Layouts with New Products

My latest kits are in the shop. I created another version of my Fabrications papers. I really like those designs so I thought just one more round was essential!
Here are a couple of layouts from Jane. She's always so sweet to offer even when she's got a loaded schedule. And please say a prayer for Jane's mom who is battling liver cancer. What a heavy burden for her and her family.

This is a layout from Christine. She's a creative team member at The DigiChick and always so helpful and fun.

This one is by Marianne. Another very helpful creative team member. What would I do without these girls!?

And lucky me that Holly always downloads my kits. Once again, a beautiful layout. Isn't her daughter a doll?
Last of all one from me, with the help of a template designed by Cheryl one of the guest designers at The DigiChick and also a regular member of the creative team.
And here is a preview of my Fabrications Classic Scrapbook Pack. These are also available in separate kits of paper, elements and alphabet.
If you haven't attempted digital scrapbooking maybe this is the kit that will lure you in and get you hooked! It IS addictive!

New Stuff

Here's a little sneak peek of the things I have releasing in my shop tomorrow (late tonight.)
Enjoy!

Soccer, Birds and Food

The weeks are whizzing by...as my little house stands waiting for me to come back. I was there today and vacuumed the office floor, then dragged a tack cloth all over it to pick up any residual dust. Then I went to the bedroom and started vacuuming and realized there was a LOT of sawdust hanging in the air. Then I realized that everything I had vacuumed out of the office was now all over the bedroom! I was so ticked!!! I thought there was something wrong with my dad's ShopVac so I went to Lowe's and bought a new one....it's a baby one. About twice as big as a jug of milk. I also bought two gallons of Varethane, a brush and a lambswool applicator. I'm getting myself geared up very slowly. When I got back I decided to move my dad's vacuum to the basement and that's when I realized that the lid wasn't on it securely and THAT is why there was dust flying everywhere. Geez! But, I think I'll like having this tiny one better anyway. So, I need to go back now and really clean up the dust. The Varethane says I need 55 degrees and I also want to keep the heat shut off so nothing blows up out of my vents and embeds itself as my floors are drying. Lots to think about.

Tomorrow is $2.00 and the reason for my title. This time What a Kick paper and elements, Birthday Birds paper and elements and Sugar & Spice paper and elements are on sale for 24 hours. I really like all these kits and I hope you do as well!!!

A Little More Grab Bag Reveal

I've revealed a little more of what's in my February Grab Bag. It's totally cute and bursting with summeriness. Is that a word?

I've been working my little fingers off for one of my graphic design clients, but I'm hoping, hoping, hoping I can get over to my house in the next couple of days and start on the polyurethane for the floors. It's driving me crazy that things have stalled! ARGH!

A Sale in My Shop 20% off Select Kits

Hey there! I was so swamped with my other job...graphic design...that I didn't have time to create something new this week so I decided to have a sale of existing products instead. Thursday and Friday you'll receive 20% off
all the Babycakes Kits

And all the Girl's Best Friend Kits

All the Gardenologie Kits

And all the Sweetness Kits

News on my home, well I haven't gotten a chance to get over there and work lately. I need a big chunk of time to do the polyurethane on the floor and I don't have the time yet. I'm hoping in a few days.

I did get some good news from my CPA though. I'll be getting some money back thanks to that new home buyer tax credit! Woo hoo So now I can actually buy myself some appliances and a bed! Ha

Also, I got a new addition a couple days ago. I had purchased a remnant of carpet for the bedroom and had it edged with that fabric tape they edge rugs with and it was delivered a couple of days ago. So, I'll have a nice big rug in the bedroom. I do NOT like getting out of bed and putting my feet on a cold floor right when I wake up! The carpet is all rolled up though so I haven't seen it in the room yet. I hope I still like it!

THEN I also went to another carpet store and found some carpet that I really, really like for the living room. I need to take some curtain fabric and a pillow from my love seat back with me to see if the carpet matches closely. I'm not going to reveal what my plan is yet. You'll have to check back. Hee hee But I sure hope this carpet matches that fabric because I saw a swatch of it across the store and thought "OH MY GOSH...THAT IS THE ONE!"

