Wonderland Scraps _ September Song kit and freebie

Running real late but here we go. Just added September Song, a personal use autumn theme kit to Digi Style Designs. It did appear shortly at another store I used to be in and that old store blinkie is (I just learned) still in the zips. Anyway, the kit has 12 full size papers and 28 elements.

Here is a free PU border made from the kit for you:

You will find it here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/XkRYSeK_ce/ws_SeptemberSong_border_freebi.html?

The color is Ivory - new products, freebie, and a possible fix

Did a little more research on that Kindle Fire problem and learned that this first generation Kindle Fire has a frequent problem with not re-charging. It seems that whoever built these for Amazon didn't do such a hot job and the little port at the bottom where you recharge was shoddily soldiered to the board it sits on. As a result, over time, the port starts to break away and lose connection. Often that is the real reason for "low battery" and recharge problems, rather than the battery itself. Tech savy people have figured out how to open the Kindle, find and fix the port problem and, yes, replace battery if needed. Now my BIL is something of a tech magician and after hubby had viewed a video of a guy explaining the problem and showing how to fix it, he called BIL and told him about my problem and the talk I'd had with Amazon. BIL came by today to pick up the Kindle and is going to see if fixing the port takes care of the problem. He also agreed to order and replace battery if needed. What a great guy!

Today hubby turned 64! I took him and niece to Red Lobster for the all-you-can-eat shrimp fest. I'd made him a cheesecake (his favorite) earlier in day for dessert tonight but we're all too full lol so it will be well chilled by tomorrow night. Before we went out, I finally managed to finish up the Ivory Color Stash products I've been working on. I'd meant them to be general as the others have been but there were a couple items I wanted to use that were wedding themed. One thing led to another and I decided to devote one of the element packs to vintage ivory bridal. These will be going in the store tonight.

I know I've been bad about not posting freebies lately but I haven't forgotten you tonight. Here is an ivory freebie: 1 full size CU4CU paper and 3 vintage bride elements. 2 of the brides are rather small but would be great on tags or in clusters.

Hope you can use it. Pick it up here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/b4pXp-vyce/ss4cu_CS_Ivory_freebie.html? Hugs!

Planned Obsolesence! A short rant

Sometimes I think it's a curse that I was born in the 1950's when there was optomisim about a better future for all, good manners were in style, people took pride in their work, products were made to last, customer service meant realizing that without satisfied customers businesses couldn't survive, neighbors looked out for one another, the majority of children respected and listened to their parents (at least most of the time), teachers taught rather than babysitting or referring, and I could go on and on. You get the gist. I've been annoyed about a lot of things lately and tonight's "chat" with Amazon is just one more thing I wish I hadn't bothered with. 2011 when the new Kindle Fire came out, my husband bought me one for Christmas. I'd been resisting the e-reader trend because I love books - real ones made with paper that you can carry anywhere and can leaf through to again find that passage that really hit home. But my husband thought the Kindle would be nice for me and would cut down on the number of books I carry into the house. We got the charger too and a nice case but things didn't go as we'd expected. Mostly, I don't like reading on the screen and books kept coming into the house. I read some things on the Kindle, of course, but found using it for e-mail was a joke. Mostly I've used it to entertain myself with solitare and such while watching TV. I can't just sit there and stare at the screen so I'm always doing something - crochet, crazy quilt, or Kindle games. But my Kindle stopped charging, just gave me a low battery message. Tonight I finally got around to contacting Amazon because I wanted to get a replacement battery. I saw them listed but wanted to be certain to get the right one. And I couldn't figure out how the Kindle opened to check the battery. So I had a long typed chat with an Amazon rep. I learned that the replacement batteries are from 3rd party sellers and not recommended by Amazon since they could damage the device. Further, I was told that Amazon doesn't replace the batteries but offers customers in my position an opportunity to purchase another device, "even an upgrade" I was told, at a discount with the agreement that the old device is returned to them in 30 days. So, I asked, any device you sell me will have a limited life span? Yes, but you get a full one year warrenty. I was given some options. The ones closest to what I presently have were refurbished models (but I thought the batteries can't be replaced?) at around $100 or more. Now think of it, let's approximate that at the cheapest level that's about $10/month for only one guarenteed year to read and play games on an electronic device. Is it really worth it? I'm not so certain it is. I can play games on my PC or laptop and even read on them if I so desire. I went back and looked up the original price of my Kindle Fire - $199 plus shipping. At not quite 3 years it appears to have cost me a little over $6/month. Maybe all thing considered that's cheap entertainment?

From my fantasy collection

I soo want these! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/137641332334292004/

Of course, they don't fit my lifestyle or budget but I can wear them in my dreams, can't I? I love the symbolism of Victorian jewelry. Here the hands symbolize friendship.

A hint of what's to come

Don't know where the weekend went. Haven't been accomplishing much as having trouble with nausea again & haven't heard from my doctor yet about test. Having gone from 3 external hard drives to 2 internal drives, I've still got quite a mess to sort out and consolodate. Took forever just going through my font collection and deciding what to keep and getting them organzied. I am working on an ivory stash and wanted to post this free paper for you last night but too much happening. Here it is:

Pick it up here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/g-AMqfPice/ss4cu_ivory_paper_freebie.html? I'm determined that tomorrow will be a more productive day!

About blues

Okay, so I've been stressed lately as we (hubby, niece, and I) get adjusted to living together. There are a number of differences between our household and the one our niece grew up in. And we haven't had a teen in the house for years. But I think it's going to be okay. I'm sure we still have bumps in the road ahead but we will work it out. Had to go for more medical tests too. The biopsies from my endoscopy came back normal. My four month visit with pulmonologist found my lungs clear but the breathing test showed no improvement in lung capacity. I'm still at 76%. Had a 4 hour test for gastro paresis on Tuesday. Basically it looks at how quickly your stomach empties and if it shows more than 10% of stomach contents remaining after 4 hours, it indicates nerve damage causing paralysis of stomach muscles. This can occur due to diabetes and other causes. Haven't heard from gastroenterologist as to results yet. So, you could say I've been busy lol. I did get a second set of Color Stash packages in turquoise in the store last night. Here are previews:

And I do have a free full size CU4Cu paper for you tonight:

You can pick it up here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/pG5cbUivce/ss4cu_CS_bl_abstract_paper.html? More soon, I hope. Hugs!

I'm back & with a freebie

Finally have things sorted out. Niece is settled into university and new computer is up and running with most of my programs re-installed. House still has lots of stuff sitting around, waiting for me to find it a home but hey, one step at a time, right? Haven't been getting as much PC time as usual. Running niece around to various activities (glad she's making friends and getting involved in things but it's meant some night time chaufering for me), catching up on regular scheduled doctor appointments and having more tests. On plus side, endoscopy did not show any problems, breathing test yesterday put me at 76% lung capacity with clear lungs, and I lost 5 pounds without trying. Still having some chest pain, although much better since gallbladder removal. Have a test this coming week to rule out gastro pariesis. I just loaded another Color Stash group to Digi Style Designs - this one is turquoise. http://digistyledesigns.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=85

Here's a free bow to go with:

You can pick it up here: http://www.4shared.com/zip/b_7q4chJce/ss4cu_CS_Turquoise_bow_free.html? Hugs!