It's All In The Scent

Missy over at It's Almost Naptime is hosting.....

and this week it is Favorite Perfumes.

Some of my favorite perfumes not listed any any particular order....



My aunt Maggie hooked me on Tova Signature perfume a few years ago. I get it from QVC.com and it is a must in my fragrance collection. I have put it on in the early morning and if I do not take a shower that evening, I can still faintly smell it the next morning.



Ahhh, just looking at the bottle takes me back to the 80's....my rip-roaring highschool days. This is a classic scent that I will love forever.



Estee by Estee Lauder. Classy is the word I would use to describe this one. When I want to dress up and smell dressed up, too!


Beautiful by Estee Lauder. Another very classy scent. I really do feel beautiful when I where it, lol


Amazing Grace by Philosophy. This is a very "clean" scented perfume, which I adore. I get it through QVC.com as well.

NONE of these scents are inexpensive....go figure, I am just like my mama when it comes to liking the things out of my price range! What are your favorites? Leave me your comments, I would love to know.

The Subconscious Mind.....

can be a very odd thinker!

I have been wanting to take a trip with my mom to Savannah, GA for quite some time now. I am in the process of trying to nail her down to make a decision about going in October. I have found a great little B&B on Tybee Island....a 4 minute walk from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Check out this adorable place at www.tybeeislandinn.com . Just don't you DARE go and make a reservation for October and make me lose my chance to stay there, LOL.

Yesterday I was browsing the website of the B&B and clicked on the Paula Deen link that took me to her restaurant homepage. There I read her policy on reservations which pretty much is this "a hostess begins taking "in person" requests for tables at 9:30 a.m. each day. No phone reservations are permitted. Ok, simple enough I suppose....it is certainly a thought for our trip as I would love to eat at Paula's restaurant.

Last night I had a dream about mom & I being on our vacation in Georgia. And yep, you guessed it, we were going to try to eat at The Lady & Son's restaurant. We walk up to the hostess and request our table for 2. Surely this would be no feat for a restaurant of this stature. The hostess replied, "The wait for a table of two will be 20 weeks". Hello? Twenty weeks? My reply, "Thanks, we will take our food to go, please." Mom must have gone back to the car to wait as she was no longer in the dream with me. Now I am standing at a counter where I can see my food being prepared by this gracious, chatty, Southern lady. She is explaining each step she is taking to make my lunch. I remember thinking 'hmmm, I didn't even place my order so how does she know what to cook for me'? But, I quickly pushed that thought aside because ~Hey, it's Paula Deen and she cooks with all those yummy, fatty ingredients that make ANYTHING she prepares taste DELISH!~ So, I am not arguing. Now I see Paula cooking behind the counter, too. Yay, I am up close & personal with Paula. Sweet!!! My food is now prepared and on plates rather than to-go boxes. Again, I don't say anything. What a doormat I can be sometimes, lol. Next thing I know I am sitting across from Paula, chatting the time away as though we were long lost best friends who reunited after years of separation. Keep in mind, mom is still outside in the car. Hello? Am I shameless? I don't even go and get my poor mother out of the hot car to meet Paula? Heck no, I am keeping Paula all to myself :) The dream continues with me trying to get a photo of Paula & her huge family but we are in too small of a space and I can't fit them all in the frame. That is all I remember.

I tell ya, my subconscious mind is something to behold sometimes. I have been an over-active dreamer since I was a child. I think it stems from having an enormous imagination. I really love to go to sleep sometimes just to dream. Thankfully I can say I rarely have "bad" dreams but when I do, they are doozies! They usually entail me verbally fighting with someone I am close with. Hmmmm, what pent-up frustrations are causing those dreams I wonder? hahahaha!

Well, thanks for reading about my silly subconscious and the antics performed inside my head while I am sleeping. Have a great day and may you, too, dream with reckless abandon!

Love,
Helen

The LINKS I'll go to....

....when I need inspiration..laughs..reality checks..digi-scrap supplies!!


Here is MY Bloglines list of feeds (below). Thought I would share the links with you. Some of these sites are geared strictly to scrapbooking. But, others are varied and have some great tidbits of information & inspiration. I am not telling you what is what. You have to click on the links to see for yourself. If you have not yet registerd for a Bloglines account....here is a link to the post where I talk about it. I dare ya, give it a try....you will love it!

