I'm back...and I brought a FREEBIE!

Sorry that I've been away for so long... I've actually been honin some of my layout skills by taking part in challenges on my two favorite forums: Been There Scrapped That and Scrap Matters. I also finished my alpha design for ScrapShannas Chocolate Linen Kit. Sweetheart that she is, she told me to post it on my blog and she'd link here. So...WELCOME to all of Shanna's loyal fans (I am one too!). I am honored to have you here. And a giant THANKS and ((HUGS)) to Shanna for the great design and inspiration! Just click on the image below to grab it...don't forget to leave a little love ;)

One of the challenges I did for BTST was "Pimp My Desktop" and we were given this awesome freebie called Summer Splash by Christinescraps and we had to create a desktop/wallpaper. I also incorporated some great elements from Silver Rocket Scraps Sunshine Day Kit and loved the results. I'm giving you a sneak peek today, just because I'm soooo excited, but I'll wait until later in the month to give it out as a freebie if I get permission from the designers. That way you all will have it when you need it :)

Good Morning Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had a 4 year old with a fever hovering around 104°F (38°C) and a terrible headache. Sti;ll we went over to a church we bought a wooden playset from, in order to disassemble it and bring it home and had Murphy's Law take over our lives. When I offered to buy the playset from the church I forgot that we had just traded in our Ford F35o long bed pick-up truck for a Ford Escape. DH has had a truck as long as I have known him. After three trips to the church (it's only 10 minutes away) to attempt taking it apart, DH decided to rent a truck for a day and just load it in one piece. Let me precede this by saying that DH brought home a Saturn Sky from work on Friday. Since he's a test engineer he does this occasionally, especially when there is a car he knows I'd love to drive. So, by his choice, Mark and Mack went to pick up the rental truck at 9am on Sunday morning (Father's Day... I know). We headed out at about 12:30 to go to the church. When Zoe and I got there with the convertible, shortly behind the boys, Mark was ready to have me help him tip the playset into the truck.... it was 1 inch too wide!!! So we started to tear it apart... mark went to move the truck forward a bit and it sunk to the axel in soft, wet dirt. After 40 minutes of trying to wedge something under the back wheels, Mark pulledthe Sky up and used it to secure a strap that he used to pull the truck forward. It worked, but the knot he tied to fasten the strap was tightened so much, we couldn't get it undone. He left me to work on it while he got back to disassembling the playset. Almost instantly it downpoured!!!! Quickly I put the convertible top up, closed the windows and trunk on the Sky, Mark gathered the kids, the dog (yes she was with us) and the tools together and we huddled in the back of the still unloaded rental truck. As the rain poured down (of course blowing into the back of the truck) and we all tried to stay dry, sweet little Zoe said, "this is the worst Father's Day EVER!" to which Mark replied, "No, it's not. We're all together as a family. That's all any Daddy ever wants for Father's Day is to have his family all together." AWWWW! Suffice it to say that we did get the playset pulled apart, loaded and unloaded again in our driveway at home (although not before I sunk the SKY in the soft, wet dirt up to the frame and pulled it out the same way we did the rental truck). By 4:00 Mark had taken the truck back and he and I cleaned the inside and outside of the Sky so that it could be returned in perfect shape. In spite of this excitement and drama, I did manage to get a new kit under way called, appropriately enough, One Crazy Summer. I've already finished the Alphas for it, but as today is a workday, I'll have to load them up later. Be sure to check back!!!!

Looks Like Rain Final Freebie

Hello friends! Well we reached Thursday, the final installment of my Looks Like Rain kit. I've had some very nice comments and I'd LOVE to see any layouts using elements or papers from it! I also had my first attempt at making a blinkie. Grab it for your blog if you want. I've got some ideas for the next one, but some of my programs have been acting la ittle flakey and today is a work day for me AND the deadline for my girl scout paperwork. (Did I tell you I am a procrastinator??? LOL) A note about the Wax Impression Alphas, the style isn't working with the lower case letters, so I will have numerals and punctuation for tomorrow. I've got an idea for my next alphabet design...it's so fun!!! But I am still looking for a better way to give them a transparent background. Maybe I'll have another post for today. Mornings seem to be the only certain time I can steal a few minutes while I have my coffee. I have so many kits that I have downloaded from some of you and I really want to get some layouts done. I hope you all will still visit! I also want to catch up on my favorite blogs. I love knowing what's going on with others. :) Here is the Looks Like Rain Freebie for today. It has Journaling Strips, Fasteners and some really fun Baling Wire. (Words I never thought I'd be saying! LOL) Don't forget to leave some love... Later in the day...... Here are two layouts I did today. You can see all the design credits by clicking on them (for fonts etc.) But the first one is from my friend Val at Une pause café and her Wild On kit. I added paper from Hillbilly Sweetpea and her kit Bloom Where Yo Are Planted. The second layout I did with a kit I've had for awhile. I think it's perfect for Zoe's first Halloween. It's a kit called Adorable Animals from Designs by Karen.

MY FIRST FRIDAY FREEBIE!

Well everyone! I am soooo excited. I managed to get all my alpha images exported and zipped and loaded onto 4shared. I hope some of you try these. I'd like to know how they work for you all and if you'd like to see the lower case letters and numerals! Just click on the image below to download and I would love to hear your comments, ideas and suggestions. Today is my day off (my marketing job) so I was able to visit my favorite blogs (I will try to add blinkies for them-still learning how). There are some wonderful kits and layouts in the digital world. It's all so inspiring!!! I'd like to scrap some layouts with a couple I downloaded and share them here and with the designer. I am also brainstorming some original design ideas of my own. Maybe something to go with these early days of summer. Today is my Zoe girl's last day of grade 1. I need to scramble to get her registered for the girl scout resident camp she wants to attend this year. She took some great pictures last summer and I scrapped this fun page.... I did it for the Scrapbook Flair Out of Africa Kit Challenge. Click on the image for design credits and a closer look. Zoe took so many good photos that this page is pretty full. Still, it was early in my digital designing. I like to think I've learned a lot since then. Today is my day to catch up on housework as well as get a little scrapping done. Here is the freebie I promised you. Just click on the image to download it. If I get a new layout done I will upload it tonight... Thanks for checking out my blog and my freebie! xoxoxo