Kori's Lilac Dreams

Sick with Bronchitis

2012-01-29T16:55:00.001-06:00

I've been sick all week with bronchitis. I went home early from work Monday and went to the doctor, who diagnosed me with bronchitis. She prescribed a new antibiotic for me (as the list of what doesn't bother me is whittling down all the time) Levofloxacin. So I'm too sick to go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Which didn't surprise me because this is the 4th time I've had bronchitis, last time was about 14 years ago. But I was so weak on Thursday and weak and lightheaded and barely able to stand on Friday. Each night it took hours to fall asleep, but then I'd sleep through the day. So Friday/early Saturday am about 1:45 am, I am laying in bed and have a anxiety attack. And the light bulb goes off in my head, --this is related to the medication! So I get up and Google "Levofloxacin" and search the kitchen until I find the prescription insert. Sure enough, there are all my extra symptoms: new or worsening anxiety, nervousness, restlessness, sleeplessness, light-headedness, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, rash (there was new rash on my forearm), loss of appetite, gas (I was wondering why, because I barely ate anything!) So I called the doctors office and they said just to discontinue taking it. I'd taken 5 doses (every day after dinner,) so I probably had enough antibiotic in my system to help the bronchitis and if not, we need to wait until this one is out of my system before they can prescribe another one anyway. So I figure the reason I could sleep during the daytime, was the drug dose was lessening, and I couldn't sleep at night because it was fresh dose.

On the plus side, my lack of appetite means I'm down to 211.8! Today I don't feel as weak as I did yesterday. I have to go to work tomorrow, I can't believe I missed 4 days in a row! I don't think I've ever done that in my life!

Poor Melanie, stayed home Thursday with a sore throat. I got up for a few moments twice and went back to bed and slept until 4:50 in the afternoon. She stayed home sick the next day and made me get up at 1:00ish and asked me to take her to the doctor. Sure enough, she had strep throat. I felt so bad I was too sick to take her the day before. I barely made it through the trip to the pharmacy and collapsed on the couch when I got back home. Totally wiped out. Today, Sunday, she feels good a new. I wish I did! LOL

Unfriended on Facebook

2012-01-16T21:30:00.008-06:00

So today I noticed that my half-sister has unfriended me on facebook. I’ve never met her and I only spoke to her once, but I was surprised to see that she unfriended me. I don’t know why for certain either. It probably has to do with our father, but since I never had anything negative with her, I’m surprised that she did this. A little back story…

I was adopted at birth. When I tracked down my birth mother, she refused to name my birth father and she died without revealing his identity, so I thought I would never know anything about him or my paternal family. To my shock, on Feb. 12^th 2011, I got a call out of the blue. He’d tracked me down. We took a paternity test to verify he was indeed my father and then made plans to meet up. I went to Washington DC with my daughter to meet him over Spring Break the 3rd week of March. Now, as a vacation, Melanie and I had a lot of fun. As a meeting with my father, it was bizarre, strange, unsettling and unpleasant. He was weird, strange, insulting, and often rude. I have no idea why he decided to find me because he made it clear he was uninterested in getting to know me or my daughter. He did love to talk about himself, repeating the same stories. Always referring to his father, his mother, his grandfather, his uncle, his family, not once relating it to me and how they fit into my history. (When I met them, my mother’s family immediately started to relate the people they talked about and how they were related to me. They made me feel like such a member of the family and so welcome. They were wonderful!) Maybe he has Alzheimer’s, maybe he was nervous, and maybe he is just that bizarre. I may never know. He flat out said he didn’t have any questions about us. He called me a big baby when I asked to turn back on a forced hike to a “park” that turned out to be a wooded trail, I was wearing a turtleneck and a sweater, because it was 44° when I got dressed, but then drove south and it was later afternoon and 78°; asked me why I named my daughter Melanie, swearing he’d never heard of that name before, then later telling me that Gone with the Wind was the 2^nd movie he’d ever seen and one of his all-time favorites (gee, the 2^nd lead female character is Melanie Wilkes!); he told an armed military sentry at Fort Bragg that my 12 year old daughter was “the one with the bombs!”; asked me why I was using “such big words”, this from a man who supposedly has 3 degrees (I was tempted to ask him if he needed me to give him a definition to anything.) He seemed to get really offended when we asked what his favorites were as if it was none of our business and how dare we ask him a question. This is part of how people get to know each other. They look for similarities, differences, and compatibilities. This was really disturbing me that he showed no real interest in hearing what we have to say. He criticized my spending habits (of which he knows nothing), commented twice that I must push my husband around (I certainly don’t) and told me I was a fool not to have become a government worker. This man is a total stranger, this is a man who abandoned his pregnant girlfriend and didn’t look back for 48 years. I couldn’t believe the nerve or alternately the weirdness of this man. After we got back from the trip, he called and told me all about his Easter, his health, his recent trip and not once AGAIN asking one single thing about me, my holiday or anything. I’d had enough and wrote him a letter that either he shape up or leave me alone. And yes, most of it was rude - right back at him. I haven’t heard a word since. I would have thought he would have wanted to try to make up for lost time. That maybe he’d try to make a good first impression. But I guess his ego was so huge he didn’t feel he needed to try or bother. To top it all off he has bi-polar disorder. Now my adopted mother, who raised me and abused me, had bi-polar disorder with borderline personality disorder. My husband’s ex-wife had bi-polar disorder with borderline personality disorder (not 100% confirmed, but there is a family history. Her behavior supports this belief,) she spent years trying to make us miserable. The last thing I need is another person who has bi-polar disorder (and probably with borderline personality disorder based on his narcissistic behavior exhibited.) I noticed that he and his 3^rd wife unfriended me on facebook a couple months back. “Oh, no, the birth father I never had rejected me again.” Now don’t think I took the step to tell him to behave better lightly or quickly. We had about a dozen hour+ long phone calls and spend 3 days together. Melanie and I both came right out and flatly asked “Don’t you want to know anything about us?” and he said, “No, in due time. “ I asked what that meant on our phone call after returning from Washington DC and he explained that he was the moderator at a singles group and they believed you get to know people “in due time”. Well, I'm not someone he was looking to date. It would make more sense that he would try to make up for all the lost time. I’ve had enough with crazy people.

This is by no means the full details; there were a number of additional insults and strange behavior, and not to mention the cheapness. He told me he was cheap. I didn’t realize just how cheap he would get. After the paternity test came back positive, he offered to pay for us to fly to visit. This would have cost him over $1100. I declined, as we’d already made our travel arrangements. So rationally, you would think a person would spend a couple dollars, still saving over $1100. When we were there, I don’t think he spent over $60 the entire visit. We spent 3 hours riding the subway so he could save $10 on parking; he had us walk 9 blocks so he could save $10 on lunch. He took us out to eat the first night to a restaurant in a strip mall that I would not have gone to alone in the daylight, let alone as a first impression. We were the only people in the entire place, other than the owner and his card playing buddies. The 2^nd night, it was a pizza-by-the-slice restaurant. The third night, Melanie asked if we could please eat on real plates, with real knives and forks, rather than plastic and paper plates like the first 2 nights. Honestly, a burger fried up in his own kitchen would have been better than the scary looking restaurant. At least it would have showed he cared enough to make us something. (To be fair, the first morning he did make us burnt waffles from a homemade concoction he was winging. We ate them and thanked him.) I also didn’t like that he kept changing the settings on my camera without asking (to match the photography assignment for a class he was taking - like he was going to turn in my photos!) and he didn’t seem to like that my camera was newer and had more features. He also seemed put out that my Lincoln was bigger than his Lincoln. Who cares about these things, I don't.

Now some positive things did come out of him finding me. I finally had answers and the missing pieces to me and my history. I finally feel whole. Then I found out I have 2 sisters and a brother. I’ve spoken to one of my sisters a few times now and she is awesome! I think we are a lot alike and I’m really looking forward to meeting her soon. She is closest in age to me at 44. (She has a daughter, a new niece!, I'm hoping to get to know her too!) The other sister, is the one who unfriended me, she is 36, with little in common that I could tell in our phone call. She and I spoke once and she was pleasant, but not too encouraging. I haven’t heard from her since. I left my brother, 40, a couple voice messages asking him to call my cell phone, which he returned by calling our land line during the afternoon at a time I would be at work. So I figured he isn’t ready to talk yet. I hope I’ll still be able to get to know my siblings.

Well, thanks for listening to my rant. Next post will be some of our Washington DC trip photos and some of the more fun details. I hope you all have a great day tomorrow!

Walnut Room and Chicago Day - Part 2

2012-01-05T20:41:00.005-06:00

Continuing from yesterday's post...
After lunch, we continued to explore Macy's, reading in one area the history of Marshall Field's which ironically talked about continuing the tradition (yeah, right up until Macy's buys you and wipes 100+ years of history out!) Then we see a sign leading to the "Narcissus Room". We walk on over and see this banquet room with a fountain in the middle (I'm guessing that is the source of the name Narcissus.) In the fountain are all these huge ornaments and behind the fountain is another "Santa setting", but with no Santa. Very cool! There were a couple families taking their own photos and I guess it was set up for people to take their own holiday photos. There was an employee wandering though at one point and they didn't chase anyone out, so I assume it was allowed. Anyway, we took some photos (again, click on the image to enlarge them):
After our impromptu photo shoot, we went on down through the floors, ending in the make-up section on the main floor. They tell us about stores across the street. Stores accessible by a top-secret passage down the stairs and through an underground walkway. OK, maybe not top-secret, because there is an "L" train station in the middle, more likely millions of people are aware of this, but it felt like a cool discovery to us. (It's called the "Pedway", I discovered after Googling tonight! LOL) So across the street on State Street is a new mall! It is still growing, at the moment it is almost 3 floors, it's called Block 37. There is a new Disney, Sephora, some restaurants, and more. We got some makeup at Sephora, visited the Disney Store and then headed back across the street to look at the windows at Macy's. Now when it was Marshall Fields, the windows were famous for the magical Christmas scenes and stories that they depicted. Sadly, Macy's did not keep up the tradition. It was only 2/3rds of the windows and they were ads for their Christmas ornaments (they passed it off as a fund raiser - a whopping 10% of the profits, were being donated to Make-a-Wish foundation. Oooohhhh... a whole 10%!!) There was ornaments by Rachel Ray, Jessica Simpson, Donald Trump, Emeril Lagasse, Marth Stewart, Tommy Hilfiger, Sean John, Michael Kor, Betsey Johnson and about 14 all together. Only Rachel Ray and Jessica Simpson had ornaments worth buying, maybe Emeril's chef hat. The rest were uninspired (their signatures on a glass ball! ohh, that's talent!), ugly or boring. (Seriously, Donald Trump? Whose brilliant idea was that?!?) The artwork in the windows was ugly and simplistic (these "elves" looked like a hand drawn face on a felt body that I could have made at my kitchen table.) The story strange and ultimately disappointing. There were others standing around, all expressing their disbelief at how bad it was and their disappointment at the windows. Here I found a photo of the ornaments (click on the image to go to an article about the ornaments):
Next, we grab a cab and go to Filene's Basement on Michigan Avenue across from the John Hancock and Water Tower Place. They are having yet another going-out-of-business sale (this time it looks real.) We stopped by Water Tower Place mall for a while, stopping for a quick snack at The American Girl Place (we'd seen the new store only the month prior, previously we'd gone to their former location a couple blocks over), then some shopping then we tried the steamed dumplings at WowBao. We'd never tried them so we got 2, 1 teriyaki chicken and 1 spicy kung pao chicken. Yummy, we'll try them again! :)
This is the view from the ground floor next to WowBao and right by the entrance to Macy's.
After this we stopped into the Disney Store on Michigan Avenue, then the Apple Store and the huge Forever 21. Then another cab ride to Little Italian Village for dinner. We ate upstairs in the 'village', very lovely! After dinner, another cab back to the train station, (we just made our train by less than 2 minutes!) and then on to home. We passed part of the time watching Monte Carlo that we had uploaded the digital copy onto my iPhone (Melanie's very smart idea!) and we snuggled, with each of us having one ear piece to listen to the movie. We rolled back into our town about 9:15 and were we ever tired. As I said, a very memorable day. :)

Thanks for reading! I'll try to get a scrapbook freebie ready to share for a new post.

Walnut Room and Chicago Day - Part 1

2012-01-04T23:00:00.013-06:00

On December 20th, Melanie and I went downtown for a mother/daughter day of elegant dining and a little shopping. We had an fun-filled day that was absolutely memorable. We got up early, took the train in. We bought our tickets in the station, Melanie was worried we wouldn't be able to buy them on the train. It was good we did, they had instituted a $3 per ticket surcharge for buying on the train! Who knew! At the downtown station, we stopped briefly into Bath and Body Works, one of our favorite stores! Then across the way to Jamba Juice to buy Melanie a little morning treat. Then a cab ride to Macy's and we rushed in and hurried up to the restaurant to wait in line for the pager to eat. Or so we thought. Last time we were there was in 2005, where we stood in line for nearly 2 hours and then got a pager for about 45 minutes after that before getting in the line to get seated, which was another 25 minutes. Well, things have changed and this year we walked right up. No line. No waiting. It was 9:30 am. We had expected to get lunch. So, we got a pager with a time to page us at 11:00. We went to explore the store and see Santa.
View from the escalator:Now, Melanie thinks she is too old for that, but I disagreed, so off we went to the line for Santa.
Again, last time, this line was about an hour, this time, 2 minutes.
Here she is with Santa, looking a little uncomfortable:
So the pager went off and we went down to the restaurant, spent less than 5 minutes in the line and was seated. The tree is stunning: I look at the time and it's only 10:50am. Oh, well, I figure by the time the food arrives, a good appetite will have worked up. We were seated right next to the tree! Here is Melanie at the table (read the last post for the picture with both of us.)
This is the ornament right next to me:The fairy princess came around and sprinkled magic dust on us to make wishes:

Our lunch was fun. The food left much to be desired. I understand now why the long lines are gone. The setting was beautiful, we felt so special and it all looked so elegant. The food has gone downhill since it was Marshall Field's. That's too bad, but we decided that our tradition will be to go to a new elegant restaurant each year.

