Gymnastics Collab w/ Chelle's Creations FREEBIE

This week I had the pleasure of working with Chelle of Chelle's Creations. This collab had an interesting beginning in Las Vegas. It was the last night and Liz of Scrapping with Liz and I were sitting in the main room and scrapping late into the night. She was lamenting the lack of gymnastics kit in the store and commenting on how she loved Chelle's sillouettes in a previous kit. And I had always wanted to do a gymnastics kit as a friend of mine was heavily involved in coaching and had once been an olympic hopeful until he broke both his ankles in practice. Well in walked Chelle and we sort of shouted across the room and basically decided to collab on this sometime in June. And here we are!
All products are 20% off the first week only. And the bundle which contains Gymastics the kit, Gymnastics wordart by Chelle & Gymnastics swirls by mle Card is 36% off the first week only. When you purchase the bundle you get the quickies FREE!

BUY the BUNDLE and get the quickies FREE!

Please enjoy this coordinating freebie made by me:

Download here

And head on over to Chelle's blog for another freebie for you! If its not there yet keep checking back. I was told it would be up sometime this morning.

Monkey Love, FWP Alpha, Freebie

Sock Monkey was the majority winner in the first ever You Say It poll! I could not have been more pleased! When the poll finished up I could not WAIT to start on it. I think I had ideas brewing for a few days before the poll ended and this kit just came together! I am so happy with how it turned out and I hope that you like it too! Monkey Love the kit is 20% off! And when you purchase the kit you get the Add-on Alpha FREE! Sale and offer expires 6/1. I also made this cute set of monkey themed templates! Get Monkey Love Templates for 20% off!
I cannot wait until You Say it Poll # 2! So stay tuned!!!! :)

 

And the weekly New Release Blog freebie this week coordinates perfectly with Monkey Love the kit.

 Download here

The Happiest Place, You Say It Poll Announcement, FREEBIE and some sad news

First we'll go with the good news! I was so busy this week creating You Say It custom drawings that I didn't have time to create a full kit. But I did manage to put together these super fun theme park inspired templates! They are 20% off now through 5/25. And when you purchase The Happiest Place Templates you will get the photo collages FREE!

Also be sure you're connected to my facebook page as I hope to share my first You Say It Poll WINNER with a new release early link this weekend!!! I started working on this weekend and I can't wait to share it with you!

And now for a bit of sad news. A longtime Designer/Friend and Collaborator is retiring. I am saddened to share that Faith True is retiring her design business and along with her retiring so go most of our collabs. Actually all but the two most recent. She has been such amazing friend and partner,  I and the rest of the digi community are going to miss her designs and sweet nature! Her shop closes May 30th, so if you want to grab any of her stuff or our retiring collabs, now is the time to do so! You can start browsing through my store here to see those designs of ours that are retiring.

And Last but not least here is your blog freebie. A set of clip-able & stack-able templates! Enjoy!

Download here

iNSD unwind - What I scrapped! CONTEST mentioned

I hope by now you've had a little time to unwind from all the iNSD activities! It was such a fantastic weekend and I was so happy I made time to scrap! I have rarely made time to scrap in the past well, few years it seems. The only time I have scrapped is when I get a free book offer from shutterfly and then I'm a mad scrapping machine trying to get it all done before the offer expires. And that usually leaves me so stressed and hating my pages! I just haven't made time in my schedule for scrapping regularly. But I think after this weekend I am determined to change that! I had forgotten how rejuvenating it can be to get pages done! So here is my new scrap goal!!!! 1 page a week! I think I can handle that! And who knows maybe I will FINALLY make it into 2011's photos! lol!!!

I thought I'd share my pages with you! And I would love for you to do the same. Comment in this post with a link to your most recent favorite page. I'll leave you some love and pick 1 lucky winner to get $5 to my shop! Contest ends 5/11 at 12PM EASTERN.

I can't wait to see your lovely pages!!!!!

