It’s hard to decide which is the biggest news to start with! so without any order here it all is:

I am now at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking - a major big store and I am thrilled.I have about 15 products uploaded so far and will be working on getting more in the store in the weeks to come.

I got a brand new computer! It has 8 GB of memory and a 580 GB hard drive. Walmart had it for soooo cheap, I could not resist. Though I did wait for about a month to be sure I was really wanting it.

I finally broke down and purchased that software that was eating at me - it cost more than the computer! After waiting since last Fall, I just could not see putting the old Adobe software on my brand new computer.

We got a baby crib for the grandson for when he visits - so much nicer for him, his mama and the rest of us. I first redid that guest room to make it look nice and inviting and then added the crib. It did not cost anymore than the taxes on the software I got from Adobe, so I figured why not.

Grandson is growing and can now roll over from stomach to back. Not so fun for his mama as he can’t yet get back to his tummy again and won’t sleep on his back. They were just here for a few days and it was great to see both of them. He is not one to be rocked to sleep, but is such a wiggle worm! But, when it is time for bed, his mama just has to lay him down and out he goes. I just don’t remember it being that easy for my two babies.

So there you have it, my news! all of it is very exciting to me, perhaps you will rejoice a little with me? I hope to get better again at this blog stuff, so be looking for some freebies and all in the days ahead.

Yep, we are back from Louisiana and I got some gorgeous photos!

But, just like I thought, I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, I just went out of my mind over the weekend and signed up for two more store and am working on trying to get into two more. Watch me burn out ladies little by little.

No, I probably will thrive on it all!

More about the new stores in future posts. I will introduce them one at a time.

Most important I want you all to see this layout-not because my layout skills are so great-though I am not embarrassed by them. But, this layout has my little fella in it–the grandson. The photos are not over a month old so I am doing good right–not too late in getting them scrapped? I used my Whispers of the Forest kit for this and really love how the cardinal and butterfly work in with this layout. You can click on it to be taken to a larger size in the gallery.

I have a nice little gift for you all too. It is a template I made. Before we left for Louisiana, I spent an afternoon making templates for the store blog and while I was doing it I made a few for you all. Hopefully, I am caught up on my templates at the store blog for the next five weeks, so I can afford to share these with you ladies.

Here is a preview of the template:

Drat, gotta get that image fixed to match the blog!

Things are really hopping lately and I have so much to keep track of!

Update on Missie: Missie is at home but not “awake”. You can read the latest on her blog as her husband and son are posting. The url is: http://mdtdesigns.blogspot.com/

We are going to create a collaboration kit in honor of Missie and to honor our loved ones that have passed. Many of us have lost loved ones recently and it just seems right to do this. If you wish to contribute to this endeavor, you can find more information at: http://scrappymouse.com/iwillalwaysloveyou/info.pdf

On a different note. The store is handing out free ornaments every day of December and you really need to get on track and get you some of these gorgeous ornaments. Go to the DigiScrapStation blog at: http://digiscrapstation.com/blog/ The previous day’s ornaments are still up so its not too late to get them.

Kathy, of Kathy’s Scraps has been organizing this and she is doing an awesome job. There are some ornaments that are hybrid and some that are only digital–but hey, just download them all! Each day she gives you a clue as to where you will find the ornament of the day.

Moving ON

Did you get your coupon for Scrappy Cats and for the store in the DST Insider? There is one posted in there this month. To get your copy of the DST Insider, log in to DST (DigiShopTalk) and click on the download link that is on the top right. It will take you to a page where you can download the current newsletter. Our coupons are in there.

Moving ON

New products–well not quite so new. I really like how the penguins came out. There is a mini kit named, Its Here, a Figmenst Add On, a Christmas Ornament Photoshop Action and a Penguin Photoshop Action. You can get them at DigiScrapStation as well as at Divine Digital. The links to these stores are above in the header of the blog.

Why do I hate vacuming so much? I did not realize this until lately. We used to live in a house with wood floors so it was not a big problem to keep them clean. The broom handled messes very easily and it was so easy to spot clean here and there. But, with carpets you have to get out the vacum cleaner, plug it in, move furniture around and since you are doing all that you might as well make a good job of it while you are at it –such a hassle!

