Freebie Frame and Quick Tutorial

Are you looking for great iNSD sales?  Well, my good friend, Anna of Delicious Scraps always has great deals - most of her kits are always 99 cents!  And right now, everything including her awesome CU stuff is 99 cents too.  She also has a ton of freebies on her blog.
Here's her latest kit Bloomsberry with a page I made for my Chloee:

Here's a quick and easy tip/tutorial:
If you want to make a 2 page spread so that you'll have matching pages in your album quickly and easily.  Take your first page and duplicate it.  Then rotate it or rearrange it!  That's what I did with the 2 pages above.  Now I have 2 matching pages ready to be printed and put into her album :)  Makes it so much easier than starting from scratch each time!

And I've got a freebie for you (Thanks, Anna!)  It's the cluster frame I made for my page in png format with a transparent background:

For a limited time, Download it here!
You can find Anna's store at DeliciousScrapShop.com
Hugs,
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

There is no footprint so small that it doesn't leave an imprint on this World

"There is no footprint so small that it does not leave an imprint on this World."

Every birthday of my daughters, we do a service project.  We've done all kinds.  Last year, we donated a year pass to the local children's museum for families at the hospital to use.  Another year, we donated swings to the infant unit at the hospital for the babies to use.  It is our way of honoring our girls on their special day by making the world a better place.
This year, we made handprint and footprint cards for our local Share Unit.  Share is an organization that helps families who have lost a baby.  They do hospital visits, make hand and foot molds as well as prints, provide support groups and have a phone hotline for grief support - just to name a few.
The cards are blank with the above quote on them so that parents have a chance to get prints before their child is buried or cremated and they will not be able to do that anymore.
Here is an example of what we made showing a sample card I made for my Bree's handprints.

We met today for her family birthday party.  We let off balloons with messages written to her and we had a Tangled/Rapunzel cake.  It was another hard day, but it was nice to spend the day remembering her.

I made a little freebie for you with the wordart I made for the handprint and footprint cards.  I also included the footprints and handprints, the arrow and dotted border too.
Hope you can use it and document something special in your life :) 
I also want to send out a thank you to those of you that sent sweet messages on Bree's birthday.  I sooo appreciate you and thank you for your kindness.  It DOES help to know that people care.

Download it here

Hugs to you,

Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

Movement Charity Kit to benefit MS

I made some pages using a Charity Collab Kit called Movement that benefits Multiple Sclerosis.  It is called Movement and you can find it here at Gingerscraps.  My new friend Mandy headed up this cause because of her Mom's battle with MS.  You can read about her story here.

Here are my pages I made with it - that are included in the QuickPage Set that is for sale to match the kit:

Sending hugs to you :)
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

Donate Blood, Save a Life and then Scrap it with this Freebie Kit!

Whenever we have a birthday or angel day for the girls, we always try to do some kind of charity or service project.  This time for Chloee's Angel Day yesterday, I donated blood.  Chloee was hospitalized for the majority of her life and had a blood transfusion after one of her surgeries.  I often wonder who donated that blood for her and gave her that gift so this time I went in and donated myself.  I really can't believe I've never done it before - it was super easy and my blood will probably go to help 3 people who need it.
If you haven't donated before or haven't in awhile, I hope maybe you will think about doing it and giving up a half hour of your time to help someone else that you don't know.  Something good comes out of giving with no thought of anything in return.
Then, you can take some pics and you come back and scrap all about it!  Cause I've got a very special freebie for you called Donate Blood, Save a Life :)
My dear hubby gets the Donate Blood Wuss sign - he said he was afraid of needles...  I'm making him next time though :)

Here are my pages of me donating in Chloee's memory yesterday.  I donated at my local Red Cross Donation Center.

Here is the freebie kit for ya.  I really hope that it inspires someone out there to donate blood!

Download here
If you get an error message - please try again in a few minutes, it just means the server is really busy at the moment.
Sending hugs to you!
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

Valentine's Day Freebie for ya!

I've been busy getting my Valentine's day stuff done before Valentine's day is over!  We were in Disneyland last week and I'm busy catching up.  I barely made it, he he :)  I finished my kids' photocards just in time to run them around to the fam.
Here's my son's photocard for Valentine's.  I saw someone else do this fun idea making their hand into a heart and wanted to try it!  It turned out fun - hope it gives you some ideas!

