Designs by Sherri Tierney

a little updated info

2011-09-08T19:01:00.003-05:00

Hey there! I hope that this gorgeous September day finds you all doing well (and that it truly is gorgeous where you live as well!) and thriving! I just wanted to take a minute to update you on the status of my design biz.

I have left Funky Playground Designs and I am now selling exclusively at A Cherry On Top. My store over there isn't too full but you will find most of my more current items. I will be adding more very soon (some new, some stuff that is wasting away on my hard drive begging for some shelf time at the store). My decision to leave FPD was a difficult one as I really enjoyed being part of a great team and getting to know all of the designers and community members there. I found that I simply wasn't very productive these past several months and it didn't make since for me to take up space in more than one store when I am not actively designing (not that I'm 'not' designing, I'm just doing it every so slowly right now!). So, you can find my goods at my ACOT store and right now I have a huge $1 sale because I'm too lazy to switch prices back. LOL

In other news, my kiddos are both in school now. My son is getting ready to finish out his second week of kindergarten and my daughter has settled nicely in to 4th grade. I am struggling a little with the concept of being a stay at home mom without any kids to mother. I've had a little one in my care day in and day out for the past 10 years (even before my 9 year old came along I cared for my cousin's daughter) and suddenly here I am in this big, quiet house trying to figure out where I belong!

I figured that the natural thing to do would be to catch up on all those projects that I've been meaning to do the past several years but in starting them I am just creating more messes to clean up so I spend my day between painting this, fixing that, throwing out something else, sorting, organizing, creating, etc. I've been doing a lot of work in my office and I am starting to get really excited about my fun new space. This room before just screamed 'boring' and I am working to make it an inspirational place to work. I hope that in doing so my creative mojo will be overflowing and I will find the desire to work on all of these kits that are sitting in my head waiting to come to fruition.

just a little bit HOT

2011-08-03T14:19:00.002-05:00

I know hot. I grew up in Arizona. I have been outside when the temperature spiked to 122 degrees and it felt like the sun was going to bake the meat right off of your bones. I've had sunburns so bad that I blistered and peeled for weeks and had to live in my swim suit for days and slept with a bottle of lotion at my side for those middle of the night attacks of pain from the burnt part laying against my sheets for too long. As a child I once ran out to meet the ice cream truck barefoot. I thought I was going to miss him but it turns out that I had way more time than I imagined because in the end I stood on hot asphalt waiting for the other neighborhood kids to get their frosty treats and I bounced back and forth from one foot to another trying to cool my feet down for a few seconds. That was a disaster, as you can imagine. I spent the next week on the couch or in bed. Walking was excruciating. I had 2nd and 3rd degree burns on the bottom of my feet. To this day my feet are so sensitive that I don't much walk barefoot inside the house, let alone outside. Yeah, I know hot.

Now I live in Kansas and I've been spoiled by summers when it barely hits 85 on a good day and the public pool closes early (or doesn't open at all) because it just isn't warm enough. I've also had summers where the mere act of leaving the front door and walking to the mail box made me feel as though I was trying to breathe in a steam room because of the crazy humidity. We've always said that Kansas has crazy weather. Where else would you have rain, snow and then sunshine on Halloween with temperatures going from the 30's to the 60's in a matter of hours? Okay, I'm sure there are other places as well who share our crazy weather as we can't be alone in that but none the less, it gets kind of unpredictable at times. So, I suppose this summer shouldn't be a surprise.... but...

This summer is HOT. It was pretty hot last summer too but nothing like this. Last summer I stalked my old home town on weather underground and watched as our temperatures and heat index soared above them. I commented a few times that it would be cooler to move home and I longed for the 'dry' heat of Arizona instead of the mugginess we had here. I don't think mother nature took kindly to me coveting weather elsewhere and making such comparisons because this summer is so much worse. This summer we have had crazy days of high temperatures and heat so dry it feels like you could cook a turkey on the front steps. We've had those humid days too, the sauna days when you are ringing wet but it isn't all sweat. We've had the days of burning your hands opening the car door or picking up a penny from a parking lot. Its been hot. Too hot. In fact, we recently went on record for having the 4th hottest day ever in our area and the hottest ever in the month of August. Last night the heat index was 124 and as we sat here sweltering I couldn't help but check out my old neighborhood to see how they were fairing. It was 4 degrees cooler by the thermometer and their heat index was 107, a degree lower than their actual temperature. I hate to mess with mother nature and all, but seriously? I am starting to think maybe we do need to move home... or at least take our cue from the snowbirds that visit the area every winter only do opposite and spend summers there. LOL

So, how is it in your area? Are you baking right along with me? I am dreaming of autumn and long sleeves, of crisp air and long walks. And to think, its only the beginning of August.

another passion of mine

2011-08-01T23:53:00.002-05:00

I like to scrap (though I haven't in quite a while... see the post about longing to find inspiration), I like to craft (yep, there's a post about not being able to do that lately either) and I love to take pictures. I also love to decorate my home. I have such an eclectic taste and style that home decorating has been a long and tedious project with more misses than hits as I fumble around finding what works just right for me... well, for us, my family and I. I follow home improvement blogs and decorating blogs and watch design shows. In fact, I probably watch, read, devour too many because I see too many things that appeal to me. I love modern and contemporary and rustic and industrial and shabby chic and the list goes on. I have a hard time pinpointing my favorite style because I see beauty in almost everything. I don't like the dark and macabre and I'm not too fond of mid-evil but most other genres (if you will) of design appeal to me. I suppose you probably already guessed as much considering the eclectic nature of my designs though, right? LOL

Anyway, I had a fun weekend finding goodies at the flea market to transform for our home. I picked up an adorable little table that was sporting a very unfortunate coat of lime green paint. Actually, in the store under the fluorescent lighting I didn't find the color half bad. My husband thought I was nuts but I kind of liked it. However, once I saw it in natural light I realized just how appalling it really was and therefore my cute little table had to have a new coat of paint. It is now sporting a very chic coat of satin finish black paint. Every table can use a little black coat, eh? Yeah, I know, that wasn't a good joke. Its late, what can I say?

So, while I miss scrapping and crafting and designing, I am staying busy doing something creative at least. I am also counting down the days until the kids to back to school and I can get my design on!

I miss crafting

2011-07-24T00:12:00.002-05:00

We took a trip out of town today to get a little R&R and do some shopping for the kids for back to school. We decided to stop by Hobby Lobby because our couch pillows are in desperate need of some recovering and fabric was on sale. I tell you, I walked around that store drooling. I've been avoiding craft stores lately because I am working so hard to downsize and declutter and to simplify my life but boy... I miss getting all crafty! The fabric section could have easily been the destruction of my carefully planned budget. There were so many awesome prints and beautiful colors just calling my name. I seriously walked in circles looking at everything again and again while my family sat in chairs over by the patterns looking at me like I had lost my marbles and commenting that they were ready to leave. In the end I opted for some 'knotty' microfleece (raised circles in the fabric) in a plain brown. It is so fabulously soft and will make our couch pillows oh so comfy to cuddle with but boy... brown? I tried to get my husband to go for some awesome paisley print but he about laughed me out of the store. Just wait... I'll go back and get that paisley and recover the chair in our bedroom with it just for kicks. LOL

Anyway, I felt inspired as I left the craft store to open up photoshop and get my craft on in a more virtual, digital way. I think I'll work on a new kit inspired by some of the colors I was drawn to and maybe even create some new wall art for my home. My office is in the middle of a big remodel and the walls are currently a very pale gray with different colored swatches painted on here and there as I searched for that perfect color. The closest thing to art on the walls is a round chalkboard (made out of an old stool from my daughter's table and chair set she got when she turned 2!) hanging on the door. Perhaps the nothingness of my surroundings is contributing to the lack of inspiration elsewhere, eh?

I hope you are all busy scrapping and crafting and being inspired by whatever it is you love!

longing for inspiration

2011-07-22T13:38:00.002-05:00

I am in a slump big time. This a slump that has haunted me for years now. Its not a designing slump as you might think (given my lack of new products recently) but rather a scrapping slump. I long to sit down with photoshop, my photo files and an awesome kit and create beautiful art full of memories and stories. I think about scrapping often but can't bring myself to actually start a page. It feels unnatural to me, as though I am a newbie who has never scrapped a page and just isn't sure where to begin. I look at galleries for inspiration but I just end up realizing how much out of the loop I am when it comes to the scrapping side of this business. I design kits and I usually create a few quickpages to go with them (that I actually use for my own photos) but I never sit down and work on a page simply to scrap. I miss it. Once upon a time I was a layout a day kind of girl. There were days I did 4 or 5 layouts even. I used to get so excited and couldn't wait to share them in my gallery and with my husband and kids. Now its so rare that I actually scrap that I don't even bother putting anything in a gallery (not to mention my 'home' gallery closed along with my beloved Elemental Scraps last December) or even show the family. Yep, I'm definitely in a slump.

I have 4 8x8 frames hanging on my wall in the living room. Right now they hold layouts that were created using some Shabby Princess Piece of Cake quickpages. I love them but they are several years old and hold pictures of my kids back when they were 4 and 6 months (before I began designing!). I spent hours and hours recently sanding the walls in the living room to remove some poorly placed wall texture and then repainted. I love the color, I love the new knock down texture and I love the fresh white trim but I'm tired of looking at the same art work! I keep thinking I will make a canvas or at least replace the layouts in my 8x8 frames but when I sit down to work on it I freeze up and give up.

So, what motivates you? What starts you scrapping and keeps you scrapping?

summer sizzles, blogger fizzles

2011-07-17T23:19:00.005-05:00

Ah, so my anniversary celebration kind of fizzled out. May isn't a great month for me. June and July haven't been much better. Well, I take that back, they have all been great months, just not productive months when it comes to keeping up with my design business. My kids got out of school just 2 weeks in to May and its been a crazy ride since. We had soft ball and t-ball and swim parties and summer events and a birthday... the list goes on. My baby (he's 5.5 but still my baby!) starts all day kindergarten in the fall and I'm one sad mama. I have had a child by my side nearly 24/7 for the last 9 years. The prospect of having 7 hours a day ALONE is both scary and exciting at the same time. I am sure I will miss the kids dreadfully but I am looking forward to having a little time each day to just be Sherri and not mommy. I dream of going to the library by myself... how crazy is that? I hate the thought of being in a quiet house all day with no one to talk to but I do look forward to being able to jump back in to designing without it taking away time from my family.

So, for my fellow SAHM friends who have school aged children, what do you do when your kids are in school? Do you catch up on sleep, read, pursue a hobby, waste time online, try new culinary dishes or tend to your house?

another anniversary and a freebie!

2011-06-06T11:37:00.002-05:00

I realized this morning that today marks another June anniversary for me. June has been a month that has held many events throughout my life that have molded me in to who I am today. Its a pretty significant month for me. The only two that come close are May and November. Are there any months that stand out more than others for you?

19 years ago today my grandma, two younger brothers and I boarded a plan in Phoenix and made the 2 hour trip from Phx to Tulsa. We left behind our lives in Arizona and made our way to Kansas with only what we could carry in suitcases and a few boxes shipped through UPS. It was a huge change for us as a family and a real culture shock for me. I was excited for the new adventure but couldn't help wondering if we were making the right decision to move. In the end, that decision changed the course of my life and since I love my life it was obviously the right move. Had I not moved my husband and I would not have ended up together and I wouldn't have these two awesome kids that I have. For someone who doesn't always deal well with change, I'm glad I took a chance on making a huge change 19 years ago!

Speaking of anniversaries... we're still in the middle of celebrating 5 years of Designs by Sherri Tierney!! If you have not been to the Funky Playground Forums lately, I suggest you hop on over there and check out my challenge in Inspiration Station. Each challenge participant will receive a $5 coupon to my store (good on PU or CU so designers, feel free to play along!). You can also visit my facebook page to pick up a special facebook exclusive party favor quickpage. It is one in a set of 4. These will only be available for free in June and will be released to my store in July so pick them up now 'cause free is a good thing. ;) If you like free, you may want to subscribe to my newsletter if you haven't already because one of the 4 pages from the quickpage set will be a newsletter exclusive. In addition to this 4 page quickpage set there will be other freebies and giveaways throughout the month so be sure to keep stopping by!

And now, the freebie I promised.... this one is a blog exclusive good through the month of June. After June it will join the others as a set in my store so be sure to grab it now and to look for the others. As I mentioned, the first page can be found on my facebook page. Click on the picture to download page #2!

Now, I'm off to work on some other fun things for this month and get a few more products released to my FPD store. See you in digi-land!

5 years and a new release

2011-06-01T05:31:00.003-05:00

Good morning, digi-land! Can you believe it is June already? I really can't figure out where the time has gone this year. January seems like it was just days ago. As a kid I used to think time went by so slowly and could never figure out why adults said it flew by. I sure get it now!

Our summer break is off to a good start here. We are working through the first few weeks of craziness that comes with the sudden change in routine but I am planning things to keep my kids occupied and we are looking forward to a nice summer filled with lazy days and evenings at the ball park.

