Happy Birthday to me!!!

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me-e
Happy birthday to me.

Ahhhh yes the day has finally arrived and today I turn the big 40!! Woohoo. Now I know there are a few that have asked me how do I feel....well I feel like I did yesterday ans the day before that and the day before that.....lol yep I don't feel any different at all. So what am I up to for my special day......hummmm so far Tim has been shopping at the Cheesecake Shop and I know there is some sort of yummy in the fridge. Stephanie has had a look (she is home as she has Glandular Fever) and said oh mum the cake is so yummy. So I trust what she says ;).
Ok next on the agenda....well I'm still in my jammies but shhhhh don't tell anyone I've just been toooooooooo lazy this morning and besides it's freezing here and they are so nice and warm. I got them for mother's day and they are bright orange cookie monster ones.....hehehehehe.
We are out to tea tonight, off to chinese cause that is what we all decided on. So smorgasbord here we come and you know I have to admit we rarely go anywhere like this so we will really enjoy ourselves.

No updates to Lance just yet, we are waiting to get into the pediatrician and can't get in until July as he is going away.....grrrrrr is nothing ever treated urgently these days. He is still having heart pains and he is not allowed to do anything active until we find out what is wrong......the way things are at the moment this is going to be a very long wait! He had his ingrown toenail taken off yesterday and that all went well so that is really good news. Needs to go back tomorrow for a follow up.
My DD Stephanie has been sick as you may have read already and last Friday she came out in an enormous rash that covered her entire body so took her up to Triage at the hospital and they did blood tests and diagnosed her with Glandular Fever.....unfortunately the doctor who diagnosed her with tonsilitis got it wrong and I have to admit I couldn't quite see how a child of 13 with, yes admittedly very severe tonsilitis, could be so so sick with it. Now that she has been diagnosed with GF it all makes sense as the chronic fatigue, sore throat, fever, not eating, sleeping all the time is all due to GF and it just so happens that in some cases a pretty bad rash occurs and Steps developed that. Thankfully it has been correctly diagnosed and today she is doing so much better. We did hum and ha about what to do for my birthday as 2 kids are not as well as expected but Steps is really good and the rash has almost disappeared and Lance is not in any pain with his toe so we can go out. YAY!!

I'm not sure what else there is to say except....a huge thankyou to all those that have said prayers, given us your best wishes and kept us in your thoughts, you have no idea how that has made me feel knowing that so many of you have read my blog and left all those wonderful comments both in the blog comments and also the freebie download comments. From the bottom of my heart I thankyou and I know that God is there looking after us through all of this. Without him I would be lost!

That's it from me today. Continue to enjoy your freebie and thankyou to the many many people who have downloaded the mini kit already. I can't wait to see what you do with it.
Chris XXOO

A little freebie to help celebrate!

Hey can you keep a secret........shhhhhh don't tell anyone, but did you know that next Tuesday I turn the big 40?! Yep yep yep I surely do and in honour of this huge milestone in my life and because I'm a really nice person...teehee... I decided to do a little celebrating early by giving you guys a gift. Freebie will be up for a week so grab it while you can because by next Friday (AEST) it'll be gone.

What you get:

2 papers, 1 aged notepaper, 1 stitched label, 1 coloured cardboard edge, 1 photo corner, 1 button and 1 gemstone.

Download freebie here. *link is no longer available*

Thanks so much to all of you who have downloaded this freebie.

****So sorry to the first couple of girls who graced my blog looking for the freebie only to find out I had forgotten to take the password off even though I had tested it often and it usually lets me know...oooops I feel a little embarrassed about that. All fine now though and you should have access to it without any probs.****

Please read my TOU that comes with this little freebie and please do not share this file with anyone instead send them here to download it via the link. Enjoy and don't forget if you download my gift please leave a little loving. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!!

Ciao.....Chris :)

It's been awhile I know....

