Compliments...

"I can live for two months on a good compliment. "
- Mark Twain

I Dunno!

Don't ask me, I found it in my "working photos" folder. Which generally means photos I have edited in one way or another in preperation for scrapping. This is neither a photo, nor is it working.... I just don't know where I was going with this. The paperdolls appear to be a poor extraction from where I haven't a clue... I do know those brushes are by wonderful Janita...

It's a good thing...

JoDe doesn't have time to read blogs! It seems that since I have been coordinating her creative team, I have either been uninspired by her art or haven't had time to scrap anything for her.... I started this for her last night... changed it a gazillion times... ended up with what I have here... This morning I still wasn't happy with it and went to my scrap folders looking for inspiration... which kind of back fired on me,

because I ended up with this . I think I know why; but, Lisa Hinz, if you are reading this, I would love for you to throw out some ideas and thoughts. I took this photo while at an Easter Egg hunt with my grandson this year. It was a cold damp day and the children had been waiting for some time to get the green light to start. This little cutie was in her fathers arms and I just couldn't resist that adorable little pout!

Credits:
#1
Papers and Elements
Everyday Life by JoDe Lawrence avaliable at Altered Scrapping and Scrapbook-Bytes
Fonts:
Doodles by Taran Conyers available at Scrapbook Graphics
#2
Papers, Elements and Alpha
Sunlight from the Jen Wilson Illuminations Collection at Jen Wilson Designs
Brush:
Defining Drama by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals
Fonts:
Doodles by Taran Conyers available at Scrapbook Graphics
Tahoma
Photo Shop Action:
Wild Tear by Atomic Cupcake

Oh and pssst... big doin's over at JWD! Go check out Jens new site!

Dirty Car Art!

OMGosh... I caught a bit of this on the news tonight and just had to share the web link! This is truely amazing! I personally couldn't stand to drive my car if it were half that dirty. This guy has definately made the best out of a tough situation! Check out the art of Scott Wade!
http://www.dirtycarart.com/gallery/index.htm

Three Months

I bought shoes!

Credit:

Stacey Kluczny Flowery Grunge

available at Three Scrapateers

The Size of a ...

The size of a man can be measured by
the size of the thing that makes him angry.
- J. Kenfield Morley

Perfection!

The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake -
you can't learn anything from being perfect.

Adam Osborne
American entrepreneur, 1939-2003

My Friend Janita.. (she makes me brushy!)

WooHoo! Look what Janita sent me! Isn't she just the sweetest?! I happened along Vanilla-design (at the time I thin it was vanilla dreams) long before I started digi-scrapping... Well officially digiscrapping anyway. Like many other digi-scrappers I was combining my love of family photos, my computer knowledge and a graphics program to create collages. I quite accidentally stumbled upon a small group of digi-scrappers on a handful of sites and jumped right in! Since then digi-scrapping has EXPLODED! There are new designers, new alignments and new shops everyday. Just recently though has the digi-scrapping community recognized the benefits of "brushes" or "Digital stamps" (that is except the designers who have known all along) Suddenly, brushes are all the rage.... I have tried unsuccessfully repeated times to convince Janita to offer her brushes on one of the sites. I think she wants to retain full control of her product/art. Who can blame her?! When I first found Janita she was giving all her brushes away for free. So many of us had found her wonderful work that she could no long afford to pay the bandwidth charges and she had to make a change. She moved her brushes from vanilla design to a site she created just for the brushes, Seishido and started selling memberships. I instantly recognized the value of her life time membership and paid the $150.00 Euro (about $186. USD)! She has told me that a couple other "scrappers" have since purchased lifetime memberships! A lifetime membership included everything Janita has previously created and everything she has yet to create! She currently has over 400 brushes and about 50 textures. Can you imagine all that for $150.00 euro... the brushes alone are worth about $1200.00 usd Whew! I really feel like I am taking advantage of this young lady... I think I will buy another life time membership just because!... So... my advise to you... if you enjoy brushes... rush on over to Seishido and buy a lifetime membership Oh and looking for another great brush source... check out Janita's good friend Shiricki at Angelic-Trust I'm not sure which one I found first... but I am sure it was the same day! LOL

Complete Quirk Name

This is my final challenge in the Quirk Naming Ceremony over at Digital Art Quirks. OH, my Gosh... Lisa gave me such a great second name and I just struggled to put them together... I'm not really happy with this, but today is the deadline to post... so here it is... I am certain I will eventually redo this...

credits -
papers and elements:
Cottage Arts - Autumn Breeze
Cottage Arts - Butterfly Wings
Doris Castle - Precious Moments

brushes:
Janita at Seishido (Vanilla Design)

fonts:
Satisfaction
Intimacy

This is the beautiful card Lisa gave me with my second name. You can see more of Lisa's Quirk Art here