So, let me address the elephant in the room (or on the blog!)... yep, I fell behind in blogging, again. I'm not so good at this blogging thing, am I? I am going to try, once again, to be more diligent about posting here and we'll see how I do. Feel free to scold me if I disappear again!

This month is my 5th anniversary as a designer. That statement takes me right back to the notion that I can't believe how fast time flies. Five years ago when I started this journey I had two little kids, one not much older than 6 months. My oldest was starting her second year in preschool and the thought of my baby being in preschool was beyond imaginable. This fall my baby starts kindergarten and my oldest is off to 4th grade. My life has changed in so many ways since those early days but I love that I have had the digi community to be a source of support and friendship during all of that. I have lots of fun stuff planned this month to celebrate my 5th. I hope you will follow along with me, participate in my challenges, join me for a chat, and snag a few deals and freebies along the way.

Now for the good stuff... I have a new kit! Okay, its more than a kit, its a whole collection. I have been busy. This collection occupied my time for a couple of months. That's pretty unusual for me as I'm typically pretty quick when it comes to designing but this had to be just perfect. My daughter is turning 9 at the end of this month and she requested this kit for her birthday party. We had her party last Friday (early, but much more feasible with everyone's summer plans) and it was perfect. We made hybrid decorations, banners, pinwheels, invites and more from this collection and I was so pleased with the results. I will probably release the printables to my store later in the month but I am excited to present Fruitalicious (and the Birthday Girl add-on)!

Isn't that collection all bright and pretty? I love it! It prints up just gorgeous too. I made my daughter a photo book through Shutterfly using bits of all of it and it looks amazing! Right now my entire store at Funky Playground Designs is on sale for 30-50% off so hurry on over to check it out! The value bundles are a particularly good deal right now. The bundle base price is 40% off the retail of the individual pieces AND the bundles are on sale right now making the discount even greater!

Have a great Tuesday! I hope your June gets off to a fabulous start!

pardon the dust

2011-02-27T10:29:00.002-06:00

I am making a few changes to my page so I do hope you will excuse me if you come by and things don't look quite right. I should be finished with the changes soon though and back with something NEW. The creative juices are flowing and I'm excited about this new kit. :)

a new adventure

2011-02-26T10:48:00.002-06:00

I'm starting a new adventure! I love new beginnings. I didn't always like change so much but I am learning to appreciate change and though I am sad about the closing of Elemental Scraps I am excited about this new chapter in my design adventures. Its great to branch out and meet new people, get new ideas, learn new perspective and challenge myself to go even further. Thus, I am super excited to announce my new store at Funky Playground Designs! I am working on some brand new goodies to be added soon as well as doing a little face lift of my logo, blog, etc. You may have noticed some changes already. With these changes I have a lot of hope that I will be able to keep up with blogging a little better than I did in the past. However, if I fall behind, just catch me on facebook because I'm always there. LOL Anyway, head on over to my new FPD store and check out some old (well, not really old but previously released) favorites that have made their way to FPD. I'm having a grand opening sale-a-bration! I will be sending out some random coupons to customers who purchase during my grand opening as well!

Terms of Use

2011-02-22T13:48:00.003-06:00

I thought it was time I posted my TOU where it is more readily available. If you have any questions about my TOU or my products in general you can always contact me directly through my facebook page or email me. I try to keep track of comments posted on the blog but some do slip by so anything important should be directed to me elsewhere. And now... here are my terms of use.

License Agreement _ Personal Use Products

These images are Copyright © Sherri Tierney, 2011 (all rights reserved). By purchasing these images you are obtaining a "license to use" these graphic images and designs and are agreeing to the terms of this user license. These images are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced for sale or redistributed in any way. No commercial use is permitted. If you have questions concerning this license agreement, please use the information below to contact the designer.

What you can do:

* Use these graphics for your own personal layouts.
* Recolor, resize, and otherwise change these graphics for your own personal layouts.
* Submit your layouts using these graphics online
* Submit your layouts using these graphics to publications as long as credit is given to the designer as required by the publication.
* Use these graphics in your scrap for hire or small photography business. Please see details below.
* Use these graphics for use on your personal blog or non-commercial website. If you are creating blog or website graphics for others to use on their personal, non-commercial blog or website a copy of the kit must be purchased for each blog and or website that it will be used on.

What you can NOT do:

* Change these graphics in some way and claim they are your own.
* Resell or redistribute these graphics in any way.

**** Guidelines for Scrap for Hire or other small business owners ****

You may use these graphics in your business without any additional licensing fees provided you follow these simple guidelines:

~ Any graphics provided to your client must be either printed or presented in a flattened version (.png or .jpg).
~ If you have an online gallery of design examples available to your clients, I ask that a small line of credit be given when my kits are used. If, however, you are providing your clients with physical prints, no credit is required.
~ My quickpages may be purchased to use in your business but the license shall only extend to one customer at a time. If you wish to use the same page more than once, I ask that you purchase the quickpage set again. Using one page for one customer and a different page from the same set for a different customer without purchasing a second set is, however, acceptable.

Basically, I ask that you be respectful and not use my products in a way that will compete with my business. I ask that you provide your customers with a print ready image (or a print) with the exception of journaling that they may need to include themselves.

License Agreement _ Commercial Use Products

These images are Copyright © Sherri Tierney, 2011 (all rights reserved). By purchasing these images you are obtaining a "license to use" these graphic images and designs and are agreeing to the terms of this user license

Short and sweet... :)

No credit required when using my CU products. You may use these products in the creation of your own kits, element packs or alphabets. I ask that not more than 30% of your product be created from my product (with the exception of alpha templates and then I just ask that they be altered in some way (filled, recolored, etc.) so that they are your own. Please do not use my product to create other CU products. These products MAY be used for collaboration contributions to store kits, personal collabs, etc. They may also be used for freebies.

My Scrap Maps page templates are CU friendly. You may use these templates to create quickpages to sell in your own digital design store or you may use these to create freebies to showcase your designs.

In the case of my Fill Your Own Alphabets, here are my terms as taken from the product description.

**Designers, with this commercial use version you can create alphabets to sell in your digi shop! My terms are simple. No credit is required. You must actually 'fill' the alphabet with something, paper, elements, photos, etc. The finished product provided to the customer must contain the fill. These may not be resold without something under the top layer. These may also not be resold as commercial use items. By purchasing this product you are agreeing to the proceeding terms. **

New Releases, a FWP and a QP Freebie!

2010-08-18T11:07:00.002-05:00

I'm a little late this week presenting my new releases but never fear, everything is still on sale through Sunday! :)

I have a gorgeous kit this week. I'm in LOVE with this kit and I don't say that often. The colors were inspired by some clothes my daughter chose for back to school but the kit took on a life of its own and I couldn't be happier. Meet Dixie... spend just $5 on designs by Sherri and get her FREE! Valid through August 22nd.

And now for the freebie! See that last layout there? That's my sweet little girl when she was 14 months old (almost 7 years ago!). I've had these pictures tucked away all that time because I couldn't find the perfect kit to scrap them with. I was so excited to finally scrap these! I created a quickpage using my layout and have also included an alternate for those of you who want some place to journal other than right on the page. You can snag the quickpage HERE.

Thanks for looking and happy scrapping!

New Releases and a freebie!

2010-07-26T12:20:00.004-05:00

Happy Monday, scrappers! I hope your Monday is off to a better start than mine! While my Monday may not be going so hot, I did have a very productive week last week and I wanted to share with you the new goodies I released today. Stay with me and keep reading and I'll have a little freebie (and a coupon to boot!)

First off, this week at Elemental Scraps is Release 2.0 week. We were challenged to revisit an old kit, color scheme or theme and make it new again. I had a lot of fun with this one! I chose two old favorites to freshen up. My original kits, Caitrin and Declan, were inspired by and named after my kiddos. These kits were first released 3 years ago. Like kids tend to do, Caitrin and Declan have done a lot of growing and changing in the last 3 years and I thought it was time to update their kits to reflect who they are today. It was a fun challenge! Want to take a look at the results?

I started with Declan. I ditched the old dated elements (I kept the name tag and the cute stickers though!) and then I re-did all of the papers from the ground up. You'll notice some of the papers look very similar to the original. I really liked some of the original papers but felt the scale was off and also wanted to go with a cleaner look instead of the shabbiness of the original kit. I finished off by adding an alphabet and lots of new elements perfect to scrap those little boys with! Let's take a closer look at the revisited kit...

Next I pulled out Caitrin and got to work. I loved the colors of this kit but I wasn't thrilled with the way the papers flowed so once again, I started fresh and redesigned this kit from the ground up. I tried to keep the original light and airy feel of the kit while updating it to be more substantial than the original. I enjoyed every minute of working on this kit and I really loved the delighted look on my daughter's face and the squeals and she yelled "Its perfect!" when I was finished. :)

Here's a closer look at Caitrin 2.0. Its perfectly delightful, feminine and sweet. :)

This week, for my fellow designers, I have some CU layered overlays. These are so easy to use. Just recolor each layer (use clipping masks or color overlay feature or what ever your preferred method is!) and then finish off with your own textured overlays and personal touches. There are lots of ways to make these overlays your own. Turn off some layers, add more layers of your own, etc. I have two great sets newly released today.

This week is FWP week at Elemental Scraps and in that spirit, I am offering the Designer Stash - Layered Overlays 3 as the FWP if you purchase Designer Stash - Layered Overlays 2! This week only you can get 10 layered overlays for the price of 5! Just add the first set to your shopping cart and the links for the second set will be included!

And, finally, I have some page templates for you! Its been a long time since I've released any templates so this is kind of fun for me! This set, Scrap Maps - Challenge Edition were primarily used for recent forum and blog challenges. If you missed the original challenges (mostly at Inspiration-Lane) then you can still pick up this set of templates. And, these are CU okay as well! :)

Now... if you're still reading then kudos to you for getting through my rambling! Today I have a coupon for you AND a QP freebie. :)

The coupon is good for $5 off your next purchase of $10 or more (valid through July 31st so don't delay!). Just add $10 or more in products at regular price to your cart and use coupon code st_5off to take $5 off your total. :)

And.. here is the freebie! I created this quickpage using my new Scrap Maps templates and Caitrin 2.0 kit. I scrapped my daughter and one of her friends using this page and I love the results.

You can :: Download Here ::

Saturday Sneak Peek and Giveaway

2010-07-17T15:27:00.002-05:00

I FINALLY have some new releases to share! Its been a while since I had any design mojo (which is okay since I'm taking the summer off anyway) but it hit this week and I just had to go with it. So, here we go... This week I teamed up with Bianca of Project B. Designs and we worked on this fun summertime kit that makes me want to take a good book and sit out under a tree with a cold drink!

My next kit is completely different from my typical style. I went with colors that are brighter than what I am usually comfortable with but I really think this one turned out pretty cute. See what you think...

Both kits will be available Monday at Elemental Scraps. You can stop by to pick them up... but... I am going to give away one copy of each here on my bloggie. You just have to leave a comment saying which sneak peek you like best, what you like about the sneak peek or what you think you would scrap with it and I will randomly chose a winner for each kit. :)

Summer Blowout at Elemental Scraps

2010-07-07T00:03:00.004-05:00

We are having a huge summer clearance/retirement sale at Elemental Scraps. There are over 400 products marked down to just $1 each. If you purchase 10 or more products from the Big Summer Blowout Sale category then you will automatically save 10% off your order. That makes each item just 90 cents! How awesome is that?? Hurry though, this sale ends July 11th and then these things will be gone from ES forever. I have over 100 items in the retiring category so be sure to check it out!

Watch Your Inboxes!

2010-07-07T00:00:00.003-05:00

I just scheduled my first newsletter using my new newsletter service. It should hit your inboxes tomorrow morning. Read carefully as there is a $3 off coupon to newsletter subscribers that will be good July 12th - July 31st at my Elemental Scraps store!

If you aren't signed up for the newsletter, I suggest you do. I plan to have coupons and freebies for subscribers at least once a month. You don't want to miss out!

Last Call!

2010-06-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

I will be sending out $3 coupons in my next newsletter and it is coming soon! This is just to let you know that you can still sign up as a subscriber and receive your coupon! I am working with a new newsletter service and will be sending more regular newsletters now. :)

Slowly but Surely

2010-06-27T12:58:00.003-05:00

I'm making over my blog. If you pop in and see things completely wonky, don't fret. I'm trying to spruce up the place a little!

Its been quiet around here lately because I'm taking the summer off. Well, mostly... I will have a few posts here and there and a few new products (and a few GREAT sales!) but for the most part I'm just relaxing and spending the summer with my family. My husband is working lots of overtime right now and with the kids home from school that makes it hard for me to think sometimes, let alone sit and design!

So, in case you were wondering... yep, I'm still around. I'm just laying low and having fun this summer! I hope you are all enjoying your summer (or winter as the case may be!) as well!

Its Officially Summer! How about a Blog Train?

