Another Ragan Update..

Sorry to jump in here during Georgia's week, but I wanted to make sure everyone read Dyanna's update from Michelle that she posted at TSG on Monday!

"I have received another update from Michelle.... The Dr's are very pleased with Ragan's progress and if she continues her rapid recovery she may get to come home at the end of this week! Way to go Ragan!"

You can watch for more updates on Ragan in the TSG Forum HERE

Humpy Day!

Where is the day going???? It's flying by and I can't seem to conquer the pile of papers on my desk. I'm trying so hard to have everything cleaned up before we go away on vacation. Soooo a quick post from me and then back to work.

Here's a little something special for you just from me today:

A fun quick page using my Shades of Summer Bright kit. You can download it SORRY THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED.

I tried not to embellish it too much so you could add your own touches to it.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments girls... I promise to post in more detail tomorrow.

Hugs!

Tuesday ....

Busy busy busy.... when does the merry-go-round slow down? LOL

Ollie has finals all week and is on a crazy schedule as a result. Yesterday he was so excited to be finished with his Honors Algebra 2 final and his Honors Biology final. Today he had a free period since there is no final for gym, then his Honors Spanish final. Tomorrow is Honors World History and Computer Programming. Thursday he has a free for his lunch period and his Honors English final. Then it's 2 half days and he's done for the summer. We have to go and get his summer reading books. This year they have to read two instead of just one. He has to read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam Jr. and do an assignment on each one. Of course one of the things he's most excited about is that he'll no longer be a freshman and on the bottom of the totem pole at high school.

We are gearing up to leave for vacation end of next week. We are leaving on Friday, June 27th and coming home late on Monday July 7th. Wooohooo Myrtle Beach here we come!

That's why I'm trying to at least get the Red White and Blue kit in the store before we leave, if not another one I'm working on too.

Ok, I better get back to work for now.... since I've been so busy so far this week, I decided to create a coupon for you. Use Coupon Code GLO_BlogSpec_189 for 25% off your order in my store between today and Sunday, June 23rd.

Happy Shopping!

Monday ...

Oh boy has it been a Monday! I think in the office we made up for a smooth Friday the 13th by having a horrific Monday. Fortunately things settled down as the day went on and I think it's under control now.

Hey, have you seen the Box of Dreams challenge this month? I wasn't able to do the crop, but did go ahead and post a fun challenge and there's a great prize for completing it.

First things first .... the featured kit for this month is my Shades of Summer Bright which is on sale for only $2 for the month of June.



Also as a bonus, I've put my Dream Your Own Monogram for Summer on sale for only $2 also. This coordinates beautifully with the Shades of Summer Bright kit and gives you all kinds of monogram, alpha and extra elements options. It's kind of like a super special add on kit. :)




Now on to the challenge, this month we are going to do an ad challenge. Here is an ad that I used for inspiration for a layout I did quite a while back.




The rules are simple. You MUST use the featured kit (or the Dream Your Own Monogram for Summer kit) and do a layout inspired by this ad. Your bonus is a fabulous bracket album created with the Shades of Summer kit.



These can be used as a hybrid project with the Basic Grey Bracket Chipboard Albums, or as a base on any size page. Think of all the fun! Includes 8 png album pages along with 5 stitched blank pages to customize for the covers or use for extra journaling.

Post your layouts in the Box of Dreams gallery so we can oooohhhh and aaaahhh over them. Be sure to post a link to your layout back in this thread so I make sure to get your bonus out to you.

I sure hope you'll join in the fun!

Happy Father's Day!

Hi everyone, I am your guest host for this week. I'm running behind today as it is Father's Day and we had a busy busy day. Ollie had hockey clinic this morning and then dryland afterwards. Our high school coach has a friend who is the biometrics trainer up at Boston University. He comes down several weekends a year and spends the weekend doing training with our kids. Ollie loves the training but is exhuasted and super sore now that the weekend has come to a close. We took hubby to dinner at Bone Fish Grill for dinner. Yummmmmmmmmmm

We had gotten him a tool box (one of those monster sized ones that rolls around the garage) that he wanted for Father's Day. Instead of cards I made him two layouts. I haven't posted these in the gallery yet so I'll let you see them here instead right now.

To make a long story short about the 1st layout, this is my daughter that died at birth when Ollie was only 21 mo. old. Hubby would have adopted her too (long story as to where my ex is, etc.... he's not a nice guy!) ... so this past winter when I went to visit Papa Merlin before he passed away I visited her grave. It's always bothered me that she didn't have the same last name. Hubby agreed and I just had her stone redone. Now she and Ollie have the same last name and I feel much more at peace. Also, her original stone was a dark charcoal grey, the new one is a nice pink which fits her more I think. You can see the stone here if you are interested. I need to do a layout with it soon.

I have so many kits in the works right now. I'm almost done with a patriotic kit with tons of stars. It doesn't have a name yet though. I think I'll have a little contest on it this week. Send me your suggestions by Wednesday and if I pick yours, you'll get the kit AND the coordinating album for free. I'm super excited about the album, it is in the Cosmo Cricket Abby shape and can be used as a hybrid project, or just as a base for regular album pages. Here's a peek at page one of the album:

Ok, enough from me today. Be sure to check in with me each day as you never know when I might have something special for you. Also please feel free to ask questions to get to know me this week. I'll try to answer questions in the comments each day.

Have a great evening!

Update on Ragan

UPDATE: Dyanna spoke to Michelle Wednesday, June 11th. The Dr's were going to try and wean Ragan off the ventilator. Michelle is cautiously optimistic. It looks like Ragan is making some improvement although small...

PLEASE Keep Ragan in Your Thoughts & Prayers!!

Some of you might remember an adorable, sweet little girl named Ragan Rodriguez, the daughter of a TSG co-owner & designer, Michelle Rodriguez. Back in 2005 she was diagnosed with stage IV Germ Cell Cancer.

About a year ago Ragan was told she was again in remission (second time for her). She was happily enjoying life - taking dance lessons, playing, finally able to have long hair, just being a kid! Well, they recently found out the cancer was back yet again! Dyanna (co-ower of TSG) heard from Michelle that Ragan has also contracted Cellulitis (an infection of the skin)! Here is an small bit from an email Michelle, wrote:

"Ragan has had Cellulitis, an infection of the skin, and not only has it not responded to the antibiotics, but she has developed sepsis and is in critical condition. She's on oxygen and more antibiotics as well as some other medications. The prognosis is not good. People with a weakened immune system like Ragan have about a 20% recovery rate, meaning that 80% die. But, since she was hospitalized already when it set in she has a better prognosis because they were able to start treatment right away.
What that means is that I will be away from home and TSG much longer than I anticipated. Since she is in the ICU I have no computer access and I’ve only been getting about 3 hours a week at home. I try to get as much done as possible during my time home but I know it’s not much help."

PLEASE keep this adorable little girl, Michelle, and the rest of their family in your thoughts & prayers!!

To read more about Ragan, you can visit there web site at the Caring Bridge HERE **You must join the web site to be able to view the page**