Remembering 2010...

Wordart: "Attic Treasures Wordart" by Etc by Danyale
Circle Frames for date: "Attic Treasures Alpha" by Etc by Danyale
Kit: Perseverance by Connie Prince
Fonts: Georgia and 1942 Report

 Etc by Danyale has a new alpha out today, called Attic Treasures. I love the vintage feel of the frames, and the font she used for each charm piece. I really want to use the wordart on a heritage page, but also thought the remember charms would be perfect for a reflective page about the past year. We had a very busy year full of changes and challenges, but it was a year full of blessings as well.

This is also my page for the Week 1 Challenge at LYM, which included using a list in the journaling. I listed some of the highlights, but could have easily gone back through with my journal to document smaller details too.  I really wanted this page to be about the whole family, so kept the elements simple, to allow the photos and words center stage.

Kit: Troublemaker by Crisdam Designs

I could have used so many pictures of John with this kit, as he has a smirk that screams "Troublemaker!" But I really like how the colors in these photos of both kids were reflected in the kit, and it was really fun to remember them playing with Maggie's zhu-zhus in the kitchen one morning in November.  This was John's first time seeing the little hamster toys in action, and he was captivated!  I think I'll have to add some journaling to my own version of this page, as it really is a great memory full of laughs and smiles.

Calendar Love

This year I decided to make calendars for my mom and in-laws for Christmas this year. It took me the better part of a month (maybe more) to get all 13 pages made up, so I didn't have a whole lot of new layouts to post last month.  But now I can show the top pages, since everyone has opened their presents!

Kit: Daily Download from GottaPixel
Page Border and Glitter by Lindsey Jane

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Sweet Tomato Designs

Kit by Sweet Digi Scraps
Template by Graham Like the Cracker

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Jaime Dell Scraps

Template by Graham Like the Cracker
Kit by Litabells Designs

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Litabells Designs

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Mye De Leon
Wordart by Etc by Danyale

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Geek Chic
Month Tab by Etc by Danyale

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Tempus Fugit
Wordart by Etc by Danyale

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Ohana Designs
Tag by Litabells Designs

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Lindsey Jane

Kits and Alpha by Crisdam Designs

Template by Connie Prince
Kit by Colie's Corner
Wordart and borders by Etc by Danyale

I decided not to link to each store because I had so many different kits and products used over the course of the calendar. Etc by Danyale, Crisdam Designs, Geek Chic, Connie Prince, Lindsey Jane Designs, Mye De Leon, and Colie's Corner are available at GottaPixel. Ohana Designs, Tempus Fugit, and Jaime Dell Scraps are available at My Life and Scrap. Sweet Tomato is at PolkaDotPlum. Litabells has retired, which makes me sad from a consumer standpoint.  Graham Like the Cracker has left her store at GP, but I'm pretty sure she's still around digiland.

After I finished the work on the pages, I discovered my favorite printer, Persnickety Prints, also had a 12x12 calendar option.  I'll have to remember that for next year, as I really prefer working on square pages, but I really enjoyed this project, and know it will be loved all year long.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I'm trying VERY hard to get into the Christmas spirit, and slowly but surely I think it's working.  It also helps that I've been putting together some Christmas layouts, and some general layouts with both my kiddos.

Holly Jolly 2010
Kit: Holly Jolly by Crisdam Designs
Alpha: Holly Jolly Alphas by Crisdam Designs
Template by Mye deLeon

I have turned to this kit a couple times already for Christmas themed projects.  I wanted some pics of my kids in front of the tree, and think I got a few good ones. (Now if I can just get them to the mall to see Santa!) I had hoped to have JJ in the Santa hat and Maggie with reindeer antlers, but she couldn't find the headband, so we improvised.

Siblings
Kit: Accentuate the Positive by Limequilla
Fonts: Love Ya Like a Sister and Arial

I am consciously taking more pictures of both kids together, because I have so few of them.  I really only get a handful of good ones each time I pull the camera out (and take 35 pictures in a row), but that's all I need!

