Breath of Spring and a Freebie

Good Afternoon folks,

I have a brand new kit for you today and you will think I'm mad...lol. But before I get to the kit I just wanted to touch on the subject about sharing PTU kits.

I awoke at 3am this morning to finish up today's kit for you guys. Shortly after I received an email from a very nice gentleman letting me know that my brand new "Ringing in the New Year" kit is being freely shared in the pirate sharing groups. I have since spent the last few hours having the links removed, sending in DMCA complaints to Yahoogroups and Googlegroups, and sending cease and desist notices to the people that were sharing the kit. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend the morning and I must seem like one big Scrooge to everyone about now.

Yes, I do get upset when my PTU kits are shared freely for three reasons. The first is that I have many people that buy their kits and use them legally and it is not fair to them that others share the kits for free. The second reason is that I always have freebies available to those that can't afford or don't wish to purchase the kits. Most of you have seen the large amount of free stuff I have given away this Christmas. I acutally made as many free kits as I did PTU ones...lol. And the last and the biggest reason that I get upset is because every dime I make with the PTU kits helps to support my kids.

I've pretty well kept my private life off the blog and out of the groups, except for the few that know that I am medically disabled due to Lupus. But I guess it's time to let everyone know that I don't make PTU items to get rich. I don't do it just because I want the money. I make and sell PTU items because I have four children who are totally dependent on me to support them and being disabled I am limited on how I can do that. So I turned what was once a fun hobby into work and the few dollars I make from my stuff is actually helping to keep food on my table.

Over the past year my family has had two major set backs. The first was my son being diagnosed with chronic ulcerative colitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. PSC is a liver disease and eventually his liver will fail or turn cancerous. This means he will need a liver transplant before too much longer. Along with these diseases he has had to have several blood transfusions, IV iron supplements, and has a variety of medications he must take on a daily basis just to live. His last stay in the hospital a few weeks ago his doctors discovered that his platelet count is dangerously high and causing blood clots. He has three local specialist taking care of him and a liver specialist in Pittsburgh that will perform the liver transplant when the time comes. Needless to say he is in no shape to work anymore so he has had to move back in with me. He also now has no insurance so we have had to pay for all his meds and doctor visits until just recently. We finally got him approved for a state medical card which has lessened the burden from me.

The other major set back came shortly after my daughter moved from Florida back here to West Virginia. She had just gotten a job and was putting her life back together when she was gang raped. We've spent the last four months trying to get charges pressed against the guilty parties to no avail. Physically she has recovered but mentally she is broken and not a functioning member of society. So I now have her to look out for and put a roof over her head, too. I do well to get her out of bed and dressed most days. She is severely depressed and afraid to leave the house alone.

And with all that I do have two other sons. One is in his first year of college and the baby is in middle school. Any of you with kids know the cost of having kids this age. There is always something at school that they need money for these days.

If I actually told you the amount that I support our household on each month, it would shock you. Money has been so tight these last few months that I have not even been able to afford to see my own doctor or have my meds filled. Cut-off notices have become a way of life for us and I can tell you it is embarrassing when they come to shut your service off.

Christmas is going to be very tight for us this year but with what I have sold in scraps the last few weeks I have managed to buy a nice Christmas dinner for them and they each have one nice gift from me. For those of you that have made purchases......big hugs!!!! I certainly appreciate it!!!

I am not telling you guys this to get a pity party...it's not about that at all. I am telling you all this because you just never know when the designer is depending on that money to honestly help her family. So please folks, don't share PTU items. There is tons of free stuff out there given out of the goodness of the designers hearts. If you feel the need to share, share the free stuff.

Okay, with all that said on to today's kit.

After all the Christmas kits that I have made over the past two months, I was ready for a break and with the cold weather, I am definitely already wishing for Spring. So the result is a cute flowery kit in bright spring colors...lol.

Introducing a "Breath of Spring" to brighten your layouts and tags. Kit includes 14 unique papers. This includes 5 worn edge papers and 5 lace edged papers in png format.

Kit includes:

14 Papers
1 String of Beads
8 Bows
3 Brads
2 Butterflies
5 Buttons
1 Eyelet Knot
5 Flowers
1 Flower button
3 Frames
5 Heart Keychains
6 Ribbons
5 Rick Rack
3 Star Boxes
1 Frame/Picture Wrap

You can snag the kit at my blog store today here in the NEW category:

http://queenbratdesigns.ecrater.com/


And here is a freebie for you.

The decorated frame is approximately 2600x2900 pixels and 300 dpi.

You can snag yours HERE.

Password is: THANKS

Don't forget the Lottery that ends tomorrow and the Dollar Days sale at my blog store.


Have a great day!

QB