BLOG TRAIN

I am participating in a Blog Train. It does not offically start until April 4th so if you try any of the other links I have here they will not work until then. I am putting mine up now because yep!! You said it VACATION!!!! I am so glad to be leaving this cold, cold place called Port Orchard WA. Where am I going you ask? Hmmmm..... You guess it!!! Sunny Southern CA where the temp has and I pray will remain about 70 degrees my whole stay!!!! It is still in the 30's here. Maybe up to 50 if we are lucky!! I will be gone for one week. During Easter Break for my DH and my DS. They get each other for one week and I get sun!!! I will be staying with my parents in the Back Country so I will not be by the ocean but that is okay. My skin doesnt much like too much sun! I am blonde and fair skinned. Probably the fairest you could imagine!!!

I decided for the Blog Train I would give away my Paper Pack for April's Rainbow. The swatch was almost an exact match for this kit I made. Lucky huh?
Here is a photo of it. The links will be under that. Then scroll down just a bit further. I have some fun important news for you!!



Here are the links: www.kisscraps.com/april/als_aprilsrainbow_part02.zip
www.kisscraps.com/april/als_aprilsrainbow_part01.zip


Okay, now the great important news!! My new store will be opening on April 1, 2008!! It is at www.kisscraps.com Keep It Simple Scraps. I am so excited for this opening. I have never been at the birth of a new business before so this is sooooo exciting for me!!! What I would like to tell you is that the Element Pack that goes with this Paperpack will be available at my new store. So when you pick this portion of the blog train dont forget to visit my store at www.kisscraps.com. I cant link you up to it because it is not open as of this writing!! Here is a preview of that Element Pack.



This is one of my most favorite kits I have done so far. I so think it is worth the money I am asking also. There are so many things you can do with this kit. Easter, Little Girls or Big Girls pages, Spring, Summer, Mother's Day, Even a Wedding could be done with this kit. There is definitely enough here to do a great album or a book. The sky is the limit.

Okay now what you have been waiting for the links to the rest of the Blog Train. Please remember to leave a little love. Everyone has worked hard on their portions and definitely has been generous to offer it to you for free. Have fun and enjoy the rest of the Blog Train!!

Cari		www.aswtlyrecretaion.blogspot.com
Opal		http://opals1stcreations.blogspot.com/
Smurfy		http://smurfyszoo-created.blogspot.com/
Auds		http://audsdezinzlifeofasinglecreativemom.blogspot.com/
Beth		www.dreamfiredesigns.blogspot.com
Shelley		www.lbcdesigns.blogspot.com
Kathy		www.ndnmade.blogspot.com
April		www.divasdesignscustomscrapbooks.blogspot.com
Aiya		http://myjuicybits.blogspot.com/
Alet		http://sashasheenacreations.blogspot.com/
Tori		www.toristidbits.blogspot.com
Von		http://soaringhawksnest.blogspot.com/

I am so hoping that everyone listed here was able to finish their contributions. Since I will be in CA I will not get the final list to share with you. If someone did not finish or had something come up I am sorry in advance to leading you astray. Please enjoy and please remember to leave a little love!!

God Bless you all!!! Please remember to pray for the leaders of our country. Whether you agree with them or not they all still need our prays right now. To make the right decisions that God would have them make to straighten out this mess we are in!! I will post again in about 1 week. By all and Happy Scrapping!!!

Today in my quiet time of prayer and study I had a revelation. God given I am sure since I never have and never will come up on my own something this huge!

A "light bulb" moment as Oprah so aptly puts it. It came to me that the reason why Satan has been after me ever since I became a Christian at 8 years old and has used some of my most tremendous weaknesses and negative issues in my life to his advantage and sadly to say I have fallen for most of them and especially the fight or flight response which for me is definitely flight! The reason is because I am and will become an even greater warrior for God and Jesus Christ!! God is using this time to mold me and strengthen me into someone of great resolve and he will use me in a huge and magnificent way to further his work here on earth. What a great thing huh? I love it, love it, love it!!! Today is and was a good day!! Satan is trying even at this second to try to undermine that and use that to have me self sabotage myself by saying whew!! It's over!! The dust is settling and life will get back to normal. Hmmm.... What is normal anyways. What I did decide to do is let tomorrow be tomorrow and not bring it into today. Be grateful for a good day today and the strength that comes from that. No fears today, No not knowing what to do or where to turn. For today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Today I claim and claimed VICTORY over the adversary!! PRAISE GOD!!!

