What a day...

Well today turned out to be a day of trials and tribulations to say the least!!

It just started out as plain old yucky! I got up and didn't feel 100% to begin with. Then I had a few phone call from a family member that just didn't go well at all, none of the times we talked.

After several calls to my bestest gal pal, I finally resolved to turn it over to God, pray about it - and try not to think about it again for the rest of the day... (yeah, as you can imagine that just didn't happen.)

About 4pm it was time to get ready to go to church - and it got dark. I mean really dark and black and the bottom fell out! It was raining soooo bad I couldn't see the road in front of my house. I decided there was NO way I was driving in that. So I called my friend to say I wouldn't be at church! (Didn't want them to worry when I didn't show up!)

The rain came down!! I mean it came down hard!!!! The power flicked on and off - it was soooo bad that I turned off the computer. It has to be pretty bad for that to happen. Well an hour and a half, and almost five inches of rain later - it began to clear up a little. So I came into the scrapping room to sign back on the computer.

I was in there, oh about ten minuets and I started to hear water running. I am like - what the heck is that. I walked into my living room and there was a river running OUT of my ceiling -from the ceiling fan fixture - and oh yeah - it was TURNED ON!!!!!! The water was flooding the coffee table which was located under the fan!

I ran over to flip the switch, went and found a bucket, and ended up calling a neighbor down the road to come and help me.... after turning off the main breaker to the ceiling fan and about 45 min of searching in the attic we found the leak!! LUCKY for me, my neighbor happens to be an independent Insurance Adjuster!!! So he helped me figure out that at 2.5 years (to the day!) my house was not under warranty. And I ended up having to call my home owners insurance. Well it is the weekend, so they couldn't do anything. So thank goodness my Insurance adjuster neighbor happens to be friends with the emergency service my Insurance company uses - so he called the owner and got someone out here to help try to fix it up. Or at least make it less dangerous - oh yeah and did I mention it is suppose to rain again tonight and tomorrow?!?!?!

Five industrial fans, and a four foot high dehumidifier later - we are trying to dry out. The Chimney flashing (which is causing the problem) is somewhat covered with a tarp. So now it is three days of listening to the industrial fans. A few calls more to the Insurance company, a roofer that will need to come, and oh they will have to scrap my whole living room, dinning room and kitchen ceiling and respray it... and then we should be back to as good as new!!!

So in looking back on this day and trying to think about the positives... Well lucky for me my neighbor came to my rescue and since he was an adjuster was able to help me find the problem, report the problem, and get someone here to help fix the problem.

The guys who came to fix the problem brought this HUGE dehumidifier - and said that it has to run for at least three days and that my house is going to be really dry!! Well that is good for me. I am a scrapbooker and it has been so humid here I haven't been able to cut paper for about two days now!! So I should have extra dry paper good for cutting for the next three days at least!

And lastly - my dog seems to really like the wind caused by the industrial fans blowing through her hair.

I am so exhausted, I think I am going to call it a night and go to bed! I just pray tomorrow is better!
Night~
Lori

How do I do it...

First I would like to say thank you so much for the nice comments! I feel like it is such a blessing to be able to use my creative talents in a way that allows me to share with other people! This has to be the best job I have ever had!!!! I mean who wouldn't love to get paid for doing something you love!!! I am sooo thankful to my hubby for allowing me to stay at home and start, grow and nurture this little business that I call "Beloved Keepsakes"!! (Ok, enough mushy stuff... on today's topic!) :)

So someone asked in the comment section yesterday - how do you do this??? Well here you go...

First I come up with an idea. I actually have a notebook that I carry around with me. And when an idea strikes I write it down. Now this was quite amusing when hubby was home on leave, as I was pulling that notebook out every where we went, or so it seemed to him!! LOL

Once I have an idea - I then start my creating my design in software called WinPC for scrapbooking. I prefer this program, but it is all a matter of choice. There are several programs out there - I also have Inkscape (which is free) and I have Illustrator Cs2 (which was a little pricey!). Sometimes I hand draw my graphics, some times I use clip art as a base for my graphic, some times I use a photo, and I have even used objects around my house.

Once I have completed my design in WinPc I test cut it. And almost every time I test cut I find something that needs to be tweaked, or changed or redone. Once I make those changes ~ Well then I test cut again! Once the cut comes out correctly - I then save the file in the .wpc format. I then export it as an AI file. I then open it in Illustrator, simplify the file, and then save it in the AI format. Then I export the file as a .dfx. I then take that dfx and I load it into a program called Robomaster and I convert it and save it as gsd.