I also pulled out a few older photos for some pages.

First Grade Fashion
Kit: Accentuate the Positive by Limequilla

I took these photos two years ago, intending to make a page about all the new clothes Maggie had gotten, but somehow the page was never created. The colors in this kit made me think of fall, which got me thinking about school, so this page finally came in to being!

Snow Baby
Kit: Snow Angel by Ohana Designs
Alpha: Winter Dreams by Crisdam Designs

I loved the stitching in this kit, and loved that I was able to replicate the swirls in the edge of the paper too.

Part of the reason I have been delinquent in my posts lately is that a lot of the projects I've been working on were for Christmas...and I didn't want to spill the beans early.  But I think I can share a few pieces that I've got without spoiling the surprise (or at least not the whole surprise).

Gift Can
Kit: Holly Jolly by Crisdam Designs

I love making these cans to house gift cards.  While I love receiving gift cards, I don't like giving them if I can avoid it.  I know, it's a bit of a double standard, but it's just the way I am.  I like to pick out personal gifts, but when I can't come up with that perfect gift, I do turn to gift cards, but send them in these fun cans.  They're super easy to make with a can opener that cuts from the side (instead of the top).

And here's a sneak peak at a couple of my favorite pieces of the super secret project:

I hope to post the rest of the project just after Christmas, because I'm really excited about it (these pages include designs by Colie's Corner, Crisdam Designs, and Etc by Danyale...I'll post complete credits after Christmas because right now I'm running late)!  Until then, Merry Christmas to all.

Announcement!!!

I'm so excited to be able to share that I will be a part of the Challenge Team at Log Your Memory for the first half of this coming year!  The log book is a fantastic tool for recording and tracking memories and ideas for scrapbooking, in addition to the weekly challenges that stretch my scrapping and record everyday memories in ways I wouldn't have thought of otherwise!

Read about the rest of the team here, and I'll be back to catch up on posting some of the pages I've been working on lately.

I'm still here...I think?

Just remembered I haven't posted in some time!  It's been crazy busy here, but I promise I'm still here. I've been working on a surprise that I can't post because it's a surprise.  The Inspiration Everywhere class also started this week at Jessica Sprague, and I'm *trying* to keep up with that...unsuccessfully! (Work is really getting in the way of things I want to do. (: )  I don't have a whole lot of time, as I am between tasks right now, but I'll leave you with a few layouts I've created over the last couple weeks.

Grateful
Kit: Thankful-Lucky-Blessed by Limequilla (available at MLAS)

A Christmas Tradition
Kit: Joy by Crisdam Designs
Alpha: Winter Dream Metal Alpha
(both available at Gotta Pixel)

Also, it's Stocking Parade at My Life & Scrap. Each day, the MLAS blog has a new freebie or two created by the team there!  There are some really great presents to grab! Alphas, tags, cards, quick pages, and LOTS more!

November Designers Part 1

I've got THREE designers from MLAS to show off this month.  Samceline, Scrappy Towne, and Limequilla.

I've worked with Samceline's goodies before, and loved them! This month, I played with Autumn Moments and I Love Remembering.

Kit: I Love Remembering by Samceline
Font: Freebooter Script

I'm not sure how I missed this kit when I was playing with Samceline's goodies a couple months ago, but fell in love with it when I saw it this time.  I love the pink and green combo, and love the way it looks with this photo of my great grandma and her sister.

Papers: Autumn Moments by Samceline
Elements: Autumn Moments by Samceline
Template: November Template Challenge by Ohana Designs

I loved the contrast between the blues and the kraft and orange in this kit, and chose to play that up by tinting my photos to match. (One of the things I LOVE about digi---I can play with my photos if I realize they can be tweaked to look better with the products I'm using.)  This is also a template available as part of a challenge this month at MLAS.  The challenges have changed over there, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should! Challenges start all throughout the month, and last until the end of the month.