Originally, I wanted to do a Disney one for my girls but I ended up changing my mind when I found some big bears to decorate their graves.  So I went with Irene Alexeeva's new kit called Oh Dear Teddy.  It was perfect for their Valentine's photocards and grave decorations.

So I ended up not using the Disney Valentine's characters that I photographed and extracted for their photocards, but I wanted to share them with you!  Hope you can use them :)
Here they are:

Download here

Hoping that you were able to spend your Valentine's Day with those you love.
Hugs :)
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

For my girls this week

I'm trying to do a page each week for my girls.  Here are the ones for this week.

These are pages for Chloee.  I only have 2 photos of her outside...  This was just before she was hospitalized.  She should be out playing in the sun, sledding down hills, and marveling at the snow.

Credits: Creations by Rachael's This Moment

And a page about Bree's diva blanket - given to us by one of my mom's friends.

Credits: Creations by Rachael's kit Gurrl's Nite

Merry Christmas in Heaven to my Angels

This year we decorated our girls' graves in a Snowman theme.  It turned out very cute with all of the different snowman decorations.  We went over last night on Christmas Eve to light their lanterns so they would be lit on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  And to take over their metal signs with their photos on it.

You can't see their photos in the pictuere of the graves.  I did a Snow Princess theme for their photos.  This is what they looked like.

I am sharing their Snow Princess stuff with you here.

Download here.
Enjoy!

BumbleBree's Angel Day and a Winnie the Pooh Digital Scrapbooking Freebie

We spent Bree's Angel Day together as a family, just being together, enjoying our son, and remembering her.  Here's a page I made for her:

While his Dad slept in, my son and I went to McDonald's for breakfast.  We donated to the Ronald McDonald House and filled out papers with the girls' names on them to hang on the wall in their memory.
Then we went home to wake up Dad and my son made my day!  He's getting so big now and understands that Angel Days make me sad because I miss the girls (I cry a lot) and this year he made us all presents.  So the first thing we did was open his presents.  He had one for Dad, one for me, one for "BreeL and Cloee" and of course one for himself.  He had given us some of his own toys and each of us a drawn picture :)  He opened the one for Bree and Chloee since "they can't open it."

Here's my picture.  Did you ever notice that MoM written by a kindergartener is WoW?? he he

Here's the family picture he made for the girls.  (Bree-Elle is the one in the bee stripes and Chloee is a ladybug.)

It is moments like these that I just know the girls have to be here with us somehow.  How could they miss out on their sweet brother's gift for them?  If I were dead, there is nothing that could keep me away from watching over my son.
Then of course we ate - what we usually do to combat the pain - stuff ourselves with mind numbing food.  And donated all of our cash to the donation box at the restaurant for a local girl who is fighting cancer.
Then we took Tyson to a Bounce House place to play and just enjoyed every minute of him.  And we did a balloon release for her too.
That night, while the boys played the PS3, I finished up the kit I made in loving memory of her.  The pages above all use the new kit.
I knew I wanted to do a bumblebee kit.  Bree-Elle was first nicknamed BumbleBree by her aunt Natalie, my sister.  It caught on and soon became "BumBum" and Bees became a part of who she was/is.  She was a bumblebee for Halloween and now we decorate her grave and things with bees.  So when I thought about bees, Winnie the Pooh Bear came to mind.  I love PoohBear and have used many of his quotes in our home and in scrapbook pages.  And so that's what I made!
Here are my Disney pages I scrapped with it of my little boy when he was a baby:

Here is my kit in memory of my daughter Bree-Elle called "BumbleBree".  It's my favorite kit I've done so far.  Very bright and colorful, heavenlike, and meaningful to me.  I hope you like it and can use it :)
Download it here (for a limited time)

Thank you to my digi-friends and grieving friends for your support during this hard time.  Love you all.
Hugs,
A Grieving Mommy

A Special Page for My Little Fairy Daughter - and a Disney Digital Scrapbooking Freebie

When I think of Tinkerbell, I think of my daughter Bree-Elle.  I remember, in utero, she was my most active child.  I said at her funeral that she kicked like a little ninja.  She was spunky and giggled and laughed and smiled her little heart out.  Her daddy could get her to laugh the best!  I just know that she would have been our Tinkerbell, spunky and cute and sweet but a little wild and fun too.

Tomorrow is the day that she died.  November 13th.  Her 7 month birthday.  There are no words to say how much my heart hurts.  She is dead and never coming back and that KILLS me.  It is physical pain, nausea, headaches, tears, and lots of numbness in the end because I just can't take any more.