Update

Tomorrow is $2.00 Tuesday and I'm putting quite a few of my Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas kits on sale...just in case you need to stock up for next fall and winter. Ha I won't post images here because frankly I don't like to see holiday stuff after it's over and done.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day which was very difficult for me, considering what my ex-husband put me through last year while he was still my husband...and considering the games he's been playing since we got divorced. He is a man who makes promises with no intention of fulfilling them. That's a concept that has been hard for me to fathom since I would never do that to someone. Manipulating people, especially for no particular reason, is a foreign concept to me. I'm still confused about what he was gaining from the games he's been playing over the past two months.

I won't rehash all the sickening details but I will say that Facebook can be an amazing tool. Because of Facebook, I have connected with people I knew back in high school but did not hang around with. We may have ridden the same school bus or were on the drill team at the same time but these people are now my Facebook friends and I'm getting to know them, really, for the first time. One of these friends is a girl who was in the class ahead of mine. She sensed my sorrow last night on Facebook and posted a few wise comments...things that I've known but wasn't ready to accept. But then she sent me a private message and in that she said:
…while it is normal to look backward, especially on Valentine's Day, we cannot move forward while we are looking backward. At any rate, we are likely to trip again if we don’t watch where we are going. Keep your eye on the prize, which is inner peace, plant your own garden, love yourself, donate some time. And use this pain to serve as a guide to not make the same kind of choices in men. My heart goes out to you, because I know how bad that pain can be.

For some reason, this message, at this time, clicked with me and I thought "YES...I must stop looking backward."

Yesterday was also the start of my much anticipated Year of the Tiger, so late last night I sent my ex-husband an email with "Goodbye" in the subject line. I told him that I was no longer putting up with his abuse. I listed many of the unfulfilled promises that he had made to me over the past year, from the promise to give me financial help, to a promise of an apology, to the most recent promise of a privacy fence at my new house so that I could ensure my dogs' safety. As much as I could have used some financial help, I would rather sleep on an air mattress and cook in a toaster oven than have contact with him. He is a person who makes very bad choices with complete disregard for other people. I told him that he was to never contact me again.

Then I sent an email to his ex-wife, with whom he had an affair, and I thanked her for that and I listed many of the things I no longer have to endure. What a blessing that was and she, I'm sure, had no idea of the gift she was giving to me...while she was giving her "gift" to him!

After I clicked "Send" a weight instantly lifted from my heart. It is truly a new year for me...finally. I'll still have some tough times, but I am definitely going to follow my high school friend's advice to look forward so that I don't trip.

I Have Been Sick

Well, I had big plans to be moved into my house by February 14th, since it's the start of the Year of the Tiger (and I am a Tiger person), but my sanding troubles slowed things down a bit. Then this weekend I was blindsided by a stomach bug and spent late Friday night into early Saturday morning vomiting. It was so horrible. Today is Sunday and I'm feeling better, thankfully. I'm still taking it easy with food...saltines are the main course!
I had planned to have some new products in my shop this week but that didn't happen either. What a bust! :-)
This week I'm hoping to get all the sawdust vacuumed up. Then I'll go over every inch of the floor with tack cloths. Then it's time for polyurethane. I might be stalling a bit because I'm a little uneasy about applying the poly. It's been running through my head for weeks now...the strategy! We'll see how it goes.
I'm sorry I'm not more exciting. That's the best I can do after the past few days!

New Products and a Couple Photos

My new Studio 365 products are in the shop and are 20% off for two days. I wanted to do a 365 version of my popular Fabrications Paper Pack so let me present to you the Fabrications 365 Paper Pack! I seriously need to consider having these made into fabrics for some throw pillows or SOMETHING at my house. They would be really cute!
I also wanted to do some elements to document dates so I thought these would be fun. Quirky Tape 365 Element Pack.
And of course we need some everyday sayings to help document life 365 days a year!
Quirky Words 365 Element Pack.

Today I went over to my house to finish up the sanding on the checkerboard inlay. I just couldn't get it level so I called the man who owns the rental equipment store and asked if he would mind if I took the big drum sander for about an hour. He's such a nice guy that he loaded it up for me and I ran that sucker over the checkerboard from both directions (but still with the grain of the main part of the floor. The checkerboard goes in all different directions so it gets what it gets!) Now it's so much better and I accomplished in just a few minutes what would have taken hours upon hours with my little orbital sander! I am beginning to understand an addiction to power tools.
I also got a surprise gift in the mail today. My wonderful friend, Sherryn, is co-owner in a plumbing supply business in Oz and she was so kind to send me this awesome shower thingymabob all the way from Australia! It slides up and down on that rod and the shower head has different settings. I'm going to have to examine it more thoroughly. I can't wait to take a shower in my new bathroom with my new gadget.