Since I last blogged I'm sorry. There has just been so much happening here on the home front as well as with designing and getting things done that need to be done. Firstly my poor DD Steps only went back to school today after having all of last week off and the last 2 days of this week as she has been really sick. Somehow she managed to get a severe dose of tonsilitis and the poor kid has been so sick with it. Finally the antibiotics started to kick in on Monday and yesterday she looked good, had her appetite back, and had no sore throat. She so desperately wanted to go back to school today although I would have preferred her home for 1 more day just to make sure she really was recovered enough.

My son Lance is not well either and is having tests done on his heart to find out what the matter is. Friday I took him to the doctor's to have his ingrown toenail looked at again and let the doc know that Lance had been having some trouble with pains in his chest...anyway to cut a really really long story short he popped him on the ECG and his results were very abnormal so much so that the doc mentioned that if Lance was an adult he would have been having a severe heart attack and they would be calling an ambulance. Anyway like I said I don't want to go into all the details here but a specialist was called upon straight away and it was decided that the tests were urgent as something was wrong. We had the tests done on Monday...chest xray and TTE and the chest xray results have come back and all clear...that's good and the TTE results interim report had come back but so far it look clear as well although they did not have the full results yet. So I don't know what is wrong and I can't send him to school because the doc suspected a heart disease that....simply put causes sudden death so he mentioned a list full of things Lance was not allowed to do until the test results have come back. As my son is so active the very thought of sending him to school has given me the jitters and so I haven't and have let the school no why. He goes back to the doctor on Friday to see what does and take the next steps, if any. So my head has been in a bit of a spin with it all and more so now in a way as some of the results are clear but he is still having pains and they have not stopped.

Ok things are happening on the design front...although no new kits just yet there are some goodies I am working on as Pickleberrypop gears up for our very 1st birthday celebrations....yayayay can you believe it we are almost one. Then there are the things that a designer does or needs to do that have nothing to do with the actual creation of a new kit or element but are just as inportant to keep everything going as smooth as possible. But if you stay tuned then you will be let in on the secret.

Ahhhh yes to finish off for the day..... my CT stuff so far using Faer Oaks new kit Icing Noir which you can grab here and you can also see how yummy it is with the LO below.

Credits here

Much ado about nothing really............

Well I will probably just ramble on here and there a little with this post as I have a fairly busy day ahead of me so it'll be a quick one.

Let's see where to start..................

Stephanie has been home all week from school sick so yesterday took her off to the doc's and she has a very serious bout of tonsilitis...poor mite and so is on antibiotics, nasal spray, complete bed rest and panadol to help relieve pain and fever. I have not seen her this sick in years and in fact according to the doc she hasn't seen him since 2002 I think it was and hasn't has any antibiotics since they were last prescribed to her in 1999. Of course she has had the odd cold and virus but certainly nothing that the doctors could do about it but as I said well this time she has made up for lost time. So I think most of next week's schooling will be out as well for her. Today she was meant to have the 1st needle of the new vaccine that all girls are getting for Cervical Cancer but that is not going to take place and Monday she is meant to be off to Regional sports as she won in her school sports but that will not be taking place either. Poor little munckin.

I picked up my glasses for reading and all close up work yesterday......and ended up taking them back last night as I had notice the frame where the lenses sit in was not very happy and seeing as I just paid out $295 for the frames alone and of course more with the cost of the lenses, I was a little.........grrrrr IYKWIM so hopefully an easy enough fix and I'll go in today to see

Today I need to do some housework so that's on the agenda as soon as I am done here. Also on the agenda is back to the doctor this arvo but this time with Lance as yesterday in sports he almost collapsed with some pain in his chest....seems to happen when he exerts himself in anyway. He also found a lump so will get everything checked out today. The other problem he has is another ingrown toenail and he has been on antibiotics with it and the doc sent in a letter to the hospital in need of it to be operated on. So we got the letter a few weeks back saying he was placed in a catergory 2 and it would be a 3/6 month wait just to see him in the clinic. His toe has got so much worse so we are going to see of the doc can hurry that along. We have already been through this before with his other foot and from experience the doctors cannot do anything about it. So we may need to take him up to the hospital to hurry it along that way....grrrrrrrr! The health system....the little we have is in a mess and unfortunately with Tim doing his uni course, we simply can't afford private health insurance and so use the public system which can be really good but in situations like Lance who urgently needs to have the toe nail off before he loses it completely.....well you battle the system.

