My little grandson, who will be 8 on Saturday, has an attitude – a lot!  He thinks he’s grown like his cousin, in between still sucking his thumb when he’s tired.  I can change it, usually, though, with a little bit of laughter and smiles.  What they say about smiles being infectious is true!  He can have a pout going on, with his bottom lip protruding out so far he could trip over it.  He’ll be whiny or grumpy, too.  I can just look at him with a smile and, before he can resist, he is all smiles.  I always tell him, “this will pass, it always does.”  And, it does.  Believe it, or not, after years in psychotherapy, I came to the conclusion that most every situation will pass.  I can get in a major funk, as that is my on-going problem, and, eventually, it passes.   Having learned this, I can get through things better than before, as it feels like there is hope.  Experience has taught me, if I don’t like the mood I’m in, hold on a little while – it will pass/change.  It is my small comfort, but, one that keeps me sane.  Really!  Besides, my grandson has the prettiest smile.  It makes it all worth while.

One of the things that helps, too, is little prompts, like cards or pictures with little feel-good sayings.  These were a godsend when I was going through some of my darkest days.  Well, I have just the place to go to get my ‘daily dose’ of feel good!  No, not the dude in the back alley!  Jeez!  LOL  My friend, Nana, NanaBananaScraps, is an artist and a creator of some of the cutest little pixels on the net!  “Just4Today” is a series Nana does, of little cards with her special words that delight or make one feel good or make ya slap your thigh with laughter.  She has a Facebook page where you can see the cards each day.  What better way to get your daily inspiration? 

 In my own news, I decided to join in with the other designers at Gothic Inspirations, for their infamous monthly Blog Trains.  My friend, Miss Edna, from Miss Edna’s Place blog, has been involved in it for a while and told me about it.  I thought I would try.  So, starting in September, I will be a part of this monthly treat.  We’ll see.  I hope I can live up to the wonderful standard the designer have set for this event.  It will be an huge learning experience for me.  That will be fun!  I’ve placed one of Jessica’s banners at the top of my page.  Have a look-see at all of the GI blogs, including one by her own designers.  Jessica is an amazing designer.  So are the others who have participated in these blog trains, bringing the fame and notoriety the name has so well deserved.

Next, I’ve mentioned the Magickal Scraps store and how it was hacked and closed a few months back.  It didn’t affect the forums, but, Snowy, the owner/designer, has decided to let that site go.  She is going through a marvelous time in her life, of late, and has some new and other interests and obligations.  Though she is growing in so many fantastic ways, her time for designing is at a minimum, for her.  She’s already shown the world, and herself, that she is a top-notch designer.  It was Snowy and her designs that drew me to her site in the first place.  I love the Gothic look and the ‘nature-based’ spirituality of certain beliefs, which she has brought to her designs.  She gave me my first gig as a designer, letting me join in on a few events with my own contributions.  She, and the others at that place, have been wonderful!  They’ve been so supportive.  More than that, though, they’ve been friends.

So, with the future of that site nearing the end of the year’s contract, we all put our heads together and came up with the decision to start a new place, a website of our own, so to speak.  Snowy will still be a part of the team, but, she needs some personal time.  She’s crossing the ‘big pond’ to come to America to visit her beau.  On her blog, Snowraven’s Cave, she writes about her special romance with her soulmate, Erik.  Though they met online, he is known to one of the other ladies.  They have kept a relationship going for over a year, either online or by phone.  Soon, she’ll be coming over to meet for the first time in person.!  So exciting!  She’ll be an occasional contributor still.  The rest of the team, and I, have started with a new forum, which is still in the organization stage.  Much of the same content will be switched over from the old site to the new.  The “Daily Downloads” that we do each month will be switched over on September 1, 2010.  We’re getting the word out, now.

As a special event, a ‘grand opening’, if you will, the ladies are planning a treat for everyone!  Still in the planning stages, as well, we are going to offer a very nice surprise to all of our followers and, hopefully, some new members.  You are more than welcome to pay the site a visit, now, if you like.  For the time being, we’re still using the Magickal Scraps name.  Later, if we so desire, we can make any changes.  Names, places and all are not what is important.  What is is the people, the designs and the challenges and all the loverly things that make a community.  Our little community has remained strong as ever throughout all of the store-hacking and such.  We’re still creating away!  And, from the looks of the things the ladies have been creating, we’re in for a good time!

The new Magickal Scraps forum is HERE!

Check it out, if you like.  We are still setting things up and, Maitri, one of our designers and a terrific one, at that, is working on it.  Her little one has been sick, bless his heart.  It is so sad when a little one is so sick!  But, she has still managed to work her magick on the new forum!  If you pay her blog a little visit, she has a new kit that she made for scrapping photos from her son’s visit to the hospital, called, “Get Well Soon.”  It is so adorable!  I don’t think she’ll mind if I sneak a little preview in here:

  Click on any of the highlighted links in the above paragraph to go there. 

And, make plans for our surprise on September 1, and the Grand Opening.  I’ll post reminders, for sure.  LOL

You know I can’t post without leaving you with a little sump’n.  I’ve been interested in ‘collage sheets’, lately.  They are such a great concept!  I’ve got so many images stored on my hard drive that are copyright-free.  I just haven’t known what to do with them.  Ta-da!  Enter the collage sheet.  LOL  I really don’t know a lot about the specs on a sheet.  Someone suggested they be A4 sized, or the size of a piece of notebook paper.  I don’t know.  I see all different sizes, shapes and set-ups.  I made mine on the scrapbook-sized page, 3600x3600px(12inx12in) at 300dpi.  I can get lots of stuff on it.  LOL  I even tinkered around with the layout design and a logo!  Feedback would be cool, if you don’t mind.

I’m trying Box.net for this download.  Click on the image and trot on over for the download.

I labeled each of the little images because it as hard to tell what they were and what letters some of them represented.  And, please note, the ‘J’ and the ‘X’ were not in the book.

Until next time, take care!

And, Smile!

Hugs,

Su