Wire Words Freebie & Doodle Alpha Revision

Hello all, how was your weekend?  Things were crazy insane here, so many places to go, things to do, but it has been a nice quiet Monday and I have been getting caught up!  Thank you all for your wonderful comments and thoughts on the importance of sharing a smile, that whole concept has more than once gotten me through a rough day.

There is something you have to understand about me.  I am a perfectionist.  Painfully a perfectionist.  It is not always a good thing, it can drive you crazy sometimes.  I have been learning and experimenting with a new program that has been wonderful with making alphas and doodles - and I am lovin' it.  The problem is, that I look back on some of the things I have designed so far and want to redo them all!!  lol!  That is not good, especially when I have a LOT of new designs I am doing and need to get done. 

Well, I couldn't help myself.  I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night doing another version of my "Doodling Days - Alpha" (which has been a best-seller, and one of my most favorite alphas!). Now the original version was supposed to be doodly and messy, but I now have another version that is smooth - more of a marker effect, than a scribbly pencil. I want to offer this new version FREE to those that have purchased the "Doodling Days Alpha" so if you have, please email me at gina at weedsandwildflowersdesign dot com with your order number (if you don't have it anymore, I can look it up! no worries) and I will send off the link to this new version.  I am going to go back and revise a couple products little by little (as time allows) so keep checking back for updates!!  As I learn more and find better ways of doing things, it is hard not to make additions and revisions to products already released...  So keep posted of those!!

Now, with that out of the way, on to our Freebie Challenge of the day!  I have made a special little gift for you for those of you that have made an effort to do a small act of service to those around you.  Although I am sure most of you do this without even thinking!  This has been in my thoughts this last week when I had the opportunity to go over and help a neighbor with some housework.  I folded laundry for her for about 1/2 hour, but it was so nice to chat with my friend and we both left each other feeling more loved.

Quite a while ago, I posed a challenge to my family to try to do one act of service to someone each day, and we would talk about it at dinner.  Even my husband tried to consciously do one little extra thing for someone else while at work.  It was so fun to hear the stories at dinner, and was so rewarding to hear my boys tell me about something they had done that day.  Owen had helped a girl at school pick up some papers she had dropped, and he beamed as he told me about it.  Sam said he had tried to be nice to a kid in preschool that wasn't very nice.  It was really cool to try it, and it has been a while since that we have done that.  Most days I would try to do something out of the ordinary and nice for my dh, since I would be home most of the day.  I think I am going to put us all to the challenge again!

So the challenge today:  You can share something that you have either gone out of your way to do, or if you are just reading this for the first time, think back to when you may have done a small kind deed to someone and share.  OR -- you can share a time when someone has done something nice for YOU that touched you in some way.  That's it!  Then you are free to download my gift!  It has been so wonderful and uplifting reading your comments, I think most of us can agree that it really brightens our day!

The Freebie is a sampling of an element pack I will have out this week!  It is 5 wire words (in rusty and shiny wire versions of course lol), that are so fun to just throw on a layout!: 

Please share an experience in the comments, then download HERE!!

Now on to the CT layout of the day is by Suzanne using several W&W products (click on her name for all credits):

This has to be one of the cutest back to school layouts! Love all the different photos and details and of course you gotta love the grungy look!!  Very cute!

Well, things to look for this week from me are: A new wire words pack, a fun paper pack, a collab with Funky Playground Designs!! (in 2 weeks), and of course my first WordArt collection!  And also, there is going to be a fun upcoming W&W collab kit for October!  Yup, Pat, Heidi, and I are teaming up for the FIRST time and doing a collab, and you are going to LOVE this whimsical kit!   But that is all I am going to say for now!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful day, I am off to design! HUGS!

Comments

[Sylvia]

Thanks so much, Gina - it's these wonderful gifts that touch my heart in so many ways...

[Heather]

Thanks for the cute freebie :) I guess I'm actually heading out to go do a good deed... DH locked his keys in the car and I'm bringing the extra set, lol.

[Deb]

Thank you so much! My SIL works nights and sleeps during the day, so my nephew has been sitting at home by himself these school holidays. Yesterday we took him to a magic show and this week we will take him to a theme park.

[Gen]

I called a friend of mine today out of the blue and asked her if I could treat her to lunch...I was gone on vacation last week and she happened upon her husband (they are separated right now) with another woman...so she needed to talk pretty badly. It was nice to be able to lend a shoulder to cry on and to be able to pray with and for her and her children.

[Dana]

Thanks for the freebie! Recently my mom was ill and in the hospital. All our neighbors got together to make us meals since we had no time to go to the market or cook. I was touched by their kindness and generosity.

[Jen]

I recently received a spontaneous, kind note in the mail (who uses that now?!) from a friend and it meant so much to me.

