Scraps and Blessings

New Challenge on the GG Blog!

2010-07-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

I am leading another Recipe Challenge over on the Golden Girls blog. Check it out, one random winner will win a gift card to her store!

http://www.ggdigitaldesigns.com/blog/?p=6

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd highlight a few kits that I am in love with for this 4th of July!

Golden Girls has a new one called Lil Firecracker, available at Scrap Matters:

Bella Gypsy's Red White and You, available at Elemental Scraps & Gotta Pixel:

And Jessica Edwards' Firecracker, available at Elemental Scraps:

ES Retiring Product Sale!

2010-06-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Lots of great deals! (image is linked!)

Happy Birthday, Wendy!

2010-06-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wendy of WM[Squared] Designs is celebrating a birthday! Her store at at Scrapmatters is 34% off today and tomorrow only. This is an amazing deal, so don't miss it! I'm guesting for her this month and so far have created a couple of layouts for some of her newer products:

Using WM[Squared]'s Brothers & Sisters: Bundle:

Using Sea, Sand & Sun by the SM Design Team, and WM[Squared]'s Fabulously Negative - V.5 templates:

Wendy has a fantastic and versatile birthday kit coming out on Friday at Scrap Matters, and you should definitely check it out. I can't show you the layout I made with it quite yet, but I have to say it's my FAVORITE, versatile birthday kit ever!

Last but certainly not least, Wendy's CT has created an amazing template blog train for you. That's 18 free templates! Head over to Wendy's blog to begin. Happy Downloading! :)

Inspired By Challenge & a Freebie!!

2010-06-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Head over to the ES Blog to snag an adorable mini by Meredith Cardall, and play along in our Inspired By challenge this month! Click here!

ES Goodies

2010-06-13T18:58:00.001-07:00

Have you checked out Elemental Scraps lately? There are some great new products out today, and the Color Play is amazing this month!

Here are some layouts I've done recently, click on them to check out the product in the ES Shoppe!

June Challenges at ES

2010-06-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Even though the fabulous May Daze is over, Elemental Scraps is still hosting a few challenges this month. Today's challenge includes a template freebie by Angie Kovacs. You don't want to miss this one!

And here's a layout I made with it:

What are you waiting for? Head on over to snag it! :)

Funk-a-dilly!

2010-06-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Golden Girls has a new kit out, called Funk-a-dilly, and a new alpha! I love the colors and whimsical elements in this kit:

Here's a layout I did with both products:

GG Recipe Challenge

2010-05-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting the recipe challenge over at the Golden Girls' blog. Please join in, the prize is a $5 gift card to one random winner!

Here's the recipe you'll need to follow for your layout:

And the layout I made from the recipe:

Check the blog post for the rules! http://ggdigitaldesigns.blogspot.com/2010/05/recipe-challenge-525.html

May Daze Craze

2010-05-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

Elemental Scraps is replacing its normal monthly challenge system this month with a fabulous May Daze celebration! Challenges will be posted randomly on the blog all month long, with freebies for you to download and play with! There are some really big prizes involved, including gift certificates to Persnickety Prints, a Wacom tablet, and and an external hard drive! The first challenge and freebie was posted today, head on over to check it out!

http://www.elementalscraps.com/blog/

Happy iNSD From Me!

2010-04-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a little template for you. I am sneaking it in before April is up! Click image to download. Please note my TOU in the sidebar!

Grab This One!

2010-04-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Golden Girls has a grab bag out for international Scrapbooking Day, it's perfect for boy or girl pages, Project 365, and just day to day layouts! It's only $3.99, snatch it up!

Here's a layout I made with the contents:

She also has her entire store at 30% off, an amazing sale!

You Don't Want to Miss This One!

2010-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

Elemental Scraps is having a HUGE sale for international Scrapbooking Day, 40% off all products, including the tons of new releases today. They also have a collab that is free with purchase if you spend $10! Look at how chock full this thing is!

Happy iNSD and Happy Scrapping!

Bella Obsession

2010-04-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

I am a HUGE Bella Gypsy fan. A fabulous sister duo, Lena and Tabatha crank out at least one new kit a week, usually more, plus amazingly versatile templates, and I can't snap them up fast enough. This week I was honored to be chosen for a customer spotlight on their blog!

http://bellagypsydesigns.blogspot.com/2010/04/aprils-customer-spotlight.html

Daydreaming of Spring

2010-04-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood to take and scrap some spring photos the other day, so I snapped some of my daughter watering my garden plants, something she insists on doing every day! Golden Girls has a girly springy kit that was perfect for the photo I took!

In this layout: Golden Girls' Daydreamer, Brown Plastic Alpha by Golden Girls, fence from Golden Girls' Strawberry Patch, date stamp by Darcy Baldwin

Destop Challenge at ES

2010-04-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

I'm leading the Desktop challenge over at ES this month, please join us!

Here's the desktop I created for May:

Spring Has Sprung at ES

2010-04-12T06:04:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've highlighted the new releases at Elemental Scraps, but I specifically wanted to do so today because I've been in the mood to scrap Spring pages, and today ES is full of new springtime goodies to get your pages scrapped.

First, check out the April Color Play. I love the color swatch, truly good for boy or girl pages!

I scrapped a photo of my daughter trying her hardest to climb up onto the fort on our playset in the backyard. She will definitely have it mastered by summer I think! I used various color play items from BZB Designs, Connie Prince, and genia Beana.

