What a year!

 Hello Fellow Bloggers,

Wow! I came to check on things here, only to realize that I haven't been here since 2024! I really need to update everyone on why I have been absent for so long.

My husband and I decided to take some time off for ourselves, to enjoy the people around us, so the first part of my absence (July to December 2024) was just hanging out with my friends and family. There isn't anything better than campfires with friends and lots of flowing beverages. LOL It was a blast!

Then, in December of 2024, I had a mental breakdown, due to the fact that our beautiful puppers, Sassy, had gotten so sick that we had to send her over the rainbow bridge. She developed kidney failure, would shake and shiver constantly, tried to hide a lot, barely ate or used the bathroom, so the decision was made to ease her pain. It hit me hard and sent me for a loop. I hid in my home, hardly talked to anyone, and mourned her loss deeply. I cried at the drop of a hat. I missed her so much that it physically hurt. Just look at that beautiful face! I still miss her and love her still deeply, even if it was the hardest decision that my husband and I have ever made up to this point. But, I know, her memory lives on with us.

Sassy must have known how badly her absence affected me, because not long after she left us, an old neighbor could no longer keep her doggy and so we had decided that we to take Bambi in and give her a good home. Yet again, we had puppy pad training and getting her adjusted socially, since she was a stay-in-the-home therapy puppy. Now, she's a spoiled little beast that we love so darn much, that we will always call her "Sassy's sister," as my other two puppies are known as well.

Bambi

Coco

Sugar

Then, in June 2025, I received the worse news ever. My middle son and daughter-in-law were arrested for an issue that shocked me (I won't repeat the issue here), but that also meant that I was granted temporary custody of my grandbabies until their issue was resolved. At age 55, this hit me hard, as I raised my sons, was relaxed in my lifestyle, and then I take on three children: my granddaughter, Kairi (age 2), my grandson, Oliver (age 6), and their cousin (on my daughter-in-law's side), Samuel (age 15). It was a HUGE adjustment for everyone involved, as I had a busy life already and now, I had to rearrange my whole life to fit them in on a 24-hour basis. Doctor and dentist appointments, comforting them from the stress and anxiety of being ripped from their parents, arranging school entry for Oliver (kindergarten) and Kairi (Head Start), summer activities and then visitations with their parents. I barely garnered any sleep during the time that I had my beautiful babies.  I was busy almost from the morning hours to the evening hours. I would fall into bed, totally exhausted.

Oliver and Kairi

The authorities said it would only be a few days, then a few weeks, but it took us ONE FULL YEAR before things were somewhat back to normal. My grandchildren have all been returned to my son and daughter-in-law. But, as a grandmother, that doesn't mean we stop being grandparents. I am still there for them currently, since the whole issue isn't fully resolved, but it is way better than we had to experience over the course of a whole year. It's easier, yes. Has the experience been rewarding? Oh yes. Watching my grandchildren grow while they were with me has amazed me.

Since my family has been reunited, I've had one obsession: crocheting. With my babies back home, I found that I had a lot of time on my hands. I had been so used to the chaos of having a teenager and two small children in my household that, yet again, I was lost with all of the silence and time that I had on my hands. I have made several blankets for my loved ones and have even learned a few new patterns since June 2026. Kairi and Oliver will not sleep without Mimi's blanket at all and that makes me feel great. I've made blankets for my sons and several friends. I want them to be comfortable in the softness of the blankets that I have made. Hopefully, this will allow them to understand how much I love them.

And yet, my first love has been waiting for me all along: digital designing. Every now and again I would get a text message from here about individuals who have completed my tutorials. It was like my first passion has been calling to me, and that is why I am here now, updating everyone on my year long journey. It has been busy, stressful, rewarding, and happy. 

Now look forward to getting back into digital designing and getting some freebies and tutorials up for everyone to complete. I do hope that everyone here, and that still follow me (thank you), will be here for my new tutorials. If you are a designer, I hope that I'll get to see how you recreate what I make. Always remember, if you do complete any of my tutorials, send me an image so that I can post them here as well. I want to give everyone a shout out when they do.

