Scrapping with Tess

day 7 p365

2011-01-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

Darn, no Macro on this lens... Dad's cat got in my face when I was on the computer so I grabbed the camera... lol.

That's it for now,

Until next time... Tess

P365 day 6

2011-01-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

Cayden loved it when his grandpa put the blocks bag over his head.

Until tomorrow,

Tess

week one photo layout, P365 day 5

2011-01-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

I used the mini kit from the Works Challenge to make this layout of my first week. I also used Misty O'Brien's Border Up CU kit to make the edgings. I intend to make a 52 + page book when I am done.

Day 5
Today's photo is of my parents as depicted in wood by my sister Tammy. Ok, she is my sister-in-law. She has a website where she sells wood items she makes. You too could have a wooden photo of your loved one(s). Her website is: Swavely Scrolls She also makes beautiful wooden Scrapbook Covers.

We placed all the sympathy cards around the disk and are not ready yet to remove them.

That is it for today, so until next time..

Tess

Day 4, DSDI Collaboration, layout

2011-01-04T21:24:00.005-07:00

Today's photo shows the standing water from two days of warm weather from the Chinook Winds.

Flavor of the Month from DSDI

AND SO IT BEGINS is a great kit for your New Year's Resolutions. You can get a chance at winning the next huge kit by joining in the Its a Fad Challenge. You can get this kit for half price and make a layout with it. Then your name will be placed in a drawing for next months kit. It's that easy!

Here is a layout I made with it:

That is it for now, until next time.

Tess

Day 3

2011-01-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

My niece and nephew love Dad's cat Prissy. Prissy is a very loving cat but generally looks for a hiding place when these two are around. She had been on my lap and the children wanted to love on her too. So I set the stage and grabbed the camera cuz I knew it wouldn't last long!

Well, that is all for now. Until next time,
Tess

P365 and a layout

2011-01-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Project 365 day 2

I spend a lot of time in my room because that is where my computer is at. With a one and a two year old running around here, I don't want it out in the living room. Today's photo is of the view from my window. There is nothing to see. In twenty years since I left Alaska, the neighbor has gone from a hole in the ground to a cinder-block basement. At this rate, he will die before he gets a roof up.

Mom2Moo Designs at DSDI

I made this layout of the photos I took with two different lenses the night of the lunar eclipse. I used Mom2Moo Designs Kit Woodsy Wonder. I really like how it came out.

Here is a preview of the whole kit:

You can click on the photo above to get to her shop.

Have a great evening! Until next time,

Tess

Project 365 in the year 2011

2011-01-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am going to try it again. Here is the first install- ment. Hopefully I will continue. I am striving to do so.

This photo is of my brother Leonard reading to his grand-kids. (I will have to fix the photo so that the background isn't so prominent before it gets scrapped.) Cayden actually sat through four books. Aniela wanted more but grandpa said that was enough.

The next post will incude a couple of layouts. Until next time,

Tess

New Year's Eve 2010

2010-12-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

Another year comes to an end.

Again I am going to attempt the Project 365 photos. I even made a Front Page for the album using a freebie from Digi Deborah Designs called Just Life. She is not a paid designer and hangs out at DigiScraps Drive-In.

She told me it was the first time someone showed her what they used her mini for. It was a thrill for her.

That is all for right now. I need to make a couple of layouts so I will be back with them to show off.

Until next time,
Tess

Long Time Away

2010-12-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

It has been since May! Wow! Ok, time to give it another try!

I have moved to Alaska since last I wrote here. My brother asked me to come up and help with Dad, so I dropped everything and put it all in storage, jumped on a plane and landed here. Here in the land of "I can see Russia from here", yep I live in Sarah Palin's home town. (And no matter how hard I try, I can't see Russia from here.) I would have to go way up to Nome and then go to Big Diomede Island in order to see Russia. From there you can see Small Diomede Island which belongs to Russia.

I am making this one short! I am getting tired, so until next time,
Tess

2010-05-19T11:25:00.000-06:00

May 19 Www.projectbdesigns.com

Sun Blog Train

2010-05-18T15:43:00.001-06:00

May 16 Sun Blog

May 17 http://lauras-little-world.blogspot.com/

May 18 http://fishbowl-designs.com

I will see you tomorrow with the next installment.

Happy scrapping!

Tess

iNSD at DSDI

2010-04-29T22:35:00.000-06:00

This is just to let you know that there is a lot of stuff going on at DSDI this weekend.

(This from Jewel)

I'm so excited to be hosting another scrapathon! We did one last fall for DSD (Digi Scrapping Day - look for it this fall!) and it was SO much fun we just had to do it again!.

If you have never participated in a scrapathon before, you might be wondering what this is all about! And boy are you in for a treat!

Over the course of the weekend I will post 10 different challenges. I will post 2 on Friday and 4 each on Saturday and Sunday. Your challenge is to complete as many or all of the challenges before midnight Eastern time on Monday May 3.

Each challenge will be different, designed to push you a little bit, but mostly designed to get you scrapping and having fun :)

And believe me, it feels awesome to look back on 10 compelted layouts in one weekend!

But in case you'd like a little more motivation than completed pages, we do have some participation prizes. We've broken it down into three different participation levels so that even if you can't get all 10 done you still get some goodies.

Level 1 - when you complete 2 to 5 challenges you earn an awesome addon to our May Flavor Of The Month.

Level 2 - when you complete 6 to 9 challenges, you get the level 1 prize PLUS a goodie bag of coupons from our awesome DSDI Designers.

Level 3 - when you complete all 10 challenges, you get the level 1 and 2 gifts, PLUS you will be entered into a super duper draw where you can win ALL of Mandymade's store or ALL of Mad Genius Designs store. We will choose two winners - so you have a great chance of winning!

So set up your scrapping nook with whatever snacks you need, choose your photos, and prepare to scrap!

__________________

And adding to that there is a Speed Scrap tomorrow night!

Be sure to join the fun!

Until next time!http://digiscrapsdrivein.com

Freebie Daily Download

2010-04-24T19:20:00.000-06:00

At Digiscraps Drive-In There is a Daily Download made by Mad Genius Scraps.
Here is the preview:

I made a layout with it today of my granddaughters scrapping at my house this morning. We started them last night but because I haven't got everything unpacked, we had to run to Wally's World to get a hole punch. By the time we got home I was just too tired to finish up so we continued with them this morning.

So run over to DSDI and get your free downloads!

Until next time!

Tess

2010-04-15T22:21:00.002-06:00

Today we have a Brag Book Freebie Blog Train featuring brag book pages made with Spring Brings Hope charity collab. available exclusively at DigiScraps Drive-In. Here's some info:

Spring Brings Hope is a charity collab benefiting Jenna K of MN.

Jenna's story:
Jenna was diagnosed in Dec of 2009, with Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder,a form of Cancer caused by the anti-rejection medications she received following her transplant. She received a liver transplant in 1997 when she was 7 years old. Jenna is now home from her 1st Semester of college at Bemidji State University in MN, receiving a rigorous chemotherapy treatment for the next 6 months.

100% of proceeds from this kit will be given to Jenna to cover her medical expenses.

Nine designers have joined together to bring you this fun spring kit. These designers have donated 68 papers, 93 elements, 1 full alphabet, and 2 12x12 quick pages.

Contributing Designers:
7hump3r Designs
DigiDesigns by Denise
DigiLover's Addiction
Designs by Angel
Designs by the Polka Dot Chicks
Inkin' Creations
Kimberly Schlehahn Designs
Mad Genius Designs
Ruby Lane Designs

Spring Brings Hope will be available for a limited time!

You will also receive a coupon for 50% off of the Flavor of the Month DSDI Designer Collab purchase price.

Here are the blogs participating in this blog train:

Mad Genius Designs http://bothmadandgenius.blogspot.com/
Kerry Scraps http://www.kerrysscraps.blogspot.com/
Gail's Moments In Time http://gailsmomentsintime.blogspot.com/
For Ever More Creations http://forevermorecreations.blogspot.com/
Digi Eye Scraps http://digieyescraps.blogspot.com/
Heide's Scrap Spot http://heidescrapspot.blogspot.com/
CJoy2Day Designs http://www.cjoy2day.blogspot.com/
Digi Deborah's Designs http://digideborahsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Carol's Creative Corber http://carolscreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Tessthescrapper http://tessthescrapper.blogspot.com/ You Are Here
Designs by Angel http://scrappingwithangel.blogspot.com
DigiLover's Addiction http://digilovers-addiction.blogspot.com/
Nana Pixels http://nanapixels.blogspot.com/
Kimberly Schlehahn http://scrapaddict1969.blogspot.com/
Little Red Scraps http://littleredscraps.blogspot.com
Inkin' Creations:
http://inkincreations.blogspot.com/

And here is my contribution:

And here is the link.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

Tess

DSDI LAYOUTS, A NEW KIT FROM DSDI, DSDI CHALLENGES, AND A FREEBIE FROM ME

2010-01-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

http://digiscrapsdrivein.com/store/Decembers-Dance-Soft.htmlI have been bad. No posts for over a month! Slap my hand!