Also today, I brought my Mermaid chair up from the basement just for fun. It's been in storage for so long. For those of you who are just getting to know me, I found this chair a couple years ago at a flea market and fell in love. It has a funky vinyl upholstery with a 3D half moon design that looks like scales, thus the name Mermaid chair. I love how it looks in my bedroom. Sigh! It was meant to be.
Here's a close up.
Have a great rest of the week and a wonderful weekend!

Studio 365

This year at The DigiChick we are doing something (as a group of designers) called Studio 365. All the designers who have shops at The DigiChick have the option to work with a specific color palette so that our products coordinate with products from other designers. I hope that made sense. Cool idea, huh? Studio 365 is geared toward those who are interested in creating things that spotlight each day or week or month or whatever you might want to document.
This week, I have three new products debuting in the shop that I created to coordinate with Studio 365.
Here's a little sneak peek!
Check back tomorrow for a full reveal!

Also, I wanted to share the cutest layout created with my February Grab Bag. Kim Wresh, who is also a DigiChick designer, made this very cool layout and didn't even tell me she was doing it!!! I just discovered it in the gallery one day. Love it! Thanks Kim. :-)

Another Week and Time for $2.00 Tuesday Again

I can't believe how time is flying by! I'm sitting here watching it snow, listening to The Beach Boys and thinking that every day is getting longer and we're getting closer and closer to Daylight Savings Time. That's something that always makes me VERY happy!

This Tuesday, my products that are on sale for $2.00 are:
What a Kick Paper Pack

What a Kick Elements Pack

Junk Drawer Paper Pack

Junk Drawer Elements Pack

Wanderlust Paper Pack

Wanderlust Elements Pack

Vintage Brass Stencils Alphabet Pack

Yesterday I went to my house and actually pulled into my garage, turned my car off, walked up the stairs into the kitchen like I already lived there. I even took some mail out of my car and into the house before I realized that I didn't need to do that! Sigh...soon I will be doing that for real.

I sanded the rest of the office! That means all the rooms are sanded. What a chore that was. I have one last thing to do and that is get that big floor sander for about an hour and go over the checkerboard inlay because it's uneven in a few places. I'm hoping the rental guy will give me a deal and won't require me to pay a full day rental. I only need it for about an hour! I hope I can do that in the next couple of days. THEN, I have to clean the sawdust off of everything. Oh YAY!

If you watched the Super Bowl, I hope you're pleased with the outcome. I am thrilled. I'm not much of a football fan but I have two friends from Louisiana and I really wanted the Saints to win for my friends. I didn't watch all the commercials but a couple of my favorites were the one with the Budweiser colt and the little longhorn calf. That made me cry! And I liked the Bridgestone bachelor party ad with the killer whale. Cute idea. There sure are some creative minds out there!

Grab Bag Creations

As promised, or at least I said I'd do this (who knows what I'm thinking from one moment to the next), here are some wonderful layouts created from my new February Grab Bag.

These two were created by Jane. Ahhhh Jane! She is such a great fan. I love her. And she's a creative force extraordinaire because has a shop at the DigiChick AND also at MScraps. I can barely keep up with one shop...I wouldn't dream of having two!!! :-)

And here are two wonderful layouts from Jen Biggs. She is so sweet...I don't have an official creative team, but if I did Jen is it! These certainly make me want to take a vacation somewhere sunny!


This one was created by Sharyn, a DigiChick creative team member. She's the one who did that fantastic layout with my Confectionerie kit. I told her to grab my kits anytime her little heart desires because I love what she does!
Here is one from me. All my layouts look the same! Ha Oh well, I don't claim to be a scrapbooker.

As far as the progress on my house, yesterday was Garage Door Installation Day! Yeehaw! I had to be at my house at 7:30 a.m. Now that is NOT an easy task because I really prefer to stay up late and sleep in a bit so 7:30 is closer to going to bed time than getting up time! (Not really.) The guy is super nice and polite. He is however one who kind of over promises and under delivers. I learned once from a guy I knew to "under promise and over deliver". I asked Mr. Installer Guy when he thought he'd be finished and he said "early afternoon." Well, he pulled out of my driveway at 6:00 p.m.! I was so ready for him to be done. I had been sanding part of the day, ran some errands, painted some trim and a couple doors in the bedroom, but it was a cold, rainy, dreary day and I didn't want to be there that long.

