Holiday Gifts for the Photographer in Your Life

Some of these items are WAY too cute. I am definitely buying some of these for some of my pals. Very cool stuff

http://photojojo.com/store/

Portable North Pole

What is better than a personalized message from Santa for your child? At the PNP (portable north pole), Santa gives your kid a real personal touch, from their name to the gift they want, to other small details that lets your child know Santa's watching!

I love, love, love this site. We did it last year and Tyler was amazed. I can't wait to see his face when he see's his photos and Santa's message to be a good boy.

Click here to go to the Portable North Pole

I'm a Cheer Chick!

Yes, I'm way too old to be a cheerleader, but I'm now officially a 46 year old Cheer Chick for MScraps. I (along with a group of really fun. funny, cool women) scour the galleries and forums of MScraps for interesting threads and layouts and just comment. Yes, I have been 'tapped to talk'. Hard to believe, huh? lol

The great part about that is that its something that I do all the time anyway, just not as vigorously. Now I do it, am part of a great community of women with similar interests, and I get a little something for my efforts.

The other cool thing is that MScraps has just started this group so I'm part of the pioneer launch of cheering. Perfect timing, too since its the Cheer time of the year - holiday season!

Free Silhouette Template

Hi everyone,

Back to my ole' skool roots of traditional designing, I played around with Illustrator today and made up a freebie for those of you who pop on to my blog every now and then -- a Star cupcake liner.

I created it for my new Silhouette SD digital cutting machine but I didn't make/have any cupcakes around to put them on so the photos of that will come later.

Star Cupcake Liner

What can you do with it?

Print or buy your own papers and use that as the base to cut from. Here is an example using HayNay designs. My files are all over the place so I don't recall which kit. But see how cute it can look?

I have no official 'terms of use' since I'm not selling in stores. But please do not resell this. It is a FREE product for share only. And if you post, please give credit to me: Scrapporreia and link to my blog if you can. One of the files is a .svg for the Cricut, but I don't have one so I don't know if or how it works, but if you do and it works for you, please come back and let me know.

Also, if you comment with links to your project, I'll post them in a future blog.

DOWNLOAD the Silo file, ready for cutting by clicking on this link:

Star Cupcake Liner template for Silhouette SD

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

:) Linda

Silhouette SD

My new toy arrived on my birthday. I got a Silhouette SD. I don't even know if I can type enough words to say how much I love it.

I typed in Tyler's name and cut it out of copier paper. That was fun - and I hadn't even done anything with it, yet! Then I wanted to see how it cuts a custom design, so I pulled a jpg I had on my harddrive and voila! so easy and so cool!

Here is my 'test run':


No credits, I downloaded this card online, the papers are construction and copier paper... but that's part of what's so cool - nothing special needed!

I chose the Silhouette  because I wanted a die cutting machine that would do what I wanted, not what some cartridge supplied. And I didn't want to have to buy catridges. I went to art school - I can design my own stuff and I have the internet to download what I'm too lazy to design. I wanted the flexibility to do what I want to do.

Wait -- did I say.. I LOVE IT? lol

I'm working out how to do all the things I think its capable of. I'll be back on with more goodies as soon as I get some done.

I Love Rides!

Well, I don't but my kid sure does. lol


Here is a layout I did using Simply Kelly Design's latest template (15 photo layered template) and just about every kit in my stash. I've gotten a lot of ribbing on the length of my credits. lol
It is also my last layout for my November guest CT spot for Chelle's Creations. And not to be overlooked, I also used some of the awesome stuff from my other CT designer, Sherry Ferguson Designs.

and :::rolling up my sleeves::: here are my credits:

Template:15 photo layered template by Simply Kelly Designs

Papers:Ticket To Ride by Chelle’s Creations
Cool Dude by Sherry Ferguson Designs
Bikini Season by Lynne Marie
Future Star by Spinky Dink Scraps
Playdate by RL
Hunk O’Tin by Spinky Dink Scraps

Elements:Ticket To Ride by Chelle’s Creations
Doodle Frames by Chelle’s Creations
Stitch Me Up by Chelle’s Creations
Little Engineer by Spinky Dink Scraps
Hunk O’Tin by Spinky Dink Scraps
Aydens Adventure by Colie’s Corner
Toolshed by Colie’s Corner
Play Stamp by Katie Pertiet

Fonts
A Little Pot
Centaur


Here is Kelly's Template. ON SALE TODAY!