Bella Gypsy has a fantastic rainy day kit called Drizzle Drops that I can't wait to get my hands on. I love how the colors would be great for baby boy pages too!

Litabells Designs has a breathtakingly beautiful kit called A Mother's Love. After this post I'm going to dig through my photos, hoping there was a Mother's Day that I have yet to scrap!

Spinky Dink Scraps has a fun girly spring kit, jam packed with elements. Rainbows, birds, flowers, grass, butterflies... what more could you want from a spring kit?

Happy Spring Scrapping!

Easter Scrapped!

2010-04-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

The very BEST thing about digi scrapping vs. paper scrapping... I can get layouts done so quickly after the photos are taken! Just a week later, and Easter is scrapped!

Kits used are: Jelly Beanies by Bella Gypsy & Connie Prince, My Honey Bunny by Connie Prince, and The Hunt Is On by Golden Girls Digital Designs.

Golden Girls Turns Three

2010-04-09T12:10:00.001-07:00

And Leslie is having a big sale to celebrate!

She also has a new release today, Party On:

And here's a layout I made with it, I love the bright colors, great for both boy and girl pages!

Rainy Day Freebie Kit

2010-04-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Golden Girls released a fantastic freebie kit called Rainy Day. It's in the store right now, go snag it! (Image is linked).

Here's a layout I made with it and also Golden Girls' Metal Outline Alpha, which coordinates perfectly!

Date Night from Golden Girls

2010-03-26T05:44:00.001-07:00

Golden Girls has a new kit out, perfect for scrapping fancy dinners, bowling, date night, prom, or movie photos! I love the sophisticated colors this kit has! And just look at that adorable little black dress element!

And check out these glitter papers that coordinate! So elegant!

Images are linked! :)

Designer Spotlight - WM[Squared]

2010-03-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

I was spotlighted over at the WM[Squared] blog today with a layout I created using her Beach Bum kit. I am seriously honored, Wendy is one of my favorite designers over at Scrap Matters. I thought I'd return the favor by posting about her on my blog!

Check out her blog here and her amazing designs here!

Choo Choo!

2010-03-22T06:43:00.001-07:00

All aboard the blog train! The template CT that I'm on, Le Pingouin Designs, and the CT for Spinky Dink Scraps came together for one amazing freebie blog train. We used Spinky Dink's Little Engineer and Le Pinguoin Designs' brag book templates to create a huge brag book for you!

Here's my contribution, click preview to download:

And here are all the stops on the blog train!

Adi
Lindsay
Lisa
Lynn
Glynis
Lizzy <------ you are here!
Marla
Crystal
Sarah
Jamie
Chel

Enjoy! :)

A "Golden" Opportunity!

2010-03-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the cheese factor in the title, but I am super excited to announce I was accepted to create for one of my favorite designers EVER, the Golden Girls! I absolutely love every single product Leslie cranks out. I am still in shock that she offered me a position on her team! Here's a layout I did for her amazing Easter kit, "The Hunt Is On". It's available at Scrap Matters and on her own website found here.

This is an older photo that I hadn't scrapped yet, probably because I really don't like the way I look in it. I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter at the time. Here's a trick for photos you don't like... turn them black & white!

Scraplift Challenge at ES!

2010-03-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

Starting today through the end of March I am hosting a Scraplift challenge over at ES. Check it out! March 13 Scraplift Challenge: Lifting Holly

Here is the layout I made for it, using Connie Prince's That's My Girl:

March Template Freebie

2010-03-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

I just realized I missed February's freebie template. I hope you can forgive me!

This template is good for Project 365, which I am not doing, but I am a huge fan of multi photo templates. Good ones are hard to find! Again, I have not packaged this template up with anything, so please take note of my TOU in the sidebar. Thanks!

Bloggity Blog

2010-02-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

I made my first ever blog post over at ES. Check it out!

Product Highlight: Date Elements

Collab Week at ES!

2010-02-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

It's collab week at ES and when the designers over there put their heads together they come up with some amazing things!

Here are a few of my faves that I can't wait to get my hands on!

Just look at this adorable girly springy kit from Jessica Edwards and Flutter Expressions. It makes me really hope our snow goes away soon!

And check out this all "boy" kit by simply.scraps and Angie Kovacs. So fun! I know I have a million pictures this would go with!

This Toothbrush Tango kit is adorable, and would go great with boy or girl pages!

There are quite a few other new releases, head over now to check them out, as they will all be 25% off today only! And have a Happy Monday!

Recent Layouts

2010-02-19T07:39:00.001-08:00

Just some layouts I've managed to get in this week. They are all non CT layouts if you can believe it!

This one is my first layout from our vacation to Maui last week. I used Amanda Heimann's Hula Princess and a template by WM Squared for the template challenge at Scrap Matters. You can still download the template for free right here: http://scrapmatters.com/wordpress/2010/02/16/

This was one of those layouts that had a mind of its own. I started out with a TOTALLY different concept, but then started playing around with the wordart in the kit and proceeded to make a bunch of my own too! The kit is Let It Snow by WM Squared.

