Celebrate Digital Scrapbooking Day Two Peas Style!

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day!

The Peas are hopping for Digital Scrapbook Day and this is my post on the journey.

You should have come from Polka Dot Pixels and your next stop will be Jen Martakis but if you get lost along the way you can pop along to the Two Peas Digital Blog to get the complete list. At each station there will be part of a code for you to collect. At the end of the line (so to speak) you will have a complete code that will allow you access to the fabulous collaboration FREEBIE (limited time only) in the Two Peas Store. The part of my code you are collecting from my page can be found at the end of this post :)

My own contribution as part of the Creative Team is this template

and my sample page using it (plus goodies from the collaboration)

As well as this freebie there are a range of challenges to inspire you, each of which gives you the chance to win a $5 gift certificate to the Two Peas store. The challenges can be found here. My own challenge is a Theme Challenge, based around the word Reflection 

I hope you enjoy your freebie and find time to join in with our challenges.

The part of the code from my stop is - p

Hello Sunshine! MScraps Blog Hop Goodness!

Wow! Isn't this gorgeous? And that preview DOES NOT include everything you can collect on this blog/facebook hop. Nope, not at all. There are other designer goodies as well as a whole bunch of  things from the members of the Creative Team such as Quick Pages, Templates and Clusters.

You should have come here from Sonia (gateausoso) and your next stop will be at Tammy (tj7933). But in case you get lost, you can find the complete listing of all stops at the MScraps forum.


Here are some pages I made to showcase this collaboration:

and finally the page I made featuring BOTH the template AND cluster you can get as my contribution!

To get hold of my freebies, just click here and the download should start automatically (it's being hosted at Dropbox).

 Enjoy!

INDULGE YOURSELF WITH GOODIES FROM THE ZIGGY FUN TRAIN

Happy iNSD from everyone at ZigZagScrap. The wonderful designers have put together a fabulous and lush selection of goodies on the theme of Secret Indulgences and the creative team have added to this a selection of quick pages, templates and clusters.

Here are some pages I have made with this collaboration:

And this is another page which uses my FREEBIE CLUSTER available to you as my contribution to this gift train.

You can grab this here (download should start immediately from Dropbox). You should have come here from Jen. Your next stop will be Studio 68. If you get lost along the way, you can find a list of ALL stops at The Fun Place.

Also the designers have lots of sales and offers available in store. Check out the announcement section and also the store (you really MUST check out the ZigZag Line section for May which has a whopping 84 new products all to a co-ordinating colour palette and ALL on sale for the weekend!).

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday MScraps!

Welcome to my stop on the Mscraps Birthday Blog/Facebook Hop! 

I hope you enjoy all of the fabulous gifts that the MScraps Creative Team & Designers have prepared just for you. 
You should have come here from Sonia's blog (aka gateausoso)
If you've become lost or missed a stop along the way, you can visit the MScraps forum to get the full blog train list.

Here's my freebie:

You can download it from Dropbox by clicking here.

Now head over to Tinci's facebook page to collect your next gift.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I just want to give myself a little toot!

There's a new blinkie in my side bar over there! I got invited over to join the digital creative team over at Two Peas in a Bucket! Talk about heart palpating with excitement! I've got oodles of their digi kits on my hard drive already, plus I'm on Emily's (Polka Dot Pixel's) creative team (who sells at Two Peas) but to be asked to join in and play with the lush creations of ALL of the designers over there is thrilling! Thanks Erica!

I'm just starting to get into the swing of things over there and will share with you three pages for now.

Falling for Digital - DSD collab by the designers at Two Peas in a Bucket 
Template - Gridz by ChrissyW 
Fonts - Roundslab Serif, Jellyka Saint-Andrew's Queen 

Template Mixin' It Up 9 by Chrissy W 

I Hope by Edeline Marta 
A Vintage Affair by Polka Dot Pixels 
Font - Enhanted Prairie Dog

Fashionably Fall papers and elements by Tricia Chapman 
Font - Bud Hand 

DSD is here and there's so much fun to be found!

Starting off at ZigZagScrap!

To celebrate Digital Scrapbooking Day, we have a totally amazing blog train. And I really do mean amazing! The theme is Memory Keepers and it is such a beautifully soft and elegant colour palette. Plus there is an even more amazing 50% storewide (pretty well everything) sale! and not forgetting the games and challenges being hosted on the forum!

