Thursday, March 29, 2007

We're Moving!

It's time for the big server move! I'm busy transferring everything over as I type this. I will update when the move is complete - probably about 72 hours.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Dreams of Dublin Freebie Kit!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I'm pleased to offer March's freebie kit, Dreams of Dublin. It's an often-requested kit from designing days gone by - totally revamped of course!





All I ask is if you like my kit please consider purchasing something from my store. I've marked everything 50% off this weekend, so check it out!

Here's the download links:
Alpha 32 mb
Paper 37mb
Elements 23 mb
(Please note: If you get a time-out error when trying to download it's because of too many connections - please try again later.)

In closing I thought I'd share a lil' bit of Irish logic with ya:
When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to Heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven. Here's to green beer!

Friday, March 09, 2007

I Think I'm Getting Old

Did you know you're not supposed to pluck your nose hairs because you could literally yank out chunks of skin and get a yucky infection? I excavated this nugget of nasal knowledge last night as I was working up the courage to eradicate a dozen or so of the unruly buggers (vs. boogers) with a set of fancy-schmancy tweezers purchased for this very purpose. I was curious why it hurt and made my eyes water sooooo effingbad.

I didn't find my answer but I was sort of stunned to learn that apparently I'm the only woman with this problem. Huh?! This site is one of many that suggests nose hair grows because of the male hormone DHT. "This explains why women don’t have to deal with the issue." Color me confused! Last I checked there wasn't anything dangling between my legs, yet my nose hairs could hold their own in any male competition. Perhaps I should take pics so I can blow the DHT theory out of the water? Nah. I wouldn't wanna gross you out and besides, what if I'm wrong, and further tests show I'm part-guy, triggering a massive identity crisis? Yikes. Might explain a thing or three tho. Hmmm. :P

I suppose this is just another example of how ignorant I am when it comes to "personal care". I'm not a disgusting slob, I shower and shave and all that on a regular basis (eeew! geez!), but I've never been terribly conscious or concerned with the overall image I project to the world. I make an effort to mostly match and be clean but I don't usually indulge in primping much further beyond that. The fact is I've never been much of a girly-girl.

My sister thinks I'm hopeless because I've never used an eyelash curler, never been tanning, never had a manicure, never been to Sephora or Ulta, and I get my hair cut the same two days of the year I get my teeth cleaned. I am more comfortable nude than in frilly get-ups, I think my agate collection is more interesting than a horde of precious gems, my watch is a timepiece rather than an accessory, and the most expensive pair of shoes I own cost about $25 (and they're certainly not heels).

This sane sister also has a tendency to "guide" my clothing choices before we go out together, and gives me the evil eye when someone compliments me on my shirt or necklace or something in public and I proceed to tell them it only cost me a quarter or a buck. hehe She can't comprehend that I really truly LOVE to shop at thrift stores because they have stuff you'll never find anywhere else (and cheap - how can you beat it?)!

So you can probably guess who pointed out my very first nose and chin hairs - not long after she discovered them on herself. lmao Gee I love you Kel!

Having said all that, I don't think I fit in the she-belongs-on-What-Not-To-Wear category. I will have you know that there was a period in my teen years when I chose my rock t-shirts with great care, and I experimented with lotsa purple eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and Aquanet. I even dyed my hair green, and shaved it in a checkerboard pattern (yep I was one of THOSE kids). Since then.... eh... notsomuch. I'd guesstimate that I've spent less than $1000 total on makeup, clothing, haircuts, etc. for myself in the last 15 years. Shocking, huh?

My attitude began changing when I hit 35 tho. Personal grooming products and services have somehow morphed from frivolities into necessities within my budget. Lately I look in the mirror and wonder who that old person is staring back at me. NOW I understood why makeup was invented. And now, a bottle of $6.99 Covergirl foundation seems woefully inadequate.

I want a professional to decide what colors/products are best for me, and I'm nearly ready to plunk down a significant amount of cash for a few little jars of prettiness potions. And then I think why stop there? A little Botox would go a really long way, and for that matter, I've always been a little self-conscious about my neck/chin so hey.... why not go under the knife? My lips are kinda thin too now that I think about it.... oh the possibilities.

Why did it take me this long to realize the world generally sees my unique characteristics as flaws to be fixed? Is it a bad thing or good thing to finally be coming to my senses? Does the fact that I'm actually starting to care mean I'm having a bit of a mid-life crisis? Do I really look as old as the mirror says? Have I crossed that chasm between "young adult" and "middle-aged woman"? Please tell me nooooooo, it's none of the above (even if you have to lie). Not that I have anything against middle-aged women, I'm just not ready to be one. Yet.

So anyway.... yesterday I decided to try to reclaim a bit of my youth by getting a fairly drastic haircut. And I think I like it! I'm not done tho... tonight the kids and I are going to play with hair dye. The end result should be light blonde and pink highlights against my natural dark blonde color, but with Britt orchestrating there are definitely no guarantees. LOL I'm also looking forward to seeing Noah with his naturally light blonde color again. It should be loads of fun... as I'm sure they'll want to mix it up a bit, and we all know I'm the last person to curb anyone's creativity!

I'll post before and after pics when we're done. Prepare yourself to be either awed by my beauty, or flat-out amused. hehe

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Technical Difficulties

The technical difficulties started when the ac adapter for my laptop decided to die last Friday. Of course a Dell adapter is not something I can run to Target for, so I have no laptop til I can order a new one online (and they ain't cheap...ugh).

Which led to the next issue. I now have to use the kids' desktop pc to do anything, which has the newest versions of Mozilla and IE, and I am not used to them! Plus all my settings, bookmarks, outlook express accounts, etc. are missing on this pc and I'm having major withdrawal symptoms. Eeek! Not to mention that NONE of my passwords are saved on here, and I don't remember 88% of them. (I can't even post to my own forum! argh!)

Which brings me to the technical issues I discovered around 3am this morning. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE WEBSITE!!!!! I think? I keep getting "page cannot be displayed" errors when trying to access the store and forum. Also, none of my gif images (like category buttons, etc.) are showing up - even though the files are exactly where they should be. I changed nothing! WTF?!

So I did some investigating, and I think what happened was my webhost forced an upgrade for the store and forum, which messed everything up. I'm not 100% certain though, and I'm not sure how many more hours I want to spend trying to figure it out. I think the time has come to make the move to a new server. I've been procrastinating because I was afraid I'd mess everything up in the move, but since everything is messed up already, what's to worry about? LOL

There is some good news... I've got about 20 or so new products done, including March's freebie. Stay tuned for the previews and download links...

That's all for now. I've got errands to run but will tackle the website issues again tonight.
Just wanted to give a head's up :)