Template Challenge!!!

Hi, all, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!! We sure did! It was very nice spending time with family & friends. I had off most of the week, so I was able to "relax" and spend time with the kids.

Nicole is hosting a template challenge. One of the nice things is that it is a very simple & clean template! It is being held at Kindred Creations and you can check out the details in the forum. She is offering a really cute prize for posting your layout to the gallery at KC. Check it out! Here is my take on the template:
I used Nicole's Love & Joy kit, which can be purchased in her store at KC.

Have a great week!

Christmas Card order

Well, I received my cards and I am pleasantly surprised and quite pleased with the results. The postcards have a sheen to them, so they are very nice...one thing I don't like about photo cards is that they're printed on photo paper, so they get messed up when they get wet. These shouldn't. The envelopes are a little thin & cheap, but for $5/50, I guess I wasn't expecting much. The posters & calendar are very nice. The hat is ok & the window clings are REALLY nice...I just wish they weren't sticky, like a sticker.

Overall I am VERY impressed with my order, so next time you're looking for cards, etc. check out VistaPrint.com!

Christmas Cards

Good Day! I've finally gotten my Christmas cards done!! Man, did I slack this year!!! They are supposed to be delivered tomorrow!!! Can't wait!!! I tried something new this year. Vista Print has "free" stuff all the time. I say "free" because you pay through the nose for shipping :o( But, I found this time that it was so worth the shipping!!! I ordered the large postcards for free (50) and paid $2.49 to upload my design & $4.99 for 50 envelopes. I also ordered a couple of other freebies, like a poster (11x14) & then the 2nd one was only $3!!! I ordered a poster size 2009 with a photo & a window cling. I also got 100 small postcards to put in with my eBay shipments as a thank you. All that was for $32+ I chose Priority shipping...ordered last Saturday night & arriving Friday. THEN, I opened my mouth (insert foot!!) and showed my parents. They asked me to make one for them, but they didn't want 50...well, for the price, 50 worked out to be a better deal. Sooo...I ordered theirs on Monday night & will also be arriving tomorrow! I ordered 50 for them with envelopes, 10 greeting cards & 240 return address labels for them. I also saw they offered free hats & t shirts, so I got a hat for my son with his soccer team's name on it & a window cling for him, too. I got 10 large magnets of the kids & a desk calendar with different photos for each month! You could also add birthdays, etc. for each date if you wanted! I got a notepad for my mom & dad & a set of Post its for me. All that came to $43.66...not too bad!! I forgot to mention that the postcards are 8.5x5.5 in size!!!! I'll have to report on the quality when they come in. I did order Alexa's birth announcements from them & was pleased, so these should be pretty good, too. Here's the cards....there's print & a photo on the back, too!!! The top one is mine & the bottom is of my niece & nephew for my parents.

Wanna win a Cricuit or iPod Touch?!?!

Be a Hero, Save a Blog CONTEST BASICS

Bloggled.com is offering a chance at winning one of two prizes on 12/15/08. Prizes include a choice between either a Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter Machine valued at $299.00, or a 16GB iPod Touch valued at $299.00. Selected winners are allowed to choose between the items. A winner will be selected every 2 hours of the day on 12/15/08 between the hours of 8 am MST through 8 pm MST.

Check it out!! I hope I win! How awesome would that be?!?!

Just Blossoms Layout

Hi, all

Sorry it has been a while!! Things have been crazy here. I went back to work part time & it turned into a lot more hours than I planned on...helpful for the money for Holiday gifts, but not helpful in that I'm never home!!

Anyway, Nicole is back from Paris AND Walt Disney World with an awesome new kit. It is called Just Blossoms & it has some really cute papers & elements...I LOVE the alphabet that's in this kit, too! Here's my layout...Alexa at 18 days old. Seems like forever ago since she's 7 months old today..sigh!

Blog Train!!

As I mentioned last week, I joined a blog train through DigitalArts Cafe. Because there are so many participants, it is better to visit here to get the links to the blogs. Scroll down a bit to see the list.

This is the first kit I've designed. It is fairly simple, but sometimes, that's just what you need! I ran out of time, but wanted to get something posted, so stop back on Wednesday to get the rest of the kit. I'm hoping to do an alphabet & some additional elements. If you download, please be sure to leave me a comment! I'd love to see anything you create with it!! Here's the preview for this part. Enjoy!!

