Freebie, Award, and Ron & Joe

I'm sure you all have noticed how 'international' scrapbooking is these days.  My goodness, I'm even picking up a little French in the process.  LOL  Just on my favorite forum there are folks from England and Holland, as well as all across the US.  Quite often, when perusing some of the Freebie Search Sites, where the day's freebies are posted, I find myself on sites from all over Europe and Asia.  As in any community, there are so many similarities.  The love of a fine craft knows no boundaries.  There are just some things that even the language barrier can't ignore.  It is quite easy to interpret a comment after a while.  "Thanks" seems to stand out in any language.  Isn't that wonderful?  LOL Well, recently, I came upon a collaboration from a group of ladies who just swept me away!  They're Indonesian and a group of them get together and create magick!  One collab they did was to express their condolences for the loss of 7 lives in recent blasts at Jakarta, called Indonesia Unite.  Their designs were awesome!  One lady, in particular, Yanti, has been one that I have kept following, just to see what she and/or her friends are creating.  Her blog is YantiScrap.  Do go check it out and, from her "My Bloglist" down the page on the left, check out some of her friends' sites, too.  It's worth it.
 Then, last week, I received an e-mail from Yanti, telling me she had passed on her much-deserved "Honest Scrap", to yours truly.

I'm so flattered, and humbled!  I really mean it!  I'm supposed to write down 10 things about myself.  Yanti's list was so sweet.  Um, me.  Hmmm...let's see...
1.  I love digital design of any kind 2.  Love the comradery of the folks in the scrapping community3.  I have hair down to my butt4.  I used to climb telephone poles for a CATV contractor5.  I love heavy metal music6.  I don't own a car, by choice (don't need it)7.  I'm an agoraphobic (that's why)
8.  I love lemons and eat them by the bag9.  I am as silly as they come; it keeps me young10. I'm a very nurturing soul There!  That wasn't too painful.  LOL  Now, I would like to pass this award on to: 1.  Snowy 2. Kyra3.  Edna4.  Nana5. Yanna6.  June7.  Dorthi8.  Jodiann9.  Celindaand, though, not very active, I want to mention10.  Keryn11.  Stella
  Needless to say, I consider each of these ladies a friend.  Online friendships are so unique.  We feel joy for each other when someone has a good thing happen and such pain when they are feeling it.  Yet, we've never set eyes on or heard the other's voice.  I'm proud to know the folks I know.  I've learned so much about myself through these ladies.  Thanks. ya'll!
I want to tell ya'll about this site, Ron and Joe.  These guys are a HOOT!  Their website deals with stock images, but, they are woodcut style images.  They're unique.  Here's an example:

Then, there is the rest of their website.  These guys have a wit about them, a bit of innocent mixed with sarcasm, delivered in a cute manner.  I rather enjoy myself there.  They also have "Letter Parts", which I though would be cool fonts for our habit, er, hobbie.  This CD image shows some of them:

There are the usual sellables, like mousepads, cards, etc, bearing their unique style of art and humor.  But, then, there's the "Museum of Joe" which is cool.  Here is an example from that:

These are "custom-created object d' Joe".  For those of you with a passion for your pets, these are right up your alley.  And, if you get on their newsletter list, each month there is a free download of some of their art.  Here's the latest:

 

At least, go have a look-see.  I guarantee you will crack a smile.   I can't post unless I have something to offer you, so, here's just a little something I've been tinkering around with.  It's an overlay of whimsical proportions.  LOL  I'm entertaining an idea for, well, nevermind.  As always, click on the image to go to Mediafire to download. 

 Okay, cats and kittens!  That's going to be a wrap.  I've come down with a cold or the flu or something and feel like crud!  I've enjoyed spending this time sharing stuff with ya.  I hope your day is a wonderful day!
Su

Earthen Freebie and A Crone

The past five days have been really emotion-filled, yet, cool!  I took the opportunity of the full moon, and performed a "croning" ceremony.  In tales of lore, a crone is an elder woman in the village, whose wisdom, experience and knowledge give her a place of respect and honor, rather than just being an old woman.  Though modernized and adapted to suit my beliefs, this rite of passage is the last one before death.

During a life time, we ladies go through several distinctive phases:  maiden, mother, crone. 

The triple moon is a Goddess symbol that represents the Maiden, Mother, and Crone as the waxing, full, and waning moon. It is also associated with feminine energy, mystery and psychic abilities. You often see this symbol on crowns or other head-pieces, particularly worn by High Priestesses.

