Studio Linda Renee

Freebies' Last Call

2015-11-22T23:01:00.001-06:00

In early December I will be taking down this blog and the freebies will be gone forever.

Finale — Going out on a high note

2015-09-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

My store is closed. Gone. As is my Facebook page. My apologies to those who like my page is the days before its closure. It started in 2008, but the time has come to end it. I've quit before and come back, but not this time. My reasons are not really those of others who quit. I'm wasn't that much burnt out. I don't have pressing family needs or problems that need my close attention. No, it is actually something else. In a word, prophecy. As a student of the Bible, I have explored the prophecies of that good book, and they are saying that all the signs given that show that Jesus Christ is soon to return to earth have nearly reached their complete fulfillment. Really, all one has to do is read the Bible and compare today's headlines to see that some crisis is coming on this world rapidly. Financial markets go through wild fluctuations with periods of relative calm only to wildly fluctuate again. The humanitarian crisis in the Middle East flooding into Europe is causing emotions and frustration for thousands. A similar scenario has come to our won borders here in the USA.

Violence has increased to the point that no crime seems to be unthinkable anymore. Nothing is safe, not plant, animal, or human. Immorality and inhumanity is everywhere. There seems to be no sense of morality at all. Even children think nothing of taking nude photos of themselves and sending to other people. Someone once stated that the more clothes people take off, the more jewelry they put on. Tattoos seem to have replace jewelry. A country that was founded on religious liberty and freedom for all is now seeing that freedom reduced. It seems to becoming liberty and freedom for only certain ones. The words of Jesus are coming to pass. "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed" (Luke 17:26-30). Genesis chapter 5 describes the days of Noah (Noe in the New Testament). Genesis 18 and 19 and Ezekiel 16 describes the days of Lot in Sodom.

All these signs tell us that Jesus return is imminent. I choose to believe that He is coming soon and I want to be ready. More than that, I want others to be ready. I need to turn my focus away from myself and turn to helping others. I want to help them have better health as health has long been an interest of mine. With a family history of lifstyle diseases, that is diseases that are brought on largely by how one is eating, drinking, and living, I want to avoid those diseases as long as I can. I want to help others to understand that there is joy and peace in living, not for self and selfish pleasure, but in living for Jesus. It is for these reasons that I have made the decision to close up my scrapbooking, and go in another direction.

Before I go completely, I found a few lingering items on my HD that were never uploaded to my store. Since I will be keeping this blog open until the end of the year, I have uploaded them to the freebie pages. In fact, a lot of the items is actually CU and I have made a page just for them. I also added four small kits, one of which is CU. You can download them on the Free Kits page. The CU can be downloaded on the CU Freebies page. Other than doing my church newsletter and some other church projects, I have no further use for the CU, so I'm giving it to you to use. Of course, you can also use it in your own scrapbooking as well. Enjoy. A big thank you to everyone who has enjoyed my work and left a comment to tell me so. I hope that each of you will find the peace that passes all understanding that comes only from trusting in God, who is love.

Two Weeks and A Day

2015-08-14T14:58:00.001-05:00

That's all the time left to purchase in my Etsy store before it closes for good. Prices are half the original. So shop while you can. When the store closes, all the products will be gone for good. I will not be posting them as freebies.

This blog will remain up until about the end of the year so get the freebies I have posted on the "free kits" and "free QP's-Templates" pages as they will also be gone when I close this blog.

Vacation Over

2015-07-22T16:21:00.001-05:00

My husband and I just returned from a much needed vacation, the first we have taken in several years. Our first stop was in San Antonio, Texas, for a church convention. It was rush and a crush, with nearly 70,000 people present on Sabbath, July 11. This gathering takes place every five years and attracts many church members where they can come to see old friends, hears stirring messages, and visit numerous exhibits for information and materials. From San Antonio we went on to Santa Fe, New Mexico to stay with a friend for a week in her mountain home. Rest, relaxation, cool, dry nights, comfortable days, and looking at the stars without any city lights to interfere. More that that, it was a spiritual blessing. We both needed time away and just relax. Coming back down to the hot and humid south hit us both like a ton of bricks. I was dragging the first day back. All I really accomplished was doing the laundry and a trip to the grocery store. Today is much better. Husband returns to work tonight. I think we both wish we could be back in the mountains.

I want to remind my readers that I will be closing my Etsy store and quitting the digital scrapbooking business for good in September. Everything in the store has been reduced. I have also posted up a lot of CU items in bundles from a small price.

Check my freebies pages. I am in the process of uploading a few old kits that had previously been prepared to upload and give away.

Dear friends of Studio Linda Renee

2015-06-19T12:27:00.000-05:00

I will be permanently closing my Etsy store in the near future. This time I won’t be coming back. There is no time to come back. No, as far as I know, I’m not suffering from something terminal. There have been no major changes in my family or other events that is going to absorb all of my time. But there is a terminal situation that is effecting family changes as well as absorbing my time.

