Looking For A New Christmas & Winter Scrap Kit

A couple of years ago, I'd purchased a gorgeous, digital colab kit called Knocking On Winters Door by Jen Ulasiewicz & Phuong Ton. I wore that kit out scrapping photos, making our Christmas cards, creating stationary for holiday letters and even used it through the winter season for the occasional snow photo. Sadly, I lost that kit last year during a HD crash. (Yeah, go ahead an tell me I SHOULD have made a back-up. I did...on my son's external HD. But as with all HD's go, it got full, and then he needed space before I could move it elsewhere.) *wahhhhh*

So now, I'm on the hunt for another amazing colab kit that will not only supply my 2010 Christmas scrapping needs, but can be used to design my Christmas cards, stationary & even take me through my Winter season scrapping needs.

Earlier today, I stumbled across these two amazing kits by Natali Design at ScrapbookGraphics...
(clicking eac photo will take you to the info page for that kit...)



...the hard part is trying to decide which one I want!!

Wednesday Wishes...

My wishes for today have led me to one of my fave designers...
Jen Ulasiewicz Designs. Her specialty is in the highest quality
all natural real-life designs. Whether you are looking for
nature, vintage, antique, grungy, primitive, or shabby chic,
she has all you'll ever need in life-like elements!!

Isn't this "With This Ring" kit just gorgeous?!

My Creativity Is Slowly Returning...

My Secret Apple Garden by SheDevil:

• (BG, Tree, Arbor, Bird on Swing, Clouds, Word Art)

Grass from Grandmothers Garden by Jen Ulasiewicz
Wordart from I Am You WA Freebie by Moninda
Program: PSP-9

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I was browsing through some of my favorite designers
stores today and ran across...

Flying Dreams Storybook Collection by Lorie Davison
and immediately fell in love with it.
It's now in my WISH FOLDER of kits
that I would love to have in my collection!!

It's Almost Christmas...

and I'm rushing around like a chicken with it's head cut off. My youngest son, Robert, arrived home for the holidays on the 14th and it's brought me more joy than I can express having all of my family under one roof again.

My kitchen should have been finished by now, but I'm still waiting for the cast iron shelf brackets. And until they go up, I can't install my backsplash. OH...which reminds me, instead of using a tumbled, marble mini tiles, I've chosen river rock. Reason being...it's CHEAP and once I'm finished with my bathroom remodel (that's now on day 17) I'll have a ton of it left over.

Yup...day 17 of bathroom remodel...2 years in the making. So far we've replaced the flooring, installed insulation in the outer walls, replaced drywall, redone electrical, replaced part of the ceiling, and moved plumbing for my bubble tub. Now it's down to the details...installing river rock as a backsplash and on the framing for the bubble tub, paint the walls and ceiling, install and paint trim around windows and then i get to decorate!!

I haven't had much down time...but have managed to do a couple of scrap pages.

ChristmasTemplate by Bannerwoman
Paper, Ribbon, Round Ornaments, Star Ornament, Gold Bows from In Xmas Gold Mine kit by WaterLOProject
Pine Branch from Under The Xmas Tree by WaterLOProject
Merry Christmas Word Art from Sue Cummings' December Daily Downloads
'Tis The Season Word Art from Jolly Holiday Mess Sampler at Weeds & Wildflowers
Branch Cluster from Knocking On Winters Door by Phuong Ton & Jen Ulasiewicz
Program: PSP-9


Tis The Season Cluster Frame Freebie by Joanne Bain
I Love Presents Word Art Freebies by Sue Cummings
Everything else from Under The Xmas Tree by WaterLO Project
Program: PSP-9

Getting Ready For The Holidays

I'm a very bad blogger!! LOL

We've been busy around our house. Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ate lots of food, seen the movie Twilight with Kat, ate more food, pulled out the Christmas decorations, ate more food. You get the picture.

13 days and counting until my son Robert will be home for the holidays. I'm so excited...he'll be here for 3 weeks!! *doing happy dance*

Wanted to have our family portrait on our Christmas cards this year, but afraid they wouldn't be ready in time to mail...so improvised!! I chose a few photos of each family member, scrapped them, then combined them...the perfect Christmas card. (The following are the photos I scrapped...)


Sadly, I can't show you the Christmas card as I want it to be a surprise for the friends and family members that are receiving it. *sneaky giggles*

Finally, I created a Winter header for my personal blog...

Credits:
Kit: Knocking OnWinters Door
Designer: Colab--Jen Ulasiewicz & Phuong Ton
Found: http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/product.php?productid=22762&cat=0&page=1
Poser Girl from Sensual Poser
Layout: Jay Elliott
Program: PSP-9
Plug-Ins: EyeCandy4000/Shadowlab
FONT: Snowdrift

My Home Is My Haven (Day 11 of 40 Days of Scrapping Purpose)

Created for Day 11 of 40 Days of Scrapping Purpose challenge. We were asked to scrap a page about why our home is our haven, using journaling, at least one photo and two brushes.

JOURNALING READS:
I'm a homebody, and because of this reason my home has become my haven. Over the years I've searched through magazines and have watched "do-it-yourself" shows for new ideas. Now, each room has become a reflection of who I am. They express my creativity, my love of family, and my passion for turning trash into treasured objects. So great is my passion, that I could get lost for hours in a single project. Finding new projects to keep me occupied is the best therapy of tuning out the craziness of the outside world.