Speaking of challenges, have you checked out my hybrid challenge yet?  I made a couple different cards so that everyone can see just what's possible when creating cards with digital products.  I know hybrid can be a scary word, whether you are a paper-only or digi-only scrapper...adding a little of the opposite can be a fun way to mix things up!

These cards were made with Autumn's Kiss by Scrappy Towne. I love that she used teal with the traditional autumn colors. (It's my favorite color!!) We haven't unpacked the printer yet, so I haven't printed these yet, but I can't wait! (Who'd have thought two weeks after the move I'd still be unpacking boxes?!  I thought I set the challenge late enough that I'd have it done by now!)

I haven't played with anything from Limequilla yet, as she is still setting up her store...but I'll be back to show off her goodies when they're all ready. :)

Putting on my "Ad" hat

It's Tuesday again (how'd that happen so fast!), which means it's $1 and $2 Pixel Day at Gotta Pixel.  Lots of great stuff on sale for only a dollar or two!  Here's a layout I made with the Crisdam Designs kit that's on sale for $2 today.  It also includes a journaling box from the $1 category:

Kit: In the Hood by Crisdam Designs
Journaling block: Write it Down Templates by Crisdam Designs
Template: Scraplift with a Twist Template by Crisdam Designs

It's also the end of the Gotta Grab it event, which happened this weekend.  Isabel put together a beautiful kit with the color palette used by all the designers at the site.  I love GGI because I can pick up papers from one designer and match them with elements or an alpha from another designer.  Oh, who am I kidding...I usually pick up each kit piece offered by several different designers (and spend more in this one weekend than I spend the rest of the month combined!).

Kit: Morning Pleasures Papers and Elements by Crisdam Designs
Photoshop Photo Actions: Pioneer Woman

I can see myself reaching for this kit again and again, as I sure do love my coffee in the morning!

New Store, new challenge.

There's a "new"designer at Gotta Pixel.  Well, "new" only in the fact that now she has her own store! Danyale, now of Etc by Danyale, has a brand new shop for her alphas, word art, and extra little page embellishments.  I've used her word art sets on pages for other designers, but now she has her own creations coming out.

Word Art: Stuck in the 70's Word Art by Etc by Danyale
Alpha: Stuck in the 70's Alpha by Etc by Danyale
Kit: Glorious Mess by Z Pink Boudoir
Template from Songbird Avenue

This is a layout I did with her "Stuck in the 70's" Word Art and Alpha sets.  I used a kit I already had in my stash, popped in some word art, and that page was finished!  A Perfect title for the page, that I would have never come up with on my own.  (I'd probably have had a generic Halloween type title...but I like this much better!)

Word Art: Family Branches Word Art by Etc by Danyale
Kit: Family Branches Collab by Creations by Rachael and Inspirations from Day

This page was created with Danyale's word art that coordinates with another designer's kit. The word art immediately made me think of our move back to "home" and I used the kit that matches.


Now on to the new challenge:

I'm hosting a hybrid challenge at MLAS for the rest of this month.  It's a card challenge, starting out small.  All you have to do is use something digital on a card front.  It can be as simple as creating (or used a premade) word art that you print and add to a paper card front, or it can be created completely digitally.  Come on over and check it out! (There's a participation prize just for playing.)

Speed Scraps

Gotta love'em at Gotta Pixel!  And why do I love the speed scraps at Gotta Pixel so much?  Because they're not quite so speedy.  Oh, I try to finish my layout in an hour, but it's not the same hour that I'm in the chat room!  The other thing I love is that even if I miss the chat (like last night) I can still participate in the chat, as layouts are not due until noon Eastern, the next day!  Best of both worlds!

Here are the layouts I created for the last two speed scraps at Gotta Pixel:

Kit: Sunset Blues by Litabells Designs

Kit: A Day in the Life by Connie Prince

Harvest Spice, Captured, and For the Love of...

