. I have much to do and have been keeping busy and it has helped a lot.

Since the Guest Diva spot on Flergs’ design team has been over, I have been working on the next big project: A Fall Kit that will be revealed on October 1 during the Fall Splendor Blog Hop. So far I have 16 papers and 24 elements and much more on the way. I hope you will all check back to celebrate Fall with us on the 1^st!

Some happy news: The lovely Ms. Rose of Simply Rose has given me a blog award and I must do it justice by nominating others to pass it on to. Since I haven’t been hopping much lately, I haven’t found any new blogs to honor, but my all time favorite is still M. Kate of La Vie Est Belle whose blog is a treasure of photos and information about her side of the world, Malaysia. You can always count on M. Kate to keep your interest even when her photos mount into the teens! She needs to do a travel book and that would certainly make her rich! So here’s to my friend M. Kate of LA VIE EST BELLE: You Rock M. Kate!

Here are the rules:
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog (I did)
2. Link the person you received your award from (yes)
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs (No, not yet)
4. Put links of those blogs on yours. (yes)
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the person you’ve nominated. (I will)

Here are a couple more photos I found in Dad’s stash. I need to get back to scanning and documenting them and I will as soon as I finish the Fall Kit.

That's my Dad during WWII. Wasn't he a hunk! I can definitely see why my Mom followed him to Richmond and didn't let go!

That's me with my next door neighbor at his birthday party around 1950; I believe I was around four. Don't I look like I wish Jerry would stop posing and just cut the blasted cake? Looks like it's taking everything in me not to just take a big bite, LOL!

I'd like to thank my loyal blog fans for sticking with me even though I've been MIA more than being here over the past three months: THANK YOU! I'd also like to thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts you have sent up for me and mine: THANK YOU! YOU MAKE MY DAY!

Hope all of my fellow Americans had a lovely Labor Day, that Gustav (the Hurricane) is kind to all, and all of my friends and fellow bloggers had a lovely weekend. Chat soon!

Love,

Liv