Happy New Year ~!

Ok, I know I'm a little late ... tsk, tsk. But I'm here now and that's all that matters. Happy 2011 ~ Wow!

My daughter has not had the baby yet, her due date is actually the 25th but they will let her go until Feb. 3rd. He's almost here!!. She's really getting uncomfortable and can't wait to go into labour ... lol. They had a maternity photo shoot done around the Christmas holidays and had some really nice shots taken.





So any day now we are going to be grandparents. What an honour!

I have lots I could write about and I could go on and on ... but I'm going to keep this as short as possible. There is one thing I want to tell everyone though. My husband and I both went last Thursday for laser therapy to quit smoking ~!! Yay. And so far so good. We are non smokers ... we are non smokers. It is tough but we can do this!!!

Another thing I would like to talk about is Artscow. You've probably heard me mention it before. It's the place that I get my photo scrapbooks printed. They are in Hong Kong but deliver all over the world. They have great prices, a great assortment of products and great promotions etc. Lately I've taken advantage of a few of their great promotions and have received cosmetic bags, coin purses, pillows and all kinds of fun stuff. If you join their email list you are the first to know about the current promotions. If you join their facebook you get great deals for shout & sharing their promotions. Another cool thing they have is templates. So for example if you want a cosmetic bag but don't feel like designing one you just browse their templates and drag and drop your pictures into the template. No extra charge for the templates.

Anyways ... I have become a designer for this company and I have all kinds of free product templates available. So if you are looking for a nice personalized gift, I highly recommend Artscow!

Here is a link to my free templates:
Lil's Templates
(Notice because someone has a name with 'Lil' in it, this link also includes her templates.) But in the search field on this page you can actually type Lil + Cosmetic (for example) to see all my cosmetic bag templates. Or Lil + Umbrella - etc.

Here's a few of the cosmetic bags I have made and purchased.



You need to set up a free account with Artscow ...
It's so much fun making personalized gifts!

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

So I went on a denim kick and this is what I put into LLL Creations Dollar Mart ...

6 denim papers - with stitching for great layouts ... get them here.



14 denim designs - great for so many layouts and subjects ... get them here.



6 really large denim frames. They really make your pictures pop. Get them here.



And a layout using some of these products with Bailey ... my little purrball ...



So come on over to LLL Creations Dollar Mart ...

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

And as a 'forgive me' for not blogging very often ...
I have this freebie for you today;

Download 2011 Date Stamps
SORRY LINK HAS EXPIRED



And nothing has changed - comments are still appreciated~!

Where Do I Start???

First off ... a huge apologoy for my longggggggggggggggggg absence. I have no real excuses, no huge stories to tell (Ok, maybe a few but they really had nothing to do with me not blogging) - no real reason. Other then the fact I was getting tired and life seems so busy all the time. Days lead to weeks, and weeks to almost 2 months. Every couple of days I would tell myself "I have to blog tonight", but then I just didn't have the energy or drive to follow through. But here I am the day before Christmas eve and I have today off work and so I'm not moving from this chair until I'm done!!! LOL

I know I recieved many emails and I am very touched that so many of you were concerned. Thank you. Everyone here is fine and the cats are too~! I think after opening this blog in April 2008, sometimes posting 3 or 4 times a week, it just started to feel like a huge burden on me. I hope everyone can understand. I'm not going to shut it down and after Christmas my hours will be cut at work so I really am hoping to get back into some kind of normal routine. Even if it's just once a week. So don't give up on me yet!!!

My daughter is due in exactly one month. She looks so cute pregnant. But she is in that last stage where it starts to become uncomfortable. A few days after my last post we went & saw little Hayden in a 3D/4D ultrasound. It was so amazing! Watching him move around and yawn and even smile! Seeing his little fingers and toes, it was such a great experience.



All the dark areas are fluid. And that was almost 2 months ago so the little guy has probably changed alot. But we know he has all his parts! lol. We can't wait to meet him.

