Ellie's Creative Corner

A Captivating Blog Train - This is Me - Stacked Papers Freebie

2011-05-27T05:01:00.001+01:00

The Captivating Sistas have joined Rachel to celebrate her birthday this week!
If you haven’t seen all the fun and games visit this post on Rachels blog Here!

Her store is still on sale for 30% off until May 29th, and the freebie links to the ‘This Is Me’ Alpha on her blog and the ‘This Is Me’ Papers on her Facebook fan page are still active until Sunday only!

Plus a little birdy tells me that if you missed the freebie from the Newsletter on Thursday (‘This Is Me’ Elements), if you sign up by 2pm EST on Sunday May 29th it will be sent out again one final time to all new subscribers so sign up if you haven't already!

The 'This Is Me' Full Kit will also be available for sale in the store on June 3rd for everyone else who missed it after these freebies end!

Rachel and the Sistas have been creating some pretty awesome stacked papers for you with the This Is Me Kit, you can download all nine papers free by following this fun train!!

You can download my portion of this freebie HERE, follow the blog links from the list below to the next freebie, all participating Sistas have been noted in the list so if you’ve got lost or missed a paper check all of the blog links below for the freebies!

Don’t forget to check out Rachel’s Sale and enjoy the freebies and leave us some love in the comments while you are here!
These Stacked Paper freebies will only be available for thirty days so snap them up while you can!

Incase you get lost, here's the full list of the train :)

Rachel
Christie
Lynn
Ellie < You are Here
Tammy
Melissa
Carrie
Tamara
Andrea
Lita

Enjoy your goodies - I hope you like them!

Not Going To Pretend...

2011-02-28T11:17:00.001Z

So, I'm not going to pretend anymore that I'm going to become a better blogger. It's just not going to happen, no matter how nice my blog looks, once I've finished with the design, it just gets pushed to the bottom of my list. I haven't gotten rid of it though as occasionally I'll make a freebie that I want to offer you and this is the place to do it!!

So in my last post I had a Christmas project in hand, well I just quickly want to show you the end result...

I ended up using a stocking template from Hybrid by Samara and also Christmas Whimsy by SuzyQ Scraps. I added a little tag and Christmas brad and then filled with the gift voucher and a few choccies! I think they turned out quite well (I know the recipients liked them!), although in hind sight, next time I may add some ribbon or something as well :)

Anyway, onto the freebie! Are you taking part in Project: Love, Me? Well, I'm trying my best to keep up with it because I really want to have a book about me as a person not just Mummy, to be able to share with my kiddies when they're older. I'm nearly finished with February's pages, and for the week 1 prompt I made this page...

I used the PLM kit: iLove by SuzyQ Scraps & Ziggle Designs, and I want to share with you the mask I made for my page.

So here ya go! Just click on the image to download from box.net - enjoy!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!

2010-11-11T20:43:00.000Z

It seems to always be at the back of my mind these days - has been since the end of October I think! I'm always trying to think of ways to get crafty for Christmas - some days I have a really good idea & I think today is one of those days! Yay me lol!!
So here's my idea - at Christmas we ALWAYS end end giving a gift voucher/certificate to at least one person - this year it's about three or four as we simply couldn't come up with any ideas for presents! One thing that gets to me though when giving vouchers is that I feel bad that the person won't have anything to unwrap come Christmas day.
At first I thought 'I know! I'll make a cute voucher card/holder like this one - which is still on my wish list incidentally...(images are linked btw)

But then I saw this in Krisi's store (which I bought) and which led me to think of something else...

What if I could fill a hybrid box/bag with chocolates (candy for my U.S friends :) ) and then kind of hide the voucher inside with the choccies! Not only will the person get a lovely sweet treat so I feel like we're actually giving them a present lol, but they'll also have the nice surprise of a gift voucher inside!
Then my idea got even better! I remembered that I had these delicious brads that I got in a local craft shop in a sale...

And I think they are going to co-ordinate beautifully with Christmas Whimsy by SuzyQ Scraps...

My idea is that I could make a flap top bag/box and use these to tie some ribbon round to seal the flap - like you see on these kind of envelopes...

So I am now in search of a flap bag/box template - I shall be back to let you know how I get on!

Train Tracks Freebie

2010-10-22T11:11:00.000+01:00

So I have 2 kiddies - both are absolutely obsessed with Thomas the Train. It's their favourite thing EVER - even with my little girl!
They went to the zoo with their grandparents a couple of months ago and guess who was there?! Yep - Thomas - apprently my little boy would not move once he was standing next to Thomas. My sister-in-law was also there & she took a FAB picture so of course I just had to scrap it!
Now because of copyright etc I was having a hard time finding exactly what I wanted for my page. So I used the collab Vromm, Zoom, Chugga Choo by SuzyQ Scraps and Kristen Aagard as a base and then added some other bits by SuzyQ. I still couldn't find some train tracks that I was happy with, so I broke out my tablet and Illustrator and decided to draw my own!
Here's my page (click for full credits please)

And you can have the tracks too as I'd like to share them. You can use them for personal use and scrap for hire/others. If you download I would really appreciate a comment! Click on the preview to take you to box.net to download.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fantastic Contest!

2010-10-16T19:43:00.000+01:00

I just had to pop on here to let you about an awesome contest that I've stumbled upon on Fizzy Pop Designs blog!
Fizzy Pop is celebrating her 1 year digiversary and you are invited! All weekend long join them for games, contests, freebies and more! Today's contest is for free My 4 Hen's goodies!
In case you haven't discovered Fizzy Pop Designs before, she makes FANTASTIC templates!! I drool over them every time I visit her store at 9th and Bloom!
Just look at these goodies...

Anyway - you should go take a look, I'll be back with a longer post soon!

Template Freebie!

2010-09-30T16:05:00.001+01:00

So I've finally got my back sorted out so I'm able to sit at the PC long enough to scrap a page! Yay! I was getting serious withdrawls there for a while!
The page I want to show you today I've had in my head for a while (before I hurt my back) and I've been completing it in bits and pieces as my back has allowed lol. I'm very happy with the end result, I was aiming for a kids style notebook & I think I got there in the end :)

I used a LOAD of SuzyQ Scraps Oopsie-Doodles, some Digital Stamps and also her HUGE Land of Learning Bundle.
As for the book/pages I made them myself & I'm pretty impressed on how they turned out! I've never used the warp tool so much in one layout!
And you may've guessed that the digital scrapbooking freebie I have for you today is the book/pages but I've made it a double page spread. So if you use the template as it is, you'll have a 12"x24" page. Or you can always just select all the layers and move it onto a 12"x12" page like I did :)
Another tip - if you use a patterned paper it makes it easier to warp the paper and make it look right.
Oh & you'll also have to warp your elements to make them flow with the warped paper.
(You'll find the warp tool under Edit > Transform - that's where it is in CS3 anyway lol)
That's all the tips I have for you at the moment, if you have any specific questions then please feel free to contact me via the little envelope under my blog header & I'll get back to you :)
SO here's your freebie - just click on the image to download.

I always appreciate your comments too ;)
Thanks for stopping by!

I will be posting properly again soon!

2010-09-21T09:36:00.002+01:00

Just to let you know that it's quiet around here as I've hurt my back and can't sit at the computer too long!
I do have a great post coming up about a layout I'm doing which I think is going to be one of my best so far! I'll also be giving you a template I made to help me make it!
Hopefully my body will co-operate & I'll be blogging again soon!

Do You Print Your Digital Scrapbooking Pages?

2010-09-07T09:40:00.000+01:00

So do you end up printing your digital scrapbooking layouts?
I'm in the process of putting together my daughter's 4th year book. Basically I do about a page a month for each year of her life. She's 5 in March so I'm nearly up to date after scrapping my butt off a few months ago for her books and also my son's books :)
I actually have three printed for Caitlyn, two for Zach (who is 3 in November) one book of layouts that features both of them and one book for general family pages. I always get them printed at Artscow because I love their coupons! I can basically get the book printed for free and only pay for shipping which takes about two weeks - not too bad considering I'm in the UK. The print quality is also GREAT! Sometimes the red colours seem a bit bright, but they're not so severe that I've bothered to contact their customer services.
Here are some pictures of our first family book which I got printed about two months ago...

To help me get the bleed and positioning of my pages and cover just right I also use these templates by Wendyzine over at Scrapbook Graphics. They are my lifesaver! I convert each 12x12 layout into 8x8 as I just find 12x12 books are VERY expensive and very difficult to handle as they're so big. Every time a book of mine is delivered I just get so excited looking at the results of my time spent digi scrapping. I just hope my kids will appreciate the books when they grow up!

Summer Rewind Sale at Scrap Orchard!

2010-09-04T10:33:00.004+01:00

So there's a sale going on at Scrap Orchard this weekend! All the products that the designers released from May 1st are now on sale again with 20% off! Some have even re-activated their free with purchase offers! Very generous I think! The sale is only running until September 6th so be quick!

Here's a preview of what SuzyQ Scraps has to offer you!

If your looking for templates then Scrapping With Liz has also re-activated her free with purchase offers and Lyndsay Riches has s fabulous kits on sale too!

Want to Win?

2010-09-01T19:00:00.003+01:00

Just a short line to let you know that if you hop on over to SuzyQ Scraps blog and also Captivated Visions blog, they're each giving you a chance to win their new releases for this week!! Believe me it's worth trying to win as they're both releasing some awesome stuff this week!!

Oh and I had a question in the comments of my last post by aslansavz asking why oh why did we honeymoon in Kansas lol - basically because my Mum was living out there at the time. She missed our wedding so it was the perfect opportunity to go see her. I think the highlights (apart from seeing my Mum) were visting the Cosmosphere and the Sternburg Museum :)
{click images for credits}

How Is Your Weekend Going?

2010-08-28T19:55:00.002+01:00

I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself, I've been working on an assignment for my Open University course and I've nearly managed to finish it :) I'm doing a course in personal finance which if followed with another course will get me a certificate in Business Studies. I'm hoping it help me to not only improve our family finances but also help me get a bursar kind of job in a school. So yes I've nearly finished that so I'm happy, hopefully after another day's work on Monday it will be complete and ready for me to send off!
So how is your weekend going? We have a three day weekend here in the UK - I'm not so sure about my international friends :) My hubby is planning to work on our car tomorrow with his dad and my dad as the clutch decided to die on us a week or so ago - fingers crossed that they get it fixed!
It's been a while since I've scrapped a page, we had news of a death in my family last week so to be honest I just haven't felt like scrapping. I dare say my mojo will come flooding back to me soon though as the designers I create for are just relaeasing some awesome products!
SuzyQ Scraps released her range of 2011 calendars this week and there's so much choice! I'm thinking they'd make great Christmas presents - especially the perpetual calendar... when my printer decides to cooperate with me again I think I'll have a go at making one or two :)
Scrapping with Liz has also added six more states to her States Template range this week. Being in the UK the only one I've managed to use was Kansas as we went there for our honeymoon back in 2003. The packs have SOOOO much in them - I advise you go check them out, I'm sure you'll be surprised of how much is them :) Oh and all of these products that I've mentioned have 20% off until Thursday too.
Well I hope your weekend is going well, I'd love to hear what you're up to!