Rustic Wedding

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween to everyone! I hope you have a wonderful spooky season and that your teeth hold up from all the stolen candy that you sneak from your children! Here's a snag for you to enjoy. My Halloween treat from me to you!

Bake Sale at GingerScraps (October 15th-October 20th)

 Hi Blogettes!

I'm coming at you today with a much needed spending tip for you. Anyone who knows me knows that I love shopping at certain stores for all the lovely kits that I use in my designs. Well, since I had some downtime, I had been able to search out some deals, thanks to the newsletters that I receive, and I just wanted to pass this information on to you!

At GingerScraps, one of my ultimate favourite scrapbooking stores, they are having a sale from October 15th to October 20th and they have some really cute kits, templates and photo masks aimed at the upcoming holidays and Autumn season.

My favourite designers have a few items on sale currently at GingerScraps! 

Like Ooh La La Scraps

Or Cathy K Designs

How about Just So Scrappy?

And I can never get enough of Aimee Harrison and her cute kits!

This time, I found two extra cute Halloween kits that I'll be using in some upcoming designs that I really fell in love with. I know right! I tend to stick with the designers I love but I'm really starting to open up to new possibilities. 

Like Kristmess

I just fell in love with this Halloween kit from The Scrappy Kat! I love to crochet so this kit hit all the bells and whistles for me.

But I can never forget Lindsay Jane Designs! I love her more airy, girly and colourful kits and this kit holds all of those elements for me this time around as well. This kit can be used for both Halloween and Autumn designs, depending on your tastes.

Are you intrigued yet? Stop by GingerScraps and see what else they have to offer in their current sale. They have plenty of templates, masks and kits to offer in the sale. Just click HERE to see all that they have to offer. Offers end at midnight on October 21st so catch them while you can!

Also, if you spend $10 or more in more transaction, you'll get this lovely bonus kit as well! (A $7.00 Collaboration kit) This kit is great for creating either tagging or scrapbooking memories for the Autumn season.

Newly Found Blogs!

 Hello Blogettes!

I just love coming across a new find that takes me further into my tag designs than I have ever been before. Sometimes, I go backwards. What I mean by this is that I look up all the oldie but goody designers, just to see if they are still around and that I can still use many of their kits that I have either purchased or gathered when they were free. Examples include Polka Dot Scraps, Cinnamon Scraps, or Candy's Treats (just to name a few). And, sometimes, these sites will take me to others, where I can still use templates, kits and masks (such as Gina's Gems, The Taggers Lounge, Creative Misfit Creations or Graphic Groupies). But, once in a while, an oldie but newbie hits the scene and it opens your eyes like never before. Enter two blogs that I just found recently.

Seeing as Designz by Shelly has been around since 2014, I simply can't understand why I haven't seen her blog before! Shelly has quite a few freebie and former PTU kits on her site that I have never seen before but that I certainly will be using a in quite a few tutorials in the upcoming months. She also has plenty of links to other sites for purchasing kits, giving a designer ideas through tutorials, and giving away snags that you can use in groups or in Facebook groups. They were always a delight when CafeMom had been open and we used them to bump posts (Welcome, Hello, Goodnight, Bump and other such lovelies). Hopefully, you will stop by her page when I create a tutorial and grab some freebies. Always remember to let her know you stopped by so that we can keep this lovely designer wanting to design.

This next one really floored me when I found her! And thank goodness that I did!

Linda Sochia, also know as My Tagging Addiction, has been around since 2016 so I'm also late jumping onboard her ship as well. However, I was not disappointed! I found this designer by way of the Taggers Lounge earlier last month, while looking for tagging kits. Wow! She has a lot of lovely free kits to choose from. Some are current, with AI generated images and tubes, while there are older ones which will show you the progression of her craft. She is wonderfully talented.

Of course, everyone will swoon over the beautiful AI generated kits and tubes that she designs are amazing! And they are free. FREE! I certainly will be using a LOT of her items in future designs as well. While I love my pay to use tube designers, and will still use them in future tutorials as well, there is no other feeling than being able to give practicing tag designers who visit my blog the opportunity to have items that will not costs them a dime to practice honing their craft. 

