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. :)

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!

Autumn's Medley

Somehow, I forgot to post about another fabulous kit I played with last week!  The funny thing is, I had the post started, and just forgot to publish it.  Distractible? Me? Never.

Anyway, Liz is in the spotlight this month at Gotta Pixel (which means everything in her store is 30% off!), and has a fabulous fall release with a very unique color palette.  The muted tones, and lack of orange and yellow, gives this kit a wonderful, homey feel without having an overpowering fall feeling.  And the little squirrel and wolf are extra cute...I had to use them!  I had so much fun with this kit, that I couldn't help but make two layouts with it before the kit was even released.
Here's the kit preview:

And here are the layouts I created with it and the coordinating alphas:

I recently printed up all the layouts I've created since June (except the ones that are stuck on my dead computer from July and August), and LOVED the way these two came out. Seeing the way that photo in the first layout pops in print is a feeling I look forward to every time I have a page printed out. As much as I love seeing my pages on the computer, holding them in my hands FAR surpasses that in excitement, and it is definitely easier to read the journaling on paper than on the screen!

A Post to Catch-Up...

It's been over a week since I last posted and in that time I've played catch-up with my CT responsibilities and my creativity.  Both seem to be well in working order now.  As this will be an image heavy post, I'll pretty much let the layouts speak for themselves.

From MLAS:

I Love You
Kit: Wishful Happiness by jusme digital
Fonts: karabinE. and Georgia
Journaling is about how quickly he has grown.

Fall Approaches
Papers, elements, and alpha: Indian Summer by Tempus Fugit
Torn Paper Pieces (masks) by Tempus Fugit

Believe in Yourself
Kit: Hope for Tomorrow by Jen C Designs (new at MLAS in October)

And my newest CT addition is Crisdam Designs (Isabel Mendez).  I am very excited to start working with her designs,  and this kit is no exception.  I was so excited, in fact, that I threw a card together after I finished making this page (that word art was just BEGGING to be put on a card front:

What A Pear
Kit: What a Pear by Crisdam Designs
Template: Scraplift with a Twist September 2010 by Isabel Mendez (Crisdam Designs)

Card made with What a Pear by Crisdam Designs
Punch: Stampin' Up

One note on the subject of hybrid -- I am on a bit of a hybrid kick.  Maybe it's because I put the printed nearby where I sit with the computer, or I'm just hitting some great hybrid inspiration (and happen to have the right supplies on hand, a HUGE key), but I have another project I've been working on just for fun.  It should be finished up in a day or so, and I'll post up some pics (after I send it to the person it's intended for...wouldn't want them to see it here first!!)

And here's one last layout just for fun, that I put together a couple weeks ago and never posted.  Here's a blast from the past picture of my siblings and I in our grandparent's backyard:

Halloween Memories
Layout inspired by 9/13 Speed Scrap at Gotta Pixel
Papers and Elements: Spooky Halloween by Lindsey Jane
Fonts: Downcome and VT Portable Remington

There will be lots of new stuff this month from Sweet Digi Scraps, as Liz is in the spotlight at GottaPixel for the month of October, AND I'm on her "Battle of the CT's" team, so will be participating in the challenges at digiscrapaddicts.com for that.  A lot coming up in October, both in the scrapbooking world and at home, with our impending move...  Looking forward to a busy, busy month!

A Day at the Museum

Kit and Alpha: Daydreamer by Sweet Digi Scraps
RicRac, blue string, and green button: Wonder (retired) by Sweet Digi Scraps
Fonts: American Typewriter and Lainie Day

I took the kids to the museum last weekend. It was a fun day, and a good excuse to get out of the house (and play with my camera). Maggie had been talking about going to the museum in Denver for some time.  She led the way through several exhibits, and John was wide eyed at all the new things to see. It was a tiring trip for me, but I'm glad we did it.  And we'll have to go again, maybe next time Daddy will get to come too!

Two Happy Layouts

The blog train post is below this one.  Scroll down one post to find the blog train and freebie bookmarks!

My Lil Sunshine
Kit: Little Miss Sunshine by Sweet Digi Scraps
Extras: Happy Sunshine Wordart Sticker Set by Sweet Digi Scraps (Designs by Danyale)

You Are My Sonshine
Kit: Mister Happy Go Lucky by Sweet Digi Scraps
Extras: Happy Sunshine Wordart Sticker Set by Sweet Digi Scraps (Designs by Danyale)

Sweet Digi Scraps by Liz has two new kits in the shop today.  I had the chance to play with both this week, and love them!  It was perfect that sunshine had a big part in both kits, since I always sing "You are my sunshine" to my kids.  We "changed the spelling" of the title for John, so that Maggie didn't feel like he was taking her song. :)  I think it works.  (And I have a new favorite picture of John...if only I could get pics like this from Maggie too...)