But if I am able to do something, I always find some happiness in scrapping.  Thank goodness for that.  And for my hubby and sweet son - the reasons I'm still here.

Today, I made a page for my Bree-Elle and her big brother.  He loved her so much.  He wanted to always be around her and it surprised me but he was never jealous or anything.  I guess he understood even then that she was special and wasn't going to be around long.  He still misses her but he's forgetting her and that hurts too.  So I did a page for him to help remember her and included Tink as a special memory of my spunky Baby Bree.

Kit Credit: Kellybell

The fairies on my page were scanned (at 300dpi), extracted, and embellished by me.  I have them as a special freebie for you in memory of my Bree.  Download them here.

My plan is to spend some time making a freebie kit in memory of Bree tomorrow on her Angel Day so hopefully I can dig out of the pit of grief and do that.
Sending hugs to you,
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

Tonight I am missing my ChloeeBug

I suffer from depression a lot - which comes from the heartache I have over my girls' dying and leaving a hole in my heart.  Tonight I am especially missing my ChloeeBug.  I just can't get over the fact that she would be 5.  Her birthday was last month.  I keep dwelling on the things that I will just never know - her hair color and her likes and dislikes, would she be a picky eater, would she love or hate soccer and dance? would she be a daddy's girl or a mama's girl? would she dress up or be a tomboy?  what would her favorite toy be?
Of some things, I can be somewhat certain.  I know that her eyes would be blue and I think she would have been my shyest child.... quiet and sweet.  But I don't know and that is killing me.  It literally feels like a knife in my heart when I think about it.
I scrapped this page awhile ago for her called A Beautiful DayDream:

Journaling: It has been exactly 4 years 6 months and 2 weeks since you died. You sometimes feel like a beautiful daydream and sometimes it feels like a horrible nightmare without you here. You should be celebrating your 5th birthday next week, going to preschool and doing big girl things like learning to ride a bike and having playdates. Sooo many things I wonder and want to be doing with you. Instead, I daydream and can only wonder and wish that I knew and that you were here so I didn’t have to daydream about you and wonder. No matter what though, alive or dead... ...you are one
beautiful daydream
Love,
Mommy

Kit Credit: Project B
 
I've also been thinking a lot about how our lives changed forever the moment she was hospitalized.  I became a different person and my life is organized by "before Chloee" and "after Chloee".  I did a page recently using Creations by Rachael's kit Ouchies to document that:
 

Journaling: On November 15, 2005, our world was rocked and torn apart forever.  We took Chloee to the ear, nose, throat doctor that day to try to find out why she was having so many problems breathing. It was called stridorous breathing and it was so hard to see that her little body had to work so hard to breathe. They had to put a little camera down her throat to see what was wrong. We found out that she had laryngomalacia which is when the voicebox collapses on itself and causes an airway obstruction. It was so bad that they had to schedule her for surgery right then. We were scared and worried but had no idea what was ahead
of us that night. We got her bloodwork done, and left the hospital to grab a bite to eat at McDonald’s down the street. At McDonald’s, I received the phone call that rocked our world. Chloee’s bloodwork was wrong and we had to go back to the ER to get it checked. As we drove back, I had a bad feeling inside of me. And when they checked her bloodwork in the ER, they knew something was horribly, horribly wrong with her
We were admitted to the hospital that night and found out in the next days that our precious daughter had a
terminal illness. That day changed our lives forever.

On her birthday, I spent a few hours making a kit in her memory.  And tonight I decorated my blog using it.  It made me feel a little better and I'd like to give that kit out tonight as a special gift to the world in her memory :)
Here's my kit Princess Chloee:

Enjoy :)  And instead of paying for this kit, next time you hear about a sick kid or children's hospital drive, donate something!

Download Expired - it will be a Charity Kit soon!

Hugs to you :) Denise aka A Grieving Mommy

Happy Birthday in Heaven Angel Chloee

 It's Chloee's 5th Birthday today.

Happy Birthday in Heaven Baby Girl!  I love you and I miss you every second.  I just want you here with us...  I want to know what you are like at 5 years old.

This year, we got a princess birthday cake with a frame on top and took it to her grave to have her balloon release and birthday memorial.  We did a nail polish drive for Utah Share - an organization who helps families whose babies have died.  They give the nail polish so that parents can paint their baby's nails as a final gesture of love and to lighten the color post-mortem.  We collected a whole bunch of them that will go to help other grieving families :)

I spent the day enjoying my living son and making a digital scrapbooking kit in memory of my little princess!

