Inkin' & Thinkin'

A couple of Layouts & A Freebie

Where did the day go?  It seems like I just woke up but man, the day is almost over!  Lexi has been sick all day today and when she's sick, it's like having a man sick in your house...you know how it goes...the sighing and the moaning and the bring me this and that and cuddle me and complain, complain, complain!  LOL!  Poor kid!  So I spent the majority of my day just cuddling her.  The rest of it was spent doing laundry.  Somedays, it's such an exciting life I lead. 

So I have a couple of layouts to show you that I've done this week and then I'll have a little goodie at the end of it all just for you.

This first page is how I feel today!  LOL!  This is my darling little nephew hamming it up for my camera.  Isn't he cute?!

Credits:  That's What Boys Are Made Of by LucieB Designs

This is my baby brother, Mark, doing what he loves.  I remember as a small child he loved to ride on our backs and pretend he was riding a bull.  So when my mom told me that he started riding bulls I wasn't a bit surprised.  I got a chance to watch him last summer and it was awesome to see him riding. 

Credits:  That's What Boys Are Made Of by LucieB Designs

simply.scraps released a new kit today called Meggy Lou and I just loved the funkiness of this kit.  Such bright colors and unique embellishments!  YUMMY!  So I decided to do a couple of layouts with it. 

If you're local, look closely at these cute little faces.  These are a few pics from Lexi's Kindergarten sleepover.  This was our first one and it was crazy but so much fun!

Credits:  Meggy Lou by simply.scraps

This next layout is all about Izzy's first sledding trip.  She went with Uncle Chris and his girls and sledded all day long!

Credits:  Meggy Lou by simply.scraps

And now we are to the QP freebie I promised you yesterday.  This is coming to you from Scrapper Girl Designs' kit Ainsley.  I couldn't resist the pink cuteness of this kit in any way!  I hope you enjoy the QP I've made for you!

You can pick up the kit here.

You can download the QP here.  Enjoy!

A Few Pages & A Freebie

I have a few things to show you today but not many because I spent most of my weekend making a new kit to share with you!  Yep, I tried my hand at designing again and ended up with a 185 pc kit that I'll be sharing with you this week.  I'll be back later to tell you a little more about...check in around 6 MST for more.

So, let's see...where to start this morning.  This weekend was good.  Andy was off all weekend so we did some things around the house, took a walk or two, went to the lake, went to the trap shoot, played video games until the wee hours and then slept in this morning.  It was just what a weekend should be...full of family fun and relaxation.

So how about some layouts?  Yesterday I decided to check out some of the challenges at Pretty Scrappy and that lead to a couple of layouts.  This first layout is for the Shaken & Stirred Challenge.  This challenge was to create a summer themed avatar for the forum...so I made my self a new little avatar with my new kit.

Credits: Burst of Summer by Wendy Tunison

Then since that was so easy, I decided to tackle another challenge so I tried my hand at the Plan Your Garden Challenge.  In this challenge you receive a set of shapes and you create a layout template (which everyone that participates will receive) and then create a layout with your template.  So here is my template and my layout.  This is one of Jamie's little boys and her nephew...love this pic!

Credits:  Whisper Softly by Tricia Curtis Designs

I also decided to do the Pick Your Hues Color Challenge which resulted in the kit I'll be bringing you a little later today.  In this challenge you take the colors the host chose and create a layout or a mini kit with it...well, mine didn't end up being very mini...I loved these colors!  Here's a little peek at what's coming this week.

Then, since I was in challenge mode, I decided to tackle the Gardening Trends & Techniques Challenge.  This month, the challenge is to use a photo mask...no problem...right?  Well, for some reason, my brain doesn't work that way but in the end, I did it and I like it.  LOL!  This is Miss Izzy and her little cousin.  I walked in on them just laying on the bed giggling up at the ceiling and couldn't help but snap a pic!

Credits:  The Happy BDay Kit by Stacey Crossley Designs

And I had time to squeeze in one more challenge so I also did the Gardener's Pick Challenge.  This is a scraplift challenge which I always find very difficult to do.  I did it though and it turned out pretty cute.  I love this pic of Izzy & Andy...so sweet and quiet (which is rare for both of them...lol!)