Gratitude Layout

Nicole's release this week is called Gratitude...quite fitting for this week, huh? It is a really pretty kit that Sarah helped create. She came up with the ideas & told Nicole & she created the kit. Pretty neat way to do a colab kit! Here's the layout I made:
This is from the hospital when Alexa was born. It was the first time I tried a black & white with selective coloring. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it, so it isn't quite how I'd like it. I want it to have more of a sepia tone, so I'll have to play with it a little more.

Next Monday starts the blog train I joined for the Holiday season. Be sure to check back on December 1st for the huge list of participants. Each will have a freebie for you...they are encouraging people to go off the color palette so there is some variety since there are over 60 participants! That's a lot of freebies!!! LOL!

I also participated & completed my first Speed Scrap Layout. I say completed because I started to do 3 different ones before that, but life got in the way here & I didn't get them posted in time. What's a Speed Scrap? It is when you go to a chat room & you get instructions how how to create a layout. There are usually 7 steps given over an hour & then you get about an hour after that to complete it & get it posted in that site's gallery. All this while you're chatting away! It was a lot of fun & it shows you how quickly you can complete a layout when you don't stop to think too much!! Here is the one I completed:I used Nicole's Chloe & Celebrate kits for this.
Here are the instructions we received:1. (9:00) You can use as many (or as few) photos as you’d like, but one of them has to be a circle.
2. (9:10) Pick three pieces of paper for your background—one needs to have a print. Use as many other papers in your LO as you’d like.
3. (9:20) Choose 2 different elements and duplicate each one at least 3 times.
4. (9:30) Make a cluster around your circle photo.
5. (9:40) Add 3 ribbons, ric rac, and/or lace to your LO—in addition to your other elements from step #3.
6. (9:50) Title your layout with 3 words.
7. (10:00) Date your LO and upload it to the gallery. You have until 11:15 (EST). Can’t wait to see what you’ve done.

This is the one I didn't finish...well it's done, but I didn't get it posted in time since I had to pick Cyndi up from work :o( I used the Chloe kit again. I really like the colors in that kit! LOL!These are the instructions for this one:
1. Pick one photo and crop it into a square shape or use a square(ish) clipping mask.
2. Use both solid and patterned paper in your layout; you can pick how many!
3. Blend an embellishment into the background, using ‘overlay’ or ‘soft light’ blending mode. If your program doesn’t have blending modes, you can just reduce the opacity.
4. Make sure there is something repeated in your layout. It can be a shape, text or an embellishment, as long as it’s there at least twice!
5. Use stitching on your layout.
6. Give your page a single word title and make it stand out!
7. Add at least 2 lines of journaling.

The next one is Tuesday, Nov 25 at 12 noon est at Scrapmatters. There is also one on Friday, Nov. 28 at 10 pm est. They try to have one daytime & 1 night time per week, so if you can't make either of these, stop in to see when the next one will be!

Holiday Card

Thanks to Sarah, I created a Holiday Card using My Scrap Shop's exchange kit. It is a HUGE kit and has lots of great things in it. It is the first freebie I've created. You have to go to the site to get the files, but not only can you get the kit, but you can get whatever cards everyone else made!! That is so fun! If you don't want to use them as cards, you can make a 4x6 brag book with them. Here's mine

Go to MyScrapShop now!!! You won't regret it!

Love and Joy kit

Here's the latest layout I created for Nicole's kit "Love and Joy"



This is Austin in 2001...a while ago, I know, but I couldn't find the CD with more recent Christmas photos on it. I am having such issues finding things! LOL! I think the photos go really well with the colors in the kit anyway. Nicole's kit is part of another colab kit with Amber, so make sure you go there, too, to get her parts of the kit. They both give away something each day. Awesome!!

Contest

Want to win $10?!?! I DO! I DO!!!

From the MSS store:
It's not a skill or technique contest. You don't have to be a super scrapper to do it. In fact, you just have to follow a few very simple rules to be entered in the drawing to win $10 at our store. (And if you've seen our store, you know that $10 goes a LONG way)

How to play:

- Use MSS Designer products, freebies, etc. only. There are freebies in our store, on our blog, and all over if you have never had the chance to buy our kits. These cupcakes are extra special as we will be publishing them in our newsletter, so they need to be our products for at least 80% of the finished entry.