Holiday fun

OOh all these holiday kits are so cute and fun, I can't stop making things with them!

Here is my latest: a hybrid I made using a combo of Holly Jolly Holiday by Chelle's Creations, my latest Black Friday purchase: Santa's Workshop by Trixie Scraps and
Snow Fun Bundle by Sherry Ferguson Designs BTW, this bundle includes Snow Fun the Flakes that you can buy on its own. I have use that sooo many times. Its a great way to tie a whole page together. So versatile.

Its kinda hard to see but these are individually wrapped candy canes.

Special Thanks to my wonderful husband who helped me hand cut each of these little elves and other elements.

Cyber Monday Freebie on Simply Kelly Designs

Hi Everyone,

Tomorrow, pop on over to Simply Kelly Design's blog for a freebie. Who doesn't like a freebie?
Check it out...here is a preview

Sometimes You Have a Block (part 2)

Finally, I'm back with the rest of that post. So the layout I was blocking on, ended up being really cute. It was Simply Kelly Designs' Circle of Memories Template.

I have problems with clutter (I know, you'd never know to look at my desk, huh?) on a layout and I don't know how to clean up a multi-photo template, so it always takes me soooo much longer. That plus all the stuff weighing on me, I just couldn't wrap my head around this. Then we took my son to this 'nature' talk thing with the Monmouth Park system and the photos were just made for the layout so I searched for an artsy-craftsy kit. Then I thought I'd play around and made Kelly's circle into a Turtle ... and it all just came together. Whew!


I used Sherry Ferguson's kit Creative Minds

Turtle Time


Here is the template by Simply Kelly Designs




and the Creative Minds kit by Sherry Ferguson

I Scrap for iScrap

I just couldn't resist typing that. :)

As I mentioned last week, I started on a new CT team for a really cool lady and her store, iScrap. She has a very clean, grown-up style. Here are a couple of pages I made using her Big World Template (which said it was quick pages, but I was able to totally manipulate) and This Moment kit, both on sale now at Mscraps.

Being Boys



Pop Pop's Garden

(and, yes, I see the typo, now -- I just gotta go back in and fix it. )


iScrap has some really beautiful work. Here are the kits:
Big World Quickpage (I know it says Quickpage, but I totally manipulated the pages in Photoshop)



This Moment



And after going back into her store, I'm wondering if I was supposed to use the Big World Kit or the Templates, so, here is the Kit... I'm going to go back and do a layout with it, just in case. lol

Snow Club using Holly Jolly Holiday kit

I feel like its been awhile since I posted a layout, so, here they come....

Using Chelle's Creations' Holly Jolly Holiday... an UBER cute kit - even if I only have a boy, I'm still happy with the layouts I created using this.

Snow Club was shot this past Feb. during one of the many blizzards that hit us.

I loved using the kit and it was perfect since the girls all had such colorful snowsuits.

Snow Club
Credits: All from Holly Jolly Holiday by Chelle's Creations

There is a facing page to this that I created using Simply Kelly Design's upcoming Christmas template, but its not released, yet, so I'll have to wait to post that. I love the way it came out, so I'm excited to post it. BTW, Kelly has everything in her store 30% off until Dec. 2. Go check it out!

Here is Chelle's kit:

And just as cute, CT member Kassie created a really adorable blogwear kit for her (now on sale at ScrapMatters for Black Friday/Cyber Monday)

Blog-torial

I'm thinking of starting something new. Not new to the world in general, but new to me and this blog; a series of tutorials. Recently, I've been getting queries about how to start digi-scrapping from my non-design friends (who are nonetheless very creative). It made me think back (yes 'back' for me is only a few months ago - but that's why its so fresh in my mind) to when I first started digi-scrapping and being involved with the community of amazing women who share this obsession with me.

There was so much to learn and there seemed to be a language and rules that I didn't understand. It was almost like joining a new school in your Jr. year. Everyone else had settled in and had their groove and their little circle. I was posting things that, now, surely sounded like I was either a dope or ON dope. But, who knew? and no one told me otherwise.