This layout was actually a redo of an earlier one. It had been one of my first layouts, and I saved it as a JPG and nothing else so I couldn't go back and edit it. This was before I knew how to put shadows on my elements, so it always bothered me that the layout looked so off. I used Pri Rocha's Feeling Moments kit for this page.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

Created using Bella Gypsy's Love Stinks:

Love Is In The Air

2010-02-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

Digi scrapping really gets me in the mood for upcoming holidays. This is probably because for several weeks prior to each holiday designers are busy releasing their holiday creations! Valentine's day is right around the corner and new in the shop today are more Valentine kits. I love the kits that are really versatile, like Connie Prince's Love Letters. She is releasing wordart to coordinate with her kit today, and I used it on this layout:

To further demonstrate my Connie Prince addiction, here's a layout using her What A Wonderful World also new in the shop today. I used an older picture of me and my son on Mother's Day.

This Is Me

2010-02-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I am TERRIBLE about including myself in layouts. The past few months I've been trying hard to hand over the camera. Yesterday I made a layout of JUST ME, shocking!! It was for the template challenge over at Elemental Scraps. You can snag the template here for free if you haven't already!

This was created using Spinky Dink Scraps newest kit, "Little Things". I just love these colors! They remind me of late summer, which was when this picture was taken.

You can find Little Things at ES!

Happy February!

2010-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

I think today could be the biggest new release day at Elemental Scraps ever! The designers have been working their tails off! There's also a new designer in the shop today: Jessica Edwards. She is coming back after taking a break from designing and while I am unfamiliar with her previous work, her kits in the store today are AMAZING.

New releases will be at a discount today only, so be sure to head over! Your Monday is sure to get a little brighter!

Here are a couple of layouts I made using My Party by MCP Designs and Lovey Dovey by Bella Gypsy:

I can't forget to mention the new Color Play for this month. I wasn't sure how the designers would top last month, but I think they did! All items in the Color Play follow the same color scheme, are mix and match, and only $1 each. I snagged the alpha, papers, and elements for Bella Gypsy's That's How He Rolls collection.

Happy Scrapping!

Super Sale at the Sweet Shoppe

2010-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

SSD is having their annual birthday sale and everything is 34% off! And if you are a reader of The Daily Digi you can get an extra 30% off Traci Reed's products. (Hurry, the code expires today!) I just bought three kits and two element packs for $10, which is actually my very first digi scrap purchase of the New Year!

New Release Day @ ES

2010-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday so that means new releases at Elemental Scraps! The designers are truly on a roll lately, I've just seen some of the new February Color Play out next week and it is amazing! Here are some layouts I've done recently using kits new in the shop today!

Oh Baby by Flutter Expressions & Kandy Kane Creations

Love Stinks by Bella Gypsy

Masculine Edge by Flutter Expressions

Connie Prince's Love Birds

Getting Caught Up

2010-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

I think I'm finally caught up with 2009 and 2010 pictures!

Our family just went to see Sesame Street Live. It was such a fun show, and the kids had a blast! This was made using Kandy Kane Creations' Up Up and Away:

I have been wanting to scrap this page for a really long time, but couldn't find the right kit. Connie Prince's Party On was perfect!

And here's an oddity in my scrapping lately - a kit not sold at Elemental Scraps! It's by Chelle's Creations and I LOVE it. My kids made Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas Eve and we ate it right after brunch on Christmas morning. I think we've started a new tradition!

Check out this kit by Bella Gypsy, called Mayhem. It's one of her older ones, but I really love it because it's so versatile! I can see using this for a lot more pictures, especially older ones of my son that I need to go back and scrap.

I went back and did an older New Year's Eve layout because I just couldn't pass up Bella Gypsy's new Martini's at Midnight kit! The colors are perfect for the pictures I had.

Don't forget this Monday is Dollar Day at Elemental Scraps! And one of the kits I have used here will be only $1! ;)

January Template Freebie

2010-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

As promised, I have another template freebie this month! Click image to download.

Here's the layout I created with it:

Enjoy! :)

First ES Challenge

2010-01-08T08:23:00.001-08:00

It's my turn to host a Surprise Challenge this month. Head on over to Elemental Scraps to check it out!

Surprise Challenge: Letter

Right to Work

2009-12-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

It's official, Elemental Scraps made the announcement about the new site Creative Team!

Our official duties don't begin until January but I've gotten right to work! I have a lot of Christmas pages planned so I'm trying to crank some out.

Credits: Dec Color Play: Lucky Smith's Warm Wishes; Dec Color Play: Bella Gypsy's Very Boyish Christmas; template from Connie Prince's Let's Get The Party Started (flipped)

Credits: template from Bella Gypsy's Scrap More template set; Bella Gypsy's Very Girlish Christmas

Best Gig Ever

2009-12-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but I managed to end up on the best creative team ever! The Elemental Scraps site team! I applied a couple of weeks ago not really expecting to get it, but I got the offer on Christmas and accepted! So you are going to be seeing A LOT of ES products, ha ha. I am beyond excited! I will be occasionally leading challenges in their forum, posting on their blog, and of course getting to sample from the designers and show off their amazing work! Today is their last dollar day of the year, so head over for some new great items!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

I know its a bit early, but things are about to get hectic for me so I thought I'd post this now.

My newest template is my gift to you. Click image to download. Please take note of my TOU in my sidebar!! Merry Christmas and God bless!