Anyone who has read my blog for awhile will remember that I am a Christian. God is very important in my life; in fact His is everything. All else in my life centers around my love for my Saviour. My faith is not something that I take lightly. I don’t put it on one day a week for church, then take it off the rest of the week. I believe the Bible is meant to be the guidebook of living for Jesus and like Jesus. I believe that it is to be believed as it reads, not as I want it to read. I believe that it is an inspired book that can be fully trusted to tell the truth. I believe its prophecies, its history, its instructions and that they are as relevant for people today as when they were written. I believe that Jesus is about to keep His promise that He will come again. Before He returned to heaven, He gave us many signs that we could know that His coming was near. In the prophetic books of what we call the Old Testament, many prophecies also tell us how history would unfold and how to know His coming is soon. So to with the books of the New Testament. Nearly every prophecy in the Bible has reached fulfillment, and most of the signs of Jesus’ coming have come to pass.

As I study my Bible daily and spend time in prayer; as I see the news stories, as I watch what is unfolding in the world, I have come realize that I can not continue life as usual. I realize that there people who know, who sense that something momentous is about to occur, but they don’t know what that something is. I also realize that many don’t know but also don’t care. Evolution has long taught that man is the creator of his own destiny and that the world is going to get better and better. The evening news belies that maxim. Evolution has taught people that they came from some bacteria that somehow managed over billions of years to evolve from one life form to another until humans arrived on the scene. The evolution theory is one of hopelessness, of valuelessness. It removes any reason for a person’s existence and offers them no hope of any kind of future life beyond the grave. The atheist says you’re born, you die, that’s it. Those who follow Eastern philosophy spend their lives trying to achieve nothingness with the universe through various techniques, while believing that they are reincarnated over and over again until they achieve nirvana. Only in Christianity can one find a reason for living and hope in a future immortal life.

I believe in a fiat creation. God spoke, and it was instantly there. The land, the water, light, plants, animals, sun, moon, and finally man, a being that the Bible says God formed from the dirt. He molded the man to resemble Himself, and then gave him life by breathing into man’s nostrils. The Bible says in Genesis that God created man, male and female he created them. Adam and Eve are the parents of the human race. I know where I came from, and it wasn’t some mollusk in some primordial sea. Because I believe God’s Word, I have hope for a future in which there will be no death, no pain, no sorrow. I believe that Jesus, the Son of God, will return to this planet soon to collect all those who have put their faith and trust in Him and have followed Him and through their faith in His power, have kept His law of liberty. The Bible teaches that when Jesus returns, every one will see Him. His return will not be secret or silent. He will come with a trumpet, and a shout. There is noting quiet or secret about that. I know that many have been erroneously taught there will be a secret rapture, but the Bible does not teach it.

Just before Jesus went back to heaven, he left instructions for His followers. Go to all the world and preach the gospel, He said; teaching them to follow all the instructions He has left for us in His written word. Every follower of Jesus Christ is required to do so. I have been less than diligent in following those instructions. But now I see a need for me to move into a closer, deeper relationship with Jesus and follow His every word. That requires that I make some changes in my life. As I have prayed about what I should do, specifically praying about the digital scrapbooking design, I realized that the desire to continue it was gone. I have had no real desire to design anything. I have made a few attempts, but the results are not what I would expect from myself. I have taken this to mean that it is time to put it aside forever. It takes time that I would much rather be putting into Bible study and prayer and doing whatever God requires of me. I have also seen that most scrapbooking that is faith based does not sell well. So going in that direction, which I did consider, is not a viable option.

I'm sure that the followers of this blog have noticed that I haven't been participating in blog trains or color challenges for the last couple of months. After careful consideration, I decided to close down the store and cease all designing on or about September first of this year. I have reduced all the prices in my store to half price or less. They will remain that way until I close the store. I will also be adding a few more items that have been waiting, especially commercial use items. I will be packaging many of them into bundles which I will be selling at greatly reduced prices. I plan to have nothing priced over $3.00 for bundles which will include many more items in each bundle than the usual 5 or 6 items one usually finds and most will probably be less. After I close my store, all products, kits, CU, everything will be gone permanently. They will not be uploaded as freebies at any future date.

I will leave the Studio Linda Renee blog up for a longer period of time and the freebies that are here will continue for awhile longer. Eventually, they too, will come down but at present I have no date in mind for that. My focus will be on adding new material to my blog The Mind Is the Battlefield and another blog or two that are in the idea stage. The afore mentioned blog contains studies I have done as I search the Bible; they are my own personal Bible studies. The Bible is a rich mine of truth and there is so much to learn. Through the years I have compared scripture with scripture to gain greater understanding in what God is telling us and have found it richly rewarding. I will now focus on sharing more of what I have learned.