I have been a little lazy... but part of it is because we had 8" of snow and I slipped and hurt my back. Then I hurt it again which turned into Sciatica on Christmas morning. It hurt bad enough that I sent for my youngest to come help me. He lives in Washington and is unemployed at the moment.

Now that I don't have to jump up every time my husband calls me, the Sciatica is not hurting quite as much, however it is still painful.

Decembers Dance - Soft

So let's start with a kit from Red Genius Enterprises. There are two designers who are collaborating to make these kits. Jane (Little Red Scraps) and Jewel (Mad Genius Designs).

Here is a layout using this kit that I did for the Order Up Challenge at DSDI! You might want to try it out! It is a lot of fun. You are given a "menu" of food to choose from. You order your meal and are given a list of items to make your layout with. Here is what I ordered:
Grilled Chicken
Chef Salad/Italian dressing
(Sweet) Mustard (if you have some)
Tomato
Baby Carrots
Green Beans
Onion Rings
half Coke half Sprite (almost tastes like Pepsi)
Banana (Split)

and this is what I had to use in my layout:

2 photos (1 canNOT be square, circle or rectangle shape)
2 solid, 1 patterned papers
5 more papers
Border
Glitter
Mat for each photo
Seasonal element
Swirl(s)
Title using 2 different fonts/alphas

Now I asked for a couple of items not on the menu... lol, and I think I had a few extras for doing that!

The other layout I did first was not for a challenge or anything. The photo was taken early in December. It was after the 8" of snow fell. One of the few warmer days when the temperature went above 32 degrees. There are a few places where the gutter is separated and the water came down. I took the photo from inside the house, through the window. I had to photoshop it to make the icicle shine cuz it was in the shade.

Freebie

One of the challenges at DSDI is the Color Challenge. You can either make a layout using the colors of the month, or make a mini kit. For the December challenge I chose to make a mini-kit, because I had just learned to make plaid, and I thought that plaid would make a great country Christmas kit. Here is the link for this month's challenge.

You can pick it up here.

Until next time,
Tess

Google Wave

2009-11-30T10:39:00.004-07:00

I received an invite to the new Google Wave. I am allowed to invite 8 people. I have invited 7 now. If you would like to give it a try... leave a message that includes your email address. It is soooooo much better than Hello was.

Invite others to Google Wave

Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with, so please nominate people you would like to add. Keep in mind that this is a preview so it could be a bit rocky at times.
Invitations will not be sent immediately. We have a lot of stamps to lick.
Happy waving!

First Kit from DSDI and Layout

2009-11-14T22:09:00.003-07:00

I finally received my first kit as CT for DSDI! This one is from RedDog Digital Designs. It is a really sweet kit, with lots of strawberry elements and is called Country Cottage.

One of the challenges at DSDI is the quote challenge called "Off the Line" and this month's is a beautiful one that was just perfect for this kit. Here is my layout.

Thanks for coming by. I will be showing off my Sun layouts next time!

So until then,
Tess

Layout for Nicole

2009-11-09T23:56:00.007-07:00

I had told you a few posts ago that I would post the puzzle pieces template when it became available for sale. Well, I am a little late, but with the Grand Opening at Denim & Daisies and the things going on for {i}NDSD I was a little busy. So now that that is over, I have a bunch of things to post, but will keep it down to one designer at a time.
This designer is at Denim & Daisies and her name is Nicole Polhamus. Check out her store, Digital Artistry by Nicole. The name of this kit is Photo Diagrams Vol. 3.

I really enjoyed making my layout for her.

This is my DH's great granddaughter Jaycee. They came to visit from Arizona in October, but that is another post I need to write.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time!
Tess

Denim & Daisies GiveAway

2009-11-06T17:30:00.002-07:00

Denim & Daisies is giving away a great prize.... well two great prizes! I have the one for PSE7. Linda is a great lady to learn from!

Ok Ladies this is a great opportunity.. We have TWO Training CD/DVD from Scrapper's Guide one for PSE8 & one for PSE7.

All you have to do is create a layout which answers the questions why you NEED the training and why you WANT the training. You will have until Friday, November the 13th, at midnight central time to complete this contest. Please post a thread in the scrap it to win it challenge area located in our Patches with a link to your layout in the gallery when done.

To learn more about the prizes - you can visit www.scrappersguide.com

The retail value of each training program is:

(1) Photoshop Elements 7 CD: $36.95 (more than 3 hours of training)
(1) Photoshop Elements 8 DVD-ROM: $49.95 (more than 6 hours of training)

The training videos teach you everything you need to know to become a great digital scrapbooker! These video lessons by Linda Sattgast, Adobe's Scrapbooking Expert, tell you exactly what to do—in the right order—to make learning drop-dead simple! Video demonstrations and step-by-step written instructions take all the frustration out of learning digital scrapbooking.

www.scrappersguide.com/beginner-training-cds/

Here is the thread at Denim & Daisies" http://denimanddaisies.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1828#post1828

Good Luck and until next time!
Tess

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2009-11-05T09:56:00.015-07:00

Not Really! Just thought of that title when I was getting ready to blog today!

There are trains however! This post has information about [i]]NDSD happenings at three sites; Denim & Daisies, DigiScrapsDriveIn and Sunshine Studio Scraps.

First up is Denim & Daisies.
I have made a QP for you using Hoot'n Annie by Brandi Beaver. What a fun kit to work with!

Before I give you the QP for this, I need to tell you that (you know there is always a reason) this Saturday is {i}NDSD and at Denim and Daisies we are having a sale!

Here is the QP, I made for you, followed by the layout I made using it!

Click the image to download. Here is the one I made.

DigiScraps DriveIn

So essentially, we have a Scavenger Hunt over the course of the weekend where you can pick up pieces of the November Collab Kit called Naturally Yours. It will be for sale after November 14th so if you miss out you can pick it up there.

Starting tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 6) the Scavenger Hunt will be in the forum. Also going on will be 10 speed scraps, . I will be hosting two of them. The participation prizes will be add-ons, QPs and, templates. The speed scraps will be on this schedule;

For each SS you participate you get your name in a drawing for a $15 store gift certificate. In addition to the participation prizes.

In addition to all of this, we have a QP and add-on Blog train, still in keeping with the Nov. Collab, Naturally Yours.

First I will give you mine, and how I used mine which will be followed by the train links.

You can click on the image to get the QP.

If you get lost along the way, you can always come back here to get the links or go to DigiScrapsDriveIn to get them.
Gail http://gailsmomentsintime.blogspot.com
Lindsey http://lindseybdesigns.blogspot.com/
Janie http://scrapastrophe.blogspot.com/
Heather http://madfatscrapper.blogspot.com/
Tess ~ You are HERE
Carol http://carolscreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://digitalcreationsfrommillstreamcottage.blogspot.com
Sarah http://www.scrapoliciousscraps.blogspot.com/
Hazel http://madfatscrapper.blogspot.com/
Jaime http://www.cjoy2day.blogspot.com/

Sunshine Studio Scraps

Last but not least, by any means. I am now a Sunshine Studio Scraps CT (called a Sweetie)!

Check it out! You can go to the Shop and find a kit from each of our designers you really want and maybe win it! Here's the info and the link:

You should see all the challenges they have! And almost all of them are weekly. So if you especially like say a template challenge; there is a new one each week! It is another great site to hang out at! Come check us out!

I think I remembered everything! Links will be removed Sunday night so snag these while you can!

Until next time!
Tess

CT News

2009-11-01T15:00:00.003-07:00

I am now on two more CTs.

First at DigiScrapsDriveIn we were given our final challenge and also advised that we are all going to be part of the Paper Shakers! I haven't gotten a blinkie as yet.

Secondly, I had put in for CT for a Designer. She mostly makes templates which is right down my alley. She has write the rules and such but I already made my first layout with her latest (a puzzle pieces) template. I am awaiting her approval before posting it. Oh, the designer is at Denim & Daisies and her name is Nicole Polhamus. Check out her store, Digital Artistry by Nicole.

Don't forget that the Grand Opening is still in progress at Denim & Daisies. Not only do we have extra activities going on for the weekend, but we also have 31% off of everything in the store!
Until next time!
Tess

iNDSD Ad

2009-10-31T10:27:00.004-06:00

Next weekend is International Digital Scrapping Day and at DigiScraps Drive In we are holding 10 hours of Speed Scraps and a Scavenger Hunt! Here is the ad:

So head on over to DSDI and join in the fun!