CREDITS:
Papers:
LM_Grunge
RB Thislte Lite
Mystic Dreams and More Freebie - Sunfire
Ribbon:
Sweet Affection - Verena Karolyi
Leaves:
Leaves Overlay Freebie - Redju Designs
Flower Doodles:
Country Roads Freebie - Farrah's Designer Scraps
Euphorbia - Imagine by Fran
Next Generation Overlay - Shandy Vogt
Butterfly:
Vintage Mini Pretties - Jen Ulasiewicz
Brushes:
Cloud - Obsidian Dawn
Foliage Swirl - Obsidian Dawn
Layout: Jay Elliott (ASTC)
Program: PSP-9
Font: Eye Catching

ADSR3 - #11 - Winged Things

Today, challenge #11 started for the ADSR3!! This time KBandFriends was the host!! After all of the previous challenges, I found this one soooo easy!! The theme is "Take Wing." We want you to spread your wings - literally - by making a layout with wings in it. The wings can be on a bird, butterfly or insect. Or, the wings can be used separately. There is no restriction on the theme of the layout. It just has to have wings in it somewhere.
This is what I came up with...and because it's my fave photo, I had to use it again...lol

FULL CREDITS:
BG from Little Jake-Washed Papers by Kathryn Balint
Butterfly Overlay by AcmDesignz
Wings from EphemeralsII by Jofia Devoe
Dandelions from Ephemerals by Jofia Devoe
Faerie Brush from Obsidian Dawn
Bee from Lazy Days by Gina Marie Huff
White Daisy from Grandmothers Garden by Jen Ulasiewicz
Leaf from Bold And Beautiful Spring by Jen Ulasiewicz
Ladybug and Butterfly from Flutterbys by Jen Ulasiewicz
Pink Rose from Wild Long Stems by Jen Ulasiewicz
Fern from Leaves by Jen Ulasiewicz
Bird from Magical Garden Collection: Beautiful Creatures by (me)AST Creations

SSTPSP, Permits, ADSR3 & Wal*Mart

It's official!! I passed STEP-ONE of SSTPSP!! *doing happy dance* Most of the lessons I already knew how to do, but always a good thing to refresh your knowledge. I've downloaded lessons 26-50 and will begin them tomorrow.


...are in order to Kat!! Though she had to take the test twice, she passed and is now an official permit carrier!! Just in time too, her Driver's Ed class will be moving from books to behind the wheel in the next few weeks. *sigh*


I completed #4 Challenge for ADSR3 yesterday. Took me most of the day, as my PSP kept crashing on me when I tried to add my journaling. After restarting a few times, it finally let me finish. *whew* Then just as I was nearly complete, I went back to review the challenge when I noticed they had removed the 4-only element requirement...so went back and added more!! *giggles*


The Challenge:
Spill It!!
We want to hear all about it...the good, the bad and the ugly.
You pick the topic. .... the event .. the situation ... the day....
and tell us all about it.
Dig deep - reach far - tell us what's in your gut.
It can be humorous ... it can be sad ... it can be VENTING...
we just want you to SPILL IT!!
So here's the challenge recipe for you:
1 Large Picture
(at least 1 large picture, may use more than 1 pic)
Some blending
(ie: overlay, multiply, color burn, transparency, etc.)
Spill it Journaling
at least 1/4 of the page must be journaling
Note:
We have decided to remove the elements requirement.
If you have already done your layout, I'm very sorry for any inconvenience.
So, go wild (or not) and do whatever ya want element-wise.




JOURNALING READS:
I can't remember the month but the date was the 3rd and the year was 1989. The only reason I remember this much is because I was pregnant with my son Robert, and it was “CHECK DAY” (social security) for my Momma. Every month, on that day, we had the same routine, pay all bills, go somewhere for lunch, purchase enough groceries for the month, then go home. This day was like all of the rest that had come before and after, with the exception of our last stop. We went to WAL*MART for the groceries, because Momma liked to sneak into the Garden Center and grab a few flowers. This was the one luxury that Momma allowed herself.

We’d been there for an hour, filling 2 buggies with groceries. Matt took turns riding in the 2 buggies or walking beside them. Momma grabbed a few flowers from the Garden Center and then we went to check-out. I teased Momma about them through check-out, loading the car, and driving home. We both laughed, until I adjusted my rear-view mirror and noticed Matt’s car seat was EMPTY!!

I slammed on the breaks, made a U-TURN, and raced back to WAL*MART. I tried to remember where I'd seen him last. I ran to the Garden Center. He wasn't there!! I began to panic, but just before I freaked, I heard his laughter. I found him sitting on the floor, two isles over, in the Toy Section, playing with several cars. He never knew we had left him!!

FULL CREDITS:
Jen Ulasiewicz:
Background from Grandmother's Garden
Blue Flower from Bold and Beautiful Spring
Purple Flower and Roses from Pickin' Wildflowers
Dried Flowers from Dried Fall Florals
Gingham Bow from Country Cookbook

Kathryn Balint:
Firetruck from Camerons Comics Videogames and Stuff
Frame from Vintage Frames
Album & Torn Mat from Little Jake Collection

Font: Jerry's handwriting
Plug-In: EyeCandy4000 - Shadowlab