I've never been shy so I tend to jump right in - maybe make mistakes, and get over them. But everyone isn't the same. Some would like a little more guidance. So I thought I'd lend the wisdom of my 4 months to those who might be just starting out. I'm looking at tapping into some of my online veteran scrapping friends to help out in areas I lack. So it should be fun, informative and if nothing else, have some examples that may shed some light or inspire you.

Stay tuned for my Newbie Blog-torial - I'm loosely calling it Digi-scrapping 101.

::: gulp ::: I posted so I really have to do this!

Gotta Pixel LOTD!

Whoo hoo, Jenn just called to tell me that I got Layout of the Day at Gotta Pixel. I don't know how she knows these things, but I'm thrilled she does. So, off I go to their site, and sure enough, right on their blog, right above the Daily download featureing Sherry Ferguson's Giving Thanks (the Designer Spotlight) ... is my Thomas the Tank Engine layout!

I used Simply Kelly Design's 7 photo layered template and Spinky Dink Scrap's Little Engineer Kit.

Here is a grab of the page:

Sometimes you have a block

I had a few CT committments this week. Some were real deadlines and some, I just wanted to get some samples up for my designers. I got most of them done (I'll upload those after this post) and then I blanked out. No matter what I did, I didn't like it.

Designers count on you to make layouts for them to promote their kits, templates, designs, etc. So, when you toss up a haphazard layout or worse... can't seem to get it done - it really lets them down. So, I really try to do something that I'm not only proud of but also something that showcases as much of their supplies as possible. Also, your work posts in their galleries, so its up there for posterity and represents your body of work.

I think it was that I have this 2011 calendar that I want to complete and its looming over my head. I've done one... maybe 2... pages. I gotta get moving on it.

So, here is my one single calendar page:

December 2011

Credits
Calendar Bottom Templates Dotted by Graham Like the Cracker


Ho Ho Ho by Chelle's Creations
Stitch Me Up Dated Neutrals , Doodles Border It, Doodles Frame Mat It by Chelle's Creations

Newsie’s Alpha by Chelle's Creations

Sherry Ferguson Designs - Featured Designer on Gotta Pixel

Sherry Ferguson is a great designer and a really cool chick over at Gotta Pixel. And this week, she is the featured designer. Check out her storea and her new bundle - 30% off!

Snow Bundle - 30% off!

I'll try to get a preview to show you soon!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Somehow, I hear that character from one of the Christmas claymation movies in my head when I write that title. lol (I only wish I could describe him better so you'd hear it, too. lol)

I started this blog to chart my progress and have a running gallery of my pages and work. But I've gotten so into the layouts themselves and in the communities of the scrapping sites, that I've neglected this blog.

Aside from a few random posts and uploads of a few pages, I haven't kepts up with my online scrapping journal at all. So, here are the cliff notes of what's been going on:

I am now on 4 Creative Teams (CTs):

Ing Lim's iScrap over at MScraps - love her philosphy (if thats what you call it) about her team, she's uber laid back, and I love her designs. They are sooo my tastes, right out of the box. This is brand new, so I haven't done much with her, yet, but I just downloaded the new kits. Beautiful. If I were to describe her style I would say Modern Elegant. (now that I write that... I am neither modern nor elegant, so its odd that her work speaks to me so much! lol)

Chelle's Creations (November Guest) at ScrapMatters- She has got great stuff. I mean GREAT. And she keeps a very active forum, which has to be her influence because she is active on there, too. The women on her team all seem to know each other as if they do in real life. Her's feels very much like a 'scrap-circle' (I made up that term - but hopefully, you know what I mean; much like a quilting bee where they all sit around, stitch and chat). Being on her team has a lot of responsibilities and they really help me stretch. This was the first CT I applied for. I got accepted as a guest and I've been waiting for months for Nov. to arrive. This is the only CT I share with Jenn - so its extra fun for me.

If I were to describe Chelle's stash, I'd have to say: Complete. She has tons of elements, tons of papers, her word art is one of the best I've seen. She literally has something for everyone.

on a side note, I'm hoping she asks me to stay on. I really love her store but I really love being part of her team. There's a lot going on and everyone is sooo helpful and friendly.