Credits:  The Happy BDay Kit by Stacey Crossley Designs

Here are a few more pages I made this week as well...

Credits:  Boho Rhythm by Just Passin Thru

Credits:  Boho Rhythm by Just Passin' Thru

Credits:  My Baby Girl by CZNY Designs

Credits:  My Baby Girl by CZNY Designs

And now for your freebie.  A little something from Stacey's new kit The Happy BDay Kit just for you.

You can pick the kit up here.

You can pick the QP up here until June 15, 2009.

Enjoy and come back around 6 MST for the first part of my new kit!

Where Have I Been? A Drop of Digi and a Freebie!

HOLY SCHMOLY!   It's definitely May!  May always seems to be such a crazy month for us so I apologize for my lack of web time.  You should see my schedule...it's insane!  So insane I had to make a color coded spread sheet for it!  LOL!  Here's a run down of what keeps me busy in May...

May 1 - Nothing
May 2 - Mom & Dad's Anniversary
              Date Night for Me & Andy
May 3 - Nothing
May 4 - Kaylee's Game
               Lexi's Game
May 5 - Lexi's Game
May 6 - Kaylee's Play 
              Kaylee's Game
May 7 - Brenda Arrived & has job interview (I spent the day
              with her kids which made me soooooooo happy!)
May 8 - Meet with Realtor & check out property
May 9 - Opening Day Parade
              Lexi's Game
              Kaylee's Game
May 10 - Brenda leaves
                 Andy checks into the ER for 4 hours
                Lexi M's Bday Party & BBQ
May 11 - Andy's Dr. Appt
                Kaylee's Game
                Dana's CTMH Party
May 12 - Andy's Dr. Appt
                Lexi's Game
May 13 - Lexi's All Day Field Trip (chaperoned this)
                Kaylee's Game
                Lexi's Game
May 14 - Kaylee's All Day Field Trip (chaperoned this)
                Kaylee's Game
May 15 - Cleaned my house
May 16 - Layout Day for CT Commitments
May 17 - Email Catch Up and more layouts (still not caught   
                up...over 2000 emails in my inbox right now)
May 18 - Kaylee's Game
May 19 - My Hair Cut & Brows Waxed (thank goodness!)
                Lexi's Game
May 20 - Early Out at School
                 Lexi's Game
May 21 - Kaylee's All Day Field Trip (chaperoning this)
May 22 - Nothing yet...maybe some camping?
May 23 - hopefully still camping
May 24 - still camping if I'm lucky
May 25 - Kaylee's Game
May 26 - Lexi's Game
May 27 - FIL's Bday
                 Lexi's Game
May 28 - Kaylee's Game
May 29 - Teresa's CTMH Party
May 30 - Graduation in Troy
                 Kaylee's Sleepover
May 31 - Graduation in Libby
                Clean up day after sleepover

How's that for a crazy month?  Well, the first two weeks in June look the same way!  LOL!  And then it will be summer time and the kids will be home 24/7 and I will get to sleep in! 

So how'd you like to see what I made this weekend during my makeup days?  I'll show you a few...I just realized that I made freebies to go with most of them so I'll spread them out this week so that you can have a freebie each day...sound good?

I snapped this pic of Izzy just last Friday at the track meet.  We basically turned her loose on the football field and she ran and ran and ran some more.  Of course, this made for a fun chase for Kaylee's classmates!  LOL!

Credits:  Breath of Spring by Ambowife Designs

Izzy also learned to ride her bike all by herself without training wheels last month.  Now she rides it as much as possible and as fast as possible.

Credits:  Breath of Spring by Ambowife Designs

I created this layout for a challenge I'm hosting at Pretty Scrappy this month.  It's a lyric challenge and I chose the song Chicken Fried for the challenge.  I think the words to this song are so honest and I couldn't resist using these lines from the song for my page.

This pic of Kaylee is so beautiful.  I love her dimpled little grin and the way the sun is shining down on her.