So what else is new in my neck of the woods?

A new line of elements is slowly making it's way into the shop at Pickleberrypop. Old Box Creations is here and there are 3 element packs out already with more to come. First up is........................

Old Box Creations - Daisies

Grab link here

Old Box Creations - Kids Labels

Grab link here

Old Box Creations - Romance Labels

Grab link here

All these packs are just $3 (AU) each and the daisies have been cut from cardboard, each one comes with button and hand drawn shadows for depth, there are 9 in total and they are big, therefore easy enough to resize to suit any layout. The labels have been aged and stitched and each comes complete with word and own definition. There are 9 in each pack and easy to mix and match.

What happened to the quick post.....lol I think it turned into a novel. I'm off to do some housework so have a great weekend, take care and stay safe.

Chris :)

P.S if I've made any typos....seems to happen regularly...I apologise but I can't see.....I haven't got my glasses and that's the excuse I'm sticking with ;) :)

Sad times.

Sometimes life can really throw some very terrible situations at your feet and make you fully appreciate all you have. I have not been able to blog about the terrible tragedy that totally rocked one of our very own at Pickleberrypop. We all know Deb (DebF) and most of us are now aware of the terrible tragedy that struck not quite 2 weeks ago now. Deb lost her husband in a fatal tractor accident leaving behind his soulmate, best friend, wife and mother to their 7 children. I cannot possibly begin to imagine what life has been for them and what life will continue to be for each of them everyday they are trying to deal with the grief and loss of a husband and a father, but I know that my heart, my thoughts, my prayers, my love and my very best wishes have been there everyday for her and the children.



Throughout the entire digital scrapbooking community we have joined forces in support for Deb and her family. What can you do to help? Well all we are asking is that you buy some of Deb's goodies here at Pickleberrypop . Whether you buy one thing or her entire shop of goodies all proceeds will be going to Deb and her 7 children to help them get through this incredibly tough time. 100% of the sales, no commission or fees will be taken out for the entire month of May so that every penny goes to support this family in need. While you are over at Deb's part of the store why don't you check out the Buy DebF support meter we have on the front page of the shop and just see how much has been raised so far. I am overwhelmed, honoured and incredibly amazed to be a part of this fantastic community world wide. To all that have helped someway already I say thankyou from the bottom of my heart. There is more that we are doing but I am not going to let you know just now until a little later on. So for now grab the blinkie below by right clicking and saving it to your hard drive or in the blinkie linkie list over in the right side margin, link it to her part of the store and proudly support your help for Deb, and where you can, pop it in you sig line or on your website or blog. Don't forget to leave some loving on her blog and wherever else you find a thread or 2 on a digi forum. Thankyou!

Appreciate all you have, keep your loved ones close and remember that life is precious so take care and stay safe.

Chris xx

New kit, end of the week, ramblings and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!.

Wow first up I need to say a huge thankyou to the overwhelming response I've had to the freebie I put up....scroll down to previous post below for link. It has just been incredible and I am really looking forward to seeing a few LO's created with it here and there and just on that note the freebie will be up till midnight my time (AEST) Friday night and then it's gone. So if you still want it or you know a buddy or 2 that do then make sure you stop by and grab it before I take the link down....be quick cause once it's gone it's gone. I will be putting more freebies up from time to time so be sure to keep an eye out for them, and the best way to do that would be to subscribe to my blog and that way you will always know when I have posted a freebie.

I have a new kit over at Pickleberrypop and it's called Kewl Girl and yep it's the baby sister of Kewl Boy that I put in the shop about a week ago. Check it out..........................

Bright and bold, fun and funky and just great for all those precious girl layouts that are just waiting to be scrapped.

Ok enough of that and now on to a few more ramblings.......it's Thursday night and it's nearly the end of the week...phew, has it been a busy one but then we all seem to be like it these days. Life sure doesn't know how to sit still...not even for a day.