Sherry Ferguson Designs at Gotta Pixel is my first 'big store' designer. Sherry is a laid back designer with something for everyone. Her kits are really nice and versatile. I found I could use one kit in a variety of layouts and you wouldn't know I didn't have different kits. Her color palettes are really well thought out and tie together really well. Her elements are really fun. She has a lot of great patterned papers and her doodles are super cute.

I would describe Sherry's store as the place anyone can go. She has lots of different kits but they are chock full of stuff: Lots of papers, lots of elements, etc. You never worry that there won't be enough to do a LO. You'll get plenty.

Simply Kelly Designs is run by Kelly Hedgepeth. I'm cyber friends with Kelly so I have lots to say about her. I read her blog faithfully because I just find her so interesting - example, she just went to NASA for a tweet-up. I love that she has such varied interests and lives such a full life. She is new to designing and I met her via Owl Tree Studios. When she started her store over at Digital Design Den, I didn't have any expectations, but I guess I thought she'd do kits mostly. She has turned into one of my favorite template designers. She's done some 2-pagers (in the design world, we call them 'spreads') that I LOVE and have recommended over and over.

Kelly is a very clean designer. Her work is uncluttered and simple- even her elegant kits are just that, simple. Maybe she chose her name intentionally.?? ;)

one side note here: The people at Digital Design Den are some of the friendliest people I've met in the scrapping world so far; surprisingly welcoming and seem so genuine. (I'm a jaded NYer now, I suppose).

The two teams I've said good-bye to are Owl Tree Studios and Le Pengouin Designs. Owl Tree Studios is a new store and I felt lucky to be a part of the start-up. Tiffany is a little powerhouse - I'm in awe of what she's doing at her age. I don't think I ever got it together enough when I was in my early 20s to start an endeavor like she has. I left because the CT format was changing and I didn't think I could keep up with the requirements. I didn't want to stay on and feel like I was scrambling and I was also having problems with the site hanging, then crashing - which made it really hard to participate in the discussions and view things. Which always made me feel like I was lagging behind. I found out later it was a browser issue. Who knew.

As for Adi at Le Pengouin Designs, she is a super lovely lady with a LOT going on and a few hurdles that she has to jump, so she's closed her store for a bit. I was not with her as long as her other CTs but she seems like a great girl and I hope she gets everything settled.

So, that's it. That's my CT tally and the synopsis of what they're like/about.

I'm vowing to keep this blog up better. You heard it hear first.;)

SALE SALE SALE

Check out Kelly's stuff while its hot and cheap. (that didn't sound good - but you know what I mean).

She has some really fun templates - now $1
The rest of her store is 40% off.

That's a LOT to be thankful for.

Go now and take advantage of her Thankful Sale, just in time for your holiday memories.

.

And a Blog hop, too... Follow them for some free Christmast stash! You can start here at Kelly's blog for Simply Kelly Designs.

Teamwork

While my blog was in duplicating overload, I'd joined Sherry Ferguson's CT. She sells over at Gotta Pixel and has come up with some really fun designs. She will be a featured designer this month, around Nov. 15th.

I'm not exactly sure what that means, yet. But I'm sure I'll learn. :)

Here is a layout I did with her grab bag (kit link not available, yet) using Le Penguoin Design's Lots of Papers template.

TEAMWORK

CREDITS
Template: Lots of Papers by Le Pengouin Designs
Kit: Giving Thanks by Sherry Ferguson Designs
Font: Lindsey Pro
Alpha: Stitched Puff Felt Alpha by Jada Collectibles
Edge: Six Pack Edges by E. Hansen
Dusty Bear String Stitches

My Chelle's Creations guest CT post has FINALLY come

Chelle's Creations over at Scrap Matters is one of the first (maybe the first?) CT I applied for. I was accepted as a guest for November and it seems like I waited for ages for this month to come! One of the reasons is that Jenn is on her CT and it will be so fun to be on the same team. Yea!