- Create your cupcake and put it on the background paper of your choice, or on a plain colored background. Save it like you would a layout at 600 x 600 pixels and at 72 dpi. Post this in the gallery here. Then come back here to this thread and post a link to your cupcake in our gallery. Please be careful when you post your link to not use the one from your address bar in your browser. The correct link to share a layout from our gallery is below the actual picture in the gallery once it is uploaded. You will get an entry in our prize drawing for your participation. Also, the cupcake template is commercial use!

- The cupcake decorating contest will end on Wednesday at 5 PM Eastern and the winners will be announced on the site that evening. You will be PM'd with your prize.
- Have fun. There are no rules on design for this contest. Live a little. Make your cupcake have google eyes. Give your cupcake antlers. It's up to you.

GET YOUR TEMPLATE HERE!!!

More Ebay!

I've added a few albums that will be ending today (around 6 PM EST) to my eBay listings. I'm working on getting the listings done for all of my sticker & paper packs, not to mention combo & snap packs. I still have some 5x7 albums, too. And, believe it or not, I still have more!! LOL! I am trying to get photos taken, but it is so time consuming when I can only take so many photos on the internal memory for my camera. I then have to go & get them off the camera, delete them & then go take more photos...phew! What a pain!!!

Austin's team (which Tom coaches, by the way!) won the championship!!! It was a shame that they had to play the other Glenolden team 1st, but that's how it goes. They went on to cheer Prospect Park to win, so they wouldn't have to play Ridley again...PP WON!!! Ridley was so mad & upset...quite a shame, but PP gave Glenolden a run for their money at first!! They all played really well & we wound up winning 3-1, with all 3 goals being scored within the last 10 minutes of the game. They were losing 0-1 up until that point! Whew!!! It was soooo cold that night & one of Tom's players, the goalie, decided to dump his ice water bottle over his head!! Too funny!!!! I thought he was going to be so mad, but he took it in stride! LOL! Congrats to all for an awesome win! I am glad the season is over, though...it was getting too cold!! Austin is too old to play next year, but he should be able to play for the high school. This is a photo of Austin with his girlfriend, Alexa (Lexie) after they won on Wednesday & the other is of Tom with Lexie after Chris soaked him with the water!

I hope you got the chance to head over to Nicole's to get all her free kits. If not, you can get them at Kindred Creations and here are some others and even more They are for sale now, but they are worth it. They are adding the rest of her kits, so be sure to check back often! Make sure you check out her latest colab kit this coming week. It's called Love & Joy. Really awesome kit!!! Doubly awesome since you get twice as much stuff!!! Make sure you go to both Nicole's and Amber's site each day Monday through Friday to get all of the parts!!

A couple of things!

Hello..Happy Wednesday!

Well, not so happy for me right now. I STILL haven't found my memory card for my camera. Not only that, I can't find the original card that I bought either so I can't take any new pictures. I am so sad! I also need an external hard drive since I only have about 13 gigs left on my 200 gig hard drive....Santa, can you hear me?!?! LOL!

Have you heard of ArtsCow? It is a company you can order prints of your photos and photo books. I've seen examples on a few other sites & they look really awesome! Here is a link for them I get credit for referring you & then you get some awesome free stuff. They also send coupon codes for other free things like ornaments, puzzles and sometimes photo books. By using the above link to sign up, you'll get 400 free prints and a free photo book. BUT if you want more, email me & I'll send you a referral link through email & that links gives you 1200 free prints credits & 3 8"x8" photo books, and other photo gifts!!! How awesome is that?!?!?! I'm planning to order photo books for holiday gifts shortly, so I'll be sure to post the results.

One other thing, I just saw on Nicole's blog that she's retiring freebies on Friday!!! Everything she's given away before October(LOTS & LOTS) will no longer be free. You'll have to buy them (not such a bad deal at $3 each, though!!). So, if you want them for free, be sure to head on over there!! The alphabet for Reflections is up today. Be sure to leave her some love while you are there!!

I've joined some challenges at Digitals this month. They are still active so head on over there & check them out! Challenges are a great way to get some layouts done & you get some great prizes for showing off your LO! I'm going to try to do 4 or 5 of them this month. Some have closed, like the swap, since they like to give you time to exchange photos, etc.

Lastly, I've decided to be super brave & join a blog train!!! Yikes!!! It starts December 1st & as of 2 days ago, there were over 60 participants!! WOW!! That's a lot of free stuff!!! The rules were pretty lax for this one, which is why I thought it would be good for my 1st one. You can do a quick page (& they even gave a sampler pack to complete that) or papers(yep! They gave you some overlays to do that, too!) and of course you can purchase the kit they have. OR you can do NONE of that & do your own thing! How cool is that?!?! So...be sure to come back on December 1st to get a freebie from me & the list to go Blog Hopping!!!