In closing I will again state that I am a Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist. We believe that God’s grace is His power to save us from sin; that His death and atoning blood was shed so that we will not have to pay the penalty of death for breaking His law. He has made a way that we may have eternal life with Him. If anything I have written here has brought questions to mind that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to check the link(s) following each question below.

What about life after death?
Heaven Is for Real
Truth About Death

Are there really such things as ghosts and what are they if they are real?
Ghost Truth

If hell is real, where is it and whose in charge of it?
Hell Truth

Does God care what day of the week one worships Him on?
Sabbath Truth

What about Bible prophecy and things like 666 and the antichrist, the second coming of Jesus and all those beasts in Revelation?
Bible Prophecy Truth
666 Truth
Most Amazing Prophecies
Mary Truth
The Prophecy Code

Is there someplace I can learn more about the Bible online?
Bible Universe

A Day Late and A Dollar Short

2015-05-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

Or it's more like a week late and several dollars short. I missed getting everything ready for NSD, so how about a post-NSD sale? Now that everything is calming down and the dust is settling, why not take a trip to my store and check out my new kits? You can see some of them in the Etsy preview on the sidebar. Etsy has a little quirk. You can't have a sale, as in setting everything to 50% off. No way that I've found to put something temporarily on sale. But they do have coupons. Coupons work. And I have one for you. Starting right now! It's good on every product in my store— that includes all the new kits I uploaded today and anything else I may add in the next week. I can tell you I've got some CU goodies to put up. So keep checking. I'm not sure when I'll get things packaged up. You see, I bought some cut oriental lilies that my husband likes so well. They are beautiful, but I have learned they don't like me. They were still buds when I got them, but they soon started opening up. And my head started stopping up. Allergic to the pollen. The flowers are gone, but my sinuses are stilled rebelling. It will take a few days yet. From now on, DH will have to enjoy the lilies outside.

But that's not all. I also have a mini kit for you to download. Appropriately it is called Late spring. LOL

Download

Time to board the Paris to New York blog train…

2015-04-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

…because Spring Has Sprung. For those of us here in the South, spring flowers are blooming, dogwoods, azaleas, and fruit trees. The trees are leafing out, and the temps are warm. Instead of getting spring fever, I am starting to gear up for National Scrapbooking Day. Since I am a Sabbath keeper, I will not be posting anything special on that Saturday, but beginning the next day, and through the entire following week, I plan to have some special deals along with a few other things up my sleeve. I just realized last night that it's only three weeks away. So I have to get busy. I already have new kits waiting, some a bit different from what you usually see from me. LOL. Don't worry, I'll never go too far afield. I'm too much as stick-in-the-mud to change too much.

Download

Here are the other stops on this train.

KapiScrap & Art
Winsor Digi-Designs
EmJay Scraps
Touched by a Butterfly
Caroline B.
Sugarbutt Designs
Honeysuckle Lane Designs
Studio Linda Renee
Scrapbookingdom
Shuckclod's Stuff

New tabs for freebies

2015-04-01T11:14:00.001-05:00

Update: I just realized that I have to manually make the files on Google+ public. A couple of people hadn't been able to download them. I have taken care of that, and made the kits and QPs/templates public. Hopefully, no more problems.

I was asked this week about the use of my freebies for a particular project which made me take a good look at the freebies I have for download here on my blog. I also have quite a few (mostly mini) kits that I will not be updating and putting up for sale at Etsy, and I will be uploading some of them for download. So look for the tabs, one for kits, and the other for QPs and the few templates that I make. The download links are found below each preview. I had a request come in from some one in Slovakia about download links. I assume she didn't look in the right place for the links. But they are there. BTW, you'll notice that I don't have a freebie for the PS color challenge this month. First, the color palette is not an easy one for me to work with. Second, there has been some fuss over there about kits not being named in a particular way. Well, call me stubborn, but I have been naming my kits in a certain way for years, and I'm refusing to change. If I should decide to put the kit up for sale afterward, I would have to rename everything, and I don't want to go to the trouble. That doesn't mean I'll never make another kit with the month's color palette, it just won't be an "official" part of the blog train. There is a little Easter kit on the top of the free kits tab. Hope you like it. If I ever had it up on the blog, and I don't think I did, it was a few years ago. I'm not into the pagan aspects of Easter with all the fertility symbols of bunnies and chicks. I focus on the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for our salvation.

Two days in a row

2015-03-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

I'm actually posting two days in a row. Trying to push through my stubbornness. I wonder sometimes what I will write, so I don't. Not good, right? Yet there are lots of things that go through my mind. Today, though, I got my mini kit for the Studio color challenge uploaded. That means a freebie for you. But first, oh, yes, there's a "but first." LOL. Thanks to all those who took part in the poll. That information is helpful to me. I'm actually glad that most who replied don't usually but bundles. I'm not much of a bundle maker. I do like to do quick pages, and clusters, but not much else. I've been working on two more kits for my Everyday Life series. Take a look at my previous post to learn about more about the series.

