Tuesday Treats Freebie!

Brr! Happy chilly Tuesday morning to you!  It’s so hard to get going again after a long weekend.  We took the boys to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday, because they love it, but also because I think it’s a blast!  They eat great (because we don’t let them play if they don’t eat, and we ensure they eat as much from the salad bar as they do of the pizza), they don’t argue and we all have a great time playing and laughing and truly enjoying our time together.  I didn’t take pictures this time.  I wish I had, but I was too busy enjoying myself to worry about the camera.

If I had taken pictures, though, my latest kit You Keep Me In Stitches would be a great kit to scrap those memories.  Today’s freebie is a quickpage created using the You Keep Me In Stitches kit, and can be download below.

Click Here To Download

bhs_ykmis_qpfreebie

Also, don’t forget about the GingerScraps Retirement Sale going on now.  Only a few more days to grab a great deal on some amazing goodies before they’re gone for good!

retirementsale-2013-copy

You Keep Me In Stitches

I’ve missed my creative mojo the past month or so.  I don’t know if it was the stress of the holidays, the end of the fall semester of college classes I was taking, the fact that my husband was working so much overtime that he went 24 days in a row working 10+ hours a day…or a combination of all of the above (plus!).  Whatever it was, it left me missing Photoshop and unable to muster the energy or desire to truly create anything for a bit.  I HATED it!  This is my outlet, my ‘me’ time…and for the sake of my sanity (what little there is left, lol), I need it.  So, I’m glad that it feels as though it’s returning to me!  Not only do I have some adorable new goodies this week, but I’ve been working hard on a new collab, in talks for another collab next month and creating a few other goodies that I’ll be anxiously counting down days for the next few weeks until I can show them to you! 🙂

But first, let me remind you of the Retirement Sale going on at GingerScraps.  I have a dozen or so items on sale for 65% off, now through January 25th.  But you better hurry…when the sale’s over, the products disappear forever!

retirementsale-2013-copy

This week’s new goodies start with a fun, bright, happy themed kit.  My kids are goofballs, always making my husband and I giggle.  If your kids (or anyone else in your family) are like my kids, You Keep Me In Stitches is the perfect kit to document their adorably cute faces!  And, it’s on sale this weekend – can’t beat that! 🙂

YKMIS_NL

I also have a few new template sets loaded to my Brownie Scraps store.  You can grab the brand new pack, Three For Me, or check out two older packs I’ve just added to my store there, Building Blocks vol. 3 and Building Blocks vol. 4:

BHS-Jan18

Check out just a few of the most adorable layouts ever, created with this week’s new goodies:

layouts

Thanks for the comments on Wednesday’s Sneak Peek & A Chance To Win post!  I let Random.org pick a winner:

winner

Congrats TJ!  🙂  I’ll drop you an email a little later today to let you know how YOU can pick up of one of my new goodies for FREE! 🙂

I have more goodies planned for next week, so be sure to stop by the blog for a freebie on Tuesday, a chance to win on Wednesday, a beautiful layout to admire on Thursday and a new release on Friday! 🙂

Layout Spotlight for January 17th

Is everyone surviving January? With temperatures in the teens during the day and below zero at night I am more than ready to have January over with! It’s nice to have something to look forward to get through those long cold days. At our house we are counting down  the days (according to my daughter only 5 more days!!!) until Grandma and Grandpa are back home. They have been out of the country for two years and we are so anxious to have them home again. Even though the two years was broken up with a visit to see them, it still seems like forever. The kids are anxious to spend memorable moments with their grandparents again.  So when I saw this layout in the Blue Heart Scraps Gallery this week I just had to share.

Carefree_Days

This gorgeous layout titled “Carefree Days” was created by ScrapinMama. I love that she captured time spent with Grandpa. What a great keepsake for the kids! I loved the layered paper and the green polka-got ribbon holding the picture and frame together.

