Color with Caryn

I'm a designer Exclusively at Enchanted Studio Scraps!

2009-03-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

Who ever woulda thunk it, huh!?!? I'm THRILLED to be an exclusive designer for Enchanted Studio Scraps! Thank you so much to Trish for allowing me to spread my fairy wings and fly!

To celebrate the grand opening of my store I'm following in the lead of my fabulous friend and mentor, Charlie, and, if you come and say hello here, I will send you a coupon for $2 off my store. And there's even something very handy in there for just $2 so it would be free! Or it'll give you 50% off my kits :)

Also, please sign up for my *newsletter* on the right. I will be sending freebies and coupons along with my latest news ;) Promise not to write to you more than once a week at the most! LOL!

I'm also giving away my "There Was A Little Girl" Brag Book for free for TWO DAYS ONLY (ending Thursday 10pm EST) and then it'll go in my store at it's regular price!

Remember that my BLOG HAS MOVED to: http://blog.colorwithcaryn.com (but I didn't want to leave you all behind, so I'm posting my exciting news here too ;)

I'm THRILLED to be able to release my very first products...

My very first official kit is called "Once Upon A Time." I had such fun doing it because I just love bright, bold color. And my creative team's layouts just blew me away!

My next kit is "There Was A Little Girl" (just to stick with the theme - LOL) As you can tell by it's name, it's a girlie kit! And I'm working on a boy kit which has colors that will compliment this one so that you can used both kits in the same LO for brothers and sisters etc :)

I also have a template pack:

And a hybrid Recipe Book template and tutorial!

And now for "There Was A Little Girl" brag book freebie! Click on the preview to download...

Password: enchanted

Download here

And there's plenty more to come! I have BIG plans ;)

Don't forget to come say hello here and get your $2 coupon for my store - you can get something for free with it, y' know! And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter ;)

Some verrrrry exciting things in the wings!!!

2009-03-25T22:37:00.004-04:00

I just want to say that there are some incredibly exciting things going on in Digiscrapland. I am DYYYYIIIIIING to tell you all! But I can't!!! Arrrgh - don't you just hate it when people do that to you...mwahahahaah!

OK, just kidding ;) I'll tell you RIGHT NOW! But just some of it. You have to stay tuned for the rest .... ;)

I HAVE A NEW BLOG!!!!!!!

ALL my future blog posts will be at the new site. Sorry. I know it's a pain but pretty please change your bookmarks/blogrolls and stay my friend!? After all, don't you want to know the rest of the exciting news? I mean, it really IS exciting. Not like this. And it involves FREEBIES.

Let me say the magic word again...

FREEBIES...

And fairy dust ;)

OK, so maybe you're not as excited about it as I am, but...please come see me - click on the banner to visit me....

I can't WAIT to see you there! Let me know what you think ;)

Pretty QP's from Mel!

2009-03-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let you know about some pretty QP's Mel has in her store...

Aren't the lovely!? They're a bargain too - $1 each and you can get them at her store at Scrap That Idea!

CT Call at Enchanted Studio Scraps!

2009-03-20T20:04:00.005-04:00

Some freebies retiring...

2009-03-19T15:28:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let you know that some of the past freebies on my blog will be retiring on Sunday, so if you want them, snag them now!

I'll be back soon with some fantastical news ... ;)

And some other wonderful news is that my brother is ENGAGED! LOL! Of course, I'm sure you can imagine the head injury jokes that are flying left, right and center ;)

He's still not right - vision in his eye is not back properly, etc, but .... well, time will tell.

Love you all and SO appreciate your concern!

Update on my brother...

2009-03-17T11:50:00.001-04:00

Thank you SO much for all your emails and well wishes!

My brother hasn't been for the scan yet - he went to the neurologist and because of the financial concerns, the doc said it's not imperative that he goes for the scan, he can just monitor my brother over the next few days.

I don't like that idea since instead of finding out if there are any problems through a scan, they'd be waiting to see it physically!

Anyway, the up side is that although his eye still hurts, he's feeling less nauseous and my Mom says he's sounding perkier.

Things are looking up

My brother has a head injury :(

2009-03-16T21:54:00.004-04:00

The digiscrapping community has become like a family to me, so I want to share some news that I got today and I'd like toask that you lift up my brother in prayer!

This is a recent photo I have of him - not the best, but it's the best I have.

My brother, was kicked in the face during a soccer game last Thursday night. He lost consciousness and couldn’t see out of his right eye for 25 minutes, and suffered severe nausea and vomiting. He had bleeding from the nose and was take into the ER. After x-rays of his head, neck and spine he was admitted overnight. A neurosurgeon discharged him the next day. At his follow-up appointment this morning the neurosurgeon said that there should not still be bleeding or nausea, has ruled out the after-effects of a concussion, and has scheduled an MRI.

The MRI will cost the equivalent of about a month’s pay in South Africa, and my brother is hoping to be admitted to hospital to have it covered by his “hospital plan” insurance. He will then have to wait 24 hours for the MRI, so not sure if the doctor will authorize that.

This has all happened within a couple of weeks of his 30^th birthday (the dinner celebration for that on Saturday night was cancelled) and some other exciting news (that is not mine to tell!)

I only found out about this today – my Mom didn’t want to worry me! That's really sweet of her, but it also makes it hard to be so far away. They NEED to tell me these things!

I'm trusting that he's going to get better and this is just a challenge for him to work through. And to learn to not play so hard ;) Work hard, play safe. And that's an order from his sister ;)

Thank you all so much for your encouragement over the months as I've been dabbling in design and sharing life's moments with you - you're all WONDERFUL!

Charlie's Digiscraps new store at ESS!

2009-03-16T09:44:00.004-04:00

Charlie's brand new, exclusive store here at ESS is open for business! She is celebrating with the release of her brand new kit Garden Magic, and it is available HERE.

If you come say hello to Charlie HERE , you will get a whole, fabulous brag book free!

Look forward to seeing you there!

More Mel goodies!

2009-03-15T13:19:00.005-04:00

Mel has got 2 new kits!

First up is "Walking Down Zoo Lane" - it's too cute! You can get it in her store at Scrap That Idea!

Here's my LO:

The other one is "Seriously Purple" and it's such a pretty kit...

There is a possibility that my brother is getting married, but I don't know that a trip to South Africa is even remotely in our budget for this year :( I'm feeling a little bummed out about it. Will have to come up with a plan to somehow save up for it. I've heard December may be a possibility......so I'm reminding myself to read one post below, and just TRUST! LOL!

A Walk in the Woods

2009-03-14T13:57:00.006-04:00

I just LOVE Yin over at Simply Yin ! The woman is super talented and always has such wonderful reminders for us.

Today she was talking about 'every teenager's little black book of God's guarantees' by Blaine Bartel, and she shared some of the things that carry us through every day...

1. The bible guarantees that if we trust in God, He will direct our path (Prov 3:5,6)
2. The bible guarantees that God has a plan for our lives (Jer 29:11)
3. The bible guarantees that God's purpose for us will prevail (Prov 19:21)She goes on to say that: No matter what we face or how many people let us down, God's direction and plan for us will stand strong. It is not dependent on what other people do or what breaks we catch, it is dependent on our trust in God, and God will never let us down. How true this is as I look back, and how encouraging as I look forward!

Now! On to my SCRAPPING business!

Mel has a new kit at iScrapbook called "A Walk in the Woods"! It's such a cute, bright, fun kit!

Here are my LO's:

Click here to mosey on over to iScrapbook and pick it up!

Big news from Charlie!

2009-03-12T12:11:00.004-04:00

Charlie is making some BIG changes. She has decided to streamline her designing, and focus on one store so she has more time for family and designing. She has resigned from her SAS position, Snap and Scrap is closing at the end of the month and she will be exclusive at....

She is celebrating by having 50% off her store for a whole week! She also has a brand new kit to release and if you come to the forum to say hi to her from March 16th to March 23rd, you will get a brag book FREE! If you'd like to say hi, click here.

Her new kit is called "Garden Magic" and since she's keeping the LO's a secret until opening day, I will too ;)

This is the brag book you'll get for saying hi!

RAK'd by KimB and 2 awards!

2009-03-10T23:22:00.003-04:00

Wow. All I can say is WOW. You know when the unexpected happens, and you look back and get the warm fuzzies and feel all gushy happy? ;) Come on now - I'm not the only one who gets all gushy every now and then. Well, the lovely Kim emailed me after I left a comment on her blog about how I wish my house was filled with her art (have you seen how talented the girl is!?) and she RAK'd me with her Camping Out kit!

How AWESOME is that! I was so touched that she had taken the time to do that, and it really is such a gorgeous kit. I did two LO's with it. One just because. It's been a long time since I did a LO, "Just because" (so thank you for that, too, Kim!) and one for the Scraplift Challenge over at DSO.

This is my "just because" layout:

This is my layout for the DSO scraplift challenge:

So, Kim, thank you SO much for RAK'ing (is that a word!? ;) me - I just love this kit, and can't wait to make some cards with that gorgeous guinea fowl. It really gives me a taste of "home."

To top it all off, two of my lovely blog readers gave me an award!

Thank you, Scrafurple and Kathy!

When I went to see who I could give it to, everyone already had it! LOL. So consider yourselves all awarded. Again ;) And I have to apologize - I know I've been tagged and awarded in the past and I thoroughly appreciate them. I just barely get my "required blogging" done without being able to do any of the "fun" extras. You know, these bosses of mine sure do crack their whips... ha ha ha!

I also REALLY appreciate all your comments and read every single one of them. Sometimes it's hard to track you down to comment back, though, so I've decided to do it right here on my blog.

Laurali: Thank you so much for your comment about the Sweet Pea QP! I love what you said about the blue and red together making the eyes happy...he he he - that's color for ya!

Erin: You're such a great encourager, girl! Thank you so much for the friend you are to me. mwah!

Charlie: Love ya, boss! LOL!

Thank you so much to everyone who has left comments - it really is such a great encouragement!

Beth's new kit and freebie brag book!

2009-03-09T12:44:00.006-04:00

So my other boss, Beth Long, has been busy too ;) LOL. Having these 3 bosses is SUCH a blast :) Beth's new kit "Natural Moods" is GORGEOUS. I had SUCH a hard time trying to decide what to use. In the end, I got the feel I was looking for :)

Credits here

Hurry and grab it HERE because it's 25% off AND you get a FREE brag book with it if you grab it before Saturday 3/14!

Mel's CT Call and a new collab kit from my two bosses!