When I first started my journey, I cannot begin to tell you how many PTU tubes I bought, really messed up, and then had to repurchase once my designs started to improve. Some of the tube designers kept "hopping shop," some due to no choice of their own (such as when My PSP Tubes closed), and some because they had to just ship and swim (such as when Scraps in the City was slammed shut). Having free items to practice with is such a wonderful option if you're short on change, or just would rather have FTU items to use at all times. It also will boost a fellow designer by showing them someone does truly appreciate what they are offering, empowering them to be even more creative than before.

So, stop by one of these lovely ladies blogs to grab a bit of free imagination to create a little bit of magic all your own. Be sure to thank them while you are there.

Tag Show Off: Beauty Sleep

 Hello Fellow Bloggers!

I just love when someone uses my tutorials to create a design that is unique to them. I received this lovely set from Betsy EPsP and I absolutely love it! Thank you so much for it. Little did you know, today is my birthday so this made a lovely surprise for my special day!

This is my tutorial below. Try your hand at it!

Beauty Sleep

Legacy of Love (Introducing my Granddaughter!)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Dear Baby

 Dear Bloggers,

I'm sorry that I haven't been online recently, but one of my beautiful fur babies had been very sick and needed extra TLC. However, her fight came to an end yesterday. We became highly concerned when she wasn't eating and did exactly what the Vet instructed us to do, which was to force feed her until she decided to eat on her own. She never did want to eat, unless force fed. Then, she stopped drinking water and had to be forced to drink water. She would, in turn, shiver and shake until her eyes would roll and would take several minutes for her to come out of the situation, and then she would fall asleep. She would then wake after about an hour and would pant frantically, until her ears and eyes would turn light red. Afterward, she would sleep again and then process would repeat itself. I was always up and down, tending my baby, trying to keep her comfortable, until we could get her back into the Vet.

It was discovered, at the return visit, that she was in Stage 2 Kidney Failure and so we made the hard decision to release her from her pain. It was the hardest decision that my family ever had to make and sometimes we doubt that we did the right thing, but I know she is no longer in pain. Thankfully, a friend of mine allowed us to bury Sassy on her property so that we may be able to visit often, and that has eased our pain some.

However, it has been a slow process for me to accept that Sassy is no longer with us. I was used to her being here when I got off of work, up on the back of our living room couch, barking at me in her silly chicken bark, wagging her tail until I thought she'd fall off onto the floor! She was always so vibrant and full of life, that it has been hard to accept that she was sick ever.

Our other dogs, however, had a different reaction to our loss. Our Sugar, who was Sassy's constant companion, kept searching for her for a few days before realizing that Sassy wasn't coming back. Coco was never really close to Sassy so she really didn't show much of a reaction at all. Instead, when Sassy was still with us and sick, she avoided her, as if whatever made Sassy sick was contagious and she didn't want to catch it. It is always strange how dogs just know.

Since losing our beloved Pug, we've had many people try to give us another but we cannot bring ourselves to take in another baby. I know that they mean well, but there will be no other fur baby that will replace this sweet girl.

Rest well, my sweetie. We'll all meet again one day.

Update: Been Gone, Too Long

Hello Fellow Bloggers:

It has been some time since I've created a tutorial and I so apologize for that. It has been a momentous year for me, since the beginning, so much so that I really hadn't realized the year has blown by me. But it has been fun, no matter what.

I've had the pleasure of taking care of my Mother, and her health issues, so much that I'm happy to report she is doing much, much better and is as healthy as she can be at the age of 70! I'm hoping that, under the direct care of family and her doctors, she will live quite a bit longer and be the bane of my existence. LOL I love her so much.

I've also had the pleasure of having my maternal Aunt Iris, and my Uncle Thomas, move from my hometown to my new given town of Buckhannon, West Virginia. Things had been strange and unusual for them back home, and very stressful, so it was best that they move for their health and their mental welfare. Needless to say, my Mother is extremely happy that her sister is now closer to her and that she has other family that she can visit and hang out with with, beside me. LOL And I love having them closer as well, seeing as Iris and Tom are my favourite Aunt and Uncle and I love them very deeply.

