NOTES FROM THE HOLLER

I was hoping today would be a bright and sunny Sunday but it is pretty stormy around here.  I am afraid the daffodils are going to be beaten past their prime by the winds and rain as I have been unable to get them yet.  For the past few days, I have been suffering from another ailment.  I'm not sure what is going on as I have not been to a doctor but I think I am suffering from a kidney infection, kidney stones or something like that.  Yesterday, I started running a fever as well and in pretty severe pain but today I am feeling some better but on top of all that, I can hardly breathe due to cold or sinus infection.  It just really sucks sometimes to be over fifty!!! The poor ole boys of Kentucky, my Wildcats lost their ballgame yesterday.  They are a young team and just could not get it together but those boys are super talented, and Kentucky is still so proud of them.  We look forward to next year!! Kimmi has a beautiful new kit being released today at Scrapbook-Elements! Kimm

Its finally Friday and the upcoming week-end promises  to be gorgeous so I hope to get out of the house and go pick bouquets of daffodils!  I think they are my favorite spring flower!  The Kentucky Wildcats won again last night!!  I really feel they are going to win the whole shebang this year!  I hope so-those boys are just amazing! When I jumped on the scales this morning I was thrilled to find I have lost a total of eight pounds in two weeks! That makes me thankful that I was strong enough not to give in to the temptation of sneaking a candy bar when the DH sent me to the store yesterday for coffee filters!  I really was becoming discouraged for I can not really tell I have lost any weight yet when I put on my jeans, and I am really missing my sweet treats and sandwiches but I must admit that each day is becoming a little easier to do the right thing.  I just have to face the fact that I have packed on a lot of extra weight the past few years and it will take time to lose it! To

The host of our local morning show on television calls Thursdays "Liiittle Friday" - I like that.  Not that Fridays are any different than any other day in my life now but when I was working, I always looked forward to Fridays as it was the last day of the work week!  Back in the days of my first marriage, Fridays were pay days and the last day of school for the kids so we would go out to McDonalds or get pizza, rent a couple of videos and stay up as late as we wanted... Fridays are a day we all look forward to so the term Liiitle Friday for Thursdays gets one excited for the upcoming weekend! I went to bed early last night, about 9:00pm and then woke up early at 2:00am.  I was not really ready to start scrapping, nothing on the boob-tube worth watching and when I checked my email, I found a coupon from ArtsCow for a thirty page photo book for only $9.99 with free shipping!  Yippee!  I spent the next couple of hours picking out 30 of my favorite pages I have scrapped latel

I have not made it out in the yard working yet but I have been busy scrapping up a storm!  Lots of pages have been completed lately, as well as the beginnings of several projects.   I have made several quick pages for albums for both Rina and Kimmi.  The upcoming albums from the CT are to die for so you will want to keep your eyes on the look out for their releases. I have 61 pages completed for Marie's Beloved (by Rina Kroes) wedding album.  With over 500 photos of that wedding, I hope to get 100 pages done for her.  I have 25 pages done for the Grandchildren's Photo Book using new releases by Kimberly Stewart ; I want to have 30.  There are 17 pages completed in my Granddaughter Erynn's album using Rina's Bells of St Clements ; the goal for that one is 25 to 30 pages.  Plus I have 8 or 9 more Photo Books using various products in the making, not to mention the various brag books I am working on.  I hope to be able to have everything finished and printed by November

Sunday is here again!  I know you probably get tired of hearing me say this, but where does all the time go?  Spring has finally arrived and the days are growing longer but there is just never enough time!  I did get started on spring cleaning this week while DH has been busy with the March Madness of Baseketball - GO CATS!!!!!!  We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is another winning year for our beloved Kentucky Wildcats!  They really are an amazing team to watch this year!  And with all the nights of basketball on television replacing the normal shows I watch, I did a little scrapping and discovered another addiction....playing Boggle Match games on the pc.  I would clean a little while, then Boggle a little, then scrap a little....that basically describes by week.  I was planning on working in my flower gardens this coming week but now they are saying to expect rain so this week will probably be a repeat of last.  I am such a busy lady, lol!    But let me just show you what

I have been playing all afternoon with the cutest little Easter kit. TED E RABBITS by Kimberly Stewart. The Ted E. Rabbits the Kit was fashioned with a cute gathering of whimsy with the most adorable teddy bears dressed as bunny rabbits!  This kit is perfect for all of your Easter, spring and baby photos for layouts and or your craft/hybrid projects, and I now have a great start on a Easter 2009 Photo-book for my Grandchildren! And as the shore shelves fill with all kinds of Easter goodies, I have a little treat for you as well! Enjoy! *DOWNLOAD NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