2009-03-09T10:30:00.003-04:00

Ladies, Miss Mel has a very exciting CT call! I can honestly say that her CT is one of the best - everyone is so wonderful, and Mel is a wonderful boss, as Anne likes to call her ;)

To top off this exciting news, both of my bosses, Mel and Charlie, got together and created a lovely collab kit called "Apple Spice and All Things Nice" which they are giving away FREE on both their blogs!

Here are my layouts:

This is Mel's part:
This is Charlie's part:

Click here to go get Mel's part!
Click here to go get Charlie's part!

Charlie's closing down her SAS store!

2009-03-09T10:22:00.003-04:00

Wow. SO many changes in the digi world! Charlie is closing down her store at SAS so that she can "streamline [her] life and to start fresh, so this is the basis for this decision and the fact of wanting to spend more time hopefully with family and more time to work on [her] designs!" Sounds very wise to me...

Her store HERE at SAS will be on sale 50% off until the end of March, so a great time to pick yourself up a CU or PU bargain!

My kit for Kim B's color challenge

2009-03-07T22:10:00.005-05:00

I ended up scrapping today when I thought I wouldn't have time to, so it was nice to be able to get this kit finished. I always end up looking up at least one tutorial, so it's always a learning curve!

This is my kit for KimB's Color Challenge:

This link has expired!

Please let me know if you download it and you like it!

Sad news :(

2009-03-05T09:55:00.003-05:00

Snap and Scrap is where it all started for me. It was where I learned about what a layout is, and it's where I was accepted onto

"Sweet Pea" by Scrappy Weiss Designs and a QP Freebie for you...

2009-03-03T21:23:00.006-05:00

Well, the lovely Miss Erin of Scrappy Weiss Designs fame has done it again with a LOVELY kit for you all, which she's giving away on her blog! It's called "Sweet Pea" and the colors are just lovely!

Click on the preview to go to her blog to download it!

I had such fun playing with it, and then made a QP for you all.

Click the preview or here to download

Make sure you head over to Erin's blog to pick up the whole kit, and leave her some love for a job very well done!

Scrap that Idea is HERE!

2009-03-01T09:51:00.007-05:00

I'm sure most of you know Mel, Vicki, Stacey and Sara. Well. Have I got news for YOU! LOL! The four of them have teamed up and created "Scrap That Idea" which is a new store (and hopefully more in the near future!) in digiscrap land! These 4 girls have SUCH stunning styles and have given away so many beautiful freebies over the years - let's ALL head over to Scrap that Idea to see what they've done and to show our support!

Mel has some GORGEOUS new kits in her store. To start, there is a fabulous collab kit that all 4 of them have contributed to, called "Fresh Ideas":
Here are my layouts:

She also has two new kits!

With All My Heart and Soul

Warm and Fuzzy

This is all verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry exciting! Stay tuned as their store grows and develops... it can only be a good thing :)

Don't forget the last day of the Cybercrop over at Snap and Scrap too - we're having great fun with Bingo and the challenges...And see the post below for a blog train freebie...

It's the February Progressive Blog Challenge from Snap and Scrap!

2009-02-27T00:00:00.011-05:00

Welcome to the February Snap and Scrap Cybercrop Progressive Blog Challenge!! You've just arrived at stop #1. If you're just jumping aboard, here's the 411. Basically, the PBC is a blog train that you follow along to pick up all the freebies and then use them to create a layout. Upload to the Snap & Scrap Cyber Crop Gallery and post a link to the finished product in cybercrop forum before 9am Monday 2nd March. It's heaps of fun and you get all of the freebies along the way!

PLUS this FABULOUS co-ordinating participation prize!

Here's your PBC freebie. Remember, you MUST use at least 1 thing from this download on your layout!!

Click the preview or click here to download. (4-shared)
If you would prefer to download from Box.net, click here.

Here's a 100% closeup so you can see the texture: Once you've finished downloading, head on over to stop #2, it's Sharon's Blog (http://www.digitalcreations.typepad.com/) As we are co-ordinating this across quite a few different time zones, please be patient if all of the stops are not yet posted.

Progressive Blog Challenge:
Stop 1 - Caz <---------------------- You're here!
Stop 2 - Sharon
Stop 3 - Charlie
Stop 4 - Christina
Stop 5 - Bonnie
Stop 6 - Bree

The Cybercrop that is happening over at Snap and Scrap this weekend is such a blast with Bingo (a total riot, and SOMEONE has to come and BEAT our reigning Bingo Champ who has never lost a game!), Scraplift Challenge, Template Challenge, and a whole lot of other amazing happenings.

We'd LOVE to see you there!

Just for Fun! kit by Mel Hains

2009-02-25T07:28:00.005-05:00

Mel is at it again! Her latest kit is bright and cheery and very versatile - us it for those boy AND girl LO's ... you know the ones where they can't be all pink or all blue? ;)

Credits here

Get it here!

There is SO much in the works in scrappyland - stay tuned!

February Cybercrop at Snap and Scrap THIS WEEKEND!

2009-02-24T21:35:00.003-05:00

If you haven't been to a cybercrop at Snap and Scrap yet, you need to MAKE SURE you come to the one this weekend!

See you there!

HUGE "Spirit of Summer" Charity Collab kit - Over 1 gig for a small donation for victoria fires!

2009-02-19T22:18:00.003-05:00

Spirit of Summer is a charity collab benefiting the Victorian bushfire Appeal. Not only has this affected Australians, but human beings the world over. 29 Australian and international designers have banded together to help support many Australians, animals and communities decimated by one of Australia's worse national disasters.

What happened?
On Saturday, Feb 7, the temperature in Melbourne was 33'c by 9am. By noon it was 40'c and by 2.50 pm soared to 47.9'c (a state record).Thousands of people were also about to start running from the inferno that would become one of Australia's worst peacetime disasters. Trees ignited in the blink of an eye. By the time people heard the roar, it was too late to flee ahead of the flames.Unfortunately no one or nothing could have stopped this inferno that wiped out communities, bushland, and lives within minutes. Many towns now cease to exist!.After watching
interviews with survivors, many say that they cant put into words what
they went through, saw or felt on that day.Here are just a few
pictures(courtesy of google,The Age, SBS & ABC Aust.) of this
horrible disaster:

Why is this charity kit different?

No money will change hands at Snap N Tag (our host website).
We are asking for your support by donating DIRECTLY to one of the
following charities:

Donations can be made here:

The salvation Army

or here:

Australian Red Cross

What do I get for my donation and where:

You will be helping the people of Victoria, Australia most importantly, but you will also receive this amazing MEGA kit (see below).
There are 167 papers, 326 elements, 2 Alphas and a glitter syles pack as well. How amazingly fabulous is that and you can receive all of this for as little as a $5.00 donation.(**Vouchers will be emailed upon receipt of proof of Donation**)
But thats not all! For showing us how much you all really care, you
not only get the MEGA kit but receive a Quickpage Album if you donate over $10.00...WOW how awsome is that!

Look at the STUNNING LO's using the kit:

To receive your Charity collab go here at Scrap N Tag (** Don't forget
your receipt of donation**)

Donated! Wear your blinkie proudly: (made by Michelle Filo)

I want to personally thank those invloved in the creation of this MEGA kit!

Dont we all! 34 ladies have done an amazing job planning,
creating, collating and advertising for this Charity appeal! Below is a
list of blogs with the names of these 29 people. Please leave some
love for them all to let them know how appreciated there efforts have
been.

A work in Progress-designs by Vicki
Ambowife Designs
Carjazi Designs
Carolyn Kite- Co-Owner of Scrap N Tag
Chaos Lounge
Charlie's Digiscraps
Color with Caryn
Desert Designs
DigiLover's Addiction
Emcee Scraps
Flergs
Gillian Foley- owner of Snap & Scrap
HoleyCow Designs
Jeanette Bollinger Designs
KimB's Designs
KylieM Designs
Laitha
Lindsay Jane Designs
Mel_h Designs
mITSYBELLE
Piggyscraps Designs
SKrapper Digitals
Scrap'it Designs
Scrappin happens/Julie C Designs
Shazbutt's Digi Scrapz
Sweet Blossom Designs
WenchdGrafix Designs
Zesty Digi Designs
[ksharonkdesigns]
Dunia
Scrapidea Timkova
Toni Autrey Designs
PST Designs
Designs by Aliya

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed in whatever ways they could to bring this together. Ultimately, small efforts from many people end up being one BIG effort, and I hope that the donations from this Collab will significantly impact the lives of those who have so drastically changed by the fires.

Something fun - what word are you!?

2009-02-16T10:28:00.002-05:00

My favorite Mel has this fun little doo-diddy on her blog so I decided to have a little fun (yeah - my life is sorely in need of a new definiteion of FUN! LOL!)

What's Your Word?
Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people.Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love.You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love.And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

Free Mega kit - over 100 megs and it's GORGEOUS!

2009-02-12T21:27:00.003-05:00

The designers at Snap and Scrap have really done a fantastic job with their kit "Circle of Friends." What's even more amazing is that they're giving it away FREE!

All you have to do is mosey on over to the forum and say hi here! That's it! Nothing else to do! Wowsers!

I'm off to get brownies out of the oven :) I may be back later... SO sorry I have neglected the blog lately. A lot going on. But that's how it is for all of us, isn't it!?
Take care!

My Template Challenge on the Snap and Scrap blog is up!

2009-02-04T22:35:00.007-05:00

Just wanted to let you know that I made my very first template ever, and it's up on the Snap and Scrap blog for Thursday's Challenge! Head on over there to see all the goodies - there are some great tutorials from Sharon (a.k.a. skyezak) The girl is amazing! There are also some other challenges, ideas - it's really a great place to get inspired.

This is my layout using my template, and "Homemade Valentine" by Wimpychompers Creations. I really enjoyed this kit - lots of unique elements, and great fun to use.

Credits here

And this is the template:
This link has expired!

Make sure you head over to Snap and Scrap and post your layouts there - I'd LOVE to see what you do with the template!

I need an early night tonight. BOY am I going to enjoy my bed! Good night!

Remember the gorgeous "Paper Princess"? Enter the fabulous "Paper Prince"!!!

2009-02-02T20:55:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite kits of Charlie's is Paper Princess, which also happens to be one of her first. She has done it again with Paper Prince! I just LOVE this two kits, and to have the two co-ordinating kits to use together for those of us who have both boys and girls is awesome. I might just have to do something with that for you guys!

Credits here

The kit is incredibly versatile and there have been so many completely different LO's already from her CT.