We're nearly through with winter, at least where I live in the south. Warmer weather is finally prevailing. I'll soon be releasing a hot new kit for hot weather, one of the first that will also be have a set of quick pages, sold separately. I love the colors. I've even got a little teaser for you. I'll release it next week at Etsy.

I know, you're really here for the freebie. I didn't take too much of your time with that little spiel. Diane, of ABDesigns who runs the color challenge called it Joyful, but I chose a slightly different name. Her palette and name kept the music, Ode to Joy, going through my brain, so that's what I named my kit.

Download here or click on preview

2015-03-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

Good morning out there. I've been telling myself I have to blog, I have to blog. Feelings aside, I have to blog. It's not like I'm sick or such, it's just that I don't often feel that I have something to say unless I am posting a freebie or such. Well, there is a freebie coming, but not in this post. Actually, I've been busy with a new volunteer position at church and haven't even spent much time designing. Though, I do go through spells of little mojo to designs, then I'll get in a flurry of activity and do several kits in a few days. I just need to time their release better.

I've also been working on my bags and purses sporadically. I made my daughter a bag for her crochet for Christmas. I drew up a pattern, made it with lots of pockets and compartments especially for crochet supplies. She loves it. I have gotten one made to post in my other Etsy store, Bags by Linda Renee (which I have on vacation at the moment), with more cut out to sew, including a bag especially for knitters. In my Studio Linda Renee shop, I've released a few new kits plus a set of templates. I'm not a big template maker; it seems that there are so many already, but when I got started on these, I liked them and made a whole set. The templates are CU, PU, and S4H.

I have started a new series called Everyday Life. Isn't that what most of our scrapped pages are about? Our everyday lives? Just released today is Everyday Life: Masculine and Everyday Life: Feminine.

Everyday Life: Masculine is geared toward the working man. He's a normal guy. He goes to work and works hard. It may be manual labor like construction or it might be in an office but when he is home, he can relax. He can pull on his old plaid shirt, his baseball cap, and work in the yard. He can tinker under the hood of the car. He might enjoy recreation like riding a bike or some sports activity. It's his everyday life. Everyday Life: Masculine has 12 papers, one mesh overlay, 63 unique elements to record the activities of the men in your life. With it's leather jacket, plaids, and outdoor gear, it especially good for the hands on type of guy.

Everyday Life: Feminine is really feminine, celebrating the woman who likes being a lady, at least some of the time. Everyday Life is about the ordinary, often the mundane, but even in the normal everyday life women are feminine. The want to be pretty and attractive. They like pretty things, and even if its inexpensive, the will have something lovely to look at. This kit celebrates the everyday life and women with it's shades of pink, minty greens contrasted with brown. This kit is also good for Mother's Day, and other holidays and celebrations of and for the mothers/daughters/sisters in your life. 15 papers and 50 unique elements.

I've had a few people at Etsy ask me if they can use my kits or a specific kit to make cards, etc. Unfortunately, I'm had to say now, because of the cu items I use. Because CU terms are all over the place, it is quite maddening at times to sort them all out. I already have a separate folder for the no freebies CU, but it looks like I may need to break it down further into those who allow CU for S4H. That way, I can know whose items I can use to make kits that others can use in their small business. It's just too bad the designers can't all get on the same page.

All the kits in this post are S4H and the templates are CU as well.

Get Bugged!

2015-02-28T19:00:00.000-06:00

With the real thing—the kind that fly and buzz and crawl. The latest Pixel Scrapper blog train is about pets. You'll find all kinds of kits related to the animal kingdom as you take the train ride through digiland. Since I chose bugs, I call my little offering Bug Safari. Hope you enjoy.

Download Bug Safari

Paris to NY blog train

2015-02-15T13:19:00.001-06:00

I'm making this short today. I'm a bit under the weather but want to get this scheduled so you'll be able to download. While you're downloading, please take the poll to help me know what you like in a kit and if you prefer kits to bundles. Thanks.

Download here or here.

Here is the list of the other participants.
KapiScrap & Art
Winsor Digi-Designs
EmJay Scraps
Crafty Scraps
Touched by a Butterfly
Caroline B.
Sugarbutt Designs
Honeysuckle Lane Designs
Scrapbookingdom
Studio Linda Renee
Shuckclod's Stuff
Monkey's Musings

New and Improved Now at Etsy!

2015-02-02T16:27:00.002-06:00

Better Than Ever! Not just doing what the advertisers do. It really is new and improved. A new kit, that is. Well and old kit made new. Silver Moon has always been one of my favorite kits, and I just can't retire it completely, so I looked it over carefully, removed some items I no longer cared for, reworked some that needed it, slightly changed the color palette, and added new papers and elements. Oh, the moon is still there. A lot of new stars joined the kit. So it really is new and improved. LOL. You can find it at Etsy now.

As most of you know I am a long time fan of the Studio color challenge. I got a mini done in a hurry this time. I mean, it's only the second day of February and I actually have a kit done. Hope you enjoy it.