Now as far an Nemo goes, I know a few people asked about him. There is no short way to tell this story. When he got very sick at the end of October we saw a huge turn around after he was given fluids and antibiotics. About a month later (End of Nov) he got sick again. Same type of thing. He hid under the bed, wouldn't eat, drink etc. Of course it happened on a weekend and we had to force feed him and give him liquids by syringe into his mouth. He was very sick again. Back to the vet and had another blood test done. My husband mentioned to the vet that the last time he was on antibiotics 2 of the pills were wasted when Nemo spit them up and we couldn't get them back into him. The vet didn't think that had anything to do with it but my husband insisted he give him another weeks worth of antibiotics while we were waiting for the test results. We brought him home and immediately after the first pill we saw a difference. The next day the blood tests came back normal again. Weird. Each day with the pills he got better and better. The vet wanted to do all kinds of more tests of course but again he seemed so much better. Within a week of taking the antibiotics he was right back to normal. In the meantime we brought Bailey our cat in to get neutered. I had a thought that maybe Nemo was sensing Baileys masculinity as Bailey had started to mature, and maybe he could smell his 'maleness' and was put out by it. So many theories for this illness went through my head. Then I received an email from a cat club I belong to and the topic was 'Poisoness Plants to cats'. I printed it out but didn't read it right away. A few days later I sat down to read it and almost fell on the floor! I thought I was a 'good' pet owner and kept my cats inside and kept them safe. But I'm reading this information and at the top of the list is Lilies. As soon as I read it I thought about my husband bringing me Lilies a few months ago. I had taken pictures of them so I immediately went and looked at the date I took the pics. I took pictures of the Lilies on Oct 23rd, about a week after I had received them. Nemo got sick the first time on Oct 25th. Coincidence? Those Lilies lasted forever and even after the flowers fell off I kept the plant because it was potted and still nice and green etc. I finally threw the plant out after about another month. Hense Nemo getting sick again?. Either way I had googled it and was stunned at just how poisoness these plants are to cats. I never knew that!!!!! It can kill them within hours if they ingest ANY part of the plant, not just the leaves but the flowers (even dead flowers) the roots or any part. CAT OWNERS BEWARE - Lilies are put into many plant arrangements that you can buy - DO NOT allow them in your house. I have many plants in my house and Nemo is not a plant eater. My theory is that he might of 'played' with a fallen flower and licked his paws. I really have no idea but I do know we are soooooooooo lucky that both of our cats alive and well. I just hope there is no long term affects from this. The vet doesn't think so but again I never got any clear answers from him.

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

Now its time to see some new Christmas word art that went into
LLL Creations Dollar Mart ...

Christmas Word Art #4 - 5 cute christmas word art for only $1 - get them here.



~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

And sorry for the late December Frame ... but it's here now.
This is todays freebie ...

Download December Frame
SORRY LINK HAS EXPIRED



If you are new to my blog ... well, I gave away these frames the first week of every month. If you've missed any ... you can get them here. (You can get the Mega Pack there too!)

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011.

And as usual, comments are appreciated.

A Sneak Peek ...

YaaaaaaaHoooooo.. tonight I'm going to my daughters and we are staying overnight because Saturday... we all get a 'sneak peek' at our new little baby~! My daughters 3D Ultrasound! I'm sooooo nervous, excited, emotional about it. (I can imagine her and her husband!). I actually was a little skeptical at first with all this new technology they can do and wondered if it possibly could be bad for the baby. But the other day I went and had a total physical and I casually asked the radiologist about it. She said there is absolutely no problem with it .. unless - for some reason during your pregnancy there is a problem and you need many, many more ultrasounds. There is no proof that ultrasounds harm the baby but they try to keep it to a limited amount. That made me feel much better as she said she would get one done herself!.

Anyways, it will be exciting. I hope little 'Hayden' cooperates and shows off for us!! lol

Thanks to everyone for there nice comments on Nemo. He is totally back to his normal self and feeling just fine. And Bailey is such a wonderful cat. We love his personality EXCEPT - he eats like a dog!!! LOL I have never had a cat that eats everything you put out. When Mischief was around, I would put out 2 bowls in the morning of wet food (I always have dry food out) and him and Nemo would eat a bit each and walk away. Then they would come back now and then and have a bit. But now when I put out food - Bailey eats everything in sight until it is gone. It's horrible. Nemo actually has changed his whole eating pattern just so he doesn't starve ... LOL. Nemo eats much more then he normally would at one sitting but he still doesn't eat all of it ... but Bailey comes right behind him and finishes it off. My husband calls him the little piglet. I'm not sure what to do when we go away overnight. I'm thinking of seperating them into seperate parts of the house so they can each have their 'own'. I'm hoping this is just a phase ... maybe because he's a growing cat, maybe because he's never had 'enough' food, maybe, maybe, maybe. Any suggestions would be appreciated ... LOL.