And there is even more to shout about as we have FOUR NEW DESIGNERS joining the shop this week too, really there is so much to choose from in store it's unreal!

Here's a page from me using the fabulousness from the blog train:

And a whole selection of inspiration from the other members of the Creative Team:

So you are probably here for your freebie, right? Okay well I love word art and don't think you can ever have enough, so I've got a pack for you available to download from Dropbox.

Not totally sure about the scrapbooking is cheaper than therapy, but it's okay to let other people think that :D

If you are following the train order, you will have arrived here from Terese of t for me designs and your next stop will be Rita of Blue Flower Art and if you get lost along the way you can find the whole listing over in this post at the ZigZagScrap Fun Place. Be aware that our team is diverse and spread throughout various corners of the earth! If the blog post link isn't up and running when you first visit it, give it a whirl a little later on.

The freebies from the Design Team are only around until Monday 7th November, after that you will have to head over to the store. My own freebie (can't speak for the other Creative Team members) will be around for a little longer :)

Enjoy!

A freebie fruity framework for you!

I do love alliteration lol!

Things have been incredibly hectic this end. Seen far more of the Royal Derby hospital than I ever felt I needed to, and for far too many times too!

Josh's birthday came and went as has Mia's (my baby is TEN! - how did that happen?!) Chiara's is next on the list in May. FIL is still very poorly in hospital (thank you everyone for all your thoughts and wishes, they do mean a lot to me).

I have been doing a lot of creating in some form or another, whether it be baking and decorating, creating party pieces, cards, paper scrapping or digital scrapping. I just haven't really had the time to sit down and get all my thoughts together and bits and bobs organised for sharing properly.

Updating my slide shows is moving up my list of priorities (as should be clearing my paper scrapping space).

Just for now though I wanted to share a digital scrapbook template freebie with you. Bear with me, I haven't shared a download on my blog before so I am really hoping that I have it all figured out right. It's a .psd layered template, based on this digital page:



Credits:
Two Peas in a Bucket: Eggstravaganza and Kitschensinque by Polka Dot Pixels
Owl Tree Studio: Iced Cookie Alpha by Wild Blueberry Ink
Sweet Shoppe Designs: Itty Bits alpha by Danni Mogstad
Fonts: Dancing Script OT and Vintage Typewriter

Which, in turn, was based on this paper page made for A Trip Down Memory Lane for a monthly DT gallery using My Little Shoebox papers:

Scraplifting your own pages is in no way cheating! Nope, it's making the best of what you've already done and can be a great timesaver too.

Download the digital template here

Please let me know if you have any problems and I'll try to figure them out.

Oh and, if you don't digital scrapbook, here's the sketch for you instead :)

Quickie share

Been feeling rough all week so that, coupled with the dire weather, has made half term with the kids rather a wash out in more ways than one :(

We did manage some baking, the girls made a marble maze game from an empty chocolate box, bits of cardboard, cut out holes and some marbles out of Kerplunk! So creative, must take a photo and scrap about that! I'm thinking of setting them some sort of treasure challenge tomorrow, but as the weather has been given as bad again, it is going to have to be an indoors one, I think. The one I'm favouring the most at the moment is a 'fit as many items in a matchbox as you can' challenge, though it's a larger than normal size matchbox they will be filling, and the girls will be working together as a team as it would be too unfair otherwise given the big difference between them.

Today has been half term hair cut day. No photos yet (unfortunately Mia had her hair curled after cutting today and they fell out by bed time). Chiara has gone for a more 'grown up' cut, reflected in the fact that they tried charging as if she was 14 - she's still 11 lol! Josh has had the normal blade 2 and bog brush on top style. I keep trying to talk him into something more on trend, but he's not terribly fashion conscious - until it comes to jeans (of which we had to buy two more pairs today - he's growing way too fast still!)

I've been playing digi whilst I've been poorly, using the laptop in the warmth of the lounge (when I've been able to wrestle it out of Josh's clutches). As it's up with him now I can't share my projects for Owl Tree Studio (which was my original intention) so I'm sharing this page using Two Peas products (including the weekly freebie template available here). As you can see, I kept pretty faithful to the template, though I straightened out the frame as I thought it being wonky gave it a playful look and the photo I used didn't match that mood at all.

The photo is just a fortuitous snap taking whilst the girls were out playing in the garden last year - I altered the colour tones to match the more wistful look captured on Mia's unposed pose (if you follow me).