2010-06-21T00:01:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it? Its officially summer? The past month has been hot and humid and we are already feeling summer full force so I fear that July and August are going to be absolutely miserable! Fortunately we have a pass for the pool, great AC and lots of electronic gadgets to keep the kids busy and out of the heat. Never the less, the first day of summer should be celebrated!

The designers at Elemental Scraps have gotten together to entice you with a sampling of our great talent. While you are chugging along, we would love it if you would sign up for our individual newsletters or join us on facebook and/or twitter. The downloads to each portion will be hosted in the store. For best results and hopefully, one smooth download, keep one window open and logged into the store, so that hopefully your cart doesn't clear.

**Sign up to receive my newsletter and receive a $3 off coupon! Coupons will be sent out to all subscribers in the next newsletter. To sign up, simply enter your email address in the box on the right under the 411 tab**

Sorry, this has expired, check back for more freebies soon!

In case you are lost, here is a list of participating designers.

Spinky Dink Scraps
http://spinkydinkscraps.blogspot.com/

Meredith Cardall
http://www.meredithcardall.com/designs

Connie Prince
http://scrapinfusions.blogspot.com/

Brynn Dukes
http://bzbdesigns.typepad.com/

geniaBeana Scraps
http://geniabeanascraps.com

Charlize Creations
http://beautyframe.blogspot.com/

Jessica Edwards
http://mydigiscrapblog.blogspot.com/

ProjectB
http://www.projectbdesigns.com

Sharia Braxton
http://scrapilicious2.blogspot.com

Lucky Smith
http://luckysmithdesigns.blogspot.com/

ChrissyW
http://chrissywdigital.blogspot.com/

Sherri Tierney <--you are here! http://sherritierney.blogspot.com/

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

PU Ladies Night QP

2010-05-14T08:35:00.002-05:00

Sherri has a new kit out that can be found HERE

You can find the QP HERE

Personal Use Only Enjoy!

Free margaritas anyone?

2010-05-05T14:37:00.003-05:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Its the 5th of May, Cinco de Mayo and I don't know about you but my favorite way to celebrate the day is eating my favorite Mexican food favorites and sipping a nice cold margarita! My new Ladies Night kit is just perfect to scrap some of those Cinco de Mayo pictures too (and remember, right now you can get it FREE with a $5 purchase at Elemental Scraps! To sweeten your deal, today and tomorrow only (May 5th and 6th) you can save an additional 40% when you use the coupon code st_cindodemayo at checkout! (Valid on purchase of $2 or more) If you missed the iNSD sale, here's your chance to grab what you were spying!!

And now... did someone promise a free margarita? Oh how I wish I could send everyone real ones but after all of my recent computer woes, I think I'll stick with sending the digital variety! Here's a decorated frame created using my Ladies Night kit, perfect for your Cinco de Mayo pictures!

Download ::Here::

Personal Use Quick Page

2010-05-04T13:25:00.002-05:00

Hello Cindy here with a quick page for you!!
You can find the elements HERE and papers
HERE

The QUICK PAGE IS HERE!!

color play, a contest and freebie, oh my!

2010-05-03T12:52:00.003-05:00

Its been way too long since I blogged. I have spent the last month fighting major computer woes. I had to reformat my entire system not once but twice in 30 days. That's just crazy! Worst thing was, I couldn't get Photoshop to work for almost an entire month. No designing, no scrapping... it was like a nightmare! Tell me you feel me, scrappers!

Anyway, I'm back (and trying to restore 115 GB of photos but more on that later) and do I have some stuff to talk about!

First off, iNSD weekend was last weekend and boy was it fun. I hope you all took advantage of the sales and freebies and even got to scrap a little when you weren't shopping!

Are you all still on a high after the weekend? I know I am... which is why the news I have now is PERFECT! Elemental Scraps is having an AWESOME contest with some AMAZING prizes. Its too bad I'm not eligible to win because I just had my external hard drive kick out on me and a Western Digital 500GB EHD is one of the prizes! Yes, I'm serious!! Crazy, huh? Crazy in a good way, of course!

The contest is being hosted entirely on the blog (though there is a place in the forums for questions and chatter about the contest). The first challenge was unveiled today and its a fun one. Be sure to check the Elemental Scraps Blog often (or add it to your reader) because challenges will be added regularly throughout the month and you never know when a new one will pop up!

Now... since Color Play is the theme of the first challenge of the contest, I thought I'd show you what new Color Play goodies I have for this month. For those who don't know how Color Play works, let me explain. Each month we have one color swatch to work with. Designers create paper packs, element packs, alphas, templates and more using the color swatch provided. The items go in the store (Color Play products are exclusive to Elemental Scraps) for just $2 each. The first week they are only $1 so its a good time to grab them... and today is the first day of our May Color Play promotion so you can get in on that $1 price all week!

Here's what I have this month... SeaScape. The colors this month screamed summer and water and splashy fun. This kit is perfect for pool pictures or beach pictures or even pictures of your aquarium or whatever you can dream up!

You can grab any (or all) of these or even Color Play products from other designers at Elemental Scraps. And, while you are there, check out my FWP promotion! There are just a few more days left. If you spend just $5 in my ES store you can get one of my newest kits, Ladies Night, FREE.

And, finally... I have a fun freebie created with my new Color Play products.

I had a lot of fun with this page (especially since I haven't scrapped in a MONTH!) I know it will be perfect for some pictures of my kiddos at the water park (once I get them restored from Mozy... highly recommend online back up services like Mozy too!) You can download it ::HERE::

Blog Train - For Real This Time!

2010-03-04T13:31:00.003-06:00

Thank you everyone for being so patient with me. This time I really have something for the blog train! Did I mention why I'm so scatter brained right now? In the midst of all of my fabulous - well, I think so ;) - March Madness celebrations we're getting ready to take a family trip to Arizona (something really worth celebrating as we haven't been back 'home' in 6 years!). So, things are crazy here as I try and get a month's worth of work and planning done in a week. Thanks for sticking with me though!

So... two more days (today and tomorrow) of my Double Your Dollars promotion at Elemental Scraps. For every amount you spend you will receive a coupon good for the same amount to use towards a future purchase!

Here's my little contribution for this blog train. You can download it ::HERE::

Shine On Blog Train

2010-03-03T13:57:00.002-06:00

Okay... epic FAIL for me! I totally forgot to have my contribution for the blog train ready. Sorry everyone! If you'll check back tomorrow I'll have something for you though. ;)

In the meantime, head on over to MikkiDesigns to continue your trip! Remember... check back tomorrow!

Wearin' Green QP Freebie

2010-03-03T01:57:00.004-06:00

First ... how about a challenge? I'm hosting a template challenge over at Inspiration-Lane! You can check out the challenge and pick up the template just by clicking HERE!

Now... its freeeeeebie time! I picked up this fab pack of templates from Chrissy W this week and just had to use them to make a page with my Wearin' Green mini kit. St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and I still have last year's pictures to scrap! We go all out for St. Patrick's Day here so I need to be prepared! Since the templates are CU OK, I wanted to share this page with all of you so that you can be prepared for some serious Irish celebratin' too. ;)

::Download HERE::

Need a mid-week pick me up?

2010-03-03T01:36:00.003-06:00

There's something W-one-derful about Wednesdays this March! Every Wednesday you'll find select products in my store for only $1! Look around, you never know what you'll find!

There is also just 3 days left of my Double Your Dollars promotion at Elemental Scraps. Remember, for every purchase you make between now and the 5th of March you will receive a coupon for that amount good on a future purchase.

Click on the 'My Stores' tab on the sidebar to check out each of my stores.

Stay tuned... March Madness continues all month long and I have lots of fun in store for you!

March Madness - Double your dollars!!

2010-03-01T02:58:00.004-06:00

This is so EXCITING Sherri has put together a fantastic concept for March!!!

DOUBLE YOUR DOLLARS! Its so easy for every dollar you spend you get a coupon for a dollar back!

I can't wait to go shopping.. the more you shop.. the more you get back in vouchers.. which means you can shop more... which means you get more vouchers... for a scrapaholic like me its heaven in a voucher!!

Heres a link to Sherri's shop this is for March 1st - 5th only so you better be quick!! http://www.elementalscraps.com/shoppe/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=27

A Sunshine Blog Train

2010-02-05T22:34:00.004-06:00

Wow! I can hardly believe how long its been since I participated in a blog train. I had so much fun with this one. I hope that you enjoy it too. If you haven't already, take a moment to subscribe to my newsletter (box to the right). Very soon my newsletter will be back on track with news of sales, subscriber coupons and freebies! Happy Saturday!

Here's my contribution to Rainbrella.

Download Here.
If you're following the train tracks then you came here from Cari Creates!
The next stop on this train is Valerie Ostrom Designs. Enjoy!

Scrap and Save two of my favorite things!

2010-01-15T16:44:00.005-06:00

Its true, two of my favorite things are scrapping and saving money. Its best when I can do both together but I'll take 'em how I can get 'em!

Over at Elemental Scraps we've been talking about ways to find 'free' money. This has been a big hobby of mine the past year. I paid for nearly all of our Christmas presents using Amazon gift cards I got through SwagBucks.

SwagBucks is a search and win site and so much more! You can earn SwagBucks by searching the web using their search engine tool bar, by shopping, and now there are even special offers you can do to earn SwagBucks. In the past 2 days I've cashed out for 3 $5 Amazon gift cards! There are all sorts of gift cards and prizes you can snag with your SwagBucks though. If you haven't already signed up, you really should check it out. I installed the SwagBucks tool bar and I use it to navigate from one site to another (instead of using bookmarks for sites like FaceBook that I use often, I just type it in the search bar). I usually earn a $5 gift card about every other week.

Another site I tried recently is Cash Rocket GPT. I joined in November and made enough money to cash out (I love that you can cash out with only $5. Some sites make you hit $30 or more!) and then waited to see what would happen. There were some payment delays as the site waited for payment from sponsors but lo and behold, I logged in to my PayPal account today to find a payment from Cash Rocket GPT. That's another cool thing, you can cash out right to your PayPal account. Then you can spend your free money on anything you want! There is now the option to cash out for Amazon cards too which I will likely do in the future since I'm saving up for something big. :) Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a little screen shot of the payment in my PayPal account. It turned out a little smaller than I thought it would but its the one highlighted there at the bottom. Click on the image to see it larger.

Other popular ways to earn gift cards and cash are My Points, Inbox Dollars, Opinion Outpost (surveys) and Opinion Place (also surveys). I just did 2 surveys at Opinion Place good for $4 in Amazon gift cards and I did one the other day for $1 in Amazon gift cards. In the past I have done surveys for cash and they paid out to my PayPal each and every time. I love getting surprise money!

So, if you would like to find some 'free' money, check out some of these sites! And, while we're at it, since this post is about scrapping and saving... Here are 3 ways to save at my Elemental Scraps store! Coupon codes are valid through the end of January!

Brag Book Page Personal Use Freebie

2009-12-15T23:05:00.002-06:00

Cindy here with a personal use brag book page :) I really
hope you can use it. I would love any comments! You can find
this beautiful kit HERE

and you can download HERE

16 Days till Christmas

2009-12-07T21:46:00.001-06:00

Scary isn't it only 16 days until Christmas, - Im pretty organised I am scrapping my own cards this year :)

But I always find a way to procrastinate a little when I feel overwhelmed and its usually on Facebook. I thought I would share the link for Sherri's fan page - just in case you need a little inspiration before you begin scrapping or like me you need a little diversion so you don't have a chance to think about all the things you need to do before Christmas day!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Designs-by-Sherri-Tierney/125084144141

Frosty Freezy

2009-11-30T21:45:00.003-06:00

Here is another fabulous kit from Sherri, perfect for the Christmas season - I love the soft colours here and I have seen the most stunning layouts created with it from Sherri's team.

Once upon a Christmas

2009-11-30T20:55:00.009-06:00

Has anyone seen Sherri's new Christmas kit Once upon a Christmas?

Doesn't it look fabulous? I have seen some beautiful layouts by her creative team using it - here are my favourites to share!

Here is one by opeysmama isn't it just darling?

And another by twinsies

And finally one from lovingsue - the journaling on this is precious!

Let us know what you think of it or better share some links to your layouts !!

Cheers Holden05

Not just a sale... The Ultimate Deal!

2009-11-09T03:22:00.001-06:00

My baby boy turned 4 today and I'm celebrating in a BIG way!! I have two very special offers available for one week only.

First up I have my Designer Stash - The Ultimate Bundle. When you purchase this you get ALL of my commercial use items (including my Fill Your Own Alphabets even though they are not listed as Designer Stash) for one LOW price! ONLY $20 and all of my CU items are yours! This is a great way to build a stash fast! Any new CU products added to my store between now and Nov. 30th are yours as well. It can't get any better.... or can it?

Yes, it can!! If you purchase The Ultimate Deal you can get ALL of my products, Personal and Commercial Use for only $40! This is a steal of a deal! There is over $500 of product in my store just waiting for you to download it!! I have kits for every occasion so you'll never get bored! As with the Designer Stash - Ultimate Bundle, any new product added to my store between now and Nov. 30th is also free for you to download.