[Jen]

Oh, and as I was thinking hard about that... I forgot to say thank you for this wonderful sample! Warms my heart too... :)

[Courtney]

I have a friend who's husband is really sick and is having a hard time all around. I can't do much since I have 3 young children, but I was able to make her a couple of lasagnas so that after a long day of taking care of her husband, she wouldn't have to make dinner too.

[Gabi Butcher]

A friend of mine lost her kitten today... so I called her and conforted her.

Gabi

[Lacie]

This past Mother's Day, my friend Michelle was having a really down day - her DH hadn't acknowledged the day at all. I happened to be driving through her town that night, so I stopped and picked up a small plant and a card for her and dropped it off at her house around 11pm. She cried! It made me so happy to brighten her day. :)

[Barbara]

I telephoned a women from church that is going through chemo and spoke words of encouragement into her day.

[Claudia]

Thanks for the freebie, it's lovely. As far as the alpha, I bought my copy at Scrapartist and it appears there is no way for me to look it up :/
Excited to see new goodies and revisions though :)

[capopy]

My son bought me some peanut butter cookies while we where on a ten hour drive to his new collage.

[Monique]

I rarely expect anyone to do anything nice for me; just getting through the day is good enough so you can imagine my surprise when I got a message recently on my Kaboodle list. A very kind designer had seen some items of hers on my list and had RAK'd me. I was so excited. She is a total sweetie.

[LynnZ]

A friend offered to drive an hour to my house to watch my girls while I visit a sick relative in the hospital. I didn't take her up on the offer, but I thought it was very nice of her considering she has enough going on in her own life.

[Kaylea]

Gina
First off, I love the word art, and the positive nature of your blog. It blesses me immensely.

Blessing others.... I do things without thinking...babysitting for friends for free, taking pictures of people and giving them away (should charge lol...but end up giving them away)....I've verbally committed to taking pics (at a very very low cost lol) for a friend's daughter's wedding in June 2008....they can't afford the "big leagues" so they get me Lol....because

...the bride's parents helped me move over the weekend. That blessed me tremendously....

Also, six people connected to my new job (which starts Saturday )...met me, and the truck aka...my parents' stock trailer....and helped us unload EVERYTHING in one hour....one person even started unpacking my kitchen. Very overwhelming...especially because I'm used to doing something for others, not receiving.

So, that's my contribution to your challenge.

Thanks a ton...

K

[meems]

Love the wire words! Thank you very much for them.

When I was on bedrest while pregnant with my 2nd child, one of my friends was very kind by picking up my first child and taking him out for outings.

As for doing something kind for someone else here is a small thing I did last week. My kids and I met a friend and her kids for lunch at a restaurant. I could see that my friend was feeling very stressed by her 1st child so after lunch I took her 1st child and my kids to the park so that my friend could have some time alone with just her baby.

[Stephanie]

Years ago, we found out there was someone we knew that was struggling financially. We went and bought her 2 bags of groceries and left them for her anonymously in our church kitchen. I never found out what the mom thought, but we felt so great afterward that it really didn't matter.

[Jane]

A friend of mine lost a baby in her second trimester. Feeling helpless in how to help her, I went to the store and stocked up on her favorite foods to take to her doorstep knowing that facing the big world out there was beyond her capability at the time.

[Rona]

thanks for the wire words!

This past summer, I helped my 88 year old grandmother shop for her grandkids and great-grandkids.....all 34 of us, lol! I finished up her shopping (for Christmas) sometimes even giving up the items I had chosen for someone :)

[dodo]

There is a couple that live in the same building as me . they are in thier early 80's but full of fun and very interested in having a computer so they got one and i went up and hooked it up for them and am showing them the basics of how to use it.
dodo

[Julie]

The office where I work is in a not-so-great part of the city and our back door borders an alley. We get all kinds of strange people hanging around out there every day, but we have one special needs gentleman that walks home from his job 2-3 days a week. He's heavy set and walks with a shuffle and by the time he reaches our building he's usually ready for a break, and so am I. I always have a bottle of cold spring water ready for him and we chat for the few minutes I have my break. He's then refreshed and ready to be on his way and I always head back to my desk with a smile. He's just a sweetie and he's fun to chat with.

[Deanna]

A while back when my life was crazy with getting ready to move and lots of other stressors in my life, I got a big box in the mail from a dear friend halfway across the country containing all kinds of chocolate goodies and other things I love. It was a total surprise and it made me feel so incredibly loved and blessed to have such thoughtful and caring friends.

[Victoria]

I was able to invite some wonderful sisters from Church over for dinner and conversation. My son helped his younger friend understand how to multiple with decimals. Thanks for the uplifting examples!

[Cathy]

One of the things I love most to do is to send a little handmade card to someone on our church's weekly prayer list. They may be ill, having tests or grieving a loss. Sometimes I know them personally, sometimes not. (we attend a pretty large church and we don't know everyone) It always blesses me to make and send the card and I hope it blesses them too.