Tips for Making p365 Easier on You

Project 365 is a huge undertaking. Basically it is introducing a new habit into your life. And that is no easy feat. Some things that have helped me so far this year:

1. Cell phone Camera/cheap digital camera
   This has save me on more than one occasion. You want something that is portable and you can keep by your side. I find the camera on my phone works great. I have an android and I am seriously so giddy about the new instagrm app for it. If you don’t have a decent camera on your phone(though most newer models are pretty good) then a cheap little digital camera will do the trick. Many times I have been away from home and found the perfect moment of my day to capture and include in my p365 journey.
2. Don’t get stuck on having the perfect picture
   There are some days where I take pictures and I absolutely love how my p365 choice came out. I love everything about it. I want to shout from the rooftops in photographic joy! But other days I find my pictures so uninspiring. So I have found that letting go and not trying to get the most amazing picture ever each and every day has really freed me up to keep taking pictures. I start each day in pursuit of that dream picture. Some days it happens but more often than not it doesn’t. But even when it doesn’t there tends to be something else about that picture, the story that it tells or something new I learned about my camera/processing, etc. Most days there is always something that keeps me going.
3. Feeling uninspired Sometimes I feel uninspired. When this happens there are a few things I do. I think about this day and what typically happens. Do I need to go anywhere(like bible study, pre-k drop-off or pick-up for my daughter, or maybe I need to go to the post office)? Do we always do certain mundane things like when the kids brush their teeth, my little boy watched Thomas the Train while my daughter is at school, maybe I have a funny story about my mail carrier and I want to capture a picture of him dropping off the mail? So I try to compile a list in my head(you could do it on paper or on your computer if you’re super organized). Basically this is how I brain-storm. And then I decide what picture I want to take. Maybe it means I take the kids someplace new. In the end I usually capture a pretty good memory. It may not be the photo of the century. But it usually ends up being something that is an integral part of our life.
   
   But there are times where even this doesn’t work and so I recommend checking out Katrina Kennedy’s website: http://captureyour365.com/ . She has a variety of ways to keep you inspired throughout the year and probably a ton more tips about p365 than I could possibly share.
4. You missed a day/week, now what?Life has a way of getting in the ways and you miss a day. Or even a week. My cousin has been trying out p365 this year as well. When one of her friends lost one of her premature twin babies she just couldn’t take pictures. She was grieving the loss and just couldn’t pick up the camera. And that is ok! Sometimes life happens. And if it does consider creating a small digital scrapbook page without pictures. Maybe journaling on what happened that caused you to not to take a picture. Or perhaps just create a completely white photo with the date on it and just write, “It just didn’t happen today” along with the date. There is no shame in missing a day. The important thing is that you enjoy it!

I hope you've found these things helpful and encouraging. I hope you come back in a few weeks when I talk about what to do with all these photos you have taken.

Grandparents Bundle, FWP & FREEBIES

This week I started off with a not so mini-kit that was Grandparents themed. I made it to give away during Scrap Orchards birthday festivities. But once I started working on this theme I needed to come back to it to create more. I have so many grandparent photos and I just felt they needed a soft and beautiful collection to create pages with. Grandparents Bundle is over 40% off now through 4/19. Within the bundle you will get Grandparents Digitial Kit(1 alpha, 15 papers and 36 elements), Grand Papers(18 papers), Grand Alpha and Grandpeople (where you can custom make your grandparents). And when you purchase the bundle you will get a set of wordart for FREE(offer expires 4/19)! Or you can purchase all these products separately at a 20% discount through 4/19/12.

And this weeks BLOG FREEBIE is that pretty set of coordinating chipboard elements. Just download them here:  

My newsletter subscribers get their own exclusive freebies each week I release a new product. They also get special deals and offers. If you're interested you can join my newsletter here. This is the freebie in this week's newsletter. If you sign up before 4/18 I will send it to you!

EXCLUSIVE NEWSLETTER FREEBIE

A is for {full kit}, Printables & freebie

A is for by mle Card is a kit devoted to the letter A! Perfect to scrap about a variety of themes. Today only(2/29) it is 29% off and the rest of the week it is 20% off. When you purchase the kit you will get the coordinating printable worksheets FREE! 20% sale and offer expires 3/7.