All of my personal use products are Scrap for Hire/Scrap for Other OK so you can use them in your own business. This is a great investment!

**Collabs are not included in the deal and these products may not be purchased with coupons or gift cards obtained through store promotions**

Please read the description of each product for the details!

procrastinating again?

2009-03-31T12:28:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am! Funny how I only seem to blog when I should be doing other things. To give myself a little credit though, I am multitasking. I am eating my lunch while I blog. That counts, right?

Anyway... first a little design news...

At Digital Freebies we are having a store-wide 50% off sale (some exclusions including commercial use products, bundles, and club kits) today and tomorrow. Hurry on over because the sale won't last long!

At Elemental Scraps we are preparing for some big changes. One thing we're doing to get ready is having a huge blow out sale! There are tons of products soon to be retired all for $1 each! You seriously need to check this one out! The big blow out sale only lasts through Friday. Then the site closes for the change over and all of the retiring products go buh-bye from ES to make way for the new goods! On Monday (hopefully, keep your fingers crossed there are no glitches!) we will reopen with some great new releases including Color Play items!

At Inspiration Lane we are now having weekly Super Saver Saturday sales! On Saturdays check the store to find some awesome goodies for just $1 each! You never know what you'll find, from full kits to commercial use items!

At Sunshine Studio Scraps we have Sunny Sundays. Stop by and you're sure to find something to brighten your day. Products in the Sunny Sundays category range from $1-$2 and there is always a great variety!

So... now that I've filled you in... back to what I was saying... I'm procrastinating. I should be working. Please tell me I'm not the only one! Take a minute to let me know what you do to waste time and I'll pick someone to receive a nice coupon to my store so that you can pick up some free stuff and waste even more time. ;) LOL

procastinating

2009-01-28T17:52:00.004-06:00

I'm blogging. I should be working. I have to design a mini kit for the Elemental Scraps designer sampler for February. Its due today. Its already 6pm here. I'm down to the wire and my mind has went blank on me. None of my color palettes have caught my eye. Nothing from my inspiration folder has even created a spark. So, here I sit... blogging and wasting time. Okay, so maybe not wasting time exactly. I am thinking. I'm waiting for my muse.

too good to be true

2009-01-23T11:56:00.002-06:00

I kicked butt yesterday and finished up not one but TWO new kits. I went to bed with more great products running through my mind. I woke, though, with a sore throat and feeling kind of rotten. I knew it was too good to last. The mojo is still flying but I keep having to stop to take meds and spray my poor throat with Cepacol spray (awesome stuff, by the way!). I'm prone to sinus infections so this is nothing new... just very inconvenient! LOL

Anyway... have you all checked out Janet Phillips' new site, The Daily Digi? I *have* to add it to my blogroll because I totally love that site and check in every few days to see what's new. There are so many great articles already and I know more are to come!

a sneak peek for you

2009-01-21T13:57:00.002-06:00

Do you ever get the club kits at Digital Freebies? If not, let me fill you in. Every month two coordinating kits are released. During that month you get both kits for just $5.00. You can buy subscription packages to save money too. February is my month to work on the club kit. Dale-Ann and I are teaming up to bring you two completely adorable and totally fun kits. During February I will also have some coordinating freebies here on my blog AND something nice for my newsletter subscribers. I am so excited about how this kit turned out though that I just can't wait to show it off! Since I have to though, I thought I'd give you a sneak peek...

You like? Be sure to stop by Digital Freebies in February and pick it up! 2 full sized kits for $5.00 is a deal you just can't shake a stick at! There will be plenty of fun add ons as well so be sure to check out the whole Digital Freebies Club category!

If you're in the mood for bright colors and some spring like fun, then my next kit is just what you're looking for. No sneak peek for this one yet, but it should be done tonight. :)

And... despite the fear of sounding like a broken record... I'm going to say it again... sign up as a newsletter subscriber (to your right) and there will be a special freebie in the first edition, set to go out next Monday!!

new look, sale and more!

2009-01-19T10:47:00.002-06:00

My poor blog was feeling quite inferior to all of the other pretty blogs out there so I had to give 'er a makeover! I must say, I'm pretty excited about the new look, new logo, slogan and such. To celebrate the occassion, I am even having a 50% off sale at my Elemental Scraps store! You can click on the graphic below to go right to the goods! :)

Anyway... the story of my logo, for those who are interested. I was a Valentine's Day baby and throughout my life hearts has been kind of a recurring theme. I was thinking about that as I sat down to design a new logo. I rifled through old products and came across my retired 'Love Grows' kit which had this doodle inside.

Within minutes it all clicked... art from the heart. It really says all I want to say. Our scrapbook layouts become a part of who we are. Each of them says a little something about us. One layout doesn't tell the whole story but all together they can let those around us peek inside and see who we really are. Scrapbooking, whether digital or paper, is such a personal and often emotional art form. Our layouts really and truly are art from the heart. And, just the same, my designs also come from the heart. I create products that say a little something about who I am and how I view the world around me. Each kit I create is a work of love. As I design I think about all of the wonderful layouts that will eventually be created with that kit and I feel priviledged to be able to contribute to someone else's expression of art (and heart!).

Project 365

2009-01-18T15:01:00.002-06:00

So, how many of you are participating in project 365? I am, but in a rather unofficial capacity. I'm not posting my photos daily or even uploading my camera daily but I have remembered to snap a picture every day so far and I have to say, its a great feeling to be taking pictures again! I used to be such a shutterbug that I would often take 100 pictures or more a day... pictures of my kids, my pets, my husband, random things I saw, etc. For some reason though, all of that stopped and the camera only came out when there was a special occasion and not even then sometimes. In that rare moment when I would sit down to scrap (rather than design), I would look through my picture folders only to find that I did not have very many pictures to chose between. It made me a little sad so when I started hearing about project 365 I vowed to rekindle that relationship my camera and I once had. I haven't done any layouts YET, but I definitely plan to!

Newsletter!

2009-01-14T08:41:00.003-06:00

Okay... so my last attempt at a newsletter did not take off as planned. This time I'm going to do it right though scrappers, I promise! To your right you will see a place to enter your email address to subscribe to my newsletter. Be sure to take a second and sign up! My first official newsletter will hit your inbox on January 26th and will include a special freebie!

Step on a crack?

2009-01-13T20:35:00.002-06:00

Remember the old childhood taunt "step on a crack and break your mother's back"? Well, I have a 6 year old that recently learned this at school and has been chanting it repeatedly for weeks. Then, in the Sunday comics the Family Circle cartoon had one of the children hopping on the sidewalk and stepping on a crack as the mother, in the kitchen, bent over in pain.

You can imagine that all of this was going through my mind this morning when I flubbed my back up. I wasn't doing anything strenuous or wild, or even out of the ordinary. I bent over to pick up a throw pillow out of the floor in the livingroom. I didn't raise up entirely and went to scoot my 3 year old over so I could sit by him on the couch. Somewhere in between picking the pillow up and moving him, my back seized up and felt like it was on fire. I spent most of the day in pain. I managed within a few minutes to get on the couch and I didn't move for 4 hours. When I did finally move, I had my husband take me to the chiropractor for an adjustment. I feel a little better and I'm sure it will be fine... but I had to tell my girl not to step on any more cracks! LOL

So... Mango Tango... does anyone remember the blog train collab that I participated in for Sunshine Studio Scraps? Well, somehow my 4shared account was messed up and the link became inactive. I am uploading it now to reattach it but I wanted to make a note here so that anyone missing it can still get it! You can find it by clicking HERE.

arriving at destination

2008-08-12T10:12:00.003-05:00

Don't tell my husband but I love our GPS system. I balked last fall when he wanted to buy yet another Garmin. It had only been a year since he purchased the first one and I was not convinced that he needed a new one. Actually, I still wasn't convinced until the other day when I actually made use of it myself. We had taken the kids out of town to a water park. As we were changing in to our suits I discovered that the bottoms to my swim suit were no where to be found. Here we were over an hour from home and I was bottomless. The kids were already in suits, we had already paid entrance and I wasn't about to hold up the party. I knew I had to go track down something to swim in. The thing is, I am NOT good with directions. I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag. I get lost easily in this small town I live in, let alone some place larger. Needless to say, that GPS came in handy! I located the nearest Wally World on the map, set it as a destination and off I went. It was so comforting to have that computerized voice telling me which way to turn and when she finally said "arriving at destination" I was thrilled! So thrilled in fact that I celebrated by buying a waterproof camera for the occassion. LOL!

Since that day, that simple phrase 'arriving at destination' has gone through my head a lot. In life, when will I know when I'm arriving at my destination? Have I already gotten there? Its definitely something to think about. Life is a journey but what is the desitnation? I suppose that is as personal as the journey. In a way I feel as though I've reached my destination. I no longer feel that I am waiting for something to happen, waiting to finish school, waiting to get married, waiting to have a baby, waiting, waiting, waiting... Sure there are things still in our life plan but for the first time since I can remember, I feel as though I am actually LIVING and not just waiting!

There... that was my 'deep thought' of the day. Aren't you glad I shared? LOL!

Anyway, things have been hectic for me lately. School starts on Thursday and my lovely (but somewhat bratty this week!) daughter will be headed off to first grade. I'm a little sad. Kindergarten threw me for a loop last year and this isn't much better. Kindergarteners are still babies. Sure, they are in school but being the youngest of the bunch they are still babies. I can't pretend that she's a baby anymore. She's 6 and a 'grader' (she loves to call herself a grader!). I guess those baby days are over. My oldest is officially a kid. Not a baby, toddler, preschooler or even kindergartener. She's a kid. How did that happen?

So, in the midst of all the getting ready for school (and all the pondering where my baby went when I wasn't looking!) we've been throwing ourselves in to as many fun family activities as we can to send summer out with a bang. The last three weeks have been a flurry of activities. I hate to see it coming to and end but I am, at the same time, ready to find some 'normalcy' in my days so that I can spend more time designing.

I am happy to say that I've been able to etch out enough time to continue to participate in the Teacher's Pet program at Funky Playground Designs! I was thrilled to learn that I made it to round 3. This is the first such competition I've participated in and I have to say, I was a little nervous starting out. Traci, Corina and Chere (and the rest of the FPD designers of course!) are just awesome though and have definitely made me feel right at home. I find myself really hoping to make it to the end because I'd love to stay at FPD and hang around with those awesome girls! :)

The assignment for round 2 was to create an element pack. The catch? Every item had to have some sort of extraction incorporated in to it. I had so many ideas going through my head that it was hard to narrow it down to one thing to focus on. In the end, I created a cute little pack of beaded goodies... buggy for beads. Here's a peek at it. For those who weren't able to grab it at FPD before the link was removed, keep an eye out... in September the mini kit from last week and the element pack from this week will be available again!

Now its time to get started on the assignment for round 3. I'm excited about this round and can't wait to show you the mini kit that is floating around in my brain! Stay tuned!!

sunbaked, waterlogged and grinning ear to ear

2008-08-05T10:02:00.003-05:00

Aaah, I feel so refreshed! We had an amazing weekend. It was a shame we had to come home! It wasn't amazing so much in what we did, it was just so relaxing and fun. I'm worn out though and ready for a weekend away to recover from our weekend away! LOL

Yesterday I came home to an exciting announcement. I made it on to round 2 of the FPD Teacher's Pet apprentice program! In case you missed the first round, I'll give you a peek of my mini kit. It will not be available again until the end of the program but then I will offer it again as either a blog freebie or a mini kit in one of my stores.

Round 2 will consist of element packs so you will definitely want to keep an eye out on the gallery at FPD so that you can pick up the awesome packs available from the participants!

Announcement time! :)

2008-07-16T10:34:00.005-05:00

That's right! Its time for an announcement. I've been teasing my CT for the last few days, making them wait along with the rest of you. This one was worth the wait though because it involves a FREEBIE! Are you ready?

Okay, here goes.....

I'm proud to announce that I'm a new Sunshine Girl! :) Sunshine Studio Scraps has grown with the addition of new designers and we are celebrating!! What better way to celebrate than to give away a mega kit? What's better, we're having a blog hop! Collect your freebies from each blog and get to know a little about the designers in the process! How cool is that?!?!?! Remember to check the store Friday for the unveiling of the new designers' stores!

And now... without further ado... here's the freebie!!

Click HERE to download! ** link fixed and updated January 13th **

To check out the rest of the Sunshine Girls and pick up other fun goodies, visit the Sun Blog where you will find a list of links of all the participating designers!

Remember this is an international party, so if you don't see someone's freebies up yet, be sure to stop by again later today!

Enjoy your freebies! We hope you will stop by our gallery and post your layouts!!

Bad, bad blogger

2008-07-09T00:15:00.002-05:00

I'm going to have to just face it. I'm rather sporadic when it comes to blogging. I always think of things to blog about but opening up blogger, typing everything out, adding links and pictures... well, its work. LOL I debate with myself.. blog or do dishes. Blog or feed the kids. You can guess what stuff comes first, eh?