It's called Princess Chloee and here it is with the page I did for her Princess birthday cake:

You can get it for free by completing this challenge over at MouseScrappers this week.

And I have a gift for you in loving memory of my Chloee, a past kit I've made - TeaCup Fairies.

Download expired

 

Hugs, A Grieving Mommy

Letters to Heaven and free folded paper psd template

It's been a long time since I wrote a letter to heaven so I did 2 matching pages with letters to heaven last night for my angel baby girls.  The summer is the best time of year for us, as far as our grief goes.  We have the girls' birthdays and angel days (the days they died) throughout the year in Sept. Nov. Feb. and Apr.  So every few months, we are hit hard with our grief.  The summer goes a little bit smoother.  I can feel inside of me that September and that Chloee's Birthday is coming so I thought I'd do some griefwork and write to my girls - really wish I knew how to mail these to heaven.....

Here are my pages with Letters to Heaven:

Kit Credit: Kristi W Designs
When I was making my pages, I really wanted the paper to look folded, like it'd been sent up to heaven and they opened it.  So I searched for a tutorial and finally got it to work!  And I made it into a freebie psd folded paper template for you with instructions - for personal or commercial use.

Download here

Hugs,

A Grieving Mommy

New Pages!

Here's one of my boy dressing up like a jester at the children's museum with a friend there.  They were having so much fun being silly!

Here's another about my angel Bree-Elle.  She holds the key to my heart - in heaven.  When she died, we bought a special mother and daughter set of bracelets that had a key and a lock on them.  She is buried with hers on and I wore mine for a long time - until it broke at Disneyland.  It spilled all over and I remember these super nice people helping us pick up beads from the ground.  It hurt my heart when it broke and I kept the pieces that we were able to find - but I haven't yet.  I just try to remember that my heart holds the real key to her heart...  Miss you Bree!  Love you.

Credit: Kellybell

Ultrasound Photo Scrap Pages

I dug my ultrasound photos out from my piles and piles of photos, that only took like an hour itself!, and scanned them in so I could do a few pages.
I did one for my boy - he's almost 6 - so I'd say that's a fair amount of time to get around to scrappin his ultrasound pics right??  he he  It is blue and baby boyish and so cute!  The page says "When I saw your picture, I was already totally and completely in love."  And I am still as smitten with my little boy as the day I saw his ultrasound photo :)

And I did one for my baby girl, Chloee.  It was a super hard page for me to do - so emotional.  I was looking at her ultrasound pics and realized that her main ultrasound was done at 5 months old in utero.  And I was just musing about how she lived to be only 5 months old in life.  So I decided to do a page with the theme AT 5 months and how things changed so drastically from those two different times.

Journaling:
At month Five in utero, we had just found out
            that we were having a baby girl.  I cannot say
                how excited we were.  Our hearts were overjoyed,
      bursting with love for you already and we hadn't
   even met you yet, just seen your picture on the
                 screen and felt you moving inside me.  I felt
          nervous because you and Tyson were going to be
   so close together in age - only a year apart but
so excited.  I loved you so much!  We couldn't
        wait for you to come and for all the hopes and dreams
                    we had for you to happen!

At month Five in life, you died.  I could not believe it. 
          What has happened to all of our dreams and
                                                             hopes and wishes for you? 
        Did we really just bury you after your five month
      birthday?  How could this happen?  Why did this
     happen?  We spent so much of your five motnhs of life
           trying to fix you and save you and for what?  To make
                        your life harder and more paintful?
        I felt like life had suddenly, horribly gone wrong.
               We missed you immediately and
                                                           we still do now.

             Five months was not long enough to hold you
                                                                                in my arms.

Credit: Snippets Inc.

Our Tinkerbell Fairy

When I think of Tinkerbell, I think of my BumBum, Bree-Elle, our Tinkerbell Fairy!  These fairy pics were taken 2 weeks before she died.  I still can't believe she's gone... 3 years later.
But I am lovin' this page and it makes me so happy to make this purplicious page for her!

Credits: Natalie's Place Designs
And I have a freebie for you!  A Purple Tinkerbell!  Enjoy and thanks for leaving a comment if you download :)

Download here

Sending hugs!  Hope you can use it :)
Denise aka A Grieving Mommy