As soon as he left, I drove my car around the block, pushed my garage door opener button and pulled my car in just to do a little test run. It was wonderful! I can't wait now to get back over there and park in my garage for real!

Grab Bag Time Again

I'm getting this Grab Bag thing figured out, now that I've done it a second time. I hope you enjoy what I've put into this one. I am so ready for some sunshine....that's all I'm going to say.
So, here's another sneak peek of my February Grab Bag.

Also, I wanted to share this DARLING little mailbox by Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs. Kelleigh has a shop at The DigiChick and makes the most amazing templates. She created this little mailbox template so I shamelessly asked her to use my kit, My Little Valentine, for a sample. I just love it!

This Week's Sneak Peek

Here's another little sneak peek of my upcoming Grab Bag. It will be released tomorrow but I'm still keeping it a bit of a secret. I hope you like it! :-)

My hands and fingers are killing me right now. I did some more sanding yesterday. I'm getting so close but the strain on my neck and shoulders is really getting to me and I start getting a headache after I've sanded for awhile. I need a massage!

This is what it looked like around the perimeter. The office is the only room that I haven't started on. The bedroom and the dining room look good. The living room is very close to being done. I just need to sand around the front door and the doorway into the office.


This is what most of it looks like after I've done the hand sanding. It's hard to get every little bit sanded off. But you can kind of see those curved marks in the wood. That's where the edger sander that I rented was eating away at my floor! GACK. It's a little bit wavy and wobbly there. I'm so glad I realized it before I got too far. I think I can go back and get that fixed because I bought some ever rougher grit sandpaper yesterday.You know the saying "being nickeled and dimed to death"? Well, I'm being $10.00'd and $20.00'd to death!!!" I can't believe how expensive some of this stuff is. I spent $25.00 on two packs of sandpaper yesterday. I think I need to switch careers and become a sandpaper salesman. :-)

I'm hoping, as I'm sure you are, that I can move on from talking about sandpaper. It's wearing me out!

I did have a nice thought yesterday. Before my life was turned upside down, by my husband's midlife crisis, I used to blog about random things and I haven't done that in such a long time! Well, driving to my house yesterday I went past a house that has some fake deer....lawn garbage....in their yard and I was thinking to myself "Why would you put something in your yard that people could mistake as a possible accident waiting to happen?" That particular road is a place where a driver must watch for deer and I am startled quite often and then realize they are statues. They're not even as big as real deer so I shouldn't be but STILL! I think they need some new yard garbage that doesn't cause mini heart attacks. That all wasn't a nice thought but after I recovered I thought "I could write about that in my blog." Ha

But then a little farther along I did see something pleasant. There were some horses in a pasture and since we've had a lot of snow lately, their winter coats have really grown. I just love how horses look when they're fluffy! I like a sleek shiny horse, too, because that is so beautiful, but there is something so homey and comforting about a horse with a fuzzy winter coat. It makes me feel nostalgic.

YAY for February and $2.00 Tuesday

Happy February!!! We are that much closer to Spring, which makes me very happy, and we are only 13 days away from getting out of the Year of the Ox and into the Year of the Tiger! Go Tigers...like me. Wheeeee! This is MY year, all you little tastycakes. Just keep checking in for one fantastic thing after another! Right? I'm going to believe that.

Today I went over to my house and did a little more sanding around the perimeter. In the bedroom, I have gotten a little over three wall lengths done and the one wall that's left is the one with two doorways so I'm THAT close to finishing sanding in the bedroom. The dining room has been sanded but I still need to work on the checkerboard inset. The living room is almost completely done...just a few more feet. The office is the only room I haven't started yet. I think I'll go back tomorrow and punish myself some more. Sanding is HARD WORK!

I thought I'd give you a little preview of what will be on sale for $2.00 Tuesday. First off...my popular Festivale Alphabet Mega Pack. This sucker is loaded and these letters are big so they work well for hybrid projects, too.
Also on sale is the Sweetness Paper Pack and the Sweetness Element Pack. Both so yummy!
And last, but certainly not least, the classic Clementina's Closet Paper and Elements. This is the first kit I created when I started designing for the digital industry and I still love it a lot.

So I hope you take some time to create something today. And if anyone is interested in coming to a sanding party, I'll host one anytime! Ha