Bloglines Post Link: http://helenparker.blogspot.com/2009/06/bloglines-is-my-new-fave.html

Here you go....happy linking everyone!

http://www.chattingatthesky.com/
http://thecreativemama.com/
http://www.afterfivedesigns.com/blog/
http://crystallongbrake.blogspot.com/
http://thedailydigi.com/
http://www.digidares.com/
http://faith-sisters.blogspot.com/
http://kevinandamanda.com/fonts/fontsforpeas/
http://mistycatodesigns.blogspot.com/
http://prettyscrappy.com/blog/
http://roseyposeystudio.com/studio/
http://www.simplescrapper.com/
http://www.taylormade-designs.net/
http://danielledonaldsondesign.blogspot.com/
http://503galleries.com/blog/
http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/
http://katherinemariephotography.com/blog/
http://www.martalocklear.com/blog/
http://angelamoore.typepad.com/my_life/
http://simplenest.net/
http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/wordpress/
http://wearestorytellers.typepad.com/my_weblog/

BOTCT - Week 3 Complete

Here are the results of week 3. Our assignment was to scrap by numbers. In each LO below you will find the following.... (10) Staples (9) Flowers (8) Words (7) Sprays of Greenery (6) Ribbons (5) Papers (4) Frames (3) Photos (2) Fonts (1) Date Element

To vote for the BUSY BEES before 11:59 p.m. CST on 8/04/09 please click here:

http://www.digiscrapaddicts.com/battle/store.html

Without any further ado....here are the layouts:

Created by Emily

Created by Brandy

Created by Tracie

Created by Helen

Created by Wendy

Two of my OWN layouts....

I love being a creative team member, don't get me wrong. But, sometimes it is nice to start a layout and pull from any kit....use any element.....just let the creativeness flow. That is what these two layouts are about.


I have not scrapped about either of my sweet boys in forever (ok, a little dramatic) but it has been too long. This adorable little kit is called Happy Garden. The word art on the bottom left is from Danielle Donaldson's kit, Oh My Word Brush Set, purchased over at Scrap Artist.


Journaling Reads: It was such a lovely day to be driving on the back roads of Amish Country in Marion, KY. Mom and I enjoyed all the beautiful scenery around us from the rolling hills, to the pastures full of horses, to the old, time-worn barns that begged to be photographed such as this one. There is something about a worn down barn that makes me think of the word determination. They are determined to remain an icon of the days past when life was much slower...more peaceful.

The kit used to create this LO is called "Love Earth" by Delicious Scraps, formerly of Pretty Scrappy. And I used another word brush by Danielle Donaldson's kit, Oh My Word.

Hope you had a blessed Saturday. I am tired tonight after helping a friend pack for her move to Texas next week. Mr. Arth R. Itis is making an unexpected visit tonight. He is not a welcome guest but should not be around long....hopefully :) Off to throw clothes in the dryer and bed down for the night.

Pray Without Ceasing....

As I stopped to eat lunch and check my email I found yet 2 more requests for prayer. So many needs....so many needs. I felt compelled to just have a post full of prayer requests. I may not give alot of information but trust when I say, God knows! I do this because I find out people follow my blog I and I don't even know it. So, it is my hope that there will be some prayer warriors out there that read this post and God will lay it on their heart to pray for some or all of these needs. I hope if you do so you will be richly blessed for your obedience to God's command.

1. Baby Trina, in the hospital awaiting results of testing to determine what is causing her to run high temps & be so sick.
2. Amber Donley, involved in a serious car accident this morning (7/31/09) and is in ICU with multiple facial fractures plus numerous other injuries.
3. PJ - truck driver whose propane tank exploded and caught him on fire. In medically induced coma with burns over 40-60% of his body.
4. Mike Laws - unspoken request
5. Tim H. - battling throat cancer
6. Christine Bergan - preparing to move to TX
7. First Baptist Church Maryville members....Cindy/Alyssia/Cassidy Winters - as we all continue to heal from the loss of Fred, a Pastor, husband, father, brother, son, uncle, friend, shepherd.
8. Our country & its leaders....the economy & the corruption that abounds
9. Pam Barnal - awaiting results to determine what is causing such serious shortness of breath. Family issues....need for peace & unity.
10. Shelby & Tyler Gaultney - Unspoken
11. Diana Camren & the rest of the team- as they prepare to go into the Mission Field for 2 weeks to Africa...leaving August 5th! May God use them in a mighty, mighty way!
12. Kristine & her husband, my friend's daughter, as they are traveling from CA to move here (IL).
13. Baby Jack - born with Cystic Fibrosis

The list can go on and on but unfortunately I must go back to work. Pray....pray without ceasing!

I can't decide....

which one I like better. I think I know but I had to submit both to Angel, my faithful quality control expert, to decide for me. This is my week 3 Battle of the Creative Teams layout. Our challenge this week was to scrap by numbers. Working our way from 10 down to 1 page element. Our choices were.....

10 Staples

9 Flowers

8 Words

7 Sprays of Greenery

6 Ribbons

5 Papers

4 Frames

3 Photos

2 Fonts

1 Date Element

Here is what I came up with....

I am most fond of the top layout. I feel like it is more easy on the eyes. By that I mean, the bottom seems off balance....maybe had I placed my photo cluster on the left and the smaller greenery/floral cluster in the lower right corner.

So, what do YOU think. I want to know. Drop me a comment at the end of this post or email me at helenmparker@sbcglobal.net Tell me "top" or "bottom".