Until next time!
Tess

DigiScraps Drive In Blog Train

2009-10-30T00:38:00.008-06:00

As Gail said, "What better way to start off Halloween weekend than (with) a blog train where you can pick up either quickpages made with the kit Happy Hallows Eve by Lucie B Designs or an add on mini. If you like what you see be sure to stop by and get this awesome kit @ DSDI."

Here is my piece of the train.

Mini kit includes:

2 papers
1 BOO overlay
4 elements
1 WordArt

Download it here.

Don't forget to stop by and get the rest of the goodies from this awesome kit by Lucie B Designs @ DSDI.

Gail
Blog:http://gailsmomentsintime.blogspot.com

Jaime
Blog: http://cjoy2day.blogspot.com

Tess
Blog: http://tessthescrapper.blogspot.com/ ~ YOU ARE HERE.

Jewel
Blog: http://bothmadandgenius.blogspot.com/

Sarah
Blog: www.scrapoliciousscraps.blogspot.com

Jane
Blog: http://littleredscraps.blogspot.com

Denim & Daisies, Blog Trains

2009-10-29T20:33:00.003-06:00

I am now a CT member of Denim & Daisies!

I got my new blinkie to add to everything.

I have made a mini-kit for one blog train and a QP for another. Look for them in the next two days!

Denim & Daisies Blog Train and Grand Opening

2009-10-29T12:13:00.011-06:00

Denim & Daisies Grand Opening Blog Train & Sale

Come on and jump on The Denim and Daisies Grand Opening Blog Train! And don't forget To visit Denim & Daisies and Check out our Huge Store Wide Sale! Then head on over to the Denim and Daisies Forums and join us for fun, friendship and freebies!

And here is my part of the blog train Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Your next stop on the blog train is the very talented

This is what I have please let me know if I have missed you as everything should be posted on your blogs tomorrow

Jeanne Maries Scraps

Mel's World

Shellsurfer

Tess Art

3 Dog Designs

Brandi B

Designs by Vicki

Just Jessa

Miss Mis Designs

Meetjes Designs

A-liya

Anika

Kate

Maaike

Tess < You are here

Sylvia

Amy

If you get lost along the way you can get the whole train list at The Denim and Daisies Home Page!

Enjoy the Ride!

Site CT, New Site Opening

2009-10-28T22:17:00.006-06:00

There are a lot of things I need to update, but right now I need to let you know...

I may be a site CT for a couple of sites that I am new to.

Sunshine Studio Scraps held a 3 week contest in which we had to be involved in the forums as well as making layouts. We will find out next week who will be on that CT.

At Denim & Daisies, a new site, I put in for the CT team and just got an email asking if I was still interested, and they would let me know probably tomorrow.

The third place I am trying for is at DigiScraps Drive-In. This is another contest and we have another week of stuff to do before they make a choice.

Denim & Daisies

The site I was telling you about above is having their Grand Opening. Here is the ad for it:

Come on over and check it out!

Until next time,
Tess

Flawless at Sunshine Studio Scraps

2009-10-20T21:01:00.005-06:00

This week's new kit at Sunshine Studio Scraps is "Flawless" and I want to win it! It is gorgeous. The colors are so rich and the papers remind me of silks, rayons, and brocades. The kit can be found in the store here.

You notice I said I want to win it? The reason I post it on this blog is because one person who makes a post about it will win it! This one is just so awesome!

Until next time!
Tess

Speed Scrap Layout, Sunshine Scraps

2009-10-18T15:37:00.007-06:00

So I found a couple of great places for Speed Scraps. One is at Ginger Scraps. They hold them daily! So does Go Digital. Between the two of them I get a lot of layouts done.

Today at Ginger Scraps, the SS was at noon. Here are the instructions:
1. Choose 2 papers
2. Find one photo and edit it in some way (B&W, Sepia, etc.)
3. Use one paper as your background, and cut the other into a wave or scallop and place it on the left side of your LO.
4. Tuck your photo under the wave/scalloped paper.
5. Add a ribbon vertical on your page on top of the wave/scalloped paper.
6. Frame your photo, add a tag and 2 other elements.
7. Add a title using at least 2 words with 2 different Alphas or fonts. Date and Journal if you like.

and my layout:

I used the Sunshine Wonder Girls monthly collab to make it. They make a kit and each week they give you part of it... then the challenge is to make a layout with it. The ribbon in the above photo is from a kit called Hellraiser which is a collab kit at Sunshine Scraps.
This is week two and I changed the layout to use nothing but the kit Falls Whisper from the WG to be my layout for this week. I like it better. What do you think?

You too, can play with this kit by going to Sunshine Studio Scraps and joining in with the Monthly LO Contest with the Wonder Girls.

Until next time!
Tess

Sunshine Scraps

2009-10-17T00:30:00.003-06:00

This week at Sunshine Studio Scraps is a beautiful kit made by Janice's Scraps. Janice made it for her birthday. It is meant to be used to scrap about yourself because so often we scrap about our families and friends but not ourselves.

Included are:
20 papers (7 solids, 13 patterns)
3 bows
3 ribbons
2 ricracs
3 beadspills
3 bubbles trails
5 buttons
3 tags
1 note paper
5 frames
1 ornament
1 foliage
1 fern
1 grass
3 flowers
3 pebbles
2 backward brads
1 heart pillow
1 butterfly
1 photomask

Thanks for looking!
Tess

Lovely Garden

2009-10-01T13:04:00.006-06:00

I have to tell you about this kit which is available at Sunshine Scraps. It is called LOVELY GARDEN and was made by craft-tastrophic.

My favorite thing about this kit is the color scheme! I love the greens and yellows on the black and white and way the red seems to pop out at you! Head on over to check it out today!

Finally got my password straightened out

2009-10-01T11:34:00.002-06:00

Wow, been a long time.

I had issues with getting my password to work.

Now that I got it back, I am back in business!

BBL,
Tess

What a Week-part 3

2009-01-26T18:36:00.003-07:00

If you haven't read parts one and two... go here & here.

As of this writing, John is still in the hospital, although I will be going to get him tomorrow.

The day after he had the nephrostomy tube placed, Dr. Barney came in and told us that they found puss in his kidney when they did the procedure. So they were going to keep him for at least the weekend. I came home.

So Saturday morning I got a call from his grandson (Jeremy lives in GJ) saying John wanted to talk to me. He said he woke up in the middle of the night sopping wet. So the nurses changed him and he went back to sleep and when they woke him to take his pills and eat, he was soaking wet again. The suprapubic tube was leaking. They didn't know why. (No one took the time to figure it out until Sunday. It was clogged and they had to flush it.)

On Sunday, they had him get up and walk around because he had water on his lungs again. They didn't want him to get pneumonia. Because he is on oxygen and he is in need of something to hold on to, they usually give him a wheelchair to push around (he can also sit if he gets too tired.)

He called me this morning to tell me that they would probably send him home today and I should try to get ahold of Dr. Barney to check. So I put the call in and waited all day. Got the call from the Doc at about 4:45. They are going to send John home with a 4-wheeled walker that has brakes. (One thing I love about the VA... if you need anything to help you with your life, they send it home with you. We don't have to go out and buy it, or wait for insurance to approve it.)
John was sure to call me and make sure I knew that he was coming home! He is so cute. (I can imagine he is more than ready to come home after nearly 2 wks in the hospital!)

So the vigil ends! Whew! I am off to go Divine Digital and step into the Chat Room with Michelle.

TTFN... Tess

Days 13 , 16-17, 19

2009-01-22T10:56:00.012-07:00

Due to John's hospitalization, I have not had a chance to upload my photos. So it is time to get caught up!

Day 13

This is our cat. Her mom was a tuxedo cat and her dad was an orange tabby. Her mom had been dumped by someone. (We live out in the county) She was such a sweet cat that I started feeding her. She remained an outdoor cat. She had a lot of litters. I tried to give them away but ended up taking them to the pound in Montrose (another 100 mile drive one way.) The next to the last litter she had, included Cali. Cali had 3 brothers and sisters. Momma cat smothered one when they were born (accidently) and she moved them into an old camp stove full of rust (which killed another one) and I am not sure what happened to the 3rd but Cali was the only one left. We decided she was just too wonderfully colored to get rid of her. We were going to keep her. But she was WILD! I had to put on leather gloves to catch her. I brought her into the house and fed her. She was scared to death. Then I started putting food out for her in the same place and I would go get her from the barn and bring her up to eat until she learned how to find it on her own.

She has become domesticated, to a point. She likes to go for a walk with me and John. She likes her belly rubbed, but not her chin. She is one of the only cats I know that will allow us to pick up her back-end by the tail. She is also an outdoor cat.

I will have to add 14 & 15 later. They were not in my computer at the time of this post.