So I went a little crazy (being sick and even tho I worked pretty solidly, I didn't have to commute, so I made extra time to scrap) and downloaded 2 kits back to back and even (eeek!) tried my first hybrid. It was so much fun, taking something I usually only do digitally and translating it to something I was going to have to do from scratch. It brightened up my sickly day. :)

Here is the first LO I did using Chelle's kit Derby. I've been wanting to start Tyler's Rolling Hill's Day Camp photo book. I was browsing her store and this kit nearly jumped out at me. The one thing I'm proud of on this layout is that I modified the #2 to create that heart stitched Alpha. The other thing I'm proud of is that I used an alpha at all! LOL

I love the colors she used in this kit. And they match the Rolling Hills colors. I haven't planned out that book yet, but I'm sure there will be lots of yellow and blue, so I may use this kit over and over for that book. :)

Credits: Kit: Derby by Chelle's Creations

Font: Century Gothic

Shoo flu or should I say, bed bugs?

Talk about a trifecta. Our annual national meeting always brings a little anxiety even though we go to the nicest resorts, with the best food, amenities and views. This year, I had a triple whammy.

Tyler's getting older - just old enough to understand that I'm going away, not quite old enough to process it. So, on night one, we try to Skype with him. He's all excited to talk to me and then -- you can see it like when someone crashes from a sugar high - he spirals. It took hours after we hung up for my hubby and his folks to calm him down. In fact, his exact words to me were, "Mama?"
"Yes, son?"
"Come home. NOW."

To say he had a hard time with my trip is an understatement. After I came home and gave him lots of snuggle-time, he still woke up with a nightmare that I didn't want him anymore. Great.

So, that was #1.

#2: I got bed bug bites while I was down there. Yes, Bed Bugs. ugh. They started popping up a few at a time. I'm a feast for bugs for some reason, so I didn't think anything of it. Then one of our VPs went to the Dr for her bites - she had tons more and all over her arms and face - and he confirmed she'd been bitten by bed bugs. Yet, I still didn't think that's what I had, until I went to the Dr. for a cold that felt like it was turning to bronchitis. Sure enough. They were bed bug bites.

Unless you've lived it, you can't even imagine the horror of thinking that you may have brought these things into your home. I rewashed every article of clothing in boiling water - even the silks and delicates. Washed all the linens, put my suitcases out in the garage (hoping for an overnight freeze - which would do what exactly I had no idea). Then I called an exterminator who sent me tons of info but didn't diagnose bed bugs. So I ended up calling a professional dog sniffer (I keep calling it that, but it was really a man with a dog who sniffed - not a man who sniffed dogs). $400 and a few days later, I found out I was bug free. But the trauma has already taken root. I feel itchy everytime I sit or lay down. I'm convinced that something is crawling on me all the time. Every hair that blows across my skin is a swarm of something. Its hard to sleep with that anticipation of sheets of bugs that you can't see. And when I do sleep, I dream of bugs. Its horrible and debilitating. And its happening to almost everyone I traveled with.

88 of us went on this trip. So far, 2 of us had dr. confirmed bites. I can't count the number of people that just threw out their belongings - just in case. 2 women got their dog sniffer and was found to have bed bugs in their homes - or activity, whatever that is. The hotel is willing to pay for those 2 women's homes to be exterminated (around $7,ooo), but they are making noise about paying me and the others for our sniffers. I have many next steps in my pocket if they choose not to do the right thing and reimburse the guests. But I hope it doesn't come to that.

And to top it all off, after 'abandoning' my child for 4 days, I come back fighting a cold that I caught on day 1 - when we had an outdoor dinner where the propane heater by MY table went out, and in the beautiful curve of the pool side, beach front restaurant we ate at, my table was nearly on the sand - so we got constant, whipping breezes. I lost the fight and the cold came on Thursday. I went to the Dr. on Friday - which is when he said I definitely had bed bug bites. And bronchitis.

I slept the rest of that day, and the next 3 days. Now its day 4 of the cold, day 8 of being an essentially absentee mommy, and I can't sleep because of the bug-factor, I'm shivering and sweating from this flu-like bug I have. I've still got lots of work that I'm trying to muster the mental facaulties to comprehend. And I don't want to take any more codiene because it knocks me out so hard.

I thought trifectas were supposed to be a good thing.

Bear with me...

I'm still trying to fix this blog. Then I can upload and update! Thanks for stopping by.

