Why I Scrap Contest Kit!!

First I just have to say thank you for all your many good wishes! I appreciate them!:) And I've had a great (and productive!) weekend! I got my house cleaned, yeah! and Dianne and I finished up our combo kit for our 'Why I Scrap' Contest! Woohoo! It turned out great too! It's in the shoppe now!



It's whimsical and so fun! Becky (Sparklymommy) posted some great inspiration for us of her adorable son, Joshua;



I am sending out download links tonight for everyone that participated in our contest; So watch for them! :)

Freakishly Bad Day.. And other goodies!

Have you ever had those days when EVERYTHING just seems off?? So I think that all the planets were properly aligned yesterday just to give me stress! If it could go wrong yesterday, well, IT DID!! OY!

It started out with me over-sleeping (which normally isn't a problem!) So Brenna was late for school. Then, I went to iron my favorite khaki pants and my cruddy iron melted gobbly-gook all over them.. Yes, They were ruined!! So after chucking my iron, I ran over to the mall hoping to replace my favorite pants, (when all else fails go shopping??) and of course everything was either too big; too small or too long. So I gave myself a consolation prize and bought some new lotions at Bath and Body Works, which when I applied them at home made me break out in a rash. So, jump in the shower, wash it all off.. I step out of the shower onto the cold tile floor and slip! Big old bruise on my shin because earlier that morning, Lorynn was trying to use the potty and she pee'd all over the rug!

Then, I had to call Brenna's school because they are going year-round next year and track assignments when out and we got our VERY LAST choice. I was told yesterday that we were NOT even given a choice of tracks because we were one day late turning in the form. (ONE DAY LATE??!! WAS I LATE??) So we got the least desirable track and there is NOTHING that they will do for us!! It seriously IS The worst schedule! Oh, it makes me so MAD!

So amid all this craziness of my day, I was also trying to do the final prep work for my advanced class at Layton High. I had most everything ready, just needed to get copies made of my handouts, I was running late and forgot to change the light settings on the copier and so some of the handout photos were completely illegible.
No time to correct them.. So I get to my class; everything is going as planned and then the projector konks out on me right in the middle of my lecture on how to brush patterns onto your paper.. Oh, the pain!! I just wanted the day to be OVER!

So this morning, I am thinking to myself that maybe I just need to build up some good karma? So I've decided to share this new paper set I've been working on:



Download this paperset here!

K. Now I've done something nice for you; so spread the love and go do something nice for someone else! :)

**And on a brighter note!
Today is looking much better!:) Brenna was visited by the tooth fairy again last night. And she woke up so excited that she cleaned her bedroom (Without me ASKING!!) AND she sorted the laundry before I even got out of bed, Man, that girl is a GEM!!

Here's to some GOOD KARMA!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tonight Was JUMPING!!

Tonight's chat was fabulous!! We had over 200 people attending; Man those things get crazy! Words flying back and forth, but it was a lot of fun! If you missed the chat, we are scheduling a Second Chance Chat; I am thinking Probably Monday at 2 or 3 PM EST; But I will get back to you on those dates as soon as I am Sure!!

I was playing around tonight with some more of my beach photos. (Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the ocean??) My idea of heaven is relaxing on the beach, (Of course camera in hand!) No where to go, nothing to do, Just listening to the calming sound of the waves crashing on the sand...

Ok. I digress. Really, I just wanted to show you this photo.


Now I have to admit that the original coloring and lighting in this photo was NOT this good! I've filtered this quite a bit using some of my favorite filters! NIK color EFex Pro. I used the brilliance/Warmth Filter as well as the Darken/Lighten Center.
I ADORE these filters!! And yes, This is another beach shot taken of my girls from behind.. But (in my humble opinion) shots like this are so prolific, & they are just so magical to me. Can't WAIT to scrap this one!! I need to get ON IT!!

I have been so busy lately that I have not been able to scrap as much as I'd like to. And I still haven't organized my house!! UG, I hate house work!! Today, my husband told me that he was going to go around and take pictures of our piles of laundry; our not so clean kitchen; our white trash garage; etc. etc. and then he was going to create a layout about what happens when your wife becomes a digital scrapbooker and designer.

OY!