Credits all Two Peas in a Bucket

Template freebie February 2011
Summer's Edge kit by Scrap Originals
Boho Chic (freebie) Brandy Buffington
Live Well word art (freebie) Jo Hanna
Font Angelina (freely available on the web)

Who knew?

I was playing with a digital page the other day and found out that you can use a brush in conjunction with the eraser tool to create a punched effect. Adding a drop shadow increases the 'depth' of the cut out. How cool!

I created this page with a free template over at Two Peas in a Bucket and using the Apple of My Eye kit (it's such a beautiful kit) by Vinnie Pearce, also at Two Peas. I altered the template slightly to included two photos rather than three, added a photo mat, the butterflies and moved the title down a bit.

Oh and that title effect - I re-coloured a tag from the kit, used a standard font (Georgia), made it bold and added a Simple Pillow Emboss effect layer style. I love that this gives a debossed effect to the text.

Lucky Me!

I won a cute digital kit for a facebook comment this week. It's this one here at Two Peas Me and You kit by Edeline Marta. And here's a quick page I did with it as I was eager to play (and also I used a freebie template by Chrissy W, also at Two Peas ). I love this kit and I can't wait to play more with it, but I have other things I have to do first! And, unfortunately, tomorrow I'm at the Accountant's so no time to play *sulk*.

I've done lots of scrapping over the weekend, enjoying the challenges over at Two Peas as they celebrate CHA. Lots of new goodies coming out, I can't wait to see what Mel and Jill get in over at A Trip Down Memory Lane. Lots of lush stuff to be added to my wish list I'm sure.

Here's a couple of the pages I have done. I admit to starting them at crop but not actually getting very far with them. For all of these three I used the Sugar Rush collection by Basic Grey (a wonderfully generous prize pack sponsored by Basic Grey and issued by Two Peas for another challenge quite a while ago).

This snap of Chiara posing in a replica turtle shell at Chester Zoo a couple of years ago came out great (with a little PSE tweaking!). I love the look of pure enjoyment on her face. The colours of the kit were perfect for the photo and I couldn't help using that corny title! The journaling is about how Chiara was growing in confidence at that point in her life, so the title did double duty.

I used some Hot Off the Press stamps (that I seem to recall were another prize, I know, I've been so lucky in drawings and challenges!) to add part of the title to a handcut banner, to fit the Scrapbook Stamping class that was running over at Two Peas in January (to include stamping in your title and journaling). This is a year long class (February's is to add heat embossed images to a layout) and I'm already getting a lot more use out of my stamps than they have seen in like .... ummm .... forever!).

I loved these fun pics of Mia at a local park last year and, of course, the purple dress was another great match for the papers. I always get a bit 'blah' over journaling these park play photos, just how many times can you talk about having fun playing on the swings or whatever? So for this one I used the photos as a link to something that is very dear to Mia's heart and that is animals. She loves all animals, but has a special dream of having a horse, or pony, or donkey or dog! Like the title says ... Dream on!

These photos are from the same day as the Dream on layout. We don't always get the chance to go out much as a family (and even on this day, Josh didn't want to join us at the park - not fun enough for a fifteeen year old any more I guess) and especially last year as it seemed to be permanently raining! Mia is such a happy and loving little girl and she really is a joy to be with (well, mostly!).

These layered embellishments from Basic Grey are such fun, I thought off setting them was perfect for the cloud shape and it gave me more room for the title too. As you can see, I'm working my older stash a lot at the moment. These rub-ons are by Crate Paper and the paper flowers are years old and by Making Memories - I love them and happily bought a lot when they were on clearance.

xxx's
Suzanne

January goodies and CT call at Owl Tree Studio

I had lots of fun working the with January releases over at Owl Tree Studio. I used a whole variety of the product which you can get for the fabulous price of just $7.95 a month if you become a subscribed member. You could, of course, just get the things individually as they become available in the shop, but the membership price is a great deal (check it out here to view all the kits, templates and other goodies that comprise the membership bundle for January).

Oh .... and if you are a digital scrapper/hybrid artist you must check out the CT call Tiffany has at the moment. She is looking for people to join a variety of the sub-teams working with these great products. The blog post with all the details is here.