Online Scrapping Classes at Jessica Sprague

Today I'm thinking about Blogs. Yes, big surprise, huh?

I'm taking a Jessica Sprague class on designing Blogger backgrounds, etc. I think its a well put together class and easy to follow. I think anyone starting out in digital scrapping should take a look at her site.They have a range of classes from beginner on up. I can't vouch for the advanced classes myself but the beginner ones seem pretty easy. And if you're shy to start and plop down cash, they have a free one to test. They also have some cheaper ones on Fridays.

My review of Jessica Sprague overall is a thumbs up. They are well put together and chopped up into segments so that you can really explore them at your own pace on your own time. I love that. They are also supported by an active forum of other classmates.

All of that said, I do have to admit, I skipped to the last 2 sessions because I already knew the first 2/3s.

This, of course makes me wonder if it was worth the $$ to take it. Maybe I didn't get the full value of the class but I can't complain since I waste money on useless thing all the time, and the class wasn't useless, it was just more remedial for me. Besides, I got a template to design from, I got helpful hints on navigating Blogger, and I have a lifetime resource on it should I need to help any of my friends start their own blog.

My only wish is that the course description was a little more detailed so that I would have known to skip the $40 and maybe take a different class.

That is MY personal experience, but I really think, if you've been considering taking a class online, you should check her out.

Addyson and Tyler (Baby Basics layouts)

Here are 2 layouts I did for Simply Kelly Designs  from her new Baby Basic kits.


Baby Addyson

CREDIT

Baby Girl Basics by Simply Kelly Designs 

TEMPLATE

Matted by Le Pingouin Designs

Tyler (back when he was a baby)

 

CREDIT

Baby Boy Basics by Simply Kelly Designs

New Designer - Simply Kelly Designs

I'm working for a new designer, Simply Kelly Designs. She's got some beautiful work that you can check out at her store Digital Design Den. Here is a preview of her latest kits that she (awww) created for her BFF who is expecting her first baby (gender unknown).

You can buy these and more at her store.

Be sure to  swing by her blog and pick up some cool, fun coordinating freebies!

Owl Tree Studio September Layouts

I want to reveal the September guest designers for Owl Tree Studios.. Veronica Spriggs from Scrapbook Graphica and Jennifer Dipzinski of Jen's Designs who will be designing for 2 Peas in a Bucket in October, where you can find her designs moving forward. Congrats to them both!

Here are the kits below... cute, huh?

Its so hard to do a layout and then put them on hold for a month, so, finally, here are mine from these fun September kits:

Halloween 2009 

Owl Tree Studio Torta Gialla: Grundy Bots

The View from My Office 

 

Owl Tree Studio GirlBoyGirl Designs: Sup

Owl Tree Studio - Scrapporreia Free Template

Hi,

If you are already a member of Owl Tree Studio, go check out my blog post and freebie giveaway. I stuffed it full of a combo of things... and I think the awesome QA team over there was able to actually include my full layered template. I may go download it (even tho I have all the original files) just to see. All the shadows are separate files - so you can use them, move them, or hide them. I included word art and the elements and papers from the August Owl Tree kits that I used, so you don't have to open a bunch of files, either if you just want to modify what I did.

The only way you can view my blog is to join Owl Tree Studios this month, so barring that, I wanted to show a screen shot. You won't be able to read it - you'll need to join for that, but you can see my images.

How cool is that? I'm `net published. tee hee.

Dude Time

I can FINALLY show you the layout I did for my friend Efrat, of her husband and uber adorable son, Ethan. He is such fun to watch run around the neighborhood. His dad is a true Renaissance man who writes a novel, does technical sound engineering stuff (yeah, you can tell I know nothing about that, huh?), surfs, plays tennis, plays the guitar, not only grills an amazing steak, but cooks and experiments with interesting foods, too. And, he is a loving and really supportive husband to my friend ... oh yeah, and great dad, too. They're a great couple who really compliment each other and you can tell what great parents they are by how happy and wonderful their kids are. BTW - his daughter has been planning her wedding to my son for the last few years, so I have to be a bit partial to them, anyway. ;)

The blog went live today (on the private site - so I can't link to it) AND today is his birthday... Happy Birthday, Dude! This is my gift to you....