You can get this gorgeous kit from her store at SAS. It'll be at Snap and Scrap later in the week.

I have SO much to catch up on after taking a few days off from Digiscrapping. Ya know, I'm not sure it was worth the time off! I missed a lot, and now I'm scrambling to catch up. Hmmm. Lesson learned ;)

All that to say, this may not be my only post today! LOL!

Lotsa cool stuff!

2009-01-27T12:35:00.008-05:00

The votes are rolling in, and I'm enjoying the responses ;) 'Nuff said!

Mel and Vicki have another fantastic collab called "Down by the lily pond" - it's a gorgeous mix of lily greens and pondy blues :) I love it. If my life wasn't so crazy right now I'd have scrapped a few LO's. It's definitely near the top of my "To Do" list. For now, you can click on the previews to head to their blogs and get the parts.

Mel has released a new kit at iScrapbook called "Forever Love".

I loved it and scrapped one of my favorite photos with it. Here's my layout!

Credits here

Erin also has a lovely freebie kit on her blog called "My Funny Valentine" Head on over there to get it! (Click the preview to go to her blog)

Snap and Scrap is having a Cyber Crop this weekend! It's such a blast with great challenges, a progressive blog challenge, games, and great company with fellow digiscrappers.

I quickly need to say a HUGE thank you for these awards! The wonderful Mel has given me some:

And then I have a couple more, and I can't remember who gave them to me :( I'm so sorry I didn't blog about them earlier, but I do so appreciate them!

Grosgrain Girl QP's!

2009-01-23T19:55:00.007-05:00

Well, I was fiddling around and came up with two quickpages with Grosgrain Girl. I thought some of you might like them, so you'll find them further down.

I'm working on my next kit. There are so many gorgeous color schemes in everything around us, I'm having a hard time nailing one down! I'm going to start working on one soon, but if you'd answer this poll for me, I'd hugely appreciate it!

So here are the two quickpages for Grosgrain Girl!

This download has expired

Final part of Grosgrain Girl...

2009-01-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

This is kind of a mixed emotion day for me ;) I have had SUCH a blast and don't want it to end. But the end of one kit, means the beginning of another, right?

Today we have the final download, the alpha.

This download has expired

You can get two more gorgeous Grosgrain Girl alphas at Mel and Erin's blogs, so hurry on over there.

I'm EAGER to do more collabs and learn learn learn, so if you're game, let me know!

Also, I have a Valentine's kit in mind. It's just in the planning stages, but I can tell you that it's NOTHING like this one ;) It's a lot more serious, and I think you'd be able to do a lot more white space LO's with it, since they're my favorite. It's not going to be typical, but it's not going to be so far out there that it's not usable. So please check back soon!

Thank you so much to all of you for all your support and kind words. We have a wonderful community here in scrappy land, no!?

Much love to you all...

New CU stuff, "Bring on Spring" freebie and Day two of Grosgrain Girl

2009-01-20T13:00:00.005-05:00

Before we get to Grosgrain Girl, I wanted to let you know about a new CU item from Charlie. She has photographed and extracted some leaves and done a fantastic job! These are the kind of thing that you can use in any LO, and will be super in so many kits. It's available at her store at SAS (for 25% off this week only!) and will be at Snap and Scrap by the end of the week (I think!)

Also, Vicki has a really pretty new freebie kit out called "Bring on Spring". I just love it and can't wait to do a LO with it. Just click on the preview to go to her blog to get the details.

And now for Grosgrain Girl - it's ELEMENT day! Woohoo! Thank you SO much for the wonderful response. The comments have been so encouraging and I'm looking forward to learning more, growing more as a designer and making more freebies ;)

This download has expired

Don't forget to head over to Mel and Erin's to get their parts!

It's here! The Grosgrain Girl Collab kit!

2009-01-19T13:00:00.019-05:00

Wow! Talk about an experience and a half! I have learned SO much from participating in the collab with Mel and Erin. They are two absolutely wonderful people, and I know if we didn't live thousands of miles away from each other we'd be good friends and spend a lot of time laughing.

For those of you who are wondering, grosgrain is a textured ribbon, and is very girly. So without further ado, here are some GORGEOUS layouts from Mel's wonderful CT who went and created layouts for us, even though it was optional ;)

This layout was made with my part of the kit:
This layout was made with Erin's part of the kit:

This layout was made with Mel's part of the kit:

Just so you know what you can look forward to the rest of the week, here are the previews of the three parts of the kit:

For today, you're going to get the papers!

This download has expired

Pop on over to Mel's blog and to Erin's blog to get their parts of the collab!

And please, please, please let me know what you think, and let me see your layouts!!!!!

I really hope you enjoy the kit - I look forward to doing more very soon!

Some layouts...

2009-01-18T22:21:00.010-05:00

Well, for someone who's computer is busted, I've sure been getting a lot done ;) LOL! Actually, I owe a HUGE thanks to my hubby who has basically let me be glued to the computer for two days solid. He's such a great guy.

So, I've gotten some CT assignments and stuff done. Firstly, I love, love, love "Zoolander" by Brianna Cox. I had such fun with this LO and some of the elements (and their names ;) brought a big smile to my face.

Credits here

You can get it at her store at Snap and Scrap, here.

I also managed 3 layouts for Gotta Pixel with Sweet Digi Scraps' kit "Tea Party":

Credits here

It has not been an easy challenge - scrapping about myself is my least favorite thing.

One of my favorite layouts was for the Grab Bag Challenge:

Credits here

I also did a LO for the "By the Numbers" Challenge. Another toughie ;)

Credits here

I'm sure there's a bunch of LO's I haven't blogged about, but they're all in my galleries. I need to learn a lesson here, and make sure I blog a LO as soon as it's done ;)

Well, I'm off to make the most delicious peanut butter cookies so they'll be warm and ready to eat when he gets home from work...

Don't forget to come back for "Grosgrain Girl" tomorrow!

Charlie's new kit "Forever" + a QP freebie

2009-01-17T22:29:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to pop on quickly to tell you about Charlie's kit "Forever." It's in her stores at Stone Accents Studio and Snap and Scrap now. With her ENTIRE STORE at Snap and Scrap being 50% off for the rest of the month, you can get some real bargains!

When I looked at it I thought it might be a girlie kit. But, ya know, it really is a neutral kit. I made a LO for a friend of mine with pics of her baby boy. Isn't her baby GORGEOUS!? I made a QP for you too...allll the way at the bottom ;)

Credits here

I'm trying to learn PSE7 (trial version - blegh) so I was playing around a bit, and made a QP for you. Click on the preview to download!

Don't forget to come back on Monday to snag the collab kit I made with Mel and Erin ;)

Finally - a sneak peak!

2009-01-16T17:17:00.004-05:00

I am functional again! Enough to be able to show you the sneak peak of my part of next weeks collossal collab ;)

I just know you're going to love the whole thing, so make sure you check back here on Monday for the first part!

Charlie's having an AWESOME sale!

2009-01-16T00:14:00.003-05:00

As I was lying in bed I remembered that Charlie is having a fabulous sale starting 1/16. And for many of you that's today already ;) So I just wanted to hop out of bed (geees it's cold!) and let you know...

Now it's back to my warm, cozy bed for me ;)

AAAAAAAAcccck - my laptop died!!!!!

2009-01-15T22:27:00.004-05:00

And the timing couldn't be worse :( I'm supposed to be posting a sneak preview of our fab collab, but the files are on my laptop. I could get them from the 4shared links, which I have thankfully already uploaded. Problem is, my graphics editing software is on the laptop too!!! This computer is a bit of a dinosaur and doesn't really run anything other than browsers etc. Anything else and you can go make a cuppa coffee in between anything you do! LOL!

Anyway, I'm working on a solution. Actually, I'm going to bed and hoping I wake up in the morning and the laptop (which also happens to be a dinosaur ;) is suddenly working.

In the meantime, I'm going to borrow Mel and Erin's sneak peaks and post them here.

Mel's Sneak Peak

Erin's Sneak Peak

I hope I have some good news in the morning :(

a special collab announcement, "Rustic Sunset" and a new CT!

2009-01-14T16:55:00.005-05:00

He he - I stole the first part of the title of this post from the most wonderful Mel who has given Erin and I the opportunity of working with her to work on a collab! The kit has turned out to be rather large and I just LOVE it!

It's such a wonderful thing to have a designer who is willing to answer questions, be patient, give hints and tips, be patient, who has great ideas, and who's very patient. Did I mention that Mel is patient!? LOL! You should have seen the emails flying as we (being Erin and I) tried to figure out how on earth releasing the kit in an orderly fashion works. Ahahaha. Too funny.

So, thank you, Mel, for the time you've taken to do this with us, and I can' WAIT for our next collab. Mwahahahahaha - now, we're not going anywhere. Mwaahahahah.

Check back tomorrow for a SNEAK PEAK for my parts here, and don't forget to also check Mel and Erin's blogs for their parts.

In the meantime, head over to Mel's store at iScrapbook to grab her latest kit, "Rustic Sunset" - I LOVE it. It has such gorgeous, rich colors and is super easy to use.

Credits here

ANOTHER ANOUNCEMENT!

I was thrilled to receive an invitation to be on Beth Long's CT :) She designs for DSO, and has a wonderful style. The first kit I was privileged to play with is called "Autumn Splendor". Right now it's on sale for 25% off and she has a bonus brag book - you can get the details on her blog.

Credits here

Wow! That was a long post. Charlie's store is going on sale on Friday, so I'll blog about those details tomorrow. Thanks for reading this far!

First week of the Gottal Pixel "Play With Your Pixels" challenge

2009-01-13T00:09:00.003-05:00

Since I have so much spare time on my hands, and I just don't know what to do with myself, I decided to play along in the Gottal Pixel "Play With Your Pixels" challenge to hopefully be selected to be on their site CT ;)

Seriously, though, scrapping really relaxes me. I love it. So if I have one LO a day to do, I'll be happy.

The challenge was to scrap a LO with a girlie kit called "Tea Party" by Stacy Carlson and Mad Scrapper Designs, without the LO being at all girlie. So here are my 3 LO's!

This extraction is from a photo from a wedding shoot. The bride was looking back at the Flower Girl (her dd) before they entered the church:

This is my hubby playing baseball. He's reeeallllllly good at it.

And these are mugs #2 and #3 in my collection ;)

This week and next are going to be verrrrrrry exciting - CHECK BACK OFTEN! LOL!

I'm off to bed.

Snap and Scrap is BACK!

