Surprise Challenge @ Wilma4ever!

:: SURPRISE CHALLENGE ::

Come on over to the Wilma4ever Forum and join in the Surprise Challenge - just one of the Challenges I am hosting there this month! The theme this month all

ALL ABOUT ME

The challenge is to use the letters of your name to feature words that describe you, or a loved one. I have done one featuring my husband, and one below featuring me.

This challenge is a lot of fun and I hope you will join me there.

There is a prize for all who participate - that's right, just for taking part!

Only @ Wilma4ever Forum

Lyrics Challenge @ Wilma4ever!

:: LYRICS CHALLENGE ::

Come on one and all and join in the fun at the Wilma4ever Forum!!

This month over at the Wilma4ever forum the Lyrics Challenge is just one of the challenges I am hosting this month!  The featured kit for this Challenge is my gorgeous "Pumpkin Patch" kit which is sure to create some gorgeous layouts.

So what is the prompt this month?? Stop by and check it out!!

Only @ the Wilma4ever Forum

Lyrics Challenge

Meet Stina and Susan

I figured our fans would like to see us both together (Designs by Stina and Tootypup Scraps) even if just as proof that we aren't actually the same person....lol....as some people in the design world have often believed. Yes, Susan and I, while we do share the same surname, are really TWO different people and aren't actually related.

These were taken on the PV Rothbury (a diesel-run paddleboat) on the Murray River that Jeff and I took us all out on as a thank you to Susan for having us, as sadly our holiday has come to an end and we leave Mildura tomorrow. And Susan will have you know that these photos were taken under duress...lol...since she hates all photos of her. But I still wuvs her to bitses! lol

Unbreak Me Tag by Amy plus Tutorial

Amy, from Scrappin Bratz, made me this gorgeous tag (cause she knows I love Twilight..lol) frm a tutorial she wrote using a kit by Cazie's Designs. Thank you Amy!

You can find the tutorial by clicking on the tag.

I Rescued a Human Today

Received this in my Inbox today and I so had to share it! Those who know me know I love animals, especially dogs. Their ability to love and understand your needs goes beyond any comprehension. I cannot imagine a life without such an unconditional love bestowed upon us by our ever-faithful four-legged friends.

And I am proud to say I'm a rescued human TWICE by shelter dogs. And I will go on being rescued till the end of my days.

:: I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY ::

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.
She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well. Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes. I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

For Laughs...

Totally unrelated to scrapping but I so had to share! LOL I'm a huge Garfield fan, and love him to bits. The cat doesn't just have attitude - he is the definitive of CAT-itude! lol

Happy Birthday to Ciara!

Happy birthday to Ra
Happy birthday to Ra
Happy birthday dear Ciara....
Happy birthday to Ra!!!

My baby girl is 5 today! And what a spoilt princess she is. But for her today is no different from any other day as she lounges on HER bed (the one she lets mummy and daddy share with her - how very kind..lol) and plays with her multitude of toys and having barking fun with daddy. For her special day she got another toy for her collection to destroy...lol....and a cooked meal of chicken livers! Yuk for mummy (whose kitchen now smells) but YUM for Ra who thought they were the best and is wondering if there is any more....lol Yep there is, but that's tomorrow's dinner. lol

Happy birthday baby girl....

A Special Tribute

My neighbour called this evening with the sad news that her beloved dachshund had passed away. As soon I heard her voice I could tell right away something was wrong and my immediate thought was - one of the dogs or the cat. She loves her menagerie of pets (which includes birds, ducks, chooks etc. as well as 3 dogs and a cat) as I love my pooch. She came home yesterday from work and found her 14 year old girl laying peacefully on one of the other dogs' bed. She had not long passed, and as frail as she had been getting, nothing ever prepares you for the shock of it actually happening.