More tomorrow! I'm off to bed. Have a wonderful day everyone!

New Year and New Focus

2012-01-03T22:21:00.004-06:00

Ok, well it has again been a very long time since I've blogged. I've had so many changes in the last couple years and I didn't share much of anything. I've been hesitant to blog about my honest feelings, what really happens in my life, my thoughts. This is something that is reflected in my personal life too. I keep so much inside and hidden, always afraid of being judged, disapproved of and ridiculed. Well, I've decided to put an end to the hiding of my true self and just let it all out. The good, the bad and the sometimes nutty! LOL

I'm going to try to post both current and go back in time for some catch up for any family or friends who might want to know more about me and my life. It may seem a little schizophrenic at times, but maybe not, maybe you too think in pieces and jump around cause your brain goes so fast sometimes!

So my daughter and I watched the Rose Parade on Monday, 1/2. It was a beautiful day, they commented that it was the best weather in 10 years and the rose this year was this yellow rose, called Sunshine Daydream. All I could think was "why is it all washed out?" It was all yellow and orange and looked like they had left the flowers out in the sun much too long! I wondered where all the vibrant and diverse colors went to, very disappointing. Speaking of vibrant colors. One of my favorite blogs is http://catchycolors.blogspot.com/ "Showcasing the BEST of COLORS on Flickr.Com" You should definitely check it out!

So, first truism about me: I am fat. Really fat. Not as fat as I used to be, but fat. Today I weighted 217.4, this is up 12 lbs from just a couple months ago. Stress and the holidays have taken their toll. About 3 years ago I hit an all time high at 292.4 lbs. So, I can look at the bright side and say: "Hey, you lost 75 lbs! Good for you!" But I weighed this much last year, well, maybe 10 lbs more, but still, I'm disappointed in myself. Why you may ask? Well, I worked my butt off to lose weight to qualify for bariatic surgery. I had surgery on 6/30/2010 weighing in that day at 258. I had lap band surgery. After 18 months, I had hoped to be near my goal, just just down 41 lbs. I can't entirely blame things on the surgery, I'll admit it, I'm an emotional eater. But I don't think I was given the full picture when I had surgery. I thought it was closer to gastric bypass. My surgeon is a skilled doctor, but his practice seems to be more sales related than medical. He said things like "lap band patients have similar results at the 5 year mark that gastric bypass patients experience." What I didn't realize was that is because the bypass people gain back a bunch of weight starting after year 3, so lap banders lose only a fraction of what bypass people lose. I was also disillusioned to learn a month after surgery of an entire other option that was never mentioned to me: gastric sleeve. My doctor started offering this the month after my surgery. When I asked why he didn't tell me about it, he said he was waiting for the 5 year statistics to come out to offer the surgery. Well, I still think he had a duty to tell me about it and let me decide if I wanted to wait for those statistics to arrive before I had my surgery. So the lap band is a tool, not a solution and I haven't been using that tool to it's full potential. I am going to try again. If I follow my portion sizes and don't snack, it works like a charm. It's sticking to the small portions when the food is so yummy and the snacks are so handy and I'm so stressed.

Next truism: I'm stressed! I told my husband in September, on Labor Day, I wanted a divorce. 4 days later he got laid off. :( It isn't antagonistic or nasty or anything bad, I've fallen out of love and grown away from him. So, in good conscious, I couldn't leave him in a financial lurch. He refinanced the house against my wishes in 10/2009, and my name isn't on the mortgage for the first time in 20 years. So while it wouldn't kill my credit, as a good person, I couldn't let him go into debt and ruin his credit. So I canceled my hold on an apartment (lost my deposit) and moved into the spare room. (Here is a prime example of why I've fallen out of love - a gentleman would have insisted on a) moving to the spare room or b) taking turns having the good bed, but not my guy, his sleep is more important than mine. He's told me this on more than one occasion. Yeah. OK. ) So for the last 4 months, things have been tense. He does not want a divorce, he says he loves me with all his heart, and I don't doubt that for a moment, he hasn't changed in 21 years. I have however changed and grown and little by little, fallen out of love so that now I feel more like a sister than a wife. So this also creates a dollop of guilt. Sigh...

I'm stress continued: I'm working a high pressure job with a ton of overtime. I'm a loan processor for a major bank with a LOT of rules. One rule, you aren't supposed to talk about where you work or post it on facebook or social networks for fear of financial impropriety or who knows what. So, I won't name them here. Anyway, they give us so much work, they are so busy with the refinances, they don't have enough people to handle the work flow. They are hiring like crazy, but not not keeping up with the demand. So, I work at least 8 hours to some weeks 22 hours of OT, that is just one week. I'm getting home at 8, 8:30, and 9:oo pm. My daughter misses me and I miss her. I have no time to myself. I eat to sooth myself. This is self-destructive. Until I started working here, I worked out doing Jazzercise at least 3 times a week. I miss Jazzercise. Awesome workout, you should all try a class, they can really kick your butt: www.jazzercise.com/ (and notI didn't get anything for writing this! LOL)
This is me and my beautiful daughter on Dec. 20th at the Walnut Room at what is now Macy's on State Street in Chicago. We had an awesome day! I'll blog about that next, but for now, I need to get to bed!

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous day!

Harry Potter last movie countdown

2011-07-01T23:10:00.000-05:00

More countdowns at Widgia.com

New blog layout & a little freebie

2011-02-22T22:55:00.004-06:00

Well, I've sort of got the new layout done. I'll probably tweak the margins some. I wonder if you can remove that slightly opaque white background outline....

Anyway...LOL So much happening since my last posts! Goodness. I figured out what was wrong with my new computer before I wiped it. Turns out my Wacom tablet had a short in one of the tablet buttons. After multiple calls and emails, I gave it one more try, called and got a new customer service rep who immediately recognized my issue and told me how to disable that button. Viola, no more problems with auto-tabbing, programs, etc!

I also found out how to make my plugins work! Yeah! Part of it was downloading the correct dll's, turns out for Windows 7, there are 10 of them and you have to copy them to 2 locations. The 2nd issue is to update some of the plugins, you can get the free program FM Patcher from the FilterMeister site.

Sometime in June, my designs were removed from Heritage Scrap without a word to me. I realized it after I got laid off in July and had some free time and started to get to designing. I go to upload and huh, doesn't work. The owner said I could go back, but then I got to thinking and decided I'd rather spend my free time with my daughter. I had to go back to work at a regular office job soon enough and it was probably the last summer she'll want to really hang out with me. So, I kept the idea of designing in the back of my mind and enjoyed my summer. I went back to work at the end of August and immediately had mandatory overtime and no free time!

I'm finally back to working full-time again as a mortgage loan processor. I like my job, I find it rather interesting. I had been working toward becoming an underwriter when I quit working to become a full-time mother. I may look into that again in the future, but for now, I'm happy just where I'm at. :)

I'm toying with the idea of giving away some of my kits. If you want one, please leave a comment with the name of the kit. If I get enough posts, I'll chose a random number to give the kit of their choice. How many is enough, I don't have a specific number, how about at least 10? And a compliment would really make my day!! I rarely got any feedback, which is one of the reasons I slowed down with my designs. With some encouragement, I could get into it again!

So, here is a freebie, this is an add-on that used to be in my stores (sorry, I'm too lazy at the moment to re-do the preview, this is as it was in my last store):
Click on HERE to download. I'd love to hear if you like it!

Working on blog layout

2011-02-21T23:52:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone! I know this looks awful! I'm in the middle of updating the look, but it's late and I must go to bed. It will get better tomorrow!!

I keep planning to post

2010-09-26T16:41:00.003-05:00

I keep planning to post. I have excellent intentions, but then time gets away and I put it off another day. Lots happening this summer. I'll try to come up with a mega post and a couple scrapbooking freebies to share. I promise to come back soon!!

Computer Woes + a freebie

2010-05-02T19:49:00.006-05:00

Hello Dear Readers! I've been so busy with working, family and my latest challenge of dealing with computer woes. In the last 9 months, I've had so many computer issues, including 2 failed EHD's, trying to set up a new computer and then having that one fail. Last week I was seconds away from doing a full system wipe/system restore to original factory settings. I could go into detail, but I'm so short on time! I missed this month's blog train, participating in my store's last 2 collaborations, not to mention making anything new or scrapbooking a single thing. I'm extremely frustrated. 2 weeks ago yesterday, I had an actual temper tantrum over the computer, complete with tears and a lot of swearing! At the age of 47, nothing much fazes me anymore, but I lost it with this stupid computer! This is a new computer that my husband bought me as a surprise for Valentine's Day because of all the troubles my old computer was giving me! LOL At the ripe old age of 6 weeks, the new computer no longer worked properly. I am still looking at the system restore, (as of wipe the computer system restore), but for a few days, I found a temporary relief.

Frustratingly as well, I couldn't get Photoshop to see any of my plugins. I downloaded and installed the trial version of Photoshop CS4. It has both a 32 bit and a 64 bit version that install simultaneously. I'm told then I can use my old 32 bit plugins/filters with the 32 bit version. Yeah, right. No matter what version I click on, it's the same one that appears to open up and I can't get it to see any plugins. I haven't done much research on the problem as I've been busy just getting my computer to even function. Now Photoshop CS5 is about to be released, so I figure I'll just wait and get that trial version and see how it goes. I haven't decided if either is worth the big bucks to upgrade.

To make up for my absence, I'm sharing an old Fontalicious Fun font challenge posting bonus mini kit I made a couple years ago. I hope some of you will like it! The preview is the original one that came with the file.

The preview is linked or you can click for the freebie here: http://www.4shared.com/file/LSwe93w7/KDorn_Something_for_Mom.html

Shine On Blog Train

2010-02-28T23:16:00.002-06:00

Choo Choo it's the BLOG TRAIN!! I see a few have posted theirs and since I'll be at work during the start time, I'm going to go ahead and post mine a little early too.

Here is the Blog Train Blog: http://www.blogtrainblog.blogspot.com/
The blog will have a complete list of ALL participating designers posted ON the day the train goes live! (About 9:00 am CST)

You can see what you get from the WHOLE PREVIEW here (there may be a few kits missing , the organizer went on an unplanned surprise trip, but by the end of Monday, they should all be appearing):

Here is my portion:

You can click on the image or http://www.4shared.com/file/231312494/12b0c0d8/KDorn_ShineOn.html

Here is your next stop: GeniaBeana Scraps - http://geniabeanascraps.blogspot.com

New Dog, New Computer

2010-02-28T16:16:00.004-06:00

Hey Everyone! Your missing blogger here! LOL I can't believe I haven't blogged since December, no wonder I get so few readers! Thanks to all you regular readers! Not much happened in January. In February, we had some excitement! After a very long search, we have found our new dog. His name is Lakota. It used to be Dakota, but the foster family already had a Dakota, so they called him Little Dakota, which eventually shortened to Lakota. Melanie prefers Lakota, so that what he is staying!

He was surrendered to the IL Heart Bandits American Eskimo Dog Rescue group. There was no reason given, but after 2 1/2 months in foster care, they hadn't found any behavioral problems. We've had him over 3 weeks and he is just wonderful! Very well behaved, so we figure he was turned in for financial reasons or maybe allergies, nothing he did wrong.

We found him through Petfinder.com, where he was described “Dakota is a sweet, loving dog, 2-3 year old smaller Standard Eskie and is as friendly as can be!” You can read about him here: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15047286

Lakota's only quirk: he doesn't play with toys. Or balls. He has no reaction when you throw balls or wave toys. We took him to PetsMart to try to find something he liked. He ignored every toy. Seems he could care less about toys. Oh well. He loves to romp in the snow. He loves walks. He loves to be petted; he does that thing where he'll push his head under your hand so you have to pet him! LOL If you don't, he makes this rumble noise after a few minutes to let you know he is waiting. LOL I haven't been able to take hardly any photos of him. When I see a great shot and get my camera, he sees me and gets up to come to me. Shot over. Or he'll only hold still for a few seconds, so I miss the shot. I'm still trying to get some good ones! Here are some photos the rescue group took:

The other big thing in February: for Valentine's Day, my husband surprised me with a new computer!! Totally shocked me! It is a wonderful machine. However, due to my dreading the time to set it up, transfer time and getting it back to where I like everything; I procrastinated doing it all until today. Right now it is transferring data from the old computer to the new one. I think it will be doing it all night long. Right now I'm typing this on my company laptop. Thank you Bosses for the laptop! It's quite a lifesaver and handy in situations like transferring your and wanting to still get on the internet! The new computer is an HP, my first HP. I had a Compaq, a Dell, then a PowerSpec (a private label made by Microcenter) ~ I've hated this computer almost from the first minute. I'm so glad my husband bought me the new computer!! Melanie is next to me as I write this and she wants me to point out that it was her suggestion to my husband for buying the computer. (Getting credit is important! LOL)

Tomorrow be sure to come back for a new FREEBIE! The big 100 professional designer blog train is coming to town again and I joined in. We are all supposed to post our mini kits tomorrow, so get ready to do some major downloading! :)

Holiday Photo Texture Freebie!

2009-12-30T00:23:00.008-06:00

I didn't forget that freebie I promised! Here is a photo texture, taken at Navy Pier's Winter Wonderland. It is part of a snow scene backdrop; it looked rather magical to me, I hope you like it too! You can use it as an overlay to make unique looking photos, or combine it with your backgrounds to make whole new looks or use as is! Revive an old kit you own or enhance a favorite! If I get some good feedback, I have a lot more of these I can share!

Here is the preview:

Here is the download link or click on the preview. Oh, I almost forgot! It's Commercial OK!!