Day 16

I took this next photo from my motel... It is the VA Hospital. It looks pretty big. BUT, the first floor is made up of clinics, the pharmacy, the commissary, the cafe, and a few offices. The second floor is where the library, hearing center, dental office, x-ray, pulmonary, lab, prosthetics and records are at.

The third floor is for the psychiatric ward and doctors offices. 4th floor is not known. Fifth floor is the patient ward and preop. 6th floor is OR.

Day 17

This photo was taken from John's room. I happened to look out and saw it and ran down to the truck to get my camera.(Ok so I didn't run.) This is a newer used car lot. They purchased a ladder truck a few years ago and do some strange things now.

Day 18 has to be added, these missing photos are on a different card.

Day 19

This next photo was taken along the route home. I haven't gotten a photo before of this area with snow involved. I thought it to be quite wonderful. You can see why this is part of a scenic byway.

The rest are in my camera. I shall upload them later. They are about to discharge John from St. Mary's back to the VA. So I better get things shut off.

TTFN... Tess

What a Week!!! (continued)

2009-01-22T09:45:00.002-07:00

Continuing from Monday: I had been told before I left that they were going to give him another Cat Scan the next day. They would call me with the results. They said if I didn't hear from them by 3:30 - 4 pm to call and ask about it.

On Tues., Dr. Barney called and said that John was getting some fluid on his lungs and his legs so they were going to get him up and moving around. (He had been laying down for more than a week.) He also said the CT showed that there was still some blockage in the kidney. He was going to talk to the Urologist and probably go ahead and send him to St. Mary's. He also said that his PSA (Prostatic specific antigen (PSA): This is an enzyme produced by both normal and abnormal prostate tissues)numbers were rising.

For those of you who don't know, he had Prostate Cancer 10 years ago. After treatment, it went into remission. It started raising it's ugly head again about 9 months ago. His numbers during that 10 year period had stayed to below 1.0.

When I asked the Dr. what his number was, he told me 7.0. (My darling John is going to pass away from the big C.) And from the looks of things, we will be lucky to have him around for another year. The doctor also said he has gone downhill tremendously in the past year. (He has not seen him for 6 months, so it is more noticeable to him. Not that I am BLIND and can't see that for myself. If you go look at the layout I made of him called HOPE you can see quite a difference from then to now.

Yesterday, I called in to see what was going on. John didn't answer the phone so I called the nurse's station. While I was talking to the Nurse the urologist called in. So I waited while she talked to him. Then, she told me what the doctor had to say: They were going to try to replace the stent. Because the original stent had been left in more than six months, the Urologist had a hard time removing it so he could replace it. So now they think that because it was hard, that perhaps when they put the new one in, the tip had bent, and that was why it was clogged.

The nurse then went and woke him up so I could talk to him. I explained to him what they were going to do. He decided that he wanted me to go back to town. If they were going to put him under, he wanted me there. So I headed back to Grand Junction (GJ).

When I arrived, he told me they changed the decision. They had a pow-wow with the Dr's involved and he was going to St. Mary's to get a nephrostomy tube placement. He will have that tube coming out of his back for the rest of his life, and it has to be flushed (by me) daily. This procedure would happen the next day.

Thursday - I am sitting here blogging, while waiting for them to release him back to the VA. I will have to grab a photo of this hospital, for today's photo. They are adding on to it. The new addition is at least double the size of the old portion. It was already the largest building in GJ. Now it will be the highest. Speaking of which, I have the photos for 365. I just have to post them. I will make that the next post. And actually, I am done with this post, so I will say TTFN. Tess

What a Week!!!

2009-01-20T22:17:00.004-07:00

John hasn't felt good since he had his small surgery. Mostly it is pain on his lower backside right on the hip. The doctor said it was probably the way they had him laying on the table. But it just wasn't getting any better.

Tuesday night he ate very little and went to bed at 6pm. When I got up, he ate only about a quarter of his breakfast and I called the VA. They made an appointment for him on Friday, because the Urologist wouldn't be there until then. They also suggested that I contact his primary care doctor because his white blood count was a little low. So I called his nurse and was told he wouldn't be there on Friday. So I told her I would just take him to the ER if I felt he needed to be seen after seeing the Urologist. (Our VA Medical Center is a small one.)

I couldn't get him to eat anything else that day. Between the pain, and only sleeping fitfully, he decided to go to bed at 4pm. At 11:30 that night, he had me help him get up and lay in his easy chair. He stayed there the rest of the night.

Thursday morning I told him I was taking him to the ER. I had made a soup the day before that was better than anything I ever made before. I got him to eat about a cup of the soup for breakfast. Then I got him dressed and headed for the VA. (Of course it is a 2 hour drive.) One of the reasons I decided not to wait, he seemed to have more blood in his foley bag than urine. After 13 hours, there was only about 5 oz. in it. When we got to the ER it was his Primary Care doctor manning the ER. No wonder he wouldn't be there the next day. (Being ER Doctor is for 24 hours.) I told him, I expected him to send him up to a ward. I don't take him to the ER very often, but usually he is bad enough to keep him.

So after doing an x-ray and bloodwork they did indeed keep him. He had a raging infection (again) and he was dehydrated, but his stent that was put in last week had some blockage. (Ya think?!) On Friday they gave him a cat scan using the yucky white stuff he had to drink before hand. They could see there was definitely blockage. So they were going to arrange for him to go to St. Mary's, (the regional hospital) to do a test and possibly put a tube into the kidney and drains into a ball coming out of his back. So we waited, and waited. And in the meantime, no drink or food. Finally it was decided he would not go until the next day. So he had a chocolate pudding cup and some milk and went to bed. It was 8 pm by then.

Saturday, I walked into his room and he had a paper there on his tray that said npo (no drink or food). They were going to try for it again. Then they came in and said it looked like it was working now. So he got to eat and drink again.

That afternoon they used about ten bottles of sodium bicarbonate to clean out his bladder of infection and blood. They did this one at a time, putting it in through his catheter and then draining it out. They did it three times. Once more that night and then once Sunday morning. He finally started eating pretty good. He was feeling pretty good, too.

When I got there on Sunday he was pale again, and they had him on NPO. When the weekend doctor came in, he asked if I had any concerns. I said he looked terribly pale. He said they could do something about that, in fact they were going to give him a couple units of blood. They also took him off the NPO. So after lunch the nurse came in to fix him with a new IV. The one he had was too small to send blood through. She wasn't able to find a vein to run it through. She called in another nurse and he looked for about an hour. Going back and forth from one arm to the other. He actually found one but when he put the needle in, John jumped and he popped it. They then called in another nurse. She found one but his veins would contract when she tried it. Finally they called the ER nurse to come up and she got it on the first try.

I needed to get some of my school work done so I went back to the motel. It was about 3 pm. I got a call from the nurse at 4:15 that he wanted me to come back. Poor baby, he was tied down with the blood transfusion and couldn't reach for the water and wanted me to help him out while they were giving him the first unit of blood. It took about 3 hours. I had to spoon feed him. When that unit was done they then gave him a unit of heavy duty antibiotics. They gave him his sleeping pill and sarted the second unit of blood. I said I was going back to the motel and call me if I was needed at any time during the night.

Next morning when I got there, I found out he had had a reaction to the second unit of blood. He had gotten a raging temp and he had a hard time breathing and some other things. The same thing had happened at St. Mary's when they gave him two units of blood back to back in June. So we now know, not to give it to him so close together.

Monday, I came home. I will have to post what else happened later. I have to go back today, cuz they are going to try another procedure.

TTFN, Tess

LayOut for ASDR4

2009-01-13T15:00:00.004-07:00

Here is the layout I made for challenge number 2, as I play along on the sidelines!
You can click here to go to the Elemental Scraps gallery for the credit information.

The photos are the ones I took for days 8, 10 & 11.

It's 3:00. Have you taken a picture yet? I haven't. I guess I better grab the camera and go find a subject!

TTFN, Tess

Day 12

2009-01-12T23:07:00.003-07:00

A couple of days ago, I had to go to the laundromat. We have a septic system, so we have a pipe that sends the washer water out to the apple tree. The last couple of years it has frozen up on us, so there is evidently a low spot that water can sit in. So next year we are going to dig it all up and re-do it with pvc pipe.

I had to stop at the store and get a chicken for dinner. I used the checkbook. When I got home I forgot to put it away. So this morning my dh asked where the checkbook was. I pointed at my jacket and said it was in the pocket.

So later, I went to get it, but it wasn't there. Uh Oh! He is the kind who never lets it go. He would still be getting me ten years from now. I had to find the checkbook. I went out to the truck and laying on the drivers seat was the pen that I keep connected to it. But no checkbook. I looked beside the seat. I looked under the seat. I looked behind the seat. It was not to be found! So I went back into the house and got the keys to the post office. Since the only thing on the checks was the PO Box (no phone number), maybe someone found it and mailed it to me.

