DBTL: Endometriosis Awareness

If you're like me, this is the busiest, craziest month of the year. Families are getting together. Offices are having staff parties. The kids have programs and concerts at school. There's shopping to do and presents to make.

I speak from experience when I say that endometriosis can make any of these things nearly impossible to do. It's the "private pain" that some women have to deal with every few weeks, and in order to get any relief at all, some have to take enough painkillers that THAT makes it hard to function.

That's why it was so important to me to participate in this month's Digi Blog Train List theme of Endometriosis Awareness. Actually, when I was finally able to find a gynecologist who would convince my insurance to let me have a hysterectomy, it was discovered that I had adenomyosis - or as I call it, endo's uglier, nastier big sister.

If you have painful periods, please educate yourself about endometriosis and adenomyosis. You may not need to live with the pain every month.

Several of our DBTL designers decided to sit out
this month because of hectic holiday schedules, but we still have a great collection of goodies for you. Stop by the following (and be sure to leave a little extra love when you pick up your freebies):

Nellie Bell Sunique Boutique
Dea’s Design
Dreamn4Ever Designs
DigiJen Scraps <-- You are here
Shuckclod’s Stuff
DBTL FB Page (click picture, SHOP NOW) 







And here's my part. A lot of these can be used for general encouragement layouts.

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Have a great holiday season. Hug the ones you love. Enjoy the season. And I'll see you back here next time.

SDBT: Winter Frost

We made it!!!!

We've survived 2018! Well, I think I'm going to survive - I still have WAY too much to get done between now and Christmas! LOL!

In any case...the nice thing about living in the northern hemisphere is that each year ends and begins with the cold quiet of winter - nature's way of making us slow down and assess what we've done and what we want to do.

This month's Scrap Designers Blog Train helps you slow down, too, with several beautiful offerings from some talented designers. You can find them at the following stops:

Promethean Concepts
KJD Designs
The Rush Ranch
Skinni’z Statz, Scrapz and Stuff

Songbird Scrap Designs  (NOTE: Tammy has been caught by the blizzard moving across the Southern US and has no power at the time this blog train went live. Please keep checking back with her blog - she will get things posted ASAP.)

AnnieC Digitals
Joy’s Creations
Made by Angelhaze
Lady DG Scrap
DigiJen Scraps <-- you are here
Moore Blessings Digital Design

And now.....

I've done something different this month. Because winter means so many different things to so many different people, I've actually taken a poem I found and divided it so each line is a separate file. This way, you can use the main header/title and then find the word bit that fits your layout best.

What I Love About Winter

by Douglas Florian

Frozen lakes

Hot pancakes

Lots of snow

Hot cocoa

Skates and skis

Evergreen trees

Funny Hats

Thermostats

Sunsets blaze

Holidays

Snowball fights

Fireplace nights

Chimneys steaming

Winters dreaming

(The "BRRR!!!!!" file is just my own commentary on the season.) 

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I hope you enjoy your winter - whether you're having it now or whether it shows up 6 months from now - and find some time to get some scrapping done.

Have a wonderful holiday season...eat too much food...and hug someone you love.

See you again soon!

DBTL: Leukodystrophy Awareness

One thing about participating in this blog train for the last 18 months - I've learned about a lot of new-to-me conditions that I never knew existed before. IOW, my awareness has been raised. So I guess the train has served its purpose. :)

This month is no except. For November we are focusing on Leukodystrophy Awareness.

As always, our designers have created some wonderful bits 'n' bobs for you - all you have to do is go gather them!

JIC Creations
Dreamn4Ever Designs
Nellie Bell Sunique Boutique
Dea’s Design
Moore Blessings Digital Design
Shuckclod’s Stuff
DigiJen Scraps <-- You Are Here
DBTL FB Page (click picture, SHOP NOW) 


As for my part this month, since I couldn't find much specifically on leukodystrophy, I decided to make a general word art pack about living with chronic illness and pain. And since a sense of humor seems to be one of the best weapons in any health battle, most of these have a slightly dark-humor-ish twist to them. 

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I hope you are able to use these in your layouts, no matter what your battle is against.

For those of you in the US, have a Happy Thanksgiving. For the rest of you, get geared up for the Black Friday specials that are coming at you this weekend in Digiland!