Anyway, I wanted to update you on my CT call. I had a FABULOUS response and I am proud to say I have an awesome new team to join the already wonderful girls that have been with me forever! I will make a solid effort to get them announced by the end of the week. Feel free to kick me if I don't get it done. ;)

Let's see... in design news... I've got a LOT going on. I'm making some changes in where I sell my products, adding stores, subtracting stores, etc. I won't say anything quite yet because I want to wait until its time for official announcements but I will say that there are some pretty fun changes in store for me and I'm very excited!

In personal news... I go in on Thursday to have laparascopic surgery on my knee. In April I fell down the stairs (holding my 2 year old, who, thankfully was perfectly fine!) and twisted my knee something awful. In the process it seems I tore part of the meniscus. The tear is like a little flap that is moving around and often gets caught between the bones in my knee. This causes swelling, joint pain, etc. and makes it difficult for me to walk on inclines, go up and down stairs, etc. The ortho I met with was pretty confident that going in and cleaning up the torn area to smooth it out and keep it from getting pinched will alleviate the problems and I'll be good as new in no time. I'm excited because I haven't been able to do a lot of things I'm used to like hiking in our favorite state park. On the other hand, I'm nervous because I'll be under general anesthesia and there are always risks. I've only been under once and I was 15 and having my tonsils removed. I did fine then so I can't imagine I would have any adverse reactions now but... well, you know... it IS surgery. LOL My last 4 surgeries have all been done with me awake and either a spinal block or an epidural in place so I haven't had to worry about the anesthesia part in a while.

Anyway... I'll be back tomorrow with the exciting announcement of my CT girls and my new QP team!!

CT and more call!

2008-06-06T14:22:00.009-05:00

Its been AGES since I've had a CT call. I mean like almost 2 years. My little CT has dwindled down to 3 people and while they totally ROCK, I do admit that we're feeling pretty lonely in my CT forum and could use some new faces to help liven the place up! :) I'm excited about this call and I hope that those applying are just as excited!

Here are the details... I'm looking for a few different kinds of people for this call. I need regular CT members, hybrid members, quickpage creators and some lively and motivated girls for my promotional team. When you apply, please make a notation as to what position you are interested in. If you wish to be considered for more than one position, please let me know what your first choice is.

CT Members

My CT terms are flexible. You will have access to my products via coupon code through Elemental Scraps. I ask that you use what you take and post your layouts to at least 3 galleries. There aren't any minimum monthly layout requirements but I am looking for active members so you can't just join and then never participate. I don't have minimum requirements because a) I feel that creativity can't be forced and b) life happens and sometimes its not possible to get everything done. However, if you go more than 6 weeks without posting layouts you will be removed from the team (unless other arrangements have been made) to make room for someone who wants to scrap with my products.

Hybrid scrappers will be required to do one hybrid project using my designs approx. every other month. Basically, as with the regular CT, I ask that you use what you take and post your projects to at least 3 galleries. I realize that hybrid projects often take a little more time and effor that digital layouts and therefore I ask that you have a project every 8 weeks or so. These projects can be cards, crafts, hybrid layouts, chipboard albums, etc. Be creative! One scrapper used one of my kits to make t-shirt transfers for her kids for Valentine's Day!

If you are interested in a CT position please email creativespiritscall @ gmail dot com with CT call in the subject line. If you are applying for a hybrid position please specify. Tell me a little about yourself, what other teams you are on and give me a link to your most complete gallery.

Promo team

No scrapping required! Do you like my designs but don't have time to scrap? Join my promotional team and you will have access to my designs in exchange for a little of your time. I am looking for team members to answer ISO ads (where my products may apply), post to the CT enabling thread at DST, help me run contests and give aways and to generally be a cheerleader for me. For this position I want you to be honest with yourself and with me and only apply if you really love my products. I want my promo team to be honest when they 'pimp' my products. :)

If you are interested in this position please email creativespiritscall @ gmail dot com with Promo team in the subject line. Please let me know a little about yourself, what teams you are on and what boards you are most actively a part of.

Quickpage Creators

I am looking for 2-5 scrappers to create quickpages using my products (and only my products). I would like at least 3-4 pages from each kit that you download. The finished product will be placed for sale by me. You will receive 50% of the net sales (paypal fees and store commission will be taken out) and will be paid out via PayPal. All products in my stores will be previewed according to the store guidelines. You may create a logo to be placed on the preview that credits you as the page designer.

To apply for this position please email me at creativespiritscall @ gmail dot com with QP creator in the subject line. Tell me a little about yourself, what teams you are currently on and link me to a gallery showing me your work. I want to see how well you would work with my products so I am going to be asking each applicant to do a set of quickpages using one of my kits. Please request which kit when you are applying.

And now pat yourself on the back for reading all of that!! If you think you have what it takes then email me at creativespiritscall @ gmail dot com! Call ends June 11th. You can check out my products at Elemental Scraps or Purple Paper Flowers

storms, memories and clutter

2008-06-05T10:36:00.002-05:00

I hate this feeling... We are expecting some pretty rough storms tonight and all we can do is wait. I don't like waiting. I don't like the unexpected. I feel very restless today. DH came home this morning with an article clipped from the Wichita Eagle. It said that the weather pattern we are looking at for tonight is similar to one in '74 when there were 39 tornadoes in a night. Dang if that doesn't make me feel good. :( It seems the worst of it will be around central Kansas but its still too close for comfort for me. We've had too many warnings lately and there have been too many tornadoes touch down with 50 miles of us. Its scary!

To help me pass the time today, I'm cleaning and scanning wedding pictures. I have to say, my new scanner ROCKS! We had a crappy 3 in 1 Lexmark before. I used it to scan pictures for our anniversary album (we hit 10 years in May!!) but the scans were bad and wouldn't have been good for anything other than what I used them for (small pictures in an 8x8 album). I have been itching to do a wedding album. My brother in law got married in October of '06 and my brother got married in October of '07 and I made each of them an 8x11 album through Shutterfly. I told DH that it sucked that they had wedding albums before we did and we've been married so much longer. I was getting ready to scan my wedding pictures when I realized two things... a- the scanner sucked and b- I lost my prints! Fortunately we have the negatives but the Lexmark wasn't going to cut it. DH surprised me by ordering me an Epson Perfection V500 Photo. I can scan ANYTHING now and the scans are awesome!

Besides scanning and fretting about the possible storms, I am trying to keep the kids occupied and clear out some of the clutter. My 5 year old is turning 6 at the end of this month. Part of her birthday present is a plasma car. Because I knew there would be fights, I ordered 2. I know have boxes strewn about from them being put together. I also haven't done any deep cleaning in a few days and things are starting to pile up on me again. I hate housework!

pink eye?

2008-03-20T10:27:00.003-05:00

I think my little guy has pink eye. He has horrible allergies (both our children do, of course both of their parents do too) and yesterday was a bad allergy day. His nose was leaky and he kept coughing. His eyes were fine at first but soon started to have a little green discharge in the corners. It concerned me but my husband told me not to worry, said he probably wiped his nose funny and got it in his eyes or something, he is 2 after all. Of course, it didn't happen until right as the doctor's office was closing so I couldn't call to get him in. I started watching and finally got on to WebMD to see if I could find anything about pink eye since I just had a feeling. Since his eyes were only leaky at the time and not pink I just took note of the symptoms and started to watch him. He fell asleep on my lap and when he woke up his eyes were red. It definitely looks like pink eye. Dh had to run out last night to take a video back (August Rush... awesome movie!!) and he stopped by Walmart and picked up some drops for the little guy's eyes. We put them in last night and within 20 minutes the discharge was gone as was the watering. His eyes are still a little pink this morning but not at all like yesterday. I'm just watching him closely to see what happens. I hate to be that parent who runs to the doctor for every little ailment but I also don't want to be that parent that misses something important because they are afraid of looking bad if it isn't important. Catch 22, isn't it. This parenting stuff isn't always easy!

So... Easter is on its way. What will the bunny bring to you? I am hoping for some new digiscrap goodies since I haven't done a layout since early February. I was over at DST yesterday just browsing layouts and I really want to scrap!! Anyway, the kids aren't getting a ton this year. We are to the point of being over ran with toys and I can't see bringing many more in the house. They are getting a big water park toy. It doesn't have the best reviews on Amazon, but it holds water and my boy will LOVE it. I only paid $6, including shipping, so no complaining here! The bunny is going to hide it in the yard and have the kids do a treasure hunt to find it. Fun stuff!

In design news... Elemental Scraps is getting ready for a new look. It is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait! I wish I could give a peek but Joedee would probably hang me by my toe nails if I did! Anyway, because of that I'm up to my eyeballs in redoing previews with the new template. I love the new preview look but I hate doing previews in general so I find myself doing everything but. I have 30 some done and another 60 some to do. A lot of products are retiring, some simply because I dread previewing them again! LOL Here's the little ad I posted at DST. More products will be added.

It makes me a little sad to retire things but its time. My design style has changed so much that I really need to move on. If anything catches your eye though, get it before its gone!

Happy Belated 'Irish Day'

2008-03-18T09:27:00.005-05:00

Top o' the mornin' to ya! I hope that you all had a great St. Patty's day yesterday.

St. Patrick's Day is one of those holidays I thought was stupid when I was a kid (I had an aunt that used to pinch me even if I wore green). As an adult, however, I see the beauty in it.

I married in to an Irish family and since having children I have grasped on to that culture. My own family history is sketchy at best. I know all about my mother's mother's side but nothing about her father's side or my own father's side. I have never met my father and little is known about him. I'm told he's Irish but who knows. I'm sometimes told what they think I want to hear. Its nice to finally have something concrete to share with my children since I only know a quarter of my own lineage.

Over the years, St. Patrick's Day has become something we celebrate bigger and bigger. We started out just going to the parade in town and maybe wearing green but now we have a leprechaun who plays pranks on us and this year I even added some Irish food to the mix. I made reubens for the first time. I know, not your traditional St. Patty's day menu but Irish none the less and something that looked easy enough for me to make quickly. I had never had a reuben before but my husband had them quite often growing up. I was nervous because he's picky, especially when it comes to things he has had in the past and feels should taste a certain way. Personally, I've never liked sauerkraut so I figured I'd end up scraping it all off of mine in order to eat it. I was pleasantly surprised though. Not only did DH like it (and ask for seconds) but I really enjoyed it too. They are likely going to be something we eat at least once a month. Yum!

Anyway, our leprechaun did come yesterday. He made the kids' milk green, poured green salad dressing on my salad and turned our potty water green. He also played around moving the kids little stuffed leprechaun around the house and finally hung him up on the chandalier. The kids had great fun discovering where he would next end up and they laughed as I made faces and ate green salad dressing (quite tasty I might add). We didn't go all out like I wanted to. We usually go on a late night leprechaun hunt but it was raining so that didn't happen. We also usually get the kids some sort of little toy but right now we're overloaded on toys and I just couldn't see bringing another in. I'm already planning for next year though!

Caity was in the parade this year. It was on Saturday so we did most of our celebrating early. It was windy and cold and hardly no one showed up. It was fun none the less and we were excited for her to get to ride in the parade.

On Sunday I sat down and put this kit together so that I could scrap some of my pictures from Saturday...

2 for 2...

2008-03-14T09:50:00.003-05:00

Can you believe I'm posting again? I can't. LOL! That's okay, I seriously doubt anyone even read my post from yesterday given how often I usually blog! I wanted to jump up and down and scream to the world that I actually DID post on my blog but I refrained. Maybe after I have made more than two posts in 9 months!

So, yesterday I mentioned my boy and how he was sorta playing around with the notion of going to the potty... well, yesterday he went on the potty, by himself, TWICE! Woohoo!!! I'm so excited. He went upstairs and was sitting on the potty when my hubby went up to grab some clothes. He asked the little man what he was doing. "Going potty" he said. DH went in to grab the clothes and when he came back out the little one had gone. The evidence was all over the front of the toilet seat and down the back of his sweats. We were so excited despite the mess! He's only 28 months and he's taking it upon himself to potty train. I wouldn't have started until he was 3.

Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that I am working to make positive changes in my life. One of them has to do with taking better care of myself. I've made no secret of the fact that I have an addiction to diet pepsi. Drinking a 2 liter bottle a day just isn't (wasn't) unusual for me. If I was stressed out, I'd drink even more. I'm happy to say I've all but given up the habit. :) I haven't sworn it off completely but it is amazing how much I have cut back!

For my birthday my husband bought me this fancy electronic water bottle called a HydraCoach. It keeps track of your water intake, suggests how much water you should be drinking a day and gives you the results of your efforts in either ounces or % of your goal met. After 24 hours it starts blinking and you have to reset it so there is no cheating and drinking for 3 days just to meet your goal. LOL Apparently some girls he works with use them at work and try to get in their 64oz while they are at work each day. He thought they were nifty and took note of what they were called. That very day I started talking about how I wish there was something to motivate me to drink more since I had realized I went 3 full days without a single drop of water... only diet pepsi. He sat down and ordered one of them for me right then (without me knowing it). When I first opened it up, I felt a little cheated. I'll be honest. It didn't seem like much of a birthday present. I have every type of sports bottle under the sun. I always buy them and think they will help motivate me to drink but it never happens. What did I need yet another bottle for?

