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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

My Mind's Tangent - Graham Cracker Houses

In my last post, I shared my excitement about Design House Digital. This led my brain, which most of the time I cannot control, to thoughts of the lovely graham cracker house my daughter brought home from a Christmas party this weekend. She made the house (similar to gingerbread houses but smaller)  while with her grandparents. Of all candies, it included Junior Mints! It was not easy to break them off of the roof of her little home. Junior Mints are soft and squishy and we ended up licking smear of mint off of our hands!

Anika did not bring home a candied project treat. Since she sort of takes after her father, she probably ate the whole thing in the car on the way home from the party! My mind continues to wander....it was so cute, and simple....houses made from graham crackers which were easier to create, no baking and small enough to actually eat without throwing most of it away.

I am a semi- domestic goddess without the skills to bake sweets. I can finally have my little Christmas house and eat it too! A project with the kids that I will like to eat, won't have to bake and will not take up a lot of space! Graham crackers houses!!!

(Post photo of Jasmine's house here later when I take one!)

Photo courtesy of wikihow.com



Here are two photos of gingerbread houses, and not made from graham crackers, that are inspiring. I have no idea who made these or how. I just found this on the web for our viewing pleasure!


Photo property of http://bkids.typepad.com/


Have fun!

Design House Digital FREEBIE

Hello! If you haven't heard already, two of my favorite designers have their own project in the works. Carina Gardner and Jen Allyson have a blog set up to introduce their up and coming digital designers who will be offering their digital goodies through Design House Digital January 2010!

This new digital environment is a chance for an exciting, fresh and new outlook on the digital world! These designers have Bachelor's degrees, one has a Master's in Design so HELLO!!! I am ready to be mentored!

This is their current blog, just some crumbs to get us through til the actual website opens in a couple of short weeks!  http://designhousedigital.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-12-04T14%3A50%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

They are currently giving away a free digital kit to anyone who signs up on their mailing list:

Design House Digital Website and Free Kit information!!!! "CLICK ME"

This will be added to my "Top Things To Look Forward To in The New Year" list!!!
Congratulations and thanks in advance to Jen Allyson and Carina Gardner for preparing this website just for us digi lovers.

(Note: I do not create or promote for these two designers or their projects/ products. Just a fan.)

Good Digital News


Please see my layout of Jasmine below, using the Oh Christmas kit. My layout was featured today on Faith Sisters 'Made Ya Look Monday' gallery picks!



Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Friday, December 18, 2009

A Name That Starts With The Letter B

Guess what? I made the creative team for Stacy! This is very exciting for me because Stacy is a new designer. She is/ was on many successful creative teams herself, so I feel that experience, and having a similar style to the types of papers and embellishments I like, will make her a great designer to work for. AND she just mentioned that her next project is a SHABBY CHIC kit. Holy smokes! Are you serious? My favorite style of scrapbooking....sanding, ripping, tearing, inking....I love it all. 

I am going to paste a portion of her blog article below regarding the CT. I do hope you visit her blog to read the remaining information.

 Acronym of the day = CT. This stands for creative team.

Read the information below, then tell me...Can you figure out why I am glad that my first name begins with the letter B?

NEW CT! by Stacy's Back Door Designs

I am so excited about having my first CT. I can't believe that I have come this far. I have an exciting group of ladies and I look forward to seeing more of their amazing work.


Here is a little bit more about them and a sample of their work:

Betty: Betty’s favorite thing to do is make tacos for her family, then sit down with some TV trays and watch a movie in front of a warm fire on a cold evening. Betty enjoys the beach, shopping, swimming, hiking, friends, family, digital scrapbooking and spending time browsing scrapbook forums. Betty has worked on a paper scrapbooking design team for seven years, managed a scrapbook store (Gotta Crop, Lodi, CA) and taught many scrapbooking classes (Gotta Crop Scrapbooking Getaways). Betty, who was just recently married, lives in Sacramento, California in the United States with her husband and their two school aged daughters. Betty believes that life is what you make it and that you should never stop searching for opportunities to improve yourself and the quality of your life!
 




***Please click below to visit Stacy's blog and meet the rest of the team.***
 
The layout above was made using the Oh Christmas Tree kit
 
Check out the Kit and Stacy's Back Door Designs store! Click Here!
 