SDBT: Kindness Is Contagious

My grandson has recently discovered the fun and joy of "paying it forward" - going through the drive thru and paying for the order behind you as well as your own. Of course, he's really eager to do it when it's MY money that is being spent. The one time I said, "I'll do it, but you have to pay me back out of your money at home," and he responded, "But, that's for me to buy GAMES!!!!"

Next lesson: It's not meaningful if it doesn't cost you anything. LOL!

However, I love that he has picked up on the whole pay it forward spirit - something that is celebrated with this month's Scrap Designers Blog Train theme, "Kindness Is Contagious." As usual, I have a handful of word art designs to add some variety and pop to your layouts as you showcase those in your life who are particularly kind.

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And here is where you can find the offerings from our other designers this month. We've had some new people join our group, so there's a lot to pick up!

Angelhaze

Lady DG Scrap

AnnieC Digitals

Joy's Creations

Moore Blessings

KJD Designs

Songbird Scrap Designs

LEA Art Designs

Skinni'z Statz, Scrapz and Stuff

Promethean Concepts

Sugarbutt Artistic Designs

The Rush Ranch

DigiJen Scraps <-- You are here 

I hope you enjoy. For those of you in the US, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And for everyone, be sure to schedule time for yourself as the holiday season approaches so you can rest, reflect and appreciate all that is going on.

'Til next time!

DBTL: Crohn's Disease Awareness

You know how once in awhile you get hit with the sudden urge to go use the restroom? Or maybe you have an instant stomach ache that is so bad it has you doubled over?

Now imagine that being a regular thing - like daily. Or even if it's not happening, there's always the very real chance that it COULD happen. No matter what's going on. No matter where you are.

This is reality for people living with Crohn's Disease. Please take a couple minutes before going on your downloading spree and learn a little about this condition. It is one of the "hidden disabilities" and you may be just the person who is able to help someone who is having an attack, if you only recognize it for what it is.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

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Now, on to the downloads!

The number of designers participating this month may be small, but we've come up with some great items for you:

Swing by these stops to download your goodies:
Nellie Bell's Unique Boutique
Moore Blessings Digital Design
Dea’s Designs

Shuckclod’s Stuff
JIC Creations
DigiJen Scraps  <-- you are here
DBTL FB Page(click picture, SHOP NOW) 

And now, here are some word art sayings and phrases that I hope you will find encouraging, whether you're dealing with Crohn's Disease or some other chronic illness.

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Have a wonderful Halloween - and I'll see you back here in a few weeks for the November Scrap Designers Blog Train!

SDBT: Movies & Popcorn

When the world gets to be too much, it can be like a mini vacation to just sit down, pop some popcorn, and put in a movie to watch for a couple hours. Or better yet, get out of the house, turn off the cell phone, and actually go into a dark theater where there are no distractions (except a bladder that threatens to explode because of the oversized drink you picked up on the way in).

Some movies become cultural touchstones, with lines that become part of pop culture:
"ET phone home."
"May the force be with you."
"AS...YOU...WISH!"

"My precioussssssss."

(You can probably tell what my favorite movie genre is.)

A good quote can also serve to add some punch to a layout. The quotes included in this month's collection represent some of my favorite movies (or movie franchises) and also are good life lessons to remember (and use for layouts). I'll also admit that some of them seem more important during the tumultuous times that we're having in the USA right now, so that influenced my choices somewhat.

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Be sure to follow the blog train and pick up all the goodies to finish off the layouts honoring your favorite movies:

Songbird Scraps Designs
Rush Ranch
KJDdesigns
Joy's Creations
DigiScrap Angelhaze
Skinni’s Scraps and Stuff
AnnieCDigitals
Nellie Bell
DigiJen Scraps  <-- You Are Here
Promethean Concepts
Moore Blessings Digital Design

AND...one more surprise...if you don't mind a couple of repeat files, I created a set of word art earlier this year based on my most favorite movie to come along in a L O N G time - "The Greatest Showman." I quit counting once I saw this one in the theater for the 10th time. The music is infectious and a GREAT mood lifter! The set is still available for download if you want it:

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Whoo! Have fun...enjoy celebrating your movie moments...and I'll see you back here soon!

SDBT: Farm & Fair

Welcome back to another blog train!

Lori always seems to find themes that really pique my interest, and this month is no different.