First, I was really proud of him for using the word 'layout' in a sentence. And Secondly, I am the VERY FIRST to admit that I am by NO MEANS a domestic diva of any kind! But Pictures?? Honestly I would NOT wish that upon you! :)

And the winners are...

Well, we received some fabulous entrees to our "Why I Scrap" Contest. Thanks to all who played along! Everyone who entered will receive a copy of our custom kit (yet to be created!) After the kit is completed (In about 2 weeks) We will send out those download links.

It was tough to choose a winner, as there were so many great stories, layouts and images. And I truly enjoyed reading everyone's responses. After careful consideration, Becky was chosen as the grand prize winner.


I loved the adorable, expressive photos of her son Joshua and her included color swatch ;) Becky has won a $20 GC to the ScrapArtist Shoppe as well as a custom kit created specially for her and Joshua, she will be given access to a private gallery where she will be able to watch her developing kit and will have input on the final product. I imagine her photos will inspire a fabulous, playful little boy kit!

We also choose 4 runners up; and they are as follows:

I loved how Mandy's photo was taken from behind, and her selective coloring and blending were wonderful, then of course there is her journaling!



Kari's entry was phenomenal! She included an awesome swatch, textures, and her photo of her son was perfect!


This layout from Buddhini was breathtaking, The colors, the journaling, everything, WOW!!


Donna's photo just called to me, it has such a magical quality. And her story, amazing!!

So there you have it! Thanks again for everyone who participated! :)

ScrapArtist Creative Team Crop

Join us Saturday, May 20th (tomorrow!!) at 9PM EST in the ScrapArtist Chat Room for a FABULOUS CT Crop!!

I am SO PROUD of my Creative team! They have made this GORGEOUS kit for our CT crop tomorrow, they are all so talented! I am getting the downloads for it right now; they will start tonight, passwords to unzip these files will be given out at the crop.

I'll post again when the links are ready to go! :)

Greetings from Sunny San Diego!!

We're home from Beautiful California. Man, I NEVER tire of visiting there! We had a blast! We visited Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Wild Adventure Park, and the beach (of course!) Spent a lot of time swimming, and just hanging out with the fam.

I took 713 pictures!! (I kid you not!) So I guess I've got some scrapping to do! :)Beach shots are the best. I don't think it's possible to take a bad photo with the beach as your backdrop. I just love them!

Now that I am home though, I am wading through piles of laundry and I just discovered that TIVO didn't record the second half of the Grey's Anatomy Season Finale.. OOOOOHHHH.. And I hear it was GOOD!! K. So, WHAT HAPPENED!! EEKKS!! :)

Also, Dianne and I are just finishing up choosing the contest winners for our "Why I Scrap" Contest. So many great entrees! Hope to have the winners posted tomorrow!

I am So Bummed!!

Well, I have to start this post by first expressing my disappointment that Chris was voted off American Idol. He was my favorite!! I can only hope that he will follow suit as other runners up in the past and get a record deal anyway. HE ROCKS!! I was so suprised!!

Moving on....(Oh, Poor Chris!!)
I've got some new goodies in the shoppe! I made my Father's Day kit early because I needed the papers for a project I've been working on.. So Even though Mother's Day isn't quite here yet.. I've got some yummy guy papers in the shoppe!

I made these papers to use in a book for my Dad, then I ending up turning it into an entire kit :) So of course there is an element pack to match!



Lots of yummy goodies in these! And I am running a special for all my blog readers :)
You can take 25% off these brand new items by entering coupon code:

25OFF

in your shopping cart at checkout. And I will include my newest Graphic Brushes in the 25% off deal too! :) This Coupon will only be good until May 17th! So snag it while you can!



Woohoo, Guy Stuff! :) Doesn't happen very often that I make Guy Specific goodies because I've only got girls.. But I have also been wanting to scrap some pics of my hubby.. He just got back from a guys only backpacking adventure, So I've got some good ones to work with! Not sure when exactly I will get to it though because we are taking a family vacation to Sea World. Brenna is so stoked!!She keeps asking me when it will be time to pack..

I am getting excited too, This will be a MUCH needed break for me too! I will be bringing my piece of junk laptop with me so I can check email, but It's too ancient to run all of my programs on it.. So no designing or layout creations for a while..