By the way, this picture of Jasmine was taken last Tuesday after her school's holiday program. The kindergarten through third graders have a singing concert each year at Christmas time. Since Anika is in third grade this year and Jasmine is in second, this means they will not be in the same performance next year! I can double my entertainment dollar and will have two different shows to attend. More photo ops! More layouts to create. I am very proud of  Anika and Jasmine. Creating a layout of Anika, and recording a memorable Christmas moment, is on my To Do list. What is on your To Do list today? Since it is holiday season, you may have a To Do list longer than there are hours in your day. Prioritize and stay organized! 

It's nap time for now. I am feeling a little under the weather this morning!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Great Gift & Stacy's Backdoor Designs & Creative Team Call Announcement Friday

http://stacysbackdoor.blogspot.com/

Why am I always the last to know? I just found out there are some great freebies waiting for you at Stacy's Back Door Designs blog!  Two days ago, I just missed this freebie...papers! I was a big paper hoarder and now I am a digital paper hoarder.


Everyday, Stacy has a free holiday present for you. The offers are only available for one dayveach! Check out the freebie today and every day so you do not miss out!

Click here to see all of the Holiday Freebies!

I applied for the Stacy's Backdoor Designs creative team because her kits, designs and vision are very much my style and taste. Check out her blog tomorrow to see if I make the Creative Team. I visited her blog today to find that I have missed many, many, many of these freebies. Don't miss out on any more of them!

I want to wish all of you a safe, happy and productive weekend before Christmas!!! We all have errands, stress, and things to do, but let's keep it in perspective....our happiness, health and family are the most important things to take care of this weekend and always!

I will be blogging often this week. Stay Tuned!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Janky Hole In My Heart

The buzzing, clanking and popping noises instantly opened a tiny hole in my heart. I dropped my camera on Sunday in the snow! I guess dropping it while taking close ups of my daughters rosey red, cold cheeks was not a very good idea since it was snowing. My hands were smaller than my gloves so I could not tell for sure if I had a great grip or not. Snow was gathering on the outside of my gloves too making them slippery!

As of Friday, December 18, or whenever my new toy arrives, I will continue creating memories, one pixel at a time.


I ordered a new camera, thanks to Dell financing. (Kodak Z950) I in NO way like to charge things or use credit. However, what on Earth would I do with out a camera on Christmas...this may very well be the last year our 7 & 8 year-olds even believe in Santa!
I have been fighting back against rumors my kids have heard at school for 3 y ears now. Without going into detail, I have gone extra measures this year to give them some things that may feed their beliefs.

I believe!  Do your kids still believe? When did they 'decide not to believe'? I just remember feeling so janky when I found out at age eight (8). What a jip!!! I could go on and on.....

P.S. Janky is my new word! (See Urban Dictionary, def. #5 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Janky)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

1st Parkway- NYC Layout

I realized that I have been so busy mostly blogging my creative team work, that I have not had much time to post my own work strickly for personal use! Everyone knows my love of big cities including NYC and San Francisco. I found the perfect kit. Here is a layout I created with some photos from NYC. I have so many more, plus SF pics I just cannot wait until I have free time this coming holiday to digiscrap for myself!


Get the goods! 1st Parkway kit by Pressed Petals, Ink Happy Edges by Happy scrap Girl Designs, fonts Cry Kitt and Poplar Std by Kevin And Amanda.
Kit: http://scrapmatters.com/shop/product.php?productid=2827&cat=0&page=1

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Happy Holidays from Our Creative Team by Aline Armani


http://www.faithsisters.com/photopost/data/6921/byaline_kitpeace_byelyane_600x1.jpg

One of my creative team teammates, Aline Armani surprised us with this Happy Holidays page! She posted it on all of the galleries we normally post our layouts (work) on to. I was pleasantly surprised at how cordial and fun all of the ladies are that are in the group along with designer Elyane Araujo. Many of the team members speak Portuguese, one is from Australia and one additional member speaks English as well. (Many of the others have English as their second language)some.

I am one of the 'International Girls'. It's very cute.  We use Yahoo Groups which auto translates the emails from Portuguese to English. I get a kick out of some of the translations because they do not always make sense! Attempting to read between the lines, along with some clarification from Elyane, I do just fine with this group based out of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. I am glad I joined the Creative Team for Elyane Araujo Designs! Happy Holidays everybody!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Clause Kit By BooLand Designs

Hello, I am fortunate enough to have been tasked with creating two layouts with another BooLand Designs kit called Clause. It was my pleasure to work with these great kits!


Here is the kit itself!