Download

Start of a new month, just maybe…

2015-01-31T19:17:00.000-06:00

Maybe I can get out of low gear and start moving a little faster. I think I even the tortoise and the hare would both beat me as slow as I've been in January. I actually finished several kits to upload to my store, but I've been dragging, so I haven't released them. Not much of an excuse is it? I did get the freebie for Pixel Scrapper blog train done and uploaded. I've even got one more completed for the Paris to NY BT later this month. In between, I'm going to release some of my new goodies. As for the EU vat thingy, it seems that Etsy has realized that they do have the responsibility to collect the tax and send it. My store is open for business and will remain open. I just need to become a better business person. I've hired people in the past to help promote my kits, but it never worked out. They got my money and I got mostly nothing. So I won't go that route anymore. But I am still thinking about a creative team. My requirements would be quite simple, at least compared to some of the CT calls I've read in the last several months. All I want are two layouts for each new kit and posted in 2-3 open galleries. [Open galleries allow links back to the store where the kit is selling.] No blog work, no FB work, no making freebies. There is just one thing that I am strict about. If you accept a kit to make LOs and don't do them, no more kits. I understand if an emergency comes up. But an emergency every month won't fly. Unfortunately, such rules are necessary because such things happen. Does that sound like a CT call? I guess it is. Very informal I know. Anyone interested can either leave a comment below, or email me at hillssuper at gmail dot com. If you should use the email addy I have listed on the sidebar, I will get that too.

I've been wondering about something. When I first started in this business years ago, no one had heard of a bundle. Now it seems to the the thing to do. I haven't been making bundles, and I don't buy bundles. Personally if I want clusters, I'll make them from what's in the kit. Same for QP, and such. When I make scatters or borders, I include them as part of the kit. So I thought I would put up a poll to see what most scrappers really want in a kit or if they prefer bundles. Actually, I'm putting up two polls. Please let my know what you like by taking a few seconds to ckeck what boxes you want. It will help me know more of what you like. Thanks.

Anyway, on to the freebie you came for.

Download at mediafire

Download from Copy

Download at 4shared

4shared has recently started giving very long wait times to those who use adblocker. So if you choose to download from them and your browser is set to block ads, expect a very long wait.Turning off adblocker could allow stuff on your computer you don't want there. This will probably be the last time I use 4shared.

You can find the complete list of blog train participants at Pixel Scrapper.

My Etsy Store Reopened

2015-01-08T22:14:00.001-06:00

I gave a lot of thought to what I should do about my store and whether I should reopen it. I finally decided to reopen it, but placed a notice on the page asking those in the EU to contact me first before buying. I've read all the comments that have been left on my posts and I so appreciate each of them, especially those with a little insight into the problem. In doing a bit of searching, I have discovered just one other digiscrap store who is aware of the VAT and making some kind of provision. I'm wondering if other store owners are just in the dark about the whole thing, are playing dumb if they do know, ignoring it, or quietly working to set things up. I have to wonder, frankly, how one nation can force another nation to collect tax from the first nation's citizens when they purchase in another country and pay that tax to the home country. It doesn't even have a ring of legality to it, at least not to my unlearned-in-the-law ears. I would imagine this is one of those things that could wind up in the courts. But part of the problem is that merchants who sell digital products are very often small vendors and merchants like myself. I do wonder what places like Amazon, Ebay, and itunes is doing though. It may be that they actually have a presence in the EU countries. I know that Ebay does.

Somehow I doubt that there will be a huge backlash against it in places like the USA. Globalism is the order of the day. When there is such a push for all manner of globalized entities such as a world court, it seems that the voices of the majority will not be heard above the roar of the few who want to see the world come under a global government. No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, though they abound on the internet. I really don't need to go searching for their theories. I have long believed Bible prophecy. As they lyrics of a gospel song says, God said it, and I believe it, and that's good enough for me. The Bible tells of a time when men would try to bring the whole world together under a single power. It will appear to be succeeding, but it will fail. It won't last long. When Jesus was on earth, He told us in His word, that He would return to earth to claim His children. Now I know that many don't believe that, or they think that if it ever happens, it will be far into the future. Others don't believe there is a God or if there is, that He is far removed from this earth and it's peoples.

There are many in the world who are doing all kinds of acts and works to appease their god, whatever that god may be. Only the Christian has a God who has died and risen again, who has promised to return and take His people to a better land. He is not a God to fear, but a God of love. We don't have to do anything to make the Creator God love us. He made us, He died to save us from out sins, and He will come back.

I was raised a Christian, but there came a time when I turned my back on it. I chose to walk away. There seemed to be everything going wrong in my life and I wanted nothing more to do with the church, with God, with anything religious. It took several years for me to come to a place where I realized that I was not any happier, any more peaceful, or less stressed by turning away from God. The day I answered God's call to my heart to return to Him, was a day when I could finally lay down the mental and emotional load of pain and care I had been carrying. I finally realized He alone had the answers I needed. Did it require something from me? Yes, my surrender to His will. That's where many people stumble. Give up my life to someone else to control? No Way, is what many say. I tried to control my own life, but I did a miserable job of it. Things went out my control very quickly, and all I could do was wallow in the rapids. It wasn't fun.