That's it for today! Austin's last game(2 actually) is tonight, so we'll be freezing hoping for 2 wins!! We're sure the championship round will be against Ridley, so keep your fingers crossed that the win!!!

Wonderland Layout

Here's the latest kit from Nicole. It's called Wonderland & it is mainly for Christmas & winter, but I thought the colors were perfect for this LO I did of Austin & Alexa in the pool on Pumpkin Day. It was on October 12 & it was at my Aunt & Uncle's house. It happened to be unseasonably warm here & they have a heated in ground pool, so swimming was possible. I didn't go in, but my dad & most of the kids did! I think a few other brave adults joined in the fun. Most of us just sat on the lanai & soaked up the sun before dinner & pumpkin carving! It was an awesome day!

I am soooo upset!!

I am sick!!! I cannot find my memory card for my camera!!! I can't believe it! I was trying to take more photos for eBay & had to keep going back & forth between the dining room & the computer. Now it's missing! All of my photos from October are on it!! Some of them made it to the computer but all the ones from Halloween & our party & daily pics of Alexa, soccer pics, etc. ALL GONE!! I am so upset I can' t even think about anything else! I've been searching for it since 3:30! I keep thinking it will turn up..I don't understand where it could be! UGGH!

On a lighter note, Austin's soccer team won their game tonight, which puts them at the #1 spot!! YAY! What's even better is that Austin scored the one & only goal (a perfect shot, too!!) AND they beat Ridley, who beat them TWO TIMES this season. It was a really nice win. At least something went right today!

Challenge layout

I participated in a picture swap on Digitals for the Birthday Bash in October. The rules are simple. You get paired up with some & exchange photos. You can send details for journaling. You then create a layout by the end of the month & you get an awesome prize for participating, plus you get a page done by someone with a different eye. Pretty cool, right? Here's the LO I created for my swap partner, Liz. I used Nicole's Celebrate kit for the papers & scatterZ from DeDe:


And here is the one she did for me...I LOVE it! It is so cute. Turns out she's been accepted on a CT recently & she's using this as one of her layouts. How cool is that??

Hope you're having a great weekend!

New Blog Layout

I just LOVE Nicole's Dreamin kit!!! I couldn't resist this blog layout from Allie Brown. She has so many layouts to choose from, too! I am such a WDW fanatic! I have so many photos from the last 3 trips (digital ones that is...I still have 2 other traditional books to do!!). I'm hoping as Alexa gets older that I will have a little more time to scrapbook so I can use all the great stuff in Nicole's kit.

We're still recovering from Halloween & soccer tournaments here. Austin still has his going on (3 nights left!!!) I really hope it stays somewhat warm!

I hope you got the chance to get out and vote!

New Layout

This is my latest layout for Nicole.
Her latest kit is part of a huge collaboration. It is called After Dusk & it works well with different themes. Nicole's part can be found here. You need to visit her site each day to get a part of her kit. Follow the links below to snatch up the rest of the colab.

abyscraps by Sheila
Adele of Blind Sight Designs
Anne at Creative Dreams
Arvita's at Elam's Flights Of Fancy
Beckmoore
Becky
Brooke at Ahhh Scrap
by God's design
Carolyn at Digi Cyber Scraps
CharmeDivaScrapz
Chiara at Creative Digital Scraps
Cindi @ vanjo designs
Cyndi, Wetfish Designs
Deanna at Flower Scraps
Deb AKA The ScrappinCop
Debbie at Digital Keepsakes
Diana at Sass n Scrap Designs
Erika {aka PinkuPixie}
Florrie
jeanniebs designs
Julia at BeaconScrap
Julie aka Bits 'N' Bobs
Kathy Goldstein at The Scrap Loft
KittenScraps
Lady V dZine
Lei at Fairydustprincess-magicmaker
Lindas Dream Designs
Lois at ScrappinwithLadye
Lori at ScripityScrapDesigns
Lynn at Heavenly Crafts
lynnirene
Mags at MagsGraphics
Manda at Disaster In Designs
Marie at EmCee Scraps
melanie aka sweetasmel
Michelle @ Michelles-Angels
Michelle @ My Digital Fun Place
Missty @ Misstykal Designs
Monica at Random Inspirations
Nicole at Digi-Designs by Nicole
Oase
RachNess
Scraping with Jen
ScrappyShannon
Shabby Tagger
Shel at Shel Belle Scraps
Stacy at Kalo Designs
Sticky Kisses Scraps
Teri At Teris-Thing-O-My-Jigs
TerresaS
Wendi at Willow Grace Designs
WillowRaven at Purple Dragonfly Creations