You wouldn't know it to look at me now...all suburbia living in a college town, enjoying pizza delivery and having a grocery store less than five minutes away...but I grew up as a farm girl. I played in the hay loft, gathered eggs from chickens (while dodging the mean rooster), bottle fed calves, swam in a pond in the back yard, ground corn for the cows. I'm the only person my age I know who had water trucked in and dumped into a well, remembers a hand pump at the kitchen sink, had bath water heated on the stove, took baths in a washtub sitting in the middle of the kitchen, and actually used an outhouse on a regular basis. (We finally installed a water heater and running water and built a bathroom in the corner of the basement when I was about 10.) Later, when I was in high school and we lived on a different farm, my dad switched from raising cows to raising turkeys, so I learned all the steps involved in THAT process.

I won't say I loved it, but it was a solid way to be raised and it was good to know how to work.

Now, here's the funny part.

Lori (who organizes this train) paired "farm" with "fair." She didn't realize she had a county fair queen in her group of designers, I'm betting. 🤣🤣🤣

Sadly, all the pictures of me AS queen (with the tiara and sash and all that) were mostly in the newspaper. The few prints I got were black and white (and overexposed) and are buried in a tote full of pictures in my closet. But this was the "contestant portrait" that all of us girls had taken beforehand. And just so you know...it's not all glamourous. Not when you have prize-winning pigs trying to sniff up your skirt or have to wear a fireman's coat when you're sitting on stage in the middle of the muddy demolition derby arena. (But the free elephant ears were definitely a perk!)

So yeah...farms and fairs. You're pretty much talking about my life up to the time I left home for college.

That's why I was so excited to create this word art for "Farm & Fair" month!

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 And if you haven't seen the rest of our designers' offerings, you really should! With a picture of a magnificent rooster as our inspiration this month, we had nearly every color and shade available for our palette. Go grab some goodies!

Sugarbutt Designs
Songbird Scraps Designs
Rush Ranch
KJDdesigns
Promethean Concepts
AnnieCDigitals
Skinni’s Scraps and Stuff
DigiScrap Angelhaze
Nellie Bell
LEA Art Designs
DigiJen Scraps  <-- You Are Here
Moore Blessings Digital Design

Hope you enjoy what we've put together for you this month. See you back soon for the next blog train. (And I have ideas like crazy...one of these days I'll have time to create some non-train bits for you.)

As always, to keep up with the latest releases of my word art, go like/follow my Facebook page:
DigiJen Scraps Word Art

Hugs,

DBTL: Rhesus Disease Awareness

It's time for the Digi Blog Train List to take off again!

This month the designers are focusing on Rhesus Disease - the whole reason expecting mommies have to that that Rh test and possibly a couple of rhogam injections.

If you're like me, you know that Rh factor is a thing, but may not completely understand why or how it works. Considering that it can be a life-threatening condition, please take a minute to read read the web page from Mount Sinai Hospital and learn a little about it.

Many of the designers are creating child- and baby-centered offerings this month to go along with the theme. You can get all the parts by visiting the blogs below:

Nellie Bell's Unique Boutique
Dea’s Design
Dreamn4Ever Designs
JIC Creations
Shuckclod’s Stuff
Ostrea Designs
DigiJen Scraps  <-- you are here
DBTL FB Page(click OFFERS)

Like the other designers, I focused on that special bond between mother and child - whether that child is little or grown, whether that mother is sweet & tender or pushed into her "mother bear" mode.

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Thanks for stopping by! As always, if you want to keep up with new releases, I'd appreciate you liking my DigiJen Scraps Word Art Facebook page. I don't do releases on a really regular schedule (other than the blog trains I do), so Facebook is the place to know what's happening!

SCBT: Let's Hear It for the Boys!

For whatever reason, God saw fit to give me only one child - a daughter.
And she became a mom while she was still in high school, having a son.

Because she was single and still so young, I ended up doing more than a lot of grandmas have - or GET - to do with their firstborn grandchild. We have had two different stretches of time where they have both lived with us, making us a three-generation household, while she has finished high school and gotten through college. Even when she has had a place of her own, my husband and I have been the "safety net" - a place for our little guy to stay so she can have a break or go out with friends and have a bit of a normal life like other 20-somethings.

Consequently,  my grandson - now nearly 12 - and I have a really special, really close bond. He absolutely has my heart and I would do nearly anything for him.

So it was wonderful for me when this month's theme was announced: "Let's Hear It for the Boys!" My problem isn't letting people hear about my incredible Little Dude...it's learning when to shut up talking about him. LOL!

