Blogging Bella Designs

Catching Up

2012-01-31T12:45:00.000-08:00

I know the waiting list doesn't look like it's moving. I'm trying to work on several things at once to catch up. Please be patient. I swear I'm working on them. Thanks.

Last Chance Sale

2012-01-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, this whole family drama has caused me to put off increasing prices. I haven't even had a chance to sit down and figure out new ones. I hope to by February 1. So for the rest of this week (through Sunday) I'm giving you a last chance discount of 15 percent on my current, lower prices. So long as you fill out my order form by midnight Sunday and pay your down payment in a timely manner, I'll honor the lower price.

Finally Home

2012-01-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

I just got home last night. I'm trying to catch up on emails and comments now. Tomorrow I'll start catching up on designs. Thanks for being patient and understanding!

Update

2012-01-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

You know what they say about best laid plans...

Right after I wrote the last post, the sheriff showed up and served me, my sister, and my 11-year-old nephew with a dispossessory warrant to kick us out of the house. I'm not sure if I said it in the last post or not, but my sister lives in this apartment/mother-in-law's suite off of the back of my grandmother's house. So now my grandmother is trying to kick her out, presumably in retaliation for us trying to get her help for the dementia. Good times.

Anyway, since they did it on the the Friday before MLK Day, I couldn't even file an answer for all 3 of us until Tuesday morning. My sister and nephew are considered tenants at will under the law, which means my grandmother had to give them 60 days notice to get out before filing for a writ. She gave them none. I had to research and write up an answer to that effect. Thank goodness for law school and my free access to the Georgia Bar's case law database.

I also had to write one up saying I'm not a proper party, as I don't even live here. I have never lived here. I was only visiting for the holidays and then had to stay longer to deal with my grandmother's mental evaluation, yet I'm listed as a defendant. And don't even get me started on suing an 11 year old...

So I file that for us on Tuesday morning, only to find out that dear old granny put on her application for the dispossessory that all three of us are physically and mentally abusing her. I can tell you right now I've never laid a hand on the old bat, but when I read that and all the implications of how having that on a court document to follow me around the rest of my life went through my head, I wanted to. We've never abused her. If anything, it's been the other way around, esp. when she's having one of her fits/episodes, but who's going to believe us over an 80 year old woman?

I was going to go home Wednesday morning, but it was storming so I said I'd get up today. Then last night one of the neighbors comes out, drunk as can be, and starts yelling, "Shame, shame, shame!" at my nephew, who wasn't doing anything but getting his bike out of the yard, so that was fun. When my sister went to bed last night, she told my nephew she had a feeling something bad was going to happen today since I was going home. It did.

Before I could even get out of my PJ's and pack up my car this morning, we hear someone ringing the doorbell. My dad was hear to see me before I left so he went around the house to see who it was. (The doorbell is only on the front entrance to my grandmother's house, not my sister's apartment.) I knew based on how long he was around there it wasn't just a vacuum cleaner salesman. It was something bad.

My dad eventually comes back and tells us this guy is in the driveway, and he's telling him that my grandmother is on the way with "the law" to forcibly remove us from the house. I knew no writ had been signed because there's supposed to be a hearing next Thursday on the 60 day issue, yet this is a small town and small towns don't always abide by the law so I called up the magistrate court to double check. Nope, no writ had been signed so the clerk told me to call the cops.

I did. Then I had to throw on some clothes, pull my hair into a messy ponytail, and go around there and wait. When I showed the random guy in the driveway the paperwork, he threw up his hands, said he wasn't getting involved, and left. Then we saw he was a locksmith. Basically, my grandmother thought she could just change the locks whenever she wanted because she filed that initial paperwork. That's what happens when the people who are whispering in your ear and telling you to do these things think a few episodes of Judge Judy make up for three years of law school. They don't.

The cop showed up not too long after the locksmith left. We explained what was going on. He seemed sympathetic and when my grandmother showed up sans the law, he explained to her she couldn't throw us out until the judge says so. She wasn't happy. Neither was her escort, a rep from Adult Protective Services.

Yep, Adult Protective Services. She's convinced them we're all beating her up and that she needed an escort today to keep us from hurting her poor, old self. Have I mentioned I don't even live her to beat her up? Not only that, but she told the cop and APS that I was embezzling money from her. Hell, most days I don't even $10 in my checking account. I'm constantly worried about how I'm going to pay bills or buy groceries, but yet I'm embezzling money? Seriously?