    CREDITSELEMENTS
Beach Breeze Collab: GirlBoyGirl Designs, Wild Blueberry Ink
GirlBoyGirl Designs FeelinGood
Owl Tree Studio August Collab: WBI

Scatter rings (extracted from) GirlBoyGirl Designs-FeelinGood buttons

Winter Moments with Mom

We had such a blast playing in the snow this Winter. Now that the neighbors have moved, I'm sure it won't be the same. :( Browsing through my photos, I came upon this really colorful shot of the girls laying in the snow. Girls have such cute outfits - the boys ones are all just black or blue. I liked the idea of a neutral, muted layout to contrast and show off the bright colors of their clothes and cheeks.

TEMPLATE

 Le Pinquoin Designs Template Set 5

PAPERS
Val C Designs/Collab_Fractiondeseconde


ELEMENTS
JW Digiscraps
ArtWharehouse/VibeEpoxyMinis


FONTS
Reisling
Walkway ultrabold/black

My OTS blog goes live Wednesday

ednesI created it so long ago, I thought the anticipation would wear off. LOL. Nope. Still excited

8/25 is my turn to be the Template blog giveaway girl. I tried to a Katie Pertiet-esque thing where I made the elements and papers part of the template. But the file was gigantor-sized and it just didn't work in transferring the files to them and all - I have much to learn.

I  am not sure if it will be in the public or private area of the site, so check out the Owl Tree Studio blog and maybe you'll get a peak at it - Or, better yet, drop a mere $10 and join! :)

I'll try to Snag it and post my page anyway, because the point of starting this blog was to journal my progress and things I do related to scrapping. And I want a 'record' of it. 

I'm really excited about next month's entry, tho... I don't think I can talk about it, but I did something (I think) really fun.

Daddy - 1970s

Here is my Layout from Le Pinqouin Designs' latest that I've been playing with. Its from her Quinnie's set.






TEMPLATE 

 Le Penguoin Designs Quinnies

PAPERS
All from Gotta Pixel's Inds blogtrain

ELEMENTS
Syrin Summeresque
And the rest from Gotta Pixel's Inds blogtrain

FONTS
Frutiger bold, Besign, Brickham script pro

Forever and Ever

Everything here is from the Owl Tree Studio's August kits - the frame was a bonus - newly available- thanks to Linda Tieu from Torta Gialla.

I usually upload almost all of my LOs to My Scrapbook Art, and on there, I wrote: "Not quite sure what I was thinking putting a pic of myself with bed-head on here." 

Yet, I post it to my blog, too? lol

The song lyrics in the journaling are from Randy Travis' song, which was on our wedding CD giveaway. Its a country song, but Mike didn't freak out that I put it in there. lol 

Le Pingouin Designs

Not making a big announcement until her CT call closes, but I have been invited to be a CT for Le Pingouin Designs over at Digital Scrap Cafe.
She is a template designer and a  fellow Southerner (well, for now until  Uncle Sam  moves her, anyway) so she's really laid back and great to work for.

Take a look at my first layouts for her.

I was cleaning out a cabinet and found photos from when Meredith and I went to FL for a quick weekend getaway. We hooked up with Lisa Marie and saw her uber adorable nearly 2 year old son, Jack. I couldn't resist snapping shots of him. I thought it would be perfect to take one of those 2003 photos and use them in a page for her.

When I emailed Lisa to ask her permission to use the shot on my blog, on the digital sites, etc, she said that she'd always wanted to get into digital scrapbooking. How fun to pass along my new hobby skills to an old friend!

TEMPLATE  Le Pingouin Designs Template set 5

PAPERS  Collab Fraction De Seconde Click

ELEMENTS  Joyce Paul Designs  Ablend/Abliss

FONTS Scriptina

TEMPLATE  Le Pingouin DesignsBig Picture Template

PAPERS   
Collab Fraction De Seconde Click

The Design Girl I'm a little robot

ELEMENTS 

The Design Girl I'm a little robot
Owl Tree Studio] August Collaboration

FONTS Andy

In case you haven't heard (maybe because you've been on an exotic vacation without internet or maybe you've been away from digi-land), Owl Tree Studio is officially open. In case you haven't heard enough from me about how much I am loving their products, here’s an official summary of what you’re guaranteed to get each month as an inside member:

1 Mega Collaboration Kit
3 Individually Created Designer Kits
3 Designer Bonus Items (examples include frame packs, brush sets, Alpha packs, etc)
16+ quick pages created by our creative team
2 project tutorials that walk you through the process of using our digital goodies for tangible crafts
Unannounced goodies throughout the month, including page templates

Check out the full August reveal to look at August’s products.