Photo magic

2009-12-29T23:11:00.008-06:00

I did a little Photoshop magic and here is the edited version of the Christmas Eve photo:
I had to combine 3 photos to make one where everyone is looking normal (not making a face or rabbit ears!) and somewhat at the camera. Red-eye removal, complexion touch-up, glare removal, small cropping and ~ Voilà! (Clicking on an image will open it up full-size.)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T00:05:00.006-06:00

Well, here all my children, nieces and nephews on Christmas Eve. Love that red-eye! LOL I usually correct all photos before posting, but I wanted to get this one up. I may do a little photoshop magic to switch a head or two (I have 7 shots of the group, but they kept goofing around, so this one was the best of the un-retouched versions.) I'll post the fixed one later.

Here is Melanie with Santa and Mrs. Claus at Navy Pier:

One with Melanie, John and myself:
One with Santa, Mrs. Clause and their fantastically humorous helper:
I haven't forgotten that freebie, I'll get one posted tomorrow!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-28T11:04:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season! We sure have been. I have to put some photos on here, they are still on my camera at the moment. We had a very pleasant Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I got a new Epson Artisan 50 printer. I can't wait to try it out! I'm planning on setting it up tonight. I'm changing the playlist below now that Christmas is over. We have to now get ready for New Years. We traditionally get Alaskan King Crab legs for dinner. Yummy!

I'm going to be putting up another freebie too. I thinking of what exactly I want to give next. Now I'm working full-time, I don't have the extra time I used to for scrapbooking. I've unsubscribed from a ton of newsletters and such to cut back on email time. It's an adjustment. I'm still trying to find a balance.

I'll be back with that little gift probably later today. Thanks for reading!

December Blog Train arrives

2009-12-01T00:00:00.020-06:00

Welcome Blog Train riders! I'm so happy you have arrived on my blog! I worked hard to prepare a fabulous freebie for you! If you need the list of blogs to visit, click HERE and you will go to the main Blog Train site. (If the hyperlink doesn't work, copy and paste this link: http://www.blogtrainblog.blogspot.com/

Here is a preview of some of the incredible kits available:

My store, Heritage Scrap, is having a Twelve Days of Christmas Sales Spectacular. Each day, each designer will have 1-2 items on sale at a great discount. My new kit, Believe is also on sale for the month of December for only $2.50!! Here is Believe (image is linked to the store):
I think the freebie, Holiday Sugar Cookie compliments Believe quite nicely and would combine into an awesome kit!

And now, here is my preview and link (image is linked or click on the link below):

The link to download is HERE. I hope you enjoy it!

*This link will be valid for the month of December. After that, the kit will go into my store at Heritage Scrap for a nominal fee to cover bandwidth costs.

Wishing Everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!

(Psst, want another holiday-themed freebie? Visit this link here for a past freebie of mine.)

Here is the link to the next stop in the blog train: Angel Town http://angeltown.typepad.com/

It's almost time!!

2009-11-30T22:34:00.003-06:00

In just a few hours a fabulous mini-kit will be here for FREE! Check back soon!!

I GOT A JOB!

2009-11-19T14:11:00.008-06:00

Hey! After searching for over a year, I finally got a full-time permanant job! I have been trying to get back into mortgage, as I used to be a Senior Loan Processor for Chase Manhattan Mortgage 10 years ago. I found a position at a mortgage company only 8 minutes from my house!! If you live in the Chicago area, you know what a miracle that distance is! LOL I'm very excited! The company is great, the people are all so nice, I can't be happier!

I'm starting as a sort of Loan Assistant, assisting a division of loan officers, doing some pre-processing checking. Eventually, I'll be working back into being full-time processer again!

**************************************************
On the desiging front, be on the look out shortly for a new Christmas-themed kit, titled "Believe" and I'm taking part in the big designer blog train, you can read about it here http://www.blogtrainblog.blogspot.com . So, on Dec. 1st, I'll have a pretty freebie ready for everyone, be sure to come back then!

New Freebie! Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day

2009-11-07T17:57:00.008-06:00

In honor of Digital Scrapbooking Day, I have a new freebie in the store at Heritage Scrap! Here is the preview (on all previews, click on the image to see it full size, blogger shrinks all these images):It contains 3 papers and 8 elements, including an AWESOME mask (if I do say so myself!) :)

Here is a sample layout using the freebie and pieces of my Autumn in Paris kit:
Here are the previews of Autumn in Paris:

Here are the previews of my new Haunted Halloween kit:

An example using my new kit:
All of my store is on sale this weekend at 45% off!!!

Here is the link to the freebie: HERE

Be sure to scroll down for lots of past freebies!

QP freebie

2009-09-25T21:26:00.004-05:00

I'm on a roll! LOL Here is another popular past freebie, this one is from my Butterfly Fantasy kit. The kit is available at Heritage Scrap HERE

Here is the freebie quick page:
The image is linked or you can click on this link for the download:
http://www.4shared.com/file/135460480/c4280975/_2__KDorn_Butterfly_Fantasy-QP.html

Halloween Glitter Freebie

2009-09-25T20:26:00.004-05:00

I've re-uploaded my Halloween themed Glitter sampler. It showcases my glitter styles available at Heritage Scrap HERE. While they are not listed in the store, I do sell them for commercial usage as well. If you are interested in commercial use, contact me and I can arrange to have the commercial versions added. I have 10 different color sets, each has 9 variations of each color, (the one exception is Pale Pretties, shown below, which has 9 pastel colors.) Here are 3 previews (Note, the blogger system reduces the previews in posts, so click on the images to see them full-size in order to see the "actual size preview"):

Here is the freeie Sampler preview:
The image is linked or you can click here for the download link: http://www.4shared.com/file/135454342/4b1edc57/KDorn_GlitterSampler.html

wordle

2009-09-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

Look what my daughter made me!!

Isn't that sweet!!

Harry Potter

2009-08-17T16:22:00.009-05:00

I saw this image and it totally reminded me of my daughter and our cats! LOL The cats must love her and how she plays with them, cause they purr and swish their tails when she is squashing them! LOL

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

We went to see Harry Potter™: The Exhibition yesterday at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I was so bummed out, as we walked up to the entrance, there is a huge sign saying absolutely no photography! I didn't see this anywhere in any of the literature, on the museum's web site until we were outside the doors. (Re-visiting the site, there is a link about "guidelines regarding photography", in that link it does say no photography. Why didn't they just put that on the main page?) There was only one thing outside you could take photos of, it was the car the boys stole. So here it is:

If I'd know that was my only photo-op, I would have take a couple more! The exhibit was AWESOME!! The details of the props and costumes is amazing! Stuff you don't even notice when watching the movies. We LOVED it! At the end, they had a store filled with souvenirs you could buy. Melanie got a t-shirt, that is made of the thinnest material and still be allowed to be a t-shirt, a mere $35! The official program only set us back $16.95! What bargains, eh! Here is the link: http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/harry-potter/ it's there until Sept. 27th, then it moves to Boston. Using that modern miracle, the screen shot, here are the previews you see at that link:
Some friends of ours said it only took 30-40 minutes to go through the exhibit, so to err on the side of caution, I scheduled us to have about 75 minutes, it wasn't enough! We were a bit rushed at the end. We could have used another 10-15 minutes. We listened to the additional audio tour (another $5 each!) and that may have added to the time. The reason we had to rush was we also had tickets to see the new movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, afterwards in the Omnimax theater in Imax and we had to really hurry to make it! [By the way, don't worry about not seeing it in Imax, the 5 of us were thoroughly UNIMPRESSED with the format. It wasn't adjusted for the rounded screen shape; so some things were distorted; most of it still was rectangular; it made us dizzy at some points; others you had to keep turning your head from side to side to follow along. The concensus was that the Imax format was more annoying than enjoyable.] The price to see it really large: $15 each (plus the convenience fee of $1.50 per ticket for buying it in advance.) Oh, the cost to see the Exhibit: $26 per person (children 3-11 only $19!) plus a $2.50 per ticket convenience price. Grand total for 5 of us (2 adults, 2 seniors, 1 child) $213 (the seniors got a whopping $1 discount on the admission! Wow, that helped! LOL). ~Plus the additional cost of the audio, $16 for parking and the souvenirs! Was it worth it, YEP! Totally enjoyed it! Would do it again in a heartbeat!! :) For the official site with all the locations and more images: http://www.harrypotterexhibition.com/ All the stuff they had for sale (well, probably not the program), you can also buy at the Warner Brothers web site: http://www.wbshop.com/Harry-Potter/hp,default,sc.html.

Fairy Dust mouse sparkles

2009-08-05T18:51:00.003-05:00

Cool! I added sparkles to the mouse on my page! I found the easy tutorial at Fairy Dust Blogger Instructions or copy and paste: http://easycustomblogs.blogspot.com/2009/06/fairy-dust-mouse-trail.html She has several easy to follow blog tips and tricks, you should check it out!

Another freebie!

2009-08-04T14:29:00.006-05:00

I made a quick page from my Heritage Builders kit to share with you all! I hope you like it! Here is the preview (FYI: I used the free plug-in OptikVerve's virtualPhotographer to turn my daughter's photo an 'antiqued' color; the plug-in works in Photoshop, PSP, Photoshop Elements and most graphic programs):

The word art "You are my Sunshine" is included as a separate PNG, so you can omit it if you prefer. Click HERE or on the image to go to the link.

Enjoy!!

New kits, updates and more...

2009-07-30T20:18:00.020-05:00

Well, long time no blogging, shocking, I know! LOL Well, this summer has been flying by so far! First a little personal update:

My foot took a while for the swelling to go down and the pain to recede. I'm able to walk relatively pain free, at least for short distances, and that is a HUGE improvement. The surgeon says it takes 6 months to a year for you to fully heal, so I'm crossing my fingers there!! I'm still hoping to be able to dance at our son's wedding in October! Following my recovery from the foot surgery, my temp job ended, they couldn't wait for me to return. The work was relatively easy and the people were almost 100% friendly, the pay was OK, but I can't feel too bad about it, the commute took 55 minutes each way on a good day, an hour and 20 minutes or more if it rained. I can't imagine how long it would take to drive in snow! Now I'm back to job hunting.

We had a small flood in our basement on the 22nd of June, less than a quarter-inch of water, but that was enough. It was seepage back from the sewage system, it had rained so hard for days, there was no place for the water to go, it was mostly clear water, but since it came up from a drain, the water had bacteria. I didn't have computer use for several days. I was worried if my computer was OK, it was above the water, but it was so humid in the basement. I let it dry for a couple days upstairs, just to be on the safe side. It forced me to finally move the set-up upstairs to the new kitchen desk we built and hook it up the wireless router I bought almost a year ago! Of course I then discovered I needed a wireless adapter too, so that took another day before I could go shopping and set that get set up. John did all the scrubbing and disinfecting of the basement. With my foot sore and the not- completely healed incision, I couldn't be doing it. Our family room carpet and the stairs carpet was the biggest expense. He pulled all the wet boxes and stuff out of our crawl space (which oddly, had wet and dry sections, it appears the water went in rivulets, there), but we haven't had the time to sort though all the boxes that got wet. Luckily, a couple years back, my husband got the idea to put stuff into storage tubs and little by little, we had put all the holiday decorations, our wedding souvenirs and more recent mementos into the tubs. The stuff in boxes is things from when Melanie was a baby and toddler, my high school and college mementos, different clothes, and a bunch of my step- daughter's stuff from when she left for college. About 30 of my husband's favorite blues albums are warped and ruined. (Yes, actual albums! LOL ~Between the 2 of us, we had about 1000! For Christmas, 2 years ago now, he received one of those album-to-CD converters, and it is still in the box. I know he is kicking himself about not using that now.) Those were just ones sitting on the carpet. In the crawl space, he had stored most of my albums from the 70's and 80's. Those all went, over 250. They were wet and molding. I suppose I could have saved some of the albums themselves, but without anything to protect them, they would have gotten ruined shortly. Besides, I hadn't listened to them in decades, so I couldn't get too upset. It's sad to see some of what was ruined, but I'm rather proud of myself for not getting too emotional over what was lost.

We are planning to use this opportunity to do a lot of purging. We may end up selling this house and moving to a townhouse (less time and work in keeping up a townhouse and hopefully less expensive) in the next year, so it needs to be done. It's something we are thinking about, it may not happen. I would like to move somewhere a little more southern. I'm not a fan of winter or the cold. I've been trying to convince my husband for years, whenever I see the opportunity. I'm currently trying again! LOL Trying to find the silver-lining in all this, I'm just happy none of our photo albums and such was destroyed.

As some of you may know, my husband is a sheet metal worker. The construction industry is slow and he already was laid off twice this year. He thinks he has work through maybe next week, but he is off today and tomorrow and then they may lay him off again (3rd time this year). I sure hope this recession ends soon!!

I was talking to a neighbor about her daughter's graduation. It got me thinking about next year. Our daughter Katie, 22, (my step-daughter since she was 3) will graduate college next year, she's on the 5 year plan. We paid for the first 4 years, but she is now on her own. She set it all up, she'll be an RA in a dorm, plus she works at the university book store and Best Buy; plus student loans and she'll get through the last year independently. She also set up an internship (she’s an architecture major at Southern Illinois University) and will be on the student government. We're pretty proud of how she is stepping up to take care of herself. Earlier this month we sent her the last check for her rent. It is a big relief not to have those bills any longer (the last tuition was about 2 months ago)!

Andrew, now 26 (my step-son since he was 7), will be getting married Oct 2nd and then next May he'll graduate law school. He already has a degree in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University. Luckily, he is paying for law school.

Melanie, will graduate to middle school next year too (next month she'll be in 5th grade)! (The grade school here goes K-5, and then Middle School is 6-8.) She is looking forward to us having a HUGE graduation party for the 3 of them next year about this time! LOL She loves to plan parties!!

Well, for my family and friends, this is the end of the personal updates. It was a little lengthy, but I hope it fills in some blanks.

*******************************************************************

Now, for my scrapbooking friends and customers, some updates on my designs! I made a new kit for the 4th of July. Here are the previews:

And an add-on kit here (I love the new flair button fad that began on Facebook, ~ you can use them as elements or reduce them in size and make the brads! I made 2 flair buttons for the main kit and 3 buttons for the add-on):

Tomorrow another new kit will be in the store called Heritage Builder. August is Heritage Scrap's 1st anniversary and we have all worked to make a great collaborative kit. The are some awesome sales too! Saturday, August 1st the whole store is 50% OFF!!!