A New Blog Look

2010-08-26T11:17:00.005+01:00

So, I've spent some time playing with the look of my blog once again and this is what I've come up with! What do you think?!
Customizing the simple Blogger templates is something that I really enjoy doing :) I love playing with the html code and making custom images for my sidebar titles - I have a background in computing and of course my hobby of digital scrapbooking is helping me with the graphics - and not to mention the products of the fabulous SuzyQ Scraps who gave me permission to use her products to make my blog look great! (I used Giggle Monsters for the everything except the titles, for those I used her Oopsie-Doodle: Alpha 1 Oh and for the frame around my header I used Oopsie-Doodle: Frames 1)
So what do you have planned for your day? Over where I am in the UK the weather is not so good. We've got gusty winds and rain so we're having a day indoors. I've built a pretend park for my kiddies from the sofa cushions and they're having a blast!
I've posted on Scrapping With Liz's blog this morning if you want to check out her new releases - there's also a freebie over there that she's made for you :)
There's also an awesome photography course going on that I've found through CreativeLIVE. Jasmine Star is teaching how to photo shoot a wedding - and they actually have a real wedding going on on Friday so you can she her in action! The classes are all aired by video live and I watched from 8pm to 10pm last night - it actually went on until about 1am over here because of the timezone difference, but I managed to catch up with the couple of hours I lost this morning when they replayed the video from last night. If you're into photography you should really check it out - I've learnt so much! You can check out the creativeLIVE calendar to check out the class times where you are. It all finishes on Sunday though so get in there now if you're interested - it's free of course - I don't have the money right now for paid courses lol!
Anyway let me know what you think of my blog look & give me a shout if you're looking to customize your Blogger blog - I may be able to lend a virtual hand :)

News For You!

2010-02-11T16:42:00.003Z

So here's a round up of everything that's going on with my CT's at the moment!

First up Studio Hillary is retiring :( but that means an awesome sale for you! The doors close on the 12th but you just have just over one day left to grab some goodies. Not only is her store 50% off, but there's also a code to get you a FURTHER 25% OFF! All you have to do is go to Studio Hillary's store, download the free coupon and then use it at checkout for any goodies you want to pick up - that will give you a total discount of 75%!!

Next up SuzyQ Scraps of Scrap Orchard has a sneek peek on her blog of an awesome kit that's being released tomorrow (12th) - it's a collab with Jay Day Studio & if you leave a comment on her blog - you can win it!
Psssst...if you go to the post the day before, you can also pick up a freebie alpha ;)

Tomorrow is also start of Polka Dot Plum's Valentine's Blog Hop! The first stop is Sir Scrapalot's blog & there's going to be a ton of Plum designers taking part so you may want to check that out!

And the final piece of news I have for you is that {simply.scraps} has an awesome new release for you at Scrap Matters where she is the guest for the month! So make a note to check that out tomorrow too!

And here's a layout I have to share with you made with a FANTASTIC template by Scrapping With Liz at Scrap Orchard. I ended up using the perspective tool on this page which I've never used before so I was really pleased how this turned out! You can see the template pack I used under my layout & click on my layout for full credits :)

And that's all I have for you today!
Happy Scrapping,
Ellie :)

News of a BIG sale!

2010-02-04T09:37:00.003Z

So it's sad news that Studio Hillary is retiring :( Her store will close on Feb 12th but until then you can get 50% OFF everything! Just click on the named link above to take a visit to her store.
Here's a couple of pages I've done using Studio Hially's templates. Each image is linked for full credits ;)
This one uses Encircled Template 2B

This one uses Paper to Digi Conversions Template 1B

Thanks for reading & happy scrapping :)

Being Published!!

2010-02-03T11:13:00.005Z

2010 seems to be going well for me as far as my digi scrapbooking is concerned! One of my pages using Gadgets and Gizmos by SuzyQ Scraps is in February's Artisan Notebook! How cool is that?! Here's a preview of the kit I used (I would post my LO but I'm not allowed until March)

And I also found out this morning that another of my pages is going to be in the February issue of Scrapbook News & Review Magazine! Again I can't show the page but the call I submitted it for is all about using masks on your layout. Here's the kit and masks previews

Unfortunately I can't link to these products as they've been retired :(

Before this year I'd never tried submitting any of my pages for publication but it just goes to show it's worth trying!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-09T22:45:00.004Z

So this is my first post of the year and so much has happened for my family already lol! As I write this we're under about 6 inches of snow which is very rare for where I liveon the south east coast of England. The last time we had this much snow was when I was in high school - about 13 years ago! Today we took our kiddies out in the garden and built 2 very big snowman which will be feauturing in a layout soon :)
We've also had our first trip to A&E for 2010...our 2 year old decided to put a piece of sweetcorn up his nose *sigh* I stayed behind with our 3 year old daughter who wanted to go to bed & my hubby took Zach to the hospital. They had a 2 hour wait and with an inch or so of snow on the roads at the time I was worried sick the whole time they were gone. But the good news is they got the sweetcorn out of Zach's nose with no problems while he was sleeping apparently he stirred and then when back to sleep while I was worried sick at home...yeah typical lol
We've also made the decision to get a kitten to add to our family :) I phoned up a cats charity at the beginning of the week but then the snow began to fall and so I'm having to be REALLY patient as the lady who does the home visits to make sure your home is suitable & the cattery have had more snow fall than us and are currently snowed in! Although we're having a great time playing in the snow, I also can't wait for it to clear so I can get nearer to a little kitty-cat :)
As for digi scrapping, well I've had some major computer issues already this year which has resulted in me having to re-install windows TWICE lol therefore I haven't had much scrapping time. I have managed to get a couple of pages done but for now I must go to bed as it's getting late here - I'll be back tomorrow to show you my new layouts.
So how is 2010 treating you so far?
Thanks for reading & Happy New Year :)

New Releases from SuzyQ Scraps!

2009-12-11T10:24:00.003Z

For this weeks Fresh Fruit at Scrap Orchard SuzyQ Scraps has a fabulous digital scrapbooking kit and co-ordinating add-on! Both are 20% off thru 12/17! And of course there's an awesome offer for you - buy the kit between 12/11 & 12/17 and you get the add-on for free! (will automatically be added to your cart)

That's all for now folks! Thanks for reading & Happy Christmas :)

What Do You Think?

2009-12-09T16:31:00.002Z

So I decided to get my blog all festive! What do you think? Here's a preview of the fantastic kit I used by SuzyQ Scraps whose digital scrapbooking products are available exclusively at Scrap Orchard :)

Fancy A Challenge?

2009-12-08T10:26:00.004Z

Well if you do, then {simply.scraps} is hosting the Simply Sketchy template challenge at Gotta Pixel! You get this template to play along & the rest of the month to finish your page!

Here's a page I made with the template using 'Toot Toot, Woo Woo' & some other bits & pieces (please click for credits)
Enjoy! :)

A Little About Me...

2009-12-01T15:05:00.005Z

So I've had some fun with some of {simply.scraps} goodies! I used a template from 'Scrappers Block 1' and the kit 'Cybernate'. The layout just flowed for me as I was going along & I love this page. I primarily made it so that my kids will know a little bit about me when they're older :) I might even journal a bit more & make it into a 2 pager...I'm not sure :)
So here's the template pack & kit I used (both linked)

The Facebook, Twitter & RSS Feed icons are by fasticon.com
I also have another bit of exciting news - I'm back on Lyndsay Riches CT at Scrap Orchard! I left the CT when things got a bit busy for me at home earlier this year & now things have slowed down for me again Lyndsay has agreed to have me back! I'm so glad I messaged her to ask! So expect to see a page from me using Lyndsay Riches goodies soon!
Thanks for reading & happy scrapping!

A Very Quick Sale!!!

2009-10-07T11:13:00.004+01:00

Studio Hillary at ScrapbookGraphics is having a birthday sale - for 1 day only! It ends at midnight EST TONIGHT (7th Oct).

To get 40% off her store just add this code on checkout: 40bdayfun

Enjoy!

I've Got A Guest Spot!

2009-10-05T19:48:00.005+01:00

This month I've got a guest spot on the CT of Spinky Dink Scraps! As the majority of my other CT commitments have gone towards the admin/CT Co-ordinator route it's nice to have a spot to make layouts for - especially from a designer that was new to me! It's all exciting too as Spinky Dink Scraps has another store to add to Scrapable and Daydreamer Designworks...Elemental Scraps!
I got to play with today's new release - Future Star
I really enjoyed playing with this kit, it was sooo easy to make some pages with it that I absolutely love - featuring my son Zach.
And here's another one. I also used a template from 'Sketchpad Collection 4' by Susan Robinson Designs on this page.

Well that's all I have to show you for now, thanks for reading & happy scrapping :)

It's been a while...

2009-09-18T10:41:00.008+01:00

again - I think I just need to admit that I don't blog much lol

We've had a busy month so far, my hubby and myself have had our birthdays (we're 5 days apart), we've been trying to sort out our finances and we've all been ill - so apart from the birthdays - not much fun this month :(

Dare I say that we are now starting to think about Christmas?! This will be our first Christmas at home with just the four of us - usually we're the ones who travel everywhere to see family - our flat isn't big enough for them to come to us. So anyway I'm really looking forward to being able to do things our way & start our own family traditions :)

As for digi scrapping I've been added to Susan Robinson Designs CT - she has some AWESOME templates that I'm having lots of fun working with! It's such a fun, laid back CT!

I've also found my new forum home after being a wanderer for quite a while! Polka Dot Plum (you may remember the name from Scrap Orchard) opened at the beginning of September & I have to say I LOVE the place! Everyone is awesome there & so friendly! They also have weekly challenges that are a bit different to the usual one's you find in forums. Not to mention some of my favourite designers are there :)

I'll be back to post some of my most recent pages later :)

Thanks for reading & happy scrapping :)

Power Scrapping!

2009-08-23T20:50:00.003+01:00

So anyone who reads the Daily Digi would have recently seen this post about Power Scrapping by Katie. As soon as I read this I was inspired and knew I just had to give it a go. Although I have much more time to scrap than the author, sometimes I just get 'stuck' and this looked like a good way to help me out. So a couple of days ago I tried it! As the article says I started out by picking the photos first - something that I hardly ever do, then as my creativity was lacking I went template searching for each of my pages (I thought I'd give just 2 pages a go to start with). Gradually I built up my pages & I was very pleased with the results these 2 pages below in one day!

I used one of my favourite kits from SuzyQ Scraps for the Piggies LO called 'In The Farmyard' (psssst...I hear she's also got a date for the grand opening of her new store ;) ). The template I used for this page was by Jen Yurko.

The Bridemaids page I was totally stoked about because I wouldn't have scrapped this page if I hadn't picked the photos out first. My daughter Caitlyn is the little sad one (bless her) and the other two girls in the middle are my nieces - I think they all look SOOOO pretty! (Proud Mummy/Auntie moment LOL). Instead of a full page template for this page I used a Photo Cluster template called a 'Scraplet' by Danielle Corbitt Designs (handy to just plonk on a background and customize to have a ready made page! And the kit is called 'Dusty Ponderosa' which is a collab between Danielle Corbitt Designs & Steel City Scraps.

