Archive for the ‘Digital Scrapbook Layouts’ Category

I was talking to Nikki Epperson the other night on the phone. I’m lucky enough to live in the same town as Nikki! Anyway, she was talking about how she bribed her kids with a special treat if they were cooperative in her photoshoot. I laughed because I do the exact same thing.  The promise of ice cream can do a smile wonders!

Well, last year I had to resort to bribery for swimming lessons. My littlest, Raeleigh, did fine the first day. But, the second day she was very uncooperative. I forced myself to sit there listening to her cry the whole time (and you know at that age crying is contagious.) My friends assured me, almost holding me back that it was what the  “water exploration class” was all about. I talked to the teacher afterward. I said, I knew you’d send her to me if you didn’t want to deal with it.  The teacher asked if there was a toy she could bring next time.  So, from lesson three onward the little blue duck came to class. Then she didn’t cry. But, she didn’t pay much attention to the teacher either, she just sat playing with her duck for 45 minutes. I also promised that if she did what the teacher said when it was her turn then we’d go get candy after each lesson.

We are wrapping up swimming lessons this year, and I’m happy to say the little duck stayed home! We have continued the candy tradition. But, now it is just a fun summer treat, and not a bribe.

This page uses a collaboration kit from Recherché by KH Designs and Jennilyn Designs. And a template from JennCK.  Tomorrow I’ll post the opposite side of this two page spread with a little story about friendship!

When I saw the previews for Nikki Epperson’s half finished kit “Basically Basic” I instantly thought of these photos from my daughter’s first dance competition! This costume was so cute I could hardly keep her out of it until the season was over. Now it is in the dress-up drawer.

I love Kraft papers paired with a bright color accent! Nikki’s “Sassy Chick” was the perfect choice. And, the “hound dogs” seemed to fit with the simple brown paper.

Talk about simple, I’m LOVING scrapping with templates these days! In this case I used Totally Braggin, but I just made the photos a tad taller.

I’ve been wanting to do some Kraft layouts since I saw the emerging trend in the summer of 2008 at CHA in Chicago! That means it has been a hot commodity since the winter of 08/09. And I’m just now using it?! How did that happen?

Oh well, this kit has so many cute Kraft papers I’m sure you will be seeing some more used at my blog! I may just pair it with everything, kinda like peanut butter.

This weekend I caught a boatload of great digital scrapbooking sales! I bought a ton of $1 kits from Kitty Designs! Last year I was only buying Scrap For Hire stuff and her kits require an additional fee. So, there were many, many kits I didn’t have. Her S4H fee is only $5 though, so if ever I need to use one of her kits I can pay that fee.

Anyway, I stayed up way too late after the fireworks playing with her “Around My Home” kit. I have always wanted to make a “window” layout! These are a couple of straggler photos that have not been scrapped because they were not part of an event. I took these photos because I wanted to remember how my kids hang out in bed with us when I’m old and grey. I used to go grab them a cereal bar or a bag of cereal with a sippy cup, turn on the TV and go back to sleep. Now I trust Raeleigh downstairs with Danielle. So, I usually go down and make them breakfast and go crawl back into bed. The problem is that Raeleigh gets up early no matter what time she goes to bed.

So this layout already represents an era that is almost gone in our lives. And Raeleigh is in her footed PJ’s which she no longer wears. Sniff, sniff.

Here is another layout I did with Recherché by KH Designs‘ new Bright Skies Ahead kit. This kit is packed full of summery goodness! Don’t miss the Grand Opening sale, you’ll get 30% off until midnight on the 4th!

Our vacation spot of choice has been The Great Wolf Lodge for the past 5 years since we live in Oklahoma and there are not any beaches within a day’s drive. There are two Great Wolf Lodges to choose from though! This summer we are thinking of going to the new Schlitterbahn in Kansas City. I have a friend in New Bruanfels were the “original” Schlitterbahn is located. We’ve been dreaming of going down for a visit, but I just can’t imagine that long of a drive with my four year old yet! So, the “fake” river will have to do!

Like my layout and want the frames? Good News! I made a freebie for you! Disclaimer, I’m not a designer! I used a template by Flergs and an Atomic Cupcake action. And, I kept them all in one file in order to minimize file size. Just use your selection tool to grab the frame you want!

Recherché by KH Designs finally opened today! And, in case you were planning on some holiday weekend shopping…..all the brand new products are 30% off through July 5th! Cute banner, huh?! I love the new logo!

Today I will share my layout for the kit I named! Bohemian Blush. I really enjoy giving a little input on a new kit! Isn’t it fun?!