ScrapinMama used the kit Carefree Days. The colors get me so excited for spring!

Carefree Days

Congratulations on being the spotlight this week!

 

Sneak Peek & a Chance to Win!

It’s been a while since I’ve had a new release, so I’m excited that I have not just one sneak peek for you, but TWO!  And, I’m offering you an opportunity to win one of them for free, so be sure to check out the information at the bottom to see how you can increase your chances! 🙂

This week’s first new release is a fun new kit that will go into my GingerScraps store:SP1

Plus, I have a new template pack that will go into my Brownie Scraps store:
SP2

If you would you like to win a copy of one of these new products for free, just leave a comment below by tomorrow night, Thursday January 17th, at midnight.  Make sure and leave your email address so that I can contact you if you are the winner. Your comment will earn you 1 entry into the drawing. You can earn extra entries by making a post to your Facebook, Twitter or Blog. Simply leave a separate comment, with corresponding links, for each entry.  I’ll will be back on Friday to announce the lucky winner!

Ready?  Good – go comment!!!

Layout Spotlight for January 10th

The week has just flown. My kids have been busy finishing up end of term projects and studying for tests, which translates into “mom, I need your help!”. We also got to celebrate my oldest daughter’s 15th birthday on Tuesday.

With birthday on my mind the layout “10!” posted by SweetLittleNothingness really caught my eye in the gallery. I love how she used the word strips in her journaling and how the birthday elements just pop off the page. I also loved her idea of 10 balloons above the doorway for his 10th birthday!

10-JDLbday2-2012

SweetLittleNothingness used three different Blue Heart Scraps products:

My Cake Day Kit My Cake Day Kit

My Cake Day Word StripsMy Cake Day Word Strips

and finally the template “In Stitches” found at Brownie ScrapsIn Stitches by Blue Heart Scraps

Congratulations SweetLittleNothingness!

Tuesday Treats Freebie!

It’s a new year, and with that I always get the bug to get organized! I always have big goals to get lots of scrapping done every new year and this year is no different. I have years (and years) of pictures yet to scrap. At times it feels a bit overwhelming, and I have to remind myself that I can’t expect to get it done all at once and I just need to take baby steps.

Baby step #1 is getting organized!  Half way through 2012 I decided I needed to come up with a plan to help me spend more time focused on scrapping and less time in my file folders trying to search for the perfect pictures to go with the latest kit. Here is what I did:

#1 – I found myself a 3-ring binder. I tried it before with a spiral bound notebook and it disappeared somewhere in my house never to be seen again. With my new 3-ring binder I slid a sheet of paper in the clear cover that reads “Mom’s Scrapbook Folder Please Don’t Touch”, just in case someone was tempted to slide it into their school backpack. So far so good, the notebook has stayed safe and my kids love to tease me about it by touching their finger to the cover.

#2 – I grabbed some line paper and at the top wrote the year I wanted to organize. (I organize the photos on my computer by the year they were taken)

#3 – I divided the lined paper into four different sections, “Folder” (for all the folders I have within my “year” folder), “Subject”, “# of Photos” and finally “Files”.

#4 – I got busy and went through my folders and wrote down the pictures I wanted to scrap. I didn’t write every picture that was in my folder, just those that were scrap worthy.DSC_1171

So how has this info helped me scrap more efficiently? Now when a new kit from Blue Heart Scraps comes out I can quickly go down my “subject” column and find pictures to go with it. Also when a new template comes out I can go down my “# of photos” column and find the right number of photos that goes with that specific template. Voila, I just saved myself an hour of searching!

Today’s freebie can help you take that first baby step. Here is a replica of my photo organizing system using the Oh Scrap! kit collab. Happy Scrapping!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Layout Spotlight for January 3rd

It’s hard to believe the holidays are over, the new year is in full swing and my oldest is already back in school – but all of the above are true!  I hope you all had a fantastically wonderful Christmas and an incredible start to 2013.  🙂

There hasn’t been a proper Layout Spotlight around here for a while, so it was fun to view several pages of gorgeous layouts in my designer gallery at Ginger Scraps.  I know I’m a bit biased (since those layouts are using at least a portion of my products), but still…that gallery is full of some incredibly beautiful layouts!