2009-01-08T14:28:00.001-05:00

Snap and Scrap is finally back :) There are still a couple of glitches to work out (like, siggies and avatars not showing up) but the >forum and >galleries are fully functional.

I've caught up with all my uploading. Whew! It was like a marathon ;) I'll be back later to post about some LO's.

My gallery is being scraplifted at GottaPixel!

2009-01-03T11:32:00.002-05:00

Woooohooooo! I'm SO excited! Alicia hosts the Scraplift Challenge at Gottapixel and she has chosen my gallery to be scraplifted for January :) What an honor is that!?

For those of you who have never participated in a "Scraplift Challenge" it really is a lot of fun, and I have learned a lot from them. Basically, the challenge host chooses a layout (or in this case, a gallery - MINE! - Amazing, isn't it!?) for the challenge participants to "scraplift" or copy and create their own LO based on an idea from the one they're lifting.

So head on over to GottaPixel and get cracking on the Scraplift Challenge! LOL!

So, I'm doing Project 365!

2009-01-02T20:19:00.003-05:00

I decided to do Project 365 and so far so good. A whole 2 days in I can say that I have taken a photo and posted it every day.

Ha ha.

I'm also thrilled that my hubby will be joining me with his own Project 365. So it should be fun!

I did decide to separate the project from my scrappy blog, so I have "Caryn's Project 365" blog. If I end up doing LO's with any of the photos I'll post them here. I'm not confident I'll be able to scrap them all, though.

Hope your 2009 has started well!

Gorgeous new kit & QP freebie

2009-01-01T18:17:00.007-05:00

Charlie has got a fab new kit out called "Jaimee's Little Garden." It's a fun and yet still pretty kit and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the doodled flowers in it. Ah they're GORGEOUS. I'm a little doodled flower girl at heart, I think. That, and little doodled hearts ;)

My daughter had been out smelling the flowers, and when she came in her nose was covered in pollen. When I told her to go check the mirror, she came back looking thrilled at the fact that her nose was yellow!

Credits here

The kit is gorgeous and available here, and right now it's on sale for 30% off! GO SNAG IT!

I created a QP from my LO - I hope you like it!

Download here

I am also really excited about doing Project 365 with Vicki, Erin, Lou Ann and Charlie. I meant to do it last year and it just never happened. We all plan on taking one photo a day, and scrapping it. Woohoo - here's to at least 365 LO's this year! LOL!

Anyway, I hope your first day of 2009 has been fabulous. Please come back and visit often. And TALK to me - I'd love to get to know you better.

Mel's two new kits at iScrapbook

2008-12-30T11:02:00.009-05:00

Mel has been at it again, and watching her design is like watching my kids grow up right before my very eyes! She has managed to come up with two completely different kits, one pretty and fun, and the other pretty and grown up. I just LOVE creating for a designer with such versatile talent!

So without further ado, here's "Dreams":

Credits here

And here is "A Little Bit of This and That":

Credits here

You can get both kits at iScrapbook.com. I'll be back later - I have a year-long FREEBIE swirling around in my head. Need to get the details sorted out - can't wait to share it with you!

I've been slack!

2008-12-24T12:39:00.006-05:00

Somehow in the busyness of December, I composed a post for Mel's new kits, but it never actually made its way into cyberspace. Oops.

I wanted to tell you about two new kits that are both wonderful to work with. Mel has done it again!

The first is called "Garden Love"

The second is called "Moments" and I really like this one. I plan on doing more LO's to make a book with it because it's really easy to work with, and just so pretty! Being book LO's, I'm doing a left side and a right side.

The left side

The right

You can get both these kits at iScrapbook.com

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas - take care and drive carefully ;)

Bargains, gorgeous freebie kits, and more!

2008-12-17T16:02:00.002-05:00

OK. I know there are lots and lots of bargains at this time of year, but I need to tell you about the bargain of the century! Seriously, Mel has her ENTIRE STORE on sale for $10! Are you kidding me! That's NINETEEN full kits! Click on the ad to go straight to the store...

I also wanted to mention that Vicki has a really cool retro kit as a freebie on her blog. It's called "Funky Retro".

And Mel has done one of my favorite LO's EVER with it...

Less is DEFINITELY more when it comes to scrapbook pages. I love white space LO's etc. It's important to me that a kit be suitable for simple, white space LO's while still making them interesting and different from just being a little box with nothing around it. KWIM?

Vicki also has a fun Christmas kit that is being given away at Scrap 'n Art. Read about it here.

Make your own recipe book! Freebie template :)

2008-12-16T22:49:00.003-05:00

Snap and Scrap's countdown to Christmas is going wonderfully with so many gorgeous hybrid projects and fun things going on in the countdown to Christmas. Head on over there to see my challenge :) It's a recipe book that is FABULOUS for keeping those family meal time memories alive for future generations!

Download the template here! And then head on over to Snap and Scrap to get the instructions...

This really was fun to make, and it's going to last forever...I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Don't you just love this time of year!? A freebie for you too!

2008-12-11T18:29:00.008-05:00

I am an extremely social person, and I have missed that aspect of South Africa. Showing up unannounced or organizing last minute to have coffee with someone is not uncommon. I find it difficult to find time to schedule social things in here in the US, since life is just busy busy busy! So I am working hard and not letting the busyness of the Christmas season steal away the joy that comes with seeing so many wonderful friends at different parties and occasions, and remembering the birth of Christ our Savior! I try to plan in advance for what I have to do, and not panic when I have to do something at the last minute

Anyway, my wonderful designer bosses (as Anne likes to call them - ha ha ha) have been hard at work creating some gorgeous kits for me to play with! Yippee - I'm like a kid in a candy store.

First, Charlie has created a fun kit called "Hip Hip Hooray!" and it will be available in her store at Snap and Scrap tomorrow (HOPEFULLY I'm not jumping the gun here!!!!!) and Stone Accents Studio by the end of the weekend.

I did a LO using photos that we took of each of us as we left on our family vacation this year... and I made a QP freebie for you from it, so scroll all the way to the end to get that.

credits here

This is such a versatile kit that I'm pretty sure I'll be scrapping more LO's with it soon.

Next is another work of art from the lovely Mel :) It's a boy kit called "A Little Baby Boy" and it's really cute... it will be available at iScrapbook.com soon!

And here's my little baby boy :)

credits here

Now for your QP freebie! I left the words "Road Trip" on it and I hope that you will be able to use it :) If you would like me to do it without the title so you can put your own in, just let me know...

Click here to download

Thank you, Charlie, for a great kit!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas - travel safely, enjoy family, and most importantly, remember Jesus Christ, the son of God and our Lord and Savior!

December is full of fun!

2008-12-08T01:23:00.005-05:00

I have just gotten back from a trip out of state, and it's taking me a while to get caught up. Actually, at the mo I feel like I'm never going to get caught up! It's a good thing there's so much to look forward to this month ;)

Here is my favorite photo from my trip. There was a storm brewing in the foothills of the Rockies, and it really reminded me of the South African Highveld!

First of all, make sure you've signed up for the Snap & Scrap Newsletter - it's JAM packed full of goodies.

Secondly, <>Mel is giving away a really cute freebie on her blog. Actually, she has a ton of freebies on her blog, including the third installment of Walking in a Scrappy Wonderland. But back to the topic at hand ;)

This is the freebie from the kit Mel made for CT member Leigh! And here's my LO:

There is much, much, more to be said, but I'm going to be in trouble since it's 1:30am.... I'll be back tomorrow!

A road trip to find a new home - what a blast!

2008-12-01T21:07:00.002-05:00

So - over Thanksgiving weekend I have been away from home, in another state, looking for a new home for my precious family. What a huge responsibility! I have to say, though, that we have had an amazing time driving from town to town, along country roads, looking for just the right spot for us to develop our farm/horse ranch.

The people here are incredibly friendly and we are excited about moving. Of course I've snapped LOADS of pics and can't wait to scrap them.

So, I'll be offline, paying attention to my wonderful family for a couple of days after I get back, but soon I'll have some time to myself to get back to digiscrapping...

Enjoy this wonderful CHRISTmas season!

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!

2008-11-27T09:19:00.002-05:00

I am so thankful this Thanksgiving! In spite of 2008 being a difficult year (and one of the worst in my life) I am so thankful to be able to look back and see the Lord's plan in absolutely everything and how He has turned it all into good for me and my family. I could never have imagined how horrible things could be turned around 180 degrees and turned into something that blesses. I am thankful to know Jesus Christ and to have the peace that passes all understanding deep down where it counts. I'm thankful to have reassurance of an eternity in joy, peace, love, and worshiping the Savior. I am thankful to have that hope! Wow. Just SO much to be thankful for. And I haven't even started on my beautiful family, wonderful friends, a warm home....the list is endless.

Snap and Scrap is celebrating Thanksgiving with a Cyber Crop starting tomorrow! I'm not sure how much I'll be able to "attend" since I'll be traveling from tomorrow 'till Tuedsay, but my laptop is going with me, so...we'll see. The last one was SO MUCH FUN! Make sure to get your words in to Szilvia for the Bingo - such a blast.

Charlie's lovely Fantasy Dreams brag book freebie

2008-11-25T19:08:00.005-05:00

Charlie is giving away a lovely 13-page brag book from her Fantasy Dreams kit - it's LOVELY!

I have a 14th page for you all :) Download here and then head of to Charlie's blog to get the rest!

iScrapbook.com & a freebie QP with Flower Power!

2008-11-23T23:37:00.001-05:00

Wow! I'm completely blown away that my little Christmas kit has had 645 downloads. Wow. I'm speechless!

On to some exciting news! There is a brand new scrapping website called iScrapbook.com and it looks like it's going to be a LOT of fun! The wonderful Mel Hains was invited to be a designer for them, so she has a store and three fabulous new kits!

She has Chocolate Butterfly, Summer Melon, and finally Another Kind of Holiday. All three are completely different, and although Another Kind of Holiday is a Christmassy kit, I can see it being used for so much more.

Chocolate Butterfly

Summer Melon

Another Kind of Holiday

Head on over to iscrapbook.com and have a look around!

Also, Erin created the fun "Flower Power" kit, and here is a QP from my LO:

Download hereDon't forget to stop by Erin's blog to snag her kit, and I know she'd love to hear some encouragement on her first fabulous kit!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Fantasy Dreams...

2008-11-22T00:37:00.004-05:00

Charlie's new kit is available in her shoppe now and I love it! It's called Fantasy Dreams and I have a bunch of LO's in mind for this from baby pics, to wedding pics. For today, I recolored a photo, added a pop, and here's my LO:

I wanna be the first!!!