Credits:  Early Birds by Trixie Scraps & Brandy Designs

Ok...so you'll have to wait and see the rest over the course of this week.  I need to spread out the freebies!  LOL!

Today's freebie comes from Throwing Some Scraps Around's latest kit Ocean's View.  I made up two QPs for you with this kit.  I hope you like them!

You can download them here and if you like them, a little love would be nice...it's been a rough week!  LOL!  If you don't have time, no biggie...I know there are lots of freebies to grab and not much time to grab them in!

These pages will only be available for a week so grab 'em while you can.

Happy Earth Day!

Hey there!

My  mom informed me last night that my blog was a little behind and that I hadn't posted since the 17th.  Well, you know what?  She's right.  I have been so insanely busy trying to get everything ready for the crop that starts tomorrow that I haven't had time to create anything much at all.  Nor have I had time to be online. 

Everything is coming together though and I will be ready to hang with all of you that are coming to the crop this weekend.  I can't wait!  I have put all of the prize packs together and now I just have a few creative details to finish up and some desserts to make and I'll be ready to load my car in the morning (a few times.  LOL!)  Now if only I could catch someone at the ambulance barn so I can pick up the key to our room.  Grrr.  I'm sure I'll get it in time but man, sometimes it's hard to be patient when you want to make sure everything will run smoothly.

If you weren't able to come to the crop and participate, don't forget that you can stop in and visit with us and maybe, just maybe, I'll have a little goodie for you too!  There is a small little thing like a new catalog....LOL!  How's that for a teaser?

Ok...that's all I'm spilling about the crop.  If you'd like to stop by, we'll be at the ambulance barn in Libby...we'd love to see you!

Now onto Earth Day....I was given the opportunity to work with a special kit created by TriFaith called Digi Is The New Green and if you're looking for some great Earth Day goodness, grab it before April 30th and get it for just $2.00!  And while you're there you can use coupon code trifaith_April09 to receive $2.00 off any order over $4.00!  How's that for awesome?

Wanna see what I made with it?  Seeing how we live here, the opportunity for Going Green photos is not so happening.  So I went a little off the mark with this kit but I hope you like how I've used it anyway. 

I shot this photo on my way home from West Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago.  Every year I see this about this time of year and every year it is still awesome to me.  Elk are so beautiful to watch and in the fall, to listen to. 

This is just a little documentation of how Mother Nature has messed with our fence since we moved in.  LOL!  We need to replace it but for now, it is still standing ... a little crooked and very beat up...but still standing.

This page is all about two of my favorite boys.  I snapped these pics of Jamie's boys last August when we were all playing at the creek.  These are my favorite pics of the boys from that day.

I hope you enjoyed my take on the kit.  Now go check it out for yourself and see what you can come up with.

I won't be back online until late Sunday night (or probably Monday morning if I'm being honest with myself) because the building we'll be using for the crop does not have internet available.  So enjoy your weekend, I know I'll be enjoying mine!  Of course after 4 days of cropping, I should be able to bring you a big ol' cup of creativity next week!

Until then...

Monday Morning ... Grab A Cup & A Freebie!

Let's see if I can get you all caught up aka me all caught up!  LOL! 

I spent 9 days at my mom's while the kids were on spring break...that meant lots of scanning, cards, food and family!  LOVED IT!

Before I left, I stopped and grabbed the mail and took my netflix movies with me.  One of them was Twilight...this was a bad thing!  I still have not returned it to Netflix 2 weeks later!  I am hooked!  I have watched this movie at least 15 times already and I read the first book in 3 days...well, really, 3 nights and early mornings.  LOL!  I passed up stopping to buy the second book on my way home because I thought I could just get it at the library (budget conscious there).  Well, I was wrong.  When I asked the librarian if I could reserve it and she giggled, I knew I was in trouble!  LOL!  So I did a search online for an inter-library loan and the closest one available was very far away.  I reserved it anyway.  Then my sister picked up the second book for me when she was out of town last week.  Now if only it would come in the mail, I could refuse to get out of bed again until it's finished!  But alas, I sit and wait for it to arrive and torture myself by watching the movie over and over again.  It's so hard to watch Edward...so hard.