I have lived here just over 6 years now and I have known this little dog all that time. She was only tiny and when I met them I thought she was just a puppy - that is how small she was. Cindy was a little darling, the runt of the litter, but an affectionate and loveable little girl. She didn't like men, children or anything boisterous, and just loved a cuddle. We often joked that she didn't need legs - she had mummy. She was just under 3kg which was tiny but in her favour made it easier to carry around - which she was rather accustomed to. During her time she had seen the comings and goings of many other animals, but in the last couple of years had to endure the arrival of two new much younger and very boisterous maltese terriers - each respectively. And she hated them on sight! lol

I grew very fond of Cindy and often used to spend time cuddling her and pottering the yard with her and her "mummy". I am not a little dog person generally, as I usually find them too yappy for my liking but Cindy had a pathetic charm we used to say - she had certainly mastered the art of pathetic looks and if it were an Olympic event she would win hands down. lol But it was part of her charm and what made her so loveable and unique.

When my neighbour called me with the news this evening I was shocked, and very saddened, as I was rather fond of dear Cindy. I know when losing a pet there is nothing one can do to ease the pain - it is like a part of the family has died, or a part of you has been ripped out of you. I knew there was nothing I could to ease my neighbour's pain, but there was something I could do - as a small gesture to let her know I was thinking of her and that I understand. So I rummaged through my collection of photos on disc, and found the ones I had of Cindy and using my scrap kit "Puppy Love", I made a little card in tribute to a lost friend. It's not much, I know, but it's but a small token to show I understand.

And I know that Cindy will always be missed by all those who loved her.

Flamingos Walk Tag by Yours Truly

SURPRISE!!!! Yes, I actually made a tag! lol Hey I might even write a tut out of it, though I usually do those at the same time as making the tag so I don't forget the steps. lol

This is made using my latest kit "A Touch of Paradise", and especially for the inspiration of this kit - Sam I Am...lol (of Sam's Scraps) Her and her plastic flamingos....lol She say anything against my Edward, the Cullens or anything Twilight again I will beat her round the head with them. lol Edward may even kill one of them, though us Fanpires know his aversion to mountain lions....but he can always make an exception. Team Edward forever!

Why is it...?

Why is it that when you reformat and reinstall something ALWAYS has to NOT work the way it always has done??! I have been using IE8 since it was released, and of course I reinstalled it. But suddenly the right click option to "open in new tab" a new link has disappeared! And try as I might - googling and reading others' suggestions - I could NOT get it back. It was driving me insane. Had that been the only thing I could have lived with it. Though I do use the open in new tab right click option a lot.

But one of the biggest problems I had prior to this, even before I reformatted, was Gmail. I came to the conclusion it was an IE8 issue, when I discovered I could fly it fine in Chrome. For a long time I have never had any success in sending emails from the Gmail website - I had no idea why this happened, i just did. Whenever I tried to respond to an email or write an email, I'd click SEND and it would then tell me "You are sending an email without any body or text. Are you sure you wish to continue?" HELLO!! I just spent half an hour typing an email and it was staring me in the face - I could see! But it would say there was no body or text. And when I sent anyway, the email would always go through blank. I never had any idea why it would do this. Then I opened it in Chrome one day and it worked perfectly. So I concluded it was IE8. THAT was not my only issue either. Recently, I couldn't access the Spam or Trash links in Gmail, so therefore I couldn't empty either of them. Gmail has a drop down link titled "4 More" which you click on and it drops down to reveal Spam, Trash and a couple of other links. When I clicked on "4 More" it would do nothing and my status bar would then say there was an error. Yeah...like it wouldn't work! That drove me insane!

So when I found I had suddenly lost my right click link option to "open in a new tab" today after reformatting and reinstalling I decided I was going back to IE7 and see how that behaved. Well, I'm happy to say it all works fine. I have my right click option to "open in new tab" again, plus I can also access the Spam and Trash folders in Gmail and even better - my emails are not sending blank from Gmail!! So as much as I liked IE8, there are a few bugs that didn't like me or gmail or whatever else it decided to take a disliking to. I have to say, I miss the Favourites Bar though. I used that all the time. Had all my regular favourites stored there and with one click I could go to the site. Now I have to open up the favourites folder and search through tons of links for what I want which is a pain. lol But I guess it is a small price to pay to have everything else working again.