Starting in September, Owl Tree Studio be featuring a new guest designer every month and you’ll receive an extra individual kit AND an extra designer bonus each month. Exciting!

It may sound a little sensationalist, but for the money, there is no better value on digital design available online. Not only are the Owl Tree Studio designers incredibly talented and responsive to inside members, their products go through rigorous quality control testing to ensure that the products you receive each month are ready to be turned into beautiful layouts and art for printing. There are absolutely no strays or jaggies in their products (I would know, since I've seen all of them).

Their monthly product line is full of digital goodies you won’t want to miss out on. All of the Owl Tree Studio products are ONLY available through Owl Tree Studio and are only available for a one month period of time. If you see a kit you like, you’ll have to be a member of Owl Tree Studio during the month it is featured to add it to your stash.

The regular monthly membership rate is $9.95. However, if you ; sign up by the end of this week (August 8th), you’ll lock in the charter rate of $7.95 per month and your monthly subscription is guaranteed to never go up, even if the pricing does. Plus, because you're getting in so early, you'll also get the chance to give your input on future kits. It feels amazing to receive products that are created around your requests and needs.

What are you waiting for? ; Sign up now and join me inside the Owl Tree Studio members' area!

Backyard Camp Out

Here is a page I did for Gotta Pixel's August All Stacked Up Challenge run by Rachel of Captivated Visions. I love challenges because it gives me a set of guidelines and a deadline. lol This time, I was all over the map on kits, designers and stores. But in viewing my MyScrapBookArt gallery, I noticed that I've been very Green lately. Whassup with that? Hmmm.

I guess green makes sense for an outdoor themed page.
 

This was a fun night, the kids have been promised a camp out night for awhile and we thought it would be fun to haul out the gigantor tent for them to play in and all sleep together. Pete and the kids slept great. Mike, with lead pipe under his sleeping bag for security, was up all night with all the AC units going off and street sounds. That's so unusual for him since he slept through a major earthquake in CA.  (Tho, in fairness to Mike, the first time Pete did it in his own backyard, he was up all night with the noises, too. And had a hunting knife for his protection).

BACKYARD CAMPOUT

Gotta Pixel's All Stacked Up Challenge

TEMPLATE
Captivated Visions/August 2010 Gotta Pixel All Stacked Up Challenge

PAPERS
Spencer Nugent/London Bridge Argyle & Plaids 
Capitvated Visions/Off The Beaten Path
Beach Breezes Owl Tree Studio collaborative Kit/ GirlBoyGirl Designs

ELEMENTS
Jen Allyson/Vanity Fair
Capitvated Visions/Off The Beaten Path
Capitvated Visions/It Takes A Real Man

FONTS
Arial (family)
Jailbird Jenna
Milktop Girl

Finally, its here! Owl Tree Studios

:::: Drum roll, please!::::: Ta Da! :)


Well, for those of us behind the scenes, the weekend of technical glitches were making us all fidgety. But they were all worked out and Owl Tree Studios is finally open. For those of you who signed up to get free memberships, good luck! (I think some of the designers have already selected their winners, but I'm not sure everyone has - or that winners were notified).

I can now finally show the layouts that I've done. You can check out the kit previews on Owl Tree Studio's site. The first page was done with Wild Blueberry Ink.'s Sweet Baby, and the Cars one is from the August Collaborative Kit. I just noticed that on Wild Blueberry's site, she is giving away free photo masks that go with the kit. Whoo hoo... free is for me! :)

So Big Back Then

4 Things About Me

The kits for both of these come from Owl Tree Studio August downloads. They are available in store until August 31, 2010

Keep an eye out, at the end of the month, I'm giving away a template on the site! :)