2008-11-20T17:17:00.005-05:00

Tada!!!!

Credits here

I totally loved Erin's kit "Flower Power" when I first saw it. It's so different! And it was on my To Do list which is currently 10 miles long (moving out of state tends to do that ;)

Anyway, when I discovered today that Erin had not yet seen a LO with her kit, that little "To Do" went straight to the top of the list, and anything that would have been remotely responsible of me to have done went completely out the window ;)

So here is my "Storyland" LO from our family vacation in August. I'll ask Erin if she wants me to do a QP and if she does I'll post it here for you.

It really is SUCH fun to see a LO with something you've made, and I've learned a lesson - I'll be sending LO's to designers as often as I can ;) *HINT* *HINT* LOL!

Now, on to do what I should have been doing all afternoon...

First LO I've ever seen with MY kit!

2008-11-20T14:50:00.003-05:00

I am thrilled and excited to show you the first LO I've ever seen done with a kit I made :) I am thrilled! (Oops - did I say that already? ;) My most lovely CT friend Erin has posted it on her blog. Go tell her how absolutely wonderful it is *grin* I love how she's placed the Christmas tree. I just love the whole thing!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me your LO's! I would just love to see them!

My funky eye - some gory (kinda) details (and a Christmas Card template/QP)

2008-11-19T00:17:00.007-05:00

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments that you have left after downloading my Christmas kit - I'm so glad you like it!

So many of you have asked about how my eye is doing, and I appreciate it so much! And if you read all the way to the end, the lovely Vicki has said that I can give you a 'QP' of my Christmas Card, so read read read! LOL

The surgery was to move the muscle that controls the horizontal movement of my eye. Medicine has gotten so advanced that my fabulous surgeon has developed a new procedure where he removes the muscle, repositions it, and then reattaches it with a SLIPKNOT so that he can adjust it after you wake up.

Yeah. Cool. But not cool.

It makes sense though - once I was awake, I could report on my vision, and he could ... do what he needed to do. However, it turns out that the muscle needed more adjusting after the weekend.

So I drove myself to see the surgeon yesterday (he's an hour away) I had decided not to do any more adjustments etc, and when I saw him I told him I needed to drive myself home, thinking that would take care of everything. He said it wouldn't be a problem and my eye would just be more sore than it was then. Great.

So it turns out that they moved the muscle 5.5mm during surgery and then another 1mm when they adjusted it afterwards. When he did the measurements yesterday his goal was to get rid of any head tilt, which I still had a very small tilt to the right. He did measurements and there were still some pretty high numbers, where 0 is the ideal. For example, pre-surgery one measurement was 16, and post-surgery it was 8. Then another measurement to the left was still 20 or 30 which is on the pretty thick side of the prisms they hold up to your eye to do the measurements. He said that he could move the muscle one more mm and then it would be at it's max before it starts causing problems with vision to the other side. When he left the room for a minute, the observer (some other eye doctor person) told me that opthalmologists don't attempt this surgery because it's so complicated, and they all refer the surgeries to Dr. Hunter. He really is the best :)

So, they (he and two other people) prepped to do a mini surgery right there in his stinkin' office. He put numbing drops in, and the other guy went to find some equipment, so I said "Bring drugs" and Dr Hunter laughs and says, "How about a bullet?" - too funny. Anyway, they keep coming back into the room with gloves, forceps, tongs, tweezers and all kinds of other torture devices. And part of the worst part was the commentary that he's giving the observer. Shees. I coulda done without the detail. And, of course, when he walks in with this HUGE injection and says "and we have a numbing injection". I said, "Oh! It just keeps getting better!" It must have taken a minute for what I said to sink in, because then he said, "Oh, it doesn't have a needle, it's blunt."

Geeeeeeee, THANKS, doc!!!! I feel SO much better!

He then goes on to explain to the observer, "The incision is still there, so we'll just separate it and squirt the numbing agent in." He looks at me and says, "You'll just feel wet." I'm used to understatements ;)

So the other guy holds my eye open, and Dr Hunter says, "You'll just feel some tugging and pressure. I know it's quite disconcerting."

See???? Another understatement.

Dr. Hunter uses his torture devices and tugs and pulls and does whatever he's doing, and I would have been OK if not for some more luvely commentary. He says (for the benefit of the observer, I'm sure), "The muscle has started to fuse, so I'll just separate it. You'll feel some tugging a little deeper than what you've been feeling."

You know, from my EYEBALL.

More tugging, pulling and a sharp pain. "You felt that." he says.

Uh. YEAH.

More commentary "I'll just slide that on the noose..." tug, pull, tug ..."...that's 1mm. You see I can't move it any more - it's at the end of the slipknot. I don't want to be tempted to move it any more. We want to avoid [insert medical term] to the right."

"I don't want to be tempted"???? Don't people usually say that when they want to avoid doing something that they find to be intensely FUN and PLEASURABLE but that they shouldn't really be doing???

So then he was done. He said we should wait till my follow-up in Jan and then we can decide about how to proceed. There is still the option to move the vertical muscle (on top of the eyeball) in the left eye which happens to be his favorite surgery. Or he can work on the right eye.

I left his office with my eyeball feeling like it was going to pop out of my head and a MASSIVE headache. I wasn't sure how I was going to drive home. But I went past a Walgreens, so I stopped and bought some Advil and a bag of chips, so 20 mins into the drive I stopped feeling like I had a brain tumor.

At the beginning of the visit I clarified with him that the surgery wouldn't fix it 100%, and he said that he felt like he hadn't made himself clear on that point. So I guess I had overly high expectations. And I think my eye is pretty much at the best it's going to be. I hope that it's going to be enough to resolve where it was beginning to influence daily life, because I've been forced to acknowledge that problem and now I have to do something about it.

So there you have it! More of an ordeal than I had originally anticipated."

And if you've read all the way through to here you are completely amazing and deserve a freebie! As I mentioned at the beginning Vivki (A Work in Progress) has given me permission to post my Christmas Card that I made with her kit, Merry Mistletoe. I hope you like it! Customize it with your own text...

Download your freebie here

My second kit - "Christmas" for Kim's Color Challenge

2008-11-17T23:51:00.004-05:00

Well, it was a little intimidating to post this considering all the wonderful kits that have been made for Kim B's color challenge at DSO, but I had fun making it, so here it is as a freebie for you all .... hope you like it!

Download here

I made our Christmas Card! (and a freebie QP)

2008-11-16T20:38:00.013-05:00

I am so enamored with the lovely Vicki's "Merry Mistletoe" kit (only available through the Scrap 'n Art online 'zine) that I decided to use it for our family's Christmas card this year. Now I just have to make sure I actually print them and send them! If anyone didn't get a card from me last year, it's because it's sitting in my desk drawer. Still. *blush*
(I smudged out our name to the left of the tree - hope you don't mind ;)

It's been a long time since I posted any LO's from Snap and Scrap - bad me!
Marcee's kit "Leaf Pile" is really lovely - I enjoyed making this LO my dd just LOVES hats, and she can pull it off too! It looks like she's meant to be wearing it. I put on a hat and it just looks all wrong. We were at the store the other day, and I'd already finished making my purchase when she popped out from behind a display wearing this hat. I couldn't resist - it's just so cute!

And then this week, I couldn't help but do another LO with Mel's "Erin's Pinwheels and Polkadots" - such a fun and versatile kit!

And I made a QP for you from my LO -all you have to do is add in your own Title, subtitle and journalling. Don't be afraid to journal! Practice makes perfect (right!?)

Download the QP here

I would love to know what you think of my QP's - over 50 of you have downloaded the Frogs and Mudcakes QP and no one has left a comment :(

Well, that's it for tonight! Have a wonderful week...

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

2008-11-15T22:55:00.005-05:00

Even though it's still Saturday here, it's Sunday in Oz, and it's Charlie's birthday!

Please pop over to Charlie's blog to leave her a happy birthday message

Post surgery and a Freebie! Also LOTS of fun at Snap and Scrap...

2008-11-14T13:47:00.009-05:00

Well, I thank the Lord for a wonderful surgery experience! I had surgery on my eye yesterday morning to correct strabismus (double vision when looking to the left, for me) and it was as easy as it could be, and everything went the best that I could hope for! I know that I had lots of friends praying for me, and I was so aware of being peaceful and joyful, even as they gave me the IV, even as I could feel the "fall asleep" meds going up my arm and even as I fell asleep. Even as they adjusted the muscle after I came round ;) yeah - I won't go into detail on that...eeuw! And here I am, the day after, working on my blog!!! My eye feels like it has an eyelash in it, but that's about the worst of it.

So here I am, with a QP freebie to celebrate Charlie's newly released "Frogs and Mudcakes" kit on sale in her shoppe!

Download the QP here

Please also remember to stop by Charlie's blog and tell her how much you love her designs!
The kit is really cute and fun for all those fun camping/boy/outdoors LO's.

I just have to mention the fun that's happening at Snap and Scrap... They're having a Christmas Countdown, with all kinds of easy but gorgeous hybrid projects to make. If you haven't done anything hybrid yet you really should give it a try - all you need is your printer, some scissors and some glue!!! You can get more fancy/complicated than that if you like, but really as far as I'm concerned, less is more.

This is the first project up on the Christmas Countdown - it's a GORGEOUS hybrid canvas that Sharon has shown us step by step how to make. You can see the tutorial and chat about it here. It doesn't have to be Christmas themed, so I'm going to make some that compliment the decor of the people I'm giving them to. It should be fun!

OK, my eye is really starting to feel like...well, I'm not sure exactly what, but it's not great ;) So it's over and out from me (for a little while!)

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - woohoo!

2008-11-09T04:59:00.007-05:00

Need I say more!? LOL. I think this is a fantastic opportunity and is going to be such fun with such an awesome group of people. I really encourage you to get involved and get some early Christmas gifts done. And earn yourself a giftie too!

It's been ages since I've blogged, but we really have a TON going on, and coming up in the next little while we have an anniversary, a surgery, two birthdays, and out-of-state move and Christmas. So I hope to be able to blog often, since digiscrapping is my R & R, but if I'm not around, you know why.....

Progressive Challenge - get a part of the freebie kit here!

2008-11-01T07:13:00.008-04:00

Welcome to my part of the Snap and Scrap Progressive Challenge! You've reached the next stop in the Snap & Scrap Progressive Blog Train to celebrate Digital Scrapbooking Day and our weekend Cyber Crop.