While I'm sitting in front of the tv with my feet up, I'm attempting to finish sorting my digi kits and even getting a few pages finished here and there.  Here are a few of them...

Does that not make you hungry and ready for the sunshine?!

If not the food...does this?  These two pages were made with Teri's new kit Are We There Yet?  It's so fun!  LOVE IT!  Check out her blog for a coupon...you know you want it!

I also finished out the March Challenges at Pretty Scrappy which included making a birthday card, a page using certain colors, and a quote challenge.  I love doing challenges.  It really makes me think of new ways to use my kits and definitely makes me get more use out of them!

I used the PS Collab It's My Party for all 3 of these projects.  Don't you just love my parents?  They are awesome!

I tried some new photo editing techniques while working with Stacey's kit The Sugar Shack.  I think I like it.  It's completely different from any look I've done in the past but it's kind of fun and funky.  So I'm keeping it in my notes so I can do it again.

I also got to work with a new-to-me designer this week.  I really like the bright funkiness of her kits so I tried one on for size and I'm happy with the results!  I even won Pick Of The Day at Divine Digital with one of them!  YEAH ME (YILM)!

This kit is called For Henry and the new-to-me designer is Wetfish Designs. 

Can you believe that goose egg?  Makes me cringe!

Scrappin Freestyle released a new MegaKit the other day so I made a couple of layout with it as well.  It's called Just Peachy and just those words brought back a lot of memories.  I remember when my bedroom was peach...I had the coolest peach bedspread and Ranger Tails wallpaper.  I had a frilly pillow sham and the world was hunky dorey!

I also remember when I got my beloved Peaches N' Cream Barbie.  It was the Christmas my brother and I snuck upstairs while my parents were sleeping and checked out our stash from Santa.  I had to go to the bathroom and as soon as he was out of my protective eyesight, he had to fire up his remote control monster truck.  Well, it didn't take long for my dad to flip on the bathroom light and send us promptly to bed with a very stern warning.  We snuck back up again and slept on the stairs until he officially let us out for Christmas morning.  LOL!

But I didn't have pictures of those memories so I used this kit for some new memories.

If you ask me, those two girls are much cuter than any Barbie!

And finally, I'm getting to the freebie...are you still with me?  Or did you skip to the end already and I'm typing for nothing?  LOL! 

Jodi is releasing her newest kit today called Funky Time and that's exactly what it is!  First I'll show you a couple of layouts that I made with it and then you can pick up your freebie.  And if you want to pick up the kit, check out Jodi's blog for an awesome discount!

Now if that face isn't funky I don't know what is?!  She positively scared me with this make up job!  Guess she had a lot to learn at that point!  LOL!

And finally...you can download your freebie QP here.

Enjoy!

A Little Catch Up...get a big cup! LOL!

Wow!  It's been 2 weeks since my last post and I decided I better post a little something.  I have been so busy the last two weeks with getting my taxes ready and catching up on some real life work that I haven't had much time to be on my computer.  Now I'm visiting my mom until next week so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to be on the computer this week either.    So I will do my best to bring you new goodies all the time but sometimes life gets in the way, ya know?

Here are a few things I've been up to (got your cup?)...

I completed this during a speed scrap at Scrappin Freestyle ... this kit is called Summer's Fun by Ladybug Pages.  These pictures are from 2 years ago and I can't believe how short Izzy's hair is.  She had wanted a turtle drawn for her and her two big sisters got together and made her this turtle.  She spent a very long time walking over every part of it and checking it out.  She is just slightly spoiled!

This page is from the Speed Scrap I hosted last weekend at Pretty Scrappy.  I used their awesome collab called It's My Party for this one.  The second layout is from a speed scrap I participated in over at DDBN forum that same day.  So I decided to just stick with the same pics and kit and make a double layout. 

These are a few pics from Andy's surprise birthday party last summer.  I think he was pretty excited to have his friends and family around him.  Of course he boasted that we couldn't spank him to which his dad and our friend, Dana, quickly turned him upside down and let everyone have a few rounds on his rear!  LOL!  I love times like this when we can spend hours with our friends and family just hanging out laughing and having a good time.