Tough Challenge

WOW! this was more difficult than I thought it was going to be; but, I finally finished my art fro CathyRose at Digital Art Quirks and come up with a second name for her! Tender Withe - her husband named her Tender and I have given her Withe. Withe is a subtle stick as from a willow... used to tie or bind things together. She is traditional, straight like a stick, yet tender and loving binding her family and friendships together I created my art for her based on some questions Cathy answered for me. I used a combination of her moody and happy colors... the bottom half stormy and blue, yet calmed by the water.. light airy bubbles fill the air (because I couldn't get the feathers to look right) She is well balanced, serene.... TENDER WITHE

Credits:

brushes from:
Seishido
Angelic Trust
Annika Von Holdt
Envouge

Texture from:
Aztec

Quirk Me!

Ok... over at Digital Art Quirks they have this great "doings" where you can get a quirk name. First you think of a first name for yourself, then make a 4x6 piece of art depicting your name. The person below you on the sign up list then thinks of a second name for you and makes another 4x6 piece of art for your new name. I picked "Spiritual" I don't know why.... LOL

Lisa gets to give me my second name... I sent her the following information to go on... I forgot so much... feathers, the sun sparking off water, sunrise, warm rain... so much more!

I adore soft colors, clouds and nature. I gravitate toward things with wings; fairies, angels, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. I have never seen a firefly but DH has promised to take me where I can see them! I love candles and soft scents...babies and kittens. I love rainbowsand crystals. I love fine linen and old furniture. I love all kinds of music, comtemporary, jazz, standards, rock-a-billy, country, opera, transe, celtic, chant, religious, etc. I love the theater, comedy, thrillers, drama, love stories and some sci-fi. I'm a computer geek.. all self taught. I don't consider myself particuarly talented, although I derive great pleasure in creating! I'm the spiritual type, immersed in my religion. I'm a dreamer... In my dreams I see friends in need or personal perils to come... and believe it or not, they almost always come true... it's not like I actually see it.... I see the people and have a feeling. I believe it's the spirit speaking to me. I think I am an "old soul", not that I believe in reincarnation, but I believe we were all together in the spirit world before we chose to come here on earth. I think I have been waiting a long time...LOL

Oh and I'm still thinking about that Hugh Fructose Corn Syrup project!

Oh I should have used Faithful! Dang!

CREDIT:

Elements by:
Doris Castle's Bella Donna kit available at scrapbook graphics.
Carrie Stephens' Celebrate Everyday kit from Fish Scraps.
Jeanine Baechtold's Essence kit available at computer scrapbook.

Brushes by:
At0mica, Damned in Black, Vanilla-Dreams (Sheisido)

Fonts:
Xband Rough, Satisfaction

Texture:
One Green Eye

Summer Metamorphosis

My niece spent almost a month of her summer vacation in California
between my mom, my dad, and myself. I had her for the last 4 days and what a change in those four days! I bought her some cosmetics at the Bare Escentuals store and showed her how to apply it.

Then a trip to the mall and I bought her some feminine clothes and shoes from Avenue. (with size 12 feet, the converse high tops and lime green zebra print deck shoes just didn't make it)

What a beautiful difference.

When she got off the plane in Missouri, (She said) my sister told her,
"Your a completely different person.
I don't like it" I'm sure it's because her daughter; 15, is now showing signs of growing up. My niece is an only child. My sister is 3 years older than me and her daughter is 10 years younger than mine. I know I had difficulty letting go... ... I think my sis will have a tougher time of it! ... wait 'till she finds out we taught her daughter to drive!

I used JoDe's Layette "Retreat" found at Altered Scrapping.

Fonts: Tom's Handwriting, Trebuchet, Turbulence

Rattling in my mind

Ok here's the deal... for over a week I have had this
RANT I have wanted to share... but I wanted to
create a visual to go with it... and well... I am kind of
stuck... LOL... still working on it though because I
am seeing red on this one... I'll give you a hint and
a head start...

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!

Google it, I dare you... and then after you have
read your fill, go to your pantry and read the lables...

Oh, Oh... then if you want YOU can attempt a
visual for me! he he Maybe I can scrounge up
gifts??? No promises.. just thinking out loud!
Not that it matters anyway.... I can scream at
the top of my lungs here and nobody would
here me! he he Now since I am not ready to
share my rant with you...
I shall leave you with a quote:

We all have our time machines.
Some take us back, they're called memories.
Some take us forward, they're called dreams.
- Jeremy Irons.

Someday....

I would like to encorporate this quote
into a layout! Now if I only remember
that I have it when the right photo
comes along!

"People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed only
if there is a light from within."