I started the truck, and went to the Post Office. I opened the door. There it was! IN THE DOOR!

So now you know the story behind this photo!

Until next time...

Tess

Days 8 - 11

2009-01-11T12:19:00.005-07:00

I took three of these photos for a layout. I am playing along with ASDR4, so I took these photos for the 2nd challenge which is due today! So as soon as I get these posted I have to go make my layout!

The challenge is CABIN FEVER. In the challenge it is both you and your partner, but seeing as I have no partner, I will do it all.

On Day 8 I took this photo of John. Because we live mostly on a fixed income, and with the price of fuel, we keep the temperature down a little. It is really hard on him, between his illnesses and his age, he runs around with his lightweight jacket on, plus gloves. I also bought him the "Snuggies" from the TV for Christmas. (The blanket with sleeves.)

Day 9

I am a substitute school bus driver. I took this after the kids got on board but before we headed out.

Day 10

John takes a lot of naps. He would much rather be outside, but because of the cold and snow, he isn't able to.

Day 11

This is the final photo for the layout. It is only 30 degrees outside. Definitely Cabin Fever weather and time of year.

I am off now to make a layout.

TTFN, Tess

Layouts for challenges

2009-01-10T12:52:00.004-07:00

I had a little extra time on my hands, so I made a couple of layouts for challenges.

This challenge is at Divine Digital. The first Quote Challenge for 2009 and Ronda of Kiss This Designs is the new host for it. Here is the gift we will receive for playing along.

If you would like to play along, here is where you can find the challenge.

My layout is of my Granddaughter, Elizabeth. She has Ausberger's Syndrome, which is a type of Autism. I bought this kit last year and use it occasionally for my grandkids' layouts. The kit is called For the Love of Makayla and it is made by quite a number of designers. I had to go to the Autism Awareness web pages to purchase it. It was actually a donation by all the designers.

This is a photo from Christmas.

Here you can see it in the gallery and see the credits.

Next we have a challenge that is also from DD. This one is a daily challenge, hosted by Laura White [Princess Lala Designs]
& Royanna Fritschmann [Studio RA Designs] and each day they give you prompts to journal and and layout challenges.

You can find it here if you would like to check it out. The nice thing is you don't have to do all of it. And if you do five challenges in a week you get a gift. You don't even have to have them done in the first week (which helps me
since I started on the 7th day lol.)

So I started with day one. The challenge for the layout was to have a thought bubble and two photos and use the sketch to go by.

Since I am working on 365 both in photos and in this challenge, I started a new album to put this layout in. If you want to know about the credits you can find them there. I just love doing vignette to my photos! Of course, I used the process on these.

That is it for now. I will post my photos for days 8-10 later. I haven't yet uploaded them!

TTFN, Tess

Days 5-7

2009-01-07T22:13:00.005-07:00

Day 5

I had to take my dh to the VA for a surgical procedure. On the way I snapped this photo of ice flowing down from a pipe running across the Dolores River. The pipe used to carry water to an abandoned house at mile marker 99 on the Scenic By-Way. I will be scrapping a page with this photo to add to the book I am making about Hi-Way 141.

Day 6

This photo was taken of the VA as I was getting ready to go to the motel. My DH didn't come out of the anesthesia too well so they kept him for observation. I was getting into the truck when I noticed my camera and realized I had not yet taken a photo, thus this photo. I have been going to snap a few and make a scrap page of it to put in his scrapbook anyway.

Day 7

Here we have a photo of my new down comforter. It arrived two days early. Although the duvet cover did not arrive with it. But now the comforter will have a chance to fluff up. According to the UPS site, the cover is on it's way to Montrose. Which usually means it will arrive the next day. (Did you know; in Germany the down beds and comforters are hung over the window sill to fluff and air out? I was there in the early 70's.) I can't do that with my windows but I can hang it out on the laundry line.

See you tomorrow.

Tess

Day 4 photo

2009-01-04T22:06:00.003-07:00

I am going to school online. Tomorrow it is time to hit the books again. Today's photo is of the login page.

TTFN. Tess

ASDR4 & Hummies World

2009-01-04T02:01:00.006-07:00

I am so excited!!! I wanted to sign up for the ASdR4 (Amazing Scrap Digital Race year 4), but I procrastinated and was too late, so I decided to play along anyway. The first challenge is up. It is at Hummies World and the challenge is to scrap a photo that has been ripped/torn at least three times. Oh my gosh, I have never done that. She gives tutorials and a link to download pre-made tears. She has also talked to Atomic Cupcake and gotten them to give out a free action to make the edges torn. That is what I used.
So I took the photo from the other day of the deer and scrapped it. It really shows up those deer and I cleaned the photo up anyway. What do you think?

A little background: The reason it states this is not hiway 141; I am building a scrapbook to donate to the local museum. I live close to the SW corner of Colorado and HiWay 141 is a Scenic Byway. The route is quite beautiful. There are also some historic places along the route. I live 100 miles from the nearest city, so I am making the book about that section of the route. You can find more pages here: Hi Way 141

So I couldn't go to bed until I got it finished and posted it. Too exciting! I love to learn new techniques! I will have to do a few layouts using this technique so I don't forget how.

TTFN! Tess

New Sheets and a new layout

2009-01-03T19:36:00.004-07:00

When I went to Seattle, one of the things I did was to go to Linens n Things, to look for some flannel sheets for John's bed. I wanted to get them on sale before the store closed down. I figured I would save the money it would cost for shipping. So Tonya, Ronni and I stopped in there while we were out buying clothes and new shoes for them. The sheets have snowmen/women on them. So today, I put them on his bed. (He got them for Christmas.)
When I put him to bed just now, he said he might not sleep too well, knowing all those snowmen were watching him. He can be so funny!

The second photo I took was of the pillowcase. You see the pink? I bought those flannel sheets a couple of months ago for him. I told him I hoped it wouldn't bother him too much being pink. He told me he was thankful for the warmth of the sheets. He didn't care what color they were! So now, I will put the pink ones on my bed. (I didn't tell him I am awaiting a package with a down comforter and pink and white duvet cover that I found at Overstock.com for really cheap! But it came out of my paycheck so he can't say anything!)

I made this layout today. I went to scraporchard and found a challenge I wanted to do. It is the Fruit Salad Challenge. They tell you what number of papers, elements, fonts, etc. you have to use and it is up to you to make a layout using those items only. This month it is 1 paper, 2 paper strips, 9 flowers, 3 elements of your choice, 2 leaves, 2 ribbons, one font and one alpha. All but the background paper are from the Winter Wonderland Blog Train and the background is from the Christmas Around the World Blog Train. You can click on the photo to go to the layout page for the credits!

That's it for today. I have to get back into schoolwork tomorrow, so not sure if I will post again before next weekend.

Thanks for looking!

Tess

Recent Layouts

2009-01-02T23:38:00.007-07:00

I made this layout with Sara Ellis' Happy Blue Year kit that can be found at Gotta Pixel. I had signed up at DST to be a one kit CT and she asked me. I was so thrilled!

Here is a layout I did for a challenge. I forgot where the challenge was at. I didn't get it uploaded at the time I made it, and I have been to a number of sites lately, and unfortunately the computer had an auto update so I lost the site. This challenge was to use wings. It was for last month so it is too late now.
It is a layout of my dh's great-grandson. His family has a hard time thinking of me as grandma, I am just Tess, which is fine. His grandson said I am NOT his grandma, nor will I ever be! lol Anyway, this was last summer, when Gage and I were playing.

The kit comes from LouCeeCreations and is called eu naturelle. I found it on her blog.

Enough for now, way past bedtime!

Tess

Day 2 - Project 365

2009-01-02T17:47:00.012-07:00

Here are my day one photos.

I got John up just before midnight so he could celebrate the ringing in of 2009! His robe is too lightweight so he put mine on! ... lol I set up my camera on the corner of the TV Credenza. I decided I wanted to get a little closer a photo... so I zoomed in and took the following photo!

OOPS! A little too close! Cut our heads off! So I missed the midnight hour! If at first you don't succeed try, try, and tried again!

Got it! (Sorry, I didn't Photoshop them!)

...and on to day two...

I went to Paradox today, to the library where my girlfriend works. That library is only about the size of a master bedroom.

On the way home I came across this sign. It is there for unsuspecting individuals.

Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy to get the D.O.T. to do
something. And yesterday someone ran into a cow.
I hope they didn't get hurt too bad.

Not more than a quarter of a mile up the road I had to wait for some deer to cross.

And along the road in a number of places in the next 16 miles were the cattle.

Project 365

2009-01-01T18:29:00.007-07:00

There is a new thing going around. (OK, new to me.) It's the 365 days of photos. I have decided to play along, at least it means I will have to blog more often!

