belated freebie *blush*

:) I am very sorry for not having a freebie up the other day as planned, so instead of the one sneak peek paper I planned on giving as a freebie, I added a word art and decided to give you an alpha to match my Feral Faeries kit :).....but (yes there is almost always a but) i have an issue that needs addressed....
a close friend of mine blogged today about something very timely to me giving another freebie out...
for over a year she has been creating freebies and graciously giving them away...she has RAKed many friends/customers/fellow scrappers...she, like most of us, spends a lot of time making things to simply give away....yet she rarely sees any fruit from her efforts.
I have to say, that i have been extremely blessed that so many of you have used the freebies I have provided, I have gotten unusually high numbers of comments, and I have recieved emails from so many of you linking me to your wonderful creations....and I do understand financial restrictions on buying things....
My friend seems to have stirred a couple of her readers up with her blog post, as they see it as her being ungrateful or unChristian in saying that she is no longer giving freebies and asking "Where is God in all this?"....to those people, I can assure you that she IS a very generous person, but like the rest of us designers, she is also trying to make a living and support her family (one of God's greatest commands)....and she was not saying she wouldn't RAK people, give away "free with purchase" items, or do nice things for people (i know for a fact that she is one of those people who will readily help fellow scrappers AND designers!..which it is rare to find designers willing to help boost one another).....so if anyone is wondering where God is in these feelings, why not ask Him? ask Him to reveal to you what someone is going through when they come to such big decisions, ask Him to give you an insight, and heart of understanding and I bet He just might show you ;)....
I know personally, I have stepped on people's toes by only giving a freebie as a 24 hour gift...that was never my intention and when it has happened i have been deeply hurt that they seemed ungrateful for the dozens of quality freebies i left up for months!...so next time you visit a blog (not mine in particularly...lol even though i LOVE the attention and kind words) make sure you say thanks for their hard work, and if you use it (which if you download it, i would hope it is b/c you plan on using it) let the other designers know by linking them to your layouts! I know i love leaving love on layouts where people have used my stuff :D....ok, off my soapbox.....

**update on the home front**
Tink (Chloe as she is very firmly callng herself now...which it is her name so i can't complain, i just have a hard time calling her that lol) is now potty trained 100% day, night, and naptime!!!
Lane has now been moved up to 8th grade math (he is in 7th)...
and Elijah's teacher is in the works of having him moved to 4th grade math (he is in 3rd)...
both boys' reading skills are off the charts also and tink is obsessed with drawing...i mean she does it all the time!
This weekend marks my biggest sales ever (lol which isn't a lot compared to most designers, but I am seeing it as a blessing all the same!). Hopefully, with more people sampling my stuff, maybe i will have more sales in the future :D....AND I have been praying about a certain store that I wanted to be part of but didn't want to flat out ask, well the owner approached me about it last weekend so i will be having a BIG announcement concerning that sometime this week ;)..
Mike's going to be going to court concerning getting his job back with his former employer....God knows my heart on this matter, He knows Mike's heart on this matter (lol we don't necessarily agree on what we WANT), but I also just want His will done no matter which of us is going to be most pleased, so please be praying that God gives us both the strength and understanding to be grateful no matter what the decision is....another job has possibly presented itself (the same line of work) so if that is what God wants, that is what we want also....
Finally, tomorrow (the 6th) is my 31st bday! (it didn't bother me much until the last few hours, just getting a bit anxious about it for some reason...) and it is Mike's 33rd bday :D...here is our "almost" bday picture (he really is not this aggrevated, he just looks like it in most pictures lol)...and i am happy my hair was hanging just right to cover most of my chubby face! lol



Here are some trick or treat pics :).....it was too chilly for Tink and Elijah to wear their original costumes (pictured below the trick or treat ones...i took the other photos before the fall costume contest a couple weekends ago), so we just rigged them up with some different (warmer) homespun costumes :D....lane went "goth" both times, and it is a little unsettling to this momma how "naturally" he took the persona of his costume :(, I am so glad it was only for Halloween....lol if it was anyone else's son, I would compliment them on how handsome they looked (lol i love the look, just not on my oldest baby boy :P)....

Tink looking Ghetto Clown Fabulous ;) (this is how she NORMALLY dresses lol, we only added face makeup)...she refused to say "Trick or Treat"...she would only say "treat" lol smart girl ;)...her hair is actually a lot lighter than it looks, and more reddish but i used a photo action on these and it darkened it a lot lol....


and for the costume contest....she was a victorian princess, she won 2nd for "cutest" in her age group...



"Please sir, may i have suh'more?"...elijah kept using his "Oliver Twist" accent and asking for "Canday for thuh poor" instead of Trick or Treat....

and for the costume contest he was a piece of the lawn (yes that is fake dog poo in his hair, c'mon admit it, most of us have at least one pile hidden somewhere in the grass ;) )...he got first place in his category :D


and my Goth Boy, who DID say "Trick or Treat" (if they think they are too old to say it, then they have NO business trick or treating ;) )......

and for the costume contest he had a fake lip ring, black nails, and "sleeves"...and we worked a bit more on his hair....lol


I am very proud to say that all 3 of mine thanked every person who was handing out candy and were very polite and considerate of everyone else out and about that night, I was very pleased...


sniffle, i fear this is the last year my oldest young'un will be trick or treating though (he is taller than momma now lol)...he will probably still dress up, but trick or treat is best left to the younger ones :)

ok now to the freebie :)...um i mean freebies!.....
first off is a bit of a preview of a couple of the things that just might could be made using some items from my grab bag ;)....this freebie contains the paper and the word art (separately so you don't have to leave "harvest" where it is)....if you like it, better go grab my Scrapz Sack at www.oneofakindscrapz.com (scrappin hillbilly sweetpea designs) while it is still up and only $2.00!!! (click on the preview for the freebie link)...



and the 2nd freebie is an alpha that coordinates with my Feral Faeries kit (also available at OAKS)...this wonderful layout, done by Tracy Little (5 angels) shows you the alpha that our lil feral faeries munched on!...definitely not your normal run of the mill alpha :D


Hope those were worth the long wait since my last freebie :) HUGS!
Be sure to see last Friday's (nov 2nd) post if you would like to see a preview of the Feral Faeries kit!

*SOBBING!!!!* I just discovered that all of my previous 4shared files were deleted (I was not logged in for over a month :(....ugh i am almost sick, all the wonderful comments and such that were left are forever gone :(....please if you leave a comment, do it here (i will still love them on 4shared, but if they are on here i will never lose them)....ugh, NOT a good bday "present!!!"....