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.
Swiss-American psychiatrist and author

Huge Debt

OK, I admit it! I go through long periods of time without a single creative thought! It's during those times that I am so thankful for those people who are will to share their photos with me. For some reason when I feel creatively exhausted, scrapping other peoples pictures rejuvinates me!

Today I owe a huge debt to Cherrie Webb for allowing me to scrap her beautiful family! On this layout I used one of JoDe Lawrence's latest kits "Night Moves" from Altered Scrapping

I also used a passage from Khalil Girbran's "The Prophet". I paraphrased part of the chapter "On Children" I just adore this photo, the children are beautiful and the colors are fantastic! Thank you Cherrie, once again, you have bailed me out!

Nah!

Just a quick update before I leave for a couple days....
I don't stand on the scale unless I am at the Dr's office; but, I do measure.... yesterday I must have measured and remeasured
a dozen times and with two different tape measures... like
on was "off" LOL.. Six inches.... Six inches is what I have
lost off my waist in roughly a month! I can't believe it!
WooHoo! I'm so excited!

Too Much - Not Enough

Well, I was going to whine here.... I actually had it all typed out and decided against it... I'll just say that this was my entry for week two of a digital scrapping contest and it didn't make the cut! 100 other digital scrappers went on to round three without me! It was a shocker to say the least! None the less I feel good about my layout and it's a winner in my eyes! I am the best I can be today and life is wonderful!

Where have I been?

This is a photo I took off my balcony!

For Mother's Day my daughter, bless her soul, (I understand it is OK to gossip if you follow the name of the person you are talking about with "bless his/her soul" lol) wanted to send me to a "lifestyles management" program at the hospital where she works. The program is called "Transitions" and it is at the St. Helena Hospital. This just happens to be the hospital where I was born, only back then during "Ike" it was the St. Helena Sanitarium.... But that's another story. Anyway... I knew it was quite expensive and I was feeling like my family was sending me off to the fat farm (not that I didn't need it) So needless to say, I wasn't very excited about it; but, I agreed to go because it seemed to mean so much to her.

On Mother's Day I started a 13 day journey into my new life!

I had a beautiful room like you would have at a nice hotel, a private lounge area for participants, maid service, a gorgeous view off my balcony, three meals a day, two snacks, a chef who could make the most disgusting sounding dishes beautiful and tasty, a doctor, a therapist, a dietitian, a personal trainer, and a yoga instructor.

Our days began at 7 am and ended at 7:30 pm. We had cognitive behavior classes, nutrition classes, cooking classes and physical heath classes... we exercised 3 times a day. We were issued pedometers to track our steps 10,000 to be min., exercise balls and bands so we can Circuit train without the machines, Heart Beat Monitors so we can track out aerobic activity, palm pilots and software for tracking our food and exercise compared to our goal.

On our first full day they took full blood and urine panels, gave us a stress test ,put us on the scale, assessed our BMI,tested our flexibility and strength and took our measurements. From there the DR and dietitian planned our recommended caloric intake and burn, then the team formed individual plans for us.

The Dr. noticed my thyroid was borderline low and with everything else I had going on she decided to prescribe a small dose of thyroid meds. She also gave me an additional med to boost one I was already taking for depression and some over the counter items for IBS and reflux disease. Now, if I can only control my compulsions!

I was amazed that on the second day after starting my new medicine regime, I was feeling wonderful! Then the next day after that, I had the first normal bowel movement in over 6 years! (too much information? LOL)

My exit numbers were incredible! LDL down 21% , hsCRP down 37%, fasting glucose down 11%. I lost 3.5 inches from my waist, 2 inches off each thigh and an overall inch loss of 8.5 inches. I also lost 5 lbs. My flexibility increased 11% and my hand strength increased 15% All this taking in 2x as many calories daily as I was before I went there.

Needless to say I am ecstatic! I wish I could have stayed longer! I continue to eat healthy and exercise regularly. I wear my pedometer religiously When I went to the Dr last Thursday, for a sinus infection, I had lost a total of 12 lbs. and my blood pressure was 113/80. I think when I started the program it was 140/90. I do know when I left it was 120/88!

I can't believe how much energy I have!

I feel fantastic!

BIG NEWS

This is one crop you are NOT going to want to miss!
Go here http://tinyurl.com/j3wzp to set up a reminder
Don't forget THIS Saturday June the 17th from 5-6pm
U.S. Eastern Time in the SBB Chat room!
http://tinyurl.com/hsvh4

If you are not familiar with JoDe Lawrence AKA
Digitalbits go to http://www.alteredscrapping.com
and check out her beautiful designs.
While you are there browse through the
CT Gallery and see layouts by Julie Leist aka justjulz!
http://tinyurl.com/g4vthIf

If you are already familiar with JoDe and have layouts done
with her products; she would love to see them!
You can now upload them to the new public gallery!
http://tinyurl.com/zms5o

See you Saturday!