After giving my life back into God's control, my life didn't become all roses and perfume. Far from it. I still have problems, I still have stress, I still have to deal with all that life throws at me. The difference is, that I don't have to carry it all alone, trying to make the right choices. I go to God in prayer. He carries the burdens. I know it sounds so trite, but I really don't know another way to say it. There is a peace that comes from talking to this Friend that I have not seen face to face. But I know He is there and he listens. I have seen and experienced many times when He has solved a problem where I could not see any way clear; there seemed to be no answer. He has provided needs when there was no earthly way that I could see to fulfill it. Others may call me what they want, but I know whom I have believed, and I know that He is able to keep everything I've committed to Him and guide me day by day.

This problem with the VAT and the EU I'm letting Him worry about. I'm trying to keep up with the information, but from Etsy, info is a scarce as hen's teeth. I found more information in the comments to a blog post on Constance Cumby's blog. One of the commenters posted several links to articles and information about the VAT. If Etsy finally puts a tool in place that allows us to choose what countries we will sell to, I will probably have to cease selling to EU customers. How awful. The only thing I can do is offer freebies that anyone from anywhere can download. I plan to do that. I'll be doing several blog trains and color challenges during January and February.

I really liked the color palette I used for the Pixel Scrapper blog train freebie this month. In fact I like it so much that I made a full size kit and January Snow Storm is now available in my store.

DSS Color Challenge

2015-01-08T21:38:00.000-06:00

We all think about writing our stories. Diane's color challenge at the Studio this month was to make a kit or layout about writing our stories. Of course, I did a mini. So grab it and go write your story, or a least a snippet of it.

Download at Mediafire
Download at 4shared

Winter Time is upon us.

2015-01-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

I do like doing most of the Pixel Scrapper blogtrains. I like the PS forum as well. The theme for January is Winter Arabesque. However, I named my mini for the BT January Snow Storm. I like the color palette so well, I made a whole kit besides them mini. My plans were to release it in my Etsy store on the first along with the mini here on my blog. But that isn't happening. You will know why if you read my previous post. Until they straighten out this VAT tax thing or I find another site to sell on, my store is on vacation. But in the meantime, grab the freebies and enjoy. Happy New Year.

Download from Mediafire.
Download from 4shared.

A VAT Vacation

2014-12-31T10:43:00.000-06:00

It's not a vacation I planned to take. Not at all. The EU has decided to collect lots more taxes, this time on digital downloads beginning January 1, 2015. I received DSS newsletter this morning with their explanation of dealing with the VAT. No matter where your store may be located, you will be forced to collect their taxes. If you want to understand more, I suggest you read Toiny's blog post. That got me thinking about my store at Etsy so I went in search of information. It turns out that they have know about this for six months but didn't notify sellers until recently and have seemingly done nothing to help sellers make the necessary changes. I can't even set my items to sell only in certain areas or exclude EU countries, not that I want to exclude any buyers because I don't. Due to the uncertainty, and Etsy's refusal to accept what appears to be their responsibility to handle the VAT, I, along with other Etsy digital sellers, have put my store on vacation until further notice. For some of us, it may mean closing down completely, though I hope not. In the meantime DH and I will be spending a couple of days with our daughter over New Year's, so we are taking a very mini vacation. Next week, I'll look deeper into this. I may need to switch to another platform that allows digital selling but also handles the VAT. I may also be able to switch from direct downloads to emailing a PDF to the customer, which at the moment, seems to be a possible option.

My loss is your gain. I'm giving away a kit I had originally planned to place for sale in my Etsy store. It's the enlarged version of a mini I did for the DSS designer context last September. But I warn you, it is colorful! LOL. Is that an understatement?

Links expired. It will be in my Etsy store soon.

Tomorrow begins a brand new year. So to each of you I wish a

Happy and Blessed New Year.

New Blog Train: From Paris to New York blog train Christmas Tales and Songs

2014-12-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

I saw an invite on a blog to join the from Paris to New York blog train and decided to jump aboard. This is my first trip on the train, but I'm sure it's not my last. The train theme this trip is Christmas Tales and Songs. I love Christmas carols, and based my kit on the many that we sing about the birth of Christ at this time of year.

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Stop by at all these stations to receive all parts of the blog train:

Don't forget to check out the previous posts for freebies and a coupon for my store.