So that's my show of Power Scrapping & I'll definitley be doing that again! Let me know your thoughts & the results if you give it a go - I'm interested to see how it works out for people :)

Thanks for reading & happy scrapping!

Choo Choo! A Freebie for you!!

2009-08-14T12:50:00.006+01:00

Welcome to my stop on the Scraps By Jenn Blog Train to celebrate the release of 'The Rainbow Connection'

The kit is a collab between Scraps By Jenn & Vonnie's Digi World and you can pick it up here
And here's my freebie add-on for you - I'd be grateful for any comments you have :)

You can get the seperate alphas here ***link expired***
or the full sheet alphas here ***link expired***
These links will be up for a week or so ;)

Here's where you are on the train:
Lizzy
Diana
Jewel
Lynn
Jaime
LauraLea
Ellie <---- You are here
Scraps By Jenn

Now go visit the other blogs for some more goodies - have fun & thanks for stopping by :)

P.S Please be patient if some freebies aren't up yet - we're all in different timezones ;)

Me Again!

2009-07-20T10:22:00.009+01:00

So I've been quite busy the past couple of weeks :) In regard to scrapping last week I lost my mojo for a bit but since then I've definitely been making up for it!! I've done loads of LO's - some I can't show you yet though as the products haven't been released :( I can't wait to show you those ones! I've also been taking part in the Battle Of The CT's over at DSA. The first challenge I liked as it was just a white space LO with a colour theme between your team. Our team picked a kit to use & it went from there, somehow becoming bright blue & pink! Here's our pages:
By Meghann (aka Scrapmonster)

By Laura (aka lauramarie)

By Bre (aka bre11414)

By Tula (aka TallulahTooGood)

And finally by me (aka Ellie80)

So I know the colours are a bit bright, but I hope you like our pages :) If you do like them please would you consider voting for us (Suzy's QT's) here (you don't have to be registered or anything)You only have until 11.59pm EST Tuesday (tomorrow) to cast your vote. Oh & if you're wondering what kit we used, it was this by SuzyQ Scraps

Thanks for reading, I hope we get your vote & happy scrapping!

Hi!

2009-07-06T12:45:00.005+01:00

So we've just had a great weekend - I hope you did too! We're in the UK so didn't celebrate the 4th, we just had a lovely weekend. My Mum came to visit us from Friday to today, we played outside with the kiddies for ages on Saturday - my Mum got them a small bouncy castle thing combined with a ball pit/paddling pool - needless to say my kiddies absolutely LOVED it!! Sunday DH & I had a bit of a clear out & got our larger computer desk down from the loft (for me) & also made a music workstation for him! So now I have a lovely big desk that I can actually put my legs under (LOL), have my computer & EHD's on and still have room left over - YAY!!! My DH is now in his element with his keyboard & laptop permanently set up waiting for him to play! So we are a happy family all round at this point in time!!!

As for scrapping news...things are a little quiet!! SuzyQ Scraps is waiting for the grand opening of her new store at Polka Dot Plum so in the mean time there's loads of fun going on at her blog here - challenges, RAKs & games etc so you should check that out!

Ummm...(thinking)...Scraps By Jenn has a Buy My Store deal going on at Divine Digital...but you'll have to be VERY quick it's ending today but is still up as I write this ;) Definitely worth checking out, 75% off all her kits & no coupons to use!

The only other things I have to show you are a couple of pages I've created. The first is 'Daddy & Zach' which I created with 'Loop De Loop' by Danielle Corbitt Designs - full credits here
The 2nd page is using 'Birthday Bash' also by Danielle Corbitt Designs - this kit is free with any purchase of $10 from her store here. Full credits for the page are here
So that's all the news I have for you today, I will hopefully be back with more soon! Thanks for reading & I hope you have a great day!

Hope You're Having A Nice Weekend!

2009-06-28T10:01:00.006+01:00

So what news do I have for you today....well first up for SuzyQ Scraps... check this out:
How's that for a freebie! Also, make sure you keep checking back at SuzyQ's blog - there's going to be LOADS going on in preparation of SuzyQ's EXCLUSIVE store opening at PolkaDotPlum in July!
Next up is news from Scraps by Jenn! You should really check out this HUGE collab she's done with Studio RA Designs called 'It's A Small World'
I showed you this kit in my previous post but didn't have a LO to show you... well now I have :)
If you want to see more of the kit there's a load more images on the product page (preview image linked)
I have one more piece of news for you today...I got a spot on Danielle Corbitt's CT!! I've been an admirer of her designs since I first found her back in April 2008. I'm so excited to be a 'Starlet'! Danielle also has her own forum that you can check out here - there's some great challenges on there!

Anyway that's it for today so thanks for reading & I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Some New Releases

2009-06-20T10:29:00.012+01:00

Firstly SuzyQ Scraps has this awesome collab out with JZ Designs called 'Swashbucklers' - currently 20% off :)

The kit isn't just limited to pirate pages though, here's a page I've made with the kit - Blanket Boy :)
Full credits here

Scraps by Jenn also has a new release this week, a collab with Studio RA Designs called 'It's A Small World' - it's on sale with 61% off!!

I haven't had a chance to do a page with this one yet, but I'm sure there's one coming :)

Finally I have a set of new quickpages in Claudi Designs store at Inspiration Lane. These were made with Claudi's 'Little Star' kit

And that's all my news for today! Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great day :)

Look At This!

2009-06-17T10:02:00.005+01:00

So I've been a bit busy recently doing various things, I've discovered EA Sports Active for the Wii & it's awesome! Been taking part in the 30 day challenge, and it's great because your workouts are never the same! It's soooo much better than Wii fit, that's been gathering dust on my bookcase for months lol
I've also been re-reading the Twilight saga - what can I say, I can't get enough of it lol I've also been following the Twitter bet between Peter Facinelli (aka Carlisle Cullen) & his friend Rob DeFranco - if you haven't started following Peter on Twitter do it! Here's a YouTube video from Peter himself telling you what's going on - I was never really interested in Twitter until I started following this! Here's a great picture from someone too :)
Oh and if you're interested Billy Burke (aka Charlie Swan) & Gil Birmingham (aka Billy Black) are also on Twitter & have various things going on! (These are their official pages by the way)
I have been able to get some scrapping done though in between reading, following & working out :)
I made this page with 'Clare Bear' by Scraps By Jenn
click here for full credits
And here's a page I made with 'Not Forgotten' by SuzyQ Scraps which is just over $2 at the moment!

Click here for full credits.
Well that's it from me today - thanks for reading & I hope you have a great day :)

So I've been bad...

2009-06-03T21:34:00.002+01:00

and neglected my blog for a while, I have good reasons though but mainly because we've just been super busy recently lol! My DH has been on holiday from work for a week so we took the opportunity to spend some quality time together as a family which was awesome! We also stayed a few days with family, it was soooo nice getting a change of scenery for a while! I have also discovered & become addicted to the Twilight books...I held it off for as long as I could but when 3 of the 4 books were half price in a local bookshop I could resist - especially when I'd been looking in our local library & they had nothing I was looking for! So yes, I read the first 3 books in 3 days & the 4th in 3 days (that's when we were visiting family - I didn't want to seem rude by having my nose in a book the whole time lol). So that's what I've been up to! We're now just starting to get back into routine as DH went back to work on Tuesday (Monday we had a wedding to go to!) and my DD is back at nursery after half term, I was very proud of her as she's acting as though she hasn't been away! (This was her first holiday since starting there in April)
As to what I'm currently up to...I got the EA Sports Active for the Wii today & finished my first workout about an hour ago - all I will say is feel the burn & it's soooo much better than Wii Fit for a workout!
Oh & I'm also on Twitter now, something else I tried avoiding but there you go, I'm on there now lol! If you're interested you can find me as: shockintgo
As for scrapping, I've done a few pages recently, one of the pages I've done is this months scraplift challenge over at ESS! How cool is that?! You can see it here. I have also been working with SuzyQ Scraps on her new blog & with a new blog comes new posts - if you would like a surprise from SuzyQ Scraps then send me a link to a LO of yours using SuzyQ's designs & I'll feature your page on her blog! Just email me at: sqscrappers at googlemail dot com Everyone who emails me with a LO will get something in return :)
And one last bit of info, if you would like the chance to be a QT then take a look at SuzyQ's current CT call - it ends on 6th June (Saturday) so if your interested or just thinking about it - act now!
So that's my update for today, thanks for reading & I hope you have a great day :)

Want to win???

2009-05-13T10:33:00.003+01:00

So do you want the chance to win $15 to SuzyQ Scraps store??? Then you should head over to this thread at DST to enter an easy game. If you can name the kits below that are all in SuzyQ's Store, then you're in with a chance to win $15 to her store! And do you know what else? You'll get a gift from SuzyQ for just playing along!! How awesome is that?!
Here's the kits you need to identify:

So go take a look at SuzyQ's Store & see if you can find them (it's not that hard - honest) then head over to the DST thread to PM SuzyQ with the answers.
Good luck and thanks for reading :)

News! Releases & A Challenge!

2009-05-11T14:06:00.007+01:00

So I have a quick post with some news!
First there is a couple of new releases from Scraps By Jenn that are only available for the month of May! Its a collection of 2 kits - 'Sugar' and 'Spice' (Names linked to the store below) they are available seperately or together:
Here's May's 'Sugar'
and here's May's 'Spice' with a LO I've done with the kit below

(click here for full credits)
In other news - I've just posted a challenge on SuzyQ Scraps blog here if you'd like to try & win a coupon to her store ;)
Have a lovely day & thanks for reading!

Great Deal!

2009-05-09T10:09:00.007+01:00

So I've finally got round to blogging again after NSD! I hope you managed to pick up some great bargins - I know I did :)
With the sad news of Digital Candy closing I've lost one of my CT spots as I was with a new designer who only opened her exclusive store there at the beginning of May :( Because of the closure one of my other designers that I CT for - Scraps By Jenn - is having a buy my store sale

In Jenn's store you'll find some AWESOME kits including 'Wynken, Blynken & Nod' a collab with Stolen Moments which is one of my favourites :)

Here's a couple of pages I've done with the kit - this one is of my little boy Zach
and this one is of my daughter Caitlyn
I hope you find something you like, thanks for reading :)

SALES, SALES, SALES!!!

2009-05-01T14:14:00.007+01:00

K, this is going to be a quick post because I have some bargin hunting to do :) I just basically wanted to let you know of the sales going on from the designers I CT for. So in no particular order (names are linked - my blog doesn't seem to like it if i try & link the images):

Scraps By Jenn

SuzyQ Scraps

Valerie N Designs is having her grand opening at Digital Candy - everything is 30% OFF

and last but not least Claudi Designs - everything is 50% OFF!
Thanks for reading & I hope you get to pick up some things on your wishlist!

It's getting closer!!!

