I'm Still Here!

Well, well, well...Ike is gone, and all that remains is the mess. I was very lucky and didn't lose any trees or have any extensive damage. Matt the Brat lost three trees, they were just uprooted, roots and all. One barely missed his cop car, he had just moved his new PU out of the driveway when it fell. The Man upstairs is definitely watching out for us, and I am so thankful. I am posting from the store, I came in to check it for damage and charge up my laptop and phone. Even though I had the guys tape all the windows, we still have four that are broken. I have no electricity at home, and reports are that it may be weeks before it is restored. The majority of the crews brought in from from out of state are working in the Houston/Galveston area. I live in a rural area, so we are last on the list. The really bad thing is that I had already started to buy all the meat for the upcoming Bar-B-Que Cook-Off and it is now in the slowly defrosting freezer with no power. What a mess! Mom and Dad are okay, they lost some trees, no damage to their house, but they are in the same fix as me regarding powerless freezers. I never thought that I would need a generator living this far north, but once again I was wrong, wrong, WRONG!!! My brother Steve is also a boat Captain, and had secured his ship, but his pick-up truck was not so lucky. He watched it float off into the Gulf.
Now for a little something to brighten up this sorry situation!
As long as the laptop battery held out, I worked on the September Stuff. Ya'll should know me by now, I do tend to go to excess! I couldn't decide which direction to go, so I went all over the place!!! LOL!!! We have felt, we have epoxy, and we have real! Choose your fave, or get 'em all! Today I am going to share the borders, stringy things, journal spots and real leaf cluster. Password is: real

Gift for today: September Borders & Stuff.zip
What do we say?
Hugs,
Vicki (broadcasting from no electric Ike central)

Ike News

Well, it's 4:45 now, and we are already having some pretty heavy wind. As soon as I get through backing up all my accounting files I am heading for the hacienda. Updated predictions are for landfall before midnight, and our area to get 90+ mph winds sustained for at least 10 hours and 12" or more of rain. It is supposed to still be a category one when it hits East Texas. I thought I had moved far enough north so that I wouldn't have to ever ride out a hurricane again, but I was wrong, wrong, WRONG! First Rita and now Ike. This sucker is BIG!!! It is covering the whole Gulf of Mexico and is bigger than the State of Texas!
As long as the electricity holds out, I am gonna try to get the stuff finished for the September Color kit. If I work in PhotoShop my laptop battery only lasts for an hour or so. I will go nuts if I can't scrap. After all, there will be nothing else to do, except drink margaritas as long as there is ice to make them with. There is no more ice to be had in town, I have 32 lbs. to last for the duration. Oh, NO! It just hit me! No electric=no blender! ARGHHH! I'm really not an "on the rocks" person. Damn you Ike! ROTFLPIMP!!!
Oh, there is something I want to pass on that I found to be absolutely hilarious! Ya'll know there are always people that won't leave their home no matter what. Galveston authorities issued a bulletin this afternoon (this is the honest truth, I swear!) that said "If you refuse to leave your home, please get a magic marker and write your social security number on your arm so we can identify your dead body." If that doesn't get the message across that you need to get your ass out of Dodge, I don't know what would!
I will post updates when I can.
Hugs,
Vicki

Ike Update

Just in case anyone is interested, they are predicting that we will get tropical storm winds here(35-40 mph) and possibly 6-8" of rain, nothing at all like Rita. The main problem right now is that HWY 59 and HWY 69 are both shut down for south bound traffic due to all the evacuees. . I will be taking the back roads home tonight. The only other things of note is heaven help you if you happen to need something from Hellmart, reports are that checkout lane times are 1 hour+. I wonder if they will bring in the National Guard this time, they had to do that when Rita came because people just wouldn't leave the Hellmart! Hmmm...prison or Hellmart? That is a tough one, seems like pretty much the same to me! And...Lilly's 2nd birthday party was planned for Saturday, now postponed until the 20th, damn, I would go to the boats, but all the hotel rooms are probably taken up for sure! I guess I'm just 'gonna toodle on home via the back roads, mix up another pitcher of margaritas, make sure my laptop is charged up and let 'er blow! ROTFLPIMP!!!

Birthday Pics and September Frames

Good golly Gertie, I didn't mean to be running so late today! That's the story of my life these days!
Thanks for all the wonderful, sweet birthday wishes! I cannot tell a lie, I had more than one margarita, but ya'll already knew that was gonna happen! Here is a pic Mel took for me. She said "I'm gonna get real close so all the mess won't show." Could she be implying that my desk is a pig sty? ROTFL!!! The gorgeous flowers came from Matt the Brat and My Girl. Look closely, they are in a... MARGARITA GLASS!!!! How cool is that?!?! The office gang sent a candy and balloon bouquet, chocolate, of course!

Now on to the frames. I waffled back and forth about the "real" look versus the felt elements, and finally decided to do a little of both. Password is: fall

Your gift for today: LINK EXPIRED

What do we say?