And speaking of Andy, I ran across this pic of him and couldn't help but make a page about it. 

And while I had Heavenly Scrap's kit Hooked On Swimming open I decided to make another page because I just loved the bright fun colors and the crazy elements in it.  So I grabbed a few pics of Izzy on her floatie and went to work.

My friend, Keeli, came over last weekend and we had a little digi time so we were working with some templates and I grabbed a kit from DDBN called Garden Green and created this page about my Grandma O & her best friend, Blanche.  I love the photo on the right.  It is just so beautiful.

I was working with Jodi's kit Pink Sunrise last week and came up with these two layouts.  I loved this photo of Izzy, Kaylee and Makalyn but the background was just yucko...we were waiting for a photo shoot to start last summer and the room we were in wasn't so pretty.  So I extracted the girls out and created this whimsical place for them to be relaxing.

My niece has some amazing facial expressions.  Her mom is quite the drama queen and I think her two kids are walking right in her footsteps.  LOL!  They have the most expressive faces and reactions.  These are just a few of Makalyn's.

Speaking of Jodi's kits...this is her latest kit that is just being released today called Spring Fresh.  I love the colors in this kit!  So beautiful!

This first layout is Makalyn last summer soaking in the sun while we were in Branson.  Just love that little smile.

This is who I think is my Great Grandfather's brother and his wife.  I'm not sure though.  I love their grins in the top photo...I'm sure they must have been up to something!

Sarah challenged us to an insanely difficult for me speed scrap over at DDBN last week and this page is not among my favorites but I thought I'd share it anyway.  We had to choose a photo that was bad and then split some papers, line it with flowers that touched ribbon on both ends....well, let's just say...it was so hard for me!  After seeing her sample layout following her own directions I found that I made it way too difficult for myself.  LOL!

I also participated in a speed scrap over at Digital Candy last week but their server kept crashing in the middle of it so my friend, Manda, and I made up our own rules to finish the layout.  This is how mine turned out.

Then their server came up right before the speed scrap was over so I remade the layout to match their rules in order to submit it.  I used DDBN's kit Formal for this layout and I love how it contrasts with Lexi's picture. 

Just Passin Thru released a new kit this week called Glorious and I couldn't help but make a few layouts with it.  I love this tree and the colors in this kit just made me all happy inside!
This layout is showcasing Kaylee's new obsession...seashells!  She has never been to the ocean but she avidly collects seashells anywhere she can find them.  She has over 300 now and loves to sort them out all the time.

And how could I resist putting these photos of Lexi on this paper?  It's almost as if her dress were made from the same pattern!  She thinks it's an ugly page but I love it! 

Crystal is releasing this kit called Latte Love today and I love the colors she has used to make it!  I love this photo of Kaylee...she is such a great little showcaser!  LOL!

Maybe this kit was made to go with Kaylee's pictures?  These are a few of her Thanksgiving shots from last year.  She is an olive freak!  She loves them!  She also provided the journaling for this page.  She looked at it and told me what to write.  I love that part of scrapbooking digitally.  It's so easy to add the journaling in.

I participated in a speed scrap at Scrappin Freestyle last Friday and we had to use every element in a kit in the middle of the page...every element!  Holy moly!  I really struggle with clusters but when I opened up Designs by Mel's kit Girlicious I knew that all of these bright elements would look great together in the middle of the page!  This kit is probably my favorite from this week...love everything about it!

Teri released a new kit last week called Soccer's A Kick and you know I was all over that one!  I have so many soccer pictures to scrap and this kit was perfect for getting some finished! 

This first layout is all about Kaylee last year.  She gets so competitive (and I love that!) when it comes to soccer.  I loved watching her play and for the first time I got to go to every one of her games!  I am usually coaching Lexi's team at the same time so I miss a lot of Kaylee's games.  Last year I put my foot down and made it a requirement that I be available to be at Kaylee's games too if I were to coach Lexi's team again.  I am so glad I did because she is amazing to watch!