So I took a photo of John and me kissing in the New Year this morning! I will post it next time. (I have to figure out what Debbie did with my card reader first. (When I went to Seattle, Debbie decided to clean up my desk area [after I had told her I know where everything is even though it was a mess] and now I can't find anything! She likes to put everything into boxes and containers and put them in the farthest away place she can. I needed a check for Darcy and had left it on my desk, so I had her come over and help me find it. Oh my gosh, now it is even worse. While we were looking I found some one-use cameras I had grabbed from my parents house to get developed. I put them on my desk and turned around to look through another box. When I went to get them to take to WalMart, they were gone! She couldn't leave them there, she had to hide them away!) lol

Speaking of her putting things in containers, I had left my bread machine baking container on the counter soaking, she filled it with grease during my vacation. I could of killed her! But she took good care of John for me so I just let it go.
She is definitely a blonde!

That is all I have to say today! Happy New Year to you and yours!
Tess

Sunshine Studio Scraps

2008-11-16T13:57:00.007-07:00

Boy oh Boy, still having problems logging in. Can't seem to sign in when leaving comments on other blogs either.

Today it let me in first try. Who knows!

I wanted to tell you about a beautiful kit over at Sunshine Studios! It is so cute. It is called Autumn Season! Well, see for yourself!

I told you! Those mice are to die for! And the colors are so rich! If you like it just click on Sunshine Studios up above and the link will take you to it!

Until next time,
Tess

OPAD 6

2008-10-10T13:45:00.001-06:00

I seem to be a day behind on the OPAD6 challenge. Here is Day 3.

Blog Errors, OPAD6, College

2008-10-08T23:28:00.004-06:00

I had a heck of a time getting logged in. Google wants me to change to a Gmail account but then it says my username is not a good username. Argh! So when I went to help, it let me log in that way; I sent a report and then clicked on my account and here I am. Good gosh, what a person has to go through to get things done.

Over at Divine Digital, I am doing the OPAD6 challenge. What happens is "One piece a day" is sent to us, and we have to add it to our layout. Once we post it, we cannot change what we did so far. So here is the first two days done.

Paper is from Cindy Ritter
Frame is from Rowena aka Willro & Co Designs

If you want to check it out, the thread for today is here.

Wow, week 4 already! Only 5 weeks left for these two classes. Sometimes it's pretty easy, sometimes it is pretty hard. Most of the hard is the participation posts we have to make. How many ways can you find to say I agree? lol

Until next time!
Tess

Where did the last two months go? and a Freebie!

2008-09-30T15:11:00.007-06:00

I do believe I lost some time somewhere. Sure doesn't feel like two months went by without my posting anything here.

I started college online. My daughter told me she started, and I always wanted to finish college, so I said what the heck. I started 3 weeks ago. The first two weeks kind of kicked my butt. But part of it was that the first week I had two volleyball trips to drive and John needed to go to the doctor. So that left me with 4 days to do two classes worth of work. But I was able to catch up and get ahead a little. Oh, I am going to Axia Online which is a college under University of Phoenix. I am going for my AA in Medical Records. I may then continue on. We shall see.

Starting tomorrow, I will be putting up the daily downloads at ScrapHead for October. The theme is: NIGHTMARE AT SCRAPHEAD. Make sure you go get the daily freebie. Here is the preview and click here to go to ScrapHead.

And now for the Freebie.

This past month has been a birthday event at Stone Accents Studios. One of the challenges was to make a template. In return for making the template you get everyone else's templates as well as some from the designers. Here is the one I made.

And here is a layout I made using it.

Another thing they have going on is SAS-Y Designer Contest. This is the last week of it. I used the Paper Princess Kit by Charlie's Digiscraps from week 4 on my layout.

You can download it here.

Enjoy the week and the wonderful Autumn weather.
Until next time,
Tess

Book Review

2008-07-31T18:02:00.001-06:00

The following is a book I just finished. I am in a book club at DivineDigital. Next I have to make a layout about it.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazing book, I enjoyed immensely. Tears came to my eyes when she was standing at the window, looking at the photo and thinking that May had remembered to tell her mom to send a sign.

Story of girl mistreated by her father after she accidently shot her mother when a young child. She finally had enough and took her nanny and went to Tiburon, SC to find information about her mother.

A Quick Page freebie! & preview to Aug download at Scraphead!

2008-07-30T15:41:00.007-06:00

Oh my Gosh,
Where did July go? Busy, Busy, Busy!

I want to show you what is coming to ScrapHead next month! The daily download is called "Friendship Garden" and you can get it for free at www.scraphead.com!

I have made my first Quick Page! It is part of a challenge to add one piece a day over at Divine Digital! First, Foxy gives us two pieces and we choose which one to add each day. We have no idea what pieces she is going to allow us to create with until they are sent to us. So first I am going to show you what I made with photo in it!

This is my youngest granddaughter playing in the snow in Anchorage. As I understand it, you don't dare let her see you going outdoors without her! She just loves going out.

So here is the quickpage! You can click here to get it!

Thanks for looking!
Tess

K,L, & M of Tonya's Book

2008-06-29T13:53:00.004-06:00

MORE OF TONYA'S BOOK

Kayle is the son of DeAnna, my son's second wife. He is a ball of fun. Actually, when I say "ball", I mean he is more like a wrecking ball. Or a bull in a china shop. He never stops. But as he grows, he is getting better. LOL

Tonya's Great Grandmother collects ladybugs. She has all shapes and items you can think of. One of those things is a costume for a little girl. One day she let Tonya try it on. It was just a tad small on her but it was fun.

Marcus is Kayle's big brother. He is another sweetheart. He went to live with his grandfather a couple of years ago. He has a cleft palate and lip and his grandfather's insurance was supposed to cover him to get it fixed. As I understand it, that didn't happen. Tracy and Dee just went to Michigan to get him and ended up staying because they have to go to court to get custody. I have a feeling they won't be back.
If that is what is going to be, I really feel for the girls. Their daddy didn't even have the guts to say goodbye to them. Now I have to try my best to let them know that I am still here for them.

Blog Me 2

2008-06-17T21:28:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone,
There is a really great site that I love to visit called Divine Digital. Currently one of the challenges that I am working on is called "Blog Me". We have several people that have joined this challenge and are creating a page day to day, by adding a new piece and sending it to the next person. Now it is my turn and here is what it looks like so far.
suzee-q-stuff.blogspot.com">

Now I will send it on to the next person on the list, so that they can add something to it from the wonderful charity kit we are working with during this challenge. So come follow along!

Blog Me List---Check out the blogs of the "Blog Me" Participants!

1. www.wetfishscraps.blogspot.com

2. tessthescrapper.blogspot.com

3. suzee-q-stuff.blogspot.com

4. memorylanecreationsbycharlene.blogspot.com

5. fwts.blogspot.com

6. simplyscraps.blogspot.com

7. claysmommy.blogspot.com

8. angmag55.blogspot.com

9. www.kiden.blogspot.com

This is a kit designed for Kirsty Wiseman's daughter, Ellie and her pet turtle, Lucy. You can read about Ellie here: http://www.kirstywiseman.com/ellie.html
50% of all the proceeds from this kit will be donated to Ellie's trust fund to help Ellie with her battles in the world of medicine. Ellie actually picked the colors, pink for her and green for her turtle, Lucy. I hope you like it and purchase it since it is for such a good cause. This kit is packed with great stuff. There are 23 papers, each unique and rich in texture and color. Then there are 32 elements, also unique and colorful. And at the heart of it all is Ellie a little girl fighting hard to be a normal teenage girl in Manchester, England and her little turtle, Lucy. You can purchase the full kit, "Ellie and Lucy," here: http://divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=4566&cat=0&page=2

More ABC's of Tonya

2008-06-15T23:37:00.011-06:00

H is the next letter in Tonya's book. Tonya grew up in my house for the first couple of years. Plus she always knows that Gramma will be here to take care of her if needed. When Mommy and Daddy got a divorce, she started saying there was Mommy's house and Daddy's house and home was my house.

Next we have "ICE CREAM".
Tonya went with me to a meeting at Lion's Club and we ordered her some ice cream and I figured I would snap some photos of her eating it.

And the last layout for today is "Jewelry"
I am a crafter and have taught crafts at the local library to kids. When the girls come to visit they often get to make something and on this day they made bracelets. I love the look on her face in this photo.

It's late, so I think I will stop for tonight.
Tess

Time to update, Newest Daily Download Preview

2008-06-11T23:00:00.002-06:00

Update on John.
We made it home on Friday. He awoke feeling really good and said he was ready to go home. The Dr. agreed and allowed us to come home.

He had talked to the Cardiologist and it was decided that his heart attack was minor and his valves were working well, so why fix something that's not broken.

They decided it was a combination of the Sarcoidosis messing with his bone marrow so they didn't make enough blood cells (anemia)and the new medication together causing his blood pressure to go down to the point of passing out.