One fun layout that I want to spotlight today is this one, created by Missi:

The layout is adorable.  The clusters are fantastic, and I love the stacked papers — but I am such a sucker for babies (and cute, adorable babies eating candy for the first time!), I just can’t help but smile every time I love at that adorable little face! 🙂

Missi used my Sugar High kit:

Make sure to upload all of your beautiful stories told with Blue Heart Scraps’ products into my gallery.  I LOVE seeing what you create and I love getting the opportunity to spotlight and share your lovely pages!  Have a wonderful day and happy scrapping!  🙂

Clean & Simple

Good Friday morning to you!  Christmas is just 4 days away, and I am quite excited about that.  The joy and excitement of the holidays are in fully force, which is fantastic…(but I’m also kind of ready for it to be over with, too.  It’s busy and stressful and, well, I’m kind of ready for the ‘normal’ to return, ya know?!)…and my kids can’t WAIT for Santa to stop by with presents!

  I’ve not had a lot of time for designing lately, which is sad.  I miss being lost in Photoshop for a while each day.  Hopefully, when the holidays are over and life has settled back down a bit, my creativity will just pour out!  I do have two new releases at Brownie Scraps today, though!  But, before I show them to you, have you heard about the fun coming to Brownie Scraps in January?  If not, let my introduce to you The Scrapper:

Have we piqued your interested yet? 😉  More information is coming, so stay tuned!

And, now for today’s new releases.  These template packs, designed for a minimalistic approach to scrapping, are some of my favorite ones yet!  I love beautifully clustered pages just overloaded with gorgeous elements.  But, sometimes?  The clean and simple approach highlights the pictures and journaling far better than all the clustering in the world.  And, these templates? Are perfect for those layouts!

Take a look at these gorgeous layouts created with today’s two new template packs:

Gorgeous, right? 🙂

On the 11th Day of Christmas! {Freebie}

Have you been following along with Brownie Scraps‘ 12 Days of Christmas Celebration?  If not, you’ve missed some beautifully gorgeous new releases and freebies.  Today is the 11th Day in their Christmas Celebration, and I’m honored to be the featured designer of the day there — and I’ve got some fun new goodies for you!  🙂

First up, I’ve got two new releases today, In Stitches and Blocked In.  And, with my special One Day Only sale, if you buy any 3 or more template packs from me, you can pick them all up for just $1 each! (discount applied at check out):


Plus!  All orders of $5 or more in the Brownie Scraps store today (either from my store, or from any other designer) will earn this gorgeous new Christmas-themed template pack free! 🙂

But, before you dash off and stock up on some fantastic new templates from the oh, so talented designers at Brownie Scraps, I have a freebie!  🙂  This fun little cluster template set can be placed on top of any background to create a beautiful layout (or used along to make a fantastic new forum siggy!)

Click Here To Download

Tuesday Treats Freebie!

To say the past few weeks have been crazy would be putting things mildly.  Between the stress and craziness of the end of the semester, exams, sickness that made its way through the whole family, and other personal issues, I feel like I’ve barely been treading water for far too long.  Luckily, I took my final exam this morning, so I’ve got a break for about 4 weeks.  I came at the perfect time, too…because I am exhausted! LoL!

I do have a new freebie for you today, though.  The weather here has taken a chilly turn.  Highs last week were in the 70s, and now they’re in the 40s.  That makes today’s freebie that much more appropriate! 🙂 This adorable Facebook Timeline cover, created using my paper and element portions of the December Buffet at GingerScraps, is sure to give a gorgeous wintery feel to your Facebook page! 🙂

Click Here To Download