Lots to Celebrate!!! So of course there is a freebie!

I know that I have been absent the past few months but I am back with lots to celebrate!! First
is that the reason for my absence - being in school full time this summer - is done! I have finished my Nursing Asssistant training and things are slowly returning back to normal. Well, as normal as it gets running around after three little monkeys (umm, I mean princesses!).

The second thing to celebrate is the reason for the post today - it is Haynay's Birthday!!! Her ScrapMatters birthday that is:


There are going to be so many give-aways and games that you wont even believe it!!! When Haynay asked us what we wanted to give away for her birthday celebration I just knew that I wanted to give away one of her template packs. Y'all know how much I love templates right? So do you want to get one of Haynay's template packs for free??? All you have to do is show me how much you love templates too but picking up my freebie template below (image is linked) and creating a layout using one of Haynay's products. There are so many awesome ones to choose from - you can click here to check them all out in her shop. The freebie template below includes a psd file, png files AND a page file (for you Storybook users!) so everyone can play along - no excuses!

Once you have created your layout using the freebie template and one of Haynay's kits leave me a comment with a link to your layout and on Monday August 24th I will randomly pick a winner!

Download HERE

Can't wait to see all your layouts and don't forget to keep your eyes peeled at ScrapMatters, DST and DSA for more fun, games and giveaways by the rest of the Haynay CT!

Bad, Bad Blogger - so how about a Freebie??

Life here has been beyond crazy so as a result I have been a bad blogger - I apologize. I will post a little later this week and catch you up on what has been going on here in the castle- but in the meantime I do have some fun news!

There is a GREAT new digi scrap designer on the scene named Sarah Bennett and I am so excited that she invited me to be on her Creative Team!!! She has a new kit out today called Forever Beautiful and is it ever! Plus, you can get it for 25% off today (image is linked to her shop)!

Here is the page that I did using it - there are so many beautiful things in this kit!

As a fun way to kick off the Creative Team announcment, some of us made a freebie for you! I turned my Layout into a QP and I know that there are a few other freebies as well so head over to Sarah's Blog to pick up a great add-on to Forever Beautiful and see a list of where all the other freebies are! You can click on the image below to grab my quickpage.

I promise that I won't be gone so long this time and boy oh boy do I have some news. But first I must do some laundry - so go grab all those fun freebies and come back later for my tale of comedy and tragedy!

A repentant blogger -

Sisters 4 Life

I know that y'all are just here to laugh at my college photos but a little background first. During my college years I was in a sorority, AOPi at Purdue, and it was the best three years! I lived in a house with 80 women and made more life long friends and memories than any one person deserves. So I was so excited when Sya teamed up with Britt-ish Designs to put together this FABULOUS kit - Sisters For Life:

And let me tell you - this isn't just for sorority pictures! It is packed with all kinds of girly goodness with just a splash of sorority. But I just had to bust out the sorority pictures so here ya go:

Isn't the kit amazing???? Be sure to pick it up at ScrapMatters and visit both Sya's and Britt's blog to pick up freebie add-ons and see more great layouts using Sisters For Life.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Layouts, Layouts and more Layouts!

Whew!! I have been scrapping like crazy for the Queen of Scrap competition!! I have right at 40 layouts for the month so far and it doesn't even put me in the top ten. But I am getting lots of pages done in my Disney album and have already received some wonderful participation prizes. I have also been doing lots of layouts for Sya's Blueprints where I am guesting this month. I mentioned before how much I love her templates and I think that I have now actually become dependent - but they are so great! Here are just a few pages I have done in the Disney album using her templates:

She also has an INCREDIBLE new kit coming out tomrrow!! I will give you a hint - I had to scan in some of my old college photos to get just the right pictures and the name of the kit is Sisters 4 Life. Are you curious? Just want to see my crazy college pictures so you can point and laugh?? You have to come back tomorrow to see my layout but trust me this kit is fabulous! And if you want a freebie add-on to it hop on over to Sya's Blog and sign up for her newsletter.

Ok, I need to put the computer down and get ready for work.

See you tomorrow for new releases!

I have moved into the Guest Cottage

... for a fabulous template designer - Sya's Blueprints!