I've also had the pleasure of having my youngest son, Alexandor, move into our home again, after trying to make it on his own for about a year. And it's not that he failed, but that times really did get tight during COVID and so, to find his way back to real life, he came home. At first, I must admit, it was hard. Paul and I had already gotten used to having an empty house all to ourselves so we had to make some adjustments to having our son around. We are hoping that Alex stays true to his goal, however, of returning to school after he turns 21 years old, so that we can have the house back to ourselves again, but life will go on if he changes his plans.

I've also had the delightful news of a new grandchild coming into my life! My DIL Tara, and my middle son, Trevor, are expecting their second child in January! This time, I will be having a beautiful granddaughter. I simply cannot wait for her arrival. They are very much into Japanese Anime so I'm going to assume that's where the name Kairi (Ka-ree) Lynn is coming from but I love it. While the timing of her birth is not in the best interest of my son's young family, seeing as they are having housing issues, it is still a beautiful and glorious event that I simply cannot wait for. 

One of my best friends, Bobbi, and her husband, Jed, have purchased their first home and I had been blessed with being asked to help them move and paint their new home, so that really did keep me busy during the month of October. LOL Needless to say, it also helped me out somewhat, seeing as I've been in the process of removing items from own home (downgrading, so to speak) and they needed some items that I was happy to give to them. I wish them nothing but the best in their new home and cannot wait for the many visits Paul and I will have with them in the future.

Outside of these delightful happenings, I have had some melancholy ones. My middle son, Trevor, my DIL Tara, and my grandson, Oliver, were evicted from the apartment complex where we reside. Some of the issues did stem from my troubled child and some of them did not, but it still resulted in the same conclusion. I miss not having them around the corner from me but I do still get to see them as often as I can. They are still not settled yet, and have had several options yanked from their hands, but I am hoping that the new year will bring them good luck and a hopeful future.

As many of my friends may know, I was diagnosed last year as a diabetic and have been in the process of learning how to deal with my newest health issue. Keeping a food diary over the course of the year, so that I can learn how to eat properly, has been a chore in itself but I have now been able to remove those items from my diet that cause me harm and to be able to eyeball what a proper portion looks like without having to use measuring cups and spoons. This year, it was supposed to be heading to the gym but time, and money, is not allowing that just yet. Not that we all didn't try, but we spent more money in not going to the gym instead of actually going to the gym.  Since bills pile up, the gym will have to wait until the new year. LOL

I've also had trouble in my friendships this year. One of my supposed best friends caused more drama and issues than I cared to deal with, but this had been coming to a head for the last six months. Some of the things that she was doing to herself, and to those around her, were too much to bear. Not that I haven't seen my share of drama and issues in my past. Believe me, I'm not a saint by any means necessary, but the things this young lady was doing to herself I would have never done in my past, present or future and they didn't cast a good light on me in society. I had hoped that my influence would help her become a better person but it proved that I was only banging my head against the wall and having others look at me in a way that I didn't like. So, after seven years of friendship, I had to let her go. It has not been an easy decision but one that I am living with and am getting used to as the days go on.

Another of my friends has been slowly killing herself with alcohol and gambling, which is very hard to watch as well. I understand that life gets hard, and pain is an internal issue that each of us have to deal with in our own way, but it doesn't make watching it any easier. I try to be understanding, but it isn't an easy conversation when the other person is not ready to change. Neither one of these friends want to take any of the solutions that you hand them but, instead, created new issues as to why they can't accept the solution that you hand them. And it's not just me. Other friends have tried to help them with the same outcome so we are giving up on helping those who do not want help.