Tomorrow a very very dear friend of mine and two other beautiful women from my church will be coming over tomorrow and we may begin to get a game plan on how to simplify my life and get things de-cluttered and organized in my home so Satan cannot hold this over my head of why I am not good enough to treat myself to a day off. Or go out and have a few fun days a week. I need so desperately to get out of my home and do some things that I like, not errands but things that I like to do and also to spend time with my Christian friends. At the beginning of the week I was struggling with this whole process and even letting them come over at all. It is a humiliating process for me. A humbling one at the very least. Well, today Thursday the day before the are coming. I am feeling at Peace over the whole prospect. We may not get much accomplished physically tomorrow but I feel there will be some movement forward and that in itself will be a comfort for me.

Tomorrow is a new day and believe it or not I am anxious for it. Whatever it ends up holding. This hasnt happened in a very long time for me.

No New Layouts Today

Even though I do not have any layouts today I feel compelled to write. I started sharing my journey right now Spiritually and how can I stop now? My hearts desire is that God will use my blogging in some great and magnificant way to touch someone even if it is just one person. Just so that they know they are not alone. The horrifying feeling that we are the only one that is and has ever gone through something is Satan, the adversary or evil at its core. Whatever you choose to call it. We are not alone. God has made that so clear to me this week. I and others have prayed that God would bring other women into my life. Women who either have or are going through what I am. Women to share with. Women to pray with and will pray for me. A support system. My behavior has always been. When God brings me to that broken (teachable) state and he starts to move in my life, I back away and then hightail it out of there. Hightail it as fast as I can go. I dont want to be that kind of servant anymore. I want to stand strong and be found faithful when this crisis in my life is over. When I have finished going through this season in my life.
This morning I was crying and fitful inside myself with not knowing what to do next. Just not knowing what he wants or what I want. Feeling like I just dont know anything.
Now, I am Praising God for this because this is the place where I really, even though I have been a Christian since I was eight, find Him. I mean really find Him! His love is so huge for me!! He forgives everything before I even say it or before I even do it!! Trust has been a big issue for me ever since a family member abused me in a very personal way. So now I am learning and claiming Lord God I trust you!!! I trust you with everything!! I trust that YOU will show me the way. You will show me what to know!! YOU will show up for me in a way that I have no concept of. You are doing it now as I write in this blog!! You are doing things in my life that in no way shape or form could every be coincidental!! YOU are magnificant and an awesome GOD!!
How powerful are your lessons to me and I pray that I will continue to hear you!!
So ladies and also the guys out there please know that you are not alone!! Pray for your support circle to appear because it is in my life in a way I never thought possible!! He is working it out for me and I am so grateful!! He can do it for you too!!!!

I am Humbled

I am humbled. So much am I humbled and hope that I will continue to be humble. God has a way of humbling us just like we humble our own children!! I am continually grateful to him!! I praise him above all else. Yes, I even drop to my knees and praise him with my face on the floor, my love is so great!! All else has been stripped from me. It takes what it takes to get us to this point. Why as humans do we continually think we can navigate our lives without him? I have crashed countless times and return to him scrapped bruised and broken.

Life is so precious and I am so grateful for my family. We and our animals which make up our family are so fragile. Thursday night our dog Pierre, which we rescued from someone who was neglecting him terribly and I believe abused him horribly, was hit by a car on last Thursday night. The people did not even stop. Our dog was a small dog and they were going at a speed that I am sure they did not even recognize that they had hit anything significant. It reminded me very strongly that our cars are dangerous things that can cause great harm if we misuse them or are preoccupied while we are driving!! I implore everyone who drives to keep to the speed limit. Even if you are running late please pay attention. It may be one of your own love ones that may suffer because of your inattention. Yes, the shock has worn off and my heart is broken. I have cried a lot today and feel tired and worn out. This was the last straw of many hard things that have happened to me in the last month to six weeks. Yesterday at Church God blessed me so much and began to fill my heart with hope and love. I am beginning to not just see his presence but fill it ever slightly. All this time I know that he hasnt left me he was teaching me. Teaching me to trust him. I am still learning and most likely have to turn it all over to him many more times in my life. I do know that something big will happen out all of what he is teaching me right now. I just need to hang on and I am hanging on. Hanging on for dear life and will not let go!!

Here is a layout I did last night using my Grandma's House kit to make a memorial layout for my dog Pierre. I am thinking about having a 12 X 12 made and framing it for our family to hang up so he will always be a part of us. I miss him so. I know he is in a better place with no more suffering. He was suffering so with his skin which was not resolving and the DR. doubted that it would. He was old. Most of his life spent in great sorrow. I hope and pray we were able to lift that somewhat for him.



I am so grateful that I know without a shadow of a doubt that we will one day be re-united in heaven. What an awesome God we have. Awesome isnt even a good enough word. I will miss him until thing. My sadness right now is overwhelming.

On a happier note I also made a layout with my new kit. April's Rainbow. It will be available at Keep it Simple Scraps www.kisscraps.com as soon as it opens. It is a very spring like kit with beautiful colors. I wanted to showcase a picture of Marc and John Paul. I have tried to document their relationship and how they are changing as they grow up as wonderful brothers.




