Introducing Eileen B

Hi everyone. While I'm still working on my Victorian St. Patrick's Day and Easter kits, I was inspired to make a kit in honor of my stepmother, Eileen B., who passed a few weeks ago. (See posts below.) Her favorite color was blue so I used three shades of it and added a pretty shade of green, lilac and white to create a soft, feminine kit. Here are the colors:



The complete kit should be ready in the next couple days for you, but one of my creative team members, Patti, created this beautiful quick page using the kit and has graciously allowed me to offer it to you as a preview of what's to come. Here it is:



You can download the quick page here.

Enjoy and check back in a couple days for the complete kit.

Blessings,
Sally

Hi all and a link to some freebies!

Good evening to everyone. I hope you've had a great weekend. I'm still on the mend but have very little energy. Since I'm not creating much in the way of freebies right now, I thought I would tell you what Ruthie over at Sugar Shack Scraps is up to! She is having a 75 DAY FREEBIE BLITZ at her blog and is currently on day 5, which are some really cute baby-themed tags. Check out her blog where you can still pick up the the past ones. Don't forget to leave her some luv and tell her I sent you! Thanks, Ruthie, for permission to send my readers to you!

I hope to have a little something for you in the next few days.

Blessings to you...have a GREAT week!

Sally

A quick update...

Hi all. I really thought I was getting better...I really did! But, no! LOL I have never really recovered from the flu last week and, in fact, have been having a lot of trouble breathing the last three or four days. Come to find out today at the doctor's office that I have pneumonia in my left lung. Boo Hoo! I had two breathing treatments, a shot of steroids, a shot of antibiotics, and came home with some scripts for more of the same. I'm kind of out of it now and am going to bed so this is just a short update but I wanted to let you all know that I'm still under the weather, but I am definitely STILL kicking! LOL I appreciate your prayers and good thoughts, as always.

Blessings to you and yours,
Sally

Updates and My Gratitude

Hi everyone. Sorry I've been MIA but the last week has been so difficult. My stepmother's illness and her death really threw me for a loop. Her funeral was very nice (as nice as they can be). I managed to speak and to read a poem I wrote, but it was tough to get through. My step-sister aranged a very nice dinner after the funeral service. The weather was absolutely terrible. We had about six inches of snow and then the freezing rain hit. I managed to fall down the steps in front of the rec center where the dinner was held. I went down pretty hard and felt like a beached whale laying there in the freezing rain, but am less sore now. On top of that, the very same evening, I came down with the flu...really nasty stuff. That was Tuesday and I'm just now being able to start keeping anything down.

One of the things that got me through this difficult time was the wonderful comments and emails I received from all of you. How blessed I am to have your support! It means so much to me. Never doubt that a kind word, an expressed prayer, or a gentle hug sent on the internet can lift a person and help then cope with whatever they are going through. I'm living proof! You are all priceless to me.

I'm starting to feel strong enough to start designing again so I've commenced work on the Victorian Easter kit. I'm really happy with it so far. The colors are a bit brighter than the rest of my Victorian kits have been. Here they are:



Check back on Monday (President's Day). I hope to have a little something for all of you then.

Many blessings...and have a safe weekend!

With gratitude,
Sally

Please Pray for My Family

My Stepmother, Eileen, passed away late Thursday evening. She was 84. As per her wishes, she was not intubated or put on a breathing machine. She was lucid most of the time and even joked with us occasionally. She was on a BIPAP machine to force her to inhale and exhale until my stepbrother, his wife, and his adult son got here from Delaware. He sped the whole way. As soon as they arrived and were able to spend a little time with Eileen, we had the BIPAP machine removed and she was given a few mg. of Morphine to ease her pain. She passed peacefully in about 15 to 20 minutes in a room filled with her loved ones.

Please keep us in your prayers as we deal with this loss. She became my stepmother in 1966 and I will miss her greatly. Thanks, everyone. It is comforting to know that my family and I are being lifted up in prayer.

If you wish, check out my post on 12/24/07 which was about Eileen and her being a cover girl for a calendar put together by Meals on Wheels. She was so proud that she was chosen to be on the cover!

Thanks again for your prayers and good thoughts. I wish all of you many blessings. Don't forget to tell those in your life that you love just how much you do love them. You just never know when that might be the last thing you say to them.