The move is finally over!!! (Well, close enough that I choose to ignore that there is still one more load of trash at the old house, and there is stuff EVERYWHERE in the new!)  Here are some layouts I've done for Crisdam Designs over the last two weeks.

Kit: Harvest Spice by Crisdam Designs
Border: Doodle Do Page Borders by Crisdam Designs

This one uses a picture of my husband and his friends the night before most of them raced in a 24 hour mountain bike race.  One of these days, I'll put a mini-album together with more of the pictures he took.  There is another picture of them at a restaurant the evening after the race was over...a very different picture, indeed!  The excitement on their faces here is replaced with pure exhaustion.

Kit: November Grab Bag (Captured) by Crisdam Designs

When I saw the doodled words in this grab bag, I immediately thought of these pictures I took of my son several months ago.  He was just learning to push his chest off the ground, and I love the smiles I was able to capture.  A perfect combo, for the kit and the words!

Kit: For the Love of by Crisdam Designs

My daughter LOVES riding her bike, but I remember very clearly the day my husband decided to teach her to ride without training wheels.  Of course, I was there with my camera to catch the frustration and the success.  This photo perfectly captured the feeling of moment. Maggie was frustrated and a little scared, but all it took was a little pep talk and encouragement from Daddy, and she got right back up on the bike. By the end of the afternoon she was riding without training wheels, albeit a little wobbly.  I advertise to friends who have trouble teaching their little ones to ride that my husband has the perfect technique...a grassy hill and an afternoon was all it took to get our Nervous Nellie off her wheels!

Expect a flood of posts this week, as I catch up posting everything I've done since Halloween.

Free. WHAT?

It's been a while since my last post, but then I warned that might happen. Between moving and life, I've been squeezing my creative time into the wee hours of the night. I did get to spend a little time playing games this weekend, as it was Digi-Scrapbooking Day on Saturday and both My Life and Scrap and Gotta Pixel had loads of games and events going on.  I've done a little scrapping since my last post, but today I have a little something different.

Every six months or so, Jessica Sprague offers a new class. For free. That's right, free.  I've already signed up, as I have for even available free class for the last two years. This is how I was introduced to digital scrapbooking, and also the site I took ALL my classes to learn Photoshop, photo editing, and a few other new things. (I am not paid in any form by Jessica...in fact, I regularly SPEND my money here.) I consider this website and community my homebase, even if I don't get to check in every day.

Click this image to be taken to JessicaSprague.com and more information about the course.

This class should be fantastic. 10 days of inspiration and projects. There is very little photoshop knowledge required (as in, if you don't have the program, you should still be ok.  If you've never opened it, you'll also be fine).  Here is the description from her website:

In our 10-day class together, we'll cover five different paths to inspiration:

• Words
• Music
• Art
• Tools
• Play

For each of the themes we'll have a project to make, and different techniques to call your creative muse, no matter WHAT kind of art you make!

The other great thing about these classes is that even if life gets in the way and you can't finish (or start as the case may be) the class during the scheduled time, you still have access to all the materials FOREVER!  Makes it easy to not stress about life. (Or easy to procrastinate, as I have a habit of doing.) 

I'll be back later this week with the pages I've made for all my designers, but wanted to share this class as it should be fun!

Heartbreaker

Oh. My. Yes, he is a heartbreaker. But more than a cutie pie, that's also the name of this great kit. It's releasing today at My Life and Scrap from Ohana Designs, and this page absolutly FLEW together. I love the colors (that teal-ly light blue is my favorite!) and I love all the sweet elements.

I am putting this post together before the kit is even in the store, so I can't link directly to it! But I love this kit, and love this boy. :)

Today begins our weekend of spotty internet (again) as we prepare to unload our household goods on Monday! I'm so excited to see the light at the end of this move!  Until next week...