New Beginnings and fancy word overlays by Torta Gialla

Talk to Me, Month Ribbon and border mask by Simply Kelly Designs
Font Pea Valerie

Talk to Me by Simply Kelly Designs

Journaling font Smiley Monster


















DejaVu by Wild Blueberry Ink
New Beginnings by Torta Gialla (staples)
Font Pea Valerie

 



New Beginnings by Torta Gialla

Deja Vu by Wild Blueberry Ink
Border Masks by Simply Kelly Designs
Fonts Sylfaen, Fontmoochers
Based on P365 template 1 by Wild Blueberry Ink

And, yes, I've managed to keep to my resolution so far!

Yumminess at Owl Tree Studio

I've been playing with the new digital kits available for September at Owl Street Studio. Six this month plus bonuses. I was especially thrilled that so many of them worked great for boy pages. I've done seven pages so far and I'm certain to be using them more. Nip on over to check out the kit previews (oh and yes, you will have read that right, only $9.95 for everything!).

Just a quickie to let you know ...

that the Owl Tree Studio gallery and forum are up and running! Please pop on over, join in our discussions and start uploading your layouts created with Owl Tree Studio products. We’re going to be randomly giving away some one month memberships and other goodies to participants and I would love for you to be one of the winners!

Also, in celebration of putting the last piece of the site puzzle into place, Tiffany has extended the fabulous $7.95 promotional membership pricing until August 15th. If you didn’t get a chance to sign up last week, go ahead and sign up today!

Feeling Good!

I just fancied a quick play with digi again - I'm off to crop tomorrow and so will be playing with paper and glue then (oh and eating cake .... done a huge batch of baking today for taking cake to crop tomorrow, to keep my 'promise' from the school auction, for keeping here ready for Sunday - my birthday! - and some plain buns to go into a trifle for tea on Sunday). Just had a piece of the choccie cake ... divine even if I say so myself! (love my old Be-Ro recipe book).

This kit is sooooooooo cute! (yes, worthy of that many o's). It's the Feelin' Good kit by Girl Boy Girl Designs (with a couple of papers borrowed from the Life's a Beach freebie kit and Casa Mia kit) and is available exclusively to members over at Owl Tree Studio.

Fonts used are CKbedrock (title) and CKbuddies (journaling) and the tabbed journal clipping masks are by my own fair hand.

In case you haven't heard (maybe because you've been on an exotic vacation without internet or maybe you've been away from digi-land), Owl Tree Studio is officially open. In case you haven't heard enough from me about how much I am loving their products, here’s an official summary of what you’re guaranteed to get each month as an inside member:

1 Mega Collaboration Kit
3 Individually Created Designer Kits
3 Designer Bonus Items (examples include frame packs, brush sets, Alpha packs, etc)
16+ quick pages created by our creative team
2 project tutorials that walk you through the process of using our digital goodies for tangible crafts
Unannounced goodies throughout the month, including page templates

Check out the full August reveal to look at August’s products.

Starting in September, Owl Tree Studio be featuring a new guest designer every month and you’ll receive an extra individual kit AND an extra designer bonus each month. Exciting!

It may sound a little sensationalist, but for the money, there is no better value on digital design available online. Not only are the Owl Tree Studio designers incredibly talented and responsive to inside members, their products go through rigorous quality control testing to ensure that the products you receive each month are ready to be turned into beautiful layouts and art for printing. There are absolutely no strays or jaggies in their products (I would know, since I've seen all of them).

Their monthly product line is full of digital goodies you won’t want to miss out on. All of the Owl Tree Studio products are ONLY available through Owl Tree Studio and are only available for a one month period of time. If you see a kit you like, you’ll have to be a member of Owl Tree Studio during the month it is featured to add it to your stash.

The regular monthly membership rate is $9.95. However, if you ; sign up by the end of this week (August 8th), you’ll lock in the charter rate of $7.95 per month and your monthly subscription is guaranteed to never go up, even if the pricing does. Plus, because you're getting in so early, you'll also get the chance to give your input on future kits. It feels amazing to receive products that are created around your requests and needs.

What are you waiting for? ; Sign up now and join me inside the Owl Tree Studio members' area!

Inspiration at It's a Creative World

I have been lucky enough to be asked to guest design over at the wonderful inspiration blog It's a Creative World over the Summer period. If you aren't familiar with the site, the talented ladies provide all sorts of home making and crafty inspiration, from baking to sewing, embroidery, altered art, gardening and more!

My second post went live yesterday, all about creating with digital collage stamps.

My first post looked at using premade digital templates to print out shaped photo collages.

Hmmm. There seems to be a theme here doesn't there? Bit strange for someone like me who considers themselves a technophobe. Well, if I can figure these things out then, rest assured, anyone can!