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

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...

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!!

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

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!

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!

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!

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?

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!

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?

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?

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

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!

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!

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 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!

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!

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?

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?

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...

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!