Space Monsters and Our Children

Space Monsters Need Sleep Too
Kit: Space Monsters by Crisdam Designs
Text Paths 1 by Crisdam Designs (rounded rectangle and flower)
Font: Pea Bandit

I pulled an older photo to work with Space Monsters from Crisdam Designs. Going through my photos, this title popped into my head when I saw the photo, so knew this was the one. I used a black and white photo so as not to compete with the colors of the elements. I love all the star accents, and thought this little alien looked a little sleep deprived. :)

Also used in this layout are her Text Paths 1. I love being able to quickly add text in a shape other than a box and when I was using PSE6, that's just not an option...unless you have some ready made text paths! I even used one of her paths on the ring on the planet to curve my date.  Now that I've upgraded to CS5, I can do that without a premade path, but it was so easy to just use a part of the flower to get a similar curve.

Our Children...
Kit: Family Tree by Sweet Digi Scraps
Word Art: Family Tree Word Art by Sweet Digi Scraps/Designs by Danyale

This week I also put together this layout of the same picture I used on Friday. I think this is my new favorite picture right now.  

I'm all caught up on my CT requirements and am shifting gears (at least for the rest of this week) to Christmas thoughts, so probably won't be posting anything new later this week. Wouldn't want to spoil any gifts before the big day!  But I will be sure to create a post to come out on Christmas or soon after with the goodies I'm creating this week. :)

Quadruple Layouts...wait, there are five.

Moving has really gotten me behind schedule (and addled my brain, as evidenced by my counting skills in the title), both with household chores and CT requirements. I've been working to catch up this week so I can get everything finished before November rolls around and I start all over again. That being said, I had some fun working with kits from my October designers at MLAS -- Kate's Digital Designs and Miss Mis Designs.

All In A Days Work
Kit: The Do It All Mom by Miss Mis Designs
Alphas: The Do It All Mom Alpha 2 and The Do It All Mom Alpha 3 by Miss Mis Designs
Font: Pea C-Squared

I loved that the Do It All Mom kit from Miss Mis helped me put together a quick view of an average day around here. (We won't be seeing many of those in the next couple weeks...but a girl can dream, right?) I can also see myself using the bubbly alpha on a bath layout with some photos I have of John...now to find the time to pull them out!

Fall?
Kit: Autumn Air by Miss Mis Designs

And, since I feel like I've put together a lot of traditional fall layouts this year already, I decided to use a fall kit to put a spin on a fall layout. These pictures were taken when the calendar said it should have been fall. Someone should have told that to the weather!

Springtime Fun
Kit: That 70's Kit by Kate's Digital Designs
Font: Downcome

As much as I am loving the cooler weather, I am feeling a little nostalgic for the warm sunshine, and I found some old photos of Maggie playing in the sun (in front of our old/new house...we're moving back into a house we've already lived in, if I haven't mentioned that before).

The Numbers
Kit: The Blues by Kate's Digital Designs
Date Stamp: Date It by Kate's Digital Designs
Template: All Blocked Out Templates by Kate's Digital Designs
Fonts: Pea C-Squared and VT Portable Remington

I loved that Kate's templates and date stamps made putting together some quick layouts about our move easy (and quick).

Moving Day
Kit: The Blues by Kate's Digital Designs
Fonts: Lainie Day and Pea C-Squared

I also used the "Moving Day" layout in conjunction with the Mystery Lift challenge that I am hosting right now at MLAS. I really made it a challenge by using a photoless, journaling heavy layout as the inspiration. They are some of my favorite layouts right now. (Obviously, since three of these five layouts are "photoless" and have lots of journaling!)

Have a great week! I'll most likely be scrapping during nap times, since that is about the only form of entertainment I have left around here.  Not a whole lot to distract me.  At least until we finish this move!