I get asked often how I come up with all my layouts. Let me start by saying that there are *thousands* of AMAZING digi-scrappers out there that are incredibly talented -so what I do is not terribly special. And the answer to the question is TEMPLATES! I love templates!!! They are such a great starting point for me and really get my creative juices flowing. Sometimes they are exactly what I need for a page; other times they are the inspiration and the final page looks nothing like the template. There are lots of great templates out there but far and away my favorites are from Sya's Blueprints - which is why I am sooo excited that I am a guest on her Creative Team this month! Here are the layouts that I have done for her so far (you can click on the image to get the full credits):

She also designs page kits - this one uses her kit Happiness Is in addition to one of her templates.

And these all count toward the Queen of Scrap competition I am in this month! However, I don't think that I have a prayer of being in the top 10 scrappers - some of these women are speed demons!! There are some gals that have 30 layouts completed already this month!!! But I am having fun pushing myself to do more and there are wonderful prizes just for competing. I already received the first prize which was - A BIG TEMPLATE PACK!! Here are a couple more of my faves from the month so far:

This one uses a frame and word art from some fun, new element packs Haynay has out today!

This one was for an iNSD template challenge - yep, another template!

Well, I am off to get some more scrapping done! I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day - be sure to celebrate all those special women in your life!

Lady in Waiting -

Get Ready to Celebrate!

Tomorrow is [inter]National Scrapbook Day but celebrations have started a bit early at ScrapMatters! There are going to be a TON of Speed Scraps over the next week with a participation prize for each one (y'all know how much I love the speed scraps!). The designers all have Grab Bags available and if you spend $15 in the shop you get a HUGE Hawian Kit for FREE!!! Plus the ENTIRE store is 40% OFF!!! Trust me that it will be easy to spend $15 on these fabulous grab bags and 40% off everything else. Let me give you a little preview on a couple of the grab bags:

This is just one of the layouts that I did with Haynay's Grab Bag. This Grab Bag is HUGE and there is so much great stuff in it!! It is truly a steal at only $4 - you should RUN and get it right now!

And here is a layout I did with GG Digital Designs Grab Bag. This bag is so fun! There are some really unique things in there plus some staples that you will use over and over again - all for only $3!

They each have a brand new kit in the shop too! Haynay's new kit Just the Right Medicine is just the right one for any medical pictures you have (and we all have them!). Plus, for a limited time you get a free pack of Word Art to go with the kit! And be sure to hop on over to her blog and pick up the coordinating freebie. Here is the layout I did with it featuring Beka's visit to the ER during our Disney trip:

GG Digital Designs new kit is a beauty call My Angel Mother. It is loosely Mother's Day themed but great for any pages - check out mine!

Wow huh??? And in addition to all the NSD festivities ScrapMatters has started their Queen of Scrap competition! Lots of fun prizes up for grabs including a guest CT spot for ScrapMatters!! I seriously would give my left arm for that spot so I have thrown my crown into the ring. Click on the ad for all the details and to jump into the competition with me!

That's it for now - I can't believe that it is the beginning of May already (where did April go?). I need to finish getting ready for our big garage sale this weekend and it is a good thing to - I am going to need to money to spend on all those NSD goodies! Have fun this weekend!

Celebrating NSD -

Milestones

The life of a mom is filled with milestones and we have hit a few around here worth celebrating. The first one was a couple of weeks ago - Sarah finally decided to take off the training wheels. Abbie took hers off last summer and we thought that it would shame Sarah into it - but no. She said she wasn't ready. Earlier this spring she still wasn't ready. But two weeks ago she decided she was finally ready.

Well, not so much ready as coerced by Drew.

Who refused to take her riding unless she lost the training wheels.

But it worked!

The Everyday Magic challenge at ScrapMatters a couple of weeks ago was to scrap your most recent photos - so these are already done! You can still do the challenge too so check it out.

And check out Sarah with no training wheels:




And then last week we hit another major milestone - Beka is finally potty training!!! She is doing really well too. We have even run errands with just panties on and no accidents!

And I just lost everyone who hasn't potty trained a child. They don't understand and think that I have lost my mind.