Grace played volleyball tonight and they won again, 3 games in a row now and woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy and now they are 3rd from the top of the ladder and it looks like it will be a good season for them. Every other season they have been on the bottom of the ladder and just played from week to week without a real coach and a team that just didn't work together. This season (being her 3rd) there is a coach that's there all the time and a team that works together and are good and it sure makes a huge difference. So while we are on the topic of my poor DD Grace....we were referred to an orthodontist about 2 weeks ago by our dentist and we had that appointment on Tuesday morning and you want the good news or the bad......lol? Actually I'm not so sure there really is any good news but then you can decide for yourselves. Grace needs work and the poor kids teeth are not growing as they should. Overcrowding, teeth growing sideways, adult teeth coming through the bottom of her gum because the baby tooth won't come out and teeth overlapping...ahhh poor kid anyways the diagnosis is this..........you sitting down cause if not grab a cuppa and grab a seat.

Ok photos of mouth and teeth were taken, xrays done and diagnosis given.

• 5 teeth including one baby tooth that should not be there need to come out
• her 4 wisdom teeth also need to come out making it a total of 9 because there is no room in her jaw for them to sit
• full braces both top and bottom need to be fitted once the first 5 teeth are out
• wisdom teeth will be removed when she is about 16/17ish or they could all come out now....yes all 9 under a general anaesthetic
• we are opting for the 5 done over a couple of sessions and the wisdom done when she is 16/17
• 4-5 years of treatment all up to get straight happy teeth
• will wear a retainer for most of her life once braces are off but that won't be an everyday thing, it will end up being just once a week once she has worn it everyday and been slowly weaned off it so to speak
• cost will be exactly $5380 and that does not include the cost of the teeth that need to be removed

The only good news from all of this is that her teeth will be thankful for it, and so will her smile, and so will her confidence, and so will her feeling good about herself and all the emotions that come with it and so will Grace, oh, and so will I as I know only all too well what it is like to suffer with teeth that are all over the place and the fact I needed braces but my mum could never afford them and not that Tim and I can either but we have no choice and will do whatever we can to make sure she has the work done because if we don't do anything then she will start to suffer and I don't want that for her as her teeth are already starting to feel the impact of there being very little room in her mouth and are sore.

Next child..................Maddi had his plaster taken off on Monday and I have been meaning to take a pic of his bent arm and pop it on my blog. That may have to be next posting I think. Anyway plaster off, arm is bent but hopefully time will fix that and he is slowly regaining the use of it properly which will take some time. He goes back to see the orthopedic surgeon in 6 weeks just to see how well everything is or isn't healing and how well the mobility of the arm is going too, minus the plaster.

Yep and the other 2 are doing well....that is Lance and Stephanie. I finally went into our optometrist and got myself the reading glasses I so desperately need. I had all the testing done some 2 months ago but because I get the lenses through the government it is a bit of a wait. Although our family is entitled to cheaper government frames as well seeing as Tim is on the blind pension we only ever get the lenses through the scheme and pay full costs for brand new frames as the government does not have any class or style when it comes to those and they are just plain UGLY, so today my paper work came through and I went and chose the frames I wanted and seeing as I don't utilise these through the scheme, I can choose whatever ones I want, the ones that suit best and look pretty groovy after trying on a gazillion, I did. They are nice and funky and look really kool. I pick them up next Thursday and then I might just be able to see what I'm doing then. Say goodbye to headaches, migraines, sore eyes, eye strain and a messy jumble when I read anything and seeing as I spend soooooooooooooo many hours everyday in front of my monitor designing, scrapping, emailing, reading, PMing, chatting, browsing, surfing and all that jazz..............I might actually be able to see what I'm doing ........lol! But as far as the typo's go well if they still continue I guess I just have to blame it on the dog......hehehehehe.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Sunday is Mother's Day and too all you mums out there I wish you the very best Mother's Day ever. I hope you are totally spoilt with goodies, love, hugs, kisses, breaky in bed and a day of total indulgence. We do a wonderfully amazing job, it comes with no training manual and it's the hardest job in the world but we make it special and we do have plenty of rewards amidst the chaos. So enjoy your day whatever and however you spend it!