Over the last 11 months, I have been without my beautiful girl, my 2004 Nissan Maxima. LOL I miss my car, my 51st birthday present form my beloved Paul) because it has been in the shop with transmission issues. With the issues in the supply chain, it has been fun trying to get parts to fix my transmission and, even when we finally did get the parts to rebuild it, the transmission still wasn't running correctly. So we had to buy a remanufactured transmission from overseas but, of course, we've had to wait for three months before it would even get here. Not that we didn't try purchasing one from the United States, but we truly couldn't find one at all. It seems that the earlier CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) transmissions are junk, so thank you Nissan, but we are hoping that this newer version will do just fine. I hope to have my beauty back by the end of the month so that I can enjoy her again. She's a beast and I love her. LOL

Since I had one car in the shop, and only had one car, I purchased a used car from a friend and it had major issues with it, some of which they didn't even know it had, since they hadn't even put it on the road when I purchased it. They were on a fixed income and just couldn't afford to fix it so they decided to sell it instead. Wow!, it has nickle and dimed me to death but at least it stayed working so that I could continue to work myself, to make repairs to the car. LOL I'm now left with only three things that need fixed in it but, with the help of my family, we are almost done with the repairs. Alex, my youngest, will become the new owner of this car once I get my Nissan back, which will help reduce my car insurance. And it also helps that I will not have to make any more repairs once Alex is the new owner. I only go so far for my kids and then allow them to make their own way. LOL

And that has been my year since March! I hope that your year has gone much better than mine and that love, peace and blessings have been good for you. Stayed tuned for more tutorials in the future, as I feel my mojo finally coming back.

Sincerely,

Pink Tadpole

"Let Freedom Ring" By Thia's Tastefully Terrific Tags!

"Steampunk Nights" kit by Thia's Tastefully Terrific Tags!

I'm now the Mom of Graduates!

Congratulations to all of the classes of 2016 at every high school in the United States! I happen to be one of those parents that are celebrating the highest mark of a teenager who is about to get the rude awakening of the outside world! LOL Seriously, though, both of my boys fought hard for the progress that they achieved and I couldn't be more proud of them.

I created a layout page using a template by Lisa Rosa Designs, which you can find HERE. The kit I used is a collection of items from the Digiscrap Parade "Commencement".

SNP August Week #2 Challenge Layout

OMG! I so love Scraps-N-Pieces and Wendy Tunsion is doing this week's challenge! She has a lovely little kit for us to use and so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I love the kit. It has loads of blues and greens and would be perfect if you need a kit to scrap those outdoorsy pictures you took over the summer!

I decided to use my friend Justin's first baby, his dog! LOL I loved how it highlights the pretty blue blanket that's her comfie go-to toy! I love how this turned out.

Want to get this mini-kit and enter the challenges? You have until August 16th and it's over! So, sign up today for SNP and enter your layout today.

Do you like the template as well? It's by Eudora and you can find it HERE.

A Gifty From My Friend, Priscilla!

You know, when I went to upload my freebie kit in the last post, I was disheartened to find only 2 people downloaded my first freebie kit. LMAO Not that I expected more but that's okay.

Still, my friend Priscilla, of whom I CT for at Cakie Pot Pie Designs, DID download my kit and just sent me the most beautiful tag to match my love of pink! Thank you so much, Pris! I love it.

Plug-ins I Frequently Use

I like to use a LOT of plug-ins that, from time to time, I either discover, or I am directed to, because they are compatible with Paint.Net. Most people do not know that there is a lovely plug-in created just for Paint.Net that allows you to actually add *8bF plug-ins to the program to enable you to use these extensions (which are what most pug-ins use). Click HERE to be directed to the Paint.Net forum that holds the needed plug-in.

Once you have downloaded it, unzip and add it to the effects folder of your Paint.Net program files. Then, visit the sites below and have fun!

ICNET Filters Unlimited
Xero Graphics Plugin-Ins
Greg's Filter Plug-Ins
The Plug-in Site
Mura Meister plugins
Visman Toolbox Plug-Ins
Toadies Plug-Ins
DSB Flux
PentaCom Plug-Ins
krusty's FX Plug-Ins
Lokas 3D Drop Shadow
Various Plug-Ins

Flaming Pear 
Tramages
Vanderlee Snowflakes
(other options available)
Mezzo Force Ice
(can cause program to crash)