Now he is getting his strength back and getting around more and more.

Tomorrow's daily download at Scraphead.
Here is the preview for day 12.
And you can find the link here for ScrapHead.

Low, Low, Low BP, Download from Scraphead

2008-06-05T23:23:00.002-06:00

Last night just after I finished the blog the nurse came in and checked John's BP. He then checked the other arm. His blood pressure was 76/46. He called the Dr. in and they put him on a saline drip. It took all night to get it back up above 110.
This morning the Dr. ordered another unit of blood after his pressure started dropping again. But after he got the blood in his system, he got up and walked to the nurses station and back twice.

So the stress test yesterday showed he has heart disease and has had a mild heart attack. The Dr. is going to talk to a Cardiologist to see if he thinks John should have a stent put in. At any rate he has to change his diet! Woohoo! He eats way too much saturated fats and stuff when I am not there to feed him. Guess I will have to make homemade frozen dinners for him!

Dr. Thompson stopped in first and advised us of the heart attack. He said the Sarcoidosis is not causing the problems. But then the Internist said he thought the sarcoids might be causing the anemia since they do reek havoc on Bone Marrow. I don't know, John will be here at least another day. They have to get this figured out!

I am going to have to leave him here with his daughter and granddaughter tomorrow afternoon. I have a photo gig Saturday and Sunday. It will also give me a chance to work on cleaning John's room good.

Here is today's preview of Scrapheads daily download. And the link to Scraphead to get it is here.

Happy scrapping!

Tess

John, Daily Download Freebie

2008-06-04T22:09:00.004-06:00

I don't feel like blogging today, so this will be short.

They took John down to have a http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4743. The doctor came in while he was gone and said that he had been down there and not seen anything significant but that he still had to go over the results with the Cardiologist. He also asked if I was going to be able to care for him at home, as he is really weak after all of this. (Which I can.) That was this morning and I haven't seen him since.
The Nurse had told me that he was going to have more labs tomorrow morning so I knew before talking to the Dr. that we would be here at least one more night.
He has an appointment on Friday with Dr. Roy, so we may as well stay one more night, if not here then in a motel.
That's it on John.

Tomorrow's free download at ScrapHead can be found here. And here is the preview.

More on John, Day 4 download at Scraphead & DD

2008-06-03T20:38:00.004-06:00

Boy, those hospital lounge chairs are not very comfortable! And they are upholstered in vinyl, so last night all I did was sweat. I think I will go home tomorrow and sleep in my own bed. All depends on what the doctors say.
Did you notice I added an s onto doctor? Dr. Thompson, his Pulmonologist (lung specialist) has joined in. We have been seeing him for about 4 years. John is a retired uranium miner, and a good portion of them have lung diseases. So far John has been lucky and has COPD but nothing too bad (meaning no cancer).

Anyway, this morning at 7 they sent in a technician to give him an ultrasound of his heart. Everything looked pretty good!
The doctor came around about 10. He had not yet looked at all the labs and stuff. He asked more questions, and we asked about the cramping John is getting in his hands and feet. We decided that may be an effect of the lasik and potassium that Dr. Barney put him on. So no more of that for now. Besides, perhaps they will get the problem with water on his legs figured out instead of just treating it!
The doctor said John will likely be in the hospital for a few more days.

I helped him in the shower and then he went for a walk. Not very far, but at least he had a little bit of activity.

Oh, did I tell you that he now has a voracious appetite?! Oh my gosh! Most of last week all he wanted was broth, ice water, and Popsicles. I don't know if he just didn't have the energy to eat more, or he was so waterlogged there was no room for food.
That is a whole other story! He has been sick with this and that for a few weeks now. It started when he was having major pain in the general area of his left kidney. That was on a Friday but he didn't say anything until that evening. The next morning we headed for the VA because it was hurting so bad. They figured he probably had a kidney stone. They did a CT and found what they thought was a tumor that was not distinguishable from the prostate. (He had prostate cancer 11 yrs ago.) So it being Saturday they sent us home until Monday when he could see the urologist. They did give us the option to head to the Denver VA, but we decided to ride it out here.
On that Monday we saw Dr. Roy, the urologist, and he did a cystoscopy. He did not find anything but also was not able to locate the opening to the kidney. He gave us some meds and sent us home. We got a call a couple of days later to set up a procedure to put a ureteric stent in place. Well he got the stent and had a nephrostomy tube with a urine bag coming out of his back to help drain the urine!
The next day Bridget gave us a challenge to do a layout with the word HOPE. Here is mine.

A couple of days later he was having a hard time urinating, and then he was going about every 10 minutes, but not much more than a dribble. I got him into the van and we went to the VA. He kept the urinal under his penis the whole way. All they did was give him some pain meds and send him home as there was nothing they could do for him over the weekend! So I went to Wally World to get some diapers for him.
So it has been a couple of weeks and we saw Dr. Barney last Wednesday. His offer was the lasik and potassium pills to decrease the water in John's legs and feet, and a Zpac for the infection in his sinuses. Then on Friday, Dr Roy put in the foley (his prostate is squeezing closed the ureter and that is why he was having a hard time going this time. He changed his meds again and gave us a medication for the probable infection in his bladder to start when he finished the Zpack.
So back to the appetite, the last ten days or so he has had little to no appetite. All he wanted was ICE water, popsicles and broth. I tried to give him vegetable soup and chicken noodle but all he wanted was the broth out of it, although a few times he had "cravings". In fact he would tell me ahead of time he thought he would have a craving for something and I better go get it so it would be on hand. Things like asparagus, spinach, vegetable juice, vienna fingers, ice cream sticks. And that would be all he wanted at the time, a bowl of spinach or ICE COLD vegetable juice. And of course after eating something cold we would then be freezing and have to have two comforters put over him so he could get warm. Then a few days ago he got his appetite back, for one meal a day. And he would eat more than usual. Then back to the other stuff.
Once they gave him that 1st unit of blood he started perking up a little. When they got him to his room they ordered him a tray. It was chipped beef, mashed potatoes and gravy and when he got his tray, he said wow that's a lot of food. But he ate every bit of it!

After that they took him downstairs to do a CT on his chest. They told us that it would be about 20 minutes. We thought that was enough time to go grab something to eat. We went down to the "cafe" but it was closed until 10pm. So we went to Taco Bell. We brought our food back to the room and a few minutes later they brought John back. That man ate half my dinner! I had three soft tacos and their new Mango/strawberry ice drink. He drank most of that and ate one and a half tacos. Within the hour he had a jello pudding to top it off! He has been eating like that ever since! Today he had a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a pudding and his three meals and some of my food.

We haven't learned anything new today, except that he does have a bladder infection, and they are treating that. They have also taken him off most of his meds and are only giving him his thyroid meds and one of the pills to treat his burning bladder feeling. This evening after dinner they sent him down for an MRI of his head.

In the morning they will give him a stress test at 9. That is most of what I know to this point. I will keep you informed.

Now on to the PREVIEW of tomorrow's download at ScrapHead. You can get it here.
Don't forget that Divine Digital also has download a day. Happy Scrapping,
Tess

Back in GJ, Day 3 Download

2008-06-02T23:42:00.004-06:00

This morning I awoke to John caterwauling again. He wakes me up to do the littlest things! "Honeybunch!.... Honeybunch! But this time it was different. Usually he adds on, "I need some Ice Water" or "I need to take my pills" or something else that he could probably do for himself, but I have spoiled him.
It was just "Honeybunch" "Honeybunch". So I got up and noticed he was not in his easy chair. Ok, maybe he went back to bed. He had awakened me before 6 to change his foley into a leg bag so he could get up. I obliged and went back to bed. (We don't sleep together any more because "MY" snoring keeps him awake!)
So I rounded the corner and was headed for the bathroom, when I saw him laying on the floor in the kitchen. He had made himself a cup of coffee and was going to take it to the table. He doesn't know what happened. He had passed out! So I sat him up and he passed out again!
OMG! I thought he died! He stopped breathing! His eyes opened and the iris' dilated! He was not there! I lay him back down and slapped him lightly and called his name, but there was no response! I started positioning him to do cpr when he came back and started breathing! I swear I looked into dead eyes. They reminded me of glass pony beads with the color inside. Those eyes are seared into my brain!
Of course I called 911 and the ambulance brought him to St. Mary's hospital. When the first responder arrived and I explained the above they said it was "Syncope" (Sink-o-pea) and that most people who see a person pass out and their eyes roll back in their head think they die. His eyes did not roll back! But thank the Lord, he did come back!
They have found three things so far! #1 He is severely anemic. They have now given him two units of blood! The second thing is he has a little bit of a urine infection! And #3 he does not have a blood clot!
They have admitted him and I will be here in the room with him tonight. I don't want to miss the DR. in the morning! They have said that they will keep him until they know why the anemia. They need to know if he is not making enough cells or if there is something somewhere that is using them all up.
Well, it is 12:50 am. So I need to get some rest. But first, here is the preview for Day 3's download and the link to go get it!