Here are the previews of my portion of the collaboration (each designer's portion is sold separately):

Each designer made a family chart as a bonus, here is my chart (it is a PNG you can add your own photos to) with some of my family members as examples:

Lastly, I have to tell you about my friend Carmela's awesome Photoshop styles I used to make the Heritage Builder kit. They are just gorgeous and a great value! You can see them HERE and below is the preview of the styles.

Oh my goodness, you made it through this marathon post! You deserve a treat! Here is a coordinating cluster frame that matches my 4th of July kits:

Click on the image to download your freebie or click HERE

Recovering from surgery

2009-05-21T19:44:00.002-05:00

I'm in some pain following surgery on Monday. Finally getting to my computer. I only have a little time before I have to lie down again. ~I had a heel spur removed so I hopefully can walk without pain for the first time in over 4 years. I've been neglecting my blog following starting a new job in April and hopefully next week when the swelling has gone down and I am able to spend more time on the computer, I post all about everything happening.

I had a little help

2009-04-10T15:51:00.005-05:00

Hello Readers! I haven't posted for about a month! Time sure flies by. I had some wonderful help today. I had read a great tip to make your links open in a new window, so you can keep reading here, but have a new tab open with any links. Neat idea! Well, it didn't work for me and I wrote the lovely lady who had the tip for help. It turns out, when you edit your HTML at the bottom it had a little orange box with "Preview" in it. Click on that and you get what looks like your blog, but it isn't quite! The links weren't click-able in that Preview page. But, when I loaded my blog from the normal link, it worked perfectly. So, just a little precaution when changing your blog and you are testing to see if it worked. Don't just go by the Preview! LOL

Now, I got this awesome tip from the wonderful Fryske of YouandI DigiDesign. Her digital design blog (with lots of wonderful freebies and views of her beautiful designs) http://fryskesdigiscraps.blogspot.com/ and her fabulous blogger design blog (with the fantastic blog tips) http://youandibloggerdesign.blogspot.com/ The specific link to make links open in a new window is here: http://youandibloggerdesign.blogspot.com/2009/03/open-in-new-window.html Fryske was so helpful and she responded right away to my request for help. She also makes gorgeous blog templates! Please visit her yourself to see!

2009-03-06T01:20:00.001-06:00

Oh, my allergies! I am suffering already. I just saw this funny photo and had to share! LOL

see more dog and puppy pictures

I made a Video!

2009-03-03T15:35:00.005-06:00

Proud mommy that I am, I made a video of my little girl's talent show performance. Note, this is my first time ever making a movie and I don't know how to dub or edit the sound, so it is filled with background noise. {If anyone knows how to substitute the recorded music or remove the background noise, please let me know.} So here is Melanie and Melody as they dance to a song by Selena Gomez "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" at their school's annual talent show. They made up their own choreography! Melanie is in white pants, Melody is in green pants.

You can also view it on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3AVRGdGIS0

Free Wallpaper

2009-03-03T09:24:00.008-06:00

Edit: I fixed the Box.net link, I put the 4shared one again by mistake. Sorry!!

I have a freebie for my readers! I meant to post this yesterday, but I ran out of time. This is a St. Patrick's theme wallpaper, made from my kit, St. Patrick's Celebration; available at Heritage Scrap HERE. It is on sale currently for 30% off! Here is a preview of the kit:
And here is my gift:
It is in 2 sizes, 1280 x 800 and 1024 x 768. Click HERE for the download link.

And because there is a rumor going around about someone somewhere who got a virus from 4shared (I've yet to hear of anyone who actually did, but I know some people would rather err on the side of caution), I have also uploaded to Box.net. There is no place to leave comments on Box.net, nor do I have the ability to see how many have downloaded, so if you use the Box.net link, please leave a comment here, on the blog. Thank you! Here is the the alternate link.

Enjoy!

Layout shares

2009-02-28T14:25:00.009-06:00

I saw this cartoon today and thought it was adorable:
It reminded me of Calvin & Hobbes, the cartoon strip that ran from 1985-1995. Here is one similar one:And here is a link to see more, some really funny and slightly twisted ones too! LOL : http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html

I'm determined to catch up! I have all the photos on my Flickr, but I'm behind on scrapping them. Luckily, I've already 'journaled' on each photo on Flickr, so I only have to copy and paste the captions for each photo onto the layout. I'm going to work on more this weekend. I did 2 today:

(credits can be found HERE)

(credits can be found HERE, Frame styles: Gimme Glitter by BubblyKori available at Heritage Scrap (Oh, hey, that's ME!! LOL))

And one of my little cutie:

(credits can be found HERE)

Viewing PSP files in Photoshop

2009-02-24T11:56:00.005-06:00

There are lots of PSP users switching to Photoshop and a number of Photoshop users who admire PSP Tubes and files and each seem to think the program files are not compatible. There is good news! There is a fix to be able to use PSP files, files that are created by PaintShop Pro, in Photoshop. (I first received this wonderful information from Lara Payton, another designer):

To use those psp tubes, you have to get a psp converter plug-in. Relax, it's FREE! Also note that it says for PSP version 5-9, but it works on files created with more recent versions. http://www.telegraphics.com.au/sw/#pspformat ~ PSP Format is the plug-in. Put it in your Plug-in folder (while PS is NOT open), then open PS & open the file via PS. Works great!

The fix works in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements both. Note: It only opens one layer at a time, so if the PSP file has multiple layers, you'll need to keep opening it and selecting a different layer each time.

My daughter sent me this Flair on Facebook this weekend. LOL
And a fun note for us photo nuts and scrapbookers:

see more puppies

Quick Photoshop tip

2009-02-23T12:02:00.005-06:00

I just read the coolest tip! I was testing an awesome new action by my friend Camela and she tells you to load the action OR just Drag into your action pallet. It worked! So did dragging her style onto the style pallet! I haven't tried other pallets, but I suspect this will work with them too. This is wonderful, you don't have to navigate all over your computer for the folder you are storing the presets in, you can just drag the preset on to the appropriate pallet. What a time saver!

If you want to see some of Carmela's beautiful work (she has a fantastic style of her own and some excellent products for sale) you can go HERE. She has some samples for you to try so you can see how good a quality her items are. The prices are in AU Dollars, not US Dollars, so here is a converter link. As of today $1.00 AU Dollar = $.65 US Dollar. So her prices are very reasonable.

Here is one example of what she has:So her price of $8.50 would be $5.48 US, so 50 gold styles for that price is amazing! She has stuff for Photoshop, PSP, scrapbooking and tagging. Well worth the look!

Oh, the actions I was testing? Well, here they are and they are excellent!

2 wolves

2009-02-21T15:56:00.000-06:00

I received this in an email and I thought it was a good one to share:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Random Tips

2009-02-20T12:44:00.002-06:00

I was thinking, I have an assortment of tips I've shared in Yahoo groups, why not post them on my blog? Many of these are links to tutorials. I'll see what I come up with. Here is the first:

Out-of-Bounds photos are currently very popular. I got these links together for anyone interested in trying it themselves. Look them all over to get a clearer idea of what to do. The steps shown can be adapted for any program. You are basically tubing (PSP term; "extracting" for PS users) half the photo, then put the frame over it, remove the portion of the frame covering the tube half that sticks out and add an appropriate shadow for the portion sticking out of the frame. The name of the tool may be different for different programs, but they do the basic same thing. That's also why I suggest reading through the tutorials, following the progression of what is happening to the graphic and basically how it is done. You can then apply the same principals to the program you are using.

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161043

For more on the shadows of OOB: http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161135

Also highly recommended:

http://www.freakingnews.com/hosted/tutorials/OOB_Tutorial_Serrator.pdf and it's companion on frames:
http://www.freakingnews.com/hosted/tutorials/OOB_Tutorial_Frame_Warping_Serrator.pdf

A few more:

http://www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/184/en/

http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/wordpress/?p=975

http://www.empiredezign.com/version2/portfolio/pages/tutorials/3dphoto.htm

For ideas on your own (or just to oh and ah at what other's have come up with)
http://www.worth1000.com/galleries.asp?rel=Out+of+Bounds&display=photoshop&id=14161
http://www.freakingnews.com/Out-Of-Bounds-Pictures--1395-0.asp

Good News!

2009-02-20T11:18:00.002-06:00

We have some good news, after 5 weeks of unemployment, my husband found a new job!! YEAH!!!

Now, I still haven't found anything. I keep hearing about being 'gone' for 10 years. I was a housewife, not a hermit. I was a Senior Loan Processor for the 16th highest producing loan officer at Chase Manhattan Mortgage, ~nationwide! I was hand picked by him to work almost exclusively for him. We specialized in a 7 day turnaround. From loan application to close, 7 days! That is hard! Plus, he recommended me multiple times for outstanding employee commendations! I have skills, I have value. Now the loan process hasn't changed. They are very computerized, but I'm a computer geek and those programs are simple. I am frustrated. If anyone knows of a Chicago area company hiring and can put in a good word for me, I would appreciate it!

To offset my plea for help, here are a couple of really cute photos:

more animals

more animals

This blog is boring ...

2009-02-16T02:05:00.008-06:00

There, I said, this blog is boring. No wonder hardly anyone ever stops by here! I'd skip it too, if it weren't my own! LOL I read so many blogs and I know what draws people and my blog has little appeal. What draws readers? I've compiled a tiny list:

1) Freebies. Give away something, no matter how crappy quality it may be, and you'll get tons of lookers. Most will download your freebie. Less than 10% will say Thank You. (I'm not judging, I'm one of the guilty who tend to skip the "Thanks".) I might add, most freebies are equal in quality to what you can buy in stores, but you need to check the quality after you download. What looks great in a preview, often looks awful at full-size.

2) Write a tutorial. If it is slightly half-way decent, people will swing by to read it, even if it is a repeat of what can be found again and again on most large scrapbooking sites. Now, write a hybrid tutorial, and you'll get tons of readers. People are flocking to hybrid projects and love to see "how-to's". ~I don't do hybrid. I'm too anal to make most physical crafts, I re-do and fix and fiddle and it makes me nuts.

3) Lead a fun life and document it with lots of photos of trips, family outings, cute kids, inspiring views. Describe how great a time you had with your BFF's at your regular get-togethers. Why? These things make the rest of us who don't go on trips, have family outings or BFF's get a chance to live vicariously through you and we feel better about our lives somehow.

4) Give frequent motivational or spiritual messages, quotes, or word-art. Again, it makes us feel better.

Am I going to so any of these thing??? ~ Don't hold your breath! LOL

1) I am thinking of giving away a kit, a bit every day next month. Will I do it, who knows. I'm a terrible procrastinator. It would be Funky, my first ever kit. I'd even throw in all the freebies and incentives that I made to go with it. Want to see it, then scroll way on back to the earlier part of the blog. It's mostly purple and it isn't vintage. If you want me to give it away, then POST A COMMENT! Come on, someone is reading this blog besides my brother-in-law, (Hey Dave!), PLEASE leave a comment!! Give me some incentive! Oh heck, here is the original link: http://bubblykori.blogspot.com/2006/04/exciting-news-debut_30.html and here is from when I revised it: http://bubblykori.blogspot.com/2007/07/lots-of-news.html I'll include EVERYTHING!

2) Will I write a tutorial? I have, you can see one over at ScrapbookGraphics blog I wrote. If you write and ask a question in a group I'm in, I'll often whip up something, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to pull one out for my blog. I need topics first, I can't think of ones until a need arises. It is sort of like having to come up with an essay topic in school, I hated it, I'd agonize for days. Give me a topic though and I'd write pages in a snap. ~if you want to leave any ideas, you could be like the 5th person to ever leave a freaking comment on this blog in 3 years!

3) I don't go anywhere, I don't do fabulous things, every time I make a BFF, they move to another part of the country (really, they are in Phoenix -2, Iowa-2, New Jersey, New York, Texas.) It's depressing. ~I do have the cute kid though! :)

4) I used to be a positive person. I laughed and smiled all the time. Without getting into it, I've had the joy sucked out of my life for years. Really, you don't want to hear about it all, it's just depressing and people don't want to read about misery. Well, most people don't want to read about others misery; sometimes it's good to learn your life isn't as awful as someone else's! LOL Maybe I can come up with some motivational quotes to share. Not word art, I'm not that good at word art. Then again, it could be good to practice.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day weekend. My store is on sale for 30% off still. I have 4 Valentine themed kits. You want them. Really. You must buy them. Go now. (Ummm... Does this qualify as subliminal advertising?!? LOL)

They are HERE!

2009-02-05T03:20:00.003-06:00

The GORGEOUS free collab kit I mentioned is now up at The Daily Scrapper HERE or copy this: http://www.thedailyscrapper.com/2009/issue02/Interview-heritagescrap1.html

Here is one little preview, you have to go to see it all:
Also, the Vintage Love kits are up, selling for only $2.50 each!! Here is the preview, you can buy 1 or get all 4! (Pssst.....buy mine! Mine is a MUST buy! LOL)

Project 365 free template links

2009-02-05T03:09:00.002-06:00

News, kits, layouts and more

2009-01-26T23:49:00.006-06:00

I am always at a loss on what to put on these posts for a title. I think I come up with the lamest stuff! LOL Oh, well...

Couple of news bits from Heritage Scrap: 1st, our new coordinating Valentine's kits will arriving shortly in the store. These are beautiful and will be on sale to start! Here are my previews:

2nd, coming next month (that's less than 1 week now!) we will have a gorgeous collaboration, with a vintage rose theme, available free for a limited time! I can't give out the details yet, but if you like roses or vintage, you won't want to miss it!

On a personal note, I'm doing my best to keep up with Project 365, the challenge is to take a photo a day for the entire year. I'm posting my results on Flickr HERE . Currently, I need to load the images from the last 4 days. I'm also try to do a layout a week with them. That I'm a tad behind. I did the first week:

(Click Here for credits.)

Here is a Christmas layout I did this month:

(Click Here for credits.)