Items on eBay

I've decided to start cleaning out my stash of paper scrapbooking items. I really don't have the time anymore to do it & really hated hauling all of that stuff out only to have to put it all away after 2 hours. Some days I think it took me more time to get out than I actually worked on my albums. I have some of my Creative Memories items listed so far & most are ending today, the rest Sunday. Here's the link to my stuff I've listed so far. I will be posting more throughout the week. I have TONS of stuff, most of it CM, but I do have a lot of other brands of paper & stickers. I also plan to list a lot of my fabric & other craft items I've collected over the years.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Happy Halloween!!!

I'm busy working on layouts & getting ready for trick-or-treaters but I wanted to take a minute to say Happy Halloween!!!

Reflections Layout

This is a layout I did for Nicole's Reflection kit. I really like the versatility of it. The colors go really well with Cyndi's field hockey pictures. This layout is from her Senior Night. They played at night(duh! LOL!) under the lights of the football field. This was a first for them!! Each senior was announced along with the starting lineup. AP played against Interboro, who they were tied with for 1st place in the Del Val League. They tied them 0-0 when they played them the 1st time in the season. Well...they beat them this time!! The girls were so happy! The bleachers were packed with AP fans and it was a great night! After the game was over, Coach Reutter told each senior how they've evolved as players and told them each how she sees them as people and players. It was a really nice thing to hear. Anyway, here's my layout. I'm waiting for a better team photo, but I really like how this one came out. I'm still learning, so it's nice to see my progression!
While you're at Nicole's site, be sure to check out her other kits she has created. They are all free & are wonderful!! I really love her Dreamin Kit for all of those vacation pics you may have from visiting the big mouse in FL. :o)

2 Page Halloween Layout

These layouts are from our annual Pumpkin Day. This year's celebration was held on October 12th at Aunt Marji and Uncle Tom's in Lititz. It was so warm this year so most of the guests went swimming in their heated pool...including Alexa. She LOVED it! She was actually mad when I took her out!










Alexa with Austin & with Pop Pop.

I used Nicole's Fright Nites Kit for my layouts so far. I really like how bright the colors look.

Until next time....

New Layout

I've completed another layout. This time it is for Cyndi's field hockey album. I used Nicole's kit All Boy for this one. Cyndi really likes how it came out. I'm working on the opposite page today, so maybe I'll post it later this afternoon.
I'm hoping to get out the Halloween decorations today, too. It is supposed to rain most of the weekend & I don't want to wait any longer to decorate. We're having our annual Halloween Party next Saturday, the 1st, so I really need to get moving!!! I'll be sure to post photos of the crazy & creepy food I make this year. I LOVE Halloween, so I really get into making crazy stuff that creeps everyone out!! LOL!

Well, Alexa is calling so I gotta run..be back later!

Welcome to My Blog!

Where to start?! I'm starting this blog to let everyone know a little bit about me and my family. I am also using this blog to showcase my digital scrapbook pages that I have been creating. I was recently selected to be on a Creative Team by Nicole of Digi Designs by Nicole. She creates the best freebie kits and I love to visit her blog each week to see what's she's created. What's fun is that she gives you a part of the kit each day. I am so excited to be a part of her team! Here's my first page I created using her latest kit "Celebrate":

Nicole is doing this kit as a colab with Amber of Stolen Moments who also happens to be on her CT. Each day she also releases a part of the kit, which now becomes an awesome larger kit when combined. That's the beauty of a colab kit...you get 2 or more kits that use the same color palette and theme to create one large kit.

I want to thank Mary for turning me into a Digi Scrapbook junkie...especially for freebies!! If she hadn't, I would not have found Nicole, along with TONS of great sites full of resources...so THANKS, MARY!!!

I hope to eventually offer quick pages here, but not until I get a little better at creating pages. For now, I'll just post my layouts as I finish them, update you on our family life and maybe send you to some great sites for supplies.

Stop by to see Nicole and Amber. If you go to Nicole's entry for Sunday, October 19, you can also visit the rest of the wonderful ladies that make up Nicole's Creative Team. They all do such awesome work & I feel honored to be a part of such a great team!

Until next time....