Special Outing - Sept. 2017

I definitely had my own kiddo in mind when creating this month's word art - hopefully you have some boy in your life who can be described this way, too.

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And you can pick up a wide assortment of items to go with these quotes as you scrap about your favorite fella. Just stop by the blogs of these talented designers:

Promethean Concepts
Songbird Scraps Designs
Rush Ranch
Lady DGScraps
DigiScrap Angelhaze
AnnieCDigitals
DigiJen Scraps <-- You Are Here
LEA Art Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Design

(I'm posting mine a few hours early, so if others don't have their parts posted yet, please be patient and check back later. I have a long work day ahead of me tomorrow and won't have time to be online.)

Enjoy! And since I don't have any predictable schedule of when new word art gets released, the best way to know when something new drops is to connect with the DigiJen Scraps Word Art Facebook page.

Thanks for your love and encouragement.

DBTL: Wounded Warrior

First of all - apologies for getting this posted late. This has been a crazy week here on the homefront and I've had trouble all week reminding myself just what day it was.

But here we are - another month - another blog train for the Digi Blog Train List. This month we're focusing on awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project - an organization that does a LOT to help veterans adjust back to civilian life and deal with any after-effects of active duty injuries, both physical and emotional. Being involved with WWP is a wonderful way to show our support for the men and women who make a huge sacrifice to protect our country and our way of life.

You can visit our designers' blogs to pick up the beatuiful kits shown above:

Nellie Bell's Unique Boutique
Dea’s Design
Ostrea Designs
Dreamn4Ever Designs
Shuckclod’s Stuff
Moore Blessings Digital Design
DigiJen Scraps
DBTL FB Page(click picture, SHOP ONLINE)

As usual, I have a set of word art to go along with our theme:

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Remember to say thanks to a veteran, and if you have one in your family (or you are one yourself), please know that my family and I say "thank you."

And remember...if you want to keep posted on when I've created something new, the best way to do that is to like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DigiJen-Scraps-Word-Art-194501911383594/

SDBT: Family Gatherings

Usually you think of family gatherings happening around Thanksgiving, which for us in the US means late November. But that's being pretty selfish in our way of thinking. Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in several countries across dates ranging from early October to late November.

(I also found it surprising and humorous to discover that the UK has Thanksgiving, too, held on July 4th - the day the US broke away from its motherland. I'm sure there's some kind of "rebellious child leaving home" analogy in that.)

In any case, families also gather for reunions, cookouts, birthdays, weddings, and other special events. Our designers in the Scrap Designers Blog Train have celebrated many of these with the freebies they have created for you.

Please stop by and see what we've come up with this month:

Rush Ranch
Promethean Concepts
Songbird Scraps Designs
Nellie Bell
DigiScrap Angelhaze
Lady DGScraps
DigiJen Scraps <-- You Are Here
LEA Art Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Designs

 As for me...the idea of a family gathering goes far beyond relatives. In fact, my husband and I have quite an extended family of "adopted" college kids for whom we have been parents-away-from-home over the past 11 years. Many have come and gone, graduated and moved out into the world. But they will always be in my heart, and they will always be remembered as part of my Christmas decorations each year.

I'm also keenly aware that "family" may not be mom, dad and 2.5 kids - not these days. My best friend fixes Thanksgiving dinner and invites whoever she wants because otherwise it would be just her and her boys...unless the boys are at their dad's house. For several of the college students we know, they celebrate "Friendsgiving" because they don't have time to get home to family, or because they have to stay in town for jobs during the holiday break from school. For my husband and me, it includes our daughter and grandson, but then beyond that it seems we just say "y'all come" to anyone we find who doesn't have a place to spend the day.

Anyhow...enough about the families we create. You really are wanting my part of the blog train, aren't you?

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(If anyone has trouble working with Dropbox, let me know and we'll work it out.)

Enjoy your family, whether it was created by blood, love or both. And I'll see you back here in a couple weeks for the next round of the Digi Blog Train List.

DJS: The Beatitudes

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are children of God."

I am, by nature, a peacemaker. I want people to get along, and I will do my very best to get each side to understand - if not agree with - the other. So it's no surprise that this is one of my favorite Bible verses.

In America, it seems there's some new political upheaval nearly every day. We need peacemakers more than ever.