The Maiden represents enchantment, inception, expansion, the female principle, the promise of new beginnings, youth, excitement, and a carefree erotic aura. The Maiden in Greek Mythology is Persephone - purity - and a representation of new beginnings. Other maiden goddesses include: Brigid, Nimue, among others.

The Mother represents ripeness, fertility, fulfillment, stability, and power. The Mother Goddess in Greek mythology is Demeter, representing wellspring of life, giving and compassionate. Other mother goddesses include: Aa, Ambika, Ceres, Astarte, Lakshmi.

 

The Crone represents wisdom, repose, and compassion. The Crone in Greek mythology is Hecate - wise, knowing, a culmination of a lifetime of experience. Crone goddesses include: Hel, Maman Brigitte, Oya, Sedna, Skuld, and others. ~ Crystalinks.com

This celebration of our womanhood isn't solely for religious purposes.  Some of the "baby-boomers", now coming to this age in their lives, are joining together to celebrate this rite with friends, food, wine, blessings and gifts. It is looked upon as a journey, in and of itself, culminating towards the final days of our lives.

Judi Singleton, on her website, Blessed Day,  writes of her journey into this part of her life.  Her site is based around growing old in today's times.  It is quite an interesting read.  So, with the information from her site, as well as Crystalinks, About.com and some goodies and support, collected from friends around the world, I decided to go through this ritual.  (About.com has a very interesting article about croning in this day and age.)

My ceremony was very casual and private.  I lit candles and sage.  I found some words which pertained to me and my purpose, and used them for my rites.  I, basically, committed myself to sharing with and teaching younger women to live a fulfilling life, a life we can be proud of.  

I performed the ritual on my back deck.  The night was damp and misty, but, throughout, I felt the warmth from the spirits of those women who came before me.  It is believed, in some cultures, that Hallow'een, or All Saint's Eve, is when the veil between this world and the 'other side', is thinnest.  The concept of masks and disguising one's self was meant, originally, to keep angry spirits or demons away during this day of revelry and madness.  

I chose a name for the croning, one that I felt was significant.  "Lillitha".  Lillitha, a spin-off of Lilith, Adam's supposed first wife.   She wanted nothing to do with men being the stronger sex.  She was known to come to men in  their sleep and take the top position.  THAT part is not what I am about!  LOL  I like her feelings about women.  All my adult life, I have been an advocate for women's rights.  I proudly taught my own two girls that independence and responsibility are important in becoming a true 'lady'.  

With this ritual, I promised to honor the women folk who came before me.  I committed myself to ensuring future women learn what they need to survive.  As for the present, I stand in awe at how beautiful it is to be a woman, among so many wonderful beings.  I have truly been blessed.  I've had the opportunity to feel the way I do, without shame or reprisal.  My life has been touched by some women who have given their all into their families and homes.  That is only a wee part of being a woman.  It was, and still is, a big part of who I am.  But, home and family don't define me.  I am woman first, then, the rest comes.

Okay, so, now, that you all think I'm a wierd-o, I have some thing to share with you.  I made this "Earth" kit for the October Color Challenge at Magickal Scraps.,   I hope someone can use it, for it is full of all kinds of messages and themes to promote conservation of our resources.

(Click onthe two images to go to MediaFire to download)

 

Thank you for your time and interest.  You all are what makes my day complete.

Hugs,

Su

Hallow'een Freebie & Crone Ceremony

Everywhere I look, both, outdoors and on the web, I see signs of Hallow'een.  Spooks and witches, plump jack-o-lanterns, and all that orange and black!  I love this time of year!  I love the 'anonymity' of the costume.  Somehow, being 'in cognito', I think we feel we can get away with more.  So, we become playful.  At least, I do.  LOL  The time for the year to draw to a close is upon us. too.  The harvest has been plentiful and we are grateful.  We prepare for the dark months of winter, to sustain us until the new birth of spring. 