I also had to scrap some pics from Lexi's first year of soccer.  It's so hard to believe that just 5 years ago we started playing soccer and now I can't wait for soccer season to start each year...I am officially a soccer mom and I wear that badge proudly! 

While I was working with this kit I threw together a few quick pages for Teri to add to her kit as well.

And while I was making Quick Pages for Teri I made up a few with her Bee Attitudes kit too.

To get these quick pages you'll have to check at Pretty Scrappy for the details soon.

Speaking of Pretty Scrappy...this was one of the prizes I made up for last week's Speed Scrap.  I used Late Night Scrap's kit Cheryl's Closet to make these brag book pages for it.

I also made a little elements grab bag for the people who posted about the speed scrap on their blog.

This was my final speed scrap from last week.  I used DDBN's kit Life's Like A Box of Chocolates to make this page with Lexi on it.  I expressed to her the importance of remembering what our country means and how she should keep working toward her goals.  I love this photo from last summer.

And finally...a little sneak peak that I'll tell you more about tomorrow...

I hope you enjoyed your Monday afternoon cup o digi.  I will try to be a better blogger.  Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what this sneak peek is all about and maybe just maybe a little goodie too!

2 Speed Scraps & Lots of Celebrating!

It's Saturday, are you hanging out relaxing?  Are you sitting in your PJ's feet up and surfing the web?  Well, I've got something that you can do from right where you are!

The first is a speed scrap at Pretty Scrappy.  It starts at 12pm MST.  I'm hosting and it's my first time so I'd love it if you could stop in and play along.

Here's the info and the prizes (thanks so much Late Night Scraps)

Now Pretty Scrappy is celebrating their birthday big time this weekend so I thought I'd let you know about a few other things that are happening there...check it out while you're speed scrapping!

Now once you've finished the speed scrap at Pretty Scrappy you can head over to DDBN's forum and participate in a second speed scrap there!  YAHOO!!!

Nicole is giving away coupons to her store for participating in the speed scrap there! How sweet is that?

Well, Scrappin Freestyle is also celebrating!  They're celebrating March Madness and you wouldn't believe the things going on over there!  LOL!  There are mass giveaways every single day and there are chats, challenges and well...let me just show you these...

So if you have nothing to do this weekend...how is that for some fun?!

A Couple of things I made yesterday...

Yesterday I spent a lot of time organizing files instead of creating pages but I thought I would share with you what I had finished up...

I started out with The Queen & The Princess Design's kit Atomic and created a couple of quick pages for the SFS March Madness give aways.   You'll have to watch the SFS blog though to pick them up....there's something new every day so be sure to check it daily!

Stacey released the Summertime kit that I showed you yesterday and she will soon be releasing a Luggage Tag Album to go with it so I created a couple of pages for that as well...

Then I worked on a layout for a kit that isn't released yet so I can't show you just yet...but I will when it's time.  LOL!

And before heading to bed, I created one more quick page for the SFS March Madness give aways.  This time I used Dawn's Digital Designs kit called Summer's End.

Monday Morning...Grab A Cup o' Digi

Do you know what I love about Mondays?  Mondays are my me day.  I rarely get out of bed early, I spend all day in my jammies just hanging out in my house, and it's my day to just do nothing.  I came to that realization last Monday...as garfield would say, "I don't do Mondays."  I don't know when it started, but I think I will be making it a tradition...no life demands are allowed on Monday.  LOL!

Ok...now that you've entered my little world of crazy, would you like to see some things I worked on this weekend?  I spent a couple of days down with the flu this weekend...head hurt throbbed like crazy and I went between sweating to death to being so cold that being bundled up under my electric blanket on the floor beside the wood stove didn't stop the shivering.  It was crazy but I am so glad it's over with just a headache remaining.  I did get a few things finished yesterday after our digi class though so I thought I'd share them. 

Got your drink in hand and your feet up?  Let's get started.