Sally

Victorian Valentine 2008 AO Freebie Kit

Hi everyone. I'm going to make this quick because my stepmother is in the hospital and quite ill. She's been in about a week but was just moved to Intensive Care and I'm will be going to the hospital in just a few minutes.

Here's the promised Add-on to last year's Victorian Valentine kit. I hope you like it! Here's the preview:



You can download it here. Sorry, I didn't have time to make smaller download files. This one is 62 mb. I'll try to do that as soon as possible.

Please pray for my stepmother. She is 84 years old and has emphysema and COPD, and was just diagnosed with blockages in her carotid arteries on both sides. Her condition is quite serious. I'll check back as soon as I can. Thanks.

Blessings,
Sally

The news I've been waiting for!

Well, all you wonderful people, my miracle is complete! My CT results came back with absolutely no sign of reoccurence or spread of my cancer! I don't even have to have another CT scan (at least for the kidneys) until January of '09! I'm so blessed and so grateful to God that this was the result. I was really frightened! I just had to share this great news with all of you and thank you for your support and prayers!

Blessings to all of you,
Sally

Check this out!

Hi there. Heather Greene (Scrappy Pony Designs) has a wonderful winged heart freebie on her blog. It's just gorgeous -- of course, as you can imagine, I'm a bit partial to any winged heart. Stop over and check it out. She has bunches of other freebies, too. Make sure you leave her some love if you download and tell her I sent 'ya! Here's a picture of the winged heart freebie:

I Finally Did Some Scrapping!

I haven't done much actual scrapping lately, but did make a few layouts...some for friends but a couple for me. I thought I would share one of them with you so you didn't think I was not ... horrors ... a REAL scrapbooker! Tee Hee. The layout is one of my baby sister, Susie, with her beloved Puppy Girl. I used Atomic Cupcake's Puppy Love kit. That doggie is something else. I don't think I've ever known a dog who chases rocks the way she does. You read right...ROCKS! Don't bother throwing toys or anything else. All she wants to play with is rocks. Silly girl! It doesn't do much for the baseboards!



BTW, if you haven't visited Atomic Cupcake for a while, her "all you can download" pricing is ending on February 1st. After that everything will be a la carte. Check out her website for details. I purchased her actions & templates so I have lots of new stuff to play with when designing for YOU!

Also, I have decided to do some new Valentine's elements for all you faithful bloggers who already had my kit from last year. It just wasn't sitting right with me not to offer you something new. So....stay tuned! I won't give you a deadline since I can't seem to make any of them, but I will promise it will be before Valentine's Day. LOL

Have a good one,
Me

Woo Hoo! A Baby is on the way!

Much to my surprise, I'm going to be a Great-Auntie again! Of course, no one is more surprised than my niece and her hubbie since he had a vasectomy two years ago! LOL

Another little baby to love...I'm just overwhelmed! The way my niece told me was so precious. She said she knew I struggled to find reasons to go on (because of the health issues), so she decided to give me one and it would be here in about nine months! LOL I hope she has an easy pregnancy and a healthy bundle of joy. I know the baby's big brother and big sister will be thrilled...okay, well, maybe! LOL Here's their Christmas picture:


That's little Wes (he's 2) and Taylor (she's 4).

I can't believe next year there will be THREE! That will bring my total of great-nieces and great-nephews (counting step-family and by marriage) to, drum roll here, FOURTEEN! I am a blessed woman! One thing that's certain, he/she will be cute! Denise makes such pretty babies! :) I guess we'll have to give some credit to Daddy Wes, too! LOL

Just had to share my wonderful news. It's so nice to have something special to share instead of just bad health stuff!

Blessings,
Sally

Victorian Valentine Layout

Hi all. Here's a layout that Patricia from my Creative Team made using my Victorian Valentine kit. It's her and her grandson from some time ago. He's becoming a strapping young man now! Great job, Pat. It's always a thrill for me to see my designs in use! Thanks for sharing.

Health Update & Victorian Valentine 2006 Freebie Kit Re-Release

Hi everyone...hope you all had a good weekend! I'm happy to report that I am feeling somewhat better but am spending a lot of time just resting. The rash I still have is driving me absolutely BONKERS. It's all over my legs and looks and feels like an itchy sunburn! Ouch! LOL I do definitely feel as though I'm on the mend, though. I don't have any results to report as of yet from the CT scans of my chest and abdomen.