So needless to say, I didn't go home today. I've had to deal with this crap all day today. My dad has called everyone he knows in the sheriff's and police departments. My sister is scared to death she's going to get arrested for elder abuse at any minute. I'm worried about my law license. Every time we hear a car drive by or see a police or sheriff's car, we jump. It's just a mess. I can't even believe this is my life right now. You try to help someone by getting them help before they hurt themselves or someone else, and this is what you get in return. Allegations of embezzlement and elder abuse and dispossessory warrant. It's just so surreal.

Unless something happens yet again in the morning, I'm going home. I feel like I need a bumper sticker that says Atlanta or Bust at this point. Then I'll start trying to catch up on this backlog of design work. Again I apologize for falling behind. I would like to say if I had known that any of this would happen, I would have never gone to the court in the first place to get her the mental eval, but based on what Adult Protective Services said in the driveway, they received a complaint about us BEFORE we had her evaluated. In other words, all of this would have happened regardless because my grandmother is an attention-hungry nut job who thinks she can make up one lie after another without any recourse.

Again I'm sorry for the delay.

To Anyone on My Waiting List....

2012-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to be back home right after New Year's. However, my plans were changed due to I guess what you could call a family emergency. My 80 year old grandmother has been suffering with what I guess you could call dementia for years now. She does and says things and then can't remember doing them a few days or even a few hours later. She has extreme bouts of paranoia, so much so she won't even let us open the blinds because she thinks people are in the bushes looking in. She hears and see things that aren't there. She rarely bathes or brushes her teeth. She doesn't take her insulin or eat when she's supposed to. She hoards. She lies pathologically. It's just always something.

Like I said, we've been dealing with what we call her fits for years, but recently they've been getting more and more violent. She's tried to hit us on several occasions and has succeeded on a few. A few weeks before Christmas she threatened to throw boiling water on my sister. Then right after New Year's, when I was set to drive back to Atlanta the next day, she hid the only working phone in the house and then sprayed what had to be half a bottle of Red Door perfume all throughout the house. She did that knowing I'm deathly allergic to perfume and that my sister and nephew had asthma. As if that weren't bad enough, while I'm sitting there, with my throat swelling shut and no way to call 911, she tells me in the most malicious tone possible that she doesn't give a damn about any of us and that if I died from the perfume, she wouldn't cry at my funeral.

As you can imagine that was the last straw. If she would do that with perfume, who's to say she wouldn't use a loaded gun next time, and yes, there are loaded guns in her house for her to do so. We planned a family intervention, just like you see on A&E, made her sit down and listen to us, the whole nine yards, in order to try to get her to go with us to a doctor. However, she flipped out and said the only way she would go is if a cop took her.

So first thing this past Monday morning my sister and I got up, went to the probate court, and filled out paperwork so a cop could do just that. My grandmother then flipped out on the sheriff's deputy who came to get her, refusing to go anywhere with him. He called for backup. She flipped out on both of them then, threatened to hit them and throw herself down the stair, even brought up the guns at some point. In the end it took three sheriff's deputies and a set of handcuffs just to get her to the ER.

The ER ended up sending her for evaluation at the place where they do the five day evals, but yesterday they let her out, two days short, so apparently she put on the poor, abused grandmother routine she puts on for the neighbors. She basically has them all convinced we're abusing her and trying to kill her in her sleep so we can have her house. That's part of the reason I'm still staying with my sister. The neighbors--people who've barely said five words to her in ten years--have all ganged up on us, claiming my good, upstanding Christian grandmother isn't a liar and we are. My sister has been scared to stay alone. She's alternated between being mad at the neighbors and my grandmother to rationalizing all of my grandmother's behavior and feeling guilty to believing we did the right thing. I've spent most of this week staying up to 4 am with her, trying to calm her down, getting two hours of sleep before we have to get up to take my nephew to school, and then trying to get a few more hours of sleep before we have to go pick him up again. In other words, I've barely gotten any work done, and I'm sorry for that.

Right now we're waiting for the fallout of my grandmother coming home. Two nurses brought her home yesterday, but she was gone again when we got back from picking up my nephew. We know there will be fallout of some sort. At the very least she's probably going to cut off my sister's cable and internet today so if you email me and I don't get back to you immediately, please don't be offended. I'm not ignoring you. I'll email you just as soon as I get home. We're pretty sure she's going to start the legal proceedings to have my sister kicked out as well so I guess what we're really waiting on is to see if the cops show up and arrest us based on one of her fantasy stories or serve us with restraining orders or what.