Happy Sunday!  You know what Sunday brings with it.. NEW RELEASES at SBE , and both Kimmi and Rina have the most adorable kits for you today! Of course, I have been playing with them both! (For a complete list of layout credits, check my gallery HERE .) Kimmi brings to us The Rain, Rain, Go Away set - perfect for capturing those rainy day moments whether it’s splashing in all of the puddles or just watching the rain fall through the window. This set is ideal for rainy day craft projects also and is fantastic for any style; boys and girls, and outdoors. Included in this download you will receive the following items: 20 – 12x12 inch delightful, digital background papers, 1 spilled beads, boy under a cloud, boy under an umbrella, purple and white metal bracket frame, 5 buttons, 2 button ties, 11 rain cloud, 1 metal fastener, 1 metal fastener mini brad, 1 girl and umbrella, 1 journal mat, 1 journal strip/tag, 1 yellow paper frame, 1 straight ribbon, 1 surly ribbon, 1 ribbon

I have really been trying to make my blog a place where I can spotlight a few of my scrapbook layouts while spotlighting some gorgeous designers' kits or digital challenges and at the same time keeping my family updated on whats going on here in the holler.  As I have been doing my spring cleaning, I have changed and rearranged in an attempt to also keep all a little better organized.  For example, on the left, I added the "Search" bar at the top as well as  the "LABELS" widget to help one find something specific more easily.  For instance, the freebie hunters can click on the freebie label and all the freebies currently available on my blog will pop up.  I have updated all my posts, so previous freebies no longer available will not pop up.  Recently, I started having a few photo books printed for gifts, and I know I will be creating more of these this year so most of my layouts are created with this in mind.  I primarily use the Artscow Templates from Studio

There is a new challenge going on over at Scrapbook-Elements, "This Book Is About Me" and I have decided to join in to scrap my life story for my kids and grandkids. • The challenge will be posted every 2 to 3 weeks in the This Book is About Me Forum. • Lynda will offer up a piece of wordart that can be downloaded immediately, as well as a page prompt and a participation gift to everyone who participates in the This Book is About Me Challenge . You may join in the challenge at any time by starting at the beginning. Use the prompts that you believe apply to you. It is not necessary to do every page that is suggested. The word art downloads will remain available. It is early  in the challenge and my plans may have to change but I am going to attempt to use the Victorian Christmas kit by Saxon Holt Designs and Microferk as the basis of my book creations.  I know, Christmas for a Book About Me...are you crazy? But I love the papers in this kit, and I love their designs,

My DH has been laid off for a while now and since he is has been at home so much, my daily routines pretty much revolve around him.  Meaning I eat when he eats, sleep when he sleeps, go when he goes.  Its not a bad life really except he requires three times more sleep than I do!  Give me from four to six hours and I am ready to go, he sleeps in stretches of 12 to 14 hours, and when he sleeps, I do try to keep things quiet contrary to what he believes. When I get up, I normally like to jump right in on the housework. I get all my chores done then I have the rest of the day to digi-scrap or work outside, or whatever but all winter long because he is still in bed sleeping, I get up,  make my coffee and plop my big ole behind in this computer chair... AND because he probably will not get up until the news comes on this evening, my behind will probably stay in this chair most of that entire time!  Isn't that sad!  No wonder why, my backside is getting so wide and flat, huh!  Hopefully

If you stop by and things look a little wonky, I apologize but I doing a little spring cleaning around here.  You know what its like -   painting the walls, hanging up new pictures  and tidying up a bit.  I should be finished in a day or two, so please stop back by and let me know what you think! HAPPY SCRAPPIN'!

Even though we had some snow here in Kentucky this year, I have no new snow pictures to scrap.  I have had no camera of my own for a while now and it is hard to scrap when you count on others for photos, let me tell ya, lol!  Fortunately, one of the benefits of my DH being the PC DR for the family is that I get access to all of the photos from those machines he works on...even to those they wish I had never seen!  Such is the case with these pages I made this week with the newly released WINTER PENGUINS kit by Kimberly Stewart !  I really like the colors of this kit!   Tim is the life-long friend of my DH.  He is also his ex-BIL and his boss, and it seems like he still enjoys to party like its 1999, lol!  I think it does us all good to turn loose and just enjoy ourselves sometimes but I also believe that sometimes, in this ole life, we may attempt to disguise our sadness and longings for something different with a smile on the face and a beer in the hand.  On that note, in typical G

I don't know if you are aware of this  but SBE has resumed the recipe exchange throughout 2010. The themes this year will be "category based" with a new category each month as the focal point for recipes. For more information on that exchange CLICK HERE         I have submitted several cards for the exchange this month. The above two use SPRING IN THE AIR KIT by Kimberly Stewart. Kimmi's kits are so fun to use, and they are so versatile! You can combine papers and elements from several kits to create layouts that are uniquely yours! So please check out her store ----> KIMBERLY STEWART STORE I am also creating some recipe pages in letter-size format this year in the hopes that I will have a variety of projects to use for Christmas gifts in 2010, and guess what?  I have two that I would like to share with you today!!!  Enjoy and Happy Scrappin! DOWNLOAD @MediaFire HERE OR DOWNLOAD @Box HERE