New Challenge LO

Well, I've found myself a new challenge over at Snap and Scrap. They give you a little mini kit and you have to use everything in it but you can also add whatever else you want. Here's my take on the mini kit:

click the LO for credits

I have had these pictures just sitting on my hard drive waiting to be scrapped for almost 3 years! I cannot believe how fast I am getting caught up now! Mind you, I'm still forever behind but it's so much better than it was a month ago! I love digiscrapping!

I've noticed I've been using a lot of blue lately. Weird. I'm so not a "blue" person.

ADSR3 has started!

Here's my LO for the first challenge. It was to use a template, use a lot of your favorite color, at least three of your favorite things to use on a LO, and pictures of your favorite people to scrap about. My colors are green and pink (because I couldn't decide on one!), my favorite thing is stitches, and my favorite people to scrap about are my adorable kiddos (shocking, I know!)

click on LO for credits

Yes, another template

Here's another template LO. This one is from the Tuesday Template Challenge over at ScrapMatters.com.

click the LO for credits

I'm so happy with this final LO. I looked and looked online for some Spiderman clipart but none of it was high res enough to use. I think it still looks very "Spidermannish" (yes, that's really a word!) I can't believe how much scrapping I've gotten done since switching to digi. Ryley's only other birthday page in his album was from his first!!! Yes, this was his 5th birthday. How sad am I? Now, I just gotta get printing all these pages so the kids can see them too!

FREE STUFF!

I got my issue of Memory Makers Magazine today and there's a free download (digiscrapping) on their website. Click here for the link.

It's a really cute girly kit - sorry, Brianne! There are also some good freebies over at ScrapMatters.com. They have a link for freebies. I really like the fasteners freebie and use it all the time. It has a little bit of everything - all in one place.

Hope you enjoy the free stuff! I know I do!

A little bit digi, a litttle bit paper

Here's my offering for cardswap this month. We're doing a recipe card exchange of main dishes this time. Can't wait to see all the yummy recipes - not that I'll actually use them or anything! ;)


I really thought about doing it all digitally but I decided I'd better not. So I compromised. The index card looking piece is actually a digital element (February Idea Book by Gina Cabrera) that I resized and printed my recipe on. I just printed out a bunch of them (on regular white cardstock), crinkled it up to make it look even older and stuck it on! It saved me a lot of time finding paper that looked like an index card or using an actual index card and printing on it - not to mention trying to load a little index card into my new printer (that I still haven't quite figured out yet!) I also didn't have to distress it with ink or anything - it came that way! Yipee! I am so lovin' digital! It was fun to play with my paper and other tools though. I even whipped out my sad little sewing machine. I have GOT to get something else before I can start sewing my rag quilt. I don't want to ruin all my hard work with this crappy machine! Well, I'm off to soccer practice and then cardswap! Yea!

Surprise!

Well, here it is. The moment you have all been waiting for! ha ha!

ANNOUNCEMENT

I was in complete shock when they emailed me to let me know I was part of their new CT. I just applied as "I'll never get it, but I might as well try!" I'm so excited!

In response to one of Sarah's comments about my blinkies - yes, they do mean something. ScrapMatters is the CT team I'm on, ADSR and the Scrappy Sisters are the race blinkies for me and Brianne, and the Digital Candy one is because I'm participating in their Masquerade Contest. You can click on the Digital Candy one to take you to the gallery for the challenges and see if you can pick out mine. It's totally anonymous so I can't tell you which ones are mine! The ScrapMatters blinkie will also take you to their site. The Scrappy Sisters one will take you to someplace (I 'm not sure where yet, either a blog or a gallery) where you can see our LOs for the contest.

Spotlighted

Check it out!

Sunday Spotlight

More info on my family blog.

Me likey templates

So, now that I have figured out how to use them, I am diggin' templates! So easy! Here's a LO I used one on. I think it turned out really cute, but of course, that could just be because the cutest kid on earth is on it! ;)

click on the pictures for the credits

I have found all the templates I've used for free so far. This template came from a Digital Candy challenge. I'm really digging challenges right now too. (Can you tell from all my Digidares?) I have such a hard time figuring out what to scrap and what to use that I find it really easy to scrap when someone else tells me what I have to use or what kind of page to do. It's so much easier for me. If you find a cool challenge out there let me know!

DigiDare 74

Well, here's my latest Digidare LO. I haven't won any of them or even been the random winner - not that I expected to or anything - just FYI. I have, however, won a few challenges at other random sites and gotten a few gift certificates and freebies. How fun!