As promised, I am re-releasing my Victorian Valentine freebie kit from last year. It is a HUGE kit, a little over 270 mb. Heck, I didn't even remember half of it myself! LOL It's a good thing my friend, Patricia, had a copy of it because I lost mine when my old hard drive hit the floor. I was going to make an add-on, but I will probably just keep working on the Easter kit since I'm not being very prolific because of my health issues and, as hard to believe as it is, Easter is only two months away! I do feel bad for my faithful readers who have followed me for a year and already have this kit...so you never know, maybe I'll come up with something else for Valentine's Day. Maybe just a few new elements or so.

When looking at this kit, I realized my designs have come a long way! Your feedback plays a tremendous part in that so kudos to all of you who leave me wonderful messages not only of thanks, but of suggestions!

Here are some previews, but please note that not all of the papers or elements are included in the previews:





Like all my creations, this kit is for personal use only.

I only used MediaFire this time. If you have any problems with downloading, please email me and I'll help in any way I can. Enjoy!

The dial-up links are here.
The high-speed links are here.

Blessings to you and yours,
Sally

Well, Boo Hoo!

Sorry, everyone, that the kit is not up yet. I was waylayed by dehydration and an allergic reaction to the contrast I had to drink on Monday for the CT scans. After spending some time in the hospital, getting IV's and meds, I'm feeling a bit better.

Hopefully, it will be up tomorrow. I'm so glad all of you are so very patient with me. I really appreciate that you stick around even though my deadlines keep getting postponed over and over! LOL

Take care and be safe this weekend.

Blessings,
Sally

I am such a BAD blogger lately!

Hi everyone. Thank you so very much to all of you who have left wonderful and encouraging comments here on my blog, and those who took the time to email me with greetings and sent e-cards. I so appreciate all of you. I think I have the best blog friends there could possibly be!

I also want to apologize for being such a bad blogger lately. I've been feeling overwhelmed by my health issues. I finally went yesterday for the CT scans and chest x-ray to follow-up on the kidney cancer. They were supposed to be done two months ago, but I kept putting them off. Hopefully, the results will be as good as those of the colonoscopy!

I'm off now to upload my Victorian Valentine's Day freebie kit from last year and will re-release it today. I'm working on an add-on freebie and an add-on for sale. This year's whizzing on by already! I'm going to start working on a Victorian Easter kit. I didn't do one last year so it will be all new!!

Blessings to you and yours,
Sally

Happy New Year Miracle

Hi all. I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to their New Year. I have! God has blessed me with what I think is a real miracle! Last week, I had my colonoscopy and EGD. Now, mind you, I had been given dire warnings from the specialist as to the importance of this test and that the outcome might not be favorable. Well, much to the doctor's surprise (and my own!), I had not even one little bitty polyp. No tumor or other masses, either! It is the first time in over twenty years that I have been having regular colnoscopies that this has happened to me! All the blood loss I was having came from a tiny tear in my rectum above an internal hemorrhoid but it was cauterized and I'm fine!! Thank you all so much for your prayers. They have definitely been answered.

I have the CT scans, x-rays and blood work Monday for my 9 month follow-up from the kidney cancer surgery so I am feeling much more confident that they will bring good news also! Please keep those prayers coming! You gals are the best and I am blessed by your company!

I'll be back to designing really soon and I have some great ideas for new kits. If you have anything you'd like to request, leave a comment and I'll add it to my to-do list if at all possible!

Blessings to all of you,
Sally

Oh, drat! No New Year's Eve Kit

Sorry, everyone, but I won't have a Victorian New Year's Eve kit this year.

I would like to request prayers and good thoughts. I'm not doing well at all physically. In fact, I'm pretty darn sick and in so much pain. I'm also anemic and have no strength right now to sit at the computer. I have a bunch of tests coming up including a colonoscopy and EGD scheduled for the 3rd, and CT scans with contrast of my chest and abdomen, a chest x-ray, and bunches of blood work on the 7th, and my yearly heart work-up with echocardiogram, EKG, etc. on the 21st. What a way to start the new year. Boo hoo!