2009-04-29T20:14:00.004+01:00

Well NSD is nearly upon us! I don't know about you but I'm getting excited - I haven't got much money to spend but hey, I'm just getting in the spirit of things :) I did however hop over to Scrap Orchard today as soon as I heard the Farmer's Market was open and snapped up a couple of kits & a couple of packs of wordart for just $4! Gotta love those bargins (especially when you have the remainder of a gift certificate to cover the bill lol)!!

And now I'm going to spill the beans of some bargins that you're not going to want to miss! Here's the details of SuzyQ Scraps sale for NSD
As the ad says this is going to be the last chance to get anything to do with 'Capture Life' as the whole lot is being retired from the store...the collection will be put back in store over NSD & then that's it - the collection AND the single packs will be gone :( This is just some of what you could miss out on (go to SuzyQ's store to see everything)
Capture Life: Journal It!

Capture Life: Date It!

Capture Life: Attach It! - this is my favourite :)

If you'd like to save even more at SuzyQ's store then head over to her blog & sign up for her newsletter (I think she has a coupon every issue!)
I hope you get some great bargins over this weekend - have fun & thanks for reading!

WhoooooHoooo!

2009-04-28T13:28:00.008+01:00

I'm on another CT! I'm so excited, it's for a brand new designer & her designs are awesome! Her designer name is Valerie N Designs and she's got a store at Digital Candy!
so be sure to check in to DC on Friday, you never know what you may get ;) Here's a couple of previews some of Valerie N's designs. 'Sweet Snuggles' - such a cute name :)
and here is 'Spring Chic' which I've done a page with already (see below)
here's my page of my lil' man which will be going in his '1st Year' book.

Talking of 1st year books I finally ordered my dd's book the other day from Artscow, they apparently have just purchased a state of the art printer so I'm excited to see what the book will look like!
Anyway enough from me, I hope you have a wonderful day!

I Was Worrying Over Nothing lol...

2009-04-25T15:18:00.009+01:00

Why is it when you're really worried about a mile stone in your child's life, they just seem to take it in their stride & make you feel like an idiot for worrying about it in the first place?? So my dd started nursery this week & I was worried about all sorts of things not to mention feeling so old because she's growing so fast, but it all appears to be for nothing! My dd absolutely LOVES nursery - she was very proud of herself yesterday because she got a sticker for helping to tidy up the playroom :) She seems to be more of an observer at the moment but I'm hoping that will change in time. I'm so proud of her!
And as for feeling old, well my friend SuzyQ has helped me with that one by pointing me towards God - but that's another, long, story so I'll leave that there ;)
It's been pretty quiet on my CT's but I have done a few pages & I've finally got a book organized of dd's first year to print! All I have to do is upload it to Artscow. Apparently they have a new kick butt printer & I'm interested to see how good it is - not to mention the codes I have so I only have to pay shipping ;) If I like what I get then it will be ds's first year next!
Here's my latest page for SuzyQ Scraps using 'Funny Bunnies' this was also for the Mystical Mottos challenge over at ESS there's still time to play if you're interested ;)

Don't forget SuzyQ Scraps store is 30% off until the end of April which includes these new releases - Bug Collectin'
and Nature Walk

Well that's all the news I have for you today, I hope you have a lovely weekend - thanks for reading :)

Sigh My Little Girl Is Growing Up

2009-04-19T20:46:00.004+01:00

Over this weekend it's hit me that my little girl is really growing up - fast...she's recently turned 3 and this week she starts nursery school which is basically the start of her schooling life. In Autumn this year I also have to decide on what school I want her to attend in September 2010...it's all just starting to sink in how fast she is growing :( I don't know whether I'm feeling protective of her as we lost our baby Holly before Caitlyn was born or what. I've never been one that likes change - just ask my Mum lol but I know that Caitlyn is so ready to go to nursery & don't get me wrong I don't want to hold her back...*sigh* I don't know. I suppose we'll get into a routine with it all and that will be that :(
Because of my recent frame of mind my creativity has been lacking and I've been stumbling around the layout I'm about to show you for a couple of days lol but I FINALLY think it's finished - it's a page about Caitlyn's 1st birthday & all the visits we made that day - she was a very popular birthday girl lol. I hope you like it :)
you can find all the credits here
Well thanks for reading my ramblings, hope to see you back here soon :)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-04-16T20:52:00.005+01:00

Well as the title suggests I've been a little busy lately, especially over Easter - probably like you too :) My Mum came and stayed with us for a few days which was lovely - the kiddies especially enjoyed having her around - probably because Mummy wasn't so stressed lol - they always seem to behave better when we have company! Anyway we had an easter egg hunt on Sunday which my two kiddies totally loved - it was Zach's first egg hunt so he had a little help from Daddy ;) Amazingly enough I've already scrapped the photos! I've done a page featuring just my daughter - my uncle (who was visiting for the day with some of his family) came out with the caption on this page - when he said it I just knew I'd include it on a layout - incase you can't read it it says: 50 small eggs, 2 ants & 1 slug...not bad for a day's work! :)
I also did this for the font challenge over at Scrap Orchard. I used 'Gimme Chocolate' by SuzyQ Scraps

For the rest of my photos I decided to have another go at a double page layout. This is the left page: & here's the right page: I used the template pack 'Celebration Doubles' by Duchess Designs and also her collab kit with Angie Kovacs & Chrissy W. 'Spring Forward'.
I hope to be back with more news soon, thanks for reading!

Look At This!

2009-04-05T21:37:00.005+01:00

Wow I'm on a roll lol! I've just finished this page using one of my favourite easter kits:
the kit I used is called 'Gimme Chocolate' by SuzyQ Scraps

I also found out that a brag book I made with Claudi Designs awesome 'Easter Time' kit is now in the store at Inspiration Lane as well as two other quickpages I made with 'Bastian'! How cool is that?! Here's a preview:

Let me know what you think of them! Tfr :)

I forgot to tell you...

2009-04-04T13:37:00.004+01:00

that recently I was accepted to be on a quickpage team with Claudi Designs! She has 3 shops at Inspiration Lane, Faith Sisters & Digital Freebies & my first quickpages for the team are now in her stores! I'm so excited! They're available seperately or in sets of two - here are some previews:
these one's were made using Claudi's 'Friends' kit and are at IL here
And these one's were made using Claudi's new kit 'Easter Time' and are at Faith Sisters here it's great to see something you've made on a designers preview and in a shop!
I'll be back soon to show some pages I've made recently, in the mean time & totally unreleated to the qp's I've just shown you lol, you may want to check out SuzyQ Scraps blog for another word art freebie made by me & the rest of the QT's!
Enjoy!

Wow!! How Lucky Am I?

2009-03-24T14:21:00.005Z

Usually - not very lucky lol but I was blown away when I read a pm in my inbox at DST. I'd won a shopping spree to Connie Prince's new store at Elemental Scraps! How awesome is that?! When I entered the contest on her blog I thought it was worth a shot but I never usually win anything!
So last night I was drooling over lots of new goodies including 6 template packs & 5 awesome kits which included these

And with the downloading from ES taking roughly a minute a file I was really impressed! Thank you so much Connie!

I also have news of a really GREAT challenge if you're interested - Your lo is pretty much guaranteed not to look like anyone else's! It's inspired by a challenge over at Cat Scrap and it's over on SuzyQ Scraps blog here - one winner will get a $5 coupon to SuzyQ's store at Enchanted Studio Scraps! Now I know I'm on SuzyQ's CT but I want to play along with this one just for fun!

Well the last few days have been quite busy in my house, myself, my dd & my d have all had a cold & it was also my dd's 3rd birthday! So I'm off to catch up on some layouts - thanks for reading!

Pages, New Stuff & A CT Call!

2009-03-15T20:23:00.007Z

I've really been on a roll with my layouts recently & been creating a page every couple of days! Here's my latest two, the first is called '1st Birthday' & I really LOVE this one at the moment! It features my son Zach & the journalling details how he wouldn't open his presents! At one point it was just me in the living room with the camera!
I used quite afew different supplies for this one which is quite unusual for me as I tend to stick to one kit & that's it! But on this page I used: All papers and elements from 'Baby Brights' by Misty Cato, Alpha from 'Acrylibets: Rainbow-Filled' by SuzyQ Scraps, 'Birth-day:' wordart from 'Birthday Wordart' by Neverland Scraps
Font: SP Toby Type. I also had inspiration for the star balloons from the page 'Life Is Full Of Wonder' by krystalhartley in the gallery at Sweet Shoppe Designs
and also a sketch by ChrissyW at Elemental Scraps.

Here's my second page featuring my daughter & my son :)
For this page I used a new collab kit called 'Spring Rebirth' by SuzyQ Scraps and Wendy Page!
If you'd like to see some detailed images of the kit then you can see it in the Enchanted Studio Scraps store here
Ok, finally on to the CT Call for SuzyQ Scraps! This is on my blog as I am the Manger of the CT team & we're looking to add to the team! This opportunity will probably not arise for at least another 6 months so if you're interested please don't hesitate to apply, SuzyQ & I would love to hear from you! Here's the ad and if you can't read the ad then take a look here on SuzyQ's team blog. If you'd like to see more of SuzyQ Scraps designs then take a look at her exclusive store at ESS here

Well that's it for today! Thanks for reading :)

Bits & Pieces!

2009-03-10T13:07:00.009Z

So today I have a couple of pages to show you & news of a new template challenge!
First I'll show you my most recent pages! This one is called 'My Boy!' and I made it for the 'Sprites Spell' challenge over at Enchanted Studio Scraps. Basically you had to include 3 green papers, 2 differnt green flowers & a green ribbon! I actaully learnt a new re-colouring technique while I was doing this lo courtesy of the great Suzy from SuzyQ Scraps! I can now re-colour using a mask! Thank you Suzy for sharing!
I used products by SuzyQ Scraps on this page 'Puddle Jumpers' & the ribbon came from 'Capture Life: Embellish It!

Next is a page I did using the March 09 Collab from ESS 'Ordinary Miracles' & some PU & CU easter egg templates from SuzyQ Scraps (she's released a ton of new products recently!) The templates are called Eggshells (gotta love that name lol) Traditional & Dotty I also used a template from 'My Retro Life' by B&B Designs. Here's my page:

Hot Off The Press: SuzyQ has just put 3 new alphas in her store & there is something for everyone! They're just $2 for each set - that's 50% off! Check these out - Acrylibets:
Pastel-Filled:
Neutral-Filled:
And finally Rainbow-Filled:
Well thank you for staying with me this far! My final piece of news is the template challenge on SuzyQ's blog. You can download a template made by the lovely Charmaine & if you come back to the blog & post a link to your page you may just win a $5 coupon to SuzyQ's store!! It's pretty light on entries so far so go check it out!
Well thanks for reading, I'll be back soon with more news :)

SuzyQ Has Been Busy!!!

2009-03-06T21:34:00.009Z

So I have some new releases to share with you today from SuzyQ Scraps, a lo from me using one of the new releases & news of a wordart freebie if you fancy a blog hop!

All of what I'm about to show you are 20% over the weekend - these are just SOME of the new releases! There's so many egg-citing new things you shold head over to SuzyQ's store at ESS.