Daily Download, ABC's of Tonya

2008-06-01T21:31:00.016-06:00

Today's download for ScrapHead has a beautiful paper! It is sooooo textured! Have a peek! It is by JaydensMama.
You can get it here. But only until Midnite MST. Then you can get day 2 which is below.

Day two is from ScrapShana. At midnite tonite I will enable the link to collect this part. You can get it here.Remember it is only good from Midnight for 24 hours (Mountain Time.)

I uploaded E and G today at SOTB. So now I can show you.

E is for Easter. The kids came to Gramma's house and colored easter eggs. Then they went out and had a scavenger hunt to find their special baskets. This happened in 2005.
The Kit is special to my heart. It is a collaboration of a bunch of designers. In order to purchase it you have to donate at least $20. Then they will send the links for it. The donation goes directly to Autism Speaks and the kit is called For the Love of McKayla. It is a HUGE kit. If you would like to know more about it then GO HERE.

F IS FOR FROG

One day Tonya and Marcus were outside playing and came running to me. "Gramma, look what we found." Of course it was a KODAK moment, except for me it is a CANON moment, lol. They are seldom found around here, but the frogs do show up occasionally. I do live in the high desert after all!

And the last one for today is G is for Gramma.
Tonya was born in Yakima, Washington. A couple of weeks after her date of birth, her parents brought her here to meet me and her great-grandparents. I so enjoyed my short time with her. They moved here a couple of months later, so Tonya and I spent a lot of time together for the next 5 years.
This layout was made using For the Love of McKayla Kit also.

Carol / Snow Raven Colab Kit

2008-05-31T22:54:00.006-06:00

Carol has two new kits and she & Snowraven have a collab kit that they will put into the store at ScrapHead soon. I will be making some Layouts with these kits so watch the slideshow for more pictures of them.
Here are previews of those kits:

This is the elements preview of Come into My Garden

Here are the papers for Come into My Garden

Next we have Love of Pansy
Element Preview

and the papers

The Collaboration Kit:

This is called Birthday Wishes

Time for me to go, I need to get the Scraphead download for June 1 ready. I will put links to Scraphead Store in the morning.

Until next time...
Tess

John, ABC's of Tonya, SOTB

2008-05-30T21:34:00.003-06:00

Ended up in GJ (Grand Junction) for the last couple of days.

John, my significant other, is going through some hard times medically right now. He was having problems urinating, and they did a CT to see what is going on. He has what appears to be a tumor on the bladder where the prostate is. (He had prostate cancer 10 years ago.) But when they put the stent in from the kidney to the bladder they didn't see anything other than the prostate has enlarged again.

The reason we stayed in GJ, between the price of gas right now, it wearing him out when we go to town, (it takes two hours one way) and him needing to see two Dr.'s in three days it was just more prudent to do that. While we were there they did another CT and saw there was no change.

He had been wearing diapers because the stent was irritating the bladder, so he was having no control from drip. However, he wasn't able to empty the bladder either. So today they put a catheter in and he will wear that for the next week. Maybe next week it will come out and they will do another scope to look to see what is going on up there.

On to other things. Jen asked us at chat tonight to put our blog addresses out there for others to know about. So I did. She is calling it a "Blog-Train". They are in hopes of getting SOTB (Scrap Outside the Box) back to being a great place for scrappers to want to go. SOTB is where I am making my ABC's of Tonya at.

At the motel last night, I went through some of my disks and I found some of the pictures I have been looking for to finish up G, W and J. Now if someone would upload a page I could get one of those uploaded. I also figured out what to make with E. So I can get that page made and upload it here and continue on.

My Daughter is making a Blog!

2008-05-27T20:38:00.002-06:00

I was talking to my daughter on Yahoo and gave her copies of the layouts I made. Then I suddenly remembered, and said "Oh, I have a blog"

She said she liked the slide show. (Well, I would think so, since it is mostly her family.)

So anyway, she told me she had to potty. And about an hour later she says "how do I profile? I am making a blogspot..."

Woohoo, she has a video on there of the baby in a swing!

Maybe tomorrow I will tell more of what is going on in my life, here at home.

Have a good evening.
Tess

Photobucket

2008-05-26T16:22:00.005-06:00

Can you believe it? All that work!

I have to tell you, I think somehow Photobucket figured out that I went to Slide to get my photos on this blog. The reason I think that is I just reloaded the blog and there was photobucket working! Just amazing!

But that is ok, cuz slide had me imbed into this post. I have to figure out how to move it to the side. But as long as photobucket works, I won't have to! LOL

Hope you had a great Memorial Day!

Tess

Still Working on Slideshow, Winning Guess

2008-05-25T22:54:00.003-06:00

I have been working on getting the slideshow to work. It did work for a few minutes but then I tried to add more photos...
I am getting frustrated again, so I am gonna call it quits for tonight.

Hey, I put my guess on Divine Digital as to whether Princess LaLa's baby will be a boy or a girl. I guessed boy. I didn't read further so didn't know that there was a prize involved! So I opened my email today and there was a notice that I had a pm at DD. So I went and opened it and it said I was a winner! WOW! I get a $10 GC to use in Laura's store! Hopefully I will receive it before the sale is over! Also I get a Basic Grey Chipboard album through the mail! What a lucky day it was for me yesterday!

That's all I have to say for today. Have a great one!

Tess

Trying to add Slideshow

2008-05-24T01:03:00.000-06:00

I have tried a couple of times today to add a slideshow. So far it is beyond my ability. I will have to find someone to help me. I tried help on the site but I am more of a hands on person. Maybe tomorrow.
I added some more pages to the ABC's of Tonya today. At the ABC Crop on Wednesday, I challenged everyone to get their ABC's done. I suggested in the thread that I would not post anymore pages until someone else posted. Today, two pages were posted, so I added two of mine that were done.
I have not yet done my E. I just figured out what to make it of, now I need to find the photo(s) to use. I should be able to load it here in the next 48 hrs. The reason for the length of time, I have to go to town tomorrow and get my van it's next oil change. So I don't know if I will have the time.
With that, seeing the time, I guess I better get off here.
Have a great weekend!
Tess

My First Post!!!

2008-05-22T13:59:00.000-06:00

Wow! I am now a blogger!
I guess for starters I will upload some layout pages I have made. I think I will start with an album I am making for my granddaughter Tonya. It is part of a "for fun" crop challenge called A-B-C crop on Scrap Outside the Box. Here you will find the current forum thread.

So we have A is for Alex & Lizzy.

Alex is my eldest. His only child is Elizabeth. She has Ausbergers Syndrome. It is actually a rather heavy dose. It doesn't help any that her mother is over protective.
I took the girls (Tonya & Veronica) to the family reunion 2 yrs ago. We (including my mom) went to Alki Beach to meet up with Lizzy and her Mom and Dad. They have been divorced for about 7 yrs now, and Lizzy and her mom were living in Idaho but had just moved back to the Seattle area. The cousins had never met each other. Lizzy is not antisocial as much as her mother thinks, we all got along famously.
The photo in the layout is when we first got there. We then drove on around and walked on the beach and had lunch at a local place, followed by ice cream from the ice cream truck.
Mom was getting worn out so we returned to my brother's house.

On to the letter B. Bubble Bath

During the same trip, it was a little bit crowded at my brother's house and the girls were getting on Mom's nerves, so we went to my uncle Tom's to stay. Uncle Tom loves kids (unfortunately for him, he never had any of his own) so everyone thought that would be a good place to go. When we arrived we found he was pooch-sitting. He had two extra dogs. The one in the picture got along with the girls. Veronica could do just about anything to that dog and it took it so well. When it was bath time they even gave the dog a good scrubbing!

On to the letter C. Cartwheel is what I named this layout.

Tonya was 5 years old when we took these photos. She was living with me at the time. Her mom as working down at Gateway and had not yet moved the girls down there. She is a good acrobat. I have other photos of her swinging around a pole while her great uncle Darcy and Great grand uncle Tom are holding it. She was also able to cross the jungle gym hand holds in Kindergarten!

Next we have D. D is for Draw!

We were at the Library one day while I was working on the Lions Club Newsletter. She came to me and asked if I would show her how to draw a person. I told her to go ask her Ema (where my mom got that name for grandma I don't know), her great grandma to help her because she was a much better artist than I was. So Mom (the librarian) made the drawing on the left and told her to match everything she did. Her drawing was quite amazing and almost perfectly the same. In the photo she is working on another. She was 4 when this happened.
Ok, I have done my blog for today. Thanks for looking.
Tess