So if I don't end up in jail, I'm planning on going home this weekend. I can't just keep sitting here waiting to see what happens. I have to get back to my life and my job. I will try to get as much work done as I can today, at least until the internet gets turned off. Then as soon as I'm home, I promise I'll fly through the designs just as quickly as I can. Again I'm so sorry for the delay.

Belated Black Friday Sale

2011-12-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

I was going to do this discount for Black Friday, but I didn't have internet access to post it. I guess in retrospect I should have done this as a scheduled post, huh? So to make up for Black Friday, I'm having a Belated Black Friday Sale, now through Sunday. All new orders will get 20% off my regular prices. I will be raising my prices in January so this may be the last chance to lock in a low price.

By the way, I've heard that my order form wasn't working properly one day. I haven't had a chance to check it since I got home, but if you recently tried to place an order and haven't heard from me yet or if you try to place an order during the sale and it doesn't go through, please email me at bloggingbelladesigns@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Thanksgiving Week Sale

2011-11-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

I meant to get this up earlier today, but I got distracted and forgot. You can get 10% off all prices this week, now through Saturday November 26. New orders only.

Thanksgiving-Themed Designs

2011-11-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just can't remember what you've done? I'm having one right now. I honestly can't remember what I've done since Wildcat's Wife. I know I've done a lot, but I'm drawing a blank with the exception of these three Thanksgiving-themed looks. Ugh. Anyway, when I remember the others, I will post them as well. I think my brain is just worn out.

The Unread Reader:

Books with Bite:

Just Bloggled (my personal blog):

If I did a design for you recently, shoot me an email. I want to get your shots up here. My brain just isn't working tonight.

Increasing the Sales Discount

2011-10-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

For the next 2 days, I'm increasing the sales discount to 20 PERCENT OFF all prices. Sale ends at 11:59 PM EST on Halloween.

Premade Templates Now For Sale (And On Sale)

2011-10-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have 4 premade templates for sale. Although I did them on a Blogger site, they can easily be uploaded to a self-hosted Wordpress site using the Atahualpa theme. I'm asking $30 for each, but of course if you take advantage of my Halloween sale, you'll get ~~10% off.~~ NOW 20% OFF FOR A TOTAL OF $24!!!!

The price includes installation and adding your blog name and tag line to the circle in the header in your choice of font. The one up now is just for illustrative purposes. To see the pink one of live, click here: Test Site. To see one of the others, use the contact form above to email me, and I'll switch it out.

To purchase, either use the order form, email me, or fill out the contact form. If you don't see a color combination you like, for $5 more I will change the colors to the colors you want.

Sale: Treat Yourself to a New Design for Halloween

2011-10-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

My Halloween sale is still going on, now through Halloween. If you want a a holiday header or an entirely new look, now is the time to lock in a lower price.

Here are some Christmas and Thanksgiving headers I've done in the past:

If you want something similar for the holidays, you can get 10% off now. The discount applies to all services big and small. Just go here to order: Order Form.

Halloween Sale

2011-10-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Now through Halloween, get 10% off your order. Discount applies to new orders only.

New Wordpress.com Header: Wildcat's Wife

2011-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Once again I forgot the before shot, but here is the after shot Wildcat's Wife's new Wordpress.com header and icons:

She also has a matching Twitter page. Visit @WildcatsWife to see it or my portfolio when I ever get it updated again.

The Holiday Header I Forgot

2011-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

I knew there was another one I had done in the last month that I should have posted with the others. Here it is, a Halloween header for Your Kids Play Soccer, My Kid Smears Poop:

Hey, at least I finally remembered.

New Seasonal and Holiday Headers

2011-10-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

Don't forget. You can still get 10% off through tomorrow if you want to change up your own blogs for fall, an upcoming holiday, or just because.

To see the before/nonseasonal/nonholiday shots, browse my portfolio.

Midnyte Reader Halloween:

Books with Bite Birthday:

Books with Bite Halloween:

That's Swell Fall/Winter:

New Blogger Design: Sunbeam Yellow

2011-10-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Again I forgot the before shot. Sunbeam Yellow is a brand new blog that will encompass several topics, including books, fashion, crafts, and decorating. Julia, the blog's owner, wanted something that included those topics, was nature chic, and included her love of birds and owls.