99 things I have or haven't done

I saw this list of events on Katie the Scrapbook Lady's blog the other day. You are supposed to copy and paste to your own blog and bold everything you’ve done! This could easily be a list of 99 things to scrapbook about.

Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (viola)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Here are a few more that come to mind:

100. Lived in Brazil (Lived in Santos, Sao Paulo and visiting Rio de Janeiro and Puerto Allegre)
101. Climbed the steps at Corcovado (to the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro)
102. Taught yourself Photoshop
103. Played a piano solo in church(s)
104. Gone tubing down a river ~ in the dark
105. Delivered Meals-on-Wheels
106. Memorized the names of all the books in the bible (old and new) ~in order
107. Paid your own way through college
108. Danced in a parade ~ non-stop ~ for 1.24 miles

Lastly, on a very personal note, both my husband and I are out of work. We both lost our jobs the same week. Please say a pray or have a good thought that we may find full-time employment soon!!
Thank you!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T15:20:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone! I want to take a moment to wish all my blog readers a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year! I think it's also important to take a moment to reflect on all we have to be grateful for at this time, to start out the year with a re-freshen memory of all the good in our lives.

I'm currently working for Kelly Services on a temporary assignment as a Financial Processor (read: data entry) that runs through next Friday, then I'm back to looking for a job. I'm hoping more positions will be opening now, as most annual budgets usually fund on Jan. 1st. If anyone has a moment and wants to say a prayer or light a candle for me to get a job, it would be most appreciated!!

We had a very pleasant New Year's Day. I slept in, then got up, ate a little something, then snuggled with Melanie and watched the movie The Golden Compass, then we baked M&M Cookies we mixed the night before. I took a shower, read some email, then we went out to a different (new to us) Chinese restaurant, came home and watched the Magician's award show, all 3 of us snuggled on the couch! Then, I snuggled in bed with Melanie and watched some of the Wizards of Waverly Place marathon, until 10. It was nice to be so snugly! Melanie is growing up so quickly, I fear this time of closeness will be gone before I know it!

I hope everyone had a great day too!

It's a FREEBIE!!

2008-12-23T18:50:00.006-06:00

Freebie Alert!! Here is a Christmas present from me, an add on to match my Sugar Plum Lane kit at Heritage Scrap. Here is the preview:

Here is the download link: CLICK HERE

I want to wish you all a very Happy Holiday season, whatever you may celebrate!!!

Update and NEW KIT!

2008-12-01T10:11:00.007-06:00

Hi Everyone! Just a quick update to let you all know I've found a temporary position with Kelly Services (the temp agency) that goes through about the 2nd week of January. At that time, I'm hoping most companies will have released their new budgets and will be hiring again!!

We had 23 people for Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun, but tiring too! It was our first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner in 10 years. Our old house had a nice big oven and fridge, and until this year, our new home had the tiniest oven and fridge, I couldn't even get a cookie sheet in that oven, let alone a turkey or sides! LOL So, since the remodel included getting a full-size oven and fridge, we were good to go again! I really missed cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I think my mother-in-law was very happy to give it back again! LOL

Over at Heritage Scrap, we have some new and really pretty kits that coordinate into a huge MEGA kit! The theme is Sugar Plum Lane. Each kit is currently on sale for 50% off too! You can see them here. Here is my kit's preview:

While you're there, my freebie from the DSD Treasure hunt is still available (I don't know for how much longer, so snag it while you can!) You can find it HERE.

(Edit: it may be a permanent freebie, as of 9/25/09 it's still available)

2008-11-11T23:13:00.001-06:00

You Belong in 1977

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Announcement regarding SOTB

2008-11-06T17:13:00.004-06:00

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This above kitty and I have a bit in common:

It is with a great deal of sadness, I have to announce my resignation from SOTB. (The next is rather personal, you can skip to the next paragraph if you want.) My husband and I have been having financial discussions. I hadn't been looking too hard for a full-time job, I will admit. I have agreed to devote my full attention to it. (I had originally hoped to just get a part-time job and keep designing, but that isn't paying the bills and I need to be an adult and accept my responsibilities.) We have accumulated nearly $19,000 in debt this year (my husband's hours have been cut and our oldest daughter is in college.) and we are about $1900 short each month now to cover our bills. With the recession hitting us hard, I have no other option but to get a full-time job. In fact, my husband has been off work for the last 2 weeks, there is no work available; construction jobs are falling though everywhere. (~Oh, he is a sheet metal worker, they get paid only if they work, there is no vacation pay, no sick pay, and no holiday pay.) If I don't find a minimally decent paying job in the next couple months, my husband thinks we may need to sell our house! As it is, we are trying to refinance our house to be able to pay all our bills.

Sadly, this leaves me with no real time for designing coming up. I had to explain it to my daughter (10) and I guess it is an example of how we don't always get to do in life what we want and we can't always follow our dreams. I'm very sorry to be doing this, you can't imagine how upset I am. SOTB has been my home since I found scrapbooking over 3 years ago. Dani, the current owner of SOTB was kind enough to allow me to stay in the store through NDSD. That store is now closed and my designs can now be found only at Heritage Scrap.

Now, for the time being, you will still see my designs at Heritage Scrap, but I don't know how long that will last. It being a specialty store (vintage only), it has low participation requirements and low contribution requirements and the owner, Kate, is letting me stay with the knowledge I won't be making anything for the time being. I mention this only because I don't want anyone to wonder what is going on there.

SOTB was a fabulous place to call home! I won't be completely gone! I will still visit occasionally and will post any layouts I make in the gallery. Thank you all for your friendship and I hope everyone there has enjoyed my designs and freebies! I'll try to sneak a little design in from time to time and maybe a freebie too!

Had to share this:

2008-10-30T17:47:00.001-05:00

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Personality quizzes

2008-10-20T20:42:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I took any of these, so I couldn't resist! LOL

Halloween Candy Quiz

You are a Candy Corn

Like the candy corn people can count on you to always be there

Find out which Halloween Candy you are at Quizopolis.com

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are.

You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible.

You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it.

You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask.

You are fun loving and sweet. You tend to enjoy joking around and teasing people.

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: 80% Correct

Your spelling is excellent.

You don't fall for common spelling pitfalls, and you spell almost everything correctly.

Do You Make Common Spelling Mistakes?

Old School collaborative project

2008-10-09T11:57:00.006-05:00

Heritage Scrap has our very first collaborative project, Old School, brought to you by BubblyKori (that's ME!), Cari Lopez, Designs by Vickie, DigiZines by Teri, Jean Daugherty Designs & Veronica Spriggs.

They took the theme of vintage school days and created a complimentary palette of muted autumn tones adding them to warm, inviting textures. The unique elements are exquisite and perfect compliment to the versatile collection of papers. Old School consists of 19 papers and 30 elements to include an adorable and nostalgic alpha set. In addition, the designers created a stunning collection of Quick Pages to coordinate with the Old School kit. These are true beauties and will give you a jump on your next project. Both the kit and QP collection are currently on sale for 20% off. Click on any image or go HERE.

Old School - Quick Page Collection

New Layout share

2008-09-30T22:59:00.004-05:00

I scrapped again! (Hey, maybe it will get to be a regular thing again and I can catch up a bit on my photos!!) This is actually from last year, Melanie's school photo. I used Doris Castle's new kit, Whispers of Autumn, a really beautiful fall themed kit!

I'd also like to announce that my SOTB font challenge for October is posted. You can go HERE for full details. Here is the bonus you'll get for playing along:
Click on images for a better view.

Some more cute cat photos!

2008-09-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

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25% OFF End of Summer Sale!! FREE Glitter Sampler!!

2008-09-19T12:01:00.010-05:00

The days are growing shorter and those hot days are gone for another year. Soon the leaves will be changing and pumpkins will appear on every doorstep. To celebrate the end of a wonderful summer and beginning of a beautiful autumn, I am having an

End of Summer Sale!

September 19-25th

Everything in my store is 25% OFF!
(Including commercial use!)

A preview of some items you'll find in my store:Try before you buy! Download my free Glitter sampler created using my PS glitter styles:

http://www.4shared.com/file/63636868/447d2972/KDorn_GlitterSampler.html

Edit to add: My store at SOTB is now closed, my glitter styles are available at Heritage Scrap (link at side bar)

Fun site find

2008-09-18T18:44:00.002-05:00

This week I found the source of those funny captioned animal photos! I've been reading and laughing so hard! http://icanhascheezburger.com

Here is a sampling of what you'll see there:

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Daily Download at SOTB

2008-09-17T23:22:00.002-05:00

Have you seen the Daily Download at Scrap Outside the Box? Every day on the SOTB Blog you will find a new fun goodie just waiting for you. JenJen is having so much fun with this. You simply must run over there and see what she has hiding in the blog for you. This is today's free download, click on the image and visit the SOTB Blog!

Hey LOOK!! I've updated my blog!

2008-09-17T00:31:00.010-05:00

I finally fixed the problem with seeing my blog in Internet Explorer and updated it a bit. I swapped sides too. I hope you all like the updated look!

I scrapped! Here is one I made for the scraplift challenge at SBG. I used my Butterfly Fantasy kit. (Click on image to see it larger)
(Click here to see all credits.)
Journaling reads:
"Our little Lilly
She is finally getting playful after almost 3 months with us. She even has moments of feistiness!"

We adopted Lilly, June 13th, from a rescue group; only a month earlier, she was living in a cage, in a basement of a puppy mill. She is 2 1/2 and had never seen the light of day, never been outdoors, run in grass and when she came to us after almost a month with a foster family, she still had never seen stairs. These dogs have understandable emotional problems, and we are very proud that she is finally feeling secure enough with us that she is beginning to play.

BTW, this cute little Pomeranian weighs in at a big ol' 4.6 lbs! (I am often amazed at just how tiny she is!) The hair that was cut off due to excessive matting is also growing back nicely, by Christmas she'll be a big puff ball!

I also scrapped Melanie's first day of school photo. I used Doris Castle's Fanciful Overlays. This is what I posted in galleries:
(Click here to see all credits.)

Later, Melanie and I tweaked it a bit make the colors more to her taste, here is the revised version:
I think they both look pretty great! What do you think?

I also made this for the Sept. Desktop challenge at ScrapbookGraphics; in honor of my wedding anniversary (Sept. 26th) and for all the other September brides. All papers and elements by Doris Castle (all have some re-coloring to match the beautiful vintage artwork of Harrison Fisher.)
(Click here to see all credits.)

Now for a bonus! The month is half over, but you may still enjoy the desktop. Doris Castle has graciously allowed me to share the desktop with you! It is sized for wide screen format, I have it saved in 1280x768 and 1024x614. The desktop can be used by people without wide screens too, you'll just have a little black strip at the top and bottom, like with the movies on TV.

1280x768:

http://www.4shared.com/file/62098062/70fa16ef/kld_SeptDeskto0-1280x768.html

1024x614:
http://www.4shared.com/file/62098066/7797d2f6/kld_SeptDesktop-1024x614.html

Our little family graphic

2008-09-06T12:38:00.002-05:00

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

1st Day of School 2008

2008-09-02T23:54:00.005-05:00

Today was the first day of school here. I missed Melanie already! I feel rather sad at the prospect of eating lunch alone for the next 9 months. Some days I'm glad she is at school and I can be alone, today wasn't one of those days. :( That smile of hers sure keeps me going. Here she is with her new 4th grade teacher:

In other news...
I posted the new Fontalicious Fun Challenge at SOTB. More information can be found here. This is the posting bonus you'll receive:

We're Busy Scrapping

2008-08-20T23:49:00.006-05:00

Shockingly, I have scrapped!! LOL I used my kit, Summers of Yesteryear, for this 2-page layout. Melanie tried one of those new bouncer jump "rides" . She really enjoyed it!(Click here to see all credits.)
(Click here to see all credits.)

We were out on our deck and Melanie was trying to get our cat's attention as I took this photo. I can't express why, but I really liked this photo of her and wanted to scrap it. I used my kit, Aunt Emma's Parlor. As always, click on the image to see a larger view.
(Click here to see all credits.)(Click here to see all credits.)
This week, Melanie is taking scrapbooking camp through our local park district. It's only 3 days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 9 am-12 noon. She is loving it! She has made almost a dozen layouts in the first 2 days alone! The instructor, a former Creative Memories consultant, said she is impressed with my little girls talent! She said she was amazed at how well she is doing for only being 9! Melanie showed the instructor the mini-scrap album she made for her 7th birthday party, a scrapbooking party held at a local scrapbook store. Her teacher said it was great for her first paper scrapping. I'm so proud of her and a bit humbled that she also loves her Mommy's hobby! I'm not a paper scrapper, but she looks to be favoring the paper method, so I'm sure I'll be learning more and more about the how-to"'s of paper scrapping!

************************************************************************

A bit off topic, but is anyone else miffed at Warner Bros. for postponing the premier of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by nearly 9 months! I had loaded the count-down blinkie to the left and it was down to 92 days and then they switched the date! Melanie and I were bummed!! We love Harry Potter! We are now re-reading the books. Well, I read them aloud, I have to explain some words and occasional concepts, however, we are snuggling the whole time and her vocabulary is amazing! Her teacher even commented on her report card, that Melanie had the largest vocabulary of a 3rd grader she had ever run across! In her school tests, she scored equal with 11th graders! Talk about proud!! I've been reading to her since she was 2 weeks old (then it was Winnie-the-Pooh books) and I think it has made a major impact. (This 'rant' turned a tangent corner, but I'll still post it! LOL)

************************************************************************

I hope my visitors enjoy the music selection. I'm very much a child of the 70's, I love both hard rock and disco, and I tossed in a bit of Enya and spiritual-feeling music. The Miley Cyrus/Hanna Montana tunes are courtesy of Melanie, she LOVES Miley Cyrus! ~Check out her t-shirt in the top 2 layouts in this post. If you look closely, you may be able to see her earrings also say "Hanna" on one side and "Montana" on the other side! LOL

2008-08-08T16:08:00.006-05:00

Tonight is the kick off chat to celebrate our newest store MEGA kit. Please join us! Click on the graphic to go to the chat room:
Here is the preview of the posting bonus you'll receive if you play along with my August Fontalicious Fun challenge. You can read all about it HERE. (Click on image to see it better):

We also have a new site challenge beginning tomorrow:

I have a couple more layouts to share:

This adorable layout was made by Twila, click on the image to go leave her love:
This pretty layout is by my good friend Lisa (aka Scoobie), no link to leave lovies, but I will connect it when I get a gallery link.
This cutie is by JenJen. She is on vacation, so it isn't in a gallery, but we can still admire it!
These layouts were made with my Summers of Yesteryear kit and it is on sale through this weekend for 40% off at Heritage Scrap and 20% off through the following week. Here is the link HERE

New Kit! New Store!!