But I kept on and got it done –well mostly done. There is still the bedroom to vacum and the bathroom. Hubby just does not understand why I don’t like carpet in the bathroom. He says I would just cover up a wood floor with scatter rugs anyway. Ya gotta love them. Yes, I would put scatter rugs in there, but they would be rugs I could put in the washer whenever I felt the need. The way it is now, I imagine all sorts of evil going on under that carpet in that bathroom. Just gives me the creeps.

Moving ON

So, now I am on an origami kick. I am trying to come up with hybrid Christmas Ornaments but every one I can find has hundreds of little folds or requires you to make 400 pieces or something. While that would be a fun thing for me to do, I don’t believe I would be the norm on that.

But I am amazed at how much it has changed since the last time I looked into origami. In my youth we made cranes and frogs and stuff. Then, later during my teaching days we made fancy package toppers. But the items I am finding now are totally way beyond anything I ever did before. They even have some new names for it –Kusudama, Sonobe and modular origami. And now I am seeing GLUE and STAPLES –that was a big no-no before. I think I found one I can modify to make it a little easier to make and for making directions. But, it is going to take some time.

Moving ON

I made a layout! actually I made two layouts. One I made at the Speed Scrap that Crazy Diamond hosts every Saturday night. This last Saturday, we baptized the new Chat room software I purchased. There were a few ladies with problems logging in but that was solved–was a pop up blocker for one and a password error for the other. Here is the layout I made. Click on it to go to the gallery for the credits.

Then, Tuesday, I made another layout –I’m on a roll here, two layouts in one week! This was some photos hubby took when we went riding on the Gold Wing on Sunday. Those rides are so nice. This one is also linked to the gallery so you can see the credits.

Bye for now, off to do some more paper folding.

WE had rain!! almost two inches of rain fell in the past 24 hours here in parched Central Texas. It has not been wise to burn trash, throw cig’s out of car windows or to even use the welding torch out in the pasture. It was so dry we had to give up on our elephant ears this summer and barely kept the zinnias growing.

But, it rained!! It is fun to say that it rained as it makes me feel oh so good inside and fresh. The rain is gone now, but maybe it will remember it’s way back to come back again.  When I went to the mail box this afternoon the wind was blowing so hard I wondered if my glasses would come off. We have a cold front moving in and just maybe that means that the hot dry summer is over. Ninety degree heat in October is really pushing summer into the wrong part of the year. We also, might just start getting a little more rain with the colder weather.

Moving ON

A GOOD tech support report! I finally bit the bullet and called HP tech support over the scanner again. Last time I called we worked on it for 3 hours and then I had to go as I had company at my door. But, I really wanted that scanner to work. So I called again today. After looking at the clock and deciding that if it ran more than two hours, I could call hubbie on the cell phone, I dug out the ticket number given me from the last call. After waiting for just a short period of time, I got Daphne on the phone, gave her control of my computer and watched her work. It is just so much fun to watch someone take over your computer from half way across the world. (I knew this was coming so I cleaned up a bit on the desktop first.) She went here and there deleting files and searching and deleting more files til finally after about 45 minutes she restarted the computer and THEN installed the software that was being difficult before. AND IT WORKED!! It only took about an hour and a half and my scanner works now!! To celebrate I created some distressed folded and worn papers to scan in and created a new product for the stores.

They are five folded and worn overlays to give your papers that great aged look. The edges are a little messed up and they are not quite 12 x 12 as you need to be able to show the edges when working with layouts. I have noticed the the new thing lately seems to be stacking stuff. This will work great for that. This is beig uploaded to my stores right now as I type this in. You can find it in my stores at DigiScrapStation, Divine Digital, and ScrappersZone.

I created a layout with one of these on a photo of Clio to see how it would work on photos instead. It’s really subtle but I like it.

By the way, you can get this kit, Old Juniper by participating in my Ad Challenge at DigiScrapStation. The link will take you right to this month’s challenge. In the layout, Clio is being all fierce and protective of my purse. I think she was waiting for me to leave so she could smack Dayton a time or two. When I have been gone for an hour or two and come back I find tufts of hair on the carpet like they have been having a wrestling match. Clio is always waiting for me on top of the freezer which means she won the coveted positon. The two of them just don’t share sleeping spots at all.

Scrapper’s Zone Team collab came out this week. Its for scrapping hunter layouts and outdoor layouts. Oops, started to say for the male type layouts, but not just men like the great outdoors and hunting. Here is its preview, (click on the image to go to the store and see more about it.)