Whew..... so there you go - those are the steps I take!!!! (Now let me say - this is just the way I design my files- there is more than one way to do things - these are just the steps I take! And all this will probably be changing soon when I get my new KNK Element... as it has a totally different software that come with it!!!)

If you want to learn your particular cutter better - I would encourage you to join the forum/message board at Paperthreads. There are a ton of tutorials available there for free to get you started! I can not stress to you HOW IMPORTANT it is to learn your cutter and what it does before branching out into the different software's!

There are a ton of different software's out there - and it is really personal choice... the frustrating thing to me is that all the software's pretty much do the same thing - but they use different terms to do it.... Chris talked about this is her blog today (check it out!!!).

I would love to see this excel file she is talking about happen. I think it would help a lot of people and allow everyone to speak the same language even if they own a different cutter or software program!!! So check out her blog and put your knowledge to good use!!!!

If you have any questions - shoot me an email or post it in the comment section!!!!

Hope you are having a Happy Saturday ~
Cya Soon~
Lori

TGIF...

Well here we are - its Friday, its Friday!!! And I am off to have my car serviced this morning so I don't have a lot of time.... sooooo (drum roll please) here's the file I promised as a "reward" for helping me come up with some fresh new ideas!!! I just can't thank you all enough!!!

I hope you enjoy this file... once again - please remember this is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. (My "Terms of Use are available for download on the left hand side!!! PLEASE READ THEM!)


This is a "download it for free" before you can buy it file. I will only leave this file up for 24 hours!!! (Hurry the clock is ticking! Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock!!! If you should miss it, it will be up for sell at Paperthreads.)

Due to a request from my comment section (See I really do read them!)- I am offering this file in both GSD and WPC. (So Sorry... this file is no longer available - you will be able to purchase it at paperthreads in a little while!)

Here's a photo of the finished file...... I was inspired by the daily thunderstorms and showers we've been having. I personally think it turned out super cute! I would love to hear what you think - and even more so, I would love to see how someone uses this file. (Hint, Hint, Hint)

Thanks again for giving me some great ideas! Keep watch you might see some of them soon!!! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

God Bless~
Lori

So Sorry...

A little late posting today.... So sorry!!!!

It has been a very hectic and kind of crazy day! I have been working on some new files (one which I am going to make available to you the dear readers of my blog for 24 hours only - before it is even for sale at Paperthreads!!! Whoop Whoop!!!! This is my thank you for helping me come up with some new fresh ideas!!! So make sure you check back tomorrow!!)

Anyway, on with my story, so I have been working on some new files and trying to prep and get all my stuff in order to convert over to KNK files once my new machine gets here... It has been trying to say the least!!! LOL

All the designing terms and concepts are so above my head most of the time... the other designers are talking about doing this and doing that, or you need to make sure you do this and you need to make sure you do that!! I swear it is ALL GREEK TO ME!!!! I do not have a graphics background and most of the time I am flying by the seat of my pants!!! But this too shall pass!!!

On a really cool note... we have decided to have "Mock Thanksgiving" here at the McDonald house during hubby's next leave. I am sooo excited!! I love love love Thanksgiving, and hubby has missed the last two. All my family and all his family travels to our house every year and I cook a HUGE SOUTHERN STYLE dinner!! Yum Yum Yum..... My tummy is already growling!!!

So we decided to hold it on a different date so hubby will not miss this year too!!! Add to the fact that a very special Aunt and Uncle on Hubby's side of the family are planning to come for the first time this year - oh yeah I am soooo excited!!!!

Well, I am off to fill some photo jewelry orders.... make sure you check back tomorrow!!! I think you will be very happily surprised!!!

Cya~
Lori

Ugh...

It is sooo warm outside!! Blah!!! Good thing for me I have some custom order titles that need to go out, I guess that mean I will have to work here inside in the nice AC!!! Shucks!!!!

Not a lot to report today... I want to thank everyone for their feed back on yesterday's question!!! I have to say some of the ideas really got my head a spinning!!!! I am always up for idea's and suggestions- please feel free to share for them anytime!!!

So - I had an interesting phone call yesterday from Jamie (you should know by now that she is the owner of my local scrapbooking store - Savannah Scrapbooking - if you haven't gone and checked out her blog yet - you should!!!). Anyway, it seems my dear friend Jamie is going to be a star - well more of a star than she already is!!! One of the local TV stations here in Savannah has asked her if they can film part of their morning show live on location from the Scrapbooking store this Friday morning!!!! HOW COOL is that!!!!