A freebie 12x12 template just for you! Enjoy :)

Tracking your kids memories: contest below

My daughter just turned 4 and I have been terrible about keeping track of the cute things she says or how she pronounces them. For example, she had this funny way of saying banana when she was about 1.5. It wasn't your typical nana or manana. It was more like maraca, but I cannot for the life of me remember it exactly. I've scoured my emails, using the search function, hoping i had somehow emailed someone about how cute it is. I've looked at all my videos and nothing. I have to be better about this! Especially now that she is 4 and I'm just about shocked daily by the things she says! And now I have little Benjamin who is turning 1 next month and I am sure he will have plenty of cute stories!

I would love to have a list of all the things each one has said year by year and when they turn 18 be able to compile a scrapbook of each year. So I am determined to start being more organized about these memories. This is where I need your help! I would love to hear about how you keep track of them. Do you have a word or notepad document where you just type them out? Do you have an app on your phone that you use? Or are you old school and write it down in a notebook? What easy and quick way do you record your memories to scrap later? Or are you seriously lacking in this department like me? Leave a comment and I will randomly pick one winner to recieve $5 to my store! Entries close at Friday(9/9) at 12pm eastern!

This week I have a great collection for you designed to help you scrap recipes, cooking photos and more. Cook2gether is 20% off now through 6/16. When you buy the kit you will get the doodles FREE. This offer expires on 6/16. I also put together a decorative element pack and a set of wordbits. If you love them all you can purchase the bundle for extra savings! Be sure to scroll to the bottom for your coordinating freebie!

****FREEBIE Paper Pack****

Download here

5/20: Bloom & Grow kit, Acrylics & FREEBIE

My new release this week was based on a skirt from anthropologie. I just LOVE that store and wish I had the money to shop there for all my clothes. I do scour their clearance section though and am able to score some really awesome deals! Anyhow back to scrapping. This weeks kit, Bloom & Grow is fun and colorful and great for scrapping a variety of topics! When you buy the kit you will get 20% off(as usual) and you will also get the coordinating acrylics FREE. These offers expire on 5/26/11.

And a great freebie for you! An uppercase only acrylic alpha! Just download it here Don't you just LOVE free alphas! :)

Until next week :)

May 6th: FARMER's Market, new products ONLY $1

This week its Farmer's Market at the Orchard! This means that I have several new amazing products for you that are only $1. First up is Cup O Joe, a not so mini-kit. Full of bright illustrations. You can scrap all about your love of coffee! Second up I have a fun boyish kit. Construction Zone will allow you to scrap all those truck playing pictures! Next I have a 2 pager template set that will help you scrap up to 18 pictures in 1 two-pager.And the fourth $1 deal I have a set of personal use swirly doodles!

All of these products are only $1! I also have almost 25 previously released products that have been marked down to $1! The price will never be this low again on any of these products!Farmer's Market ends March 9th.

Lastly, here is your weekly freebee! A little element pack to coordinate with "Cup O Joe".

Download here

1/28/11: Lovebots kit & FWP & a FREEBIE

In preparation for Valentines I have put a unique spin on this kit. Lovebots is perfect to scrap about the ones you love who LOVE robots! Lovebots is 20% off now through 2/3/11. And when you buy the kit you get the coordinating Printable Valentines FREE!

And here's a little freebie to go with my Lovebots kit(click on the image) or get it here

Dec17: Forever Friends Collab w/ Captivated Visions

This week I have a great new kit with a new collaborative partner: Rachel of Captivated Visions! I had so much fun working with her and I think you'll see that in our kit! Forever Friends is perfect to scrap about all the wonderful friendships in your life. From young to old, this kit works! Get it for 20% off now through 12/23. When you purchase the kit you'll get the coordinating stacked papers FREE! Offer expires on 12/23. Also check out Rachel's blog for a fun RAK and a freebie!

I also have a pack of CU Gingham Ribbons. Contains both grayscale and original color files.