And here's a layout I made with it using Jennifer Barrette's Boys Are Trouble kit, and some wordart from WM Squared's Life is a Marathon wordart set:

Riding the Wave

2009-12-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

Waves are a bit trendy in digital scrapbooking lately. I was unsure about this look at first, but LePingouin Designs released a new wave template pack and once I started working with them I was HOOKED. I used ALL four templates in this pack already! Click on the template preview to check them out in her store. These fantastic templates are only $2!

Credits: template by Le Pingouin Designs; Bella Gypsy's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie; So Happy alpha by Designs by Sarah; date bits by Plum Dumpling Designs

Credits: template by LePingouin Designs; Bella Gypsy's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie; Bella Gypsy's Cannonball
Credits: Rawr by Ellie Lash; template by LePingouin Designs

Credits: template by Le Pingouin Designs; Santa Season by Melissa Bennett, date bits by Plum Dumpling Designs

Latest Layouts

2009-12-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have been a scrapping fiend lately. I've been trying to get caught up on all the layouts I want to complete for 2009 and I'm almost there!

Here are some I've done lately:

Credits: All Aglow by Traci Reed

Credits: Simply Scraps Grinched

Credits: BZB Designs iTech; template by Bella Gypsy

Credits: Chrissy W template; Elemental Scraps Collab Shop Til Ya Drop

Credits: The Strawberry Patch by Golden Girls; circle stitches from Daydreamer by Julie Marie Designs
Credits: template by Chrissy W; Boogity Boo by Designs by Tater; Little Amy Lou alpha by Lauren Grier; date tag, string and staple by Julie Billingsley

December Template

2009-12-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

I decided to try and make one template a month and give it away as a freebie. Here's a template I made of my Thankful For You layout. Click image to download. Also, please note that I am no longer including a TOU and a preview with my downloads. The TOU can be found in my sidebar on this blog. I realized I love to make templates but don't like taking the time to package everything up. Please only download my designs if you agree to comply with my TOU. Thanks and enjoy! :)

Thanksgiving Scrapped!

2009-12-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

Exactly a week since Thanksgiving and my pictures are scrapped! I was lucky enough to be assigned to Jacabean Designs this month, truly one of my faves from www.scrapable.net. Her Many Blessings kit is perfect for fall and Thanksgiving pictures.

Chugging Along

2009-12-03T08:21:00.000-08:00

I realized something about myself, I am a slowwwww scrapper. Thankfully templates are cheap and in abundance! I managed to get myself onto another CT without applying, ha ha. A friend is starting up her own template design business and I am happy to help out. Free templates, yeah! The designer is Le Pingouin Designs and if you love templates too you should check her out!

Here are the pages I've made so far with her templates:

Lighthouse Love

2009-11-30T09:11:00.000-08:00

I used Sail Away by Project B Designs again, I love this kit! I think it would be good for baby boy pages too, I have some old baby pictures of my son I might use it for. I love lighthouses, and the Split Rock Lighthouse in northern MN is one of my faves.

Sailing Away

2009-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

I live in Minnesota, also known as the land of 10,000 lakes, so a must have kit for me is a boating/lake kit. Project B Designs has a perfect kit for the hundreds of swimming and boating pictures I still have left to scrap! I used her Sail Away kit for some pictures from our trip to Lake Michigan last Labor Day weekend. Now that it's getting colder I'm turning to my summer pictures to help me warm up!

Doing the Hula

2009-11-16T12:17:00.001-08:00

I was asked to guest CT at Scrapable, such an honor! The site CT members are called Hula Girls over there. I was assigned to Project B Designs and immediately started to work on her As We Look Back kit. This kit was really fun to work with, and really versatile. It seemed a little boyish at first but I actually settled on pictures from Mary's first birthday to use with it!

The cute cloud elements in the kit really caught my eye, so I hunted around for some outdoor pictures and settled on some I had been wanting to scrap from our vacation last June.

It's been awhile since I've been on a CT, and I'm thinking once my stint is over at Scrapable I may apply elsewhere too!

Template Freebie #1

2009-10-06T18:41:00.001-07:00

Back from a long hiatus with my first template. Tell me what you think. :)

{Inter} National Scrapbooking Day

2009-05-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! My first National Scrapbooking Day as a digi scrapper! Soooo much easier to shop good sales and deals from the comfort of my own office chair. I'm still in my jammies!

Here are the deals I'll be browsing today:

There is a storewide 50% off at Elemental Scraps. Chrissy W has an NSD freebie template only available for a few days, and Bella Gypsy has a Buy 1 kit, get a free template set deal going on too. Spend $10 in the store and get 4 free kits worth $20, all outdoor themed.

The Sweet Shoppe has a storewide 30% off sale and are also offering a huge collab kit for free if you spend $10 today. Lots of pretty colors in this kit, some neutrals and purples. I don't know if I'll make the $10 total, though.

ScrapMatters has a storewide 40% off sale!

Digital Candy is having a storewide 30% off sale.

In other news, this morning I am inspired by this article over at the Daily Digi. I'm going to take some time to scrap a page today about digital scrapbooking. I want to be sure to actually scrap today since that's what the day is really all about. I remember my first National Scrapbooking Day in 1999, where I attended a Creative Memories crop with two good friends. I even remember the layout I scrapped - it was all about a musical I choreographed in college, Godspell.

I think my style has evolved a tiny bit, what do you think? :)

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, and have fun shopping AND scrapping!