Well I think I'm done and if not well I guess that's what blogs are for, I can come back and post about it another time. So take care, stay safe, remember to grab the freebie if you haven't before it's gone and have a very Happy Mother's Day this Sunday!

Ciao....Chris

Did you miss out............

................on my freebie below then don't panic because I've uploaded again and you can grab it here. <................ link no longer available sorry!
The freebie link below is no longer available because it's been downloaded so many times sorry but thankyou to all those that have grabbed it and to those that have left comments.

Freebie4U

Seeing as it's officially NSD here downunder....lol, I'm joining in a little of the celebrations with a freebie just for you.

What you'll get:

2 papers, 2 cardboard stitched flowers, 1 binder clip, 1 sticker, 1 cardboard heart and 1 journal tag.

Download freebie here <....... *this link is no longer available please grab the link in above post thankyou*.

Remember to read my TOU that comes with this little freebie and please do not share this file with anyone instead send them here to download it via the link.

Enjoy and don't forget to pop in and say hi if you download it...ahhh what the heck pop in and say hi even of you don't....lol. Freebie won't be up for long so grab it while you can.

Thanks and ciao.....Chris

What's New!

Hi all and welcome to another day and another post. So I finally managed to upload Kewl Boy into my part of the store last night over at Pickleberrypop and whilst I was waiting I also managed to create an assortment of coloured Binder Clips.....18 in all that are now available in the pop shop.

Kewl Boy Kit is certainly a little fun, funky and bold and is $6 (AU) in the Pop Shop.


Kit includes: 9, 12x12 bold and funky textured papers, 6 grungy words.....awesome, big, boy, dude, kewl and little, 5 hand drawn star doodles, 4 buttons, 3 photo corners, 3 ribbons, 1 ribbon charm, 1 washer, 1 photo slide, 1 binder clip, 1 paint stroke, 1 brad and 1 stitching.

The Binder Clips.......all metal and 18 assorted colours are just $3 (AU) in the Pop Shop.

Layout created with both my Kewl Boy Kit, Cardboard Pieces and Binder Clips.

Full Credits here

SCRAPLIFT CHALLENGE!!!!

I am hosting this months Scraplift Challenge at Pickleberrypop. Grab all the details and freebie here and I sure hope to see some fab scraplifts popping into the gallery.

So what else is new in my neck of the woods.....hummmmm thinking, thinking, thinking some more......ahhh yes my DS Lance who is nearly 16 and is in year 10 at school is on Work Experience (WE) this week....would you believe back at his old primary school working in the class room with years 1/2. He is enjoying it somewhat more than he lets on I truly believe.......lol and all the little kids just love him. He has his own little fan club. Some of the things that come out of their sweet little mouths are.......... "We wish you were our dad Lance", "we wish you could be our teacher forever" and of course then the hugs and following him around like shadows and I dropped him off this morning and they just ran to him......lol. I think it is so so sweet and besides the fact that he says it is boring, and he can't stand the kids hanging about I think deep down inside he is loving it. Just cause he is almost 16 and a boy doesn't have anything to do with it .......................right???? ;) ;)

So he started that on Monday and finishes on Friday. I know I know you ask what does he want to do as his chosen career path......well I don't think he has any real idea but he has some thoughts and they are..... PE teacher, drum teacher, a professional computer game player......lol (if he had his way he would spend his life on Runescape getting paid for it), and brick layer. The fact that WE is mandatory and alot of kids have no idea what they want to do as a career, the benefits of WE even in a field you don't really wish to do, still gives them so much to think about, and makes them feel more self worthy, confident, the feeling of importance and accomplishment and basically puts them on an emotional high (in most cases) that they are in so many ways at a very young age giving to the community and receiving the benefits for it let alone a small taste of what is expected IRL with training, finding a job, and working.

Well that's it for another day and so take care, stay safe and catch you all soon.

Ciao.....Chris :)