My layout is about potty training! The kit matched the PJ’s my daughter is wearing, aren’t they adorable? I’m so sad she will be outgrowing them soon. She was a little late in the second stage of potty training. We finally remembered the Dora playset we’d bought a piece at a time for our oldest. So, we recycled it and used it as incentive again. It worked like a charm. I gave her little pieces, promising the big house when she finally went number two. Her smile in these photos says it all. It was a big day. We even made up a song!

Other Credits: Balloon and swirl are MK Designs. Template is Studio Nee.

This is a first for me! A page created completely for free thanks to a chat and a challenge! Thanks to Scrappin with Liz for the template, part of her “Heart Templates IV” collection. And, to Lauren Grier Designs for the “More Than Stars” kit!

So, if you are new to digital scrapbooking, here’s a hint….you get free goodies in chats!

Other Credits: Titles were made with Atomic Cupcake actions and the mask is by New Life Dreams.

Kiki is bringing something fresh and new to digi-land. I can’t wait to share it with you. But, for now all I can say is she is looking for some new talent! Please think about applying for her CT, she is great to work with!

There is something about making a Dandelion necklace in Spring that brings back magical childhood memories. I remember playing in the woods at our summer cabin. (We lived the rest of the year in the Middle East because my dad was in the Oil Business.) And we would do things like fold notes up into tiny bundles and hide them in the knot of a tree. I remember actually believing a tiny little person might find the note.

When I watch my kids play I hope they are building lots of happy memories. This day I tried to show my four year old how to make a Dandelion necklace. She liked picking the flowers, but she was a little too impatient to learn how. I was happy to get her to lay down in the flower bed for this photo. I only wish I’d done it the week before when it was covered with little purple flowers!

To create the photo I played with all kinds of artistic filters and blending options. The middle of the photo was selected with a messy painterly mask and then I applied the woodcut filter. Then another copy of the photo on the layer behind has a couple of different filters applied. Next I clipped it to an aged piece of paper and also used that paper as an overlay.

I really wanted the necklace to pop, so I painted it back in from the original photo, duplicated that layer and applied another art filter. Then, I applied a shadow to the necklace layer. Dawn Inskip’s child-like doodles were the perfect finishing touch, they really helped capture the magic of playing outside in spring time!

Here is the original photo of my daughter Raeleigh:

Credits: Several kits from Dawn Inskip, Bokeh paper from MK Designs,  Sunburst Overlay from Spinky Dinky Scraps, Scallop frame from MMullens, glitter style from Flergs, Ribbons by Amanda Heimann

Well, I missed getting photos in the Daffodils this year. But, I did get some quick snapshots with the Azealias. It was kind of impromptu. My sister called to see if we wanted to have a playdate while she watched my other sister’s kids. Danielle had worn this pink wig to school for “hat day” and I wanted a photo of her in it. So, I grabbed my camera as we headed out the door. Good thing, because I think the Azealias will be almost gone by next weekend!

This kit was a freebie collaboration that a slew of artists put together for Digi Shop Talk in honor of (inter)National Scrapbook Day. If you are a member at Digi Shop Talk and have at least 5 posts in the forum you can upload a layout using the kit by midnight tonight for a chance to win a fantastic prize. A lifetime membership to the forum where you will get a free kit each month.

The layout also uses a template by Bella Gypsy that I found on sale yesterday, and an AWESOME glitter gel style by Flergs. I love to use styles and actions on fonts because it is so much easier than grabbing one Alpha at a time to build your title!

Wow, I’ve been a little busy. I’ve been building a blog and two websites with Joomla! I won’t be done with both of them until the end of April. But hopefully I’ll still have time to exercise a little creativity.

Kiki Halbert came out with a pack of papers in lovely spring colors. Creating this layout from last Easter made me even more excited that it is spring! Catch Kiki’s “Olivia” on sale through today at Scrapbook-Elements.

This week’s journal prompt at the Art Journal Caravan is “Collection.” I was working on this layout anyway and it struck me that bubbles are a collection. They give kids a lot of joy just like our collections. But they are too fragile to touch just like all of my late grandmother’s carnival glass. And, I thought of other things we can “collect” to make us feel good or bad. Like compliments. You can go chasing after compliments because your self esteem needs them but then that good feeling doesn’t last…just like a bubble. My best source of confidence comes from God, and I give him credit for every ounce of creativity!

Credits:
Frame is Paislee Press all else is Kiki Halbert. Papers from new kit Olivia. Tab and filmstrip are LeGrunge. Butterfly is from Neopolitan Sundae. All other elements are from Cool Nights Blue Skies. The alpha was created with Atomic Cupcake’s Pristine Chipboard.