First there's some PU/CU Easter Egg Templates - this is just one of 3 different sets you can pick up:
Next there's 'Egg-spressions':

And then there's my favourite release of the week - 'Mommy's Lil' Monster' to see a load more previews check it out in the store here

And here's a page I made with the kit:

If you're still with me thanks for reading! And here's a preview of the blog hop freebie - It's a pack of 6 pieces of wordart made by myself & two other members of SuzyQ Scraps CT using 6 of her kits:
and you can get it here (there's an option to get it away from 4shared too) & that's it except to say once again - thanks for reading!

Another Page

2009-03-05T13:03:00.004Z

My mojo really seems to be flowing at the moment for my pages so I decided to FINALLY get round to doing a page about my Nana's 90th birthday - I can't believe I waited so long to do this lol! I saw the template & just had to use it - I love the blocking :)

I used one of my all time favourite kits on this page - 'Secret Garden' by Duchess Designs. I also used 'Photo Therapy #2' and the 'Sew Memorable Alpha' by Duchess Designs. The cupcake was a template by Trish H. Designs (clipped with 'Secret Garden' papers & 'Twas The Night Before Christmas Glitter Fills' by Duchess Designs) & the template is from 'My Retro Life' by B&B Designs.

I also have news of a new kit from Duchees Designs called 'Lucky Charm'. I don't usually go for green but I love the papers in this kit!
This kit is 25% off for a limited time :)
I'll be back tomorrow with news from SuzyQ & a page I have created with her new release - thanks for reading!

A new 2 page layout!

2009-03-01T12:42:00.005Z

So I don't do 2 pagers very oftern...to be honest I don't know why either lol but Duchess Designs has recently released a new pack of templates called 'Celebration Doubles'.

As soon as I saw them I thought they would be great for scrapping Christmas photos as I have so many photos to scrap! So here is my 2 pager featuring some of my Christmas photos from Christmas 2008.
Here's the Left Page:
And here's the right page:

And here 's what they look like together:
The kit I used is 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' also by Duchess Designs and is currently 20% off!
Full credits can be found here as I used some elements form other kits as well ;)

Fancy A Blog-hop For A Freebie?

2009-02-28T20:05:00.004Z

So I have been super busy this last week as I am now the CT Manager for the awesome SuzyQ Scraps!!! How great is that?! (I've actually had the 'job' for the last couple of weeks but have been so busy I can't believe I forgot to mention it on here!!) The last couple of days I've been concentrating on trying to get things organized with SuzyQ & also finishing up some pages for the other ct's I'm on. I'll be back to show pages tomorrow but for now I have news of a new release which is a collab between SuzyQ Scraps & Sara Amarie from Sweet Shoppe Designs!
The kit is called 'Desert Sunset' & is 20% off this weekend only...
I love the colours in this kit, just makes me think of relaxing and taking some time out :)

There is also some sale news - SuzyQ will be on the $1 day rotation tomorrow (1st March) at Enchanted Studio Scraps, so be sure to check there for some awesome deals!

Ok so onto today's freebie - I'm afraid you've got to do a little blog-hop for this one as it's on the SuzyQ team blog - I hope you think it's worth the extra visit - it's a template made by me! And you get the choice of downloading a .zip file from 4shared or a .rar file from drop.io which in my personal opinion is much better as you don't have to wait for the download to begin & best of all - there's no adverts!!

Go over to the SuzyQ Scraps team blog to get the link.

Anyway thanks for reading & I hope you like the template :)

Finally...

2009-02-17T14:16:00.005Z

Enchanted Studio Scraps is back online after being down for nearly a week! And to celebrate SuzyQ is having a MASSIVE sale!!

But that's not all! If those savings aren't enough - you can head over to SuzyQ's blog & get codes to save EVEN MORE!

The sale ends at 11.59pm EST on Sunday the 22nd February so be sure to take a look - her designs are awesome (And I'm not just saying that because I'm on her CT lol)

Here's a couple of pages I've made using her designs:
'My Life' using SuzyQ's 'Sweethearts'

and this one is 'SO Worth It' using SuzyQ's 'Capture Life' (available as a collection or in separate packs)

So go and grab some bargins (but dont forget to check out Suzy's blog first - you won't be sorry!)

Thanks for reading!

Some More News...

2009-02-08T20:45:00.005Z

Well I had some more great news today, I'm now on the CT for B&B Designs who specialises in templates, blinkies & banners! I must admit that I can be a bit of a template junkie at times especially when my mojo is lacking lol.
B&B Designs has just set up shop at My Life And Scrap which is a brand new forum & the shop is opening on Valentines Day! It's all exciting being part of a forum from the beginning! So that's my exciting news for today :)

I've managed to get some scrapping time in this weekend, my hubby has been nice & occupied our children, I was even able to take part in a speed scrap last night at Enchanted Studio Scraps! It was great fun & here's my finished page featuring my son - Clever Boy!

I used SuzyQ's massive 'Capture Life Collection'(see the post below for a preview & discount news) for the most part but some bits were also from 'How I Roll' by Duchess Designs - full credits can be found here. I was quite pleased with the end result, although when I look at it now I wish I'd angled that photo lol
I've also created this page called 'You Were SO Worth It!' This is for the Mystical Motto challenge over at ESS & it features me & my little girl just a few hours old :)

For this page I only used SuzyQ's Capture Life Collection - full credits are here

SO that's what I've done with my weekend lol - I hope you enjoy the rest of yours, thanks for reading :)

You've Got To See This Collection!!!

2009-02-07T11:06:00.003Z

But first I also had some sad news recently...Designing Moments has closed :( I was on the store CT & I'm so gutted! The store had some lovely talented designers & the owner, Carla, is lovely. The site closed due to ill health of one of Carla's family members. I hope things look up soon for you Carla!
I'm lucky enough though to also have some awesome news yesterday...I'm now on the CT of the wonderful SuzyQ at Enchanted Studio Scraps!! I was amazed I got the team as she was only looking for three people & I'm one of them! I'm honestly so excited about this & you'll see why when you see some of her designs especially here newest release which is massive!!
It's called 'Capture Life' (click for a bigger preview) & would be absolutely perfect for any of you doing the Project 365 (although I'm not & I still love it!), I couldn't believe how much there is to it when I first saw it lol It's made up of 11 items, all of which will be available as a collcetion for 1 WEEK ONLY until the 12th Feb. Then the 11 sets will only be sold separately. If you buy the collection, you'll be saving almost 70%!!
Here's a preview:

Doesn't it look awesome? Well if you can't quite afford it then SuzyQ is also giving you TWO chances of winning the whole collection! If you're interested then check out this thread at DST & this one at ESS - both of these close TONIGHT so go & check them out :) If you're only interested in a couple of bits then she is already selling the sets separately at her store.

Well I hope you've enjoyed looking at this massive collection, I will be sharing some pages using the kit shortly - thanks for reading & I hope you come back soon :)

It's been a while...again lol

2008-12-16T13:27:00.004Z

So I've been naughty & not blogged in a while but I've just been so busy! We've finally finished our Christmas shopping so we haven't got to face the crowds that will be out & about this weekend - Yay! With two young children in a pushchair crowds are never a good thing lol! I've actually got most of the presents wrapped as well except our kiddies, I've jsut managed to grab 5-10mins here & there to get them wrapped & under the tree :)

Back in the digi scrapping world things have been changing - one of the designers I ct for decided to resign :( so I've been looking on the Calls board at DST & I'm now on two other CT's & I have a guest spot lined up for January! I love all my CT's & you can see their blinkies which link to their stores over there ----->
My new permanant one's are Bitz N Pieces Designs by Jen Yurko & Lyndsay Riches. Here's a couple of pages I've done for them...

This one is for BNPDesigns called 'Winter Baby' & you can find the credits here

And here's a page using Lyndsay Riches kit 'Joyous Christmas' (which is 30% off btw until Christmas) This page is called 'Christmas '07 - Ellie!'

The journaling reads:
On Christmas day 2007, Caitlyn opened a present from her Great Nanny Vera to find 'Ellie'! An elephant from her favourite tv programme at the time - 'Pocoyo'. She couldn't wait to get Ellie out of the packaging and then gave her a kiss and a cuddle and she remained a fovourite
for a long time!

Anyway if I don't blog before Christmas (which may be likely with me lol) I wish a very merry Christmas & all best wishes for 2009!
Thanks for reading :)

Yay Me - My First Freebie!!

2008-12-05T12:59:00.005Z

I quick post from me today - I'm busy making Christmas decorations with my 2 yr old - think glitter, glue & mess! Boy I'm having fun lol

Anyway I just wanted to share some news - a freebie from me is on the Duchess Designs blog! I made some 'Holiday Flings' using Duchess Designs 'Chic Flings' & her 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' kit! Here's a preview:

And you can get them here! If you download I'd appreciate a comment :)

Another week has passed!

2008-11-26T20:20:00.004Z

And what a week it has been!! Up until Friday night it was great, my hubby is on holiday from work so we're having some quality family time for once but over the last few days it hasn't been nice as the four of us have had a sickness bug :( My youngest, Zach, had it first, then my daughter, Caitlyn, then my hubby & then finally me lol - although I think I've been lucky and had it the least :) My poor little Caitlyn though definately had it the worst, she was so upset (she's only 2) but hopefully we're all over it now & getting back to normal!

Me & my hubby spent this morning clearing out our bedroom to make room for the Christmas presents we're buying so we can hide them from the kiddies. Anyway while we were 'clearing out' we found a nasty LOAD of damp in the corners of our room, it seems to be getting everywhere! We only rent our flat so I got on the phone to our landlord straight away who will hopefully be coming to have a look at it pretty quickly! It's playing on my mind a bit!

Anyway as for scrapping, well I haven't really done much over the last few days except leave some comments in some galleries as I've been going to bed early but I did manage to finish this page for a journaling challenge over at ColorLineDesign. The challenge was to record a conversation & it inspired me to record a conversation between Caitlyn & her Daddy just hours before...

The journaling reads: 'Our little Caitlyn, you are only 2 years old but you can be so cheeky! Sometimes though Mummy and Daddy can't help but laugh at some of the things you say. An example happened tonight while you were watching the Playhouse Disney channel...
Daddy: What's on next Caitlyn?

Caitlyn: Johnny and the sprites

Daddy: Are you sure? I think it's My Friend Rabbit

My friend rabbit starts...

Caitlyn: Oh yeah, it's My friend Rabbit silly Daddy

Daddy: Silly Caitlyn, I was right

Caitlyn: No you're not

Daddy: Yes I am, you said Johnny & the sprites was on next

Caitlyn: No (she pauses) you're not right silly

Daddy: I am

And so it continued until Daddy changed the subject!'

You can find the credits here. The kit I used is called 'Frog Princess' & I love it! It's by MerCas Designs - here's the preview

If you like the kit then head over to Designing Moments as they have just started their Black Friday Sale! They are celebrating Thanksgiving and Black Friday a little bit early this year and have marked all items in the shoppe 50% off for five days!
Join in at Designing Moments 11/26 - 11/30 and save on all items!
They have a huge selection of Commercial Use, Scrap for hire/others, and more!