Friday, December 4, 2009

Peace On Earth Layout(s)

I loved the little scarf the doggie daycare put on our dog last year after his bath. These photos were spontaneously taken after we picked up Zeus and brought him home from a bath the month of December 2008. It was this moment that I realized how much he enjoys having his photo taken! Check out all of his fabulous poses. Zeus is my sweetheart!











click the link above to visit the store!

Please Vote For Me!

My layout, titled Honor, which is about my Matron of Honor Lesley Brown, has been nominated for a contest. The voting ends 12/8/09 and you can only vote once from one computer! Please visit this link below, then scroll down until you see my layout then vote for me (if you agree that it is the best)!

http://coolscrapsdigital.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1212



Kit is called Relax by Summer Driggs. This was a freebie kit!

Deck The Halls and Welcome Winter!

It's time to decorate. My blog is being dressed up for Christmas! After a little bit of trouble creating my new Christmas header, I decided to relax and work on a new kit by BooLand called Winter Whispers. The designer allowed me to temporarily work with two of her kits. This is the first layout I have created for her. The Winter Whispers kit has so many winter white elements and blue papers! There are tons of gorgeous elements including icicles, white ribbon, and nature inspired items. Too bad I could not use everything in the kit in order to show you everything. This is the first kit I have used (or viewed) from BooLand. When I received it, I was eager to check out the goods. When I opened and began browsing the elements and papers, it felt as though I had opened up a treasure chest! A great alpha was included also, but I am in love with my fonts, as usual. The layout has a nice cool feeling with the cool tones but I wanted to balance the large photo on the page by using the title in red. Hope you like it. The photo was take from the mountains at Heavenly, Lake Tahoe. The girls were able to sled for two hours at the snow park at the top of Heavenly Ski Resort in March of 2008. We had a blast!

Everything in the kit is from BooLand Winter Whispers, except the red circle elements from the Jackpot kit by Britt-ish Designs, font is Freeze! by KevinAndAmanda.com.






Click the link above to visit BooLand Design. Currently, she has a great freebie listed to help us welcome Winter!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Splash Kit by Elyane Araujo Designs Helps Me Document Two Great Memories







This kit is currently only $1.99!  Regular price  $6.99. All kits are this price for a limited time. http://estyloeimagem.com/shop/images/elyar_kit_splash.jpg

Season Greetings Full Kit Freebie!

This layout was created in 15 minutes today with this Freebie kit!



Would you like an adorable winter kit for free? This free kit is one stop on the Freebie Blog train. Check out this kit by Elyane Araujo Designs and download it free. PLUS there are over 10 more designers included at the link below.

http://elyanearaujo.blogspot.com/2009/12/season-greetings-blog-train.html

Join the Blog Train!  After you download Season Greetings, you can follow the additional links offered at the link above, to visit other designers blogs for additional free kits! Most of these talented folks are international designers. Elyane is from Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Designers reside in other countries such as France and Australia too. These are quality items.....very beautiful snowy papers! Awesome....the main blog train begins here:

http://csdblogtrains.blogspot.com/

In my opinion, the Season Greeting kit is the best and has the most items! I am not just saying that because I am on her design team either! I only comment and express my personal opinions. **I am not paid or asked to advertise or announce this freebie or blog train. Just sharing some good deals!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Creative Team for Faith Sisters- "My Lifetime Story" Announcement


http://faithsisters.com/betty.php <-------Click here to view my Bio Page. I need a new photo though!
I made the team! In addition to desigining for Elyane Araujo, I have joined Faith Sisters to design layouts for this year's 2010 My Lifetime Story Challenge. This is a year round project encouraging YOU to create a book all about yourself. What a great keepsake for your family and children. If you are the type of person who does not want to create one about yourself, you can create the book for your mother and present it at the end of the year for Christmas. Each week, instructions of encouragement, and layout samples (by the Creative Team) will be provided to guide you along. I hope you will join us. It is my pleasure to join this talented group of people.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Creative Team for Elyane Araujo Designs

Hello! How was your Thanksgiving? I have plenty to be thankful for this year. I have good news and bad news. The bad news first is that my oven door is broken and we cannot cook. It is my pleasure to announce the good news. I joined the Creative Team for Elyane Araujo Designs. Now, the bad news is not such a big deal because I will be busy working / playing instead of having time to cook anyways! Elyane is a talented digital designer from Brazil. Her kits have the most amazing embellishments and papers in them, including some hand drawn art she has created.