The first day I used it and drank a little from it but I just wasn't feeling it. The next day I tried again. The third day I let it sit all day and drank more diet pepsi than normal. My 5 year old asked me why I wasn't using my new birthday present. I guess you could say she guilted me in to trying it again. This time I actually managed to drink a full 64 oz. The next day I did it again. I've been using the cup now for about 3.5 weeks and I've bumped my goal intake up from 64 oz to 80 oz. Most days I drink around 100 oz. Today I got a late start and just reset my bottle from last night. Its been 33 minutes and I've drank 33 oz, or 41% of my goal for the day. I really love my sports bottle now and I have felt SO much better since starting to drink more water. I haven't missed the diet pepsi at all. Every now and then I think that one would taste good, and sometimes I even indulge in a drink but for the most part I've given it up. Now, instead of buying 10 2 liters every week (and sometimes going back for more), I'm buying 1 for the week and last week I didn't buy any! The most exciting thing to me is that I can have a bottle of it sitting here in the house for days on end without me touching it. Its not a willpower struggle at all, I just don't feel I have to have it.

I am a sucky blogger

2008-03-13T10:58:00.003-05:00

Yes, it is a harsh statement, but it is true. I suck at blogging. I go full force for a few days and then slack off. Its been like 9 months since my last entry and I have no excuse as to why I haven't been posting. Heck, I don't even have a reason why I am posting today. LOL

I guess my thinking is that I have been making some other very solid and positive changes in my life lately that I should be able to start blogging again and incorporate it as one of my new lifestyle changes and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to keep up with it.... you think?

So, let's see... what is going on? Well, nothing much has changed other than the fact that I have a kindergartner now instead of a preschooler. My kids are growing, changing, developing and flourishing. It is amazing to watch them. I am fiercely proud and in total awe of them. Recently we had parent teacher conferences at the elementary school. Since the girl had dance class the same night, daddy took the kids to dance while I walked down to the school for the conference. I was met with a teacher who was smiling ear to ear and immediately burst out "If only I had a whole class of her" :)

Her report card (no grades, just plus marks) was fabulous and every word was a glowingly positive review of my little girl. I was beyond thrilled. Obviously I think she's the cat's meow but she's mine... I'm a little obligated to that that way. I look at her and see a bright little girl who makes friends easily but I'm not 20 5 year olds all day so I have nothing to compare her to. I know she's on track with the benchmarks she needs to meet but without knowing the curriculum or where others her age stand its hard for me to judge how she is doing. I was blown away to hear the teacher say that they can't challenge her enough and that she is far beyond what they have tested for. They were using a reading program and having the children read one book after another, each slightly more difficult, to see how far they would get. The teacher said they got so far with my little girl that they just had to stop her.

She is, at very least, reading at a 2nd grade level. She seriously only started reading around October so this is amazing to me. The problem we have now is finding books that are difficult enough to keep her challenged without being too involved to make her lose attention. She is, after all, just 5. She's not quite ready to sit and read chapter books on her own yet she needs the level of difficultly that those chapter books provide.

And then there is my 2 year old. He's 2 going on 12. He is such a mature little boy for two. Well, most of the time that is. The other night we baby-sat for a friend's 2 year old foster son. The two had several little tiffs and I discovered that my boy didn't like to share so much. It really surprised me because he's never had a problem sharing before. Of course he doesn't play with that many children his exact age and I think that there a little feeling of competition between them. When the little boy dirtied his diaper and ended up wearing a pair of my son's spider man pull ups... well, I could definitely see that he was feeling as though this boy was coming in to take his place. After the boy left though, D stood there waving, half teary eyed and said "when he come back?" I'll have to arrange for some play dates.

D is trying to potty train himself. The problem is, mommy isn't ready. I hate the whole potty training ordeal and I wanted to wait until spring/summer so that I don't have to worry about pulling off 40 layers of clothes to get him to the potty. So far his training attempts amount to him pulling off his clothes from the waist down and climbing up to sit on the potty. I find myself wondering if a potty chair is even necessary since he sits so well on the big potty. Anyway, next month we'll probably start working with him pretty enthusiastically. I would LOVE to be rid of the diapers for a while, that's for sure. We only had a break of about 3 months between the time his sister potty trained and he was born so I've basically been changing diapers for 5.5 years.

So.... are you still reading? Maybe this is why I don't blog... I'm so long winded! LOL

Anyway, as for me... I'm still around. I don't post often anywhere outside of ES these days. I'm still designing and still exclusive to ES at this point. I went through a period of time where designing just wasn't doing it for me. I had no creative energy and no desire to design. I did the bare minimum to get by with my commitments and bascially took a much needed break away from designing. In January my creativity returned and I've been slowly making my way back since then. :) Its nice to WANT to design again!

wrapping it up..

2007-06-20T18:07:00.001-05:00

I'm putting the bow on the package. :) The Birthday Bash Box of Baubles package that is! I had one little thing to finish up today and wouldn't you know it, it was one of those days where I just couldn't get it done right away. Finally though... I'm uploading!! Yay!

I'll be back to update when the links have been sent out and I'll let you know who won the gift cards to my store for leaving my blog some love!

less than 3 days

2007-06-19T22:57:00.000-05:00

That's right.... less than 3 days and my new grab bag will be released! I am so excited about this one. It has so many fun things in it. This is definitely a bag I'd be thrilled to buy.

For those of you who got in on my free grab bag promotion, you'll get it tomorrow!! I'm so excited to be able to send it to you all. I'm putting the finishing touches on it right now (well as soon as I get my kiddos to bed!)

Is anyone up for another sneak peek? Just a tiny one? Ah, heck, why not? Here it is....

What do you think we have here? Any guesses? If you'll remember, I said before that my preview had a hint on it... notice that these beads are the same color as the package on my preview? I was sneaky, lol!

Alright... time for me to get my little ones to bed. Its been a looong day for them (and for me!).

fun with blogger

2007-06-18T17:47:00.000-05:00

I've kept blogs since 2005. I used to be really good about posting to them regulary. One blog for the family, one for my daughter and then one for my son when he came along. However, all of the blogs fell by the wayside last November. I was ready to delete them when I decided to play around and update them. My husband's family all live so far away that we don't get to see them often. I started the blogs as a way to keep them updated on the day to day happenings of our little family. So instead of trashing the blogs along with past entries I decided to revive them, give them a face lift and a little pep. I spent a little time today working on new blog headers (something I had never done before, I'd just used the generic one). They turned out so cute, I just had to share them!

Here is the one I made for my son using the kit I named after him, Declan.

The pictures in the negative strip were taken at birth, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months exactly. He has grown so much!

My daughter's is a bit different and a little funky. She thinks she's a rock star so I had to use that somewhere on her blog header. I used the kit I named after her, Caitrin, for this as well as a little something I have coming out soon.

I think it shows off her attitude quite well! The extraction was fun and something different for me since I just don't do that in my layouts. Now to finish updating and send the new links to the family!

6 years ago today

2007-06-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

Its so hard for me to believe that my world changed so much 6 years ago. It was Father's Day 2001 and I was 20 weeks pregnant with my first child. Without going in to too much detail, I'll say that my son, Tyler Anthony was born at 5:17pm on June 17, 2001. He passed away during birth but would not have been able to survive at that gestation anyway. Losing him was a very difficult thing for my husband and I. Even though its been 6 years (and two healthy rug rats later!), sometimes it still feels so fresh to me. Today it really hit me. Its Father's Day just as it was then. When DH gets home from golfing we're going to take the kids out to release balloons for Tyler just as we do every year. This year we're going to send one up to my grandma too. I'm sure missing both of them a lot.

The happy part is that 5 years ago today I was anxiously awaiting the birth of my second child, my daughter, Caitrin. In just one short week she will be 5 years old. It hardly seems possible that she could be turning 5. I still picture her at a few weeks old. Why do they grow up so fast?? I don't have any newborn layouts uploaded (heck, most of those were paper scrapped!) but here she is at 10 days old... so tiny and sweet!

Well, my little guy fell asleep on my lap so I need to put him down... I'll be back! LOL

spread the love...

2007-06-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

My poor blog is just feeling lonely. She knows that there are many blogs out there who get lots of comments and she's feeling a might inadequate. In effort to boost her self-esteem, I decided to try and boost her comment section a bit (shh! Don't tell her, I want her to think its all her!). I'm giving away gift cards for my products and the lucky recipients will be chosen at random from among the comments I get on this post. So go ahead... spread the love and make my blog feel special!

And... since this post needs something colorful and fun, here is a sneak peek at that Birthday Bash Box of Baubles that will be on sale soon (the one those of you who made purchases between June 9th and 15th will get free!)....

Look interesting? Colorful and fun? I think so!! Remember, this is only a teensy bit of what will be in this box. The box is filling up fast and getting heavier by the day! If you aren't one of the lucky ones who will get it free, remember to watch for it when it is released!!

Free grab bag you say? One more day!

2007-06-14T23:35:00.000-05:00

Just one day left of my free grab bag promotion! That's right, Friday is the last day. If you haven't taken advantage of this one, you might want to. Make any purchase (even a tiny one) and you will qualify to receive my next grab bag (I'm calling it the birthday bash box of baubles, lol!) free! I will be sending out the links on or before June 20th. You'll have it in your hands before it hits the stores! You just don't want to pass up a deal like this (at least I wouldn't, grab bag junkie that I am!).

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to put the alpha and template from the DST chat in to my stores. I decided today to give the template away on my blog instead. Who couldn't use a free template, eh? Yesterday I showed you the layout I made using the template. In case you missed it, here's the preview of the template itself.

I'll give you the link shortly... first I have to show off a layout I did. :)

I've been blessed enough to have been on Traci Reed's CT for quite some time now. I love working with her designs and she's such a fun person to be around. Sadly, I didn't reapply this time because I'm just too busy to keep up with everything so this is my last month on her CT. *waaaaah* Anyway, she just released a new kit called 'He'll Break Your Heart'. Its a tropical, surfer boy type kit. Its perfect for those pictures of your teenage boys because of the fun elements in the kit. It also works well for little boy pictures... I had to use it last night to scrap a picture of my son in the wading pool. Here you go... my little surfer boy!

I love this picture because you can see how red my little guy's hair is. He takes after his mama, that's for sure! He still doesn't have much hair but what he does have is super straight (he doesn't get that from mama), thin, fine and red. I just love to play with it. Anyway, his sister brought the doll in to the pool with them and he had a great time making the doll slide down the little slide and catching it at the end. He's a loving little guy!

Okay... off to get something done. I've sat at the computer too long! I did promise you the link to that template though so be sure to stop by and download it here!

I scrapped, again!

2007-06-14T00:05:00.000-05:00

I was working on a template today for my anniversary chat at DST and I had so much fun with it that I decided to scrap with it before I closed my file. My daughter called the template 'crazy'. It is definitely out of my proverbial box but I like it. Here's my finished layout.

I used my Caitrin kit and my white cardboard alphabet (inked with Atomic Cupcake inked edges action). I rarely scrap with my own stuff so I'm very excited to have used the Caitrin kit twice already! Its funny because I like what I design but I am so sick of looking at it by the time its done and previewed that I just file it away and figure I'll scrap with it some day. Silly, isn't it?

Anyway.... for those who missed the chat at DST, I'll let you in on a little secret... I gave away that fun alphabet I used on the layout yesterday to everyone who came. I also gave them the template, of course, for the template challenge and a coupon to try out my products. I honestly love giving things away!

I decided to go ahead and put the template and the alphabet up in my stores so that you can pick them up if you missed out. They probably won't make it up tonight though, I'm sleepy and I should probably get to bed.

Just a reminder... only 2 more days to get in on my free grab bag with any purchase deal. I'm so excited with how many of you are taking advantage of it. It will feel like Christmas when I send out the links! Like I said, I love giving stuff away!!

Speaking of give-aways... remember how I mentioned giving away a Memory Purse or two....?? I have decided that I will give at least one away at each store (ES and OAKS). I will have the details for you soon. I have to say, I totally LOVE my Memory Purse. I get so many comments on it and I just love being able to change it out when I want and be creative with it. Of course, that reminds me that I really need to update my bag ;)

Anyway, in scrapping news.... (I really need to organize my posts better, eh? I jump around a lot!) I have been on a grab bag kick. I've bought 4 of the grab bags from The Digi Shoppe this week. I picked up Bren Boone's, Micheline Martin's, Ashley Olson's and Faith True's. Those girls really packed their bags! I can't wait to use some of those goodies to scrap!

Now... off to bed....

I'm a clutz!

2007-06-12T23:11:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt about it. I am a huge clutz. A few weeks back I fell off my bicycle (in front of people we know no less!), I constantly stub my toes on things around the house and today I fell and hurt my hand and ankle. Fortunately with some heavy doses of ibuprofen both are feeling better but it sure didn't feel good when it happened!