As always, thanks for reading :)

Growing So Fast!!

2008-11-18T13:13:00.003Z

Well my little man Zach is officially 1 year old! Well actually it was on Saturday but this is the first chance I've had to blog lol! I cannot believe a year has gone by already! Time seems to go by so much quicker once you've had children. Zach seemed to enjoy his birthday although he was a bit unsure of it all I think! I'll be scrapping some photos soon! I thought the day was going to be a bit of a flop at first as Zach just wasn't interested in his presents - unlike his older sister lol! He kept running out of the living room where his present were to go and play in his bedroom! In the end his sister ended up opening most of his presents for him and got interested when he saw the toys under the wrapping paper - at least he wasn't more interested in the paper like his sister was on her frst birthday lol! We spent most of the day playing with his new toys as well as having some vistors. After the kiddies bedtime we still had a couple of visitors so we all decided to play a game of Monopoly! It went on for a bit but I won - Yay me!! Oversll it was a lovely day and I'm so proud of my little boy :)

Something else that is growing so fast is another forum I joined as part of my ct requirements for Pretty Pixels. The site is called Designing Moments and it's forum & gallery were quite new when I joined but now it's really starting to get going! Recently every lo that's been posted in the gallery has at least one comment! So if you're looking for a new place to show off your work and leave some love while you're at it then the Designing Moments gallery may be the place! While you're there you should take a look round the forum, there's some great games going on (one with a chance to win a $5 certificate to the Pretty Pixels store) and you get a free kit once you've made 5 posts! Here's a preview of the Welcome Kit:

Anyway thanks for reading& I hope to have you visit again soon :)

I Got LOTW!!!

2008-11-12T14:02:00.004Z

Yep I got Layout Of The Week at Designing Moments!! You can see my page here on the front page of the site :) I'm so proud of this lo, I think it's one of the best I've ever done!!
To make it I used Pretty Pixels 'Duos No.2' which at $1.99 is a steal! Here's a preview :)

Pretty Pixels has also just released 'Duos No.1'

And also 'Duos No.3'

Well thanks for reading my good news :)

Where Does The Time Go?

2008-11-11T20:56:00.005Z

I cannot belive we're nearly half way through November already!!! I've been quite busy over the last couple of weeks, hence the lack of blog posts lol! I've been getting used to new ct's and I'm totally loving it! Both designers are awesome & I'm trying my best to promote their products when I can :)
I say 'when I can' as I've been busy with life outside of digi scrapping as well - to start with I seemed to have picked up my love of reading again. There's a site over here in the UK where you can swap any kind of books & all you pay is the price of postage! It's really great for a family like mine who love books (well me & my kiddies anyway) & is on a tight budget. I've managed to get a couple of Christmas books to share with my 2 yr old daughter & I can't wait! I'm leaving it for another week or so as we have a special occasion coming up...
it's my little man's 1st birthday on Saturday!!! We bought his birthday presents AGES ago as we had a toy shop closing down in our town centre & I'm all for a bargin lol! So this week when I'm not on my computer, I'm thinking about his special day coming up :) My mum is coming down from Kent to see him - I think she's secretly quite excited as she missed my daughter's as she was living in the states back then. I'm just planning a little tea party sort of thing as I know he won't realise the day is different to any other! I can't believe how quick the year has gone. I had a homebirth with Zach & it all still seems so fresh in my mind - this time last year I was climbing the walls waiting for him to arrive (he was 8 days overdue!) it's hard to believe it was very nearly a year ago!
Anyway, back to digi scrapping, my two ct's have taken me to a couple of new forums where there are some AWESOME designers! My favourite forum/shop/gallery at the moment has to be Designing Moments. Apart from the wonderful Pretty Pixels whose ct I'm on, I've also spotted MerCas Designs whose shop is here. I'm not sure if she sells anywhere else - this is the first I've heard of her myself but then I don't get around much lol! I have 3 kits of hers at the moment that I'm drooling over -
The first is 'Frog Princess' - I love the colours of this kit, the frog is sooo cute & I love that little castle!
The next one is 'My Boy' - with this one I like the texture of the papers, the stars & colours.
And last but definately not least there is 'My Perfect Christmas' - I love the different colours for a Christmas kit and I think the elements are adorable in this kit The spirit of Christmas is defiantely entering our house now (we've nearly got all our Christmas shopping done!)
Anyway I've gone on long enough, thank you so much for reading my long post :)

SPEED SCRAP ALERT

2008-10-29T15:05:00.003Z

- EVEN IF YOU'RE IN THE UK LOL!! I don't usually take part in speed scraps because the time difference usually just doesn't work for me for one reason or another with two little kiddies running around but I'VE FOUND ONE I CAN DO!!! It's at a forum celebrating their re-opening called DESIGNING MOMENTS. There's two speed scraps going on tomorrow - one at 9.30pm GMT/4.30pm EST and one at 9pm EST and they will last for an hour each. They're going to be hosted by Pretty Pixels & a goodie will be issued! So set a reminder in your email programme & come & join me in some fun!! I can't wait for my 1st speed scrap lol

SALE!! SALE!! SALE!!

2008-10-26T20:46:00.005Z

I just had to post this exciting news! Pretty Pixels has yet another store! This one is at Designing Moments & to celebrate the grand opening she is having a HUGE sale until 30th October:

You can check out the Pretty Pixels store here - who knows what you might find???
For example, you may find the kit 'Feelin' Like The Princess' that I used to do this page of my daughter Caitlyn

or maybe 'Feelin' Fresh' that I used to do this page of my son Zach

As always, thanks for reading!

Yet Another CT!!!

2008-10-21T13:05:00.003+01:00

My lo's seem to be popular at the moment lol! I am now part of Tanyia's Pretty Pixels CT permanantly! I did a guest spot back in August & September which was just before Tanyia had a small break from designing - now she's back with avengance! I just happened to pass over the Pretty Pixels blog on Sunday and the rest shall we say is history :o)
If you are interested in joining the Pretty Pixels CT then check out Sunday's post by Tanyia here - if not then check out the HUGE retirement sale she's got going on at Digital Candy - 10 items for .99cents each, which includes FIVE FULL KITS!!! You can find the deals on page 6 & Page 7 of Tanyia's store - there really is something for everyone :)

Onto some news from The Digi Twins - they've recently released SIX new alphas! I used one called 'Falling Leaves' in this new recipe card I've made:

All the papers & elements are from 'Recipe For Fun' also by The Digi Twins.
If you like the sound of the recipe you can download a print quality version here - please leave a comment if you download :)

If you would like to see all of the new alphas from The Digi Twins and also have a chance to win your favourite, then check out my RAK post at DST here. You have until Thursday to enter :)

Well that's all for now, as always thanks for reading!

Some Good News!

2008-10-15T13:53:00.004+01:00

On the 6th I blogged and showed you a lo I did as application to Duchess Designs CT. Well...I am now Lady Ellie of the royal CourT!! Check out the awesome blinkie in my sidebar! I'm really excited to be a part of this CT as I found the Duchess Designs blog not long after I started digi scrapping in January & have been a BIG fan ever since! You can check out Duchess Designs here she has recently released a couple of 'Blog {pax}' - a super simple way to get your blog looking awesome with one of her kits.
So because I'm so keen, I've already done two lo's for the CT. The first is called 'Sugar & Spice' & features my daughter Caitlyn. The second is called 'He's Off' & was for the 'In The Box' challenge at Get Digi With It (a relatively new shop & forum) & it features my son Zach.
Here's 'Sugar & Spice':

Credits here

And here's 'He's Off':

Credits here

As always thanks for reading,
Ellie

Because Of You...

2008-10-08T14:58:00.003+01:00

is a song sung by the one & only Meat Loaf. My dad introduced me to Meat Loaf's music & I've been a fan ever since - there's always one of his albums in my kitchen cd player lol! Anyway Meat Loaf's song 'Because Of You' inspired me to do this lo of my husband & myself on our wedding day. The lyrics are truly beautiful & if you're interested you can listen to the song here (there's a little player on the right hand side)let me know if you like it! I hope you like my lo & the song :)

Credits here on my lo at DST, I used entirely supplies from The Digi Twins (except the font)
Do you know any Meat Loaf fans? It's kind of hard to find any here in the UK lol

As always, tfl x

Another lo

2008-10-06T15:48:00.003+01:00

Not much happening in the world of me today, although it has finally stopped raining where I am in the UK - YAY! My kiddies have been driving me crazy this morning so I took some time out while they were having their naps & did a lo to apply for a CT spot with Duchess Designs. It's using part of the mini kit, 'Kooper'. The alpha is called 'Crayon'. It features my son, Zach. The photo was taken at his Great Nan's house in August.

As always,
thanks for reading :)

I Can't Believe...

2008-10-04T13:46:00.004+01:00

It's very nearly been a whole month sice I last blogged! I'm not very good at this am I? lol
So I've been doing lo's here and there when time allows as I currently need eyes in the back of my head as my 10mth old son has started walking! He took his first steps back in August but then didn't do anymore until September - now we can't stop him lol! He also has some more teeth coming through & so is not the happiest baby in the world - especially at night! My toddler Caitlyn is having less tantrums but is becoming more indecisive by the day - first she want's help, then she want's to do it herself & she switches between the two until I finally give up & leave her to it or I've had enough & just do whatever it is for her lol She is also in the 'helping' stage - especially when it comes to cooking! I let her help as much as I can so I should have some cute photos to scrap soon :)
Anway back to scrapping - I'll only show you a couple of my most recent lo's - I don't want to bore you any further if you're still reading lol & then there's news of a SALE!!

Here is my most recent lo called 'Pure Innocence'

Credits are here

Here is - A Month Of Firsts

Credits are here

And now for the SALE....The Digi Twins are one of DST's sponsors for the month of October sooooooo if you look in the DST Insider you will find a code to get 30% off of The Twins designs! If you haven't downloaded your copy of the insider for this month yet, go to DST, click on 'downloads' along the very top of the page & get your copy to get your code :0)

As always,
Thanks for reading!

Another Couple Of Lo's

2008-09-05T21:05:00.004+01:00

using a new kit by Just Passin' Thru called 'The Lighthouse'. It has a great colour scheme which you can see here at Pretty Scrappy.

So here is my first lo which I did using a photo I took when I was playing with my new camera back in June.

& my 2nd lo features a pic of my daughter Caitlyn & her Daddy back in September '07 - it was her first visit our local beach :) The font I used on this lo is 'Dirty Headline'

I hope you like them :)

This is quite a short post from me tonight as I'm off to make a birthday present list - it's my birthday on Monday & my hubby wants to know what I would like YAY!!

As ever thanks for reading x

Well What Can I Say...