Prayer Board Project

2009-04-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

I finished a big hybrid project just in time for Easter. I made a prayer board for the family fridge. It holds pictures of our family members, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, to be switched out every day. A friend of mine made one for her kids several years ago and I've always kept it in mind for when I had kids old enough to appreciate it. It was easy peasy to do it digitally!

First I made a 12X12 scrapbook page and left enough space for a picture, a tab with the person (or couple's) name, and a pocket to hold all the pictures. I printed the page and cut a small slit on the top and the sides of the pocket to hold the pictures. I also had some pictures printed and trimmed them to 4X4. I glued the page down to a 12X12 cardboard, leaving room inside the pocket for the pictures. I printed some tabs, adhered velcro to the pictures and tabs, and magnets to the back of the board and I was done! When not in use, the pictures and tabs are velcroed together and stored in the pocket. I plan on making more to give as gifts, especially to our godchildren.

Here is what the page looks like printed:

And here is the completed prayer board up on our fridge:

Credits: Mandy Mystiques' Little Back Pocket; Cori Gammon's Nicholas alpha; Cross element from Misty Cato & Julie Billinger's Because He First Loved Us kit

Catching Up On Christmas

2009-04-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I got so many great pictures last Christmas, but once the holiday was past I just wasn't in the mood to scrap red and green pages. I finally dredged up the motivation today to scrap my favorite picture from Christmas Eve. It was taken by one of my hubby's cousins, of my daughter sleeping peacefully on my lap all dressed up in her Christmas dress. I ended up not using the red and green scheme at all, and I really like how simple and elegant the layout turned out.

Zillions of credits for this one: Christie Lemmon's Let It Snow alpha, Stitch from Sweet Blossom's Sweet Lilac, Ribbon from Joyce Paul's Dark Fairytale, Papers (recolored) from MIO's Gloss and Charm, Flowers by Janny Lynn, Heart stitch by Redju Designs

Speed Scrap 2

2009-04-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

My hubby is the best. After a few long days with sick kiddos... my daughter had a fever for almost three days straight... he knew I needed a break and put BOTH kids to bed, cleaned up the house and made me my favorite snack (roasted chickpeas) all while I did another speed scrap at the JM digi scrap board. I'm really happy with this page, it's nice to get some older pictures scrapped and done. Today everyone is feeling almost back to normal and now I have some pictures from our trip to the zoo this morning to scrap!

Credits: Julie Marie Designs Earth Wings 2 freebie mini; frame is by Mandy Mystiques; tape is by Angie Kovacs from her Just A Boy kit; string is by Cori Gammon from her Nicholas kit.

Wagon Ride

2009-04-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie today. Both the kids are sick and clingy so I didn't have much time to scrap this afternoon. Hubby and I took the kids for a wagon ride last month when it was still a little chilly out. I thought my daughter would be scared or complain about the cold, but she giggled the entire time. I think she felt like such a big girl, she's really starting to want to do everything her brother does!

Credits: Template by Chrissy W; Kit is Party in the Playroom by Janny Lynn; Cartoonish Alpha by Faith True

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt for the cousins before dinner. We were excited that it was warm enough to have it outside this year!

Credits: Connie Prince Hippity Hoppity; template by Chrissy W.

First Speed Scrap

2009-04-13T18:34:00.001-07:00

I participated in my first speed scrap last Friday night, hosted by Natalie and Vero over at the JM digi scrap board. It was really fun, but also a little stressful! I found it a bit out of my comfort zone, because when I approach a layout the first thing I have in mind is the overall design. So not to know how it's going to look, more or less, in the end was driving me nuts! But I think it turned out pretty well and if I do another speed scrap I'll have a better idea of how to go about it.

Credits: Mandy Mystiques Under the Sea; Cartoonish Alpha by Faith True; Heart stitch by Redju Designs

Doodle Crazy

2009-04-09T12:21:00.001-07:00

I know I went a little doodle crazy on this one. I took these pics of my kids last month, and I've been itching to scrap them the moment I saw how well they turned out. My son is in a great phase right now where he's so gentle and loving toward his sister. I wish it would stay this way forever, but I'm sure there are tons of sibling squabbles ahead! I wanted to keep this layout fun and young and bright, so I turned to my doodle stash. I went a little nuts, but I like it anyway. :)

Credits:
Paper, butterfly & bee from Melissa Bennett's Playhouse kit
Doodle corners from Fee Jardine's Blush kit
Little Amy Lou alpha by Lauren Grier
Flowers by A Work in Progress Designs by Vicki
Journaling box from Fee Jardine's Sweet As kit
Scribble Arrow by Chaos Lounge

Park Page

2009-04-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

I love finding templates good for multiple photos. It saves so much time! Here's a layout of a recent trip to the park.

Credits: Chrissy W's clustered template, papers and embellishments are from Mandy Mystiques' Little Back Pocket, Alphas are Robin Carlton's Doo Dots, Cori Gammon's Nicholas, Painted Chippy Alpha by Libby Weifenbach, and Silver Mine Bead Alpha by Blythe Evans.

Photography Composition Lesson #3

2009-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

How are you doing? Is your head still swimming with rules? Have you been experimenting with your photos? This next lesson is a super simple and easy one, so don't worry. I'm giving you all a break! :)

If you haven't already, before you read this blog post you'll want to read Lesson #1 and Lesson #2.