Anyway... the main purpose of this post was to let you all know that I'm hosting a chat at DST tomorrow, 9pm EST! I'll be giving away a layered template as part of a layout challenge. If you complete the challenge and post your layout (PMing me with the link), I'll send you a little goodie for participating. I'll also have a little freebie for you just for coming! It should be fun! I can't wait!!

Today has been a crazy day. Dh is working long hours and its throwing us all off. I feel as though I'm getting nothing accomplished. Hopefully taking the kids out to story hour at the library tomorrow will give us that much needed break.... if, of course, the little guy stays happy!

One thing I did do today was sit down with my 4 (almost 5!) year old and scrap a page for her. She told me what she wanted on it and where. She even told me how she wanted the paper torn. She decided on the title and I added my own journaling thoughs. We used my Caitrin kit papers for it plus a new alphabet that will be coming soon. Will it be in the store? Maybe. Will it make its way into a grab bag? Possibly, LOL! Oooh the suspsense! Anyway, here's the layout...

If you like that frame we used, you'll be happy to know I'm giving it away to my blog readers!! Its decorated as shown on the layout and you can download it HERE. As you can see, it coordinates rather nicely with the Caitrin kit, so if you have the kit you might want to grab the frame!

In design news, I'm busy working on my next grab bag... the Birthday Bash Box of Baubles. Isn't that a mouth full? Can you say it 10 times, fast? LOL! Anyway, this box will be filled with lots of great stuff and everyone who has gotten in on my Grab Bag promotion will receive this fun box! (Yes, I'm calling it something different, but it is technically my next grab bag. :) ) Many of you have already qualified to get this box for free! If you haven't, there's still time! Just make any purchase of my products from Elemental Scraps or One of a Kind Scrapz through June 15th and I'll send you this baby FREE! I'll be sending out the links on or before June 20th! You'll have this in your hot little hands before it is released to the general public! Look down a few posts for more information... and here's a sneaky peak at my birthday box... there might just be a hint of what's inside....

For my OAKS customers, this box WILL be available at OAKS as well as ES, I just haven't gotten my preview done for there yet. This time, the same 'grab bag' will be available at both stores.

Time to log off and go spend some time with my night owl children!

heeeellllloooo scrappers!!

2007-06-11T13:24:00.000-05:00

I hope that you all had a great weekend! Ours was nice. We didn't go anywhere or do anything special but we had fun none the less. Unfortunately, today begins a super long week for me. My DH works midnights as a supervisor at a forms manufacturing company. His typical hours are 11-7 but its that time of the year (vacation time that is) and there is no one to cover the day shift supervisor who will be on vacation so Dh and the other remaining supervisor are stuck pulling 12 hour days. On top of that, its his weekend to cover the overtime crowd so he has to work 6 really long days this week. Now, he used to do this ALL the time before he made supervisor. However, since the promotion I've gotten spoiled and used to having him home more, so I'm bummed that he'll be working so much this week.

The only good thing to come of it is I can CHAT with you all without the hubby here to bother me!! Hee hee! I'm hosting a chat at DST on Wednesday, June 13th at 9pm EST. I'll have a template challenge for you as well as a little freebie just for coming! I hope to see you there!!

In other news... I scrapped yesterday!! Woohoo!! Its been a while and it was nice to sit down and think of nothing but working on a layout. I usually get half way through a layout and let my mind wander to the next kit I want to work on or something.

Everything on this layout was created by the talented Jennifer Trippetti. I'm lucky enough to be on her CT but I have to say, even when I'm not scrapping a CT layout I find myself reaching for her stuff. I use some of her Digitalwear Basics on almost every layout I do!

Anyway... did you know I'm running a blog challenge over on the Elemental Scraps blog? The challenge runs through the 15th so hurry over to check it out!

Off now to take care of my little guy who isn't showing the sunny disposition that he was in the layout I did yesterday!

I have a deal for you!

2007-06-09T13:35:00.001-05:00

an update post

2007-06-08T00:39:00.001-05:00

Okay, I have to admit it. I am blog challenged. I try to post often but I really suck at it. So, there you have it. My big confession!

Now that that is off of my chest... let me get down to business updating you all! A lot has been going on with me in the digi-world and I don't know if everyone is up to speed. So, here's the 411...

First of all, I resigned from Digi Scrap Shak last month and from Digi Scrap Divas this evening. It was a hard decision to make, leaving stores I really liked, but I am finding myself with more and more to do and less and less time to get it done in. Who knew that the 7.5 hours a week my daughter was at preschool gave me so much free time? I'm finding that I spend most of my days outside watching the kids or taking them places to keep them occupied, my evenings cooking and cleaning and my nights designing. I haven't slept much in the past month and I'm starting to feel like a walking zombie some days. Hopefully this change will give me more creative energy so that I can bring some fabulous new products to the stores and some freebies to the blog. :)

Now... let's see... I hope you were all around for the unveiling of the new site design at Elemental Scraps. We had SO much fun over there and the new site looks fabulous! If you haven't checked it out you'd better! The store is chock full of tons of new product from some fabulous designers. I tell you, there is a lot there that I want to get my grubby little hands on (and will as soon as I have more time to scrap!). I released several new things myself over the course of the celebration. Here are are just a few things, in case you missed them....

I started the weekend off with Caitrin (well, I released it a few days prior to the store closing for the remodel, but who's counting?. Caitrin was inspired by my daughter. She picked the colors, she told me she wanted some bling in it and she gave me her personal approval for every element. LOL! We had a great Saturday together creating this kit!

Next came Declan... this one inspired by my son. Its cute. Its grungy. Its all boy!

I had so much fun with this one that I couldn't stop, so I ended up with a fun add on!

I released a few other kits including this mini kit called Cool Waters...

Then, I had a fabulous grab bag with 4 totally new products. Here's a peek at my grab bag reveal...

If you hurry over to Elemental Scraps today you can still get all the grab bag goodies for just $4! That's $1 an item!

And.. did you hear??

June marks my one year anniversary as a digital designer!! A year!?!? Can you believe it? It seems like it was just yesterday that I released my first product to the public and sat with baited breath to see if anyone would like what I had created. I have had a great year and I am so thrilled to be part of this community. I love my 'job'!

Anyway, to celebrate, I'm going ALL OUT in June!! I'm going to have sales, chats, challenges, freebies and even find a few guest CT members! I've been so busy with the ES makeover that I haven't had time to cement the details but I'll have them before Monday so be sure to check back. I have some fun things in store and I'll even be giving away a Memory Purse (or more!)

But, alas, its 5am and I haven't slept yet since my little guy woke up fussy so I need to call it a night (morning?) and get hope for some sleep before the 4 year old wakes up!

Before I go though... I want to start the ball rolling on my month of celebration with a freebie! These cardboard shapes are so fun! They can be painted or glittered or made in to element clusters, you name it! And, they would go great with my white cardboard alphabet.

Download here (link removed) I'd love if you'd leave me a little comment ;)

And... with that, I'm off to sleep....

tomorrow is Easter...

2007-04-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

Part of me is so excited. I can't wait to wake up and dress my kids in their Easter outfits, cook a big dinner, hunt for eggs and talk about the reason we really celebrate Easter. I miss the sunrise church services of my younger days but I have been lazy about finding a new church so I really wouldn't know where to go. Anyway, part of me is really approaching this holiday with a heavy heart. Last Easter was my grandma's last holiday with us. She had been ill for a long time and we honestly hadn't expected her to make it to Easter. A few days before she became very lucid and started making plans for the holiday. On Saturday she had us all cooking up a storm and running around to find Easter treats for all of her great grandkids. By Sunday morning she was starting to slip back in to that 'fuddled' state of consciousness and while she knew we were there, I don't think she realized it was Easter nor was she able to really enjoy the holiday. It was difficult. It was also truly the beginning of the end for her. She passed away a few weeks later.

I know she wouldn't want me to sit here and dwell on all of that though so I am trying to stay chipper and just remember the good times. This year has definitely been odd though, I threw myself in to planning what the kids would wear and what treats would be in their baskets. I was so busy planning all the details that I forgot totally that I would have to cook at home this year. We've always had dinner at Grandma's. It was so strange trying to plan an Easter menu. I finally decided to go with what Grandma always made since I know the familiarity of it all will be comforting to my family.

Anyway... the Easter bunny was at our local Walmart yesterday. We decided to take the kids down. My daughter has had an aversion to characters in costumes for a long time so we were afraid she'd go running when she saw this life sized bunny. Instead she went over, told him hello and stood beside him careful to make sure she didn't touch him. LOL. She's a girl after my own heart, she told me she wanted the picture for her scrapbook. In all honesty, she could have cared less about actually seeing the bunny had it not been for the picture. Our little guy on the other hand, he was rather oblivious. He sat on the bunny's lap and chewed on his hand.

We got the obligatory photo taken by the person running the event and then Dh snapped a few for us so that I could have something to scrap. This was my favorite of the bunch.

See that frame around the picture? That's a sneak peak of something that is in my Easter Basket Surprise. I love goodie bags and grab bags and I haven't offered one since November so I decided to do one for Easter. Its full of 100mb of goodies. There's a little something for everyone.

This is only available through Monday so hurry to pick it up... for just $2 you get all the goodies inside. :)

You can pick it up at Digi Scrap Divas , Digi Scrap Shak , Elemental Scraps or One of a Kind Scrapz. Its the same at each store, choose your favorite. :)

And... lastly (before I get busy cleaning and take my daughter to a birthday party) one of my fabulous CT members, Dodo, has created two fabulous quick pages using my Easter Blue's kit. These are just adorable so be sure to pick them up! Here are the layouts she made...

Download them here. If you see Dodo around, please thank her for the awesome pages!!

bad, bad blogger

2007-03-26T02:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a bad blogger. I don't update nearly enough.

Anyway.. first off, the Bowl for Kid's Sake donation drive... thanks to the wonderful and supportive digi scrapping community, I'm just $15 from my goal :) Thank you everyone! Its not too late to donate, I am accepting donations through Friday. On Monday (we have a big weekend planned) I will announce the winner of the year of Sherri goodies!

Okay... on to other things...

I've been busy today! Not only did I finish a cute new kit (which will be at Elemental Scraps sometime Monday) but I did 2 element packs, started another and two layouts!

First off... my new kit. I have to show it off because I'm proud of it. My daughter was a little put out that I had done a boyish Easter kit and not made a kit for her. While this started out as an Easter kit, it didn't end up that way. I'm much happier with the end result though.

See? I told you it is cute! I had so much fun with this one. I didn't want to stop adding more goodies to it. When I was finished, I did something I rarely do... I scrapped with it! I don't take time often enough to scrap with my own kits but I was sorting through some old pictures and saw a batch of Easter ones from a few years back. I just had to scrap this one!

It seems like I am always scrapping Caity pictures. I promise, I do scrap my son now and then, lol. He is such a busy blur that I don't get as many pictures of him as I'd like... and Caity is 3.5 years older so I have tons more pictures of her of course. I took some fun ones of the boy on Saturday though. It had rained all day Friday and our back yard was a mud pit. The sand box was standing in water despite having the lid on it. Of course, the kids (especially Declan) decided it would be fun to play in it, water and all.

Melissa Bennet over at Elemental Scraps has this great kit called Mud Tracks. I was so excited when I realized that it was perfect for my mud pictures! Here's my layout using Melissa's fun kit...

Isn't my dirty boy cute? He was right back out there in the mud today... I can't seem to keep him clean, or ind0ors!

Anyway... its 3am here and I need to get myself to bed. Spring break is over and my girl goes back to preschool tomorrow. She is really looking forward to it, but I am not looking forward to getting up early with her. She has this funny sense and knows which days are school days and she gets up bright and early to be ready in time (though she doesn't go until after noon).

Before I go though... be sure to check out Elemental Scraps' designer challenge. Just one week left of challenges (my goal is to post a new one on Monday afternoon) and the participation prize for the last week will be a good one! Also, to wrap up my month as the featured designer I will be having a big sale... stay tuned!

a huge thank you!

2007-03-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

I am so excited, impressed, and genuinely thankful for the donations I've received for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids' Sake tournament! This community is just fabulous and I feel blessed to be a part of it! I've nearly reached my goal already and I couldn't have done it without the support of you fabulous digi-scrappers!!

I need your help... its for a good cause! (and a freebie!)

2007-03-16T00:51:00.000-05:00

Every year my husband participates in the Bowl For Kids' Sake fund raiser. Every year I cheer him and the rest of the team on. This year I've decided to join in the fun, bowl a few games with my friends and raise some money to help out the kids.

Here's where you come in... the tournament is to raise money for our local chapter of Big Brother Big Sisters. I'm a SAHM and I just can't get out and wrangle up donations like I used to be able to do. I decided to see if my friends in the digi world could help me out.

Here's the deal... for every dollar you donate (directly to the BFKS website) I'll give you two dollars to spend on my products at Digi Scrap Divas, Elemental Scraps or One of a Kind Scrapz. Not only do you get to claim this donation on your taxes but you can treat yourself to some digital goods while helping out a child! What could be better??

