6 years ago today

Its so hard for me to believe that my world changed so much 6 years ago. It was Father's Day 2001 and I was 20 weeks pregnant with my first child. Without going in to too much detail, I'll say that my son, Tyler Anthony was born at 5:17pm on June 17, 2001. He passed away during birth but would not have been able to survive at that gestation anyway. Losing him was a very difficult thing for my husband and I. Even though its been 6 years (and two healthy rug rats later!), sometimes it still feels so fresh to me. Today it really hit me. Its Father's Day just as it was then. When DH gets home from golfing we're going to take the kids out to release balloons for Tyler just as we do every year. This year we're going to send one up to my grandma too. I'm sure missing both of them a lot.

The happy part is that 5 years ago today I was anxiously awaiting the birth of my second child, my daughter, Caitrin. In just one short week she will be 5 years old. It hardly seems possible that she could be turning 5. I still picture her at a few weeks old. Why do they grow up so fast?? I don't have any newborn layouts uploaded (heck, most of those were paper scrapped!) but here she is at 10 days old... so tiny and sweet!



Well, my little guy fell asleep on my lap so I need to put him down... I'll be back! LOL

spread the love...

My poor blog is just feeling lonely. She knows that there are many blogs out there who get lots of comments and she's feeling a might inadequate. In effort to boost her self-esteem, I decided to try and boost her comment section a bit (shh! Don't tell her, I want her to think its all her!). I'm giving away gift cards for my products and the lucky recipients will be chosen at random from among the comments I get on this post. So go ahead... spread the love and make my blog feel special!

And... since this post needs something colorful and fun, here is a sneak peek at that Birthday Bash Box of Baubles that will be on sale soon (the one those of you who made purchases between June 9th and 15th will get free!)....




Look interesting? Colorful and fun? I think so!! Remember, this is only a teensy bit of what will be in this box. The box is filling up fast and getting heavier by the day! If you aren't one of the lucky ones who will get it free, remember to watch for it when it is released!!

Free grab bag you say? One more day!

Just one day left of my free grab bag promotion! That's right, Friday is the last day. If you haven't taken advantage of this one, you might want to. Make any purchase (even a tiny one) and you will qualify to receive my next grab bag (I'm calling it the birthday bash box of baubles, lol!) free! I will be sending out the links on or before June 20th. You'll have it in your hands before it hits the stores! You just don't want to pass up a deal like this (at least I wouldn't, grab bag junkie that I am!).

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to put the alpha and template from the DST chat in to my stores. I decided today to give the template away on my blog instead. Who couldn't use a free template, eh? Yesterday I showed you the layout I made using the template. In case you missed it, here's the preview of the template itself.



I'll give you the link shortly... first I have to show off a layout I did. :)

I've been blessed enough to have been on Traci Reed's CT for quite some time now. I love working with her designs and she's such a fun person to be around. Sadly, I didn't reapply this time because I'm just too busy to keep up with everything so this is my last month on her CT. *waaaaah* Anyway, she just released a new kit called 'He'll Break Your Heart'. Its a tropical, surfer boy type kit. Its perfect for those pictures of your teenage boys because of the fun elements in the kit. It also works well for little boy pictures... I had to use it last night to scrap a picture of my son in the wading pool. Here you go... my little surfer boy!



I love this picture because you can see how red my little guy's hair is. He takes after his mama, that's for sure! He still doesn't have much hair but what he does have is super straight (he doesn't get that from mama), thin, fine and red. I just love to play with it. Anyway, his sister brought the doll in to the pool with them and he had a great time making the doll slide down the little slide and catching it at the end. He's a loving little guy!

Okay... off to get something done. I've sat at the computer too long! I did promise you the link to that template though so be sure to stop by and download it here!

I scrapped, again!

I was working on a template today for my anniversary chat at DST and I had so much fun with it that I decided to scrap with it before I closed my file. My daughter called the template 'crazy'. It is definitely out of my proverbial box but I like it. Here's my finished layout.



I used my Caitrin kit and my white cardboard alphabet (inked with Atomic Cupcake inked edges action). I rarely scrap with my own stuff so I'm very excited to have used the Caitrin kit twice already! Its funny because I like what I design but I am so sick of looking at it by the time its done and previewed that I just file it away and figure I'll scrap with it some day. Silly, isn't it?

Anyway.... for those who missed the chat at DST, I'll let you in on a little secret... I gave away that fun alphabet I used on the layout yesterday to everyone who came. I also gave them the template, of course, for the template challenge and a coupon to try out my products. I honestly love giving things away!

I decided to go ahead and put the template and the alphabet up in my stores so that you can pick them up if you missed out. They probably won't make it up tonight though, I'm sleepy and I should probably get to bed.

Just a reminder... only 2 more days to get in on my free grab bag with any purchase deal. I'm so excited with how many of you are taking advantage of it. It will feel like Christmas when I send out the links! Like I said, I love giving stuff away!!

Speaking of give-aways... remember how I mentioned giving away a Memory Purse or two....?? I have decided that I will give at least one away at each store (ES and OAKS). I will have the details for you soon. I have to say, I totally LOVE my Memory Purse. I get so many comments on it and I just love being able to change it out when I want and be creative with it. Of course, that reminds me that I really need to update my bag ;)

Anyway, in scrapping news.... (I really need to organize my posts better, eh? I jump around a lot!) I have been on a grab bag kick. I've bought 4 of the grab bags from The Digi Shoppe this week. I picked up Bren Boone's, Micheline Martin's, Ashley Olson's and Faith True's. Those girls really packed their bags! I can't wait to use some of those goodies to scrap!

Now... off to bed....