The Big Five Oh

Sorry guys, I've been trying to get everything done because I am taking the rest of the day off to celebrate my birthday. I'll have a margarita for ya'll! LOL!!! See ya' tomorrow.
Hugs,
Vicki

September Papers

Here are the papers for the September Color kit. I couldn't help it, I had to use the woodsy look again! It just seemed to fit so well with the fall colors of this months swatch. The orangey one is my fave, it has some really great texture. Password is: woody The frames are done, and the stuff is in the works (I just have to decide which direction I want to go). I started out doing felt elements, but then they didn't coordinate with the frames. This is how I end up over-doing it every time!

Todays gift: LINK EXPIRED

What do we say?

Roxined,
Thank you so much for the kind words. I too scrapped in paper for many, many years. I went digital in 2006 and haven't made a paper page since! If you would like to email me, my addy is in my profile or on the side bar, and I would be glad to share some great tutorials that I used when I started. Quick pages are a great way to get your feet wet learning about layers and moving around in your photo program and ending up with a nice LO. If you get that wide format printer figured out, you will have to give me some tips. ROTFL!!! I have had mine for over a year and have only printed about a dozen pages. I scrap in 12 x 12, resize to 8 x 8, print on my regular photo printer and put into the 8 x8 albums from The Paper Studio.
Welcome to Bubbles Babbles,
Vicki (Bubbles)

Ya'll may have noticed the "follow" in the side bar. This is something new that Blogger has come out with. It works kinda like Feedburner, but without the day late emails. From what I have seen so far, it is pretty much real time. So, if you have a Google account, feel free to sign up!

In other news, I am thinking about updating the blog. I really want to go to a three column layout, but I am afraid of crashing the whole thing. If anyone has any tips on this I would be most grateful!

Summer Cocktail

The Grandparents Day lunch was great! Wyatt was so excited, he didn't even want to play on the playground after lunch. He said he didn't want to miss a minute! He is truly my Sweetie Pie. You know you really love your grandbaby when you leave work to drive 80 miles roundtrip to have a 30 minute lunch in a school cafeteria!
Today Vicki20 http://vicki20.blogspot.com/ will start the release of "Summer Cocktail". Here is my LO and the QP. This photo is from our Cancun trip. Matt and Shawna are so sweet together! Password is: smooch Although this kit is called "Summer Cocktail", I think the colors will be great for your fall LO's, too. Just to let ya'll know, on Mondays from now on my post will not be until after 11:30 AM, so that I can coordinate with Vicki's kit release.





Todays gift: LINK EXPIRED
Remember your manners!

Worth the Wait?

Busy, busy, busy! I've got so much going on, it doesn't seem like I'm ever gonna get anything finished! I did, however, manage to complete this LO that I created using the "Precious Pumpkin" kit by vicki20 @ http://vicki20.blogspot.com/ This kit is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! You can get this kit for yourself just by signing up for the Scrap N' Art news letter. I'm pretty danged proud of this page, even if I do say so myself! Password is: fall I know it's been slim pickins' around here this week, but maybe this page was worth the wait! I hope to be able to finish up some of my projects this weekend so that next week will be better. The papers are done for the September Color kit, I think ya'll will like this one.
I have to get to work now, I have a very important lunch date. I am going to Sweetie Pie Wyatt's school for the Grandparents Day lunch!



Your gift for today: LINK EXPIRED
What do we say?

Boys Will Be Boys QP (and a tiny 2-fer)

Today we have a page made from "Boys Will Be Boys" by the fab Vicki20 @http://vicki20.blogspot.com/ I really had fun with the doodle frame. Jump right on over there and snag this kit for yourself! Be sure and tell her I sent 'ya and please leave her some love.

Password is: grin I hope everyone had a terrific Labor Day weekend! I didn't go anywhere, just hung around the house till yesterday, then I went over to Matt & Shawna's. We didn't barbeque, My Girl made enchiladas and boy howdy, they were good! Then I made homemade ice cream, I thought for a while I was gonna have to try the double ziplock bag trick, the ice cream freezer is on it's last legs and just barely sputtered along, but I babied it till till the ice cream finally froze. Wyatt ate THREE bowls!

Gift for today: txbubbles-AWP-Boys Will Be Boys QP.zip

Remember your manners!

While playing around with some actions on Sunday, I came up with this felt watermelon! I was very pleased with it! Zoom in and check it out, it really does look like felt! I made a bunch of felt stuff, but thought I would give the watermelon today, in case any one could use it for their last picnic of the summer photos.

#2 Gift: LINK EXPIRED

Remember?

Important Update

Beginning today, downloads will be removed at the end of every month. I have thought about this for a while, and this will just be better. If you are new to the blog and see something you just have to have, email me and I will be glad to send you a link.

Hugs,

txbubbles (aka Emily Post)