So I might as well go all the way and post a picture! Isn't she cute?


All righty then. Still with me? I promise the last milestone does not involve bowel movements.

The prince and I had our 11th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. Which begs the question:

What is the traditional 11th Wedding Anniversary gift? Steel.

Hmmm, how about the Modern one then? Fashion jewlery.

Ok, so no gifts this year but we had a nice day with the familiy. Cooked out for dinner since the weather is nice (or at least not rainy) and then played some games after the kids went to bed. It has been a wonderful 11 years - he truly is a prince!

That's it for milestones for now and frankly I am exhausted!

Off to help the toddler in the bathroom -

Home Run Derby and Trooper

It is new release Friday at ScrapMatters and check out these fun new kits! First up is a new one from Haynay "Home Run Derby".

Here is the layout it did with it. I didn't have any baseball pictures but with the primary colors it can be used for just about anything! I also used Haynay's 3's Company Template Pack for this one.

Home Run Derby coordinates with Haynay's other sports themed kits and you can get them all together for a MEGA kit at a MEGA deal - just $9 for all three!! And of course she has a little freebie for you on her blog.

GG Digital Designs also has a new kit out today to continue the birthday celebration - introducing Trooper! Isn't this kit fun?? And when you purchse it there are instructions in the download to get custom engraved dogtags as well! There is also another freebie for you on the GG Digital Designs blog so be sure to stop by and pick it up!

Here is the page that I did with it from our Disney Trip.

Well, that is it for today. We are headed over to my parents house for Easter weekend so I hope you all have a blessed Easter.


Need to get packing -

Inspiration that leads to a freebie for you!

Each month my favorite digi scrapbooking site ScrapMatters has an Inspiration Point Challenge where you are given a piece of inspiration to turn into a scrapbook layout. I admit that I am not always inspired but this month I sure was! Here is the inspiration we were given - it is the back of a cookbook, which might explain why I was inspired since I love to cook and more importantly eat. Hmm, maybe I was just hungry!

I just loved the clean look of it with the photos that bleed all the way to the edge. So here is the layout that I created:

It is pretty different from my normal style, I seriously had to resist putting stitches or a messy mask on there, and I really like how it came out but I couldn't find the perfect word art for it - so I was forced to make my own. I got a few compliments on the word art specifically so I figured that I would give it away as a freebie. BTW - I totally laugh at the idea of me giving away freebies since I don't actually design and sell anything to start with! Anyhoo - here it is - I did it in black for you so that you could recolor however you wanted. Thanks for stopping by and if you download the word art say hi and I would love to see your journey layout using it!

Click HERE to download

Still chuckling about my "freebie" -

Check out my new digs!!

Check it out!! What do you think, is this snazzy or what?? Yesterday Haynay released some really great blog wear so I just had to trick out my blog with it! This uses Sweetheart Surprise (one of my very favorite kits) - doesn't it just look like it was custom made for me??

Here is the preview for the other blog wear by Haynay and if you want to grab one yourself check out her shop at ScrapMatters.

That's it for tonight but I am going to have a little freebie for you in the next couple of days so don't be a stranger!

Can't stop staring at my beautiful blog -

Happy Birthday to GG Digital Designs ... and the Blog Train!

It is GG Digital Designs 2nd Birthday and the celebration lasts all month long!!

To start the party off is a brand new birthday themed kit called Celebrate! It is fabulous for either a boy or a girl. Here is the kit and the layout that I did with it - so much fun stuff in here!

And now what you came for - as a birthday present for you the Creative Team has put together a BLOG TRAIN full of Celebrate freebies! You should have come from Brooke's Blog and here is my part - some treat toppers for you! There are some for both boys and girls, with or without pictures. Just print them out and staple onto a ziplock bag full of goodies for a special treat!

Download HERE

From here head on over to Amy's Blog for more Celebrate Freebie goodness! If you didn't get on at the beginning you can start here at GG Digital Designs. We are all in different time zones so if someone doesn't have their part up yet be patient and check back in a bit.

Thanks for celebrating with us and don't forget that the party lasts all month long!

Blowing my Party Horn -