This picture was taken in December of 2008. Marc is in Iraq and is safe and sound as much as he can be over there. He is in his field of Medicine and is in charge of Sick call of about 200 or so people all together. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments at such a young age. Lots of responsibility for a 25 year old.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I am getting excited for the Grand Opening of Keep It Simple Scraps.

I also wanted to let you know that I am participating in a blog train that will be happening on April 3rd you can check back and pick up the paper pack for the above kit for free. I will be participating in Blog Trains now and then so make sure to check back here often so you dont miss out on the freebies i do decide to give away.

Hugs, Have a great Day and Happy Scrapping!!

First Kit for Keep It Simple Scraps Site

I have a preview of my new kit for Keep It Simple Scraps. I am so excited for my new store to open. Cheryl and Dyanna asked me to come a long with them and join them in their new venture. It is a very pared down version of The Scrapping Garden. The great thing is there is no pressure and I get to have my life back!!! No longer do I feel chained to this computer because I have to get this done for this chat or get that done for that challenge, or Make sure to get your submission done for the Mega Kit. And also did I forget to do three submissions for my store or did I only do two. It all gets to be tooo, tooo much!! Then add on all of my commitments as Church and home and family and I am overwhelmed just thinking about it!!! This new site hopefully will take all of that stress away and just let me have fun designing. I know that I really enjoyed doing April's Rainbow Element and Paperpack.

I do have a little bad news not to me but you may think so. I am not going to be offering very many freebies anymore. I feel as if this community is getting to saturated with them and It really does effect my sales. I dont expect to make a million dollars at this but it does take time and effort to come up with new and fresh ideas for all of my kits as well as the elements and papers inside of them. It does cost me money everytime I make a kit as I have purchased actions, as well as other CU items to keep everything fresh. All I want is to make enough money to break even. I havent even come close to that and I believe it is because of all the freebies I have been giving away. This is not your fault as a consumer. It is the fault of the whole designing community at large. It is a sociatol problem of wanting something for nothing, or at least at a great discount. We as designers are small business people. Even though we may belong to a large site we are still in business for ourselves. We do all of our own advertising and we each own our own stores inside of the site itself. We also pay comission fees so that the site expenses can be paid and it they are lucky the administrators. Yes, it is even tough being an administrator of a site. Many times they go unpaid because the site expenses barely got paid for that paticular month. This is a dog eat dog business. And it is saturated. There are more and more new designers every day and more and more new sites opening. Not that this is a bad thing it just makes more competition out there in cyberspace.

Okay, I am off of my soap box. I am sorry if I offended anyone I just needed to get the above off of my chest. It has been weighing me down for a long long time. I know you are going to love the new site. We are trying to make it a little more upscale without losing that homey feel that was so great at The Scrapping Garden. Again, I want your feedback. I want you to let me know what you would like to see in my kits. Believe me I need some help coming up with ideas. I want my new store to be fresh but still contain updated versions of your old favorits. Look for a Grandma's House two, and another masculine kit like boys, boys, boys. I may make some QP's for sale with these kits or enough 8 X 8 QP's for you to make a nice mini album with.

I am rambling on and on and I bet all you want to see it the previews! LOL Just like me huh? Keep you waiting and in suspense. Well here they are. I hope you like them and will be there on Grand Opening day to purchase them. Believe me like everyone else my business is suffering because of the economy and I can really use your help.






I am working on a few more kits now. I am working on an element kit of my favorite Bible Verses as well as working on a Page kit called Feelin' Lucky. These will also be in my new store and I will be sharing previews of these also. Notice that I changed the color of my logo. I needed to do that so it would show up better on the Black Background of our wrapper. The darker color did not stand out that well.

I am having problems with another head cold right now that I believe has turned into a sinus infection. I think I am going to need to get in to see my doctor. I am trying not to go unless I really need to because we are having problems with our Medical Insurance. You think I wouldnt because we have military benefits because my DH is retired but YES, WE ARE HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS. Sorry didnt mean to yell it just makes me so so mad!!! I hate insurance companies.

Anyways, thanks for listening to all of my rantings. I know they were many today.

Oh, Oh, Oh, before I forget I am participating in the Blog Train for Easter. I will be offering my April's Rainbow as part of the Blog Train so this is your golden opportunity to get a freebie. 18 papers worth. A $5.00 value!! Yes, I may be participaing in blog trains every once in a while and this will be a golden opportunity because I am not going to be offering freebies very much any more. So keep your eyes peeled and come back often. The group that I am participating in has a lot of Blog Trains.

Have a wonderful day and I am going to try to post at least once a week. I am not going to try to promise something that is impossible for me to do. If I can post a few times a week I will but I am really going to try once a week. I hope I can make it!! ROFL