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

I put some new 'Inspiration Word Art' into LLL Creations Dollar Mart today. Have a look ...



And one shown below for size against a 12x12 inch paper ...



This 4 pc. set is only $1.00 ~ get it HERE.

Hopefully in my next post you will be able to see my little grandbaby Hayden ...

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

And ... it's NOVEMBER ... and you know what that means ...

It's time for the November Frame Freebie ...

Download November Frame Freebie
SORRY LINK HAS EXPIRED



If you are new to my blog ... well, I give away these frames the first week of every month. If you've missed any ... you can get them here. (You can get the Mega Pack there too!)

This frame fills a 12x12 inch layout. You can see the size on a 12x12 inch paper in THIS post.

Comments are really appreciated~! You can comment below this post or in my CBox on the right side of this blog~

A Worrisome Week ...

Well, it's been a hectic, worrisome week.

Bailey our new kitten (he's actually at least doubled in weight since we got him) has adjusted quite nicely. He's got a great personality and has fit in just fine~!



Nemo and him have been great together too. I had noticed a few weeks back that Nemo's 'meow' seemed really raspy. He is a very vocal cat and meows alot. It definately sounded like he must have a bit of a cold. I noticed it the week after we got Bailey but I honestly think it might of started a few days before. Anyways, I really noticed it that week and figured Nemo must of got it from Bailey since he did have a bit of a cold coming from the Humaine Society.

One week ago we had company and I noticed Nemo wasn't around much but I thought it might be because we had company. He's not antisocial or anything but sometimes he just wants to be alone. The next day, Saturday, I found that Nemo didn't want to come out from under our bed. I tried everything to coax him and even brought him up food and water and he wanted nothing to do with it. I started to get quite worried that evening. On Sunday, same thing, he wouldn't come out from under the bed. We could see he was having a hard time swallowing, and was obviously getting dehydrated. We took him out and tried putting food and water in his mouth but he just wanted to go back under the bed. Now I was really worried!

I had to work Monday so my husband brought him to the vet and they did blood work. The blood work results came back all normal except some elevated white blood cells and said they had to send some blood work to Toronto (a city a 100 km's away) to check for pancreas problems.

They hydrated him with fluids by a needle under his skin and gave us an antibiotic and some perscription food that they said we would have to give him by squirting it through a syringe into his mouth. When my husband got home with him he opened the food and decided to try some in a bowl first. And Nemo ate it. Yay! I called from work and was really happy to hear that. Nemo obviously was weak from not eating etc and slept most of the day. That night he came downstairs and laid on the back of the couch like he normally does and ate a little more food too. The next day we called for the results of the blood work and it came back normal. No problems with the pancreas. YAY! They weren't sure what it was but they wanted us to keep giving him the antibiotic medication and keep a close eye on him. It was 'some type' of infection. I thought for sure Bailey had given him something from the Humaine Society but the vet said it is highly unlikely and just a coincidence. Either way, Nemo is much better. Not 100% but close and we couldn't be happier. The vet charged way to much as usual, but who can put a price on a family pet? Was it worth it? Hell Ya!!! I truly think without the hydration he might not of been here today.

Nemo is only 6 years old and has alot of years left in him ... we are so glad he's back ~!!!

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

Well, today the last of these frames went into LLL Creations Dollar Mart. There have been Circle, Oval and Rectangle and today ...

Simply Square Frames - 6 large beautiful chrome frames for only $1.50 - get them HERE.



And the below layout shows the size of one of the frames on a 12x12" paper.
This is Nemo ... he must be feeling better, he's sitting beside the cupboard that holds the treats ... lol.



If you never have been to LLL Creations Dollar Mart you really should come over and take a peek. I have so many items in the store now, of course ALL of them dollar store prices and I think alot of the items are really unique. Come over and see ...

~~ -:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:-.•:*♥*:•.-:¦:- ~~

Halloween is just around the corner. I love to see all the little ghosts and goblins walking down the street. Today your freebie is this Halloween Cluster Overlay. I wasn't really sure what to call this. You could use it as a page bottom or overlay it over a picture, etc ... etc.

Halloween Cluster Overlay
SORRY LINK HAS EXPIRED



The below layout shows the cluster at the bottom of the page. This is my daughter in 1988 when she was 6 years old!
It's never to late to scrap~!!!



The Halloween word art in the above layout is available HERE.

Have a great weekend~! Comments as usual are always appreciated.