Here is her after shot:

New Wordpress Design: Pioneer Journey

2011-10-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Once again I forgot to take a before shot to go with the after. This design is based off of the free Atahualpa theme. LaDonna from Pioneer Journey wanted something whimsical and cartoonish to represent her family's transition to a pionner lifestyle. Here is the after shot:

Pioneer Journey also has a matching Twitter page. Go to @Pioneer_Journey to see.

Columbus Day Sale

2011-10-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm having a Columbus Day sale. For the next week, you can get 10% off all new orders.

My Apologies

2011-09-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

For everyone on the waiting list, I want to apologize for being slow the past few weeks. For the last few years, I have had chronic problems with my kidneys. Sometimes the problems are predictable. For instance, if I eat too much sodium, I'll have kidney stones for a week. Sometimes they're not. That is, sometimes I get the stones for no reason whatsoever. I've been stuck in the no reason zone for the last two weeks. On a bad day I have felt like an elephant had kicked me in my kidneys, especially the right one. On a good day, the pain was more like a donkey kick. I don't have insurance so all I can do is take handfuls of Tylenol, drink a lot of cranberry juice, and try to make it through the day. Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I didn't have to take handfuls, only two.

Hopefully that means this weekend I can make some progress catching up on designs. I am sorry my health problems had me moving at a snail's pace. It wasn't something I had planned, and hopefully I've filled my quota of painful episodes for the year.

The Portfolio is Finally Update

2011-09-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

I finally have the portfolio up to date. I even divided it up into categories so please you use the drop down menu to see.

Don't forget, too, you can still save 10% through tomorrow on all of my prices.

New Blogger & Wordpress Designs

2011-09-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Don't forget I'm having a Post Labor Day sale this week on new orders. As for screenshots, I'm sorry that I'm quite a bit behind in posting these. I'm scared I missed some. If I did, I will post them later. If I haven't posted your shot yet, please email me and let me know.

New Wordpress Design: Storybook Science

Before:

After:

Theme used: Sight. This design is made from some of the client's photos, free photos from SXC.hu & Dreamstime, some scrapbooking elements, and Photoshop patterns.

To see the matching Twitter page, visit @storybkscience

New Blogger Design: Kira Kira Journal

Before:

After:

I forgot to take an after shot, and the blog is now set to private, so all I have is the screenshot of the test site. Sorry about that. The design is made mostly from scrapbooking papers and patterns/textures in Photoshop.

To see the matching Twitter page, visit @kira_kira_life.

New Blogger Design: Will Write for Cookies

Before:

After:

To see the matching Twitter page, visit @PeggyEddleman. The Twitter and blog designs are handdrawn.

New Blogger Design: Frog Spot

Before:

After:

To see the matching Facebook page, visit From the Pond and click on the Welcome tab. Most of the graphics used in this desgin are from Scrappindoodles.com, although I drew a few of the extra details, like the cattails, in the same style as the Scrappindoodle graphics.

New Seasonal Header: The Unread Reader

This design was handdrawn.

New Logo: Monice's Boutique

This design was also handdrawn.

New Button: Books with Bite Book Reflections

This design was created in Photoshop with a combo of images from Fotolia and SXC.hu.

New Button: Books with Bite Book Shelf Tours

This design was handdrawn.

I Still Have This Ratings System for Sale

2011-09-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

$15 normally. This week you get 10% off because of the sale. Sale ends Sunday.

Labor Day Sale

2011-09-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm late in posting this, but at least it's still Labor Day. Between today and Sunday, you can get 10% off all new orders. All design services are included. If you don't see the service you're looking for, please fill out the contact form. I may be able to help.

I have several new screenshots of new designs I need to post, and I'm about 20 designs behind in updating the portfolio so if you want to see the newest designs before ordering, please scroll through the posts. I'll let you know when the portfolio section is updated.

Last Day to Save 10%

2011-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day to lock in a lower price--10% off new orders, any service. To place an order, fill out my design questionnaire. If you're not sure if I offer a service or if you have any questions, you can fill out the contact form or email me at bloggingbelladesigns@yahoo.com.

Sale Extended

2011-08-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm extending the sale for another week so through this weekend all services are still 10% off. Lock in a lower price now.