Sitting in church this past Sunday, this verse kept going through my mind over and over. And I finally realized that what needed to be done was simply to do a word art set for ALL of the beatitudes. As much as anything else, they are a blueprint for the kind of people we should be.

So here we are - only my second set of word art NOT created specifically for a blog train. Use them individually to accent the character of someone you are scrapping a portrait of, or use them together for a non-photo wall hanging. I hope you enjoy them.

***KEEP UP with my new kits (and a few other things that are important to me) by liking my Facebook page, DigiJen Scraps Word Art.***

DBTL: Gaucher Disease Awareness

Hello to all of my cause-and-awareness-oriented scrappy folks out there!

It's time for the Digi Blog Train List to take off again, and this month we're focusing on a genetic condition that I admit I'd never heard of before at all - Gaucher Disease.

This is one of those conditions that can have widely varying symptoms, ranging from an enlarged liver and anemia on the mild end of the spectrum, to death for newborns on the extreme end. Please, don't just grab the freebies that our designers have created - take time to actually read about Gaucher Disease and become familiar with it. You can find out more about it here.

Now, on to the reason you really ride these blog trains - the freebies! 

You can get the complete collection by visiting the following designers' blogs:

Dea’s Design
Ostrea Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Design
DigiJen Scraps <-- You Are Here
Dreamn4Ever Designs
Cocotounette Designs
Shuckclod’s Stuff
DBTL FB Page(click bonus)

And now...

When you are dealing with a disease that so few have heard of, there aren't a lot of Gaucher-specific ideas for word art. But anyone dealing with any kind of chronic illness for themselves or their children can use a little encouragement. So this month's selection of word art is meant to encourage anyone going through a tough time.

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ALSO...while you're here, if you enjoy the word art that I create and can use it at all in your layouts, I've created a Facebook page where you can keep up with what's new from DigiJen Scraps. I keep having ideas for more word art that don't necessarily fit the blog train themes that I participate in, so I wanted to just start following the mojo and seeing what comes of it. 

Feel free to drop by, like the page, and keep up with whatever my twisty mind comes up with next.
DigiJen Scraps Word Art. (Teaser: I'm working on something and hope to have it ready sometime this weekend.)

Thanks for stopping by and we'll catch you again soon!

SDBT: Commotion in the Ocean

I am an Aquarian. Maybe that's why the sound of running water has always helped calm me down. It has always helped me destress. Give me a stream or even a little table top water fountain, and I can feel myself relax and my breath slow down.

But I didn't have any idea how wonderful the ocean itself was until I was on a cruise ship a few years ago for the first time. The sound of water smacking the side of the ship was unreal - in a good way.

So I was excited with this month's theme "Commotion in the Ocean" for the Scrap Designers' Blog Train. It was hard to choose just a handful of quotes to turn into word art this time...but I did my best. So I hope you find something that you can use:

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And you can drop by to visit these incredible designers and pick up their contributions to this collection, too:

Promethean Concepts
Nellie Bell
Songbird Scraps Designs
Scrapbook Crazy Creations by Robyn
Lady DGScraps
DigiScrap Angelhaze
DigiJen Scraps  <-- you are here
LEA Art Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Design

Enjoy the ocean, kiss the sea, let it kiss you back, and have a great summer!

DBTL: Operation Dignity

It is our military men and women who protect and defend our way of life.
They are the ones who are among the first to help in a disaster situation.
Some of them give their very lives to fight for the ideals we as a country believe in.

And when they return to civilian life, some of them need a little extra help themselves.

That is when it's our turn to say "Thank you" and support them through organizations like Operation Dignity, which provides assistance for homeless veterans and their families. While this particular organization is local to one county in California, you can check to see if there are similar groups near you through which you can help.

In the meantime, the Digi Blog Train List designers have put together a nice collection for you this month.

You can pick up each of the parts from their various blogs and the DBTL FB page:

Dreamn4Ever Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Design
Nellie Bell's Unique Boutique
Dea’s Design
Shuckclod’s Stuff
Ostrea Designs
DigiJen Scraps <-- You Are Here
DBTL FB Page(click bonus)

And now, for my part. When trying to come up with ideas for words this month, all I could really think of is that they have done so much for us, the least we can do is be kind to them.

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For those in the US, have a great Memorial Day Weekend coming up...for the rest of you, I'll see you back here next month!