I participated in a speed scrap over at DDBN forum and the rules were a little more difficult for me because of the photos I chose in the first step but in the end I like the page and that's what matters!

step 1: Pick out 1 face shot picture where the person isn't looking directly at the camera, change it to black/white, or sepia, and then crop and resize it 5 different ways for a total of 5 pictures. Stroke all the pictures white or black.

step 2: Pick out only 1 patterned paper and use it as your background.

step 3: Group your pictures (1 pictures cropped 5 different ways) on your paper. They have to touch at least one other picture and one of the pictures has to go off the page.

step 4: Use at least 10 embellishments, same or different. However, 5 of them have to be flowers or flower like and those 5 have to touch your pictures. The rest can be placed wherever you want.

step 5: Use 1 twisted and twirly Ribbon and 2 twisted and twirly Strings. Mix them in with your pictures. These don't count towards your 10.

step 6: Add a sentence of journaling on something (tag, mat, small piece of any shaped paper,etc.) and attach it to a picture with a button. Oh, and the journaling needs to start with the word You or Your. Make it meaningful about the person in the picture.

step 7: Finish up by adding drop shadows and adding anything else you think is needed to make your layout complete. Then upload it to the gallery and it link back to this thread. You have 1 hour and 15 minutes to finish up tonight. Don't forget to leave your love in the gallery!




There will be another speed scrap at DDBN forum on Tuesday at 1PST, 2MST, 3CST, 4EST if you'd like to join us.  It's always a lot of fun to see what you can do with a set of directions!

And Nicole is releasing a funky little kit this week on her blog called Maurice and if you pick it up this week (a new part each day!) you'll get it for free!  Want to know what's even better than that?  She's teamed up with Brittney and they are doing a collab so you get two kits that are made for eachother!  You can pick up Brittney's half on her blog!

Wanna see what it looks like?

Isn't that fun?!

Well, while we're talking about speed scraps, I participated in another one last week but I forgot about it until there was only 20 minutes left!  Talk about panic!  Well, I did get the layout done and on time.  I'm not saying I love it because I definitely could do much better but I was pretty proud of myself for meeting the deadline.  LOL! 

The rules:

1. Pick 4 photos. You can group them any way you please. They must be 4 different photos.
2. Alter one of your photos in some way.
3. You will need 2 papers for the background, one needs to be solid. Position them so that they are both part of the background.
4. Add a piece of ricrac that touches both background papers.
5. Place 4 different elements in the upper right corner.
6. Journal in the upper right corner.
7. Add your title and date to the bottom left corner.

Now I will admit that I didn't save this page beyond the web version.  I want to rework it and do a better job...this just didn't cut it for me but it was fun to get it done in less than 20 minutes!

I worked with Jodi's newest kit called Solitude last week as well.  This is a really somber and quiet kit.  I love how sometimes you get something totally different to work with.  It makes it fun to CT!  Here's a kit preview:

and my layouts:

Relocated Dixie Girl has a great little kit out called All About The Grunge that I was able to put a few layouts together with as well.  I tend to like grunge so this kit was a lot of fun for me.

And while I was working with her kits, I also worked with one called Back To School and I am not sure if it's because I'm so ready for winter to be over or what but I couldn't wait to play with these bright summer colors!

I also made up a couple of quick pages for the March Madness daily give aways over at Scrappin Freestyle's blog with Ladybug Pages' kit called Summer Love.  You'll have to pick them up at SFS blog though and I'm not sure when they'll be available but they are giving away something everyday so it won't hurt to check in there every day!  LOL!

The kit Summer Love

I also made up another freebie from CW Picket and Company's kit called All About Me that I hope you'll like.  This will also be available over at SFSblog sometime this month so you can pick it up there.

The kit

What I made

Teri released a new kit last week that is called BeeAttitudes and it's a fun and silly kit so I had to make some fun and silly pages with it!  LOL!

I also worked with a kit by Sue Wood Designs called Bertie and what a great kit full of rich textures!

And then I worked with what is probably my favorite kit of the weekend and it's called Fresh by Delicious Scraps.  Here are some cool things about this kit...It's on sale this week for $1.00 and if you go to Delicious Scraps blog you can find several freebies that go with it!  I simply love the crisp and fresh feeling of this kit.  I am a big fan of Delicious Scraps and I always love everything she makes so working with her kits is a bit of a treat for me!