Jumpstarting my creativity

After almost a week of only being able to lurk on my favorite forums and galleries, I am finally back to where I can focus on creating. The movers have left, the house is empty, and I have lots of time on my hands. In the last two days, I have finished 4 full layouts and 2 board book pages. During the time the movers were here, it was too crazy during the day to even think about pulling the computer out and if I had, I would have been bound to the area it was placed.  I wouldn't want someone to accidentally pack it if I walked away to take care of the baby. (This very thing happened to me with a text book the last time we moved...long story short, I had to order a second copy of a textbook with no value to me outside that one course.)  And by the time they left in the evenings I was too exhausted to think straight, let alone play around in Photoshop. Tonight, I'm going to share two of the layouts I have made this week, one older and one new. Then I'll come back later this weekend and share the rest!

Kit: All About Me by Crisdam Designs
Template: Scraplift with a Twist Oct 2010 by Crisdam Designs
Fonts: VT Portable Remington and Pea C-Squared (two of my favorites/most used)

This first page is one I made much earlier in the week but forgot to post here due to all the activity going on in the house. This is my current favorite picture of me, snapped by Maggie while we were at CFD this summer. I'll have to teach her some composition pointers, as my head was slightly cut off, but it really only presented a problem when I wanted to feather the blending and NOT cut off my face.

Kit, Alpha, and Word Art: Sibling Love by Sweet Digi Scraps (each sold separately)
Inspired by the 10/22 Speed Scrap at Gotta Pixel

Each Friday night, there is a Speed Scrap hosted at Gotta Pixel. This is a fun SS because it doesn't have the pressure of a traditional speed scrap. We get so chatty in the chat room (go figure) that most people don't try to scrap during the hour that the chat happens. Instead, the host gives until noon (Eastern) on Saturday to finish and post layouts. The beauty of this is that I get an hour of uninterrupted computer/social time while the kids are still awake AND I get to scrapbook later in the evening! Best of both worlds! This is the layout I created with this week's instructions. Liz of Sweet Digi Scraps is also in the spotlight this week at Gotta Pixel, which means her whole store is 30% off...AND there are several RAK giveaways going on in the forum, and at DST and DSA...AND she has provided the daily download at GP this week. Seven days of downloads which result in a FREE mini-kit.

Ok, I guess I should quit stalling and get some rest. Fingers are crossed for good weather this weekend so I can take the kids to a pumpkin patch/corn maze and get some good Fall pictures!

Gearing up for Halloween

The kids are getting excited for Halloween around here.  Maggie and her friend have been discussing decorations at length. They decorate the neighbor's front lawn over the course of last weekend. Now Maggie is nagging me about decorating our own front lawn (and ignoring the fact that movers will be here this week to pack up everything we own). But one thing I will indulge her with, is a new Halloween candy bucket. I let her pick out the papers and embellishments that went into the design and then whipped up this little prop for her. I did have to weed out some extra embellishments she wanted (it would have looked like a product preview if I had let her have her way).

After printing (2 pages, as the bucket's circumference was larger than one page), I just trimmed the two pages up, glued them together, and popped them inside the bucket. I happened to have found a clear bucket at my local craft store, which means I can easily redesign this to house a Christmas gift in a few months, or to match Maggie's room and use for storage.

Kit: Spooktacular by Sweet Digi Scraps
Word Art: Spooky Word Art by Sweet Digi Scraps/Designs by Danyale
Journaling reads: Captain Maggie Sparrow plundered the neighborhood for candy on All Hallow's Eve 2006. Her legend will forever haunt the block. But don't worry about that hook she's brandishing here. It's the peg let you have to look out for.

While I was in a Halloween mood, I also put together this page, with a picture that was a few years old. I loved the word art, and thought I'd bring this memory out of hiding.  I do still need to remember who put the whiskers on her face though...she was not wearing those when we left our house headed for the neighbor's house that served as a base for trick-or-treating.

On the moving front, we just received word that we can schedule our move in (back to a house we own, but were renting out) anytime after the 26th! So things are moving faster than we anticipated...but we are so looking forward to getting settled in. I may not be around much this week, between supervising the packing and chasing after the baby, it's going to be a full week! Thanks for stopping by!