New in the Store

2014-12-14T14:40:00.002-06:00

I'm sad that no one took advantage of the coupon a few weeks back. How about another one? Hmmm, just might do that. Perhaps you should keep reading. I know that I'm slow about getting news out. I'm willing to admit I'm not workaholic. I'm more likely to rust out than to wear out. But I still keep plodding along. I do get kits done. It's the promoting that lags. But I do have some new kits in the store and I think you will like them. There's even a Christmas kit. I haven't spent so much time doing Christmas kits, but rather have worked on other kits. I'll have a new winter themed kit coming out the first and I know you'll like it. Now here are the new kits.

First is my Christmas kit, Heart of Christmas. What does Christmas really mean to you. I thought about all the things that Christmas usually means to many people, from a church service to the tree to being home with family to candles and snow, and the Nativity. Those are the things that are the heart of Christmas.

Available here in my Etsy store

Next is the exciting remake of a previous kit. It has brand new colors, some new elements and papers, and a brand new set of wordarts. I really love the new color palette I used this time. Got A New Attitude anyone? You can get yours in the shop.

Available here in my Etsy Store

A Moment In Time was originally done for a color challenge, but has now been enlarged and updated a bit. It is still a pretty kit in lovely pastels.

Available here in my Etsy Store

I love the colors in this last kit. It is a very feminine kit, because it's all about being a lady. I'm sure you'll agree you have some photos tucked away someplace that are just prefect for scrapping with She's A Lady.

Available here in my Etsy Store

Oh, I didn't forget about a coupon. Not at all. From now until January 2, you can purchase any item in my Studio Linda Renee store for 50% off, no minimum purchase required. I admit it, I would like to get a little business, and 50% off is always a bargain. Oh, yes, you need the code: 2014CHRISTMAS50OFF

Happy Shopping!

Color Challenge

2014-12-14T14:02:00.001-06:00

Anyone who has been to my blog over the years knows I do like color challenges, especially the ones at the Studio. Way back when it was Stone Accents Studio I got my start there in digiscrapping and designing by doing the color challenges. Boo of Booland Designs was doing them then. Diane of ABDesigns now does the challenge. I don't always do something every month, but this month I got a mini done. You can pick it up here or use the links in the gallery at the Studio.

Download

Christmas Is Coming…

2014-11-30T23:30:00.000-06:00

…quicker that I want it to. I have gifts to make and just a short time to make them, besides working on new kits and bags. Oh, well, what gets done is done and what doesn't will go undone and I refuse to worry about it.

We had a quiet lovely Thanksgiving. Our daughter came and a friend who would have had to sit in a nursing home all day if we hadn't brought him over to our place. Dinner was simple but delicious. Being vegan, we have to be creative. A very low fat diet calls for even more creativity. So I made a pan of vegetable lasagna with tofu instead of cheese. It happened to be quite good. Along with my popular-with-family cranberry relish, a pumpkin pie made with a Grapenuts crust, greens, and bread, it was a filling meal. I'm going to have to think of something different for Christmas dinner entree, though.

I've been working on new Christmas kits for my store. One is completed, and others are in some state of work. I did finish a mini kit for the Pixel Scrapper blog train. Without further ado, here it is.

Link expired

Happy Thanksgiving, A Freebie and A Coupon

2014-11-24T12:38:00.001-06:00

Good Morning, Scrappers. Since this is the week of Thanksgiving in the US, I want to first wish each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving, no matter where you may live, for we all have much to be thankful for. I find these words meaningful: "Ground that has absorbed the rain falling upon it repeatedly and brings forth crops useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God." Hebrews 6:7. We are indeed blessed.

Many are traveling this time of year as well. Our daughter will be coming for the day while our son's family will be heading to his wife's family for the holiday. And wouldn't you know, it's me son calls for advice on how to cook some dish he is contemplating making or to tell me how he has actually cooked something. Actually, he is a very good cook and has been since he was a teen. Daughter can cook, but didn't seem to take to it the way son did. But if you should see her pinterest boards, half of them are cooking. I don't know for sure what I'll be making. Since my husband has had to radically alter his diet (finally!!) it won't be the usual vegan fare we once had, but with the help of some cookbooks, it will be tasty. I have to say that the changes have been a blessing to both of us. He is finally dropping weight and he needs a belt (and probably suspenders) to hold up his pants these days. Not that is a really good thing. His PCP is happy as his last blood work was great. Of course, his cardiologist is still saying he needs a bypass. It will take awhile to show that he doesn't. The won't know the true state of his heart until they do another heart cath, but that won't be for another year at least.

I have put two new kits in the store today. First is the major overhaul of an old kit, Old and Faded. If you have the original kit, released several years ago, you will quickly see a lot of changed have been made. It is now more versatile while still retaining its original vintage style. Heirlooms are wonderful things for families to have. They are reminders of those who came before, sometimes generations before. But with time the old becomes faded. The stories themselves may become faded in the memory. But scrapbookers are preserving those memories, writing down the stories and preserving them for their future generations. Old and Faded is a vintage kit in shades of mauve and green for preserving the memories of the past, the present, and even the future. Write down the stories you remember your grandmother telling you. Add the photos of her that will let you and your descendents put a face with the name and the stories. The kit has 50 elements and 14 total papers, 4 of which are solid colored.