So what's the scoop with this Progressive Challenge? Well all the details can be found here in the Forum but, in a nutshell, if you download all the goodies from each stop and use at least one from each download in a layout, you'll win a fab template created by Katie plus you'll end up with a bundle of goodies to play with! Make sure you post your finished layout here in order to get the posting bonus which is this lovely template by Katie!

Here's my little freebie that I've created for our blog train.

You can download them here. You can use just one OR both of them.

So here's a list of all the gal on this rockin' blog train in case you get lost along the way! Choo choo!

Stop 1 - Katie

Stop 2 - Gillian

Stop 3 - Charlie

Stop 4 - Caryn <------------YOU ARE HERE!

Stop 5 - Sharon

Stop 6 - Bree

Make sure you head on over to the Snap and Scrap Forum where you can check out the Cybercrop Challenges for the weekend. And don't forget to checkout Bree's thread "It's all the same challenge" where you can download her gorgeous mini kit and participate in the challenge to win her brand spanking new kit called LAVENDAR MINT-BERRY CREAM if she choses your layout as her fave.

Psst...it's on sale this weekend too for 30% off along with the rest of the Shoppe, so make sure you check out all our fab designers and their goodies.

I'm off to our 1st birthday party - have fun everyone!

Awesome CYBERCROP fun!!!!

2008-11-01T07:03:00.003-04:00

So you remember that Cybercrop that I told you was last weekend? Wel;, it's THIS WEEKEND - happening NOW!!! So pop on over to Snap and Scrap for a BUNCH of freebies, challenges with fabulous prizes and a whole lot of fun!

Later on I'll be back with my part of a Progressive Challenge.... think speed scrap, but at your own pace, and you get to pick up a piece of a free kit at each blog you stop at. Once you post your LO, you get a posting bonus! Come back in a few hours for details ;)

It's my little guy's 1st birthday party today, so lots of celebrating for me today!

I won! I won! What a cool way to start celebrating DSD!

2008-10-31T19:32:00.003-04:00

So, DigiscrapChat had a Scrap Orchard grab bag reveal with a gorgeous kit called "Comfy Cozy" and right at the end is a hybrid recipe book that really caught my eye - it's gorgeous. So I left a comment mentioning that, and I WON A $5 GC to Scrap Orchard - wooohooo! Spendy Spendy! LOL

In between getting ready for my little guy's 1st birthday party which is tomorrow, I plan on finishing a QP freebie for you all, so I'll be back...

Gorgeous freebie collab kit, and a QP freebie from me!

2008-10-28T10:47:00.011-04:00

Three of my most favorite designers on the planet (and not only are they fab designers, but they are the most wonderful people too!) have gotten together and created a super collab freebie for us all. It's called "Putting on the Glitz" and is a big one! Mel Hains, Charlie Hudson and Vicki Parker have really done a great job and this kit is perfect for everything from those little girl dress-up moments to scrapping those photies of a bride getting ready. It's a FREEBIE so go grab the parts from each of their blogs!

Here's my LO:

I love this photo of my dd when she was 3. It's just one that will remain a favorite amongst the thousands I take of my kids, because it captures her vivacious personality, her childlike innocence, her beautiful blue eyes... And just to show how well they all work together, I finished my LO, and only then realized that I had used one part from each of the designers - the paper from Mel, the frame from Vicki, and the flowers (one recolored) from Charlie!

Created with this lovely kit:

Here's a QP for you :) You can download it here!

I posted this weekend that there was a CyberCrop at Snap and Scrap. Oops. I didn't realize it has been moved to this coming weekend, as part of the Digital Scrapbooking Day. So head on over there and register on the forum because it's bound to be a blast. They really are a wonderful group of people. And don't forget to introduce yourself - I'd love to say hi!

And...TADA! I got an award! I will be posting about that a little later, since I want to do my part, and right now I have to run and tend to my kids. I have spent FAR too much time here today ;)

A Fall QP Freebie for you

2008-10-25T19:43:00.005-04:00

I forgot to post the freebie for Mel's kit "Julie's Frolicksome Fall" - oops! I did a QP from my LO and you can grab it here.

Hope you enjoy it!

FAB stuff, FUN stuff and FREE stuff!

2008-10-24T19:26:00.010-04:00

This is going to be one loaded post ;) Of course, you're going to have to go all the way to the end for the freebie!

Firstly for the fab stuff! The lovely Mel has some new kits in her shoppe. They are all kits named for CT members, they are all lovely...and each one has a free sampler (pretty much a mini kit) that you can pick up at Snap and Scrap!

This is my LO with "Julie's Frolicsome Fall"

This is "Theresa's Japanese Garden"

And "Vicki's Carnival"

And now for some fun stuff!!!

Snap and Scrap has a fun CyberCrop going on this weekend, with all kinds of Challenges and other events. Be sure to join them at the forum any time you can make it - just pop in and out from today until Sunday...

And while we're talking about Snap and Scrap, their newsletter is really fabulous with tutorials, ideas, freebies - it's really worth the read and not filled with fluff etc. I highly recommend that you subscribe to it. The bonus is that if you subscribe to the newsletter you will go into a drawing to win a $5 shoppe gift certificate! The draw will take place next week (so hurry - don't forget and then remember when it's over like I would!) and the winner will be notified by email. Subscribe HERE!

...and some FREE stuff!

He he he - we all love freebies ;) As I promised earlier, here is my QP for Charlie's "Shabby Old Blues" kit. While I was making it, I placed some black frames for you to place your photos (which really can go anywhere on the page) and then you can delete them. However, after I put my photos in them, I thought they look rather nice framed in the simple black line on this page, and you might want to keep them. Anyway, the QP is layered, so you can choose to keep them or delete them as you want!

Download

Well, I hope I haven't forgotten anything - I tend to do that far too often ;) Since this was SUCH a long post, I'm going to save zoo school and zoo school photos for tomorrow.

Have a blessed weekend!

"Shabby Old Blues" - it's gorgeous and it's available!

2008-10-24T07:45:00.005-04:00

We're off to Zoo School (more about that later) but I just wanted to let you know that Charlie's new kit "Shabby Old Blues" is available in her shoppe at Snap and Scrap and it's gorgeous!

Here's a preview:

I've been waiting for a kit to scrap these blue eyes, and here it is!

Well, I have to run if we're going to be on time, but I'll be back later with a freebie quickpage!

Isn't she beautiful!?

2008-10-20T20:17:00.002-04:00

So, I'm sure you've noticed that I like to change my blog decor, but it's a little more than that because right now it's like an itch I can't scratch! I'm looking for something rich, sultry, romantic, not frilly, deep.... and for now, this is it! Thank you so much to Dnadryad for her kit "Hawaii Dark Side"

This weekend we went for a walk, and I got some beautiful photos. My favorite, however, is of my daughter...

I look forward to doing a LO with this one! There were some other fun ones too...

I think the next few months with Thanksgiving, birthdays and Christmas are going to hold some precious memories!

Birthday Party Invitation hybrid tutorial

2008-10-19T19:56:00.006-04:00

Thank you to everyone for your ideas on getting scrapbooks done IRL. Some really good input there and I really will take it to heart!

I did a hybrid tutorial for the Snap and Scrap September newsletter, with step by step instructions for an invitation with a dimensional element. Of course, you could always go to town and add a bunch of hybrid elements, but this is good for a start!

Birthday Party Invitation Tutorial

Disclaimer: Don’t try to do this at home while trying to dodge a 11 month old – your photos come out not-so-great and you lose things as your supplies are flung around the room!

Step 1
Download and customize the templates (designed to print on 8.5” x 11”) with graphics to match the theme of your birthday party. Our party theme is “The Mighty Jungle” so I’ve used the kit “Going to the Zoo” by Mel Hains which is available in the shoppe at Snap and Scrap.

Invitation Template Preview [Click on the image to download the template]

Buttons Template Preview (I'm making extra buttons because I know I'll need them later, or can use them for decor) [Click on the image to download the template]

Envelope Template Preview [Click on the image to download the template]

Supplies you will need:

Foam sheets (or sticky foam shapes)
Your customized invitation, envelope sheets and buttons
Scissors
Pencil
Cutting tool
Glue
Envelopes

Step 2:

Cut out your buttons
Trace around them onto the foam board/shapes

Step 3:

Cut out your circles. [TIP: angle your knife so that the edge of the foam circle doesn’t show once you stick it onto the invitation]

Step 4:

Stick your button onto the foam circle, and stick the circle onto your invitation. [TIP: You might want to use a glue gun to stick it onto the invitation to give it a strong hold.]

Step 5:

Cut out your envelope sheets and stick them onto your envelopes.

Well, with all the celebrations and parties that come with the season, I hope that you have found this useful and that you can adapt it for Fall celebrations, Thanksgiving gatherings and Christmas parties too!

I have another hybrid tutorial coming up in the November newsletter at Snap and Scrap, so make sure you head on over there and subscribe to their newsletter - there's some really awesome stuff in it! And I'll be back next month with a tutorial on Party Placeholders!

How do YOU do your heritage scrapbooks?

2008-10-18T12:41:00.003-04:00

Up till now my LO's have been random, based on getting my assignments done, and my scrapping for "me" has come to a grinding halt. I'm getting serious about creating a scrapbook for each of my children, and a family scrapbook for each of them, too. Also a fabulous "Book of Me" inspired by the wonderful new "A-Z of You" twist to the Sketch Challenge at Snap and Scrap!

So what do you include in your kids' books, aside from the obvious firsts?

Ultrasounds
Preggo belly
First day
First step
First tooth
Siblings
First home
First pet
Mom & dad
Grandparents
First vacation
First day of school
First word

Any other ideas? Help me - I'm idea challenged

Also, do you tend to make the LO's matching, using kits with similar color schemes/themes OR do you change it up and make each LO completely different from the one before? And HOW do you catch up!? I'm 7 years behind!!!

Can't wait to hear/SEE what you all are doing!

Freebie QP with Charlie's vintage "Wedding Treasures" kit!

2008-10-17T20:18:00.006-04:00

Charlie's lovely vintage Wedding Treasures kit is available in her store at Snap and Scrap today!

I haven't had time to scrap a new LO, but I have made a QP from the last one I did, and you can get it for free here, or just click on the preview!

OK, I'm going to go lie down now - I typed this all right after falling down a flight of stairs on my behind. And now it's reallly starting to hurt! I'm off to find me a little TLC ;)

Out of my comfort zone!