As with this, the fall of the year, so is it the time for the crone to pass on, to be reborn in the spring as the maiden.  Women, around my age, celebrate their own 'rite of passage'.  There is a ceremony one can engage in, for one's own personal understanding, which celebrates this rite of passage.  There is an example of the ritual on "Hecate's Cauldron".  
This is something I want to do.  It should be done on a full moon, the next which comes October 26th.  It will have a special meaning for me, particularly, at this time of the year.  This isn't so much a 'religious' thing as it is a 'spiritual' thing.  I have come to a time in my life where I can make some sense of my purpose.  This is all coming together for me and I am at peace.  
And, while I'm feeling all gooshy, and stuff, I have something I want to share.  In the spirit of the season, I made some 'frame/tag/mattes".  LOL  I have this thing about text-space in scrapbooking.  Tags, journal blocks, places to record the story, or, at least, the who, where, when...etc., seem, to me, to be neglected, rather often.  I do it.  But, they are so helpful in documenting your stories.  Future generations will only have to stare at the nameless faces in our albums, otherwise.  LOL

So, I found some frame-like shapes and dolled them up.  They're kind of goofy, but, they are for the season.  I applied some styles and patterns, as well as, blending modes and other adjustments and had a ball.  LOL!  There is one that is 'bloody-themed', several patterned in checks and Harlequin design, and one dark.  I credited her in the .zip, but, I want to pay homage to "The Scrappin' Cop", for her Construction Paper Styles, which I used for the centers.  I realize that Deb is handling her TOU's differently, now, but, I hope, in the spirit of the season, this will be alright.  That lady is a one-woman show!  There isn't a scrapping element she hasn't tackled, is there?  And, she aces everything she does.  Her designs are phenomenal!  But, you already know that, don't you?
Here ya go!  Enjoy!

(Click on preview to go to MediaFire for download)

Have a lovely Thursday.
Su

Freebie, Webinar and Insight

 The week after I missed the course on "Masks" on the Creative Techs Webinar, they added a live chat on their site to go to in the event the Webinar is full.  I am still mad about missing that course, in particular.  But, hey, I must give credit where credit is due.  This is a damn good course and you can ask questions throughout.  So, if you would like to, go check out the Thursday afternoon 6-Month Photoshop Course.  They have broken the classes down into 5-week segments and we just started the second segment.  There are 4 more segments after this one, so, there is still a lot of information to cover.  You should be able to join in at any time the way they were explaining it.  So, I would suggest this class to you, even though I missed "Masks".

Right?  LOL

Movin' right along...

I have it figured all out!!  LOL  I can't do it all!  Sounds dumb, I know.  But, I have been beating myself up every darned day, trying to catch all my e-mail, do a little challenge work, then, do some creating on my own.  Not to mention eating, sleeping and such.  I went through and 'unsubscribed' from some of the regular e-mails, newsletters, etc, that I don't follow too much anymore.  I try to apply what I am learning, at the time in this course, to whatever challenge I am working on.  This kills two birds with one stone.

With my daughter and her two children living here, I don't get much done during the time from when they come home after school and work, until they go to bed.  By then, I am so sleepy, I just give up.  Especially trying is Jaela, my granddaughter.  She's going to be 3 tomorrow.  We are so excited.  But, then, the past month, she has been a terror!  I see that my daughter is tired most evenings after working all day.  I try to help her out.  That's why I don't get anything done.

The children don't understand why Granny is in her room and not coming out.  I just can't do that.  I have!  There have been times where I have gone running back to my rooms, slamming and locking the door behind me.  They don't happen often, but, sheesh! There is a reason women my age don't get pregnant.  Though, I do have a lot more patience than I did when my own three were small, they are too much for me after about 4 hours.  The other child, Nicky, my grandson, is 7.  He's a lot easier to deal with.  Yet, he and his sister will constantly go at it.  Just like all kids do with siblings.  LOL.

I wouldn't trade it for anything, though!  I so looked forward to my 'retirement' years, but, this is children we are talking about!  LOL  I realized that, though divorced from my children's father, I always had someone else around me to help me raise my three.  I had a second husband and was close to my family, my sister and mom.  But, my daughter is doing it all alone.  So, I don't mind helping her out when I can.

In January, my son and his wife are expecting a little boy.  I am the grandparent, locally.  LOL  My DIL's family is in Ohio and she hasn't been living here very long.  Did I mention that she has 4 children, already?  LOL  My children's father is passed away, so is their step-father.  Both, my parents and their other set are all passed, too.  So, soon, I will be  "grandma-ed" to the seventh power!  The point being, that I had some preconceived notion that, once the children were grown, I was free to do what ever I wanted.  Not hardly!  Life still went on.  Bills still had to be paid.  My children still needed mom to discuss life with them.  Now that they are having families of their own, that is a whole new set of rules to play by and lessons to be learned.  Just don't take me for granted!  LOL!