Next is a kit that was inspired by a song that is still popular decades after it was written for a production. You've probably heard it, When You Walk Through A Storm. It's a beautiful song meant to build courage when facing the life's low points. Every one goes through storms in their life. Losses, disasters, pain, ill health, the causes are many. How do you cope with the storms? Do you hold your head up and walk on, knowing that somewhere there has to be a blue sky? Sunshine? A Rainbow? When you are filling out your scrapbook pages, do you concentrate on only the pleasant memories, or do you also record those not pleasant memories as I do? Some have said that life is no bed of roses, but I say it is—because every bed of roses has its many thorns that prick and poke and cut. Here is a kit that gives you all the papers and elements to document the storms of life from the start of the storm to the blue sky at the end. The kit has 65 unique elements, including 6 wordarts/clusters and 12 papers, and 6 solid papers.

Now for the goodies. I do have one freebie for you today, a quick page from When You Walk Through A Storm.

I also have a coupon for you for my Etsy store for your holiday shopping.
Here is the code: SLRBFCM14NOV
The coupon is for 30% off an order of $10.00 or more and is good from now until Nov. 30. And I'm seriously thinking of having another coupon before Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

2014-11-14T09:46:00.000-06:00

In a day when claiming to be a Christian can bring all kinds of negative responses from the public, I am willing to say I am a Christian. I believe that all good things come from God. I also believe that the things that troubles that enter our lives are permitted by God to draw us closer to Him. God is not evil, the fallen angel we know as Satan is the origin of evil. God has promised that He will make all things work together for good to those who love Him. Out of trouble can come something good, even if we can't see it at the time. While we take one day a year to offers thanks and gratitude, as a Christian, I know that everyday must be a day of thanksgiving for God's blessings to me.

Today I have a new kit in the store, The Grateful Table. I have never done the Digi Hop before, but really liked the color palette. I had been working on a Thanksgiving kit, but it just wasn't coming together. Once I started with this color palette, it just came together. At the end of this post you will find the preview of the mini kit made for the Digi Hop. But first, I want to show you the main kit now on sale at Etsy.

Here is your mini kit:

Link Expired.

DSD has come and gone

2014-11-04T12:59:00.000-06:00

I let it slip away. When I finally thought about it, I knew I could never get anything ready in time. If you read my previous post, you know that I have had personal issues to deal with, plus a few more not blogged about. I'm getting back to business. Now I'm looking forward to Cyber Monday when I do plan to have some things ready to go. I have several kits waiting to go into the store, and a number of freebies to give away. I uploaded some kits a few weeks ago, but haven't advertised them. Well, better late than never, I think. Today I want to introduce you to Distractionitis, Moon River, Fresh Spring Morning, A Bit Old Timey, and My Heart Remembers. While first one is all new, the last four are reworked kits, some very much reworked, including color changes to the palette. So if you have an old version of these kits, I can tell you these are new, improved, and expanded. Let me show you these kits.

This funky kit came as a result of my husband found something in the fridge that didn't belong there. Getting distracted is an age old problem. Notice it's not an old age problem; it affects everyone.You put the milk in the cupboard and the cornflakes in the fridge. Distracted! Mind is somewhere else. I'm sure that everyone has a memory of being distracted and doing something thoughtless. Now you can scrap about it with Distractionitis.

I am an Andy Williams fan. I loved the song Moon River. This kit began life as a play along kit in a design contest a couple of years ago. Now updated and expanded, Moon River pays tribute to the song the Williams used as his signature song. Is there a real Moon River? I don't know, but you can sail down this one on a scrap layout any day or night.

Begun as a blog hop mini, Fresh Spring Morning has bloomed into a full size kit. Spring seems rather far away for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, but in reality, it's just a few months away. We just have to get through winter first. In the meantime, why not scrap some of those lovely photos you took last May?

A Bit Old Timey? Some days I feel like that. Just a bit old and timey too. I do love my rocking chair. LOL.

This has been one of my favorite kits since it was originally made for a contest several years ago. It's undergone some changes along the way since then. But I finally had to do something I wanted to do with it—brighten it up. I changed the color palette a bit and what a difference it has made. Of course I've added on and changed some things, and now My heart Remembers is better than ever.

Now I'm doing the old eeny meany miney moe, which freebie do I put up and which one goes in my (hopefully) soon to go out newsletter. I think it will be..............

Ahh, the choice is made. A quick page from Moon River. Not only will it be great from musical photos but travel photos, too. Enjoy!

Download

Speaking of that newsletter (I need the embarrassed smiley right about now for not having sent one earlier) I will be adding a freebie, at least one, to it. I'll give you a look-see. It's another QP, this time from My Heart Remembers.

Hope you'll visit my store and find something you like enough to purchase. And thank you to those who do. And everyone else who visits.