They will be doing live feeds from the store on and off for the two hours that the morning show is on, and while there, they will be talking about scrapbooking and what have you. So.... Jamie called to ask me if I would mind letting her "borrow" some of my military scrapbooking pages that she could use as "show and tell"! AND OF COURSE I SAID RIGHT ON!!!!

Hence, I spend a little time last evening collecting some of my military pages for her to use on TV. So I thought maybe I would share a few with you, my blog readers as well!!! Thanks for looking.... Oh - Don't forget to keep sending me those ideas!!

Until tomorrow ~
Lori

The layout above was created by using a file designed my good friend Chris!

Question for ya...

I was up until midnight last night working on some new files so I am a little tired today!!! Sooo Sorry!!!

But here's a question for you... I was having a conversation with Jamie the owner of my LSS about what subjects are hard to find... (A designer is always looking for the next great idea or the next wave of inspiration don't you know, hahaha) Anyway, she gave me a few idea's and then she said, in a stroke of genius, "Why don't you ask that great group of people that read your blog?" I was like - oh WOW!! Yeah that's a GREAT idea......

So wonderful great readers of my blog ~ "What scrapbooking subjects do you have a hard time finding products for???"

For Example - One of the suggestions that she had for me was brother and sister stuff!!! She said she can find tons of stuff for brother or tons of stuff for sisters - but no brother's and sister's stuff combined!!!!

Great Idea Jamie!!! Thanks!!!!

So I would love to hear from you my blog readers... What subjects do you have trouble finding???

If I get a good feed back between today (Tue) and lets say oh Thursday evening maybe you'll find something cool posted for downloading on Friday!!! What do you say???

I'll look forward to hearing from ya. 'Til next time.

Cya~
Lori

A wow moment!

So here we are - another Monday... yippeee!!! LOL

Not a lot to report here in Beloved Keepsakes land I am afraid! I did get a wonderful call this morning though. I had a customer (who is also a dear, dear friend) place an order with me yesterday. It seems that she had a family member that was a soldier that was killed in Iraq. She wished to purchase white ribbon pins to send to his immediate family members as a gift in memory of their soldier who gave his life fighting for our country.

Well being a soldiers wife myself - you know I am a sucker for such things - so I completed the order and then I gift wrapped it and attached a hand written note to the recipient from the customer. I then took photos of the completed items and emailed them to my customer since the pins were going straight to the family of the soldier (are you tracking?).

Within 5 minutes of sending that email my phone rang and it was my customer - she was in tears and overcome with emotion. She had gotten my email with the finished products and she was so pleased by them that it just moved her and she felt she needed to call me and thank me for making these white ribbon pins for her.

It is days like this when I love love love what I do!!! To know that I can take a photo of someone and turn it into this beautiful keepsake that actually touches a person's heart or soul!

WOW!!!!

I feel soooo blessed!

Well I am off to cut some files I designed yesterday!! Will post a preview when I can! Hope you all have an awesome week!

God Bless~
Lori

Just another Sunday afternoon...

and not a lot to report. There is only a few more hours that my "Georgia" file will be available for free download!!! As of 4:15 this afternoon it has been downloaded 144 times!!! Holy cow!!!! Now a little birdie told me that someone ratted me out and told everyone on HER blog that I had a free download this weekend..... hmmmmm I wonder who that could have been - maybe someone with the initials Chris Durnan!!!! Bahahahahahaha..........

I guess since so many people liked the file that I should state that the download is for personal use only - you can not sell it and please do not share with others!!! Think of it as a reward for reading my blog and giving me feedback on my files!!

I have uploaded my terms of use on the website for anyone that has not already read them... so if you haven't take a peek! OK - enough of the legal stuff.....

So I went to see the movie 1408 this afternoon. I use to LOVE horror movies - they were my fav and they never scared me. Now that I am older and maybe somewhat wiser, or maybe it is the fact that hubby won't watch them with me - they tend to freak me out more than they use too. But I have to say I was really disappointed in this one!!! Yep - wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be, was a little weird, and I totally hated the ending!!! The good thing - I don't think I will have nightmares tonight!!!

Well I am off to work on some new cutter files.... Hope everyone has had a great weekend!!!

Cya~
Lori