2008-09-02T20:53:00.004+01:00

except a MASSIVE thankyou to all the designers & stores that have had some awesome sales this weekend!!!
Over the last 2 days I've done a bit of hunting & come up with some real bargins! I went to The Digi Chick shop, The Lily Pad & Scrap Orchard to name a few! I finally got the supplies I wanted for my zoo pics - so expect to see some gorgeous zoo animals very soon lol!
In the mean time I've been keeping myself busy with with my beautiful kiddies (they've been soooo good today - for a change lol), scrapping for my CT's when I get a chance:
The Digi Twins have a new kit out - 'Detention' & an alpha called 'Boredom' (I don't think they liked school lol)
Just Passin' Thru has a new kit out very soon called - The Lighthouse. Go check her blog here
I am also a guest on the CT for Tanyia's Pretty Pixels until the end of September - so happy about this lol. Tanyia has a new kit out called 'Happy Birthday, Buddy' - as you may've guessed - it's perfect for any pics you have to scrap of a male's birthday!

And finally (thanks for reading this far...) here's a couple of lo's I've done.

This is with 'Dentention' & 'Boredom' by The Digi Twins

And this recipe card is for the exchange over at Digital Candy - the August theme was 'salads'. I used 'Recipe For Fun' for this card. If you would like a print quality copy of this card the download link is below the image - please leave me a quick comment if you download ;)

Download here

As always - thanks for reading :0)

It's been a while...

2008-08-22T13:37:00.004+01:00

since I last blogged - again lol! I must really try to get in the habit of doing this more often! It's been a bit mad in my house recently as my 9mth old baby has his first teeth coming through :0) I say 'teeth' as he has his two bottom, front teeth coming in at the same time! So needless to say he's been a bit grumpy - add this to a toddler with attitude & that's why I haven't had much computer time lol

So what news...well, I've done my first lo with a blend involved it's called Thank Heaven. I think this may become one of my favorites although I'm not sure if that's because of my whole lo or just the photo lol

Credits:
Paper, swirl, butterfly & wordart coloured by paper from: 'My Bff, Rose' by Tanyia's Pretty Pixels available at Digital Candy
Wordart: Robin Carlton

Do you like templates? Do you like doing template challenges? If so you should head over to the Pretty Scrappy forum & check out this thread - it's Pretty Scrappy's first ever template challenge & you get a free alpha just for playing!

By the way I'm also on the look out for zoo themed kits if you know of any? I put an ISO post over at DST & the lovely ladies there came up with some gorgeous kits! There was a post featuring several different alphas which just blew me away & I'll definately be purchasing - take a look at this example:

Isn't it amazing?! (Sorry - I really like these lol) They also come in Zebra, Tiger & giraffe print. They are by Leslie Bodoh and are available here at Elemental Scraps if you are interested :0) I think the zebra & tiger have got to be my favourites!
Anyway the reason I'm looking for zoo kits is beacause we're taking our kiddies to our largest, sort of local, zoo tomorrow! I'm so excited as I love going to the zoo & the one we're visiting (weather permitting) I've never been to before - I think I'm more excited than my toddler lol I just know I'm going to have some great photos to scrap :0)

Until next time,

Ellie x

My Wonderful Husband...

2008-08-04T14:15:00.003+01:00

...let me have lots of scrapping time yesterday by looking after our little kiddies. The result is that I got 3 pages done! I'll show you 2 a litle further down, but the other I'm saving as I'm hoping to turn it into a 2 page spread ;)
I had a bit of a panic on Friday night as my laptop died - the graphics have gone on it :( Thankfully most of my scrapping bits are on my external hard drive but the one's that were on my laptop are gone. I'm fed up with thinking about it now - thankfully my Dad was very kind & has leant me the money to get another laptop. I've been counting my blessings ever since!

Anyway here are 2 of the lo's I did on Sunday with a new kit from 'Just Passin' Thru called 'Dan' available at DigiScrapStation

Here's the first called 'Proud' - this features a photo of my Nan with my son Zachary. My nan is a proud Great Grandmother :)

And here's the second lo which will be part of my daughter's 'first year' book. I used a template by Sya for this one (i'm sorry if it's not credited properly but the template set was something I lost on my old computer).

Anyway, thanks for reading & my best wishes to you :)

Oh boy - a GREAT sale...

2008-07-30T21:27:00.006+01:00

Just to let you know that Trish H. Designs at Digital Candy has a 50% sale in honour of her birthday - it ends on the 31st @ 10am so if you're interested get there quick! Here's a link straight to her store. I thought I'd just go & have a look & ended up getting 10 items for just over $15!!! I'm very pleased with the bargins I picked up :0)
For the month of August, I am a guest CT member for the lovely Tanyia's Pretty Pixels at Digital Candy! She has such awesome designs - I'm so excited! I get to pick a kit of my choice to do a couple of lo's with, the only hard part is what do I choose?!
Talking about another designer, below is a lo I did with 'Faded Charm' by Just Passin' Thru - Brother & Sister. It's the first lo I've done with a picture of my two kiddies together!

Template: Shanty Scraplift - Nicole Seitler

So my current projects in scrapbooking (apart from the number of CT's I'm on lol) is to do a 1st year book for each of my children. Recently I've created a page for each book that I want to be the very first page/cover. I've jumped on the bandwagon with these as I'm seeing these sort of lo's everywhere but they are so striking I couldn't resist! I followed instructions from Digitreats who scraplifted from Jenny Seiler

Below is Caitlyn's, she was 10 hours old when this was taken at hospital...

And below is Zach's, he was nearly an hour old when this was taken (as planned, he was born at home!)

Anyway that's all for today, hope you like my lo's & thank you for reading xx

What's been happening in the world of me...

2008-07-28T21:07:00.005+01:00

...well, I think it's quite safe to say that Caitlyn is now potty trained! YAY!!! I'm so proud of her! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be - which is just as well because then I might not be dreading it so much when it comes to potty training Zach...although I've heard boys are more difficult than girls...is that right?
I've also had some big desisions to make this week which has been hard...basically I've resigned from my job to be a sahm & Caitlyn no longer goes to a childminder for 5 hours a week - boy did I feel guilty (for Caitlyn) when I phoned the childminder to tell her - i was nearly crying down the phone for goodness sake - what an idiot I am!! I'm doing all this because the childcare for 2 children costs so much over here I can't afford to work lol! I was hoping that for the sacrifice of my job we might get to move into a bigger home as hubby might be getting a bit of a promotion...but I don't think it's going to happen :0( I'm gutted. As Zach gets bigger this flat seems smaller & smaller!
Anyway onto happier news - I am now on Dreamscape Designs CT over at Digital Candy! I'm really chuffed as Stephanie's designs are AWESOME and I've already done 3 lo's using her kits which are below :)
The first is of my hubby using the kit 'Hot Mama'

I used a template by Tanyia Deskins (Tanyia's Pretty Pixels) & the author of the quote is unknown.

My second lo is a brag book page of Caitlyn. Each photo was taken in July, the top one in 2006, the middle one in 2007 & the bottom in 2008. This was using 'Boys In The Sun' by Dreamscape Designs, again using another template by Tanyia Deskins.

My third & final lo for Dreamscape Designs is for a scraplift challenge at Digital Candy. I scraplifted 'Danicing In The Rain' by Linz to create 'OMGosh!'

I will leave my post there for today - I must start posting more often so they're not so long! - Sorry! But thanks for reading xx

So it's been 10 days...

2008-07-20T21:13:00.004+01:00

...since my last post & alot has been going on!
If you read my last post you will see that we were tackling potty training my 2yr old daughter, Caitlyn...well, hopefully I'm 'not speaking too soon' but it seems it has been a success in the no.1 department, although there are still a few issues - the first being going out without a nappy (although this is more down to me than Caitlyn - I'm not quite brave enough yet lol) the second is the no.2 department. We thought we had it sorted but over the last couple of days we've had an 'accident' & today it seems as though she's holding it in :( ...do you have any advice for me?
Moving on to more pleasent things lol, it was our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday :) my mum stayed over so she could look after Caitlyn & Zach while hubby & me went out for a lovely meal - it was so great having some time alone for a couple of hours! We got home at about 10pm & the kiddies were fast asleep in their beds - it was bliss lol!
Today we went to Tonbridge in Kent with my mum, my nan, my two aunts & uncles & two of my cousins and we took Caitlyn & Zach swimming - it was Zach's first time! And I'm pleased to say he seemed to quite like it! There weren't any tears from him but Caitlyn wasn't too happy...it's been a long time since she was last in a pool. We've now decided to take them both alot more often (although only to the local pool & not all the way to Tonbridge lol - it's about an hour's drive from where I live). After swimming we went to a huge park that had loads of play equipment spread out all over the place & both the children throughly enjoyed themselves - they were totally worn out by the time it was time to go home & slept all the way home in the car!
So in between all this I've managed to do a lo - it's my first double page spread! I used 'Fun In The Sun' by The Digi Twins over at Digital Candy which looks like this...

I also used a template by Yin of Yin Designs & a folded corner template by Brandy Murray at ScrapGirls & here it is - A Great Day!

The journalling reads:
I don't think I will ever forget this day Caitlyn. It was a warm Sunday in September and we decided to take you to Edgerton Park and you had a run around with Daddy. I could have loved to have joined in the fun but I was 7 months pregnant with your brother Zach, so I stayed behind the camera most of the time. After the park you had your first visit to the beach - you just loved toddling around in the open space and you were fasinated by the sand worm trails in the sand. On the way back to the park we bought you the purple ball (your favourite colour) and you loved racing Daddy to get to it first! Then you went on the swings uintil we decided it was time to go home.
It was such a great day!

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, although I might re-work it at a later date as there is something that's bugging me about it but I don't know what it is yet...it may be because I'm not used to doing lo's with so many photos & so few elements...I'm not sure.

Anyway on that indecisive note I'll finish this long winded post & thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think of my lo :)
Until next time,
Ellie
x

Busy, busy, busy!!!

2008-07-10T14:50:00.005+01:00

So My little girl Caitlyn is 2yrs & 4mths so we thought it's time we had a go at potty training her...hubby is on holiday from work this week so we decided to just go for it. Until today it wasn't really going anywhere BUT today is a different story! She's gone 3 times - two of those were by herself! I'm so proud of her! She's having her nap at the moment, I'm hoping she's as successful this afternoon!
Anyway in between all this I've managed to find the time to design my own blog blinkie & forum avatar using the gorgeous 'Secret Garden' kit by Duchess Designs!
Here's my blinkie...

and here's my avatar...

I don't think they're bad for a first attempt!

I've also just finished a lo using a new cut up photo action that's going to be available soon by The Digi Twins @ digitalcandy.ca (There's also going to be a vertical version available which I will do a lo with shortly)

I was in a hanging & overlapping mood when I created this one lol!
What do you think?
Here's the credits:

From a collab kit by Divine Digital (there doesn't seem to be a name for the kit):
Brown Circle backing paper - by Kawouette
Pink fading paper & String - by July
Heart Button - (no designer name stated)
Butterfly & Heart Ribbon - by mimilou
Two Flowers & Glitter Splats - by Chris Scrap's Designs

Others Bits:
Frame (recoloured by me) - by Ellie Lash
Green Stitching - by Duchess Designs (Secret Garden Kit)
Alpha (recoloured by me) - by Foxy Designs
Cut Up Photo Action - by The Digi Twins

No doubt I'll be posting again soon, so please come back & visit me :0)

Wow - Layout of The Week!!!