And to complete my weekend...literally finished these pages around 12:30 am last night...I worked with Stacey's newest kit called Summertime.  I had so much fun with this kit.  I love the fun primary colors (and I'm not usually a fan of primary colors) in this kit and she added just the right amount of distressing to everything to make it perfect for me!

Well, I hope that gave you enough time to finish your cup o' whatever and that your feet are well rested now.  So check out the links I've given you, grab up all of those freebies and then either get on with your Monday or take a cue from me and relax for the rest of the day...you're already sitting back relaxed...maybe you should just stay there.  LOL! 

A Very Digi Weekend & A Freebie!

I will warn you now that this post is long and full of pics!  I had a digi filled weekend and rather than post a lot of posts, I'm going to cram it all in one so grab something to drink, put your feet up, and read on!

Let's start off with a couple of quick pages I made for Scrappin Freestyle's new MegaKit called Shamrock Isle.  Of course I've filled mine with pictures and even made a third layout just because I couldn't resist this little boy's mug!

Is he not the stinkin' cutest kid?  His mommy took these pictures and I think she is so talented with her camera...I'm thankful...makes my job so much easier!

After I had finished working with Shamrock Isle I decided to tackle the What's In The Box Challenge over at Pretty Scrappy.  This kit was full of craziness and I loved it but I struggled when it came to including everything...that's why I love challenges...they really push me to think outside the box.

Once I had that completed I decided to work with Teri's kit called Thankful Heart.  I've been looking at this kit for a couple of months now and I finally felt like the time was right for working with it...and I'm so glad because I LOVE IT!  I love the colors and the elements...it's all just good!

Then I had downloaded a mini kit from Designs By Angel so I decided to work with it...I also thought this was the What's In The Box kit for some reason so I only used the pieces that were in the mini...kind of fun!

I was asked to participate in a one-kit call for Brittney Ferguson's new kit Sonny so I grabbed that next and went to work...this kit was a lot of fun to work with...just look at these elements and rich papers! 

After this was completed I grabbed Designs By Mel's kit Delightful and this page basically threw itself together.  I started putting it together and it literally was so easy to work with that I was finished within 10 minutes!  I love it when things go like that.  I think what took me the longest was finding the perfect quote to go with it.

Then I took a break and got things ready for my first digi class this past Sunday.  I had so much fun with these ladies and I feel like I may have taught them something so I'm excited to see what they get done this week.  The class went well and I think they'll be whipping out pages in no time!  I can't wait until next week's class!

After class was over I gave another Pretty Scrappy Challenge a try...this one almost had me in tears though.  I don't think I've ever been so frustrated with a project.  LOL!  Don't get me wrong...I think everyone should try it out.  It just really showed me where my limitations were and how much I still needed to learn.  This was for the Icing On The Cake Challenge.  We were given a template for a triple layer cake and had to decorate it (preferably using the It's My Party Mega Collab Kit) and so I went to work and about 2 hours later I came up with this cake that I'm not completely happy with but it's okay.

Then I grabbed a great little kit that Teri & Stacey collaborated on called Monday's Child.  I'm telling you that when these two ladies put their heads together, you get an out-of-this-world-good kit!  Individually they are two of my favorite designers but together...they blow me away!

And they are also putting together a Bracket Book for this kit so I whipped up 3 pages for that as well.

I had also downloaded Tib Bit's kit called Yesterday from Digi Scrap Station and decided to work with it.  So I grabbed a couple of important pictures and went to work.  This kit has a lot of really texture oriented elements and I loved that!

And to finish off my weekend of digi, I opened Late Night Scrap's kit called Black Tie Affair and played a little more!  I remember loving these colors when I was in Junior High.  I think I wanted everything to be Red, Black & White with just the right amount of gold added in!  This kit is just that!  And the flowers are so beautiful to boot!

And now that you've spent all this time checking every link out and reading my weekend report, how about a freebie?!  I used Late Night Scrap's Black Tie Affair for this freebie...I hope you like it!

You can download it here.

Thanks for stopping in!