Framing Your Subject

Framing your subject is a super easy way to draw quick attention to your focal point. There is NO doubt about what you're trying to show off in your photo if you frame your subject. Here are some pictures of mine to demonstrate what I mean:

A frame can go all the way around your subject, or it can just be on two or three sides of it. Unlike the other rules we've covered, this is just a technique you can use occasionally when it's convenient to really draw attention to what you want to highlight in your photo. Try it out this week and see if you can come up with a frame or two to try!

29 Things

2009-03-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a brief hiatus! This spring is already hopping for me, but I did manage to squeeze in some scrapping in this weekend.

This layout was fun and quick because I snagged the journaling from my family blog. On hubby's birthday last November I blogged 29 things we love about him as a surprise.

Lots of credits for this one: Template by Chrissy W, Paper from Cori Gammon's Nicholas, flowers and swirl from Christie Lemmon's Little Charmer, date tabs by Sweet Blossom Designs, heart from Digi Designs by Nicole's All Girl kit, alphas are Danielle Corbitt's Crinkled Up Alpha, Blythe Evan's Silver Mine Bead Alpha, Robin Carlton's Doo Dots, and Flerg's Troublemaker alpha.

Photography Composition Lesson #2

2009-03-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's Monday, so that means it's time for another photography lesson from me! If anyone out there has been experimenting with the rule of thirds, leave a comment with a link to your photo(s), I'd love to see them. If you haven't already read that first lesson, go here before continuing.

Directionality

This lesson is a relatively simple one. I'm calling it Directionality. This is not an official term I don't think, but it's my way of talking about photographing your subject while keeping in mind the direction the eye naturally moves across a picture.

Unless anyone out there is proficient in Hebrew, I'll assume my readers all read and write from left to right. Because we learn it this way, when we look at a piece of paper with words on it our eyes are trained to automatically start on the left of the page and move to the right. When viewing a picture there is a natural movement the eye wants to make as well. As a photographer it's your job of helping this natural movement along. There are two ways of doing this:

1. By helping the eye move from a focal point (something that is placed either along a line placed on a "third", or at the intersecting points in the picture) through the rest of the picture, or

2. By helping the eye enter a picture smoothly and right toward your focal point.

To demonstrate this first point, let's go back to this photo of my daughter Mary:

Because she is placed off center and according to the rule of thirds, I've photographed her in a way that your eye has room to move from her face over to what is in front of her, which gives you information about what she's doing at the time the picture was taken. This is the most common way directionality is taken into account while photographing subjects - by making sure to leave more room in the photo for whatever the subject is facing or looking at. The eye wants to move from the focal point of her face to what she's facing. This is especially helpful in scrapbooking, because you want your photos to help you tell the story or memory you're preserving.

Here's a good example of this: two versions of a picture I took the other day of my son in a tunnel at a playground:

Notice his head and body are off center, more or less at a line of third, and his entire body is in the shot. But does it feel awkward to you that you focus on his face and then your eye has nowhere really to go? Now take a look at the full version I captured on camera:

This picture is more visually appealing and tells a better story, I think. Your eye focuses on him and then has room to move in the direction he is moving. You get more of a feeling as to what is going on when the picture was taken, an important quality most scrapbookers would want to capture in their scrapbooking, I think.

Keep in mind something I said last time - sometimes rules can be broken, or at least tweaked a little! In this picture, my son is running but looking behind him. Which version do you like better? The one with more space in front of him, or behind him?

I think the second version provides the most visual interest. He's looking behind him, which causes the viewer to wonder, what is it he is running from? Another way to tweak the rule is to photograph more space behind the subject to show how far they've walked, for example. Really it all depends on the story you're trying to tell by taking the photo in the first place.

OK now we're moving on to the second point I mentioned earlier: How to help the eye enter a picture smoothly and right toward your focal point. The best way to do this is by using lines. Diagonal lines are the biggest attention getters as far as photos go. But any line in a photo will cause the eye to follow it, so you want the lines leading toward your subject if you can. The best way I can explain this is just by showing you, so here are a bunch of photos I've taken keeping the lines in mind:

In this first photo, notice the diagonal line of the sidewalk that draws the viewer in and up toward the subject of the photo. And in the following pictures, the slide and fence do the same thing.

In the below picture, the mower my son is playing with leads your eye up toward him in a way that taking the shot straight on might not have.

In this next shot, the cars as well as the rug lead your eye up the picture toward the focal point.

In the photo of my daughter below, I've moved over a bit so that the actual chair is creating a diagonal line up towards her, rather than photographing her straight on.

This next photo demonstrates both of my points well. The diagonal lines of the shore and water naturally lead the eye toward the subject, and there is more space in the direction he is looking, which would flow well with my accompanying journaling on a layout about how tentative he was about wading in the chilly lake.

One last tip: the way you angle your camera toward your subject can make your actual subject (or parts of him/her/it) a line. Here are a few photos to demonstrate what I mean. In these photos, I've positioned myself in such a way that my daugther is photographed somewhat diagonally. This causes your eye to move naturally right to her face.

And in this next photo, my son's outstretched arm while playing a game of peek-a-boo draws your attention straight to him.