Anyway, the dare this week was to do a page about someone you love using nontraditional Valentine's colors and some fun brushwork. I don't know if this LO actually fits into all those categories but I really like it anyway.

click on the picture for credits

In other news, the Amazing DigiScrapping Race should be starting soon and I'm excited! I really enjoy challenges because they force me to get a page done. If I had to think of everything I would never scrap anything! It's too overwhelming to look at all my pictures and scrapping stuff and try to make a decision on my own.

I might also have a little surprise to share (for anyone who cares) later on this week! :)

Actual Craft Projects!

So, I've done something other than digiscraps lately! Here are the Valentine's I made for Maddie and Ryley to give out. I saw this idea on some other blog but I can't remember where! It was really easy and I think they turned out really cute. I'm going to have Maddie and Ryley stick all the suckers in tomorrow after school. The kids are really excited to give them out.

And, as I said before, I'm working on some quilts. I finally got all of the pieces cut for a rag quilt. It took forever! I guess that's because it's gonna be pretty big (to cover my giant man of a husband!) He's so sweet that when we're watching TV at night he always covers me up with the big quilt (because it's my favorite) and he takes the little one. How sweet is he?! One more reason to love him! So I'm making a really big rag quilt that should - if I calculated everything correctly - cover him and then some!

It's kind of hard to see in this picture but my four squares are a dark brown solid, a mauve gingham, a green polka dot (with white, brown, and pink dots) and a paisley with all the colors. Not very mannish, I know. But the polka dot and the paisley were so cute I just had to get them! Josh won't really care, anyway. The white stacks in the back are the batting pieces that get sandwiched between two of the fabric squares. There are 144 of them! Hopefully, someday I'll actually finish this quilt and show you the end result. Of course it will probably be sometime this summer and too hot to even use the darn thing. Oh well!

Photoshop Elements Digital Scrapbooking Tutorial

For those of you who want to start digiscrapping but have no idea how it works here's a quick tutorial. There are tons of freebies (papers and elements) online. Check out the site links to the left and search for freebies. You can also download a free trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements at adobe.com. There are a ton of other tutorials online, just do a google search for digital scrapbooking tutorials- you'll have a never-ending supply! It's pretty easy once you figure out the basics. There are alot more advanced techniques that I have know idea how to do yet, but it's fun learning! If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me and I'll try to answer it or find the answer for you - I don't know much about this yet, but I'm willing to share what I've learned so far! Have fun!

Another LO

So, I guess I should rename this my scrapblog, because that's the only "crafting" I've been doing lately! I do have two quilts in the making and as soon as I get to a point that isn't just pieces I'll take some pictures of those. In other news . . . I made bread today!!!! That counts as something crafty doesn't it? Woohoo for me! Before you say, "So, what's the big deal?" just be aware that I have NEVER been able to make bread before, even with a bread machine! That's right, I'm the biggest idiot when it comes to making bread. I don't know why. I'm normally not that dumb, but bread has just been beyond my capabilities - until now! I am so proud of myself. I even made it from scratch and without a machine! (Patting myself on the back!) Anyway. . .

I did actually do another LO. Here's another one for Cash. I'm doing a lot of him because the poor child has like three pages total in his paper album. I know I haven't done any for Maddie, but that child has like 3 full albums already!

credits here

This was my first time using a template. I just didn't get how to do them, but this one was a freebie that came with good instructions. It wasn't difficult once I could wrap my brain around it.

Also today I learned how to make a blinkie and put one on my blog. Check out our (Brianne and I) ADSR team blinkie - that I will probably change - and the official ADSR blinkie. I don't think they will link you to anything. I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Still trying to figure all this html stuff!

DigiDare 73

This week's Digidare was to write a love letter to some"thing" - not someone. At first I thought I just wouldn't do it this week because I could not think of anything that I "loved!" Then, as I was playing the piano yesterday morning I thought to myself, "I really LOVE this piano!" and then I realized I had my LO! So, that's the story behind this LO. I really wouldn't have done a whole page about my piano if it wasn't for the Digidare. I'm not that weird!

credits here

If I Were Queen for the Day

I decided to try something a little different. Definitely not my usual style!

Credits:background paper (recolored) - Lynn Grieveson
brads and swirl - Kim Jensen "Serendipity" kit
stitching - unknown
tape -Katie Pertiet
black paper - Rhonna Farrer
Babymine chipboard alpha - Atomic Cupcake
Clipped alpha - Misty Mareda fastener - Misschifis
flower - "Timeless" by Shelle Pukas
ribbon (recolored) - "Urban Vintage" by Traci Reed
Atomic cupcake torn vellum action used on journaling strips
Fonts: the king and queen script (free download)and Jeni's print (my own creation)