2008-10-16T18:14:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I tend to find myself scrapping "similar" pages, although with our designers creating such varied and wonderful kits, it's easy to customize them and add that something different.

However, this week I was challenged to do something completely not me! Brianna Cox's "Ferntree Fairies" kit is gorgeous, and I just couldn't resist it. In spite of the fact that I don't usually go for anything ethereal. I had SO much fun, and highly recommend this extremely versatile kit!

And just to show how versatile the kit is, here's something completely different!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more LO's and some quickpage freebies!

Freebie blog bling - Vicki's Doodle Grunge kit!

2008-10-12T10:50:00.007-04:00

OK, so Vicki is one of my favorite designers. She was the first blog I came across when I started digiscrapping, and I couldn't believe how much quality stuff she just gave away! I was a downloading maniac that first weekend ;) Now I am privileged to be on a CT with her, and still regularly (like, every day ;) check her blog. You're wonderful, girl! Mwah!

On Friday, she gave away SUCH a cute kit - "Doodle Grunge". It's fun, with great colors and something different. She has so graciously let me put up some blog bling as a freebie for you all (I used the word Template in the title 'cos I couldn't get "bling" straight, but it is not a full template - just some pretty bling ;):

Background

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/AWPDoodleGrungeBkg.jpg

Header
a href="http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/AWPDoodleGrungeHeader.png

I certainly had fun with this one, and if you use it I'd love to see it on your blog (and I'm sure Vicki would too!) so please stop back here and leave a comment so I can come and visit your blog :)

How funny is this - my very own CHICKEN kit, Mel's other stunners and FREEBIES!

2008-10-10T19:53:00.009-04:00

My oh-so-wonderful designer, Mel, is doing PERSONALIZED kits for each of her CT members. Talk about spoiled. All we had to do was give her a color scheme, and she came up with kits for us. She also does freebie samplers for all her kits and they're available in her shoppe. What a gal!

There are TWO freebies for you in this post - see if you can find them...LOL! You'll have to scroooolllll down ;)

I got my very own pet kit - for my chickens! LOL. Not only do my family think I'm nuts for having chickens, but now my fellow CTM's do too ;) Seriously, it's such a cute kit, and great for those chicken/farmyard photies. It's called Caryn's Backyard Playground.

And here's introducing Tinkerbell, Clarabell and Liberty Bell!

She also did a lovely kit for her mom called "Hannah Sings the Moody Blues"

This is a classy, deep, serious kit and I really enjoyed working with it. I especially love the metal swirls. I used it to scrap a wedding picture of two of my wonderful friends:

Credits here

I also made a blog layout with it:

You can get the background here and the header here.

Last, but not least, Mel did a kit for the lovely Nicola who spreads so much encouragement and brings lots of smiles around the digiscrapping world - she really deserved this beautiful kit!

For this one I made up a blog template:

You can get the blank header (to customize with your own blog title) here and you can get the background here.

Well done if you made it all the way to the end! There are some real gems to be had, and don't forget to pick up the freebie samplers in Mel's Shoppe.

New freebie blog bling for you!

2008-10-09T23:27:00.007-04:00

I have added a link to instructions on how to install the blog bling, and I have TWO new blog looks for you!

The first is to celebrate Charlie's first kit which goes on sale in her shoppe at Snap and Scrap tomorrow!

You can get the background here and the header here.

Mel also has some lovely new kits, and I'll be back with some more LO's and blog bling for you tomorrow!

How to install a new blog layout to your blog

2008-10-09T20:22:00.007-04:00

Here are the instructions for installing the blog layouts (otherwise known as blog bling, web wear etc!) that you'll find on my blog.

1) Click on the blog background you like, and save it to your computer. Upload it to photobucket and then do the same with the header. [IF you have a larger/widescreen screen, upload the background file to photobucket using the "1 mb" setting, and use your own link... The blog bling should fit your screen :)

2) Set your template to the white Minima (to do this, click on "Customize" on the bar at the top, then click on "Layout" and then "Pick New Template"

3) Once you have done that, click on "Edit HTML"

4) You'll see a whole bunch of text in a box. Scroll to where you see:
body {background:$bgcolor;margin:0; color:$textcolor; font:x-small Georgia Serif; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; text-align: center;}

5) Replace this part with:
body {background:$bgcolor;background-image:url(direct link);background-position: center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed;margin:0; color:$textcolor; font:x-small Georgia Serif; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; text-align: center;}

6) Go to your photobucket account and copy the link where it says "Direct Link" underneath the background you saved. PASTE IT INTO THE TEXT ABOVE, replacing the words direct link, but leaving the parenthesis ( ) in place.

7) Preview the template, and if you like what you see, save it.

8) To install the header, click on "Page Elements" and then click on edit" in the header box. Make sure "instead of title and description" is selected, and check the checkbox for "shrink to fit." Browse to the header file on your computer, and save.

9) To change the colors on your blog to match, click on "Fonts and Colors" and you can customize your background color etc there.

You should be all set!

Charlie's first kit & HUMP DAY at Snap and Scrap!

2008-10-08T12:39:00.006-04:00

Charlie's first kit (well, the first in her shoppe ;) is a winner. This is such a pretty kit! I had the perfect photo for it...the shades of pink/gray etc. Just lovely!

...and here's my LO!

Don't forget that this gorgeous kit is on sale at Snap and Scrap this Friday!

It's also HUMP DAY at Snap and Scrap! That means certain kits are a whole ~~~~$1~~~~ Gees that's cheap! I know that Mel's Salsa kit is included in the sale. It's WELL worth it.

Well, I might be back for another post later (maybe with a surprise ;) but for now, I have to run the kids to American Sign Language lessons - very cool to watch ;)

New CT & Funny hubby comment (don't we all just love those!)

2008-10-08T00:16:00.001-04:00

I'm SO excited to announce that I am part of the CT for the lovely miss Charlie of Charlie Digiscraps fame! She has astounded me with her development as a designer in such a short time, especially over the last couple of months, and it's a privilege to create for her :) She has been offered a shoppe at Snap and Scrap (note the new .tv address for Snap and Scrap - www.snapandscrap.tv) and to celebrate she is having a sale starting on Friday on her first kit:

I can promise you that this first kit of her is gorgeous - you'll want it and you'll be back for more! LOL!

So I sat down at the computer this morning to check my usual forums, blogs, email etc, and my hubby walked in and said, "So I tried to watch a movie on Netflix on demand last night..." and I totally knew what was coming ;) I had already started giggling. He said, "And it said I needed 2GB and there's not enough space! So I searched for files over 10mb, and there popped up a whole lot of files with girly names, so I knew it was your stuff. So I just thought I would zip them up and - what do you know - THEY'RE ALREADY ZIPPED!? What the heck are they!?"

At this point I was just about ROFL. I told him they are high quality graphics and he said, "Digiscrapping! There's never ever going to be enough space, is there?"

And now I was laughing so hard at the expression on his face, and loving the fact that I know he loves my quirkiness and what I do, and he would never ask me to take them off.

Even though I'm using his computer to store it all on, and my computer to work on it ;) I'm so blessed to have him and I will always think he's SUCH a hottie ;)

It's been a long time since I scrapped a page just because, and I had fun doing this one. I used Ethan's Backyard by Ziggle Designs and thoroughly enjoyed the more serious boy kit. Even though I felt like a teenager doodling "hottie" on my boyfriends photie - remember those days!?

Well, I better try to get some shut-eye...my 11 month old has a cough and keeps waking up :( I hate to listen to my kids coughing - it's so sad! So as the fall moves on here in the US, and temps are getting COLD (it was 10 deg today, so don't try to tell me it's not cold yet ;) I hope you all
have good health all winter long!

Happy Cake Day & some QP freebies!

2008-10-05T21:46:00.013-04:00

Happy birthday to my fellow CTM's Vicki (today) and Erin (on Wednesday)! Hope you guys are spoiled rotten ;) To celebrate, the lovely Mel made a kit for them called "Happy Cake Day" - it's so bright and happy (as usual!)

And to celebrate over here, I have made two quickpages from my layouts that you could put together with pages you do to make a birthday album!

Click here to download (Sorry about the wrong link - it's been fixed!)

Click here to download

I hope you enjoy them, and I would love to see other LO's you do, so please send them to Mel so that she can showcase them on her blog! If you complete other LO's that would "match" nicely to these two to make an album then please send me the links...I'd love to see them. And don't forget to leave a comment for Mel - it's really encouraging to hear from you!

Blog bling freebies, LO's tons of kits, a CT call - WOW!

2008-10-03T14:37:00.007-04:00

This is going to be one HUGE post! Where to start!? Well, first of all, I'll mention that those of you who read all the way to the end will be rewarded with some blog bling freebies ;) (And I swear, one day you're going to read "blog bloing" and that's because I type that soooo often that I'm going to get tired of fixing it!)

Firstly, Mel has been scrapping like a crazy woman. Does she ever sleep? Does she scrap in her sleep? Don't know, but she somehow gets it done and it's a mission to keep up with her! She has been so wonderful, and created a kit for each of her CTM's. Is that cool or what?

Click on any of the previews to go to her shop to get them!

Three new kits, with some freebie samplers, all in her store:
First, we have the rich, elegant but fun "Erin's Pinwheels and Polka Dots"

I created blog bling with this, which you can snag as a freebie if you scroll (or rather, read ;) all the way to the bottom...

Next we have "Louanne Goes Ooh La La!"

Here's my LO (and there's blog bling for this too!)

And lastly we have "good night! Sleep tight!" which is perfect for all those cute sleeping baby photos:

Here's my LO:

As you know, my CTM buddy, Charlie has also been a disigning machine. She has some FAB kits, and the SUPERBULOUS news is that she has a CT CALL out!

Click the image to go to her blog and see what a privilege it would be to be on her CT!

Congrats to all who made it this far! LOL! And now for the blog bling freebies!

You can see "Erin's Pinwheels and Polka Dots" live on her blog!

The link for the background is:
http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/ErinBkgWrapper.jpg

The link for the header is:
http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/ErinHeader_Blank.png

And now for "Louann Goes Ooh La La!"

*Note* The header does not come with the text - that is for preview purposes only ;)

The link for the background is:
http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/LouanneBkg.jpg

And the link for the header is:
http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn445/_SouthAfrican_/Blog%20Templates/LouanneHeader.png

Enjoy!