2008-07-30T17:27:00.006-05:00

I have a new kit, Summers of Yesteryear. The colors were suggested by my daughter, they are her favorites! (click on image to go to full-sized preview):

Look at some of these fabulous layouts made with the kit:

Here is one by DeDe, click on the image to go leave her some love:

Here is one by Patty, click on the image to go leave her some love:

I'll post some more layouts shortly.

Now my other big news . . . I'm one the the designers for the newest digital scrapbooking store, featuring outstanding heritage themed items: Heritage Scrap!! We open our doors August 1st. Here is the link: http://www.heritagescrap.com/
Look at my awesome new blinkie, I love it! (For some reason, Blogger makes it bigger, but if you click on it, it will go to it's normal size):

2008-07-13T23:03:00.003-05:00

Celebrate our Grand Re-Opening!

The Scrap Outside the Box Grand Re-Opening is Here!

Join us ALL WEEK as we celebrate our GRAND RE-OPENING

Dollar Days Sale-a-Bration - July 13-20, 2008

Everything in my store is priced at $2.00 & $3.00!

(excluding commercial use)

A preview of some items you'll find in my store:

SOTB Grand Re-opening

2008-07-06T01:22:00.002-05:00

Click on the ADs to get over to SOTB for all the fun

that is fixing to start.

July 13 is the kick-off for the

Grand Re-opening with fun and games and
FREEBIES for one and all

What kind of flower am I?

2008-07-06T01:21:00.000-05:00

I am a
Sunflower

What Flower
Are You?

I was tagged!!

2008-06-10T11:36:00.012-05:00

Well, I was tagged! It was actually a couple weeks ago and bad blogger that I am, I'm finally getting around to doing it! LOL I was tagged by Donna Miller, a friend from ScrapbookGraphics, here is a link to her blog: http://donnabmiller.typepad.com/

So here are the rules:

Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I discovered I have a lot of weird and random facts, lol, but here are just 7:

1) I was a foreign exchange student to Brazil for one whole year in 1981-1982, so I speak, read and write in Portuguese, I even have a minor degree in Portuguese from the University of Iowa (confession: I've gotten rather rusty and have come to depend on on-line translators.)

2) I absolutely LOVE purple!! I would coat just about everything in shades of purple if I could!! LOL

3) I was admitted to the John Marshall Law School, but I declined after I met my future husband.

4) I met my husband in an elevator on the way to a Halloween Party thrown by our condo building; our first date was on Halloween, 3 days later; and then a mere 8 years later, our daughter was born on Halloween!! ~so, we tend do to celebrate Halloween!! :)

5) I started dieting when I was only 10 years old, that's 35 years of obsessing about my weight!

6) I was adopted, I found my birth family a little over 5 years ago. I'm going to the bi-annual family reunion on the 21st, can't wait to see them all!

7) I had my hair dyed purple (highlights) almost 3 weeks ago!! Really, here is a photo from May 28th (we were taking turns making silly faces when we were out to eat!):

I took this one of Melanie (that is a penguin painted on her cheek, we'd been to the Shedd Aquarium):
Melanie took the one of me and this one of her dad:

Now for the hardest part, 7 other bloggers! I'll be back for that....

I chose these blogs of people that I know and/or whose blogs I read regularly, please stop by and visit them, they all have wonderful blogs:
http://kimchristensen.typepad.com/justablog/
http://mistycatodesigns.blogspot.com/
http://wingedheartohio.blogspot.com/
http://www.blushbutter.com/index.php?blog
http://jencaputo.typepad.com/
http://evakdesigns.typepad.com/
http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/

Belated April Font Challenge information

2008-04-22T13:02:00.002-05:00

Once again I have let time slip away and I forgot to post about my monthly font challenge on my blog (it's promptly posted in the forum, just not for you blog readers ~Sorry!!) Here is the information:

Hi Everyone! This month we've got another great batch of challenges that combine to bring you a Gorgeous MEGA kit worth of posting prizes! This month's kit is called, Spring Bling.

The font I've selected for this month is Rebecca, a free font by Parallax; it's pretty and the swirls seem spring-ish to me! I double checked to make sure it is both Mac & PC and that the links are working. Here is the download link and the preview of the font: http://www.1001fonts.com/font_details.html?font_id=2575

1) You simply use the font someway in your layout. You can use it for journaling, in a title, make word art, use one initial only; whatever works for you! You can have as many fonts on your layout as you want, just make this one of the fonts!

2) You must post to the Fontalicous Fun Font Challenge gallery here. Then come back to this thread and post the links so we can all see your wonderful creation!

3) You cannot double up on challenges i.e., you must create a unique layout, ATC, desktop, calendar, card or craft for each challenge to be eligible for the posting bonus.

4) If you post by April 30th at midnight, you will receive this mini-kit, it coordinates with all the other challenges' FABULOUS mini kits, as your posting bonus. Participate in all the March challenges and receive the entire Spring Bling MEGA!!!

5) I will be checking this thread often and sending out the posting bonuses as I check. If you don't get yours within a week or so of your posting your layout, please email me as that means I inadvertently overlooked yours! Please PM me if you have any problems or questions.

** 6) New: Use any of my creations for at least 50% of your project and get a coordinating bonus by me to match my bonus, OR if you prefer, a 10% off coupon to my store! Please indicate in your post if you want the coupon.

Here is the preview of what you'll receive for playing along with the Fontalicous Fun Font Challenge:

Have Fun!

Potentially offensive rant

2008-04-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

I have to get this off my chest, it has been bugging me for so darn long! What is up with all the ripped, torn, stained, crumpled and other bits of scrapping materials being sold? To me, they are what I would put in my garbage, NEVER on a scrapbook that I plan to give to future generations. I can picture it now: "Oh Grandma, what a 'interesting' take on this event. What made you dislike it so much you make it look like trash??" or "Gee, Grandma, why is there a piece of crumpled construction paper on this page, did it get stuck on there by accident?" how about, "what happened, did all the papers get ruined, you didn't have a choice but to use this ratty-looking piece because it was the least disgusting?" To me, a crumpled, torn, coffee-stained piece of paper isn't something to treasure, it's GARBAGE!!! This goes for elements and papers alike. I don't get it. If I was creating a piece on an emotional, angst filled-event, OK, maybe, but certainly not my child's birthday party! "Oh, Mommy, but my party was so pretty, why does this page make it look so dirty and ugly?" For Vintage scrapping, I understand a bit of wear and tear, but when I look through old (and I mean old, like 50 years old albums, not 5 year old) albums, I expect a bit of wear along on the edges, some yellowing, but, hopefully, they will be lovingly cared for and not looking like they were used for soccer practice, dropped in the mud and had a mug of coffee poured over them!

This leads me to my sub-point, Grungy fonts. The idea is to make them readable, not so illegible you need to get multiple opinions on what the heck it says on the page!

I think I've gotten this rant off my chest. Thank you for listening. :D

March Fontalicious Fun challenge

2008-03-12T11:51:00.002-05:00

Hey, I almost forgot to add the information about this month's Font challenge I'm hosting! I'm copying from the forum post itself here:

This month we've got another great batch of challenges that combine to bring you a Gorgeous MEGA kit worth of posting prizes! This month's kit is called, Remember When.

The font I've selected for this month is another free font by Pizza Dude! I double checked to make sure it is both Mac & PC and that the links are working. Here is the preview of the font, followed by the link to the download page:

Rabiohead (that spelling is not a typo by the way! LOL)

http://www.1001fonts.com/font_details.html?font_id=2879

1) You simply use the font someway in your layout. You can use it for journaling, in a title, make word art, use one initial only; whatever works for you! You can have as many fonts on your layout as you want, just make this one of the fonts!

4) If you post by March 31st at midnight, you will receive this mini-kit, it coordinates with all the other challenges' FABULOUS mini kits, as your posting bonus. Participate in all the March challenges and receive the entire Remember When MEGA!!!

Here is the preview of what you'll receive for playing along with the Fontalicous Fun Font Challenge:

That is 3 papers (one is a collage) and 4 elements.

I've been busy!

2008-03-12T11:37:00.002-05:00

I've been busy! I have lots of new products and a Fantastic new kit!!

~My store is also on sale from March 13th - March 19th for 25% OFF!*~
(*except Commercial Usage and items under $3.00)

Here is the info on the kit:

Come to the Fab 50 Crop and receive a Crop Bonus! In addition, there is a matching Freebie in the SOTB weekly newsletter available starting March 13th! Previews of Crop Gift and Newsletter Gift below.

Introducing my newest kit: Butterfly Fantasy
A butterfly-filled fantasy of glitter, a dream come true for purple-lovers! Perfect for spring, summer, fantasy and whimsical themes! You'll want this kit after you visit a butterfly garden too!

Newsletter Freebie Available March 13-March 19th on the Scrap Outside the Box website, click on "Newsletter"

Crop Bonus Gift Come to the Fab 50 Crop on March 13th at 9:00 CST/10:00 EST

Stop by my blog for an additional QP Freebie!

~So, here you are at the blog, and here is the link to download your gift! Please leave me love! I'd also like to hear if you think this kit needs any additional items! Here is how I used the quick page:

I also uploaded 11 Glitter Style sets! They are my new Gimme Glitter line. There is a personal and commercial version of each set. All the personal usage versions will be on sale for 25% off the week of March 13th! Here are a some previews (Click on the preview to see the full-size image, Blogger shrinks them a bit):

These and more are available in my store NOW!! Here is the link: http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=170

I have more to add to the store, I'm trying to get them up in the next day or 2, so stop back this weekend to see even more goodies!

A few more cool links and Februrary Font Challenge

2008-02-07T00:48:00.000-06:00

As promised, I have a few more sites to share. The first one is great for hybrid scrapping ideas, vintage decorating or just a pretty site to look through! For the love of vintage... is the title, but the link is http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com/ Here are a couple examples of what you'll see on this site:

The Rose Cottage is somewhat similar to the first blog, but with it's own flair. In addition to being wonderful inspiration, she has an Esty shop you can buy some of the lovely creations you see on her site!

This next site, is another crafty lady with an Esty store, She's Sew Pretty. She has lots of gorgeous work to view on Flickr as well as on her blog. Lots of pretty pictures for your soul! Here are a couple images from her site:

This is a photo of one of her favorite places to visit:

Now, on to my monthly Fontalicious Challenge at Scrap Outside the Box! Here is the preview of what you'll get for using this month's free font selection and posting, please click on the image to get a better look!:
Here is the link to the challenge information: http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5718

Some cool sites and links

2008-01-30T13:18:00.000-06:00

I've been visiting some really neat new sites this month and I thought I'd post a bit about them. First up, is an inspiring art site, http://artsyetc2.blogspot.com/. You'll find lots of ideas and beautiful art, such as these examples:

Aren't they gorgeous?!!

I found that site after stumbling across this next site, http://dani3d.com/blog/, a site filled with poser-based graphics and a whole lot of motherly love and care; plus sprinklings of free graphics for everyone! Here are some examples of what you can find on Dani's site:

This site also led me to http://vintagerose42.blogspot.com/, a beautiful blog, with plenty of vintage, feminine graphics, poems and inspirational/motivational quotes. Here is one of the lovely images you'll find at Romance & Roses (as it is known in the blog title):

All 3 sites also have the occasional recipe, if you enjoy trying out new dishes!

I'll be back again soon with some more great sites!

Fun Quizs

2008-01-18T21:49:00.000-06:00

You Are Blonde Highlights

Men see you as flexible and versatile - you fit in to every situation
You've got the inner glow of a blonde, the intensity of a redhead...
And the wisdom of a brunette.

How Blonde Are You?

You Belong in 1977

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

You Are Brigitte Bardot

Naturally sensual and beautiful
You're an exotic beauty who turns heads everywhere
You've got a look that's one of a kind

What Famous Pinup Are You?

You Are 14% Bitchy

You are practically an angel - both on the inside and outside.
You try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and you're even tolerant of bitchiness in others!

How Bitchy Are You?

You Scored 85% Correct

You are an 80s expert
You never confuse New Order with the Pet Shop Boys
You know which classical musician Falco rocked
When it comes to 80s music, you Just Can't Get Enough!

How Much Do You Know About 80s Music?

New Kit!

2008-01-08T14:38:00.000-06:00

I did another fun quiz:

Your Superpower Should Be Mind Reading

You are brilliant, insightful, and intuitive.
You understand people better than they would like to be understood.
Highly sensitive, you are good at putting together seemingly irrelevant details.
You figure out what's going on before anyone knows that anything is going on!

Why you would be a good superhero: You don't care what people think, and you'd do whatever needed to be done

Your biggest problem as a superhero: Feeling even more isolated than you do now

What Should Your Superpower Be?

Last month flew by! I was so busy, I can't believe that Christmas and New Years have passed by already! Good news, I finished up another kit! I'm the Designer of the Week at Scrap Outside the Box, in addition, I am providing the Daily Download. If you collect all the parts, you'll end up with a huge gorgeous kit! Here are some previews and links:

Free Winter Playground Daily Download

This is an add-on to my newest kit, Winter Playground. There will also be an add-on in this week’s SOTB newsletter and more at the Fab 50 Crop Thursday, Jan. 10th at 9 EST!!