And finally, I have homework for you! Take pictures while keeping the directionality of your subjects in mind. Experiment with lines and keep in mind what story you want to tell with the picture. This should help you position your subjects in a way that a viewer knows more of what you were trying to capture. Next week's lesson will be much shorter, thanks for hanging in there with me for so long this time! :)

Photography Composition Lesson #1

2009-03-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

OK so admittedly I'm no expert at photography. But I did take a photography class, and my Dad is really knowledgeable in this area, and he's given me tons of tips. Also, a good friend of the family works as a professional photographer and I've absorbed a couple of things from him. Photos are obviously incredibly important to the art of scrapbooking, so I thought I'd share the few things that I know here on my blog.

What I know is all about composition. It's still trial and error for me to fiddle around with my camera's settings. You won't learn anything about aperture and shutter speed from me! So here's our first lesson in composition:

Rule of Thirds

Probably the most important thing you'll ever learn about composition is the rule of thirds. If you use a digital camera it is likely you even have a setting you can use to help you out with this. Look at your camera and see if it has a display button. Mine actually says "DISP". If you have this button, turn on your camera and point it at something, then press the button a few times. One of the displays you may see contains a bunch of intersecting lines. Your viewfinder will look like this:

Even if your camera doesn't have this setting, it's fairly easy to imagine the lines while you're shooting as well. These lines are to assist you in taking pictures according to the rule of thirds.

What is the rule of thirds? Well, the rule is based on the fact that when a person's eye looks at a photo, it more naturally tends toward the places those lines intersect rather than the middle of the photos. It will notice those four areas, as well as along the lines in the photo, first. So whatever is there will be the most noticeable to the person viewing the photo. What does this mean to the photographer? It means that it's important to position the objects you're trying to photograph in those places, rather than the direct middle of the frame. If you look again at the above photo you can see I've done just that. Mary is positioned along the left line, not directly in the middle of the photo. And her face is positioned right at an intersecting area.

Contrast that picture to this one:

In that photo, Mary's head appears almost directly in the center of the photo. This is called the bullseye effect that a lot of people mistakenly do when they're photographing something. See all that empty space above her head? It's way too noticeable. As the photographer who captured this image, it's not my intention to draw people's attention to the area above Mary's head. And that top imaginary line runs right through the top of her forehead, and that's what will be most noticeable to someone viewing it.

This rule definitely applies to photographing horizons. In this first photo you can see how I positioned the sky to take up about 1/3 of the picture and the land and water at about 2/3. Also, the leftmost tip of land ends at right about an intersecting line.

Here's the same photo cropped in a different, less appealing way. The sky takes up 1/2 of the photo, and there is absolutely nothing of interest placed in any of the areas your eye is most likely to go. This photo does nothing to really display the shoreline, the land, or the water. A photo like this causes me to wonder what the photographer was really even trying to capture.

By the way, not following the rule of thirds when you take the picture doesn't mean you can't crop it that way later on. A lot of times I fiddle around with the picture later on to get the most important objects positioned where I want them. And with a fast moving toddler this is a necessity, because he's pretty much never in the shot how I'd like him!

The thing about rules is, some of them are meant to be broken! The rule of thirds definitely applies in MANY pictures but possibly not in EVERY picture. And you may already be doing this rule naturally, because what looks appealing to someone viewing a photo will probably look appealing to you. Experiment with your pictures using the rule and see what you think.

That concludes our first lesson! :)

A Sprinkle Mess

2009-03-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

I let my son decorate cupcakes all by himself for Valentine's Day this year and he made the biggest mess I've ever seen. I was still finding red and white sprinkles on the floor weeks later!

Love Struck by Melissa Bennett

Plain White Alpha by Melissa Bennett

Snow Fun

2009-03-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

I need to peek around at some snow layouts in my favorite galleries, because I can never come up with a better title than "Snow Fun" for my outdoor winter pictures!

Scraplift of Linz's Let the Sunshine In.

Shanmomto4's Winter Warmth freebie kit

Frame by Heather Ann Designs

Bead Alpha by Amanda Dykan

Tea and Scones, Anyone?

2009-03-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

In January my mother-in-law treated the girls in the family to a surprise tea party to celebrate my birthday. I actually had one tea themed freebie I downloaded awhile ago that I used to embellish this layout. Just looking at these pictures makes me want a scone!

Template by Meg Mullens; Papers and flowers from Savannah by Melissa Bennett; Teapot, cup, ribbon and alpha from Wild Cherry Tea by Ginger Scraps.

Giggle

2009-03-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

There's no better sound than my kids giggling and playing together!

Template by Chrissy W; Papers are from Rainy Days by Gypsy Pixel Designs; Flowers are from Simply Adorable by Christie Lemmon; Crinkled Up Alpha by Danielle Corbitt

A Rare Appearance

2009-03-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

I very rarely appear in pictures much less scrapbooking layouts, but here is proof that I do exist:

Template by Vanessa, from the Tracy Reed Valentine's Day template freebie assortment

Kit is Signs of Spring by Mandy Mystiques

Frame is by Julie Billingsley

Alpha by Krystal Hartley

Heart by Digi Designs by Nicole (from her All Girl kit)

My Little Fireman

2009-03-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to scrap more pictures of my son, but my kit stash is seriously lacking in the boy themed kits department. However, I did pick up Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Lil Fireman mini kit in one of the Sweet Shoppe assortments awhile back. So when I sat down to scrap this pic of my son playing with his firetruck I knew exactly what to use for it!