I know now that I was sorely mistaken.  I suppose I could 'cut them off ' more than I do.  They are an huge part of my life.  I'd get more done.  But, we are extremely close because we enjoy each other's company.  I have things that I do, scrapping, classes, blogging, etc, so, I am not an 'over-involved' granny.   I have a pretty good time with the little ones when we are doing things together.

I just finished with a set of frames/tags, made  from Wingdings, for the Design/Technique Challenge over at Magickal Scraps.  One thing I always seem to have problems with is coming up with tags, or journaling blocks, that are original.  Since the Wingdings, you may know them as Dingbats, were of frames and borders, I made frames and tags/journalling blocks.  You are welcome to these and to use as you like.  Click on image to go to MediaFire to download.

I used "Gold Layer Styles" from Karen @ WoolSweaterStreet.

And, that is going to do it for today.  I have some other stuff that will be done shortly.  As always,

Su

Freebie - Magickal Wood QP

Though the Magickal Scraps Birthday Celebration Blog Train started yesterday, (last post)I have another layout that I did for the Chat Challenge at Magickal Scraps.

 

Removing my image and some wording that suited my needs, I'm left with a rather simple, but, nice, QP. (click on image to go to MediaFire to download)

I thank you for your interest!Su

Hallwe'en Alpha Freebie

Halloween is coming on October 31.  Most folks know of the origin of this special day here in the States and elsewhere.  During this time of year, it is believed, the veil between heaven and earth is the thinnest.  On, or around Halloween, spirits of those who have passed before us may return among the living for visits.  Unfortunately, evil spirits may get through, as well.  People dress up in disguises so that the evil spirits that roam the earth won't recognize them.  Thus, the Halloween costume.

 For some fun things to do online for Halloween, click on image:
 

 While scoping out graphics and other goodies to post on my blog for Halloween, I came across a really cool font, 101 'ween, .  It was so unusual, I decided to create an alpha from the font.  Here is what I made:

I found the font on Halloween.it(That is their banner up at the very top of this page)  I went ahead and saved them in a file and uploaded them to MediaFire.  I sure hope it is okay to do this.  I read the TOU's and I think I am doing it right.    Included in the file are my TOU's AND the TOU's of the designer.  Please, pay heed to the designer's TOU's before mine.  They are not anything weird, I just want them to get the credit.  I just had to share a cool find with you all.  Give credit where credit is due.  Thank you!
That's all for now.  My last post has all the links and specials for the Magickal Scraps Birthday Celebration.  You can find that post HERE.  There are a lot of goodies!  There is the Blog Train, a free collaboration kit that you download a piece from the store each day, and, last but not least, the Daily Download. I found this cartoon and thought it was cute!


Hope you are all having a great weekend!  Thank you for your interest!
Su

Blog Train & Birthday Celebration @ Magickal Scraps

The Birthday Celebration at Magickal Scraps is going great guns!  LOL  The give-aways are phenomenal!  There is a free kit, "Just Magickal", that they are giving away, in the store, with a different part each day.  Snowy gives a clue to it's whereabouts on her blog, Snowraven's Cave , each day.  When all the parts are collected, you have yet another wonderful design from Magickal Scraps, and the talented designers there, in celebration of Magickal Scraps  first birthday.

See what Magickal Scraps has for you!

 

 The store is slam-full of sales, with specials all month long. 

Now, today, is the Blog Train.  Be sure to stop at each link to see what each designer, or contributor, has for you!
Snowraven
Miss Edna
Kyra
Nana
Maitri
Su
(You are here)
My Part: (click image to go to MediaFire to download)

There is another QP that I offered several days ago.  If you missed it, here it is, again:  (click on image to go to MediaFire to download)

Since the contributors are in different time zones, some entries may not be posted until later than the rest.  Please, come back and try again, later.  We all hope you enjoy!!




 ALL ABOARD!

Su

QP Freebie for Magickal Scraps' First Birthday

Good October!

My Good Friends over at Magickal Scraps are Celebrating their "ONE-YEAR BIRTHDAY!"

  Come CELEBRATE with us and come away with lots of wonderful GOODIES, starting with this QP, which can be downloaded from MediaFire, by clicking on the image.

 Visit MAGICKAL SCRAPS today!

http://www.magickalscraps.com/ The fun in just beginning TODAY!

Thank you for your interest!

Su