Please enjoy a new piece of this add-on kit each day from Jan. 7th – Jan. 13th (as this is late in posting, I’ll leave the first link up until the evening of Jan. 8th)

(Click on image to go to thread or on link at bottom of post to go to Daily Download)

Full Kit Preview (click on image to go directly to store):

Preview of Newsletter Gift (to be available Jan. 10th):

Preview of Crop Gift:

Preview of Posting Bonus (layouts due by Jan 17th, post layouts in the Fab 50 gallery, http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=823 ):

Come back every day this week to collect all the pieces.
http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5648

I have some more items to add to my store, so please check back to see the new stuff!

I scrapped a bunch of layouts all within a couple days in December! I was on a roll, just inspired I guess! Here are a few:

Melanie's 9th birthday party, held at the local roller skate rink. Kit: CottageArts Birthday Blast Page Pak; CottageArts Count on Me Pak Extra Element Credits: Template by Doris Castle. Font: DJB Kori1 (a font created for me by Darcy Baldwin, using my very own handwriting.)
Melanie had asked to jump in a leaf pile for 2 years, but our lawn service had always got to the leaves before there were enough. This year, the trees dropped most of their leaves a couple days before the lawn service came, so she was able to rake up a big pile and get several jumps in before it began to rain! She was very happy!
Kit: CottageArts Fall Page Pak Font: DJB Kori1 (a font created for me by Darcy Baldwin, using my very own handwriting.)Kit: CottageArts JoyeuxNoelDuexPagePak (some elements re-colored) Font: DJB Kori1 (a font created for me by Darcy Baldwin, using my very own handwriting.)

Every year my daughter's school has spirit week with a different theme each day, this was 'Crazy Hair Day'. Kit: CottageArts Sweet Posies Page Pak; CottageArts ScrapFrames 2; CottageArts AlphaSet Embroidery Font: DJB Kori1 (a font created for me by Darcy Baldwin, using my very own handwriting.)

Christmas Tree Countdown

2007-12-01T04:23:00.001-06:00

Get this widget!

Sale, New Items and a Freebie!!

2007-11-23T01:50:00.000-06:00

I am having a 50% off sale in my store today, all items over $3.00 will be half off!

Here is a preview of some of the photos in my Adopt a Vintage Photo line, I'll be adding more later this week.
This is a preview of just one of my newline of Photo Textures, these will be in the store later today. The first 9 sets are ready to put into the store, I have to finish making previews and will be getting the rest in the store, also within the next week. These are awesome for adding new life to your current kits, or for creating your own papers. A tutorial is included with ways to use them. These kits are for both personal and commercial usage.

Here is a little Thanksgiving freebie, sent to my Grandmother by my uncle, it is the menu the sailors were served on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1944 at the San Francisco navel base.

Download link is HERE

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day! Off to shop!

New kit, new layouts, news

2007-11-07T20:04:00.001-06:00

I have a new kit out, a new line of Vintage Photos, some layout to share and general family news. Melanie just finished her fall soccer schedule. Her team wasn't a big winner, but they had lots of fun and learned a great deal and at her age, that is the biggest priority. Here is a layout from her soccer games this year:

Kit: CottageArts Hoots Hallows Page Pak; CottageArts ScrapFrames 1 and CottageArts ScrapFrames 2; CottageArts Autumn Embrace Page: 3 leaves; Font: DJB Kori1 (a font created for me by Darcy Baldwin, using my very own handwriting.)

On Halloween, Melanie also turned 9, she so wants to be a "'tween", but we keep telling her, it has to be double digits before she is considered in the 'tween category! I remember wanting to grow up so fast at her age too, and being told to enjoy being young, now I am echoing that same advice to her! LOL Here is a layout of Melanie her Halloween costume, she is dressed at Goldilocks. The weather cooperated, so she only needed to wear a light jacket that didn't cover the whole costume. She also managed to get the biggest haul yet this year! I'll scrap a layout with the photo of her posing with the giant pile of candy!

Kit: CottageArts Bountiful Blessings Page Pak Font: the Gingerbread House

Here are a couple more layouts using older photos of Melanie:

This layout is from the first time Melanie went to a beach, this is Lake Michigan.
Kit: CottageArts Sun & Sand Page Pak ; Font: PC Beach Front
I just love this photo of Melanie taken at Lincoln Park Zoo, in the children's section. There was this giant rhinestone encrusted Mr. Potato head on temporary loan. She posed like this all on her own! So darn cute!!

Kit: Doris Castle - Pink Magic (unreleased, not yet available anywhere); Alpha: Doris Castle - Paper Flowers;

Next is my newest kit, Pink Vintage! Here are some previews:

Here is the preview of the posting bonus for this month's Fontalicious Fun challenge at SOTB:
I hope you'll stop by to play along, the mega kit you can collect mini's for this month is awesome!

I have to make up a little preview of my Vintage Photo line, I'll try to get back tonight to post that preview.

I love COMMENTS!! Please say Hi!! :)

Layout shares

2007-09-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

Some layouts I've made in the last week (I'm on a roll!)

Cottage Arts - Hoppy Spring Page Pak
Font: KGD Dixi

I used the Cottage Arts - Butterfly Wings 3 kit. I re-colored 2 flowers, the words, used the white Corner Flourish as a template and applied another paper from the kit to make the purplish left hand border. I added a butterfly, the daisy, and the pink scroll from the first Cottage Arts - Butterfly Wings kit, I re-colored those elements to match also.
Font: KGD DeeDee Print

Kit: Cottage Arts - Summer Solstice

Font: KGD Dixi

So Tiny

Kit: Doris Castle- Bundle from Heaven

Additional elements:
Jan06rakscraps: by Christy Heins Prettybaby_wordart - "Bitty" and "Baby"
Leah Riordan: LaLa -brad_babygirl
Kelly Sauvage: Oldfashioned Baby - quilt paper (used in swirl) and baby sticker
Gina Miller: Bedazzled words baby - bead word
Template by Petit Moineaux

First Photo by Mommy

It wasn't until the hospital staff took her photo that it occurred to me to take photos! I'd spent the day mesmerized, staring at her. Melanie is about 20 hours old here.

Kit: Doris Castle - Bundle from Heaven
Template by Petit Moineaux

Cute Poser

Doris Castle - Cotton Candy template, with added Cotton Candy elements. Tag (recolored) from Doris Castle - Bundle from Heaven kit.

Font: KGD DeeDee Print

Melanie and Mommy

Kits by Doris Castle, used a Quick Page and added additional elements from other Pure Love products:
Pure Love
Pure Love Add-On
Pure Love Album
Font: KGD DeeDee Print

(Yes, she is a bit jaundiced in the photo, common a couple days after birth, cleared up the next day.)

I made these last month, but they are cute!

Melanie finally managed to convince Mommy she was ready for pierced ears. This 2 page layout was made together. Melanie selected the kit, chose the papers and elements, jointly decided where to place everything and picked the font. Mommy took care of photo adjustments, cropping, sizing and program technical aspects (styles, drop shadows, etc.) A great mother/daughter project! Melanie loves to scrapbook!

Royanna Lea Fritschmann - Sassy Princess (no longer for sale)
Font: LD Amore
Kit: Doris Castle - Ginger Sweet Album, I Used a QP and added additional elements from Ginger Sweet kit
Font: KGD DeeDee Print

Fun Quiz

2007-09-18T10:42:00.001-05:00

Your TV Mom is Lorelai Gilmore

You are Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls. A traditional mama you aren't, but that doesn't mean you don't love your kids or aren't great in this role. You like to put a modern twist on things — no need to become your mother, after all — although sometimes you might wonder if that wouldn't be all bad.

You probably believe in being friends with your child, and you try your best to be open and honest about your choices, good or bad, past or present. You like being known as the cool mom in the neighborhood that your kids' friends can come to if they need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes your children may wish they had a mom that acted like everyone else's — or at least one who didn't raid their closets and acted her age. But most of the time, they think you're pretty cool. And that's fine by you, because the feeling is mutual.

Which TV Mom Are You?

Brought to you by Tickle

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman
100%
Wonder Woman
70%
Batman
65%
Spider-Man
60%
Robin
60%
Supergirl
55%
Hulk
55%
Green Lantern
40%
Catwoman
40%
The Flash
35%
Iron Man
20%
You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Bad month

2007-09-18T00:43:00.000-05:00

Wow, has this last month had some really crappy moments. The day after my last post my computer stopped booting up. Almost 2 full weeks with no computer! I made so many trips back and forth. At one point the idiot technicians actually put back on the failed hard drive and sent me home.

Luckily, I didn't lose anything! I had a bit of trouble installing my graphics programs, I thought I had avoided the problem by downloading my video card driver's newest update, but apparently there was a newer one. ~For some reason, Nvidia's driver interferes with some installations.

The video card fan had burned out and was causing some over heating so that was replaced under warranty. It caused the main hard drive to fail and corrupted the Operating System. This was also under warranty. What wasn't under warranty was the data! After 2 hours of attempts the technician finally decided the hard drive had failed. So I had to take the hard drive to a data retrieval service which cost $265.

So I had to buy a new external hard drive for them to put the data onto that was $120 for a Western Digital 320G EHD. Then I drove the 45 minutes just to drop it off turn around and drive 45 minutes back home. A few days later they called to say they had finished copying it onto the new EHD. (Well they weren't finished, I had to wait 2 hours for them to finish copying!)

I then take both the hard drives (the new EHD and the failed original,) drive back to Micro Center (25 additional minutes driving from the Data Repair place,) for them to install the new hard drive and video card. This is when they put on the failed hard drive I had just brought back from the data recovery people as under warranty I had had to give back the failed drive. I told the counter person this CLEARLY. They had us wait over 90 minutes for them to install the drive and video card (Again ~ they put in not the new components that were on hold under my name but the FAILED ones!!)

So the next day when they opened, I called and they apologized offered me a $50 GC if I brought it back in or they could have a courier pick it up. I chose the $50 as this was expensive enough. Again, I wait while they supposed install the components, but Noooo they are attempting to install the Operating System, a process that takes at least 2 hours!! ARGH! I had killed another hour in their store and they again apologize. They promise to get it all finished and running properly and will have a courier drop it off at my house the next day. I reluctantly agree. The next day a tech calls me with some screwed up information, he calls back 2 hours later with the correct current status of the problems. They delivered it on Aug. 30th about 1:30 and I began the process in re-installing my programs. Plus having to personalize workspaces and such in so many programs.

Keeping in mind each trip was 45 minutes EACH way. My daughter, almost 9, was just thrilled to death to get to spend her days driving around in the car (yeah right!!! ) Melanie actually did have some fun she is now big enough to sit safely in the front seat so she was thrilled to sit beside me talk, play with the radio controls, change the CD's in the CD player and such. Her favorite thing was to look at herself in the mirror in the sun visor! She referred to us as "front-seat buddies" and we did have some good chats!

I've been trying to catch up with everything since. I was closing in this past week on getting all caught up. Then, after several months of deteriorating health, we had to put my beloved Violet to sleep, Friday evening after a stroke. Poor thing could barely stand for more than a couple minutes, her head lolled to the side, she was drooling for the first time ever, she kept vomiting anything she ate, she was piddling on the floor and she had a look in her eyes that was so sad. She had definitely come to her time. It hurt so much and I keep crying if I think about her for more than a moment. Why can't pets live longer. Birds do, turtles do, why not cats & dogs... Her breed average is 12 years, so making it to 15 was great, still it seems like a short life. I feel like I've been shaken hard and then deflated, you know what I mean?

Here is the layout I made for her:
The large photo is from an hour before taking her to the vet. She was a Belgium Shepherd. (Regarding the title: I would greet her every day with "How is my Pretty Girl?")

Credits:
Fonts: KGD DeeDee Script; GoodVibrationsROB; LD Pretty
Kits: Bottom Paper - Doggone Cute! By Doris Castle
Corner Paper - jsd_Violets_Floral.jpg from kit titled "Violets" (? who is "jsd"?)
Template by ON Designs
Flourishes covered with a paper from Jennifer M. Trippetti's "Supastar"
Puppy clip art by Gina Jane Johnson

Here is a layout I made of her last year, you can see how pretty she was:

Prince & Princess Pawz - QP by Ginger Thibodeau
Font: KimsHand

I'll try to post some more happier stuff tomorrow. I've made several layouts recently and I'll share those!

Fun site for kits

2007-08-18T19:19:00.000-05:00

Melanie found a great site tonight, it has a great game for girls:
Pure and Clear Beauty

Click here to play this game

She and I made a 2 page scrap layout today. It is on getting her ears pierced. Melanie finally managed to convince Mommy she was ready for pierced ears. This 2 page layout was made together. Melanie selected the kit, chose the papers and elements, jointly decided where to place everything and picked the font. Mommy took care of photo adjustments, cropping, sizing and program technical aspects (styles, drop shadows, etc.) A great mother/daughter project! Melanie loves to scrapbook! She chose a kit by Royanna Lea Fritschmann, Sassy Princess and for the font she chose LD Amore.

Free Desktop, New Font Challenge, and more..

2007-08-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

I have up the new Fontalicious Fun Font Challenge at Scrap Outside the Box. You can read about it here: http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4454 and here is the preview of the posting bonus I created for this month:

Yesterday this August desktop that I made, was put up on the blog at ScrapbookGraphics.com http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/wordpress/?p=1168, here is the preview, it is in 3 sizes for different desktops:
I've officially finished my 2 month term as a Studio Crew Temp. I have to say I definitely enjoyed my time with all the great ladies at SBG!! Thanks for letting me join you for a little while!!

I took yet another meaningless, yet fun quiz! LOL

You scored as Mermaid, Mermaid: Mermaids are also known as Sirens. These creatures were beautiful women who tricked sailors into becoming completely entranced by their haunting voices and found death soon after. Not all stories of Mermaids are about gentle loving sea people. They are mystical, magical, and extremely dangerous. They have a way about them that brings anyone they are around to seem enchanted. They are very mysterious creatures and to meet one... Would mean certain Death. Let the song of the Sea fill your soul, for you are a Mermaid.