2008-07-07T13:34:00.006+01:00

There was a message waiting for me on the Digital Candy forum today to tell me one of the designers there has picked one of my layouts as lo of the week!! I'm so happy! The lo she chose is one I completed a few days ago with a kit by The Digi Twins called Declaration of Independance available here at Digital Candy (if you're quick you can get the kit as part of a grab bag for $5 with 6 other brand new items - value of $25 in total!!! - hurry tho, it goes off sale on the 8th). Anyway being from the UK I decided to scrap some photos of my little man Zach - here it is...

So what do you think? I'm pretty impressed my lo got chosen over so much talent over at DC!
I've done a couple of other lo's since I last posted as well. The first is using a kit by Just Passin' Thru called 'Let's Dress Up - Fairy princess, Clown & Doctor'. Here's a preview of the kit & here is Fairy Princess...

It's the first time I've used a curled corner & I think it turned out pretty well with the eyelets & ribbon. This was such a fun lo to do :0)
Alpha (recoloured with a paper from the kit) by Mandy Steward over at Scrapgirls.
Curled corner template by Theresa Kavouras again from scrapgirls.

And finally...I've taken part in a template challenge over at Digital Candy, which was to use a minimalist template & here's what I came up with...Sleepy Baby...

I absolutely LOVE the teddy bear which is one of a set of templates I bought from Scrapgirls.
Papers : Her Royal Highness Kit by Britt-ish Designs
Overlay: Roll Rag by Kirsty Wiseman
Font: Dingle Berries
Teddy Bear Template: Ariadna Wiczling
Template: Tanyia Deskins (Tanyia's Pretty Pixels) over at Digital Candy

Well I hope you are well & you come back to see what I've been up to soon!

Ellie
xx

Want To Make A Scrappin' Cookbook???

2008-07-02T13:52:00.005+01:00

Because if you do you should check out the new challenge over at Digital Candy that's starting this month. Basically you do a 6x8 lo of a recipe in the themed category of the month & then you have the option of leaving it at just entering the challenge OR you can take part in the exchange! You can find all the details here.

Anyway I've done a couple of lo's over the last few days & thought I'd share them too while I'm here:0)

The first is made with Just Passin' Thru's kit - 'By The Sea' available here at Pretty Scrappy
The alpha is 'Sunshine Day Blue Glitter Alpha' by Bonnie of Silver Rocket Scraps
And I used a template for this lo it's #240 by Andrea Gold.

There's a load of challenges just starting for the first time over at the PrettyScrappy forum if you're interested. JPT is hosting the first colour challenge - I've never taken part in a colour challenge before but I'm thinking of giving it a go...for participating you get an add on to her new 'Dress Up' kits!

My second recent lo is using The Digi Twins 'XOXOXO' kit avaialble here at Digital Candy
The template (slightly altered by me) is by Sine available over at Scrap Orchard.
I love Caitlyn in this photo - she looks so cute!

I hope you like them,

E x

P.S I'm sorry if there's any typos in this post...something is going on with my typing today & it's driving me crazy keep going back & correcting everything - so I'm sorry if I missed some errors lol

My First Creation for...

2008-06-25T13:24:00.003+01:00

The Digi Twins! I made the layout below using their kit 'XOXOXO' it is a beautiful pink kit with lots of choice including different types of stitching! If you want to look at it in detail, you can here - it also includes an alpha :0) The present type bows on either side of my title are not included in the kit, you can get them separately in all different colours here - if you look at the link you can see their great detail. I put this lo in a template challenge over at Digital Candy - the template is by Tanyia Deskins. The stitching was part of the template, You can't really see it this small, but I gave the stitches a bit more depth by creating a new layer underneath it & putting in some 'holes'.

The layout features my daughter Caitlyn. The right block photo was the month she was born, the middle block photo was on her 1st birthday & the left block photo was on her 2nd birthday (you can see the attitude can't you lol) the large photo is of her this month. I hope you like it!

Attention Photoshop Users!

2008-06-24T09:19:00.003+01:00

If you're looking for brushes to use in photoshop then check out these (courtesy of a user on a yahoo group I'm a member of):

Adobe Photoshop Brushes - there's also lots of other goodies if you go into the other categories listed on the right.

Through the above website I also found Graphics-Illustrations if you join the 'Green Blub Gang' (it's free) you get a link to your email for free downloads/brushes/tuts. I haven't had a chance to go through it all yet but it looks good!

Just thought I'd share x

Yay! So excited!

2008-06-23T13:15:00.002+01:00

Just a little note to let you know that I'm now on The Digi Twins CT!!!! I'm so excited & can't wait to get started - so expect to see some great lo's using their gorgeous designs in addition to JPT's!

E :0)

Another challenge, another layout...

2008-06-21T23:13:00.003+01:00

So I found another challenge I wanted to do over at Digital Candy...it's called Lucky Dip. There's a surprise kit to download & make a lo with.

Here's what I came up with, hope you like it...

The kit is called Bloom Sunlight by Melissa Herzog Designs - it's so easy to work with! The font is called 'All Caps'

Ellie x

Some more layouts & a bit of news...

2008-06-19T19:20:00.004+01:00

So here's my two new layouts first...

I made them both with a kit called 'Vintage Chic' by Just Passin' Thru available at Pretty Scrappy. It really is a gorgeous kit with beautiful colours & a great selection of frames to choose from.
Here's my first lo...it features my nan on her 91st birthday

My second lo features my dad's cat - Sushi. We got her when I was still living at home, I think I was about 15 at the time which makes her about 13 years old - she's getting on bless her & her legs are getting a bit stiff with old age. I remember being proud of myself as I thought of her name when my mum and I were going to collect her.

I was a bit more creative with this one (I'm gradually trying new things with my layouts). I managed to get the string of the tag to look like it's going under the staple, I also got a couple of curls on the centre flower element to look like they curled under the frames iyswim? The colour of the text is from Sushi's fur. I really like this lo, I hope u do to, leave me a comment if you feel so inclined :0)

So now for my news...are you ready?

I'm really excited...

...

...

wellllll, it looks like I may be on the CT for The Digi Twins whose designs are available from Digital Candy!!! How cool is that??!!! I will be uploading blinkies as soon as I can lol!!! They've got some gorgeous designs & I can't wait to get started! That's in between doing my lo's for JPT & my sudden addiction to Guitar Hero 3 on Wii lol! I got a 100% on one of the songs the other night! Yay me! I'm well impressed considering when we bought it home I was absolutely useless at it & my hubby was brilliant at it. I've now also got the top scores for at least nine of the songs hahahaha!

Anyway that's the essay for today lol, feel free to leave me some love, let me know what you think of my layouts/my blog etc.

By the way check out Pineapple Plantations Designs (link on my blog list) for a freebie collab kit called 'Out Of This World' It's really really good!

Just Completed Another Layout...

2008-06-15T18:13:00.005+01:00

called Happily Ever After. I did this for a challenge over at Duchess Designs.

Credits:
Template: Duchess Designs
Paper & Butterfly: Penny et Angelique
Flower: HeishmanFarmsDesigns
Ribbon: Ephemeral VIctorian
Wordart: britt-ish design

Hope you like it,

Ellie x

Contact Me

2008-06-15T16:42:00.001+01:00

Wow! So here it is...

2008-06-15T08:56:00.003+01:00

...my first post on my own blog! I've been playing with the layout of it for a couple of days now & I'm finally happy enough with it to be able to post - although there are a few more things I'm going to try and do on it lol
Another big thank you to Duchess Designs for allowing me to use 'Secret Garden' to get this blog looking so great!
So you may be wondering who I am & why I decided to get my own blog well in addition to what I've written about myself on the sidebar, here goes...
I started digi-scrapping in January this year after discovering it was soooooooooo much easier (& less expensive) than paper scrapping which I had a brief affair with in the middle of last year but with a baby crawling around and another one on the way I knew my scrapping was going to have to take a back seat for a while! That was until a search through Google put the idea of digi scrapping in my head - I've been hooked ever since! It seemed like a natural progression for me as I have a background in computers & now I'm often on my laptop during my kiddies nap time & after they've gone to bed playing with my latest lo in PSE 6.0.

I am now a member of several forums & a few weeks ago I had the good news of being picked to join Just Passin' Thru's CT! I'm still excited about the news lol I've already done a couple of lo's for JPT which I hope to show on my blog along with some of my other lo's I'm most proud of.

As for my aspirations in the digi scrapping world...well I'd love to be on a couple more CT's & after using my graphics tablet for the first time the other day, possibly getting into designing eventually once my kiddies have grown up a bit & I get a bit more free time lol

Well you've probably read enough about me now so I hope you'll come back to my blog occasionally to see how I'm getting on & what lo's I've been doing, if I come across any good freebies then I'll probably post on here too...I'm off now to see if I can tweak this blog design a bit more!

Ellie
xxx

Ellie's Creative Corner

A Captivating Blog Train - This is Me - Stacked Papers Freebie

Not Going To Pretend...

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!

Train Tracks Freebie

Fantastic Contest!

Template Freebie!

I will be posting properly again soon!

Do You Print Your Digital Scrapbooking Pages?

Summer Rewind Sale at Scrap Orchard!

Want to Win?

How Is Your Weekend Going?

A New Blog Look

News For You!

News of a BIG sale!

Being Published!!

Happy 2010!

New Releases from SuzyQ Scraps!

What Do You Think?

Fancy A Challenge?

A Little About Me...

A Very Quick Sale!!!

I've Got A Guest Spot!

It's been a while...

Power Scrapping!

Choo Choo! A Freebie for you!!

Me Again!

Hi!

Hope You're Having A Nice Weekend!

Some New Releases

Look At This!

So I've been bad...

Want to win???

News! Releases & A Challenge!

Great Deal!

SALES, SALES, SALES!!!

It's getting closer!!!

WhoooooHoooo!

I Was Worrying Over Nothing lol...

*Sigh* My Little Girl Is Growing Up

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Look At This!

I forgot to tell you...

Wow!! How Lucky Am I?

Pages, New Stuff & A CT Call!

Bits & Pieces!

SuzyQ Has Been Busy!!!

Another Page

A new 2 page layout!

Fancy A Blog-hop For A Freebie?

Finally...

Some More News...

You've Got To See This Collection!!!

It's been a while...again lol

Yay Me - My First Freebie!!

Another week has passed!

Growing So Fast!!

I Got LOTW!!!

Where Does The Time Go?

SPEED SCRAP ALERT

SALE!! SALE!! SALE!!

Yet Another CT!!!

Some Good News!

Because Of You...

Another lo

I Can't Believe...

Another Couple Of Lo's

Well What Can I Say...

It's been a while...

My Wonderful Husband...

Oh boy - a GREAT sale...

What's been happening in the world of me...

So it's been 10 days...

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Wow - Layout of The Week!!!

Want To Make A Scrappin' Cookbook???

My First Creation for...

Attention Photoshop Users!

Yay! So excited!

Another challenge, another layout...

Sigh My Little Girl Is Growing Up