But again, I have to ask? Why do things never go back to the way they were after a reformat and reinstallation? GRRRRRR.

OK, that's my venting done for the day....lol

Cheers
Stina

Reformatting....AARGHH!!

Well Photoshop is not my friend at the best of times, and tonight it threw a mega hissy fit whilst running an action. It wouldn't let me save it an completely shut me out and wouldn't even let me close the program. Interestingly, albeit frustratingly also, this only happened with this particular action.

Anyways, my computer is long overdue for a reformat and it has been whining at me for some time under the strain...lol So I decided to reformat and see if that makes any difference. Goodness knows the memory of my graphics card isn't as much as I really need it to be so that is on my "Wish List" for the near future. Photoshop users will know how much of a memory hog it is, so more memory will be a good thing.

I think what peeved me even more was that I was in the middle of working on another kit which probably would have been about complete by now if I had not run into this "small" problem. So that is on hold for the moment while my puter goes through the motions of reinstalling all things important. Thank goodness for my laptop in the meantime. LOL But all my designing stuff is on my main puter and I'm still in the process of reinstalling everything at the moment - setting up sharing over the network hasn't been a priority at the moment. Especially considering it is now 4am in the morning and I've had to run the reformat twice because I had problems with the chipset installations for the motherboard. And me being me HAS to do it now, because I want to get my mail set up so it can download the multitudes that generally flood my inbox and is best doing so in my ISP's off peak time so I don't go over bandwidth quota. LOL Priorities.....lol

So don't worry if I'm a tad quiet....now you know where I am. Not far....just drowning in reintstallations. LOL Plus as PSP is my main graphics program, it is also the last graphics program I install so it overrides all the others previously installed. And I'll get this new kit finished yet. lol And I hope to have another freebie for you all again soon. Still...a couple of blog trains take off next week awash with freebies, and I have mine ready to go. *g*

Anyways...best finish off my reinstallations for the night so I can get SOME sleep.

Cheers
Stina

Happy New Year!! (1st January 2010)

The clock struck midnight just 25 minutes ago here in Australia so it is now officially 2010! The dog has long since taken cover....anywhere from beside me at my feet to under the bed. Next year I'm getting sedatives for her (I forgot this year).

Anyways, just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a wonderful New Years' from Designed by Stina and Tootypup Scraps (who is offline at the moment) due to puter probs.

So HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I'm gonna relax for the next few days. Been far too hectic for me and I need a rest. lol Back to "work" Monday so best make the most of it. lol

Cheers

Stina (and Tootypup)

Happy Birthday to MEEE!! (31st December 2009)

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me-eee

Happy birthday to MEEEEEEEE!!!

Yep, today is my birthday and believe me, it's an awful time to have one! LOL No one remembers, and if they do they are always too busy with NYE plans etc. Mail strikes here this year have prevented any wishes from reaching me in time (on the off-chance people DID in fact remember...lol)...and then there is always the "too broke-too stuffed-too exhausted after Christmas" thing. I think I got two text messages for my birthday today and one phone call. Oh well...been a crappy year all round anyways, so here's to hoping 2010 is a better one!

And with today being my birthday also means that tomorrow is the FINAL DAY to get those savings on my products!! So hurry hurry hurry....before time runs out!!

Available at all stores!

Merry Christmas!! (25th December 2009)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Though some of you are still experiencing the mad rush that generally takes place on Christmas Eve, ours has been and gon....and it is now officially Christmas Day here in Australia! Albeit it is 2.25am in the morning as I rushed to finish my latest kit and have it in store before the festivities (YAY! I did it!! lol)...something to kickstart the New Year. lol

I'm sitting here waiting for Santa....and if he ever gets here then he can finish my cooking, wash my dishes and clean my kitchen for me...because I'm beat! LOL

Anyways....Merry Christmas from me to you...and my baby girl in the top graphic I made with my first ever Christmas kit "Happy Howl-a-days". May you each be blessed with the peace, love and joy this season.

Cheers
Stina