Mermaid

100%

Angel

83%

Faerie

58%

WereWolf

42%

Dragon

33%

Demon

What Mythological Creature are you? (Cool Pics!)
created with QuizFarm.com

Funky Crop TONIGHT!

2007-07-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

Join me, BubblyKori, Tonight, Tuesday, July 24th at 9:00 EST p.m. for the official roll out of my newest kit, Funky! Lots of fun, a fabulous freebie, posting bonus and MORE! One lucky person will walk away with the COMPLETE kit! Hope to see you there!

(Because I'm always messing up time zone conversions, I went to www.timezoneconverter.com for you: 9:00-10:00 p.m. EST; which is 8:00-9:00 CST; which is 6:00-7:00 PST; which is 2:00:00 a.m. Wednesday July 25, 2007in London; and 11:00:00 a.m. Wednesday July 25, 2007 in Sydney)

So many gorgeous items, they couldn't all fit on the preview! Coordinating shades of purples, black and white matched with bits of eye-catching bling, make this the kit to use to make your layouts stand out! Available individually as an Element Pack, Paper Pack, Alpha and the bundled complete kit. An extremely versatile kit!
The bundled kit includes all 14 striking backgrounds included in the Funky Paper Pack and all of the embellishments in the Funky Element Pack, plus both the bling (and the bonus plain alpha) from Funky Alpha all at a savings of 15% off the individual prices! BONUS: 2 stunning Jiffy Scraps, only available with the bundled kit!

The kit is on sale today for 50% off and for the rest of the week for 30% off! In addition all of my kits are on sale today for 35% off!!

I went to CHA Saturday, it was a lot of fun. I met some new people, some people I knew from chats and ran into one, Jen Caputo, who I had met, literally on our way to our cars! LOL I met Sally and Josie of Iron Orchid designs, they have a paper line now with Prima. They had the most innovative new paper line, where you use your own water colors to paint the pre-patterned papers. So instead of being stuck with a particular color, you can paint the paper to match your chosen color scheme! The patterns are gorgeous! I'm sure the line will be a huge success!

I also met Amanda Dykan, she was there with Design Originals. I was able to peak at the new book she has out, it's wonderful! I was also surprised to learn that Doris Castle is on Amanda's CT! I am on Doris' CT, and for some reason, it never occurred to me that Doris might be on someone else's team! LOL Small world!

My other favorite discover was the new paper line by Rusty Pickle, Pirate Princess (this isn't my photo, but it is a photo of the exhibit.) I saw it and was drawn immediately, I thought, "Oh, my daughter is going to LOVE this!!" I loved it too! You can see the entire line at the Rusty Pickle site now, they just added it: http://www.rustypickle.com/

I also loved their chocolate fountain! I'd never seen on in real life, it was yummy!! :D

So, I went home after CHA closed and began to read the new Harry Potter novel, Deathly Hallows, which arrived promptly in the mail Saturday (Cheers for pre-ordering!) I was up until 6 am, went to bed for a few hours, and stayed up until 2 am Sunday night/Monday morning finishing the book! (I slept most of Monday while Melanie was at day camp! ~I was a tiny bit tired! LOL) I was determined not to have the ending and key points spoiled. I started to read the book to Melanie too. I like to pre-read so I know in advance what is coming up in a book so if it is too intense or upsetting, I can prepare her. I did that with book 5, before the part about Sirius and book 6 with Dumbledore. It's amazing how real these characters can become as you read the book, especially this being a multi-part book storyline, you really get involved!

I need to finish getting ready for tonight's chat. I hope to see lots of people!!

Harry Potter

2007-07-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot, only 4 more days until the new movie comes out!

Lots of news

2007-07-08T14:50:00.001-05:00

Hello Cyber Friends!! Lots of news to tell. Off the top of my head, and not in order of importance:

**I'm staying on another month as a Studio Temp at SBG! WooHoo! Those ladies are such a fun and friendly group! I highly recommend checking out their forum, here's the link for you ScrapbookGraphics Forum

**I have a new kit in my SOTB store! And I've revised Aunt Emma's Parlor, added a few items too! Here are previews of my new kit, Funky, click on the image to go to the store:

The revised Aunt Emma's Parlor:

**While I was a Studio Temp last month, I made a few goodies for their blog readers and for a challenge. I also wrote a Textures tutorial and gave some photo texture samples and an additional mini-kit. I'm packaging up more photo textures for sale in my store, I hope to get them all uploaded and available for sale later this week. Here are the links to see the gifts, read the tut and the Frameworthy challenge. There is one more day to get the frame I created for the Frameworthy challenge!

Here is the preview of my Patriotic Mini-kit you'll find there:
This is the mini that is available with the Textures tutorial. Click on the image to go there:
**I have another mini-kit freebie for my SOTB Fontalicious Fun challenge. This month the theme of the mega kit is Teen Scene. Here is the preview of my portion, click on it to go to the challenge page:
~Bet you can't tell I'm the mom of 2 now-grown former teens and a 8 3/4 year old wanna-be teen! LOL Geez, if I had a nickel for every time I heard one of those phrases, I could take a really nice vacation with all the money!!

**Lastly, keep watching the SBG blog, Studio Matters, for another gift from me! I made completer tags (graphics that say Welcome, Thank You, Good Job, and so on.) Here is my signature tag, they will look like this (honestly, you HAVE to click on thegraphic to get it to full size to appreciate it, it is squashed by Blogger):

That's all for the moment! Thanks for stopping by!

Back from nowhere!

2007-06-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

I'm still around, just haven't been updating in quite a while. I'm going to try to update a bit tonight! I'm so looking forward to next month! Harry Potter is a favorite of my daughter and I, we've read all the books together and we enjoy sharing that experience together. I'm finally adding the countdowns:

I did another quiz:

You Are 20% Weird

Not enough to scare other people...
But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

This month I'm a Studio Temp at ScrapbookGraphics.com! I'm very proud to have this time to get to know these talented ladies a little more and play with some fabulous kits! I finally broke a 47 day scrapping dry spell and made a layout for one of their great Studio Starts inspirations:

All photos taken by me. ~That is a bee in the upper right corner.

Kit: Doris Castle - Exceptional; white alpha from Doris Castle - Painted Love
Additional: Meredith Fenwick - Naked Stamp Templates; Jen Caputo-Torn-out and Curled holes
Font: Carmencita

Over at Scrap Outside the Box, we have another great Mega Kit for you to earn this month, A Day at the Zoo. There are 19 ways to earn the mini-kits that comprise the mega kit. Here is a preview of my mini-kit:

I run the Fontalicious Fun Challenge, you can find all the information HERE.

I should have a new kit in the store in a couple days and a slightly revised Aunt Emma's Parlor. I'll try to post more, but I'll pause here for now!

Spectrum of Love All Day Crops!!

2007-04-27T11:28:00.001-05:00

You really truly do NOT want to miss this one, guys. You MUST be there. Mark your calendars.

All day crops at SOTB--and for a good cause. Come help the families who struggle with autism, and have fun doing it.
Saturday, April 28th, 10 am est, 2 pm est, and 9 pm est.

LOTS of fun games and prizes. And even more prizes if you participate in the challenges going on now for SOL!

Kits in the store are found here: http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/st...ndex&cPath=239

More quizzes! LOL

2007-04-12T00:32:00.000-05:00

Your Spicy Score: Medium

You are hot enough to make a lasting impression, but you strike a balance.
You know when you're being too fiery, and you also know when to bump up the temperature.
Naughty and clever. Sexy yet down to earth. You know how to work both sides of your personality.
Men find you hot yet approachable - the perfect combination!

How Spicy Are You?

You Are 19% Bitchy

You are practically an angel - both on the inside and outside.
You try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and you're even tolerant of bitchiness in others!

How Bitchy Are You?

You Are Midtown

You love so many things, you don't fit into any one label.
Your city girl persona goes to a fancy restaurant one night and a dive bar the next.

Are You Uptown or Downtown?

You Are a Fierce Femme

You have a wild side, and you aren't afraid to bring it out when the time is right.
But you also know when to hang back and keep your "crazy chick" persona in check.
In fact, some of your friends may be surprised to find out how far you can take it...
You may look mild mannered, but it's all an act!

How Daring Are You?

(I often tell people, I may look very conservative, but I'm NOT!!)

We woke up this morning to an inch of snow. It snowed all day, sometimes it rained too. I think the bushes we planted 2 weeks ago are going to be dead by the time this weather changes. It's supposed to be Spring!! It's not supposed to snow on April 11th, all day! I want to write more, but I've got stuff to finish before bed, so I'll try to stop by tomorrow!

one more quiz!

2007-04-09T12:07:00.000-05:00

I took another online quiz! They can be fun! LOL

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Scrap Outside the Box Font Challenge

2007-04-05T19:51:00.000-05:00

I posted my first ever challenge last night. I'm now doing the monthly Font challenge at SOTB. We've added a big bunch of new challenges, come see! Next month there will be an even better news about the challenges! You have to see them!
Here is mine for April:

Since spring is arriving, I chose a pretty springtime font named: Springtime

Here is the preview of the 4 variations of this pretty font:

You can download them in one zip for free here: http://moorstation.org/typoasis/desi...may_spring.htm

Please post to our brand new (and currently empty) font gallery here. Then come back to this thread and post the links so we can all see your wonderful layout! If you post by April 30th at midnight, you will receive this colorful mini-kit as your posting bonus.

The Pansy Parade mini-kit contains 3 papers, 3 bead/brads, 1 pansy stamp, 1 tag and 5 hand-painted pansies.

Quizzes

2007-04-03T01:57:00.000-05:00

In an apparent attempt to procrastinate and kill time, I completed a few fun online quizzes tonight! :D

You Are 70% Non Conformist

You are a pretty serious non conformist. You live a life hardly anyone understands.
And while some may call you a freak, you're happy with who you are.

Are You a Nonconformist?

You Are 80% Tortured Genius

You are smart. Brilliant in fact. And while it's a blessing, it's also a curse.
Your head is filled with everything - grand ideas, insufferable worries, and a good deal of angst.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

You Belong in 1972

If you scored...

1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Your Quirk Factor: 35%

You have a few little quirks, but you generally blend in well with society.
Only those who know you well know how weird you can be.

How Quirky Are You?

Your Aura is Blue

Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart.

You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone.

Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satistifed. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

What Color Is Your Aura?

You Should Get an Abstract Tattoo

Artistic and unique
You're the most likely type to personally design your tattoo

What Tattoo Should You Get?

You Have Many Alpha Tendencies

You're not a total alpha female, but you certainly know how to - and like to - get your way.
You're forceful without being intimidating. You're confident without being vain. A perfect mix.

Are You an Alpha Female?

You Are a Fun Girl!

You are all about having fun - and you don't need to drink to have a good time
Sure, you've thrown back more than a few every so often
But getting totally stupid and wasted is not your style
You're the life of the party, by keeping everyone laughing and smiling

Are You a Party Girl?

Another new kit and updating

2007-03-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

I managed to finish my St. Patrick's kit on time for the event, I'm only behind in posting it to my blog! LOL Here is St. Patrick's Celebration (click on image to see it full-sized):

I think the vintage ladies I found make it extra elegant! Click on bold name to go directly to the store. I'm now starting to select what I want to put with an Easter kit. I bought some new postcards at an antique store near my in-laws home and the commercial usage rights to use some vintage graphics from a young woman who purchased the originals at a flea market near her home. I like Dover graphics, however, everyone and their uncle seem to use them and I want something more unique and 'fresh', if you can call vintage fresh! LOL Also, Dover's quality needs cleaning and touching up and if I'm going to do that, I may as well do it with ones not everyone else has been using too.

It's starting to feel like spring here. We can spot buds, our tulips are over 2 inches above ground now. I went to Lowe's and bought some plants to put into the ground this weekend. Had to wait until the last frost, which appears to have been a couple days ago, the forecast looks fine. I bought 2 lilac bushes, 1 hydrangea, 1 honeysuckle, 1 raspberry, 1 blueberry, and 20 strawberry Evergrow variety plants. The fruit bearing plants will go in the back yard, inside the fence! The flowering plants will go in the front and side of the house. If all goes well, we'll have some fresh fruit late summer and some beautiful, fragrant flowers at different times.

I can't believe the month is 3/4 gone and I have scrapped a single layout! I owe Doris Castle so many layouts; I love the kits she has been making, I just need to use them now! I'm afraid any day now she's going to send me an email or call me up and say "You, you're outta here!" and kick me off her team. Guilt, often the best motivator! LOL I'm going to end now, eat a little lunch and try to scrap a layout!

New Kit and Updates

2007-03-15T00:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I keep forgetting to put the announcement on my newest kit on my own blog!! Here is the preview and link to Vivid Valentine:
I don't think my preview does this kit justice. I should re-do it. I'll have to see if I can do that. I'm working on a St. Patrick's Day kit, I'm hoping to get this done before St. Patrick's day, as obviously, my Valentine's kit was just a tiny bit late! LOL

I followed a link from Janna Billman's blog to do this quiz:

Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I'm very sad to say, I have left the creative team of Misty Cato. I just couldn't keep up. I'm trying to do too much for me at this time. My emotional stability has been such that I can't do everything I would like to and something had to give. I'd been on Misty's team for almost one year and was one of her original team members. Misty has been such a good friend, supportive, encouraging, acting as a mentor for those team members also interested in designing ~ she even paid for us to go to a design class! I'll really miss being a part of her little 'family'!

Last month I only managed to make only 7 layouts. Here was one I enjoyed and shows off our sweet pets. This was made from a variety of kits all by Doris Castle available at ScrapbookGraphics.com (with the exception of the one cat quote/word art). You should check out all the fabulous new designs Doris has at her store! Click on image to see a larger size.

I made a desktop with Misty Cato's Sweetie kit available at Scrapbook Elements. Misty shared the blank on her blog, along with calendars for those who like monthly desktops! (If any family members would like this, email me and I can share the full sized desktop.)
I would like to thank my blog readers who emailed me and left me such kind and supportive notes. It really means a lot!

I'm shamelessly letting everyone know my birthday is Friday, March 16th. Please stop by and say hi! :)