Gorgeous FREEBIE! Paper Princess kit

2008-09-30T21:24:00.004-04:00

ETA: If any of you haven't voted for Charlie, I would really appreciate it if you would. I took a REALLY good look at all the kits, and I could honestly choose her as my favorite, and didn't have to vote just because I know her ;) :lol:
At this moment, there are two kits tied for second, and two kits tied for third. And there's only 1 vote between 2nd and 3rd!!!
Since there are only going to be 3 new SASY ladies, I really hope you can go and vote for Charlie (you have to register first - quick and painless!!!) because it would be such a shame for her to miss it by ONE vote!!!!!!
Thanks, girls :mrgreen:

Charlie has outdone herself with the gorgeous "Paper Princess" kit. It's HUGE and completely versatile. Our talented CT buddy Nicole has even managed to scrap a BOY layout with it. Wow! I absolutely love it, and suggest that you go over to Charlie's blog quick to download it.

Now, Charlie created this kit as her entry in the Next SASY Lady Contest, so if you download it, please please please make sure you vote for her! You have to register first, and then go here to vote. There have been thousands of downloads and under 100 votes :( She is one of the top 3, but it's close, so PLEASE make the effort to vote!

Here's the preview:

And here's my LO:

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!

2008-09-28T23:23:00.002-04:00

Mel and Vicki have a cute FREEBIE collab kit called "Raining Cats and Dogs" starting tomorrow. I didn't think I would be able to scrap with it, because I don't have a cat or a dog! However I got my mom to send me an old photo, and I managed a LO. When I looked more closely at the kit, I noticed that you could actually scrap lots with it, not just cats and dogs - it has so many gorgeous rich colors in it!

Here's my LO:
Go to their blogs to download it (Mel and Vicki), and remember to leave a comment - designers are so encouraged by feedback, it inspires them to make MORE FREEBIES! LOL!

There are so many more exciting things coming this week, including a HYBRID PROJECT TUTORIAL from me! Stay tuned and have a wonderful week...

My LO got picked for Kim B's contest!

2008-09-22T21:31:00.007-04:00

The lovely Kim is having a contest. Well, the contest is over now. These showings of our house are messing with my schedule and my head - not enough digi scrapping going on! To enter her contest, you had to pick your favorite love/wedding/anniversary LO's from the DSO gallery - AND JEN PICKED MINE! WOW!

Click on the image to go to my DSO gallery!

I am so honored and it's so encouraging to receive feedback - sometimes I wonder about what I'm doing, ya know!? Anyway, all that to say that it really does make a difference when you leave comments for designers and scrappers alike :)

I am so itching to do some designing. However, with 3 kids (one of them 10 months old!), a business, homeschooling and two CT commitments, I'm not sure I'll ever have the time. I'd LOVE to hear how you all juggle your time to revel in the luxury of digiscrapping!

Mel is on a ROLL & Charlie is joining her ;)

2008-09-21T22:05:00.006-04:00

Has it really been 5 days since I blogged? Oops. Things are really busy around here with our house on the market. We've had 15 showings in 1 week!

Mel has got some serious mojo going - Wow! She has THREE new kits over at her shoppe at Snap and Scrap! She is a designing machine ;) They are all so different and sooo much fun.

My favorite is "Little Digger"
I can't believe that with two boys I could only find one photo for this one!!! Yikes! Gotta get my boys diggin' LOL. Here it is:

She has also done the very cute "Cupcake Nation" and "Tweetie Pie"...

And these are my LO's

My fellow CTM, Charlie, has designed a gorgeous kit for the Stone Accents Studio SASY Lady designer contest. Go to her blog to download it for FREE - all 33 elements and 42 papers of it. Sheesh!

I did this layout with it:

Hope you've enjoyed these fabulous kits!

Quick! Quick! What a STEAL! (and a Freebie, of course)

2008-09-16T08:53:00.007-04:00

Mel Hains is having 50% off selected items in her store... every Friday!

She has got some gorgeous kits...like "My Other Half" which is perfect for the guys in your life:

Here's a layout I did with it:

I made a QP freebie for you to snag...click on the preview to download it.

Well, I hope you found some inspiration here today...head on over to Mel's shoppe to get some Mojo ;)

New blog bling - Allie Brown does it again!

2008-09-15T23:38:00.002-04:00

OOooooo how I love Allie!!! It is the most fabulous thing ever to pay a visit to her blog and "bling" - I have a new look! There are so many wonderful graphics to choose from and it's ooh so easy!

To top it off, Allie so kindly took the time to answer a question when I asked her about columns in a blog. Now how sweet is that!

So pop over to visit her blog, and get yourself some prettyness - it's such fun!

Freebie QP with Amy Riley's "Live Out Loud" kit

2008-09-14T20:02:00.007-04:00

Here's a QP made from my LO with Amy's "Live Out Loud" kit. Dont' forget to stop by her blog and let her know what a gorgeous kit this is...

Here is a preview of the QP:

Download

A fab, fun kit from Amy Riley!

2008-09-14T18:03:00.005-04:00

I had such a blast making a LO from Amy Riley's kit "Live Out Loud." I am definitely a color person, and the richest, boldest colors really get me going ;)

You can get Amy's kits at her shoppe at Snap and Scrap (which, by the way, is now www.snapandscrap.tv)

Here's my LO:

My Old Handbag Freebie

2008-09-06T12:20:00.008-04:00

Mel has created a cute kit in honor of her Mom's birthday (Happy Birthday, Moe!) called "My Old Handbag". It's perfect for those vintage or sepia photos you still need to scrap ;)

Here's my LO:

Here's a QP from my LO...hope you like it!

Download it here!

Please make sure to go to Mel's blog and leave her some love...

New Blog Bling, an award and Snap and Scrap is down...

2008-09-04T22:22:00.005-04:00

I said I wanted new blog bling, but I have been too busy to even think about it. I was excited to find Allie Brown's Layouts - she designs blog bling and features one of my favorite designers, Vicki.

So I have a new look, and I can change it as often as I like in the blink of an eye! Woohoo! Hope you like it :)

And onto some happy dance news - I got an award! The lovely Theresa nominated me for the Briliante Blog Award. I know some of you girls are old hats, and have had it many times, but this is my first ;)

The rules are :

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from. (Did that above!)
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

So the seven blogs I'm nominating are:
1. Pimp Your Scrapbook (She's had it before but she deserves it again!)
2. Mel Hains (she's also had it before and deserves it again ;)
3. Vicki (ummm, same as the other two ;)
4. Sharon (she must have gotten this before!)
5. Lori (another woman who deserves this many times over!)
6. Summer Driggs (This one's in honor of Claire - little princess heroine!)
7. Lori (Just love her site!)

A little bit of disturbing news is that I haven't been able to get my Snap and Scrap fixx for THREE days! Yup, their site is down :( Gillian (the owner) is working on it and hopefully they'll be up and running soon. In the mean time, you can visit Mel's blog - she's one of their designers, and you can also visit her CTM's blogs (she lists them) to get a taste of some S&S stuff.

It's the weekend and my man actually has two whole days off. We just put our house on the market, so lots to do, but I'm feeling the photography itch, so I might try to get some nice pics over the next few days...

Happy weekend!

My Other Half kit

2008-08-30T22:33:00.006-04:00

Our wonderful Mel Hains has released new kits in her store today! I've been waiting to tell you all about it, but my PC has been giving me major problems. I think I hear Mac calling...

Anyway! On to the important stuff! Mel's Kit called "My Other Half" is perfect for the LO's you want to do of your man...

And here's my LO!

I am hoping to do a QP from my LO and have it available soon. I'll keep you posted!

I know I just redesigned my blog, but...

2008-08-27T13:43:00.002-04:00

...to me my blog bling is like an outfit, and I want a new one every day ;) Ok, maybe not every day, but I'm needing a new one now.

See, the issue I'm having is that I think I want a plain background behind the LO's and photos. The one I have right now is far too busy. So I'm going to make a new one. Or, if anyone has one they want me to try on for size (with credits of course!) let me know . I'm up for anything. Almost.

Got to go pick up J's sippy cup off the floor. Again.

Pool Party with Cafe Del Mar!

2008-08-26T21:12:00.006-04:00

Mel and Vicki have released their latest colab kit called "Cafe Del Mar", and this is my LO! Go to their blogs to grab it here and here...

I'm always the last to know!

2008-08-25T22:44:00.004-04:00

I just found out that one of my favorite designers, Vicki (A Work in Progress), has a CT Call out! Now HOW did I miss that!? I mean, she advertised on WEDNESDAY. Today is MONDAY. I just found out today.

It seems that my penchant for always being the last to know is not an IRL thing only, but extends to my digi world too. *sigh*

Well, in honor of her CT call, I have created a LO of two of my favorite subjects, using FOUR of Vicki's kits! I used parts of Blue Jeans, Baby Boy, Pink Coffee Cream, and About A Boy. All Vicki's kits are fabulous and she generously offers many full kit freebies on her blog. I would head over there ASAP if I were you!

So, here it is:

Hope you like it, Vicki!

New Hampshire

2008-08-24T22:12:00.004-04:00

We just got back from a fabulous weekend in New Hampshire. Of course, I took zillions of photos! Hope to scrap some of them in the next few weeks.

For now, I have done a LO with one of my 4 favorite subjects ;)

My first kit!

2008-08-18T20:48:00.008-04:00

What could be more inspirational than Kim B's Color Challenge over at DSO?

Her colors this month resulted in my first kit ever :) Woohoo!

You can download it here! [Password is forest]

If you do download it, I would really appreciate your comments on this first-time kit!

Boy. I've been busy!

2008-08-17T19:59:00.007-04:00

On top of working on a chicken coop, setting up our CT hang out, taking care of my family etc etc, I have managed to do quite a few new LO's!

I think this is one of the prettiest papers I've ever seen. This pic needed nothing else! It's from the kit "Pink Satin" by Kylie Moore and you can get it from her store at SnapandScrap.net

The elements in the "Pink Satin" kit are lovely, and I added some to the above LO.

Using the same kit, I did a LO of the beautiful Sunflowers that are flowering in our vegetable garden right now:

A friend of mine will be saying goodbye to her hubby in September as he heads out for a tour of duty. I did this LO using Kylie Moore's "Rich Dusk" kit, also available at her store at www.snapandscrap.net:

Next week I'll be featuring a new designer, so stay tuned!

Woohoo - a new CT!

2008-08-15T21:51:00.003-04:00

I am SO excited to announce that I am on another CT for the FABULOUS Mel Hains! This girls designs are gorgeous and I'm privileged to be able to spotlight them. I hope to get lots of scrapping done over the next few days, and I will post them here.

I promise.