First Pancake

2009-03-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

I actually did this layout last week but forgot to post it here. My daughter ate her first pancake a week ago and I was happy that I caught her funny expressions while eating it!

Template is by Red Leaf Digiscrapping; Kit is Play House by Melissa Bennett

The Incredible Shrinking Bunny

2009-03-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

When I was still pregnant with my son I saw a paper layout in one of my scrapbooking magazines filled with pictures of a child posing with their stuffed animal every month from birth to 1 year. I thought it was a great way to document a baby's growth for the first year, so I took pictures on my son's monthly birthday posing with a stuffed lambie. Those pictures have been since paper scrapped, and now I've started scrapping my daughter's Bunny pictures digitally. I used a freebie template from Chrissy W and Cori Gammon's Trendy Pop kit. I have four more pictures to plop into the template over the next four months and then I can print it for her 1 year album!

Trouble With a Capital T

2009-03-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get stuck on a layout? I totally do. I had so much trouble with this one, and I was actually using a template, so you'd think it would be easy. But I just couldn't figure out what to do with the airplane elements or the journaling on this one. I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I am tired of staring at it so I'm moving on! These pictures are from our vacation last May, we were surprised to find out upon checkin at our hotel that there would be an air show right outside our door later that week!

Template is from the Sweet Shoppe December collection.
Kit is Awesome! by Andrea, airplane is by Pillow Girl Scraps; alpha Little Amy Lou by Lauren Grier

A Reason To Design

2009-03-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

If I had more time, I would love to design Catholic themed kits! I wanted to scrap a picture of my daughter with her first Lenten ashes and had to settle for a kit that had a lot of purple in it.

Kit is Sweet Lilac by Sweet Blossom Designs; template is by Red Leaf Digiscrapping.

I Heart Birds

2009-03-03T13:20:00.001-08:00

I am so happy about all the spring kits coming out with cute little bird elements! There's nothing like an adorable owl or birdie to inspire me to scrap something. I did one layout today, of a picture I took last month of my daughter finally eating some solids. She popped two teeth and was suddenly interested in real food. So I snapped a token messy food face picture.

For this page I used Chrissy W's "Springaling" addon freebie that went out to all of her newsletter subscribers. If you don't receive Chrissy W's newsletter, you really must sign up... she sends out freebie mini kits about once a month, coupons for her awesome templates sold at Elemental Scraps, and a free template every two weeks. Click here for the link to her blog.

Birth Album Pages

2009-03-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

I've been working on my daughter's first year album the past few days and I've decided I'm in love with Dani Mogstad's Land of Nod kit. The preview for this kit doesn't do it justice. I used it for the title page of the album, plus her birth story and hospital pictures.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hope you all are getting the chance today to cuddle with the one you love!

Here are the valentines I made from the kids to give to family members this year. I used Mandy Mystiques Krafty Hearts freebie.

Peek A Boo page

2009-02-12T13:13:00.001-08:00

Did this layout quickly during the kids' naptime today. Earlier this week I got some cute pictures of my son playing peek-a-boo with his little sister. Of course I poked my camera in there to capture the moment! I used a template from Tracy Blankenship - not sure if it's still free, but here's her blog for her recent freebies, at least: http://scrappindigistyle.blogspot.com/. The frames are by Chriscrap, the papers and embellishments were from Amanda Heimann's add-on freebie "Dirt Magnet". Looks like that freebie is still downloadable! Hey, I just realized everything on this page was free! I just LOVE digi scrapping!

What's In A Name?

2009-02-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

One of my new favorite blogs is The Daily Digi. It's a relatively new blog, but I've already found loads information there to help me grow as a digi scrapper. Last week there was a post about scrapbooking the story behind your childrens' names. I really liked this idea, so I did layouts for both my kids. I love that a few years ago while I was paper scrapping if I had thought of this idea, and managed to stay motivated to see the idea through, it probably would have taken me a few weeks. I did both of these in one evening! For these layouts I used Cori Gammon's kits "Trendy Pop" and "Nicholas".

If you're inspired to scrapbook the story behind your child's name, check out the original post on The Daily Digi for more info, and also snag their free template!

Candy Heart Freebies

2009-02-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to scan in some conversation heart candies and try my hand at an alpha. I'm terrible at extraction, so my hubby actually did most of the hard work! I had a lot of fun putting this together, I hope someone out there has a use for it!

Here are a two of my layouts featuring my Candy Heart alpha & some wordart too! "Valentine Cutie" was made from Mandy Mystiques' Kraft Heart kit, and "Mommy's Little Valentine" was made using Sara Amarie's minikit Sugardo.

And here are the previews for the alpha and wordart. The alpha is actually five individual alphas in uppercase in the colors pink, white, green, purple and orange. Download links are below each preview.

Download Candy Heart Alpha here.

Download Candy Heart Wordart here.

Enjoy! If you happen to use it for anything, I would love an email or comment! (I know every designer says that but as I am new at this sort of thing, I really, really mean it!)

Blog Launch

2009-02-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my scrap blog! This is my new space for sharing my pages, talking about the digi scrap world, and maybe even dabbling in some design myself. I have a Valentine's freebie in the works- nothing big, but I'm excited. :)

Here's a layout I did tonight using Angie Kovac's kit "Snow Girly". I picked it up in an Elemental Scraps $1 sale recently. The frame is not in the kit, it's by Heather Ann Designs.

Thanks for stopping by!