I'll tell you what!! For every donation of $10 you will be entered in a drawing to win all of my designs for an ENTIRE YEAR! You will get everything that is current as well as anything I release for a whole year (not including collaboration kits with other designers or store mega kit contribution pieces)!!

So... donate to a good cause... claim the donation on your taxes... get twice the amount you donate in digital goods (you can use the coupons yourself or give them as a gift! I'll create the coupons in any denomination you wish) and possibly win everything I design for a year!

Can you help a girl out?? Click here to go directly to the donation page.

After you make your donation, please email me (simplysherri@sbcglobal.net) with your first and last name and your reference number (this will be on the email confirmation you receive) so that I can get your coupons to you!

And, since I believe in this cause so much... the first 3 people to donate $5 or more and email me will get my newest kit Easter Blues FREE!

And now... after you've read all of that... I have a little freebie for you. This layered template was created for a template chat at Digi Scrap Shak. It is in .psd format with multiple .png layers for those of you who use DIP.

Download here... enjoy!

my fingers aren't fast enough

2007-03-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

... nor is my computer! I have so many ideas running around inside my head that I just want to put in to action but there isn't enough time in the day! I am really working right now to find the balance between family time, house work, design time, scrapping time and time for me. The 'me' time is always the first to go so I'm really working to make some time for myself. Yes, scrapping and designing are both for me as well but I really need to concentrate on some activities that get me away from the computer.

Now that the weather is turning nice, I am looking forward to being outside more. The sunshine we've had over the past few days has helped lift my spirits tremendously and made me more productive in all areas of my life. Its awesome! I've managed to get the house in decent shape (not perfect, but better than it was by far), tackle a few projects around here and even get a bit more designing done. In fact, I have two new 'Little Charmer's' sets all ready. They coordinate nicely with my antique hat pin alphabet and are still fabulous on their own. Here's a little preview... they are already available at Digi Scrap Shak and will soon be available at the other stores!

Okay... so back to work. My kids want me to play with them.

okay, okay... a real post!

2007-03-10T20:20:00.000-06:00

Yep, a real post from me... not just another "I need to update" post. I've done too many of those lately. My blog seems to be the first thing to get tossed to the way side when I get busy and I know I really should be a better blogger.

First off... do you even know where to find my products? When I last posted a real blog entry, I was selling at Elemental Scraps and One of a Kind Scrapz. Soon after, I joined Digi Scrap Shak and this past January, I was blessed to be able to join some fabulous designers and good friends of mine over at DSD.

Okay... so now that you know where to find me, what are you waiting for? Shop! LOL!

March has been an exciting month for me so far in the digi-world. I am the featured designer at Elemental Scraps and I am hosting a new challenge each week and giving away some great prizes. There is a sampler in the store that you can all pick up for free and I am also offering a special promotion each week in the store. This week you can get my new Antique Hat Pin Alphabet free with any purchase (no minimums). Here's what it looks like...

This offer is good through March 12th and then I'll have another special offer in the store. I love being able to offer goodies like this to my customers. :)

Okay... the family is begging me to go out for icecream with them so I'll cut this short...

a work in progress

2007-02-11T17:13:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to updating my blog. Its been way too long, I know. I've just been so busy with other projects that I haven't taken time to blog, let alone try to update everything. I'll be working on it off and on over the next few days and I'm sure I'll even have a freebie for you soon.

I need to update

2006-10-01T02:57:00.000-05:00

It occured to me that I haven't updated lately. I need to let you all know who my lovely CT ladies are and the name of the new kit.... stay tuned!

help me name this kit!

2006-09-24T14:19:00.000-05:00

I have been busy working on this kit but I can't decide upon a name for it. I need some fresh ideas since I am getting nowhere. Please, help me name it! The person who gives me the winning name will receive the kit for free and a set of date stamps that I have ready to release. I'll aslo pick a runner-up(maybe 2) who will receive the kit too.

Please post your comments in the comment section of my blog. For those of you wondering, I did change it so that anyone can leave comments rather than just registered users. If you aren't registered, be sure I have a way to get in touch with you if you are the winner!

new kits

2006-09-15T01:31:00.000-05:00

I've had a busy week! I finished up not one but TWO new kits for release! It feels awesome to get some of this stuff off of my hard drive (well, its still there too, but you know what I mean!) and in to the store.

Remember the little sneak peek swatch from a week or so ago? Wanna see the full kit? You know you do! LOL!

Here you go....

This one is called Fresh, Funky, Fun. Its on the girly side which isn't my typical style but I love it. I've already scrapped two layouts with it and I know I'll use it again and again.

The top two layouts are mine and the bottom two were done by Jennifer and Kimberly, my fabulous CT girls!

My latest kit was JUST released. I'm so excited about this one. It is really special to me. As some of you know, my grandma passed away late in April. She was my rock. She raised me, she guided me, she was always there for me. This kit is for her...

Just for today (Friday the 15th) its on Sale for only $2!! I hope you enjoy it. I loved making it!

and more sales!

2006-09-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

Elemental Scraps is having a 50% off sale! So, not only can you save 64% on the 'At the Movies' kit today you can save 50% on everything else! My new 'fill your own alphabet' sets are only $1!!

sale!

2006-09-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

Two dollars. Two kits. Two stores. Two new releases. Four days! Each day, today through Friday, you can pick up a kit from each of the stores I sell at for only $2. Today you can find 'Indian Summer' at One of a Kind Scrapz and 'At the Movies' at Elemental Scraps. Be sure to get them now, while the getting is good! I'm celebrating my husband's promotion and it may be a while before I have another big celebration sale!

times are good... freebie for you!

2006-09-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

Life is good here in Tierney Land! For the first time in a while, things are looking up for us. Its been a hard year so far but I can see the light! Not only am I having a fabulous time creating digital designs and selling them at stores with such talented designers, but my family is healthy, my daughter is thriving in preschool and just learned how to write her name and read several words, and my husband got a promotion at work. I feel so blessed! I decided that all of this is worthy of celebration! I'll be having a special sale next week. You'll have to keep an eye out here, or at the designer announcements forum at Digi Shop Talk to see find out more!

I'm so excited about my new CT. I have 5 great ladies all of who I already knew and who are fabulous scrappers. Yep, I'm blessed! I'm waiting to hear from 2 more though (you know who you are!). I'll announce soon!

Since the sales won't start until Monday and I'm itching to kick off the celebration, I have these two 4x6 layered brag book templates for you to try. Enjoy!

Download Here
Or Here

want a new blinkie?

2006-09-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

I never imagined that I would need my own creative team! The fact that I am now looking for some ladies to play with my kits and help me promote my designs is really exciting to me! Since I first started scrapbooking, way back when (with paper no less!), I had hoped that I could find a way to turn my passion for creating and photography in to something else. After I found digital, I felt like I have found my niche. Now that I am designing, I feel like this is what I was meant to do. It just feels right, you know? I have fun, do something creative (which is a big stress reliever for me) and I get to be part of a great online community!

Back on topic, lol... I am looking for a few talented scrappers to be part of my first creative team. When I was at ScrapMommies, we had a fabulous CT built right in. I got a little spoiled, I must say!

For more information, please email me at tierney@sbcglobal.net with the subject line 'Creative Team'. I'd love to hear a little about you and see some of your layouts.

sneak peek

2006-09-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

I am working on a new kit that I am just having SO much fun with! It will be ready real soon. I won't spill all the details now, but I'll give you this little peek of just half of the papers. There are 10 more papers and lost of fun embellies! You won't want to miss this one!

some exciting news!

2006-08-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

I am thrilled to say that I will be moving on with my designs! After nearly giving up, I am so excited to be given such an opportunity! I have been blessed in a big way and I have been invited to join some very talented designers! You can find my 'Passion for Pink' paper pack at One of a Kind Scrapz I will be putting some of my kits that were available at ScrapMommies up soon as well as releasing some new designs. I am very excited about Passion for Pink though, so I just have to show it off!

This was inspired by a friend of mine who just finished a 3 day walk for breast cancer. I think we all know someone who has been affected by this disease. My own grandmother had a double masectomy when she was younger than I am due to breast cancer. When I was pondering my friend's dedication to the cause, I decided that I should be doing something to. Thus this paper pack took a turn from where it was originally. It is available for just $2.50 and all of my proceeds will be donated.

I've been tagged!

2006-08-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Maria tagged me with this: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Dont forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

1. I love the smell of crayons, play doh, lipstick and money.
2. Repetitive sounds give me a headache. Video games and sports commentary are among the biggest triggers.
3. When I drink or eat something cold my mouth gets numb and I can't pronounce my words correctly.
4. When I laugh, my muscles turn to jello. I can hardly stand up if I am laughing hard. My family takes advantage of this, LOL!
5. I have this habit of starting a conversation with the phrase "like I was saying" when I hadn't been saying anything before then.

I think I'll have to tag... Lawanda, Gwen, Bonnie, Jennifer and Andrea. :)

short lived?

2006-08-29T01:51:00.000-05:00

maybe... or maybe not.

The news is out, ScrapMommies has closed its virtual doors. I feel like an orphaned child now, left homeless. Just when I was getting really comfortable too, LOL.

Anyway, I find myself full of debates on whether or not I should persue designing further. Honestly, I love it. I feel strongly that my designs are getting better with each kit too. I've saw myself change and grow as a designer just in the past few months. To give it up would be be a shame. I'm not full of myself, thinking I'm a superb designer and that everyone wants to run out and buy my stuff, but I do think I have something to offer and I would like to explore that further.

So, since I am looking for a new community to become a part of and a new place to sell my designs at, I decided to use this blog as a way to 'pimp' myself (maybe I should use the word promote, eh?) . I'm going to post some of my kit previews to give everyone a peek at my work. I might even offer another freebie or two. ;)

First off, one of my favorite kits. Its called Father and Son. I had so much fun with this one. Lots of fun patterned papers with a slightly distressed style. The solids remind me of suede. :)

And the element pack that goes with it...

I love all of the brushed metals in this kit, the washers and dog tags also make it pretty masculine. :)

Next is Summer Citrus. I love the colors in this one. It was a lot of fun to do!

Sidewalk Chalk would have to be my first official kit. I had a ton of fun with this one, it became a project that my 3 year old (now 4 and growing way too fast) helped me with.

Here's a fun layout I did using this kit.

Another bright, cheery and fun one I did is Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows. The colors reminded me of the snowcone shack we visit. The fun patterns over took me. Since creating this kit, I found a shirt for my daughter that says "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" on it and even matches the colors of this kit. It is just begging to be scrapped, LOL!

Right in time for the 4th of July, I released 'Seeing Red (White and Blue). I just love this kit and I have scrapped with it more than I have any of my others.

Here are a few of the layouts I scrapped with this one... aren't my kids adorable??

'My Girl' and 'My Guy' are two mini kits I released early in August. They were a lot of fun to work on. I had taken a short break from designing while my stepson was visiting so it was nice to get back in the saddle, so to speak. Here they are...

Fun glitter flowers, a gold charm, glitter word art, alphabet...

Super cool silver charms featuring stick figure guys doing the things guys like to do. :)

And, the last one for now... a kit I did as the prize for a challenge round over at ScrapMommies (I'm really going to miss those challenges!), I bring you 'At The Movies'

Anyway, that's not all, but I'll leave it here for now. I have more kits completed and more in the works. Even if I don't find a new 'home' right away, I'll continue to create because I love it!

oh, baby baby

2006-08-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

So, I have this kit in the works. I don't use my own kits to scrap with often enough. I think its because I'm tired of looking at them by the time I've finished them. Well, this one isn't finished yet. Therefore.... you guessed it... I want to use it! LOL. Last night I did just that.

This is my little guy's first bath. I've wanted to scrap it for a while and just never got around to it. Thanks to Traci Reed's layered sketch for this challenge round (check out the challenges at ScrapMommies!) I was able to get this finished and use some of the fun papers from this huge kit I'm working on!

cool girls

2006-08-18T00:55:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I admit it. I want to be like one of the cool girls. I was never one to succumb to peer pressure but this time they got me. I just had to have one... I couldn't help myself! So, here it is... my design blog.

Really, I kind of like the idea of having a place to keep my scrappy stuff seperate from my family stuff. Those checking in on my family blogs to gush over my two adorable kids would most likely not want to hear about the new trick I learned in Photoshop or that the kit I'm working on has almost 100 papers (its true, I can't stop myself!). The same goes for the crowd who is visiting to see if they can find any freebies or learn about any sales... I don't think they would want the low down on what the bub ate for lunch or how often I had to put his diaper back on him during his streaker escapades. Yes, keeping everything seperate is probably a good idea!

Before I get any farther, I have to tell you all, I have been a bad blogger in the past. I don't update nearly as often as I plan to and when I'm crunched for time the blog is the first thing that goes. That said, if you are lurking around waiting for a new post, give me a holler! If I know someone is reading this I will be much more apt to update!

To start out the festivities and initiate the new blog.... here is a little freebie!

To download it Click Here

I'd appreciate some love for my blog if you download. ;)