From the outside of her kit (the marketing photo) I could not even tell there were SO many great things inside. I am not used to getting so many things in just one kit! I hope you will be part of  my journey with this Creative Team work. Everyone month I will be creating two layouts for each kit I work with. I am working with two kits a month, so you will see two posts total each month with my creative designs for Elyane.

Here is my first layout using the Sunset Fall kit.  You may click on one of the three links under the layout to see it blown up on a Gallery.This is a good way to see the staples around the journaling!











FREEBIES! Great, hand drawn art for your pages or school projects.
These can be used in a layout with scanned copies of your child's school work too.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Faith Sisters

Hello, again! I would like to mention a new scrapbooking site I have been hanging around in over the last few weeks, Faith Sisters.

(Edit November 30, 2009***) Faith Sisters has a great challenge, which is all about YOU! Here is the article from their website:




As the year is coming to an end we are busy planning for next year. In 2010 we are going back to the basics of leaving a legacy of faith. This years challenges are all focused on YOU and your lifetime story. When you join us in this challenge you will be creating a mini-autobiography. We are counting down the days till January 6th because we are so stinkin' excited about the My Lifetime Story challenges!!!

Wouldn't you to know what your grandma's favorite toy was as a child, how she felt when she met your grandpa, her favorite scripture and the song that expressed her heart? Your children and grandchildren will have that treasure when you join us in this challenge!

We will start out with your family roots in January and move into your childhood in February. We will continue throughout the year with your teen and adult years as well. The last challenge of the year will be a letter to your future generations or anyone who reads your book.

Each of our stories is important. This is a book that everyone should create about themselves. It will be the most treasured album of your family. As you create this album about your lifetime story you will be leaving YOUR LEGACY OF FAITH. This is an album that can make an impact in your life as you create it, but it will also create a major impact in the lives of your family both now and in future generations. As your children read your story in this scrapbook that YOU created, they will take your stories to heart. Your stories may have more impact on them than even Bible stories, because they are personal and from someone they know and . When friends and neighbors pick up your storybook and look through it you will be witnessing without even saying a word. They will read your lifetime history and discover your of Jesus, and His forgiveness and faithfulness in your life!

The My Lifetime story challenges will begin the first Wednesday in January. A new challenge will be posted each Wednesday all throughout 2010. The last challenge will be posted the last Wednesday of December. Just because the challenge series ends at the end of 2010 doesn't mean your lifetime story album is finished. We will continue to offer periodic challenges to continue your autobiography and keep it current.

Please join us in this year long challenge! Some of these challenges may be layouts you have already completed. That is ok! We need to get these all compiled in your lifetime storybook. Everyone deserves to be the star of their own book, including and most importantly YOU! If you don't put some time aside to create your My Lifetime Story album now, you may never find the time. If something were to happen to you, would your legacy of faith be lost forever?
"Christmas Faithbooking Challenge! This year, our theme is "The 12 Days of Christmas". We've all heard this song growing up, but I never realized that each verse of the song also had a Biblical meaning. So, over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the Biblical meanings of each verse of the song and you are to create a layout which shows what it means to you." You even receive the mini kit items you need for free (for a lim ited time.)

******************
More from Betty: In addition to Christmas kits, challenges and Christmas challenges, they have great digital kits with good samples. There is a forum along with a large gallery. Check them out! I have found many of their kits to be inspirational, including a few Bible quotes. If you are not a Christian based scrap booker, there are still so many things you can take from Faith Sisters. The kits available include a large recipe card kit. To go along with the recipe cards, you can pick up this kit with all the food! Calling all FOODIES! So cute!
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUUB-tMoUSbUNvk_xX3Kl3lhi4gs7vXm2FK0ugQDsTfpozAzh6g1vAstje43Zl11SGxRdQhlju-iRiksPWJvexaV6zhNhbKOe3UteD3lzF5zfXgeuTTTzITLMe_5JV-WfiBxQvRjHSAVs/s1600/cookingFood.jpg
( The image is unavailable) so click the link above if you want to see food digital elements to say the least.

They have a great camping kit too! This is the first I have seen with actual pine tree branches! Woop-woop. They do have additional camping kits but this is my favorite.

You can click on  Faith Sisters, the title at the beginning of this post to link over to their main website. With that said, have a blessed day!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Daddy's Lil Ghoul


I'm pooped! Time to rest up for work tomorrow! Enjoy my Halloween page. I think my daughters will really enjoy this one. Especially when they go through our scrapbooks when they are grown up. What do your kids say about your scrapbook pages? My husband is not really sure what all the clutter is amongst the pages. He just knows that I am committed to my laptop!