I think I overwhelmed the designers at DSS this week. We started a new service at DigiScrapStation - a Scrap for Hire - several designers have already put their services in the store. Basically, what it means, for those of you who are not digiscrappers, is we will create layouts for you with your photos. The cost is $5 for a single layout, $15 for four layouts and $25 for 15 layouts. I’ve created an ftp place and wrote instructions for those who don’t know how to use ftp so customers can upload their photos. All directions on using this service come with the downoad when you purchase it.

THEN I added Blog accessories and added Blog Customization and another designer asked about cards and then one asked about desktop calendars and well, we just expanded all over the place. Oh, we added a lady who does tagger art too. The blog accessories products will include instructions I wrote on how to add them to Blogger Blogs as well as WordPress Blogs. That was fun to do.

With all the documents and stuff flying around — we were updating, editing and more to each page — it became a little overwhelming for sure. I thought I would give them a break before I told them the next thing. WE STILL are working out a few details on the Scrap for Hire and Blog customizing thing.

But check out my new blog accessories. I made two kits already for blogs. These are at 72 dpi and come with directions on how to insert them into your blogs. One is a Chrismtas set - Pink Noel, It really was fun to make and the other is a pink set with a background that looks crackled. You can only get these at DigiScrapStation.

Now on to the freebie for today

I created a cluster frame for you all, it does not have holes in it for the photos so you can do one of several things. You can just plop the photo on top of it and add some shadow or you can cut your own hole for the photo you use. I put mine on top since I had two. Here is my sample:

This is my brother and sister when they were younger - we won’t say how much younger. But, they are older than me so you can image how old these photos are.

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I just posted a chance to win a RAK –you can see the details here:
http://digiscrapstation.com/store/forum/viewtopic.php?t=827

Basically, you just need to respond to the forum post with ideas for new Photoshop Actions and I will pick the lucky winners for a Photoshop Action of their choice. For every seven people who respond to the forum post, I will pick one winner. You can respond once per day through the end of September. So you can have seven chances to win. Lets see how many prizes I have to give out!

I put up some new actions last week - my favorite was the picket fence. But I like how the others turned out as well. The Dictionary Flourishes is a real bargain as it also has a great style. The style included will cover an entire paper and can be recolored anyway you want.

These actions are available in all three of my stores –DigiScrapStation, Divine Digital and Scrapper’s Zone. Links to these stores are in right under my blog banner.

Yep, I am on at Divine Digital tonight. I am kinda nervous and wondering what is going to happen. But, please show up. I have a gift for everybody who does show up. Here is a preview of the chat gift:

Whatcha think of that bow?? I thought I would make a different kind and then to make it really different it is made iwth a transparent ribbon. This little mini kit will be an add on to my figments kit in a couple of weeks, but if you come to the chat you will get it for free. The chat is at Divine Digital at 10 PM Eastern Time–that will be 9:00 my time here, or something close to that.

At the chat I will be presenting a challenge with a gift for all participants–here is that gift:

Notice how one is geared more to girls and the other to boys? I really did not do that on purpose, but like how it came out. The castle in this challenge gift is different from the one in the main kit - it does not have as many levels on it and I think I like it better.

The challenge is just to complete a layout using the figments kit - I would love to see it in action. Today is the last day you can pick up that kit at Divine Digital for just $2. After today it goes to its regular price of $6.

Hope to see you all at the chat!

We just finished putting together an awesome kit at Scrapper’s Zone called Goth Teen. Eleven of us designers there contributed to this huge collaboration and the results are totally out of the ordinary. Here are some previews of it.

Click on the top preview to go see the kit and all the details about it. Severall of us have created some brag book quick pages to give you using this kit. We are giving them away on our blogs. Here is the list of blogs to visit to pick these up:
Cindy Ritter DigiScrap Designs

Move Fearlessly

Pretty Scrappy

Cherrish Treasures

Rose

Kreative Junkie

And here is my brag book quick pages for you. This kit was so much fun to work with that I made 6 of them instead of jusst one.

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Have you seen these things they are calling wordle –they are word clouds. You enter a bunch of text and it makes these cool looking word clouds out of the text. OR you can enter a url and the same will happen. I gave it the url of this blog and this is what happened.

This image was created by http://wordle.net