Then, When we get home, I am going to do a complete over haul on my house. I've got to clean out the pantry and organize the girls games and art supplies.. Both of my daughters are REALLY big into art, and their supplies are always everywhere!! I am determined to get organized once and for all!! So, we shall see how that all goes! Plus I am Praying that Paul cleans out the garage.. It's starting to look a little white trashy (hee hee) We have our old couch and part of our old entertainment center in there, so now he has to park his truck in the drive way. I can still fit my car in there, but it requires some skillful maneuvering for sure!!

So, now that you have WAY TOO much info ;) Long story short, I am taking a little bit of a break from designing so I can de-clutter my life.. My break probably won't last too long though.. Because I can guarantee that in a few days I will be itching to get back to it!!

'Why I Scrap' Contest Re-clarified :)

So I guess Dianne and I were not specific enough with our contest ;) What we are looking for on this is images, not necessarily layouts. (Although layouts will not be disqualified) We also want a story. Why you scrap.. What moves you to record your life and your family? And the images that you submit are what we are going to base our kit on. So we want to see color, texture, Maybe a picture of your son playing soccer, and a color swatch of his team colors? Or your daughter having a tea party, Or a picture of your favorite blanket which represents comfort, etc.. etc.. You get the idea, right?

SO why you scrap needs to be tied in to images that we can base a kit on. Whew. Is that a tall order? I hope not!!

And we are extending the deadline because I will be out of town this weekend. So now you have until the 17th!!
We've had some terrific entrees so far, But we would LOVE to see more!! So we are adding the perk of the winner being involved in our kit making process. The winner will have access to a special private gallery, will get to help choose the final color swatch.

Also, everyone who enters will receive our kit for free, so you can't really lose!!

So, sit down, write us a blurb on why you scrap and tie it into images that you would like to have a custom kit inspired from. I can't wait to see what you can come up with :)

"Why I scrap" Contest at ScrapArtist

So Dianne and I concocted a fun little contest for everyone! I've gotten several requests for custom kits; and I thought it would be fun to collaborate on one with the VERY TALENTED ScrapArtist Designers. So let me spin it for you:

"Tell us why you scrap! Show us what inspires you! Post an inspirational image and story in our special Why I Scrap gallery that explains how scrapping has changed your life. One winning entry will be chosen by the Scrap Artist Designers to be the inspiration for a fabulous new collaboration kit. The winner will receive a complimentary copy of the kit as well as a $20 dollar gift certificate to the Scrap Artist Shoppe.(Woohoo!) Three runners up will also receive a $10 gift certificate to the Scrap Artist Shoppe!

Posting deadline: Wednesay May 10th at 12pm eastern.

Winners will be announced on Friday, May 12th in this forum. The kit will be finished in a few weeks' time and made available for purchase in the shop by the end of May.

Go forth and inspire!"

Can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Free Kit At ScrapArtist, Tomorrow ONLY!!

So I haven't blogged in a bit. My DH has been out of town on a boys only photo trip. He and his buddy were backpacking through Olympic National Park for a week. He came back with some AMAZING photos!! I'll post some here tomorrow ;) So my PRECIOUS computer time was cut down completely this week. (I DON'T KNOW HOW SINGLE PARENTS EVER SURVIVE A DAY!!) My hat goes off to them! And honestly, having my DH gone for over a week makes me realize how much I depend on him! I couldn't design and do what I do with out him, So I feel VERY GRATEFUL that he is such a supportive, loving force in my life..

Ok, I digress.. I actually wanted to make a quick post today about this AMAZING FREE kit tomorrow only in the ScrapArtist Shoppe.



This gorgeous kit is our little Thank You to all our AMAZING Members for National Scrapbooking Day; You have to get it Saturday though because after that it will no longer be free! So don't miss it!! It will be in the shoppe on Saturday Morning..
(Actually, It will be in the shoppe Friday night before I go to bed!) :) So be sure to stop by for a bit and snag it!!

I am SO EXCITED to use this kit! We will going on vacation to the Cali coast in a week and a half and this kit will be PERFECTION for my photos! So excited!! Both for the trip and the eventual smashing beach photos that will be sure to be scrapped again and again!! :)