I saw a pain management doctor Thursday hoping to find an alternative way to control my pain meds other than narcotics. No such luck. I went to him taking one narcotic, now I'm taking two! It is going to take me a week or so to get used to this regimen. In the mean time, I'm quite woozy and even more dipsy than I usually am! LOL He explained it was absolutely imperative that we get my pain in control as it is most certainly affecting my diabetes and heart issues. He said the shakiness and quivering I have in my legs when I stand even long enough to brush my teeth is a direct result of the pain shutting my body down. I received quite a lecture about not taking enough pain meds and how it is putting my overall health in jeopardy.

I'm quite frightened about the results of the colonoscopy as I have had cancerous growths (polyps) removed in the past and just had part of my right kidney removed last March because of cancer. I'm having a lot of bleeding and have become anemic and my white blood cell count and other lab values are really off.

Please forgive me for not being able to make the new year's kit...I'll make it up to you on Valentine's Day. Thanks so much for your understanding and thanks in advance for your good thoughts and prayers. What ever comes, I know I'll get through but it helps me bunches to know that all of you are rooting for me.

Blessings,
Sally

Merry Christmas!

I wish for all of you a blessed Christmas full of laughter, joy, peace and love. If you do not celebrate Christmas, I wish you all the same!

Please pray for all of those who are suffering, lonely or feeling lost during this holiday season. Reach out to someone with a kind word or deed. There are so many people who spend Christmas alone with no one to wish them "Merry Christmas." My heart hurts for them, especially those who live in my apartment building (for seniors and disabled). Remember the reason we are celebrating and the lessons Christ taught about kindness, forgiveness and tolerance. No matter what your religious preference is, these attributes are so needed in this time of violence and suffering in the world. I pray for peace for all.

Thank you for the kindness you have all shown to me, for your support, and prayers. You have all made a difference in my life this past year and I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

As always, I wish you many blessings.

Merry Christmas, my friends!
Sally
Winged Heart

My Stepmom's Famous!

This evening, I had Christmas with my stepmother, stepsister and brother-in-law. My gift from Eileen, my stepmother, was a complete shocker! She's a cover girl!!! Our local chapter of Meals on Wheels together with Season of Suppers (a pet food drive for pets in need) created a calendar with photographs of Meals on Wheels recipients and their pets. Eileen's picture appears on April's page and on the cover!! What a surprise and such a wonderful gift! She said it took her over 80 years but now she's famous! Here's the cover picture:



Here's info from the calendar:

"The Pet Food Drive was developed after discovering that many of MOWAA (Meals on Wheels) recipients who had pets were sharing their meals with their dog or cat because they couldn't afford to purchase pet food. All the proceeds from the calendar will go directly to local Meals on Wheels programs to develop or sustain pet food feeding programs."

All Banfield pet hospitals have been collecting donations and contributing to the Season of Suppers. They are selling the calendar on their website and PetSmart is selling the calendar in their stores nationwide. It's a great cause.

I'm so tickled for Eileen. She's so proud that she's a Cover Girl!!

Hope all of you are having a great holiday season. Make sure to check back next week for a Victorian New Year's kit!

Blessings to all of you and have a terrific weekend!

Sally

A Victorian Christmas 2007

Hi everyone. Here is an add-on to last year's Victorian Christmas kit. I just couldn't seem to stop creating Christmas stuff this year! LOL Last year's kit, the Christmas Around the World kit, the Victorian Christmas Angel kit and this one are all created to work together. Here's the preview:



You can download it at Mediafire here.

I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a hug if you download it!

Holiday blessings to you and yours,
Sally

I am SUCH a Dummy!!!

My Christmas kit from last year that I re-posted -- it is from 2006 NOT 1996! Oh my, oh my! I'm blaming it on all the medicine I take and the weather. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!!! My, oh my do I feel like a stupid you know what. I even made the password 1996! If Patricia (from my creative team) hadn't mentioned it, I would have never known! She tried to convince me not to tell anyone that all of you would think I've been designing for 10 years but, nooooooooo, I had to confess! ROFLMBO All I can say, as you can see, is oh my, oh my!!!!! All over the web I've put links to the post saying "1996." Shaking head here and smiling a silly, stupid smile!!! :P

Me